Chapter 43: Timing, Terrain, and Unity

This was because, if road construction was not coordinated properly, it could truly force out public resentment and trigger riots.

It is common knowledge that if infrastructure projects are poorly managed, they become a bottomless pit of investment. This is especially true in an era without an established fiat currency system, where large-scale infrastructure construction was directly synonymous with exhausting the people and squandering wealth.

As for why this happened, it could only be attributed to a multitude of overlapping factors.

First, without machinery, merely gathering raw materials required an immense expenditure of manpower and resources. It was also a highly dangerous task; before explosive blasting, stone could only be quarried bit by bit using the principle of thermal expansion and contraction by heating the rock and splashing water on it.

The existence of magic in this world offered little help in this regard. The status of the mage community dictated that they would never perform such lowly labor for you.

Transporting the gathered materials was also a nightmare. With road conditions resembling mud pits, you couldn’t expect any efficiency.

You also had to reasonably plan the transport and use of soil, level the designated road areas, and dig out or fill in uneven terrain.

Then there was the problem of food. The consumption rate of heavy physical labor was evident; if they didn’t eat enough while doing such heavy work, people would literally be worked to death.

How would wages be calculated? Would they be paid in grain or currency? Who would provide the three daily meals during construction? And how?

Furthermore, was your control over the lower-level management truly effective? How could you ensure that the orders you issued were executed exactly as you intended after being passed down?

Could the allocation of grain, supplies, and wages truly be carried out properly? Could they be smoothly distributed into the hands of the laborers?

These issues were not mere worries of Su Na’s, but actual, practical problems that were bound to happen in reality and had to be resolved properly. If even one or two links in this chain failed, causing a disturbance would be the least of her worries; completely wiping out her family’s reputation and goodwill among the people overnight was the real danger.

Regardless of the world, few people would go soft when it came time to embezzle your gold coins. Without that greed carved deep into their bones, humans wouldn’t have evolved past the paramecium stage when they decided to slack off.

However, although she felt incapable back then, she could now open a stretch to practice on.

Over the past few years, she had grasped the operational methods of the Fafnir territory and solidified her position as the heir. She had allowed the small and medium-sized manorial lords and minor nobles to reap profits from Fafnir’s construction over the years, securing their loyalty and fulfilling the most basic requirement of “Unity.”

All the resources required for road construction had been fully prepared and were all within the direct control of the Fafnir family. This was “Terrain.”

Due to the increase in productivity, the fluidity of the transportation system directly affected the speed at which all beneficiaries acquired their profits. Improving the congested and slow transport efficiency had become an urgent consensus among everyone. This was “Timing.”

When advancing a project benefits the vast majority, it is time to attempt it.

And credit collateral would give Su Na much more room to maneuver, as it meant she had a lever to pry open investments from nobles and merchants in other regions…

Traditionally, if someone wanted to carry out infrastructure projects like building roads, bridges, or walls, the scale of the project was dictated by how much money they had in their own pockets. It was led by a single primary investor who distributed the funds and hired people for construction.

You couldn’t say this method was bad, but one could say with absolute certainty that it offered the most room for muddying the waters and skimming off the top. Because the project was yours and the money was yours, everyone could focus their efforts on fleecing you alone.

But after acquiring this plot of land, she suddenly had a bold idea.

Although Caitlin had harbored strong intentions of befriending Su Na when she presented that gift, she never expected Su Na’s return to be so swift and fierce.

Just three days later, Caitlin received an invitation. Su Na had rented a magic practice classroom at the academy to host an exchange meeting for the noble students of the Western Royal Academy.

At the same time, she gave it the beautiful subtitle of a welcoming reception for Her Highness Princess Caitlin, essentially using Caitlin’s attendance as the main gimmick for this exchange meeting.

Would Caitlin mind? No! Quite the opposite!

Although Su Na’s family background and title were slightly lower, the web of interests her family had woven over the past few years using those novelties had already taken shape. The entire western kingdom was essentially united around the Fafnir family; they were only a signed contract away from forming a regional commercial alliance.

But even without explicitly stating it, they already were one in reality, just lacking the formalized regulations to detail the distribution of profits and their respective roles. One could say that the western kingdom today was, in practice, a single entity.