Chapter 745: Chapter 11: The Weight of Exoskeleton Armor and Inheritance (7800)_5
Moreover, there certainly are people like Celine who hoard goods to create scarcity.
Sublimators perhaps wouldnât bother with such trivial matters, for in their eyes, the Domain Residents are already their property; thereâs simply no need for them to resort to such methods to squeeze out wealthâbut ordinary people do exploit other ordinary people.
Itâs not to say that, with Sublimators, the wealthy stop exploiting the common folk, or vice versa.
But compared to Sublimators, whose existence feels a bit distant from the lives of most ordinary people, exploitation among peers might weigh even heavier.
These are two different issues.
However, Terra has its advantages, which Ian found quite comforting.
âCanât deal with other Sublimators? Canât deal with you?
In Terra, lynching someone on a lamppost is all too easy.
Merchant guilds and similar business organizations must rely on Sublimators, and even if they become wealthy enough to become Sublimators themselves, their status automatically shifts from merchant to Sublimator; their way of thinking changes as well, and the attraction of their past accumulated wealth loses its allure, overshadowed by the larger transformation brought about by becoming a Sublimator.
Furthermore, the tech tree is simply too skewed. Industrialization, assembly lines, and specialized industrialization have been in place from the very beginning, controlled and regulated by national organizations composed of top-tier Sublimators, preventing the accumulation of private capital.
Therefore, from the start, Terra had no chance of sprouting any seeds of capitalism.
"Not sure if itâs good or bad. Oh well, Otherworld shouldnât follow common sense anyway. Since thereâs artificial intelligence and assorted pre-era technologies... perhaps it was destined to develop in leaps from the get-go."
This was the conclusion Ian had reachedâgradual progress in Terra was simply a joke.
And this time, opening the granaries to distribute food had undoubtedly been a massive success.
As for the generosity of Ian, the residents of Leyan City hailed, âLong live Lord!â
Yes. The people of the Terra Continent, due to modifications from a previous era, generally had decent intelligence and lacked inborn intellectual disabilities. They could see that their new Lord, after vigorously reorganizing the cityâs management, had begun to garner popular support.
Whether he truly had extensive resources or was just pretending to be richer than he was... they didnât care.
The important thing was to secure supplies first; they were truly scared of hunger.
To speak immorally, Ian was actually quite grateful for people like Celine.
After the reforms of the Black King, The Empire had a large granary in the Central Plains, making it extremely difficult to starve people to death deliberately. To win hearts with such a simple method as food, one must indeed thank those merchants blinded by their interests.
Otherwise, Ian really couldnât think of any way to appeal to the well-fed Domain Residents of Leyan Territory and make them subconsciously acknowledge his legitimate rule.
But now, everything was going smoothly.
A good start is half the battle.
"Scott."
Thinking of this, Ian said, "Next, lead the team; weâre going to round up people in the workshop district."
"Yes, my Lord!"
Scott responded without any hesitation, then without a word, just looked at Ian steadily, with a hint of anticipation, waiting for instructions.
"Scott."
Ian turned his head, somewhat exasperated, "At times like this, donât be so obedientâyou should be asking me âwhy are we rounding up people?â... Oh, indeed, thatâs not very nice. But at the very least, you ought to ask âwho are we going after?â right?"
"Yes, my Lord," Scott said. "Who are we going to round up?"
Ian continued smoothly, "Weâre rounding up the workers from the workshops and blacksmith shops. Theyâve stopped working for a long time, and now itâs time to gather them all to get back to work."
"Yes, my Lord."
This time Scott had learned his lesson, "But what work will they be doing?"
Ian nodded in satisfaction, "Of course, theyâll be making some cutting-edge equipment that you all can use. What we need to do next is to stabilize Leyan City, prepare for the enemyâs retaliation, and plan for the real development afterward, so we must strengthen our sideâs power as much as possible before the retaliation hits."
"Oh." This time, Scott truly didnât understand, "Prepare for retaliation? Havenât the Rebel Highlandersâ forces around Leyan Territory been mostly wiped out?"
"Weâve killed so many. Do you think there wonât be any retaliation?" Ian shook his head slightly, "Supported by Fiery Flame Land, the Rebel Highlanders now barely constitute an entity; they will surely react."
"Just wait. At the earliest two weeks, at the latest a month, the bulk of the Rebel Highlanders... will be coming over!"