The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Sean arrived at the construction site early as usual and guided the others to start making cement.

This magical cement can be made from readily available materials, without even requiring a foundation in alchemy.

Furthermore, Sean felt that the cement could be further optimized, and it didn't require alchemical materials; it only needed a change in materials or manufacturing methods. Sean also felt that the cement's strength was far from its limit.

It's estimated that this was used to build bridges and pave roads during the Old Empire era. Just thinking about how he created a product from the Old Empire era filled Sean with immense satisfaction. This sense of accomplishment was something that learning a few simple spells couldn't compare to.

Because large-scale road construction was about to begin, it was virtually impossible to keep the cement's composition a secret. However, Linde hadn't intended to keep it a secret indefinitely; it was simply a matter of gaining a first-mover advantage.

Moreover, given the efficiency of feudal nobles, Linde suspected that the other party might not even realize it until the cement roads within his territory were paved.

Among those who came to learn were ordinary workers and noble children. Although Sean could tell that many noble children came to the construction site because they wanted to get closer to him, as his brother-in-law said, actions speak louder than words. As long as they learned the skills and truly performed their production tasks well, it wouldn't hurt to befriend and promote them.

In fact, many nobles have already realized that Linde is really short of people. As long as you have a decent appearance in the past and are hardworking and reliable now, you can be promoted and given a promotion very quickly.

Linde's requirements for these nobles were already very low: just don't be too abstract.

Many nobles humbled themselves early on and started working at the grassroots level, which led to their rapid promotion. Although they were still struggling at the bottom, they had regained some power and could be considered high-ranking officials.

Meanwhile, the nobles who were still observing saw that the "surrenderists" were gradually taking away the power that originally belonged to them, and some families with little foundation were even threatening to humiliate them because they worked the hardest. They finally urged their more humane descendants to enter the fray.

In fact, most nobles still played the classic double game, with some fleeing to Doug Lars's territory and others staying to work for Lind.

However, many nobles whose very foundations were already corrupt could not even produce a descendant who was in the basic human form, and could only watch helplessly as their former territories and power were divided up by these "new nobles".

These nobles who became officials through simple examinations, former religious figures, and commoners who excelled in church schools are forming new interest groups.

Looking at these newly rich men, full of enthusiasm and dreaming about their lives after their promotions, Sean simply nodded and smiled, just as he always had.

I wonder how much of the smiles will remain on the faces of these newly appointed nobles who will be going to various places to take up their posts after my brother-in-law's performance evaluation law comes out.

Linde originally intended to use KPIs and performance evaluations to put these new nobles, who still dreamed of being masters, under heavy pressure. However, after discussing with Elder Lars, Linde decided to postpone the promulgation of this performance evaluation law for a while.

After all, what if those people see the Examination and Assessment Law and are too afraid to take the exam? We need to lure them in first.

Furthermore, the content cannot be copied verbatim; certain modifications must be made.

With the help of the Grand Elder, a new assessment method, more suitable for the physique of the noble babies in this world, was created.

Because it was the early stages of the business, Linde and the Grand Elder removed some inhumane punishments and added reward measures and promotion channels, allowing those who were truly working hard to get promoted more quickly.

The performance requirements have also been relaxed somewhat, mainly because of concerns that some people might be too eager for quick success. Although Linde believes that no matter how relaxed these requirements are, those who are greedy for quick success will still use some extreme measures to achieve their performance targets.

Although this isekai version of the performance evaluation system is ready to be used directly, it is still under continuous revision.

Linde needs to impose some sunk costs on these officials to prevent them from quitting after seeing the performance evaluation law.

Now, the rising ranks of minor nobles and the increasingly relaxed pathways to promotion are like carrots, dangling at those nobles, prompting them to send more people to take the civil service exams.

Once the sunk costs were sufficient, these nobles would have no choice but to work even harder to open each other's books under the performance evaluation system.

No one would willingly give up a right that has been lost and then regained.

Linde stripped them of their original power directly, and then occasionally gave them back a little bit from under their fingernails. These nobles were still grateful to Linde. Because of this, the most powerful noble families ran away, but many poor families were rising rapidly.

In fact, Linde also wanted to promote some commoners, but the education foundation in this world was too poor. Most commoner officials came from the gray and white-collar class. Even in church schools, only a few people were literate. Linde could not promote education on his own like he did in that small gray and white-collar town. He could only establish a channel for commoners to get promoted first, and then gradually expand it through public schools and church schools.

By noon, Sean had already stepped into the shaded area to rest. The sweet soup he drank after his work was even more delicious than any wine he had ever tasted before.

Ever since Linde became the patriarch, there have been constant contacts from beings of unknown origin, hoping that he could step forward to take charge, reclaim power, and become Lars's successor to restore Lars's glory.

But Sean didn't reply; he simply handed the list of these people to his brother-in-law and Colin.

Although his brother-in-law didn't react much, Colin was now traveling between different parts of the territory every day with his guards, searching for these unknown creatures one by one according to the list, even more enthusiastically than the bard by his brother-in-law's side.

Sean is now living a very comfortable life. He no longer has the pressure of being an heir, and he only needs to think about the things in front of him every day.

The management of Evans' territory has begun to get on track, and thanks to Jim Evans, the gray-collar officials took over the entire territory very smoothly.

Sean is about to leave, and he plans to study the new Rune Science course offered by Gray Collar. He's heard that mastering this subject will allow him to participate in and create the analysis of Olympiad magic circles. Sean has been curious about this Olympiad magic circle and the magic trigger for a long time.

It is precisely because of these two things that the current steel production capacity of the Grey Collar is completely excessive. The Grey Collar alone is enough to allow the Lars Knights in the western North to completely refurbish their equipment.

Meanwhile, Sean also heard that the gray-collar workers were building a magic focusing array and urgently needed professionals with outstanding computing skills. Sean planned to lend a hand. Although he didn't know the specific purpose, Sean believed that his brother-in-law wouldn't speak without reason; it must be something very important.

Moreover, I heard that my brother-in-law is planning to push forward with military reforms, but there is a lot of opposition within the Lars family, so Sean has to go back to help out.

Having personally experienced the entire battlefield in the valley, Sean knew that the days when simply having Lars's knights crush the enemy to victory were over.

If there are still ungrateful people in the family, Sean wouldn't mind letting them know why he was once the most promising heir.