Chapter 489 - A Day in Mordor
Chapter 489: Chapter 24 A Day in Mordor
Mordor city.
When they got into the city, many had a surprised look.
It was not that everything in front of them was shocking, but what they saw was too neat. The roads were smooth and clean. There were dug drainage channels on both sides. Some of the free lands beside were even planted with flowers and plants. Although the city was not as big as the Autumnfall city, the road was wider. It seemed that it had only recently been divided into two roads from the middle. From the design, it was obvious that the owner of this place had planned it very early on.
Wide roads, clean floors, and neat houses.
Even the half-elves, who were a little fastidious about their living environment, had to admit that this was the cleanest, most orderly city they had ever seen.
Perhaps what the sailors said was true!
Lord Soran really had a habit of cleanliness and strict requirements for order. It was said that if he caught anyone urinating in port Mordor, he would not only be fined but also be beaten! Otherwise, the habit of peeing in some dark corner of the city would not be changed so quickly.
Soran would not allow people to urinate in open places in his city. He had built many public toilets. If anyone dared to urinate publicly, he would even cut off the tool of crime.
Alongside the wide road were rows of brick houses.
Some of them had been occupied. The area of each brick house was not large; there were only about two rooms, but the layout was quite reasonable. There were more people living in the south of the city; most of them were civilians. Other places were very empty as they seemed to be reserved. People were not allowed to get close to the barracks nor Lord Soran’s residence. However, the squares could be accessed freely.
The guards told them places that were forbidden then led them to their place of residence.
Naturally, they were not given houses, as they were the riches of this city.
Soon, people dressed as clerks came to register their names. From now on, they would be given the bare minimum amount of food. If they wanted to eat something good or wanted to own a house here, they had to work. No one in the world could get something for nothing!
Mordor was built upon law and order.
There were many jobs in the city.
Anyone with craftsmanship could craft. A bricklayer, a blacksmith, had an advantage in this respect. A woman who could sew also had an advantage. If the person had no craftsmanship, he or she could still work as a coolie or cultivate the land as a farmer. Every day, they don’t get too much money for their work, only around ten copper Derahls at most, but they would get food. On the other hand, they could forgo their pay for points; these points could be used to get lands and houses.
Even though he had just arrived, George soon noticed that the people here all seemed to want points.
There seemed to be very few people that took the money!
Land.
After hearing that word, George’s eyes were filled with passion.
For a civilian like him, nothing attracted them more than land. If they could get a piece of land, then his sister would have something to depend on, at least they would not have to worry about starvation. To get the title deed, they must get the recognition of the city hall. All the land in Mordor belonged to the Lord. There were only two ways for a private person to buy land. One was to buy it with labor. After reaching a certain standard, a person could pay part of it with currency. The second was service as a soldier; after obtaining a certain amount of military merit, the person could pay some of it with money.
People could not just use money to buy land, that was why many who wanted to buy the land in Mordor could not do so!
Even though this island wasn’t small.
Although the port of Mordor was very large, it had been almost divided by the temple of Rich, temple of Sea, and the chamber of commerce.
That was why the second development phase of the port had been completely controlled by Soran. No one without his permission could expand!
There was an empty land outside of the city.
A large number of slaves had dug irrigation ditches and connected them directly to the rivers on the island. The land originally reclaimed for the first time should be relatively barren, but this year’s harvest looked good because of some magical “fertilizer”. Today, a third of the land outside Mordor had become privately owned. The vast majority of it had been exchanged with military merits and Derahls. Only a small part of it had been bought by officials and ordinary civilians.
It was said that some of the pirates had been saving up and wanting to group together to buy a few pieces of land.
In the past, t
In Mordor, military merits were very valuable!
There was a special secretary here who was responsible for the recording of military merits. Any military merit points could be directly converted into gold Derahls, but it seemed that no one had done so at present. Military merits could be exchanged directly in the city hall, but it was not a human who was responsible for the recording. Instead, it was done by a steel golem.
The points gained from labor were very little, that was why pirates could get a house after a few battles, while normal civilians had to work for two to three years.
George thought about his condition and felt that he could gain some military merits.
It was said that the clerks were going to change the way of recording and prepare to change all points of work into points of contribution. This was to recognize a person’s contribution to Mordor city. When they reach a certain level, they may obtain the status of “honorary citizen” and enjoy higher status and convenience in many aspects. There were currently no nobles in Mordor, even those pirate leaders could not be regarded as nobles. It seemed that Lord Soran did not intend to have nobles for the time being. The maintenance of the city was entirely in the charge of officials and the city council.
The officials were only officials and not nobles.
In this unfamiliar and lively city, George saw too many interesting and superior policies!
A day went by.
George and his sisters were soon settled down. George and his sister, as well as two other survivors from the same village, were assigned to live in a house. The living environment was a little cramped and crowded, but they were very satisfied already. The city hall allocated simple daily necessities, which could barely support them for a period of time.
This was, of course, to encourage them to go work!
That was why George found a job for himself the next day. Although he had good fighting skills, he needed to be assessed to join the army and have a certain contribution in Mordor city. Thus he planned to work hard for a while. After all, he was still an advanced fighter; his strength was much greater than that of other adult men. It was not a problem for him to earn twice as much food and do more work in a day. Originally, he was going to let his sister take care of the child at home, but the stubborn woman refused. She learned tailoring skills and insisted on supporting herself.
The half-elves all had a little craftsmanship skill.
Since they were more obedient then humans, they could find jobs easily.
There were many tasks in Mordor city!
A large number of houses were still being built, a large number of daily necessities needed to be made, a large number of building materials needed to be transported, and a large number of land needed to be reclaimed.
There was a job every where in this city.
George found a job to transport wood.
Because this work was piecework, one work point could be obtained by carrying 50 logs a day, and one work point could be exchanged for a pound of food, enough for a family to eat.
“He!”
George roared and picked up the huge log on his shoulders. Everyone else was carrying one log together. He moved fast with his strength; even though the log weighed around 300 pounds, he was still able to move it alone.
In just one morning, George carried 60 or 70 rounds. Although he was a little bit tired in the afternoon, he managed to gather more than 120 pieces. The foreman in charge of the registration looked at him shocked. At noon and in the evening they would eat at the worksite. They would have cheap black bread and fresh fish soup which seemed like shark meat. For George, having meat was already very satisfying.
In the evening.
George exchanged for some food, then saved up the rest of the work points.
“If I eat at the worksite everyday, I’ll be able to save up maybe half a month’s worth of food at home. Tomorrow I’ll get three work points. With one work point, I’ll get 10 copper Derahls, then I can get some fabric for my sister’s kid to make some clothes.”
As George walked back, he muttered, “Such an interesting calculation method.”
Inside the crowded yard, others were also coming back from work.
Although they had been busy all day, the laughter of children could be heard everywhere. Most of them had chosen to exchange their work points into food. Most felt relieved as they carried large amounts of food.
With hard work, they could feed their families.
This was already satisfying to them as their expectation was low!