Chapter 245 · When I Hadn’t Developed Yet, I Had to Read People’s Faces. Now That I’ve Developed, Why Should I Still Care?

Back when they were in Shanghe Village, Chen Ming had only felt that Old Jack was good at managing the village. He had not realized that Old Jack actually had this kind of business talent too. After learning about Holy Soul City's current overall situation, Chen Ming was in quite a good mood.

"I just happen to have some more technology here. I might as well take it all out…"

Because Holy Soul City's environment was better than expected, Chen Ming thought for a while, slightly changed his plan, and brought out several new industrial technologies.

The area around Holy Soul City was a major grain-producing region, so there was quite a lot of extra grain. This grain could be used to brew alcohol or make some by-products. High-concentration alcohol could not only be sold as liquor, but was also an excellent strategic resource. It could be used in medicine and also enter industry.

Although the nearby area was not suitable for growing sugarcane, there were some beets that could be used to refine white sugar. Needless to say, this was also a strategic resource.

The only slight problem was that the area around Holy Soul Village was neither close to the sea nor did it have any large salt mines. They could only import coarse salt, refine it, and sell fine salt. In the end, this was still not as good as directly boiling seawater and drying salt by the sea.

These three technologies and products had to be strictly controlled.

As for the others, such as glassmaking and soapmaking, they were a little less important, but they still could not be casually leaked.

Only the local blast furnace steelmaking technology was something Chen Ming decided to loosen up a bit. He would let the territory complete the replacement of its tools and lay a foundation for future technological upgrades.

Chen Ming planned to leave steam engine technology here and use it to drive mills, water facilities, looms, and other machines, further increasing the territory's production capacity.

Douluo Continent's labor force was almost overflowing. Industrialization meant that a large number of people would lose their jobs. To prevent the tragedy of "sheep eating people" from reappearing on Douluo Continent as industrialization spread and agricultural technology improved, Chen Ming held back a little. He did not directly bring out things that were too efficient and relied too little on human labor.

At the same time, he began planning the next construction and development route for Holy Soul City. He decided to carry out large-scale infrastructure projects within the territory to ease the social conflicts caused by mass unemployment.

Chen Ming felt that he was quite rational.

But if Douluo Continent developed into something like Britain during the seventeenth-century Industrial Revolution, where children were used like adults, women like men, men like livestock, and livestock were left unused instead, then Chen Ming felt he probably would never escape his nightmares for the rest of his life.

Even if he pushed the development of the entire Douluo Continent forward, he would still deserve to have people point at his back and curse him for having no humanity.

And Chen Ming felt that, in that case, they would even be right.

Although many of the officials in Holy Soul City had originally been selected by Qian Renxue from the outstanding talents under her command, many of them could not understand Chen Ming's revolutionary ideas.

Some even showed rejection and fear, believing that these strange tricks and clever devices would affect the foundation of how the entire Douluo Continent operated.

Of course, a large part of the reason was that the families behind these people were connected to these industries. Or rather, they were the leaders who controlled those industries. Chen Ming's push would greatly damage their interests, so they were the first to stand up and oppose him.

To this group of people, Chen Ming expressed his opinion very clearly.

"If you won't listen, then get lost. I don't need you."

Chen Ming's current background, strength, and status were already among the very top on Douluo Continent. Aside from a very small number of special existences, Chen Ming could basically ignore anyone's face. If he said he was not eating beef, then he was not eating beef.

Toward these people, Chen Ming's attitude was simple: obey, or get out.

If anyone wanted to make trouble from the shadows, then he would take that person's head off and kick it like a ball. Or he would take the heads of their whole family and kick them together.

As for other nobles coming to trouble him, using open or hidden tricks against him?

Even if Chen Ming dug up their ancestral graves and scattered the ashes, no one would dare take revenge for them.

When I hadn't developed yet, I had to read your faces. Now that I've grown to this point, if I still have to read your faces, didn't I grow for nothing?

To show his resolve, Chen Ming directly kicked out the officials who resisted the hardest, then submitted a letter to the Crown Prince's Residence, asking for those officials to be strictly investigated.

It was not only those few people. The families behind them would also be heavily implicated because of their actions.

After realizing that Chen Ming was completely on a different level from them, those officials all chose to obey. One by one, they rushed to express their opinions, talking about how these technologies should be promoted and implemented. There was no resistance left at all, and none of the backbone they had shown earlier remained.

To make his actions look even stronger, Chen Ming did something that seemed unrelated to technological reform.

He went to Old Jack's residence and stayed there for a few days.

When Old Jack appeared again in front of everyone a few days later, he already had level one Spirit Power.

Although this Spirit Power level was very weak, and Old Jack was truly too old, even if he cultivated, it would probably be very difficult for him to reach the Spirit Master realm. This bit of Spirit Power could only help him maintain his physical condition and, in a roundabout way, extend his life a little.

But the matter of someone born without Spirit Power later gaining Spirit Power almost instantly shattered the fixed ideas in these people's minds. Their worldview collapsed on the spot.

The strong on Douluo Continent disdained playing politics. Although these officials came from noble families or Spirit Master clans, their talent was generally very weak. Some of them did not even have innate Spirit Power.

After seeing that Chen Ming could give Old Jack innate Spirit Power, this group of people, whose own cultivation talent was not very good to begin with, instantly became excited and started imagining all kinds of things.

If they worked hard, could they also obtain innate Spirit Power or improve their talent?

If they did their jobs well, could they also try to climb to a higher position?

Whether it was a high position in politics or a high position as a Spirit Master, both were extremely wonderful to them.

If an ordinary Spirit Master took out a technique that allowed people without Spirit Power to obtain Spirit Power, then they would be interrogated and beaten down by the entire Douluo Continent, perhaps even branded as a heretic.

In the eyes of noble families and Spirit Master clans, enjoying this thing on a small scale would be fine. But once it spread widely, ordinary people might challenge the noble status of Spirit Masters.

That was pure heresy.

Such technology would be tied to a stake and burned for seven days and seven nights.

But the person taking out this technology now was Chen Ming.

And Chen Ming's contribution to the Spirit Masters of the entire Douluo Continent was already the greatest in history.