LORD OF THE SKY CITY

Chapter 546: Chapter 509: Industrial Upgrading Chapter 546: Chapter 509: Industrial Upgrading One of the first things Voss did after taking office was to reduce taxes, and this policy immediately saw success.

When he was with the Mairente Family, the taxes on the townspeople were quite high because, although the Mairente Family was powerful, their strength was sustained by money. Where did this money come from? Naturally, it was borne by the Sky Cities under their rule.

In comparison, Rocky’s reliance on this was much less. Although the population and industry within Carltos City could indeed provide a large income, if he treated the city as nothing more than a juice extractor, merely squeezing Gold Coins out of it, that would clearly be a terrible move—one that Rocky was surely not going to make.

On the contrary, when Voss brought the tax reduction proposal to him, he immediately agreed, because as he had said before, what Carltos City needed now was stability; other matters could be discussed later.

As the tax reduction proposal was passed and released, it immediately produced a noticeable effect. The townspeople quickly responded positively to the move, which also alleviated much of their concerns about Rocky.

After this, Voss began the second measure of his tenure, which was a purge—and a large-scale purge at that!

The previous tax cut was aimed at all the residents in the city; the upcoming purge was aimed at all the officials in the city.

When the Mairente Family was managing the city, many important positions were firmly controlled by the family. The officials in these positions either had deep ties with the family, or were directly appointed by the family. It was a classic example of family-style management.

Even though the family had withdrawn all its own members from the city when handing it over to Rocky, among the people left behind, especially the many officials, there were still many who had intricate ties with the family.

If these people were not cleared out, it would undoubtedly be an unstable element for Carltos City. Therefore, the second action Voss took after taking office was to completely purge these remnants of the family’s influence.

Doing so would not only clean up the city’s administration but also win people’s hearts, because anyone could see that given these officials’ various relationships with the family, could they really be impeccably honest?

And considering these officials’ deep connections with the Mairente Family, they viewed themselves as above the common people. In such circumstances, wouldn’t the townspeople have some grievances against these people?

The answer is, of course, they would. Therefore, Voss’s action of purging these people was not only good for the city itself but also won the hearts of the people, further stabilizing the emotions of the populace.

It must be said that Voss was quite skillful and savvy in politics. The two actions he took after taking office were both tough and gentle; he addressed Carltos City’s issues with precision, clearly revealing the savvy of an old hand in politics.

Of course, although his measures were correct, significant results would take time to manifest, but that was alright. Rocky had time; his current guideline was to prioritize stability in Carltos City, while the focus of development was still on Thunderhawk City.

Given the resources Rocky had at his disposal, he could only develop Thunderhawk City.

Also, Thunderhawk City was now not far from becoming a medium-sized Sky City—that was the crucial point!

Not long after Rocky returned to Backhill Village from the Mairente Family, Berg sent news that the task Rocky had entrusted to him had been completed, and two thousand residents were on their way, expected to arrive in half a month.

Upon hearing this news, Rocky immediately got busy, because that was more than two thousand people!

Ever since Rocky had acquired Thunderhawk City, although it had been developing constantly, it had not undergone any expansion. Without any expansion, the city could at most accommodate five thousand residents. That meant that with the arrival of two thousand people, Thunderhawk City might not need to expand, but it would be at full capacity.

Even so, Rocky still needed to prepare. It would be no problem for the city district to accommodate an additional two thousand people, but the dwellings available for these two thousand were empty and not fit for immediate habitation; they required at least some basic daily necessities before they could be lived in. Naturally, this arrangement was something Thunderhawk City had to make because the two thousand returning people, penniless as they were, could not handle such matters.

At the same time, let’s not forget that the challenge Rocky must face was how to employ these two thousand returning individuals. Suddenly adding two thousand individuals meant two thousand mouths to feed. If these people sat idle in the city just eating, wouldn’t they literally eat Rocky out of house and home? It was essential to get them working, so they could sustain themselves and contribute to the development of Thunderhawk City—that was the true value of population.

Yet to solve this issue was no small feat.

Throughout the year, while Rocky had led Thunderhawk City in battles from south to north, the city’s own development had not been neglected. In fact, construction in Thunderhawk City proceeded methodically during this period.

The population of Thunderhawk City was now three thousand, and these three thousand had essentially found their employment in the city, which had successively constructed three leather manufacturing factories and three textile factories, among others. Not only were the livelihoods of the residents assured, but the city’s own industries had also developed significantly.

However, to suddenly add two thousand more on this basis presented a significant issue, as there were basically no vacancies left in current Thunderhawk City.

Backhill Village?

This seemed like a good solution. The mines in Backhill Village definitely needed to be continuously developed and also had to expand their scale, requiring manpower. But even so, it would not be possible to absorb two thousand people all at once unless Backhill Village developed to such an extent that it might need so many people.

Therefore, to tackle this issue, Rocky gathered his people for a long discussion and finally made a decision: it was time to upgrade Thunderhawk City’s industries!

The main industries in Thunderhawk City comprised two types: leather manufacturing and traditional textile manufacturing. Leather manufacturing was a new industry primarily pushed by Rocky after becoming City Lord, leading to the establishment of three factories within the city. As for the textile industry, it was Thunderhawk City’s traditional one which, with the city’s development, had also seen the construction of factories, making this traditional industry even more formalized.

Now, to provide employment for the soon-to-arrive two thousand people and for the future long-term development of the city, to possess the qualifications of becoming a medium-sized Sky City, Rocky decided it was time to upgrade the industries of Thunderhawk City!

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