Chapter 33: Ores and Schools

Upon returning to the manor, Hughes encountered Alexei waiting for him. Seeing his somewhat awkward smile, Hughes immediately guessed the reason for his visit.

"Out of money?"

"Yes," Alexei sighed. "Recruiting people to survey the island, establishing a school—everything costs money, not to mention the renovations for the workshops."

This was inevitable. Any industry required upfront investment, and these costs could not be avoided; Hughes had already prepared himself for this.

"Don't worry about the money. I will find a way. Tell me about the progress."

Alexei nodded and hurriedly took out his notebook.

"The mineral deposits have been basically identified. This is mainly based on previous surveys of the island; we went to the sites to verify the data and then compiled the results."

Hughes took the notebook and flipped through it casually, his eyes widening as he read.

"Iron ore, coal, limestone, copper ore, sulfur, gypsum... are these confirmed?"

"Yes, I personally visited these mining areas. Aside from the exact quality, which is hard to determine, there are no issues," Alexei shrugged. "We don't have professional surveyors here, so we could only ask some blacksmiths to take a look."

"How did you find these mines without surveyors?" Hughes’s eye twitched. "Don't tell me they are all open-pit mines?"

Alexei nodded. "They are."

Hughes fell silent. The ore quality of open-pit mines might not be the highest, but it certainly wouldn't be low. Furthermore, for the current Castel, mining veins that were difficult to reach was almost impossible. Hughes hadn't held much hope, yet he found that they were all open-pit mines.

"Why were these mines never exploited before?" Hughes took a breath.

"My lord, this is the Storm Ocean," Alexei said with a bitter smile.

Indeed, this was the Storm Ocean. The pirates lacked smelting capabilities and preferred to buy finished goods directly. The White Crow Duchy to the north and the Empire to the west were not lacking in mineral resources, so there was no need to transport them from thousands of miles away. As for the south? One would have to cross the storms at the center of the Storm Ocean.

Speaking of mines, Hughes suddenly recalled his time under the sea. The Banshee tribe, enslaved by the Murlocs, had their primary task as mining.

There were mineral veins under the sea as well, but they would need to drive the Murlocs away from the mines. Wait, why did the Murlocs need to mine? Could they even smelt ore underwater?

Hughes narrowed his eyes. "Let's put that aside for now. How are the factories?"

"The olive oil factory is on the right track. The trial production period was very successful, and the process is now quite stable. Production capacity is constantly increasing, it’s just..."

"Just what?"

"The current yield of olives can't keep up. Castel does have many olive trees, but many are on the mountains, making them difficult to harvest."

Hughes nodded. He had noticed this. Olive trees were not actually suitable for tropical planting. Castel had a towering volcano, and the climate at the foothills was completely different from that on the mountain. Most of the olive trees lived in the valleys, and the parts that were easy to harvest were not plentiful.

Transporting olives down from the mountains increased the difficulty exponentially. Without proper transport equipment or even paved roads, such harvesting required a massive amount of manpower.

"Do not force the harvesting of olives from the mountains. Manpower is a very precious resource. Our goal is not just to make olive oil, but to cultivate qualified, skilled workers."

"Skilled workers?"

Alexei was stunned. He had no experience in managing a factory. To him, these craftsmen were like logistics troops in a battle—there were elite combat units, but he had never heard of elite logistics. He had visited the factories, and the craftsmen were doing repetitive, simple work. What was there to be "skilled" about?

Hughes smiled. "Look, the people in the factory now, I call them craftsmen rather than workers, because they have not fully adapted to the factory operation. Even in the factory, they are doing work similar to the old workshops."

"My definition of a worker is someone who possesses basic literacy—knowing what they should do, what they can do, what is dangerous, and what is fatal."

"Don't underestimate this. Industrial processes require learning to be understood step by step. Many dangers are not visible at a glance. If they do not learn to adapt..."

"Then we will have to pay with human lives."

Alexei was choked by these words; he truly hadn't considered that.

"You can watch. Once the craftsmen in these olive oil factories have basic proficiency, there will be a huge change in both production efficiency and accident rates."

Hughes flipped through the notebook in his hand and asked again, "How is the school?"

"I have found a few empty buildings. Desks and chairs are easy to come by, but it is hard to gather enough books and paper for the time being..."

"It doesn't need to be that troublesome." Hughes laughed. To people of this era, the mention of a school was more akin to the modern concept of a "university." As for basic education? Nobles hired private tutors, and commoners? Why would commoners need to go to school?

What Hughes needed to solve now was basic education, to cultivate qualified engineers—or even lower, to cultivate qualified workers.

"Our school doesn't need paper and pens. Find a wall, or a large enough wooden board, and paint it with black lacquer." With a blackboard, one could teach. The territory produced gypsum and lime, and making chalk required no technical skill; one could even use clods of earth to write on the board.

"Education is not such an inconvenient thing. With students and a blackboard, knowledge can be passed on."

Alexei opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he didn't know where to start. Although he was an orphan, he had received an elite education, and he knew the consequences of Hughes doing this.

Universal education? Teaching a group of peasants to read? Even if just the rumor of such a school spread, Hughes would become the laughingstock of the noble circles.

Yet, Alexei had an indescribable feeling. He had grown up in an orphanage and had seen the toiling, confused lives of those at the bottom. He was not one of those high-and-mighty aristocrats; his feet had also trodden the muddy earth.

In the end, he said nothing, only gripping the scimitar at his waist—the one Hughes had gifted him. This had become a habit for Alexei recently; whenever he held this blade, strength surged from within his heart, supporting him.

"...In any case, the school must start classes as soon as possible. I will personally select the instructors. The renovation of the workshops cannot be delayed either. We don't have much time."

Alexei looked at Hughes earnestly, saluted him, and left the manor.

"Why does he keep using that military salute..."