Ch.138Redevelopment

“Well… where should we start…”

I rubbed my palms together like a fly while examining the map of Amurtat City.

Of course, this wasn’t an ordinary map that common people would use, but an administrative map large enough to cover an entire table, marked with boundaries between administrative districts, population density, and major industries.

What caught my eye was the southern part of the city. This southern area was originally used as farmland and pastures, so not many people lived there yet, and the buildings were low.

Of course, when I say “low” for Amurtat City, compared to the developing southern swamplands, one could say there were high-rise buildings there.

“Hmm… how and where should we make changes…”

In truth, not just the southern part of the city, but the northern part was also less prominent compared to the western, eastern, and central areas.

The reason was surprisingly simple: the central part of the city had many public facilities like the palace and official residences, so tall buildings were constructed to maximize efficiency. The western and eastern parts had high population densities due to continuous exchanges with Woodbury and Pale Harbor, bringing in immigrants, resources, and capital.

However, the northern and southern parts couldn’t achieve this, for the following reasons:

In the north, most industries were self-sustaining in Stilyard, Boneyard, and Brickyard located in the northern mountains, so the northern district was merely a bedroom community providing lodging. As a result, it had the most inns in the city but the poorest infrastructure.

As for the south, pharmaceutical companies began relocating their headquarters to the log platforms over the swamplands rather than staying in space-restricted areas. This exodus of pharmaceutical companies and their subcontractors led to a loss of livelihoods and a decrease in population.

“The northern mountains are vast, but the area occupied by the three yards isn’t that much. What if we move the entire northern residential area to the mountains and completely redesign the southern district?”

“That’s a good idea. Since the distance between the northern mountains and Amurtat City is long, it would reduce commuting time as well.”

It was a reliable statistical fact that longer commuting times lead to lower happiness levels.

In this world where each region spans 50,000 km², without trains or other modern transportation, most workers either commuted long distances in crowded carriages or simply lived and ate at their factories.

Naturally, this lifestyle was detrimental to both physical and mental health, so these conditions needed to be improved quickly.

“By the way, how is the expansion of Pale Harbor progressing?”

“It’s proceeding smoothly. We’re experiencing some delays due to limited experience in building docking facilities… but well, we need to gain that experience.”

“Hmm. Then completion will be somewhat delayed.”

Even without all the complex facilities of a modern port, creating a dry dock by digging out a beach, building piers and breakwaters, and installing lighthouses required delicate skills beyond simply paying good wages and supplying materials.

That’s why I didn’t particularly criticize the delay in Pale Harbor’s completion.

I couldn’t properly build even a single breakwater by myself, let alone a pier, so shouldn’t I respect the opinions of the field workers?

“Anyway… let’s proceed with that plan. Select capable people from the development department to draft a plan. Set the budget in advance, considering the inflation rate as well.”

“Understood, Your Majesty. Which area would you like to prioritize?”

“Hmm… let’s start with the southern area. The north doesn’t have many issues except for commuting time, and given its nature as a bedroom community, suddenly relocating residences might cause confusion.”

“Understood. Then we’ll focus on redeveloping the southern area first.”

“Good. I’m counting on you.”

*

Three months passed.

[Property Values Soaring Due to Redevelopment. How High Will They Go?]

[Government Officials in a Difficult Position. What Do Landowners Say?]

Slap!

I threw down the newspapers with their sensational headlines onto the desk and silently stared at my aide who couldn’t open his mouth.

When one hears the word “redevelopment,” the first thing that comes to mind is rising property values.

Developing an empty field from scratch isn’t “re”development; redevelopment involves improving areas with existing infrastructure to accommodate higher population density or attract better facilities. This meant land values were always a constant factor, and when human greed entered the equation, land and property values would continue to rise unless someone stopped it.

The problem was, as the saying goes about candymakers setting their own prices, the “value” of something can be determined by whoever owns it.

Just like the skyrocketing land prices in the northern district now.

“This is capitalism’s greatest flaw. If someone makes money, someone else inevitably loses.”

Unfortunately, a nation’s economy was a massive zero-sum game.

To explain simply, on the “Amurtat” dining table, there’s a full spread of delicious food.

Many people sit around the table and begin serving food onto their plates.

This is professionally called distribution, and while it would be nice if this distribution were fair, that wasn’t the case.

Nobles, soldiers, merchants… these people always used larger plates and longer, wider tongs to take more food, and as they took more, the food on the table inevitably decreased.

In the end, a tiny bowl could only hold scraps, and many didn’t even have that small bowl.

The name of this table was capitalism, and the name attached to capitalism changed depending on how the distribution was handled.

For example… Amurtat’s current economic system was basically based on free competition, but with safety measures like minimum wage and worker protection laws, and communication spaces like the Guild Council to prevent disputes between companies.

This is typically called “reformed capitalism” among economists, but now wasn’t the time to learn economic theory.

“So how much have land prices risen now?”

“About… 23 times what they were before news of the redevelopment broke.”

23 times.

Not 2.3 times, not 0.23 times, but 23 times.

Truly a “vertical rise” in price.

Even though redevelopment news typically increases land values, this was beyond reasonable limits.

“23 times? Are they insane? At this rate, you’d need to gather half the city’s population just to buy a plot of land!”

Even for redevelopment, land prices don’t usually rise so vertically.

Typically, when such crazy price increases occur, there are two reasons:

One is land speculation by those who knew about the price increase in advance and wanted to profit from the price difference, and the other is foreign powers subtly intervening to cause economic chaos.

And this time, it was land speculation.

“What would you like to do? To meet their asking prices, we’d need to disband several divisions…”

My aide hesitantly mentioned disbanding divisions.

Of course, he couldn’t have been serious.

“Arrest them all. And the development department was in charge of redevelopment, right?”

I said irritably, pointing at the newspaper thrown on the desk.

“There must be someone there who leaked the information, so find them and crush them.”

This wasn’t private-sector reconstruction but state-led redevelopment.

Not just a large complex project, but a mega-project overhauling entire administrative districts.

And they were obstructing the nation’s grand plan for personal gain?

That was like having your liver run a marathon outside your body, complete a triathlon, and then relax in a sauna.

“I will do as commanded.”

“And find those who bought land in advance to charge high prices for personal gain—punish them with dismemberment. Those who merely conspired, punish with quartering.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Any ideology or belief, if left unchecked, tends to drift toward extremes.

And that’s when the government’s role comes into play. Those immoral individuals who colluded with government officials to profit could only have their sins washed away through extreme punishment.

A few days later, 50 conspirators were executed by dismemberment in the square, and 130 accomplices were executed by quartering.

Their entrails were pickled and delivered to high officials in Amurtat City, Pale Harbor, and Woodbury, which would serve as an excellent example.