"Sir, over the past few days, we've deployed 200 workers skilled in using gasoline saws to form a logging team. So far, the warehouse has been stocked with—" The man looked at the record above and continued, "There are already 1,358,247 logs!"
It had taken less than a week since Jason Liu issued the order to cut down nearly 140,000 trees. That efficiency was not bad at all.
After all, the workers had only just learned how to use gasoline saws. Some had even been accidentally injured earlier. Naturally, after those incidents, the rest became far more careful, and a slower pace was understandable.
If it weren't for the more than 100 large and small carriages still sitting in the factory warehouse, he would've already transported some of these logs back today.
However, he still needed to wait for Lin Xiaohan and Jiang Chuchu to finish negotiating land prices with the high-tech zone. Only then could they purchase the land and build a larger warehouse.
This time, the warehouse didn't need to be constructed as solidly as before. Just a thin iron sheet on top supported by steel columns would do. It didn't even need to be too tall—four meters in height would be enough.
That kind of structure should go up quickly.
While thinking about how to construct the new warehouse on the new land , Jason Liu walked into the warehouse beside the logging farm where the logs were stacked.
Under a wooden shed in one area, nearly 140,000 logs with diameters greater than 30 cm had been cut clean through with gasoline saws, leaving behind just the trunk.
Walking over, he touched the wet surface of a freshly cut log. Jason Liu nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. Keep following this specification. Continue assigning workers to cut trees in the Forest and haul the felled logs back here to stack in the warehouse."
"Yes, my lord!" McCann and Bud replied in unison.
Lately, he had been staying at the logging farm with McCann, overseeing thousands of workers. Jon, who used to look slightly immature, now had the face of a man. No one could mistake him for a boy anymore.
The same went for Bud, McCann, and Marb. After personally encountering many problems and resolving them through their own ability, these young men had matured a great deal.
Jason Liu was pleased to see them grow more capable and better able to assist him with affairs in the future.
Throwing these four youths into a logging camp with over 4,000 people had been part of their training. After all, nothing trains people better than practical experience.
And now, it seemed to have paid off. The young men had learned a great deal.
After leaving the warehouse, Jason Liu headed to the logging camp's hospital to check on things.
The workers who had been seriously injured by the gasoline saws were still lying on the beds in the specially prepared hospital ward. Nearby stood a woman and a few children, their expressions tense. They were likely the wife and children of one of the injured men.
Jason Liu noticed the panic, awe, and anxiety in the eyes of the women and children as they looked at him. He paused at the doorway.
He didn't want to disturb them.
After all, to these commoners, his status as the Earl was intimidatingly high.
Standing before him, their hearts were filled with fear and unease—worried they might offend a noble and invite punishment.
Even though the lumber mill workers and their families believed that Lord Jason East was a truly benevolent and generous noble, when they saw the earl in person, these timid peasants and women couldn't help but shrink back.
Jason Liu decided not to enter the ward, unwilling to further frighten the already skittish women and children. He turned around and left with Jon and the others.
Boris had returned to the Easter Hospital in Winter Market Town. The patients here were being looked after by two assistants and over a dozen bright boys and girls, recruited from among the lumber mill workers' children.
In addition to the soldiers assigned to guard the workers and accompany them into Wolf Forest, more than 100 soldiers were also undergoing training on the cleared school grounds.
It was the kind of basic military training Jason Liu had developed—simple yet strict, with a focus on teamwork.
After watching them train for a while, Jason Liu visited the next area: the horse pasture. The 200 warhorses bought from the Stark horse farm were grazing peacefully.
The stronger horses had been harnessed to freight wagons, mostly to haul logs, and a few were pulling stones and branches to the new logging huts under construction.
After completing the inspection of the logging farm and confirming that Jon and the others had done a good job managing it, Jason Liu reiterated that any violations of his laws must be severely punished. Then, he got into his carriage and returned to the castle.
As soon as he stepped down from the carriage, he saw Boris hurrying over, his face full of worry.
Since assigning the honest and reliable Boris to oversee the hospital, Jason Liu rarely had to worry about it. It was clear that Boris had done very well.
Looking at the dark circles under Boris's eyes, Jason Liu couldn't help but laugh and tease, "Boris, it's great that you love learning new knowledge, but you need to take care of your body. If you collapse from exhaustion, there'll be no one left to manage the hospital!"
He added with a smirk, "Seems like you need a woman to take care of you every day!"
As everyone knew, bachelors of the Citadel voluntarily gave up marriage and children, surrendered all titles, and devoted their lives to assisting lords in governance and the pursuit of knowledge.
In other words, these bachelors were not to consort with women. Of course, some couldn't restrain themselves and secretly found lovers.
A prime example was the former influential official of King's Landing—the high-ranking scholar Pycelle. That sanctimonious old man pretended to be hunched and frail during the day, as if death were at his door.
But come evening, he would throw off the gray academic robe, straighten his back, don fine silk garments, and sneak through Red Keep's hidden tunnels to the brothels of King's Landing.
In this regard, Pycelle was a seasoned player!
His practice was so well-hidden that, aside from the Spider—eunuch spymaster Varys—few knew the high-ranking scholar was a two-faced old rogue, indulging in vice behind his scholarly mask.
So much for the vows of the Citadel. What young girl's fragrance in the brothel could resist?
Even King Robert led by example, rarely returning home at night and spending his time at various women's establishments.
He, too, was a forerunner of vice among kings!
Compared to the morally rotten Maester Pycelle, Boris—just an assistant bachelor with no formal degree—was surprisingly obedient to the Citadel's code.
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