In the newly opened cities, there is a very small population. According to the current development rate, it will be enough to extract hundreds of thousands of tons of coal next year in the outer areas. However, with the widespread use of steam engines, coal consumption will also increase significantly.
As the volume of coal extraction increases, the coal chemical industry can be developed.
Many years have passed since Damian established the Institute of Chemical Engineering Research, but there have been no rapid advances in this field.
Under Damian's direct leadership, the Coal Industry Research Institute began studying coal tar. With the help of microscopes, some discoveries were made.
If you want to extract various substances from coal tar, you will need to conduct many experiments. There are no shortcuts to scientific progress, as Damian has learned over the past two hundred years.
After observing for more than half an hour, the magical steam wagon from the mine started, and the accumulated coal in the mine was quickly transported outside with the help of magical golems.
Upon hearing the roar of the steam engine, Damian left the mine and returned to the research office. He casually searched the office and found the miners' salary books.
Damian opened it, looked at it, and found that miners' wages had increased to eight silver coins, reaching common soldiers' levels.
Working in coal mines is quite dangerous. In recent years, numerous accidents have occurred, killing and injuring dozens of people.
The coal mine is now operating well and can generate a large amount of profit each year, so the coal mine unit's salary has rapidly improved. Damian knows that this is human nature.
Damian left his salary book and told an assistant, "There are miner records in the mine, right? Go and fetch the miners' records. I want to take a personal look."
"Two years ago, the coal mine assigned some educated people. As part of their work, the file registration work was completed."
When control was first established over this territory, a household registration file system was established. In the first year, both Damian and Frieren personally participated in building the household registration department.
At that time, there weren't many literate people in the border territory. To leave a record for everyone, Damian used to write files late at night and had to write more than a dozen files every day.
The early files were very simple and usually recorded the name, gender, age, household registration, and professional skills of each worker. There was also a red fingerprint in the lower left corner of the file that identified the person.
Now, with time and evolution in all areas, there are now a large number of literate people in Damian's territory, and the household registration and filing systems have been effectively implemented by others.
The records are becoming more complex, adding education, work experience, height and weight, physical health, marital status, direct family members, etc. Also, honors obtained and crimes committed will be noted in the records to give a clear idea of who was accepted.
In today's human territory, files and household registration are very important for a free citizen and are related to a person's future life.
Damian opened the miners' records and began to skim through them. He found that their cultural level was extremely poor, and there were almost no knowledgeable people.
There are only five or six primary school graduates who were assigned to the coal mines in recent years, and they are basically in logistics departments.
Among frontline workers, the illiteracy rate exceeds 99%. Only a few team leaders and managers can understand the documents. After reading the file, Damian said with great regret, "The illiteracy rate is too high in all border cities."
"We also want to hire educated frontline workers, but the working conditions in the mines are too harsh. Those with knowledge can basically find simpler jobs."
Unaware of who Damian was, the man helping him said, "Nowadays, those with basic education can afford a house, pay for their children's education fees, and their family living conditions are pleasant due to the low price of food."
"Mostly, we have been assigned here due to our lack of education. Those with education don't want to be here, even if they are sent by the labor department. Everyone, gradually, is abhorring hard work for less physically demanding jobs. I suppose that's because the Emperor uses magic to make simple jobs nonexistent and makes humanity weaker as the years pass."
"Inspector, if you want to improve areas with scarce workers, it is necessary to improve conditions and directly grant a basic official status. It is a county-level adjunct department with high autonomy and relatively high job promotion. It is attractive to some young talents interested in a career or dignified work."
"The coal mines need to hire new, knowledgeable workers and focus on training them for the future. Improving mining technology cannot depend solely on experience, scientific knowledge, and calculations but also on magical use."
Although production is important, we must also pay attention to production safety. Next year, we will provide steam mining trucks. Their main task is to improve production safety and reduce accidents when moving or transporting resources.
Damian, as the responsible person for evolution, knew that everything was more complicated than he thought. After inspecting the coal mine, Damian returned to the military camp.
From last fall to this year, 90,000 young soldiers were added to this border, nearly doubling the number of troops in other border cities, but the average quality of soldiers has seriously decreased, which is estimated to be due to the intensity of the war.
In a year and a half, the captive soldiers recruited last year completed their literacy training, replaced their equipment, and began practicing more technical combat techniques. Two soldiers with good grades were promoted to cadet apprentices and received key training to lead more complex operations.
As long as people with good talents and qualifications invest resources in training and work hard to improve, they can basically be promoted to high-level warriors and play an important role on the battlefield.
People with outstanding talents have very fluid channels to advance.
This group of soldiers has fully integrated into this city because their relatives have moved here.
Damian, who was inspecting everything, felt something, and after concluding, he ordered, "Nobody enters my tent; I'll be back soon."
"Understood."
When Damian saw that he was being guarded and that his puppet was being taken care of, he closed his eyes and opened them with his real body.
Frieren, who was trying to wake him up, was surprised and asked, "How long should I move you to wake you up?"
"A kiss is enough."
"I don't like kisses; you always do more than that." Frieren refused that and asked, "When will we test the magic portals?"
"I was just about to do that."