A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

46 – New Immigration

The large steel mill operated by Karham Longbeard and his dwarves boasted a frightening steel production capacity. Giant machines moved tirelessly with high-purity magic stones, constantly extracting steel that became the new strength of the empire.

However, with the introduction of the factory system, there came a moment when the transportation capacity of carriages became insufficient.

Therefore, the empire needed a railroad.

“Prince Adran, could you grant permission to lay the tracks for the train?”

“Tracks?”

“Yes. Could you take a look at the map of the empire? We will lay tracks connecting the major cities and densely populated areas. Like this.”

Prince Adran, looking at the intricately planned map of tracks, smiled approvingly.

“Excellent, Randor. Very impressive. With this alone, we can have tremendous transportation capabilities.”

“Of course. But it doesn’t end here.”

He showed the plan for the track passing through the trade route.

“We will also connect it to the city of Dagamba, the main city of Karamba. And this part in the northern part of the Golden Plains. Do you see?”

“That’s Molta, right? Why here?”

“It’s a place I recently acquired from the Sultan. There is oil here. This oil can be burned to generate heat, but it can also be used to produce various goods.”

“Goods…you say?”

Synthetic rubber, plastic, synthetic fibers, and more. If developed, we could produce a massive quantity of goods that would create an enormous impact. The Sultan probably handed it over to me because he only knows the basic uses of this oil, but once time passes and he realizes its true value, he’ll shed tears of regret.

“That part will be handled once again by the alchemists and magicians of Matap. Anyway! We’ll lay down the tracks in Malta and Dagamba. And we’ll make carriages that can transport a significant amount of goods, enough to trivialize things like carriages.”

Prince Adran, seeing my excited expression, looked at me in silence before chuckling.

“I knew the day would come when I could happily witness you enjoying something like a child, Randor. Is it that enjoyable?”

“Yes, it is. It will be a revolution in the transportation industry!”

Without saying a word, Adran signed a document and handed it to me.

“It’s a development permit. Lay down the tracks. If it succeeds, we can achieve tremendous results.”

“Of course! I won’t disappoint!”

I grinned brightly and firmly shook hands with Prince Adran.

That’s how easily I obtained permission for track construction.

However, a few days later, I faced a fundamental problem that prevented me from launching a large-scale railroad project.

“We don’t have enough people.”

“….What?”

“Currently, there are too many job opportunities, and people can’t keep up with them. The development of the Golden Plains, the development of the Songchang Plateau in the west, various factories, hospitals… Jobs overflow. We’re short of people, Lord Randor. While you can proceed with the railroad project, the progress may not be as fast as expected due to the shortage of manpower.”

So it was.

The shortage of manpower became apparent.

Another strategy meeting was held in the capital.

Selene, Carya, Karl Hansen, me, and Adran—these five people, who had become tired of seeing each other’s faces too often, gathered in one place again.

“I want to undertake the railroad project. My goal is to lay down tracks extensively and significantly increase transportation capacity.”

“But what’s the problem?”

In response to Selene’s question, Karl Hansen spoke on my behalf.

With a gloomy expression and tone.

“We don’t have enough people. People.”

“……..”

“We can handle factory work, farming, hospitals, even the film industry… It’s not a joke; we really don’t have enough people. However, we can’t force people who are doing well in their jobs to come and work on laying tracks.”

“Well, it’s a problem. What do we do about this?…”

When Selene made a troubled expression, Carya offered her opinion.

“How about immigration? The Karamba Empire has a larger land area and population than us. If we accept large-scale immigration and solve the manpower problem, what do you think?”

It was not a bad solution.

Except for one problem.

“The problem is the Sultan. The Sultan. If we receive large-scale immigration, who knows what schemes he will devise. While the Suians and Seoriks work diligently, we may not be able to prevent spies from infiltrating when large-scale immigration occurs.”

Karl Hansen adds his remark.

“In addition, there are also cultural differences. So far, the majority of the Western Continent’s people who have settled in the Ailam Empire are mostly merchants and doctors. They are educated individuals who belong to the upper-middle class in the Karamba hierarchy. But if we accept large numbers of manual laborers, the majority will be the lower class.”

Karl Hansen strokes his throat as if feeling a chill.

“Perhaps if they were tribal people with fertile lands for farming or abundant pastures for livestock. But most nomadic tribes who live off livestock in barren lands are plunderers. When they have nothing to eat, it becomes their daily routine to unsheathe their swords and loot. There is also concern that if such people are mixed in, they could transform into criminal organizations.”

“Certainly, if we receive a large number of immigrants, such problems may arise.”

Karia rubs her head as if it’s aching.

“Then what should we do?”

Various solutions were presented and began to be rejected.

“Deploying 200,000 Iron Blood Legionnaires is the result of the mobilization order for the Northern Expedition. It is too large of a number to maintain during peacetime. If we discharge most of the soldiers and utilize the remaining ones as laborers, what do you think?”

My opinion of discharging the legionnaires and using them as laborers.

“Discharging is not an option.”

“Prince Adran, why not?”

“The Laco Mountains are a given, as well as the Green Hell Jungles in the south. And the Limnakal Plains in the north, too. There are still areas that the Imperial Army needs to protect. We may have wiped out the monsters in the Limnakal Plains, but they will reappear with time, and the Green Hell in the south has always been famous as a monster den.”

“Ah…indeed, the Laco Mountains aren’t the only place overflowing with monsters, right?”

“That’s correct. The problem with the Iron Blood Legion right now isn’t the numbers, but rather, they are concentrated in the Laco Mountains, the Elond Marches, and the Portu Commercial City. Rendor. We must disperse their deployment, not discharge them. Even during peacetime, the Imperial Army has always consisted of between 150,000 to 250,000 soldiers. With increased food production capacity, we can easily maintain those numbers.”

My idea was negated by Prince Adran.

“What if we only accept immigrants from highly educated people in the Crescent Triangle? Instead of people from impoverished areas where plundering has become a culture, we select only people from affluent areas.”

The idea of only accepting well-educated individuals from the Crescent Triangle, proposed by Karl Hansen.

“The people from the Crescent Triangle are already living well at the moment. They are the ones who have been enjoying the economic boom created by the war economy led by the Sultan. Unless it’s an occupation that has already been oversupplied, like doctors, they won’t feel the merits of leaving their homeland and immigrating.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Furthermore, it would be easier to mix in spies if they were people from the Crescent Triangle, who are inherently loyal to the Sultan. They would be pleased with what the Sultan says, right? They would think that they can freely dictate the laws of Ailam based on the number of their supporters.”

My idea was negated.

We continued to brainstorm ideas, but no effective ideas emerged.

In the end, the meeting that day ended without reaching a meaningful conclusion, and I returned to the Elond Marches on Teleportation with a gloomy expression. Thanks to the high-purity Magicite, I was able to teleport a much greater distance, which meant that I didn’t have to make any stops along the way.

“This is giving me a headache, really.”

“I completely agree.”

“It’s not an easy problem.”

Sitting on the sofa, we sighed deeply, and Seoric and Chertu approached cautiously. Since Seoric and Chertu were in charge of security at the Central Guild Hall of the Merchant Guild in the Elond Marches where we were staying, we often saw their faces.

“What happened?”

“I’m planning a railroad project. I want to build railroads all over the empire, but I don’t have enough workers.”

“Workers?”

“Yes. So I’m considering accepting immigrants. I’m at a loss for what to do. My head hurts.”

“It must be difficult.”

Seo-rik couldn’t do anything except nod in response to my words.

However, Cherto seemed like she had something to say.

I turned my gaze towards her as she cautiously raised her hand.

“Yes. Cherto. What’s the matter?”

“It’s about accepting immigrants, Lord Randor. Is there… no consideration for other races?”

“Other races?”

“Yes. We are the Rangin tribe. But not only the Rangin tribe resides in Karamba. There are the Myoin, Ungin, To-in, and Hoin tribes, among others. Many different races live in Karamba. What if we bring them here to work?”

The eyes of the three of us widened at her words.

Other races.

Those who are shunned and persecuted in Karamba.

In other words, they are beings with absolutely no possibility of pledging loyalty to the Sultan and a very low risk of infiltrating as spies. Moreover, compared to humans, beings of other races are overwhelmingly strong. There was no existence more suited to be workers than them.

“Let’s have a serious discussion about it, Cherto. Come here. How are most of these beings living?”

“Most of them are in dire conditions. The leaders of the Ungin and Hoin tribes are overseeing their soldiers, and the Myoin and To-in tribes are in the midst of resistance movements.”

“Resistance movements?”

“Yes. The Myoin and To-in tribes are not only strong, but also incredibly agile, so they have the ability to easily escape from the Sultan and humans. They make a living by robbing the wealthy in the Crescent Triangle and assassinating those who try to oppress them. They are one of the Sultan’s headaches.”

It was a very interesting story.

“Cherto, in your opinion, if we were to bring all those beings to Ailam, do you think there is a possibility that they might become criminals or have a negative impact on the empire due to differences in education and culture?”

It was a matter that needed to be considered when accepting immigrants. Cherto laughed and nodded firmly in response to my question.

“Their education level is low, and there are cultural differences, that’s for sure. Most of them are treated as lower-caste peasants. But I can say with absolute certainty that there is no possibility of them becoming criminals or causing social problems due to cultural differences.”

Cherto was firm in her statement.

“If Ailam warmly welcomes these beings first, there is no reason for them to harm Ailam unless they’re fools. There is no place like this where the treatment of beings of other races is good. Once they start thinking of it as their new homeland, there will be no beings more loyal than them.”

Karia, Karl Hansen, and I looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Even if we bring them here, as long as we treat them with respect, there is no possibility of them becoming criminals.

They are strong and good at their jobs.

They hold much resentment towards Karamba, so there is also no chance of them becoming spies for the Sultan.

Are there any immigrants more perfect than this?