When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 778 - 733: Achievements in Lower Reif County

After sending off these two people, Horn also breathed a sigh of relief.

Admittedly, according to Catherine, among the 17 people in the Meigedi Commerce Association, these two were relatively easy to handle.

With these two "nails," 9 out of the 17 senior partners in the Meigedi Commerce Association have been secured.

But in fact, it's still not guaranteed because not everyone is rational; too many random factors make even a sure bet vote somewhat unpredictable.

Horn does not want to casually abuse his Wanpiao rights, as the Wanpiao rights are a corrective mechanism, not a decision-making mechanism.

"René, focus on monitoring these few people for the next few days. If necessary, you can warn them to remind them not to forget their promises to me."

Watching René leave the room, Horn pulled out the annual report submitted by the Lower Reif County Priestly Order from the desk drawer and placed it next to the City Hall annual report from Rapids City.

Due to the Hundred Households District system and the paper-and-ink printing revolution that erupted in Thousand River Valley, the current Holy Alliance has fully entered the era of paper-based administration.

Once combined with Horn's administrative reforms, the massive amount of information generated enormous power for control.

It's often said, "no investigation, no right to speak," and information itself is a significant foundation of power.

Opening the Lower Reif County annual report, the title page immediately shows that the registered population of Lower Reif County is 500,000.

The agricultural population makes up 65%, including self-cultivating farmers, tenant farmers, estate stewards (landlords), shepherds/beekeepers, etc.

The handicraft population accounts for 20%, including blacksmiths, weavers, carpenters, stonemasons, leather workers, etc.

The commercial population makes up 8%, including traveling merchants, shop owners, bank employees, brokers, etc.

Clergy and scholars account for 7%, including monks/nuns, scribes, astrologers, miracle/alchemist priests, notaries, government employees, etc.

At a glance, it becomes clear that Lower Reif County relies on handicrafts and commerce as its pillars, a clear contrast to Langsande County in its early stages with over 80% agricultural population.

Therefore, compared to the early, unprofitable town constructions in Langsande County, the process of building templated town centers in Lower Reif County according to the Priestly Order was rather smooth.

Up to now, 14 Priest Towns have been established throughout the county.

According to Horn's requirement, each parish is to have 3-5 towns as administrative centers of the Priestly Order.

These town centers are basically transformed from markets, small towns, and large villages and mainly follow the template of churches, city halls, and bell towers.

Of course, due to different circumstances in each area, these town centers vary.

For example, in Langsande County, due to good economic conditions, most of them are standard templated town constructions.

Whereas in other counties like Pingyuan County, due to financial issues and control problems, it's common to merge church, city hall, and Night Watcher office into one.

In Mountain County's Priest Towns, it's even a six-in-one integration of church, city hall, Night Watcher, clinic, school, and armory, basically comprising only a church courtyard paired with a Believers' Square.

Most of the time, a sausage and cured meat workshop and a leather tanning workshop are added as well.

Similarly, these small towns are also attracting a large number of artisans and shop owners, and many relatively affluent or well-located towns are starting to see permanent shops emerging.

A large number of quality talents from manor houses and villages are flocking to these towns, even forcing each of the Hundred Households Districts to build roads.

Otherwise, everyone will rush to these small towns for praying, getting married, seeing a doctor, joining the army, going to school…

Those downright ridiculous dirt roads were really affecting the schedules of the villagers.

Do not think the opinions of villagers are unimportant; these are also indicators for promotion of the lower-level monks.

If any villager raises complaints to local representatives or Elders, it must be recorded, and in severe cases, investigated.

No Hundred Households Captain dares to cause trouble, as the local Monastic Leader will be the first to disagree.

Of course, due to the current shortage of manpower and relatively immature laws and systems, this system is only partially effective.

It might work in one parish but not necessarily in another.

Sometimes it is extremely random, ignoring issues related to the interests of Elders or public representatives, only addressing it when there's no interest involved.

Within the various levels of monasteries, often senior monks will help cover up some "small problems" to ensure their subordinates keep working diligently.

This is why Horn still retains the Cheka's strong enforcement powers.

Horn is using the higher level of irrationality brought by the Cheka (Cheka terror) to counter the initial level of irrationality (bureaucratic randomness).

Every month, various sizes of clergy, Hundred Households Captains, and public officials are sent to Black Snake Bay to cut sugar cane due to various violations or corruption.

Unknowingly, Horn had turned to the last page of the annual report.

At the bottom of the last page, documents titled "Workshop Commerce Registration Act" and "Financial Real-Name System Act" were revealed.

"Am I being too ambitious?" Horn's voice resonated in the room, as if speaking to himself.

The originally scribbling pens of the stenographers on both sides suddenly stopped, and it seemed as if they held their breath.

According to Horn's intent, in the event of Leia people actually capturing those crucial cities in the upcoming war, Horn could preemptively relocate workshops and artisans concentrated in big cities to small towns.

By that time, the Saint Father's Association would forcibly take over all artisans and workshops, even entering a primitive form of total war mode.

They are to channel all productivity into the war while maintaining the minimum standard of living.

But after seeing one report after another from the Cheka and various monastery investigation results, Horn had to admit—he was lacking the skills yet attempting delicate work.

Political reform often begins with governance because no matter how brilliant the plan, someone always has to execute it.

To resist the Leia people's invasion, Horn forcibly imposed relatively modern systems using economics, public opinion, military, and espionage on the Holy Alliance.

The quality of both citizens and officials was subpar.

Take insurance for example; previously there was fraudulent insurance, but at the same time, normal insurance was also sold, like sailor drowning insurance.

When someone actually died (sometimes even through suicide), the families felt wronged, asking "Why is there no compensation when we bought insurance?"

The reason was simple; the sailor "fell to his death from the roof" and didn't drown at sea.

However, in the people's eyes, having insurance meant death was death, what difference did it make?

The people's intellect hadn't yet matured, while Horn had unknowingly become overly aggressive.

This is why Horn made the decision to use lottery funds to establish enlightenment schools and literacy classes in various Priest Towns.

These schools will forcibly gather all school-aged children within a day's journey to implement simple three-year compulsory education.

Although the coverage of a town's enlightenment school might only be two hundred students, over time it accumulates and requires significant financial expenditure.

But this does not mean it shouldn't be done; just because there is no immediate benefit from something doesn't mean there is no benefit at all.

After contemplating for a long time, Horn tossed the "Workshop Commerce Real-Name Registration Act" and "Financial Real-Name System Act" documents into the to-do box.

"Schedule it; three days later I'll attend the senior partners' meeting of the Meigedi Commerce Association."