The two drink well into the hours before dawn, talking about all sorts of things.
But every party must end, and Newwood has to leave.
As the first rays of sunlight spill in, Newwood waves back at Henwell, as Newwood fades into the distance. âBrother, I probably wonât make it to your wedding!â
Henwell grins and flips him a middle finger. âIf things get rough out there, remember to come back and rest up!â
Newwoodâs figure blurs further. âYou too! If your base gets raided, find a place to lay low. Iâll come pick you up!â
Long after, Henwell still stands where he is, watching the direction Newwood disappeared.
At last, heâs not alone in this world. He hopes to see Newwood again.
Though a bit eccentric, Newwood is a solid ally.
This time, Newwood leaves not only with over ten tons of explosives but also many of Henwellâs industrial goods.
Even Henwellâs Inksteel steam engine gets packed up and taken by Newwood.
Thanks to Newwoodâs warning, Henwell realizes rushing to build a steam engine this early is risky.
After discussing it with Newwood, Henwell decides itâs better to secure an entire kingdomâs territory before rolling out such technology.
For now, heâll stick to the current tech path.
Of course, he wonât stop the top researchers from tinkering with these inventions.
Every year, Henwell allocates tens of thousands of gold coins to the steam engine project department at the research institute. Let them do experiments at their own pace!
Theyâve at least seen the steam engine, and Henwell looks forward to what they might create next.
People in his previous life werenât significantly smarter than those here. As long as the path is right, they can still build amazing machines.
Henwell begins to slowly adjust his role.
He should be a guide, not an inventor.
Heâll steer the entire factionâs direction, guiding the civilizationâs advancement and transformation.
His mission is to implement systems that nurture talent, to foster inventors across various fields.
Not just blindly copying technology from his past life.
This world is different. It deserves a different path of development.
Next, Henwell pulls out three million gold coins to boost education and technological progress.
If any worker improves a process, besides the internal rewards within each factory, Henwell sets aside a separate prize pool of one million gold coins to be distributed based on the extent of industrial improvements.
The minimum reward is one gold coin, with no upper limit.
If you manage to raise product quality even just a little, you wonât be wasting your brainpower.
If you have the skill to overhaul an entire production system, Henwell will gladly hand you the full million without hesitation.
On education, Henwell knows he has to put in serious effort.
Itâs that families donât want their kids to go to school, worried about losing help at home.
So, Henwell declares: âCome on! Farmer families, Iâll pay you to send your kids to school! One gold coin a year!â
And for those who excel, thereâs additional bonuses!
It sounds like throwing money around, but Peace Haven has hundreds of thousands of school-age children.
Henwell caps his annual spending at 500,000 gold coins.
And what does he get in return?
Hundreds of thousands of literate kids who can do basic math.
In ten years, five million gold coins can produce two to three hundred thousand middle school students.
By then, what does Henwell get in return?
As long as youâre willing to learn, Henwellâs willing to pay!
Besides these two expenses, Henwell also instructs each factory and research institute to put forward their toughest unsolved problems.
They announce these with hefty bounties, posted publicly for everyone to see.
It doesnât matter if youâre from Peace Haven or what your profession is. As long as you have an idea, you can step forward
Once a solution is accepted and deemed feasible, Henwell pays on the spot.
Pooling collective wisdom. There are always smart people among the masses.
Sometimes, just looking at a problem from a different angle or perspective can spark a breakthrough.
From now on, Henwell commits one million gold coins annually to each of these three prize pools.
Are there people trying sneaky tricks to scam Henwellâs funds?
Of course!
Never underestimate human greed!
With enough temptation, theyâd even dare to cheat the gods!
The gods might not care about these insignificant ants, but Henwell does.
His intelligence agency and secret guards keep a close watch.
If Henwellâs inspectors miss the fraud and no one reports it, well, props to your skills. You deserve the money!
But if you brazenly think Henwellâs people are fools, rest assured:
The laws here donât bother with niceties. You donât need to confess, and thereâs no courtroom drama.
The Potion Analysis Institute needs thousands of âvolunteersâ every year to contribute to medical research.
The medical school has plenty of students waiting for live human specimens!
Henwellâs dungeons can hold prisoners, and the smuggling caravans certainly donât shy away from selling slaves.
If you want to cheat, be ready to pay with your life.
Thatâs the one good thing about this hellhole.
Even if Henwell enforces laws harsh enough to get blasted back in his previous life, here, he still manages to earn the reputation of a merciful lord.
Beyond these three tech-boosting projects, Henwell has a lot more on his plate.
The steel smelting plant along the Ouse River is now running smoothly.
Peace Havenâs steel output is expected to surpass 15,000 tons this year.
Steam engines still need constant refinement, so Henwell isnât ready to roll them out widely just yet.
For now, he plans to rely heavily on water power.
Along these few dozen kilometers of the Ouse River, Henwell intends to build factories everywhere.
If one smelting plantâs capacity is limited, then build ten!
With industrial workers increasing steadily, Henwellâs demand for steel keeps growing.
In five years, he aims to push Peace Havenâs refined steel production past 100,000 tons.
Only at that scale will it match Henwellâs vision for the future.
As for extraordinary metals, since Newwood canât help, Henwell doubles down.
Heâs ready to expand secret trade with Catherineâthrowing money at it if neededâto build his own stock of extraordinary alloys.
Heâs also begun trying to source alloy formulas from other factions.
Among the young operatives trained by Chickâs intelligence department, a group has spent over a year studying forging and smelting.
In about six months, theyâll be dispatched through various channels to clandestine extraordinary alloy foundries in different kingdoms.
There, while working, theyâll analyze the alloy formulas used.
These high-level spies are virtually undetectable by other factions.
After all, literate, knowledgeable people here are costly and rarely assigned to such roles.
They wouldnât spend years as blacksmiths or smelters, and guarding against them is extremely difficult.
Those factions control their alloy formulas tightly, and unique raw materials are monopolized and guarded.
But Henwell isnât planning mass production, he just wants the formulas for research.
With Henwellâs current resources, acquiring these strictly controlled extraordinary materials isnât too hard.