Chapter 637: Development Outline

...

After escaping from the dream, Roland was wide awake. He excitedly rolled out of bed, threw on his coat, went straight to his office, pulled out a few sheets of white paper, and began to write down from memory the periodic table and some overlooked knowledge of elementary chemistry.

Two entries into the dream had allowed him to discern some general patterns. First, the passage of time in the dream did not correspond to real-world time. This was easy to understand. Even a short nap could produce a long string of dreams – perhaps when senses like sight, hearing, and touch were internally provided, the brain could reach a very high reaction speed.

For example, he had been active in the dream for about eight hours, until around 3:00 PM, taking advantage of the fact that Jieluo had not yet returned, he had completed the fall in the bedroom using a stepladder. But here it was still late at night, the moon hanging high overhead, and there were probably two or three more hours before sunrise.

Second was the level of brain activity. Perhaps due to the vividness of the dream, Roland found that his actions in the dream were not the same as a state of sleep and rest – which was a very tricky problem. Handling government affairs during the day and earning money to support his family at night, was he to be busy twenty-four hours a day? He suddenly felt that he was about to become the model worker of Neverwinter City… the most diligent one.

However, Roland had not yet tried sleeping in the dream to see what would happen. If he could use the time difference between the two, resting in the dream would undoubtedly greatly improve work efficiency.

The third was the dream itself.

It was completely different from his usual dreams – clear, stable, and with its own set of rules. Undoubtedly, this was due to Jieluo. She had turned the dream into a new world, and Roland's understanding of it was only superficial.

Did it have boundaries? What fragments had been integrated into it? And how much buried, or even forgotten, information could be found inside?

Finally, when dawn broke, Roland had breakfast and summoned all the heads of departments in the City Hall to the castle reception hall.

In addition to understanding the changes and progress of the city over the past month, he had a crucial goal, which was to formulate the strategic goals for the next stage.

Now that the threat of the Church had been lifted, the most important thing was undoubtedly to prepare for the attack of the demons and go all out to participate in the upcoming Battle of Divine Will.

Roland focused his attention on the other kingdoms.

"Uh... are you saying that we should not only recruit people from various territories of Graycastle, but also go to Everwinter and Wolfheart to grab people?" Barov wiped his forehead. "Your Majesty, this is a big project."

"The news of the Church suffering heavy losses will surely spread throughout the continent. It is unknown how much control the Holy City of Hermes can maintain over Everwinter and Wolfheart. Also, those nobles who joined the Church, when the situation changes, it would not be surprising if they turn around and bite us hard." Roland said in a deep voice, "This is our good opportunity. Whether we use gold royals to lure them or force them with military force, as long as we can pull these people to Graycastle, that will be enough."

In this era when nationalism has not yet awakened, forcibly pulling people has almost no consequences – as long as you can pull the whole family, most people do not mind who they are working for.

"By the spring of next year, Neverwinter City's seaport will be open. Your main tasks are to formulate a recruitment plan, rent sea ships from the Fjords merchants, and properly settle the people who are transported here." He continued, "I know that implementing these policies will cost a lot of gold royals, but no matter what, the City Hall must grit its teeth and complete it – all of you here know that the Church is not the ultimate enemy of the kingdom."

This plan for rapid population expansion seems complex and vast, but many of the details have already been fully "rehearsed" by the City Hall.

For example, the recruitment campaign is not a difficult task for the City Hall, which has repeatedly sent delegations to the Southern and Eastern Territories to attract people.

As for resettlement, there are complete regulations and abundant experience.

Today's Neverwinter City Hall is a reliable and mature administrative institution.

For the only part that has not been practiced, maritime transport, he plans to contact Thunder and the Margaret Chamber of Commerce to help him complete it.

"By the way, in order to reduce your burden, I will formally hire Edith Kant xiaojie to join the City Hall as your deputy," Roland paused, "Whether it was planning the Coldwind Ridge battle or her performance in the Staff Department, her abilities are impeccable. I believe that with her help, you will be much more relaxed."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty," Barov said quickly, "But I can handle these things alone..."

"I have already decided," Roland interrupted the chief's words, "Just do as I say."

Then he looked at Scroll, "Education is also a key focus for the next stage. I wonder how the training of intermediate teachers is progressing?"

"So far, only Felin has passed the intermediate assessment," Scroll shook her head, "Your Majesty, this method may not work."

"I understand," Roland was not surprised by the failure of the Ministry of Education. Initially, primary teachers all came from the knight class, and the content they taught was limited to popularizing writing. With the uniformly written teaching plans and Scroll's personal guidance, they successfully completed their tasks.

But when the Ministry of Education intended to further strengthen teacher resources and wanted to train knights into intermediate teachers, the problem arose – the only reason these nobles were literate was because they had the means to access these things, which did not mean that they were good at learning.

The intermediate assessment involves mathematics, physics, and chemistry, which cannot be understood by simply studying them.

"Since it doesn't work, choose new intermediate teachers from the students," he decided, "In order to ensure that students can continue to study, include the scholarship system in the new year's financial plan."

"Scholar...ship?" Scroll was stunned, "Are you referring to the reward system that was promoted in Longsong Stronghold?"

"Completely different. The rewards at that time were to attract more people to participate in learning, while scholarships only reward the top students." Roland explained, "Its purpose is to allow talented people to obtain a salary comparable to that of ordinary workers during the learning stage, so that they will be willing to continue to stay in school."

The reason is simple. Most people, after passing the popular education assessment and obtaining a diploma, will no longer consider further studies, but will find a job as soon as possible to support their families. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a special subsidy – that is, a scholarship – to allow those who are good at learning to receive better training.

"At first, you can set the reward line a little higher, so that the screened students are estimated to be around twenty or thirty people. Let you and Felin teach them, and their learning speed should be much faster than that of the knights. Those who pass the intermediate assessment will be hired as intermediate teachers, with a starting salary of fifty silver wolves per month. Those who do not pass will not suffer any losses and can still apply for other jobs."

With the first batch of intermediate teachers, relaxing the reward line can gradually promote higher-level education.