Chapter 152: Mung Bean Soup Represents Conscience

"Sir, why are you in such a hurry to build the four workshops?"

"I want to see results quickly."

In the open field of the Workshop Area, Liszt led Hiddleston as he inspected the construction of the workshops.

Gort, who was overseeing the construction, was somewhat puzzled. Just this morning, Liszt had reissued an order to complete the four workshops within five days. To meet this deadline, Gort had to summon more serfs to participate in the construction.

The entire construction site was bustling with activity.

Although it was now autumn and the temperature was not as scorching as in summer, the workers were still drenched in sweat from their labor.

"Liszt instructed, 'Tell the workers that if they finish the construction within five days, their wages will be doubled; if they complete it within four days, their wages will be tripled.' I don't care about a few copper coins; I only care about getting the job done ahead of schedule."

"My goodness, the serfs will go crazy," Gort exclaimed, then shrugged. "But it's impossible to build the workshops in four days. Workshops are not simple wooden houses; they require skilled craftsmen to construct them."

Liszt said indifferently, "Then make them simpler, as long as they can produce. I don't expect these workshops to bring me much profit; it's enough if they can ensure the supply for Tulip Castle."

"Do not overestimate the abilities of the serfs,"

"But also do not underestimate their pursuit of money."

When driven, they could work tirelessly day and night, completing the four workshops—though quality might suffer. However, Liszt was not concerned about quality at the moment; he only cared about speed.

Even if the workshops turned out to be subpar, it didn't matter as long as the task was completed.

Compared to the evolution of the thorn bugs, these issues were secondary.

Gort did not understand Liszt's thinking, but as an advisor, all power in the territory came from Liszt, so he could only accept it: "I will motivate these serfs. While I cannot guarantee completion in four days, I can assure that four workshops will appear in the Workshop Area within five days."

"Upon completing this task, Advisor Gort, I will reward you with several bottles of juniper wine directly purchased from Tulip Castle's cellar."

"My goodness, cellar-aged juniper wine! It's been years since I've tasted Tulip Castle's cellar-aged juniper wine! Ha ha, I'll supervise the construction day and night for the next few days. Please rest assured, sir!"

Having adjusted the attitudes of the officials and workers,

Liszt then led Hiddleston back.

Halfway through, he simply mounted Hiddleston, treating him like a steed—Hiddleston had grown significantly in recent times, weighing over a ton. Compared to tigers, Hiddleston was like a large cat, possessing explosive strength capable of tearing apart tigers and leopards.

Even without magic, he stood at the top of Coral Island's food chain.

Initially,

Hiddleston was reluctant when Liszt rode him, but after a good beating, he obediently served as a mount. Carrying one person did not affect his movements at all.

Upon reaching Tom Hiddleston Avenue,

Liszt gave the command: "Hiddleston, multiple rock spikes!"

With a roar, Hiddleston opened his mouth, and seven thick rock spikes emerged from the planned but unconstructed section of the road.

"Good boy!"

Liszt patted Hiddleston's large head, pleased, and continued giving orders: "Keep going, Hiddleston, multiple rock spikes!"

Plop, plop!

Another six rock spikes pierced the ground.

"Good job, little guy, come on, rock spike!"

Plop!

A single rock spike emerged, indicating that Hiddleston understood the difference between a single rock spike and multiple rock spikes.

A piece of jerky as a reward.

Liszt rubbed Hiddleston's plump neck and continued training: "Hiddleston, bigger, bigger, rock spike!"

Plop!

A rock spike emerged.

"Bigger, rock spike!"

Plop!

Another rock spike emerged.

"Unsatisfactory, Hiddleston, no jerky reward. Bigger, bigger for jerky, understand?" Liszt waved the jerky in front of Hiddleston but did not give it to him, making it clear that his performance was inadequate.

Through this gradual training,

When the rock spikes became larger, Liszt would finally give him the jerky, repeating the command "bigger, rock spike" to indicate that larger rock spikes earned rewards. Hiddleston was intelligent, but due to the language barrier, he could only learn through conditioning.

This training was repetitive and monotonous.

However, when Hiddleston understood new commands, Liszt felt a great sense of accomplishment. His ultimate goal was to train Hiddleston to cast a variety of spells.

"Hiddleston is undoubtedly a mid-level magical beast, but he is still short of the level of a purple sand crocodile. As a mid-level magical beast evolved later, he is naturally less talented than those born at that level. How to compensate for this depends on how I, as his master, train him and use techniques to make up for his innate shortcomings."

Training a powerful mid-level magical beast himself brought him joy.

However, the road construction team following behind was not as happy. With Hiddleston's magic power surging and the production of numerous rock spikes, the workload of the road construction team increased significantly.

Hammers continuously struck the rock spikes, breaking them into smaller pieces and spreading them on Tom Hiddleston Avenue—a challenging task because Liszt required each piece of broken rock to be no larger than a wine cork. The serfs responsible for breaking the rocks needed to strike repeatedly, even reducing the stones to powder.

Only then would the road be smooth.

Looking at the serfs of the road construction team, their sweat mixing with dust as it dripped down, Liszt felt somewhat emotional—compared to them, he was far too relaxed.

Reincarnation is a technical skill, and clearly, his technique was good.

"Have Mrs. Abby prepare mung bean soup and send it to the serfs of the road construction team; one bowl for each person." Seeing butler Carter approach, Liszt instructed.

"Your kindness will leave them speechless."

"As long as they work hard for me, I never hesitate to reward and bestow upon them. In Flower Town, I hope everyone can support themselves through their work, have enough food and clothing, and live healthily even when winter comes." Liszt spoke in grandiose terms, his vision forward-looking.

Exploiting serfs by sheer force is a low-level form of exploitation.

Stimulating the serfs' enthusiasm for production is the way to maximize the exploitation of laborers and obtain more surplus value. He had, after all, read Karl Marx's "Das Kapital."

As for the conscience of a capitalist—didn't he already send mung bean soup? What more could they want!

With so many people working on this road, without delayed wages and only twelve hours of work per day, it was already quite benevolent. Under another lord, the serfs would probably have to follow Xu Sanduo's example, building the road without spending a penny, picking up stones themselves.

Riding Hiddleston,

Liszt continued training, draining all of Hiddleston's magic to create a large number of rock spikes as construction materials. Only then did he leave the construction site and head straight for where the Tupos were held—as a reward for Hiddleston.