Unknowingly, Wood has been living in Huishi Town for a week.
During this week, he observed a lot and gained a considerable understanding of this town, which the federation calls "Northland Hope". He also gained some understanding of its governance ideas and various key technologies.
For a spy's job, he did it well.
But he didn't have any pride or elation, instead he was full of deep worries.
Why was Huishi Town able to develop from a dilapidated and almost abandoned border town into a paradise in less than three years
In his opinion, the key is nothing more than two points.
The first is to increase revenue, and the second is to reduce expenditure.
Open source means actively finding sources of income for the town. The two most critical sources of income here are the extraction of negative energy essence in the underground farm and the several medicinal herb fields outside the village. The former can produce medium and low-grade magic materials, and through techniques that he has not yet come into contact with, they can be transformed into a variety of valuable resources, which are quite popular in the international magic materials market; the latter is an important consumer product for people's livelihood. Although the price is not expensive, the market demand for them is simply endless, and there is no need to worry about sales.
Only with these two key incomes can we support various policies in the town. For example, "beautifying the living environment" - he never thought that a small town would value the environment so important. On the town's publicity board, there are pictures of the town's scene over the past few years drawn by a powerful painter. The pictures enhanced with magic are extremely tough and can be flipped through at will, allowing people to review the development history of this town.
Judging from the scroll, when Mayor Felix first arrived, Huishi Town was actually in an extremely dilapidated state. The ground was full of pits and gravel, and corpses of hungry people and feces could be seen everywhere. It was as cold as stone, and every room was like a stone. The houses were in dilapidated condition, as if they were about to collapse if the wind blew them.
But just three months later, when spring came, the houses in the town had been repaired. The large and small wooden houses were like pieces of patched but well-repaired clothes. You could even see the fire pits under the houses glowing. There is a little green smoke coming out, and I think it must be very warm to live in there, and I am not afraid of the cold at all.
By the autumn of that year, the town's roads had been repaired, almost as they are now. The foundation was made of pieces of gravel, and then crushed stone powder was poured into the gaps between the gravel, and then watered and tamped down to make it strong. What we got in the end was a road surface that was flat and comfortable enough, although it was slightly inferior to the complete stone strips.
Moreover, the square in the center of the town also had a lot of decorations and celebratory things, and several villagers were wearing obviously newly made clothes and were happily setting up the celebration venue.
In the spring of the next year, many houses in the town began to be renovated. Although the renovated old houses can still be used, some of them are either too old or of poor quality. So the villagers knocked down the dilapidated houses, and the owners temporarily moved into the mayor's office. In the picture, people who have become strong and energetic are not afraid of the cold and are working in an orderly manner. At the door of the mayor's office, an old man was looking at the construction site with a smile, and two women next to him were preparing meals in large pots. The lively scene, even if he only saw it in the scroll, moved Wood deeply.
The celebration in the autumn of the next year was quite grand. The scroll depicts the scene at night. Although the sky has completely darkened, the square in the center of the town is full of people celebrating. A few young spellcasters told the residents to stay away a little, and then cast spells toward the sky, acting as fireworks. The light of spell explosions lit up the night sky. The bonfire reflects people's smiling faces, which are full of happiness and joy, and full of expectations for the future.
Wood noticed that the town in this picture already had a lot of green plants. He thought that the work of expelling negative energy erosion should have been completed during this time.
The last scroll was completed not long ago. The town held a small ceremony to celebrate the birthdays of several elderly people. Those down-and-out old people who should look dejected and hopeless elsewhere smile so much that the wrinkles on their faces seem to bloom. There are many more trees around the square and on both sides of the road. The emerald green leaves shine in the sun, like precious emeralds.
Next to this scroll is another aerial view of the town. It can be seen that the town already has beautiful walls, vegetable fields, and medicinal fields. Only the construction site that produces negative energy essence is blank. The artist painted in its place. made a smiley face and wrote the words "This is a secret".
Comparing these five paintings, Wood was very emotional.
He could see that the income in this town was indeed not low. But more importantly, the key lies in the mayor's willingness to spend money.
Are there few high-income areas? Nothing less. In the Federation alone, there are many towns with multiple stable industries. He bets that the income of many of these towns is definitely not lower than that of Huishi Town.
But those towns are completely incomparable with Huishi Town. The lords who rule the towns and the powerful people who control various income items are all trying their best to make money, but they want them to spend money to improve the conditions and people's livelihood in the town. That absolutely cannot be done. So while the income levels may be on the same level, the situation in the town is completely different.
And this is the second reason summarized by Wood.
Throttle.
For a territory, no matter how high the income is, it will be meaningless if it is completely plundered by the ruler and only leaks out a little bit from the fingers.
One of the key reasons why Pyroxen Town has been able to develop is that the mayor, Felix, almost doesn't care about income at all.
This beautiful female mage took out almost all the income of the town and reinvested it in the construction of the town, and her own properties-such as the magic school-were built entirely with her own money, without even using any money. A copper plate of public funds.
"Public funds" is a word that the residents of Huishi Town often say when chatting in the tavern, and the source is the mayor himself. She has said more than once that she is the leader of the town, but not the owner. This town belongs to everyone.
Such words seemed vaguely familiar to Wood. He recalled them carefully for a long time, and finally remembered that those were the words spoken by Master Lampelus, the founder of the Federation.
"In the past years, I have seen many cruel and inhumane rulers. As a mage, as a person who has witnessed history, I do not think this approach is correct. So I want to establish a A country where people rule by themselves, and the rulers just watch. In this country, powerful spellcasters are the guardians of towns and villages, but they do not occupy these lands and the various industries on them. We are not lords."
"I think this approach is very good. Spellcasters are busy with research and will not waste any time on plundering people's wealth or indulging their own desires. I believe that over time, this plateau at the southernmost tip of the continent will be able to Become a paradise that people across the continent long for!"
Thousands of years have passed since then. However, the Federation has not become a paradise for civilians, but has only become a holy land for spellcasters.
Recalling how I felt when I read that passage in the book, and comparing it with what I saw and heard during this period, Wood, who could sleep and wake up at will, suffered from insomnia.
He thought for a long time, but found nothing.
He knew that the situation in the Federation was wrong, and he also knew that what Phoenician Town was doing was the right thing to do. However, both rationality and intuition told him that Phoenician Town's approach could not be popularized.
The top leaders of the federation are indeed knowledgeable. They noticed the situation in Huishi Town and sent him, an ace spy, to learn the details here. In order to help the federal government and promote federal progress.
But...can the experience here really help the Federation
He was doubtful.
In order to conceal his identity, he did not hesitate to let the summoned witch almost completely drain him of his strength, which was close to that of a high-level ranger, and turned him into an ordinary person who could only be called a capable person. In order to deceive the detection spell, a high-level mage from the Federation who had found the path to legend came forward and presided over a whole set of plans to hide the truth and ensure that everything he said was "the truth."
All of this came at a huge price.
But, can it really be rewarded
He was worried.
With these doubts and worries, he couldn't sleep, and when he worked the next day, he had dark circles under his eyes.
"You have to be careful!" In the carpentry workshop, the old foreman in charge of supervision looked at his tired appearance and asked worriedly, "Are you feeling unwell? If you feel unwell, see a doctor. Go to a magic school, then There is a doctor who knows herbal medicine, or you can go to the temple... "
Wood shook his head and said he was fine.
"It's no wonder! Look at you, your eyes are a little wandering!" The old foreman patted his shoulder with dissatisfaction. As a result, his hand slipped slightly and the sharp carpenter's tool rubbed against his leg. After a moment, a wound was opened and blood was flowing.
The old foreman was startled and immediately rushed to the big cabinet at the entrance of the workshop. He took out a wooden box with a red cross on a white background. He opened the wooden box and found that there were several commonly used drugs in it, all of which had been prepared. Okay, one package after another is wrapped in oil paper of different colors, and there are clean bandages. The use is clear at a glance.
The old foreman had obviously received special training, and he applied medicine and bandaged him extremely quickly. The carpenters also stopped what they were doing and came over to help. After the preliminary treatment of his wounds, everyone brought the stretcher placed next to the cabinet, forced him to lie on it, and then carried him hurriedly to the temple.
The priest of the temple asked about the situation, and then gave him medicine that could heal the body and replenish the loss of flesh and blood, and then opened the wound. After careful inspection, he determined that there were no wood chips, iron filings, etc. left, so he washed the wound with holy water, and then healed the wound. He cast a low-level healing spell to make the wound heal slightly and stop bleeding like that. Finally, the medicine was reapplied and bandaged, and he was allowed to recuperate.
"Can't it be completely cured?" Wood asked in confusion.
"General healing spells are actually overdrawing your vitality. I won't use advanced ones." The priest said with a smile, "It is enough to treat you to this extent. The rest can be recovered slowly by yourself."
"But this affects my work..."
When these words were said, the pastor and the workers all laughed.
"Don't worry! This is a work-related injury. Not only will all medical expenses be borne by the town, but your wages will still be paid until the injury recovers."
After that, everyone put him back on the stretcher and carried him back home.
Inside the temple, the priest smiled slightly and started to clean up the blood.
He put away the blood-stained bandages and discarded medicines, and rinsed the ground with clean water. After doing everything, he wanted to rest, but he suddenly froze.
(That's wrong! Why does the carpenter's wound... recover much slower than ordinary people? How come the effect of healing spells on him is so bad?)