A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 119 Territory Trivial Matters

"It's time to relax."

Having been promoted to a mid-level mage, Jiang Shuzhou planned to take a break from his demanding research and studies and handle some simple and easy administrative work.

"Lord Pierre, please have mercy! We can't live without a house!"

"Lord Pierre..."

In the newly built government affairs hall, Pierre was frantically dealing with the house renovation.

Jiang Shuzhou just mentioned it on a whim, but Pierre, as his subordinate, had to work until late at night every day.

"My lord, you have arrived."

Upon seeing Jiang Shuzhou's arrival, Pierre immediately jogged over, completely ignoring the noisy crowd nearby.

"What's going on?"

"Aren't you an administrator?"

"Why do you have to personally handle every single trivial matter?"

Faced with Jiang Shuzhou's three deadly questions, Pierre could only give a wry smile before beginning his explanation.

"My lord, there are too few people."

"Everyone else has gone to town to oversee specific affairs."

"There's no other way, I have to personally take charge and stay here."

After hearing the explanation, Jiang Shuzhou nodded to show his understanding.

"Let's go to the office to talk."

After glancing at the timid and cowering citizens, Jiang Shuzhou pulled Pierre directly into the office.

"Aren't thirty-five people enough?"

"It's really not enough, my lord. There are just too many things to manage."

"Stop, stop, stop. I don't want to hear your complaints."

"If you're short-staffed, hire someone and give me a report. How am I supposed to know we're short-staffed if you don't tell me?"

Upon entering, Jiang Shuzhou immediately switched to leadership mode. He hadn't said it directly before because he was giving Pierre face.

After all, if Pierre were to be reprimanded too harshly in public, his authority would be completely undermined.

Once authority is lost, the team becomes difficult to lead.

"Next time you encounter any difficulties, be sure to report them to me. Don't try to do things alone! Got it?"

"Yes, my lord!"

Jiang Shuzhou didn't dwell on that point.

Pierre understood his feelings; he simply didn't want to cause trouble for Jiang Shuzhou and preferred to be more tired himself rather than leave a bad impression on Jiang Shuzhou.

To be honest, if Pierre hadn't signed the follower contract, Jiang Shuzhou wouldn't have cared even if he worked himself to death, but he did.

Such unequal personal dependency treaties as follower contracts mean that the human rights of followers depend entirely on the conscience of the master. It is said that some sorcerers even use their followers for experiments.

Does Jiang Shuzhou have a conscience?

He certainly does; Dr. Weasley is proof of that.

Moreover, in Jiang Shuzhou's view, a follower is equivalent to an absolutely loyal subject.

The ruler is like a father, and the subject is like a son.

Jiang Shuzhou has always been quite caring towards his followers, and he will help resolve any problems they may have.

Take Hayes, for example. As one of Jiang Shuzhou's earliest followers, although he was treated like a beast of burden every day, Jiang Shuzhou still gave him all the treatment he deserved.

Hayes can now receive five bottles of cultivation potions a day, all of which Jiang Shuzhou refined for fun in his spare time.

"These are fifty bottles of cultivation potions. Don't neglect your cultivation."

Jiang Shuzhou used the tactic of giving a stick followed by a sweet treat every day.

"My lord, you..."

At this moment, Pierre's voice choked with emotion, and he could no longer speak.

"If it weren't for you, my lord, I might be working as a civil servant in some small place right now. But there's nothing wrong with being a civil servant."

"It's just that serving you, my lord, would open up a whole new world for us."

Good job, young man, you're very perceptive.

Jiang Shuzhou nodded, quite satisfied, but he hadn't come here just to take a look.

"Report on the development of the territory."

"My lord, Hamlet's territory has a total of 3522 households and a total population of 7655, of which half-orcs..."

Pierre quickly got to work, readily providing various data without any hesitation.

"Good, your task now is to complete the house renovation plan as quickly as possible."

"Then, road construction and land consolidation were carried out."

As the saying goes, "To get rich, build roads first," and the dirt roads in Hamlet's territory were in terrible condition.

Previously, Jiang Shuzhou considered that the lives of the people in Hamlet Territory were not yet guaranteed, and moreover, there was not much to sell in Hamlet Territory.

That's why the decision to build the road was delayed for a few months; now things are completely different.

Spring has arrived, the land in Hamlet's territory has softened, and production activities are gradually resuming, so it's time to prepare for road repairs.

"By the way, have you calculated how many gold coins you need to build the train tracks?"

Jiang Shuzhou suddenly remembered that he had mentioned to Pierre his idea of ​​building a train track.

"My lord, since the train tracks will traverse remote wilderness areas, the rails need to be mixed with copper from the mountains to ensure their strength, plus the labor involved."

"Based on the calculation, it costs approximately 100,000 gold coins per kilometer."

"The nearest city connected to us by train is about 120 kilometers away as the crow flies, and it could be even longer if we have to take a detour."

"According to my calculations, it's approximately 1200 million gold coins."

It's alright, I can afford to repair it, but it's not necessary.

Converted to real currency based on the current gold price in trading houses, this price would only be enough to build a little over 300 li of railway.

"Building a railway is not being considered for the time being."

Pierre felt relieved by Jiang Shuzhou's words. Just moments ago, he had been thinking about how to persuade Jiang Shuzhou not to act impulsively.

After all, the entire Hamlet territory's annual income isn't enough to repair just one kilometer of road.

"Good, I've assigned all the tasks. You can handle the rest yourself."

Jiang Shuzhou left, leaving Pierre deep in thought, racking his brains to figure out how to complete Jiang Shuzhou's task.

Jiang Shuzhou walked out with a relaxed and content expression.

Who says managing territory is tiring?

Why can't I feel it?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Next was the military, which was managed by Hayes, with Dwarin in charge of manufacturing weapons.

"Salute to Lord Navis!"

As Hayes spoke, all the soldiers saluted Jiang Shuzhou in unison.

"Great! Very energetic!"

Jiang Shuzhou smiled and returned the greeting.

"Lord Navis, we love and respect you!"

"I am willing to die for Lord Navis!"

"..."

Amidst cheers, Jiang Shuzhou felt wonderful.

Sure enough, Hayes understands me.

This is how you should train troops!

Soldiers can lack other things, but they cannot lack loyalty!

"loyalty!"

comfortable.

"My lord, you have arrived."

Hayes jogged over to greet him.

"Not bad, the lord's guards are training well. Keep them training like this."

"Also, I have something to announce in a moment, so please gather everyone together."

"yes!"

The little Hamlet has only about 8000 people in total, but it has 877 soldiers.

It accounts for one-tenth of the total population, which is quite high.

Soon, more than 800 people had assembled.

"Firstly... secondly..."

Jiang Shuzhou made a lot of polite remarks, which was his habit; he would force three points when he didn't have any.

"Finally, I discovered that some soldiers trained diligently and were exceptionally talented. As the lord of Hamlet's territory, I would not waste such talent."

"From then on, there will be a monthly competition within the military, and the top three will receive a set of breathing techniques! They will also be given priority to become officers."

"To ensure fairness, those who have already mastered the breathing technique are not allowed to participate again."

After he finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

"Long live Lord Navis! We can never repay Lord Navis's kindness!"

"..."

Amidst cheers, Jiang Shuzhou left the military camp.

Oh right, did I forget something?