novelraw Chapter 382 : Return
Chapter 382 : Return
Chapter 382: Return
The Prince’s soul froze for a moment, his expression puzzled as he hesitantly spoke: “Are you talking about those things written in the Holy Text of Imperial Truth? That knowledge is indeed interesting, but… but what use is it?”
“Of what use knowledge is, I do not know either. But I have ruled the Empire for eleven years, and I have been building schools the whole time. Do you know why?”
“To train army officers?”
“That is only part of it. More importantly, this allowed me to successfully establish an entire civil service system. With the thirteen-rank civil service system, I no longer had to rely on those foolish nobles to govern. The talents of the Empire would naturally emerge for me to use.”
Seeing the Prince’s thoughtful expression, Isabella shook her head: “Actually, there is a simpler statistic—every time you build a school, you can build one less prison.”
The room fell silent. After a long time, the Prince hesitantly asked: “Do you think Bazel will release people? Can Nora return smoothly?”
“Of course not.”
The Prince’s soul widened his eyes: “Then why do you still—”
Isabella snorted coldly: “What is there to fear? This is a good thing. These hypocritical fools deserve a lesson. As for Hughes—reputation has always been forged in battle. If he were fearful, he would have already hidden away on that island.”
“You mean he will send troops to the North?”
“He intended that from the beginning. Have you seen the letter he asked me to write? Tsk, tsk, he is just like his father.”
“His father?” The Prince strained to recall, then asked uncertainly: “Duke Cohen?”
But Isabella did not answer. She merely shifted to a more comfortable position, closed her eyes, and dozed off.
—
Castel.
After giving some brief instructions, Hughes led most of the Banshees and swam back to Castel directly from the sea.
Although the ironclad ship was moored in the harbor, he still chose to swim from the sea. Mainly, he did not trust the people in the shipyard much.
If the ship sank, they would end up in the sea anyway, so it was better to just go through the sea directly, skipping the middle step.
When he returned to his office, dripping wet, Alexei had already been waiting for quite some time.
Hughes took a towel, wiping his hair while talking to Alexei about the negotiations on both sides.
“You refused land that was offered for free, and instead chose to trade with them?” The chief secretary asked in surprise.
“You don’t understand, do you?”
“Indeed. Such a large port, and still a core city of Tis—I cannot think of any reason not to take it.”
“It’s simple, Alexei. Castel is founded on industry, and productivity is our core. Expanding outward before we finish building our territory is just a slow bleed.”
In truth, it was the difference between reckless expansion and refined development.
Rapid land seizure could indeed grant more resources and population, but there were two problems.
Resource deposits, like minerals, would not automatically turn into steel.
And population, for an industrial nation, only counted as a demographic advantage if educated. Otherwise, they were only a burden.
The low efficiency of farming and other such labor could not even cover the administrative costs of governance.
Because as the territory expanded, administrative efficiency dropped rapidly. Without instant communication methods, every additional piece of land consumed massive amounts of manpower in governance.
And this wasted manpower was very real industrial labor.
“But I still don’t understand.” Alexei rubbed his temples. “By giving up the land, doesn’t it mean we are losing those resources and population forever?”
“Who told you we lost them?” Hughes smiled. “Didn’t I demand missionary rights and free trade?”
Alexei froze, his thoughts spinning for a few moments before his eyes lit up in realization: “You mean to use missionary rights as a pretext to establish schools?”
“Exactly. Once schools are built, those who gain knowledge will naturally seek to advance. Castel will provide them with a path upward. Even if the Prince wants to retain people, he won’t have enough positions for high-end talent.”
“Won’t this cause a loss of knowledge?”
Hughes shook his head, his expression turning serious: “Knowledge is much like wealth. The more it circulates, the more valuable it becomes. And another key point—what counts as high-end talent in Blood Harbor is merely ordinary in Castel.”
Castel had long popularized higher-level education. The advanced class? That was merely the threshold for entering Castel.
The textbooks Hughes wrote were not profound. The advanced class only added much common sense. On Blue Star, this would not even go beyond compulsory education. It was just that in this world, pursuing knowledge was too dangerous and the overall standard too low.
This way, he could gain educated population without having to bear the burden of governing Blood Harbor. As for the Prince? He would be delighted as well. With schools built, Blood Harbor’s education would certainly rise a notch.
As for resources, free trade was not just talk. What could not be bought—he would bring ironclads to buy by force.
“All right, that’s it if there’s nothing else. Today went smoothly enough. After a few more iterations at the shipyard, there should be reliable ships available. Now start organizing a team. By then, we can directly sail to the North.”
Hughes recalled that short, white-haired girl. Too much time had passed, and her face was blurred in memory. He only remembered that she always looked serious, never smiling.
Originally, the ship with Kenn and Jeremiah was meant to support her, but delays had dragged things out for so long. Only now did he finally have time.
“I heard she left the Silent Sanctum. I imagine there’s quite a story behind that.” Hughes sighed. “Find more people familiar with the North to join. Hmm, those from the Mystics will do.”
Alexei wrote in his notebook: “Right, Lord, how do you plan to handle the Mystics?”
“The Mystics…”
Speaking of this, Hughes felt a headache coming. According to Granny’s report, those people merely borrowed Castel’s name. Their so-called faith and so-called Holy Text were all fabricated.
Hughes did not care much. He had only planned to give them symbolic punishment, spread the Imperial Truth, and be done with it.
But then came Blood Harbor’s rebellion, and Castel had directly intervened. Flying Airships and Banshees had fought, escalating the battle to epic scale. Even many in the Harbor Guard fell to their knees and kowtowed as if beholding a God, not to mention the Mystics.
The Holy Text was fabricated?
Everyone had personally witnessed a battle of Heretical Gods. Who would believe such words now?
“Bring Josh back first. As for what to do next… I’ll study it further.”
Hughes was hesitant. Regarding the Mystics, he felt completely caught between two difficult choices.
But that was all the trouble.
Soon Hughes finished dealing with these messy affairs and went to bed, ready for a sound sleep—but he had an unsettling feeling, as if he had forgotten something.
In the middle of the night, he suddenly sat upright in bed:
“Damn it, I actually forgot this! Quick, someone, stop Nini from secretly publishing the newspaper!!”