Chapter 364 (1/2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Unknowingly, Wood had lived in Pyroxene Town for a week.
During the week, he had observed a lot, so he had a lot of understandings of the town which the federation called the Northern Hope. He also had understood something about the governing ideas and various key technologies.
As a spy, he had done a good job.
However, he did not take any pride or pleasure in it. Actually, he was full of worry.
How could Pyroxene Town develop into a paradise in a short period of less than three years from a small town that had been so dilapidated? In his view, the key was nothing more than two points.
One was opening a source, and the other one was reducing expenditure.
Opening a source meant actively looking for a source of income for the town. The two most important sources of income here were the refinement of negative energy essence in the underground farms and several herb fields outside the village. The former source could produce mid-level and low-level magic materials. In the methods that he had not been able to understand, they could transform a variety of valuable resources that were popular in the international magic material market. The latter source produced important consumer goods for common people. Although the price was not high, the market’s demands for them were endless. Therefore, they could always be sold well.
With these two key sources of income, people could support the various policies in the town. For example, “beautifying the living environment.” He never thought that such a small town would care so much about the environment. On the propaganda board of the town, there were pictures of the scenes of the town in the recent years that had been drawn by great painters. The pictures, which had been enhanced with magic, were tough, so people could turn the pages casually to review the history of the development of the town.
From the pictures, people could see that Pyroxene Town had been extremely dilapidated when Town Mayor Felix had first arrived. The ground had been full of small pits and gravel. Starving people and feces had been everywhere, and they were frozen like hard stones. The houses had been so destroyed they looked as if they would fall down in a blow of wind.
However, just three months later, when the spring had come, the houses in the town had been repaired. The big and small wooden houses had been like patched clothes. Although there were many patches on them, they had still been repaired well. There had been some smoke coming out of the heated stoves under the houses. As estimated, it must be very warm while living in the houses, so people would not be afraid of the cold.
By the fall of that year, the roads of the town had been repaired, almost the same as they were now. The foundations had been pieces of gravel, and then the powder of crushed stones had been poured into the gaps of the gravel. While watering, they had been hammered down to be firm. Finally, although they had slightly been inferior to complete boulder strips, the road was flat and smooth enough.
Moreover, there had been many decorative and celebratory items in the square in the center of the town. Several villagers had obviously been wearing newly-made clothes, and they had been happily decorating the place.
In the spring of the following year, many houses in the town had been rebuilt. Although the repaired old houses could still be used, some of them had been too old, or the quality of some had not been good. Therefore, the villagers had pushed down the dilapidated houses, and the owners of those houses had temporarily lived in the mayor’s office. In the pictures, the people who had become strong and energetic had not been afraid of the cold, and they had been working in an orderly manner. At the door of the mayor’s office, an old man had been smiling at the construction site. Two women next to him had been preparing meals in a large pot. The scene had been so passionate. Even if he only saw it in the picture, Wood was so moved.
The celebration in the fall of the second year had been quite grand. The picture had depicted the scene of the nighttime. Although it had been completely dark, the square in the center of the town had been full of celebratory people. Several young spellcasters had asked the residents to move a little further away, and then they had cast spells into the sky like fireworks. The lights of the explosions had decorated the night sky. The bonfire had reflected the laughing faces of people full of happiness, and expectations for the future.
Wood noticed that in this picture, the town already had a lot of green plants. He assumed that the work to evict negative energy erosion was completed during this time.
The last picture seemed to be completed recently. The town had held a small ceremony to celebrate the birthdays of several old people. Those old people who should be poor and hopeless in other places had been so happy here that the wrinkles on their faces looked like blossoms because of their smiles. Around the square, many trees had been planted on both sides of the road. The green leaves had been glowing like precious emeralds in the sunshine.
An aerial view of another town had been attached next to this picture. There had been beautiful walls, vegetable fields, and herbal fields in the town. Only the site where the negative energy essence was refined had been blank. The painter had drawn a smiley face in this position with the words “This is a secret.”
Comparing these five pictures, Wood was moved.
He could see that the income of this town was indeed not low, but more importantly, the key was that the mayor was willing to spend the money.
How many high-income areas were there? Many. Only in the federation, were there so many towns with stable industries. He dared to bet that the incomes of those towns were definitely higher than Pyroxene Town.
However, those towns were not comparable to Pyroxene Town. The lords who ruled the towns and the powerful people who controlled various income projects all thought hard about how to seek money, but they couldn’t pay for the improvement of the conditions and the livelihood of the town. Therefore, although the income might be at the same level, the situations of the towns were quite different.
And this was the second reason that Wood had summed up: reducing expenditure.
For a piece of territory, although the income was high, if the ruled people completely held onto it and only occasionally spent money, then the high income would be meaningless.
The reason why Pyroxene Town could develop was that the Town Mayor Felix almost didn’t care about the income, and that was one of the keys to the problem.
This beautiful female mage took out almost all the income of the town and reinvested it into the construction of the town. Her own industry, for example, the magic school, was built entirely with her own money. She didn’t use even a coin of public funds.
Public funding was a phrase often used by the residents of Pyroxene Town when they chatted in the bar. The word came from the mayor herself. She had said more than once that she was the leader of the town, but not the owner. This town belonged to everyone.
Wood was a little familiar with such words. He thought for a long time and finally remembered that these were the words that the founder of the federation, Master Le-Peyroux, had said in the past.