Ch.103How to Move Forward.

Industry refers to the production of material and immaterial values necessary for human life.

It encompasses not only the typical products from workshops and mass-produced items from factories but also poetry collections, literary anthologies from novelists, and performances by troubadours. Thus, the classification of industry can be considered a field with surprisingly broad extensions.

There were two paths in industry: import substitution industrialization and export-led industrialization.

Import substitution industrialization, true to its name, meant leading the domestic production of goods that had previously relied on imports. Export-led industrialization focused on creating products that could be sold in foreign markets.

Typically, nations progress from import substitution industrialization to export-led industrialization. Through import substitution, they gain industrial know-how, reduce import costs by producing goods themselves, and use those savings to nurture future sources of income—this had become the de facto standard practice.

However, Amurtat took a slightly different direction.

First, their starting position was too favorable to attempt import substitution industrialization, as there was hardly anything to import.

With iron mines, coal, forests, and plains all around, what was there to import?

Consequently, Amurtat’s industrialization inevitably skipped import substitution and strongly emphasized export-led industrialization, spearheaded by the Steelyard. Now, with the addition of the Boneyard and Brickyard alongside the Steelyard, half of Amurtat’s income came from exports.

“It’s good that exports are doing well… but it makes me uneasy.”

Exports operate on the premise that others will buy what you produce.

No matter how high the quality of goods you make, if no one buys them, all that remains is the waste of effort and funds that went into making them.

Therefore, image management is crucial for countries that stake their survival on exports. Fortunately, Amurtat had quite a good reputation in the region.

First, being an emerging power that had grown explosively over 20 years, and having engaged in all-out war with Fahrenheit, who had dominated the north, leaving them half-dead.

This alone would make for a trilogy of films with material to spare. Add to that the tourism services with friendly elves and delicious fish dishes…

Well, it would be tiresome to explain further.

“But image isn’t eternal. Fahrenheit’s image was probably similar to ours at first.”

“Without consistent effort, stagnant water is bound to rot.”

What matters is not creating an image but how you manage the image that has already formed.

Just as pushing something to the end makes it a concept but stopping halfway makes it a blunder, managing an established image was a critical issue.

Like how it takes decades to build a statue, but only a minute to destroy it.

“Hmm…”

I fell into contemplation.

More precisely, about what I should do to further develop Amurtat.

I had just said that I would avoid further rapid development, but development and growth are different things.

The remaining task for Amurtat was to create more while not losing what had been achieved so far.

In that process, the influence of the government needed to be minimized because currently, the government’s influence in Amurtat ran too deep, making citizens overly dependent.

Just as trust and dependence are different, seeking approval for even trivial matters was problematic. While establishing accountability was good, entrusting the government with matters that didn’t need accountability or could be handled privately was a different story.

This was especially serious in the arts sector, where instead of simply renting a café for performances, people would submit formal documents to government offices using technical terms like “reasons” and “expected utility,” which was frankly beyond annoying—it was vexing.

The private sector should be private, and the government should be governmental—these areas should be clearly divided. When they become deeply intertwined, there might be advantages, but the disadvantages inevitably outweigh them.

A prime example is that the entire society becomes deeply connected to state power. To put it differently, it means the disappearance of forces that can check state power.

With so many officials having vested interests, sending someone to prison for corruption or wrongdoing could mean risking one’s own neck.

In a government-controlled economy and society, the private sector cannot prevent the corruption of society as a whole. The sacred duty of monitoring this massive bureaucracy could only be fulfilled by the free thinking of enlightened citizens.

Even in a theocratic absolute monarchy, checks on power were an essential element. As seen in Elyssia’s case, without proper monitoring and punishment, public authority degenerates from a shield protecting citizens to a boot crushing them.

In Amurtat too, only vigilant citizens with burning eyes could detect signs of corruption.

*

“I’ve examined Fahrenheit’s economic indicators, and there’s significant development in several areas. It’s still far from regaining its former strength… but we can’t afford to be complacent.”

“Fahrenheit… just when things were starting to go well. Do we have to get entangled with them again?”

Another thing that had been worrying me lately was the movements of Fahrenheit.

As everyone knows, after the last war, Fahrenheit collapsed so thoroughly that one might question if people could actually live there. But since then, whether they had come to their senses or not, they had been gritting their teeth through reconstruction efforts, once again plunging the north into fear.

Of course, I am not France occupying the Ruhr. I have no intention of striking Fahrenheit again just because they are rebuilding.

Although taking the Master’s head was a game-changer that ultimately led to victory in the previous war, fundamentally, Fahrenheit’s population exceeds 10 million, while Amurtat has just surpassed 2 million.

Assuming a direct one-on-one confrontation, Amurtat ‘still’ cannot defeat Fahrenheit.

While a defensive stance might allow us to hold out, that’s just enduring, not winning.

Considering that Amurtat, with a population of less than 1 million during the last war, easily dispatched 20,000 troops, if Fahrenheit, with its 10 million population, invaded with the firm justification of ‘revenge,’ Amurtat would inevitably suffer significant damage, win or lose.

Even without military methods, Fahrenheit, having hoarded all sorts of rare artifacts and treasures in dimensional storage for the past 300 years, could hinder Amurtat or other small and medium-sized countries through various political machinations.

Especially since these smaller countries were developing enthusiastically through looting, from the perspective of Fahrenheit’s citizens, they would be shedding tears of blood watching other countries boasting, “Our country is now prosperous too!” with wealth taken from their destroyed homes.

Particularly, countries other than Amurtat committed numerous casualties and serious crimes during the permitted month of looting—effectively two weeks—so they could be openly despised.

“Do you think another alliance will form this time?”

“I’m not sure. There’s a saying that things are different when entering and leaving the bathroom. For them, reforming an alliance system would be ideal, but…”

Therefore, it would be difficult for a fully reconstructed Fahrenheit to initiate a war specifically against Amurtat for revenge.

One way or another, Amurtat is the second-ranking nation after Fahrenheit.

No country would fail to realize that if such a nation falls, their own country would be breached like a highway, and Fahrenheit knows this too.

However, it’s also true that the war situation tilted uncontrollably when Amurtat took the Master’s head, so there was a high possibility that Fahrenheit, having managed its massive body, would prioritize revenge for the irreparable loss of life over knowledge or artworks that could be restored given time.

Moreover, Fahrenheit’s fundamental problem was not its military or society but its adventurer economy dependent on dungeons. Without addressing this issue first, Fahrenheit could never return to its heyday.

“…Didn’t we also take their graduate student’s dissertation?”

“One who cannot protect their dissertation cannot become a doctor.”

“Oh, is that how it works?”

Indeed, this world is harsh. To think that one cannot complete their doctoral program if they fail to defend their dissertation. What a terrifying and dreadful thought!