Chapter 99: Planning and the Fleet
After listening to Cecilia's report, Charlotte stared at the map for a long time in thought. Then, picking up a pen, she drew a fan shape on the south side of Elm Town and said, "Elm Town needs further expansion. Let's start the second phase of construction for Elm Town in this location."
"Are we building more casinos?" Cecilia blurted out.
Cecilia hadn't been much in favor of building casinos before, but having personally managed Elm Town during this period, she had deeply felt the casino's ability to make quick money. Whether it was farming, fishing, mining, or opening restaurants, workshops, and shipyards, these industries ultimately required upfront investment and a period to recoup costs. However, the cost of a casino was almost negligible; as long as there was foot traffic, there would be customers. Even before the first phase of Elm Town was complete, the casino had already started generating profits. This had completely changed Cecilia's prejudice against the gambling industry. If not for a lingering reverence for moral constraints, the girl would have even wanted to cover Charlotte's entire territory with casinos.
Charlotte shook her head. "The casinos we have in the territory are enough for now. A casino's profitability depends entirely on the volume of customer traffic. If only one or two merchant caravans pass through the Lanwan Viscounty each day, building more casinos is pointless."
Hearing this, Cecilia nodded thoughtfully, then frowned and asked, "But how do we increase customer traffic?"
"No need to rush that," Charlotte said, shaking her head. "As long as the Lanwan Canal can open for navigation on schedule this year, the viscounty's customer traffic will naturally increase. The second phase of Elm Town primarily needs housing and warehouses. This is to prepare in advance for the future surge in the viscounty's population and flow of goods."
Cecilia took out paper and pen to note it down. "When does this construction need to begin?"
"After the spring planting is over. We'll still conscript my subjects to handle the construction." After a moment's thought, Charlotte added, "And while we're at it, build an academy."
"An academy?" Cecilia was somewhat surprised and puzzled. "Like the Great Banyan Academy?"
"No," Charlotte shook her head. "I just need an academy that can teach children literacy and arithmetic. Once it's built, all children under thirteen among my subjects will be sent there to learn to read, write, and do sums."
"Mm! That's very meaningful!" Cecilia's eyes lit up, and she repeatedly praised Charlotte's idea.
In Charlotte's view, what she was establishing couldn't really be considered basic education; it was more like a literacy program. There was no helping it—she currently lacked money, manpower, and time. She simply didn't have the conditions to establish an education system with elementary schools, middle schools, and universities. If she did that, by the time the first batch of university graduates emerged, the Aolan Empire would likely have changed hands several times. Charlotte just wanted to urgently train a group of literate individuals to fill the vacancies for grassroots administrative staff; a literacy program was pretty much sufficient.
But in Cecilia's eyes, Charlotte's actions were nothing short of a groundbreaking initiative. Cecilia didn't know about the Wimbledon Empire from a thousand years ago, but at least the Aolan Empire had never considered investing any resources in the education of commoners. For a thousand years, official imperial investment in education had only existed for the knightly class and above—an elite education centered on knightly skills. The Empire clearly believed commoners had no need for such education. Of course, the Church also had its educational system, but that too was centered around the Book of Doctrines, a missionary-style education aimed at cultivating future generations for the Church. Perhaps there were educators like Simon Capriati who conducted educational activities purely to spread knowledge, but the number of commoner students they could teach was very limited. Take Simon Capriati, for example; he mainly taught the children of nobility, with very few commoner pupils. For Cecilia to become his prized student was undoubtedly the height of fortune.
"Should children with awakening aptitude also be sent to the academy to study?" Cecilia asked curiously.
"Send them too. Even if they can awaken supernatural powers, they still need to be literate. I don't want my army filled with illiterates; those Dire Wolf warriors who can't recognize a single character are bad enough," Charlotte pursed her lips, then suddenly asked, "Speaking of supernatural aptitude, I asked you to re-test the aptitude of the Ambratu citizens. Have you finished?"
Over a month ago, after seeing Cecilia's test results for the eligible children from Ambratu citizen families, Charlotte had written back asking Cecilia to conduct a second round of testing. This time, Charlotte instructed Cecilia to select all citizens who had blood ties to supernatural individuals and test their aptitude.
"It's already been tested." Cecilia put down her pen and paper, rummaged through the stack of parchments she had brought, and found a statistical report. "A total of over eight thousand people were tested, and ultimately, only one hundred and sixty-two had an aptitude of rank four or higher."
"Hmm? Why is that?" One hundred and sixty-two people, that was only about two percent.
Charlotte picked up the data and examined it carefully. According to previous test results, supernatural aptitude seemed to be inheritable; the proportion of children from supernatural families with aptitude of rank four or higher was as high as 3.7 percent. But why did the statistic drop so sharply when the sample was expanded to include all blood relatives of supernatural individuals?
Just as Charlotte was feeling perplexed, Cecilia suddenly spoke, "I noticed an interesting phenomenon when I was compiling the data."
"What phenomenon?" Charlotte asked curiously.
"In supernatural families with multiple children, the aptitude of the youngest son or daughter is better than that of the eldest son or daughter," Cecilia said, holding up a finger.
A flash of insight struck Charlotte. She immediately flipped through the pages and found several supernatural families with multiple children. Indeed, she discovered that the older siblings' supernatural aptitude was most often worse than their younger siblings'. Sometimes, full brothers only a year or two apart had vastly different aptitudes. This statistical result gave Charlotte the feeling that there was some kind of gulf between older and younger siblings. It was as if once a person's age crossed a certain threshold, their supernatural aptitude would inexplicably vanish.
Charlotte felt as if she had touched upon some truth. She tapped her fingers lightly on the parchment in her hand, pondering for a long time before instructing, "Select ten children around the age of ten from Ambratu citizen families who have awakening aptitude. Conduct an aptitude test on them once a month and give me the results monthly."
Cecilia was somewhat puzzled but replied, "Understood."
As she spoke, Charlotte suddenly thought of something else and asked, "By the way, have the copper mines in Ambratu County resumed production?"
Copper mining was Ambratu's pillar industry and also the most important source of income Charlotte could currently foresee; she couldn't help but be concerned.
"Who knows?" Cecilia shrugged. "Mr. Jonathan Hackman has been carrying out his purge plan. Every day, former Ambratu citizens are being demoted to slaves, or even hanged. Knight Mariasis has protested to me many times, but I've followed your instructions and haven't interfered in Ambratu County's affairs. However, with just over a month having passed, Mr. Harkman probably hasn't had the spare time to resume copper mine production."
The three-month term of hard labor was already half over. After serving for more than a month, the former Ambratu citizens would have the right to return to Ambratu. Jonathan Hackman, this county governor, was clearly working overtime to fulfill his duties—finding ways to prevent these former Ambratu citizens from ever returning to Ambratu.
A hint of dissatisfaction tinged Cecilia's words. Charlotte could fully understand why. Jonathan Hackman harbored a deep-seated hatred for the citizens of Ambratu. Having been given the chance to avenge himself, his parents, and his children, he certainly wouldn't let them off lightly. It was inevitable that he would fabricate some baseless charges and employ some inhumane, excessive measures.
Although Cecilia felt Jonathan Hackman's actions were somewhat improper, Charlotte merely nodded after hearing her out and said, "Tell Jonathan Hackman to kill fewer people. I still need slaves to dig the canal."
"Yes, Milady." Cecilia still noted it down diligently.
"Then, tell Jonathan Hackman to also do what a county governor should do: resume copper production and restore economic order in Ambratu County as soon as possible. Don't let Ambratu fall into such destitution that people can't survive," Charlotte added.
Although most of the former Ambratu citizens had been forcibly removed from Ambratu, Ambratu County still had at least fifty thousand civilians and thirty thousand slaves. This population far exceeded that of the Lanwan Viscounty. If they were to cause trouble, it would be difficult to quell easily. At that point, Charlotte might have to emulate the neighboring Earl of Quickwood Forest and resort to a massacre.
"Yes, Milady," Cecilia said again.
Just as Charlotte and Cecilia were discussing administrative matters, there was a sudden knock on the study door. Anyone who could move freely within the castle was trustworthy, so Charlotte replied without looking up, "Come in."
"Viscount." Celine Adkins pushed the door open and entered.
"Is something the matter?" Charlotte asked.
"Knight Jack Moore sent word that a fleet has arrived at the Lanwan Isthmus, saying they are looking for you, Viscount," Celine replied.
"Oh, the fleet arrived so quickly?" Charlotte, startled, put down the parchment in her hand and said to Cecilia, "Let's go take a look together."
Cecilia nodded, also very interested.
The three of them left the castle together, riding giant eagles towards the Lanwan Isthmus. On the way, Charlotte asked Celine, "How is the teaching of those girls going?"
Celine's current students were the three little girls with qualifying aptitude chosen from the original Lanwan subjects, plus the two young slave girls, Sophia and Nina. Although dozens of girls with qualifying aptitude had also been identified among the former Ambratu citizen families, Charlotte hadn't allowed them to enter the castle to study under Celine and Cecilia.
Celine puffed out her cheeks and said, "I can't really teach them much, actually. Miss Cecilia does most of the teaching."
Celine was the practical type; her own understanding of the fundamental knowledge of supernatural factions was hazy at best, so she really wasn't a good teacher. However, she was diligent, leading the students in physical training and practicing basic swordsmanship and combat skills every day. Cecilia, on the other hand, was fully competent in all the subjects she was responsible for, teaching the students literacy, arithmetic, arts, and other knowledge. This made Celine feel a bit insecure, as if she truly were an uncultured country girl.
Charlotte didn't offer Celine any comfort, however. She smiled and said, "Tomorrow, I'll introduce you to someone. She'll help you teach the students. Moreover, she has solid theoretical knowledge and is proficient in a very rare supernatural faction. You can exchange ideas with her."
"Eh?" Celine asked curiously. "What kind of person is she?"
"Her name is Heidi Steffen. As for what kind of person she is, you can get to know her slowly after you meet," Charlotte said with a smile.
The giant eagles soon flew over the Lanwan Isthmus. Looking down from high above, they could clearly see a small fleet anchored by the Lanwan coast.
The giant eagles landed. Charlotte jumped off her mount. A middle-aged man in leather armor, with a full beard and a burly, imposing physique, knelt on one knee before Charlotte in salute. "Miss Charlotte, it truly has been a long time."
"You are..." Charlotte stared at the middle-aged man for a good while before recognizing him. "You're Knight David Bennett."
"Indeed." The middle-aged man smiled, though the fearsome scar on his face made his smile look somewhat ferocious. "Miss Charlotte, you've grown so much."
"Please rise, Uncle David."
Charlotte was pleasantly surprised. David Bennett had been an old knight who accompanied Helen Mellerfield to the Green Plains Duchy as part of her dowry. However, he was later transferred to the navy to serve as a fleet commander, which was why Charlotte hadn't seen him for many years. For Jose Mellerfield to send this man to Charlotte was undoubtedly a significant reinforcement for her.
"Uncle David, thank you for coming all this way to support my poor and remote territory," Charlotte said with a smile.
"Poor and remote? You have no idea what my life has been like these past few years," David Bennett said, scratching his messy hair. "I've been stationed on Clam Island for the last two years. Besides our fleet, there isn't even a village on the island. We often went a whole month without fresh vegetables. Coming to your territory, at least we can set foot on land..."
Clam Island was a small isle across the sea from Swordfish Island, located to its southeast. It was closer to the coast than Swordfish Island but much smaller in area.
"I really never want to go back to Clam Island! Land is so much better," David said, looking at the bustling Lanwan Isthmus and sighing with emotion. "At least there are more people."
Seeing Uncle David's expression, Charlotte's own became a little strange.
"Speaking of which, Miss Charlotte, where is our fleet's station? There's no suitable port around here," David Bennett asked.
"The station isn't nearby," Charlotte said.
"Then where is it?" David was puzzled.
"Swordfish Island." Charlotte raised her hand, pointing in the direction from which David had just come.