Chapter Sixty-One: Compulsory Education!
Slavery is a serious hindrance to productivity.
Without freeing slaves, it is impossible to liberate enough labor population. The future development of Modo City requires a large civilian class, not a worthless slave class that can only be sold for hard labor.
Soren’s “Abolition Edict” was like a heavyweight bomb dropped into the Material Plane, even the City of Radiance trembled. Because even the Lord of Radiance, who belongs to the Lawful Good faction and opposes slavery, has never suggested such an idea within the Church.
Moreover!
Some paladins actively supported the institution of slavery.
Soren didn’t care at all about the reactions from the outside world. Immediately after issuing the “Abolition Edict,” he initiated the third population census of Modo City.
All slaves were liberated into the lower class poor, and they would be registered in Modo City’s population statistics. From now on, they would obtain personal freedom and property rights. However, as slaves, they had almost no wealth, so the subsequent arrangement by the City Hall of Modo would be to allocate land to them.
Every inch of land in Modo City is extremely valuable!
Thus, this land could not be given to the slaves for free; that would be unfair to the entire meritocratic class.
Modo City cleared a large amount of land near the twelve large towns, all of which belong to Modo City’s property, and now they are leased to all the slaves. The City Hall of Modo uniformly provided housing, farming tools, and daily necessities to the slaves.
But that was all there was to it.
Excessive grants could easily create counterproductive effects. Soren would only give them a chance to fight for their own future through hard work.
All housing belongs to the wealth of Modo City; the released slaves only have access to basic residential areas, and all agricultural tools also belong to Modo City, with only basic usage rights granted to them.
The slaves were still penniless.
However, they could rely on themselves to earn and accumulate wealth. The land allocated by Modo City only charged about thirty percent in rent, meaning that seventy percent of the income generated in a year from farming could be considered personal property for these tenants.
Of course, Soren would not let the slaves go free.
Freedom is only relative!
Soren had arranged their fate long ago, and they had no choice but to act according to his commands.
Because Soren is a deity of the Lawful Evil faction.
Slaves became tenants. They gained the right to cultivate land independently and, based on that, laid the foundation to accumulate wealth. At the same time, they also began to provide tax burdens for Modo City, solving the problem of the severe shortage of labor population among civilians in Modo City.
Under slavery, they had almost no personal freedom and property rights; labor was often enforced through the whip.
Now they have property rights, and the income gained from farming would be regarded as their private property, greatly stimulating their enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Modo City also opened a relatively favorable policy for them compared to outsiders: liberated slaves could purchase ownership of their residences for about a third of the wealth in the outside world and convert the land into private property. All these properties would have land deeds from Modo City and be recognized by the City Hall, effectively allowing them to establish a foothold in Modo City. Soren’s promises had already stood the test of time, so there was no need for any doubts.
The speed of the third population census was very fast.
The City Hall of Modo City had long been accustomed to high-efficiency operations, and after conducting the third population census, the registered population number had reached around 270,000.
It seems that the hidden population of Modo City is indeed not small.
The blacksmith shop was busy forging farming tools. This time, Modo City’s arable land expanded by nearly half. Due to the “Abolition Edict,” Modo City gained about 50,000 additional agricultural workers, and all twelve towns were activated.
The deep cultivation system was being promoted, and with the introduction of fertilizers, Modo City’s food production was expected to sustain around 500,000 people.
However.
For Soren, agriculture is just the most basic part. What he needed to do was much more than that.
Everything he currently planned was merely a groundwork for a large-scale farm economy. When agriculture grew to a certain extent, what he needed was to liberate these laborers and transfer them to other places.
Slaves could only be exploited for a bit of strength; Soren needed much more.
………………
The morning sunlight fell.
Kovano woke up just as the sun began to rise. He looked at the clean bed he was lying on; everything seemed like a dream.
He was a slave.
From Shipwreck Bay, he was bought by a merchant, once a guard, he became a slave due to a noble’s reasons. Life as a slave was not easy; the merchant urged him to work with a whip every day, and if he or the other five slaves did not perform well, they were often beaten. As a slave, he had nothing; even if his master killed him, there would be no responsibility. This situation continued until the issuance of the “Abolition Edict.” At that time, the merchant wanted to urgently transfer him to the Southern Coast to sell him for money, but sadly, he was captured by the soldiers of Modo City.
He was free.
Everything felt like a dream.
However, freedom is only relative; Kovano soon found that the soldiers did not let him go but instead relocated him and another group of slaves to a place called Qiusui Town.
A row of neat brick houses.
Each of them was assigned a house, and the next day, a man dressed as an official came to conduct a census, followed by the allocation of tools. Kovano thought everything was the same as his past experiences, but soon he realized it was truly different.
No one beat or urged them, and even outright laziness would not be punished.
Many slaves like him had bewildered expressions, some worked hard, seemingly filled with hope for the future, while others were idle, as if they did not know what to do.
This state of affairs lasted for three days.
Kovano did not know how to face the future, so he just performed normal tasks. As a civilian, he had been learning how to cultivate land since childhood. Three days later, City Hall officials appeared again; they secretly evaluated everyone’s performance, and the best-performing slave named Nord was granted an ox, which was officially recognized as his personal property through the town’s council.
This made many slaves envious.
Because their own worth once didn’t even compare to an ox, and the man named Nord was filled with surprise.
But.
Soon, everything that followed made others feel uneasy.
Another slave was expelled because he slacked off every day and failed to complete even the most basic cultivation. The officials at City Hall stripped him of everything given by Modo City: housing, tools, food, and clothes. So everything granted by Modo City was taken away, and this poor man, wearing only a thin garment, was driven out of town without any food for his next meal. No matter how he cried and begged for forgiveness, he was still thrown out by the soldiers, completely appearing to self-destruct.
Now, everyone felt anxious.
However, the fortunate thing was that the soldiers only expelled three people, and no one knew their fate; they only knew that everything they originally owned, their residence, food, and clothes, had been taken away.
At this time.
Others finally realized how precious everything they now possessed was. They didn’t have to worry about starving, not suffering from the cold, and could live in clean and tidy houses. They just needed to work hard every day to fill their stomachs. Kovano began to adapt to this change of fate; he gradually discovered that he seemed to have become a tenant because everything he did now was no different from a tenant.
But.
In any case, being a tenant is still much higher than being a serf, and certainly much better than being a slave.
About a week later.
Officials from City Hall appeared again, which made many slaves feel uneasy.
They had become accustomed to their current life, living in a clean place, having solid housing, and no longer being beaten or whipped. They cherished this lifestyle. Fortunately, this time the officials did not expel anyone else; they only took away all children between the ages of seven and twelve, whether they were slaves or civilians. Following this, Kovano heard that there seemed to be a new school established in the town.
And these children were being gathered inside for… learning?…
Yes.
Soon, they learned that Modo City was educating these children.
It sounded a bit unbelievable because, in other places, only nobles and merchants received formal education.
Kovano had a faint feeling that the master of Modo City was doing something remarkable, but his knowledge was too limited; he didn’t truly understand what Modo City intended to do.
He just felt that the future was full of hope!
………………
In addition to counting numbers, the third population census also recorded the ages of all residents.
Subsequently, under the operations of City Hall, all territories of Modo City, including Modo Harbor, began to establish schools one after another, teaching the most basic knowledge, arithmetic, literacy, reading and writing. This basic knowledge was comprehensively and forcefully taught free of charge to all eligible children in Modo City.
At the same time, some large and dense buildings began to appear in Modo City. These three or four-story structures were placed in the south, and a large number of laborers were transferred to work inside.
No one knew what Soren was really planning.
But now, Modo City seemed like a machine that had started up and was gradually accelerating!
………………
(PS: Tomorrow I will go to Beijing for business.) (To be continued ~^~)
