Chapter 152 – Mung Bean Soup for the Conscience

“Sir, why are you so anxious to build four workshops?”

 “I want to see results soon.”

On the open s.p.a.ce in the workshop area, Liszt was accompanied by Tremblingwoods and inspected the construction of the workshop. 

Gort, who was in charge of the construction, was a little puzzled. Just this morning, Liszt repeated his orders and asked that the four workshops be completely built within five days. Because of this,  he had to call in more serfs for the construction.

 The whole construction site is in full swing.

It was autumn, and the temperature ,though not as hot as summer, can still make one sweat.

“Tell the workers that if the construction is completed within five days, the salary will be doubled, and if it will be completed within four days, then salary will be tripled.”

"Oh my G.o.ds! The serfs will go crazy! " Gort exclaimed then spread his hands. ” It is impossible to build a workshop in four days. The workshop is not a wooden house. It requires skilled people to build it.”

Liszt said apathetically, “I only want it simple and ready for production. I don't expect the workshop to bring me much income. If it can contribute to the castle's needs, it is already good.”

A serf's skill level cannot be overestimated.

But it would be a mistake to underestimate a serf's pursuit for money.

The four workshops can be completed in four days, but in a chaotic manner and would require nonstop work from day to night. Furthermore, the quality of the work done cannot be guaranteed at all.  However, for now, Liszt was not after the quality, but speed.

The workshop could be in the shabbiest condition, but as long as it was a completed task, Liszt didn't mind.

The evolution of the thorn worms comes first.

Gort wasn't following Liszt's thinking, but he was only an adviser. All the power in the territory was granted by Liszt. He could only accept, “Sir, I will pressure this group of serfs. I can't guarantee for the workshops to be done in four days, but within five days, you will definitely see four workshops in the workshop area. “

“Complete this task, adviser Gort , and I will reward you with a few bottles of gin and purchase the cellar vintage from Tulip Castle just for you.”

“Oh my G.o.d, the Juniper wine is so mouth-watering! I haven't drank that wine from Tulip Castle for a few years now ! Haha, I won't sleep until the workshops are made, sir! Please rest a.s.sured!”

The officials' and workers' att.i.tude were immediately corrected.

Liszt walked Tremblingwoods back and forth in the area.

Halfway through, he simply rode on Tremblingwoods' back, treating him as a ride — Tremblingwoods' was growing fast, already weighing more than a ton. A tiger could only be regarded as a bigger cat in front of him. Tremblingwoods could easily tear leopards apart.

Even without magic, it can stand at the top of the Coral Island food chain.

At first, Tremblingwood's was reluctant to let Liszt ride him, but after being given a hearty meal, Liszt had one sweet ride. It's behavior did not change at all when mounted.

When they arrived at Thorns Ridge, Liszt shouted the instruction: “Tremblingwoods, multiple Rockthorns!” 

There was a big roar, and then, in the originally planned but unconstructed section, seven thick rock thorns emerged from the ridges.

“Good-boy!”

Touching Tremblingwoods' head, Liszt was very satisfied, and continued to give instructions, “Go ahead, Tremblingwoods, multiple Rockthorns!”

Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+

Six more rock thorns pierced the ground.

“Good job, little one. Come on, one more Rockthorn!”

Whoos.h.!.+

A single rock thorn came  out. Tremblingwoods was able to understand the difference between rock thorns and multiple rock thorns.

The beast had a piece of jerky as a reward.

Liszt rubbed Tremblingwoods' chubby neck and continued his training: ” Tremblingwoods , throw out bigger, bigger, spiky thorns! “.

Whoos.h.!.+

A rockthorn came out.

“Bigger rockthorns!”

Whoos.h.!.+

Another rockthorn came out.

"Unsatisfactory, Tremblingwoods! No jerky this time. When I say bigger, I want bigger okay ? ", Liszt dangled the jerky in front of him but did not give it to make the beast understand that its performance was not enough.

More gradual training had to be done.

Only when the thorns come out bigger will Liszt give Tremblingwoods the jerky. He repeated the instructions, “Bigger rockthorns!”, to signal the best that the jerky comes as a reward for the bigger thorns. Tremblingwoods was not a dumb beast, but certain conditions had to be done for it to understand commands.

The training was repet.i.tive and boring.

When Tremblingwoods understands new instructions, Liszt would finally feel fulfilled since his ultimate goal was for the beast to release more kinds of magic.

Tremblingwoods is a mid-level monster, sure, but it's level is still a little far from the Purple Sand Alligator. Their difference is comparable to that of an average monster that only leveled-up, since a natural monster is still higher in level compared to it. How that happens depends on the beast's master, how he trains it .In this situation, the learned skills will have to make up for the talent. 

Liszt trained the powerful Tremblingwoods himself, and he enjoyed it.

However, the road construction team that followed was not so happy. Along with the soaring magic came the rock thorns being produced in large quant.i.ties. This added to the workload of the road repair team.

The hammers kept pounding, crus.h.i.+ng the rocks and spreading them across Thorns Ridge — a difficult task, since List demanded that each piece of gravel be no bigger than a bottle cap. The serfs who were in charge of the rubble need to keep pounding, even knocking it into powder.

It was only through this way that the roads built would be flat.

Looking at the serfs of the road-building team, their sweat dripping with dust, Liszt was a little emotional – for compared to them, he was too laid-back.

He comforted himself by thinking that he also has good skills like transmigration, since it was a skill not easily learned.

Seeing the housekeeper Carter come over, Liszt commanded, “Have Mrs. Abby prepare the mung bean soup and deliver it to the serfs of the road repair team, one bowl each.”

“Your kindness will take them by surprise, Sir Baron.”

“As long as they work hard, I will never be stingy in rewarding and giving.” In Flower Town, I hope that everyone works so they can feed themselves, eat enough to keep themselves warm, so that even when winter comes, they can still live a healthy life. Liszt spoke with his vision for Flower Town in mind.

Draining the serfs with too much work is a low-level kind of exploitation.

Only by mobilizing the serfs' enthusiasm for production can they work even harder and complete more work. He remembered this from Karl Marx's book, Capital.

If a capitalist has conscience – how kind it would have been if they gave mung bean soup to the workers!

Many people have built roads with unpaid wages, worked for more than 12 hours a day, and yet remain kind. Most lords would never spend a single cent to pay their serfs who cannot count to more than three, and even make them pick up stones and build  roads.

While riding Trembingwoods, Liszt continued to train it, expending all its magic to produce more rockthorns as road-building material. They lead themselves out of the construction site and straight to the place where Stupidwoman was being held – as a reward for Trembingwoods.