American: Native Empire

“Get back!”

“Three! Two! One! Detonate!”

Kwaang!

Woosh…

“Ugh. It always makes my ears ring.”

“But it also makes it easy to break down the hard walls. I’d rather have my ears hurt for a bit. Besides, you can just cover your ears. Or do you want to do as much work as I do?”

“Haha! When did I ever say I hate that? Just don’t kill any living people.”

“Come on, stop talking nonsense and let’s go. The dust has settled.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Ouch…”

The mine manager clapped his hands and spoke, and the miners slowly approached the place where the dynamite had exploded. 

There, the scene of a powerful blast was clearly exposed.

Although it was much weaker than the original liquid nitroglycerin, dynamite was a very safe explosive that only exploded with a detonator.

Thanks to that, ever since dynamite was developed in the warm hat’s laboratory and mass-produced in the explosive factory, it was used in various ways.

It was obvious that it was used in construction or civil engineering sites, but also in mines, a huge amount of dynamite was consumed.

“Life is so much better now…”

The workers lived with a smile on their lips as they saw the improved working environment. Of course, the reason why they were so satisfied was not only because of dynamite.

***

After the internal combustion engine was completed.

From then on, various types of machines appeared one after another. 

Among them, agricultural machines were representative, but construction machines were also constantly released.

“What kind of machine do we need to reduce human labor even more?”

Mechanical engineers believed that machines could replace most of the manpower.

“The labor costs of the workers are too expensive. And they want so much more. It’s better to use powerful machines instead of that money.”

Moreover, at this time, oil was gushing out like crazy from the Texas oil field, so the price of oil was almost nothing.

In other words, it meant that if they made and maintained the machines well, they could get much more efficiency than before.

Thanks to that, mechanical engineers collected opinions from experts on construction sites about what kind of machines they needed, and made machines that suited them.

Construction sites were mostly rough terrain outdoors. 

To operate in such places, they had to be sturdy, durable, and powerful.

However, due to the limitations of technology at that time, they had to go through a lot of trial and error. 

But over time, these aspects were constantly improved.

“What if we attach a hydraulic device here and operate it?”

“Hmm… This part is still too worn out. We can’t use ordinary steel.”

Even in these difficulties, mechanical engineers never gave up. 

They failed over and over again and gradually made useful heavy equipment.

The first one to be used was an excavator. It was commonly called a forklift.

Squeak!

Dig!

Whine!

“Wow!”

“Huh! The ground must be pretty hard… How can it dig so easily?”

“Hahaha! With this excavator, we can minimize the annoying digging!”

Although the first excavator demonstration exploded during the demonstration, it still attracted great attention by digging a very deep hole for 30 minutes.

And the next year, excavators were deployed on construction sites with a sensational popularity. 

Of course, it was an improved version of the one at the time of demonstration.

The hardest thing on a construction site was digging the ground. 

But now most of the excavators dug the ground, and if they encountered rocky areas, they blew them up with dynamite, so large-scale construction became much easier.

Kim Ki-woo watched these events closely and brought up a related story at the Imperial Conference.

“Construction Director.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Is this report true?”

“Why would I lie about safety?”

“Tell me in detail.”

“Thanks to the excavator, we reduced the number of workers needed on construction sites.”

“That’s right.”

“As a result, we were finally able to start several constructions that we couldn’t start because of labor shortage.”

Of course Kim Ki-woo knew this too, but he brought it up again to remind the directors who participated in the Imperial Conference.

“That’s a good thing. Wasn’t there a shortage of workers needed for construction sites compared to demand?”

“Your Majesty is right. The labor shortage in construction and civil engineering fields has been chronic. But I think it will be alleviated a lot if these heavy equipment are deployed on construction sites from now on.”

“If that happens, we can develop this vast continent of Wacantanga.”

“I think so too.”

When Kim Ki-woo and Construction Director finished their Q&A session, the directors nodded their heads.

The government had more money than they could possibly spend. 

That’s why they were pouring astronomical amounts of money into land development even now.

‘But the problem is the size of this damn continent.’

The empire was too vast. 

And if the plan to conquer Australia succeeded, it would become even bigger.

Kim Kiwoo’s homeland, Korea, was not very spacious.

On the other hand, the size of the empire was so huge that it was shameful to compare it with the Korean peninsula. 

As a result, there were many unexplored areas even in the northern continent.

‘But that will change soon.’

The emergence of heavy equipment would allow them to develop a lot of land with a few workers. 

In a way, the Wakan Tanka Empire could say that this was the most important thing for them.

“Minister of Industry.”

“Yes.”

“What do you think?”

The empire was a meritocratic society. 

In other words, if he had risen to the position of Minister of Industry, it meant that he was outstanding. 

He knew what Kim Kiwoo wanted.

“Your Majesty, you also know that the supply of excavators is not smooth yet. Therefore, I will make it a priority to supply excavators as much as possible with the capabilities of the Ministry of Industry.”

“Haha. You are indeed the Minister of Industry. But we should not limit ourselves to excavators. There will be more heavy equipment in the future, right?”

“That will be the case.”

“So try your best to meet the demand of the construction sites as soon as new heavy equipment comes out. You can even create an organization that specializes in developing and producing heavy equipment.”

“I will obey your will.”

“Good.”

Kim Kiwoo decided to end the matter of heavy equipment here. 

After all, heavy equipment was not something that could be made and supplied overnight.

There were too many important things to discuss at the meeting.

“Minister of Education.”

“Yes. I am the Minister of Education.”

“How is that matter progressing?”

The Ministry of Education was staking their lives on this project, so the Minister of Education answered immediately.

“The compulsory education system in the mainland is almost complete. There are still some ignorant parents, but we are punishing them according to the imperial law as soon as they are caught.”

“Tsk. We have repeatedly warned them through the imperial newspaper and other newspapers, but there are still such people.”

“Yes. I’m sorry to say this… but most of them are from tribes that recently surrendered in the wilderness or from people who came from south of the mainland.”

The Minister of Education said cautiously. 

The empire was very strict about punishing discrimination based on race or origin, and especially civil servants were subject to aggravated punishment.

But facts were facts. 

He had no intention of saying anything about this.

“It can’t be helped. There must be many people among them who have not assimilated to the ideology of the empire. But as long as they enjoy the same rights as imperial citizens, they must also receive the same punishment. Punishing them is not discrimination. Minister of Justice, do you understand?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Kim Kiwoo looked at the bowing Minister of Justice for a moment, then turned his gaze back to the Minister of Education.

“How about south of the mainland?”

“The law on compulsory education has been announced and the system is being established quickly. Especially in major areas of the central continent, it has almost settled down. However, it will take some time for it to take root nationwide.”

“Hmm.”

As soon as the government had overflowing finances, Kim Kiwoo started a compulsory education project based on this.

The method was identical to the original history. 

Six years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and three years of high school.

If Kim Kiwoo’s intention was realized and the compulsory education system was established, all children would go to school and choose their career path when they graduated.

There were three reasons why Kim Kiwoo implemented compulsory education so quickly.

The first was to circulate government finances, the second was to prevent child labor, and the last was to educate all imperial citizens to some extent.

“Especially in the southern continent, there is quite a lot of resistance.”

“They don’t want to send their children to school because they can’t make them work?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

This was similar to the case of some ignorant parents in the mainland earlier. 

In the end, they wanted to send their children to work and bring money to their homes.

‘This was common sense in pre-modern society, but there is no need to tolerate it now.’

In pre-modern society, children were labor force. 

They were forced to work from an early age, whether it was farming or inheriting a family business.

But it would be different from now on. 

And that would be advantageous for the southern continent.

If time passed like this, there would be a huge gap in education level between continents, and this would likely lead to regional sentiment.

‘They don’t even appreciate the policy for their own sake… Tsk tsk.’

Kim Kiwoo suppressed his discomfort and continued.

“There is no need to listen to their resistance. If they became imperial citizens, they should follow the law of the empire. Do I need to say the importance of education again with my own mouth?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

The Wakan Tanka Empire was a country that rose with scholarship. 

Many fields of study, especially science and mathematics, created synergy and swallowed the Wakan Tanka continent. 

They were even dominating the world.

Therefore, no one who was awake would deny the need for education.

“So implement compulsory education more strictly. Anyone who opposes this will be considered to have gone against my will. Do you understand?”

“I will obey your will!”

**

After the imperial meeting.

Kim Kiwoo’s strong will was made public. 

And the effect was immediate.

It couldn’t be helped. 

In the Wakan Tanka Empire, where Kim Kiwoo was revered almost like a god, there was no one who could oppose Kim Kiwoo’s will and be safe.

Not only in the mainland, but also in the central and southern continents, all minors were sent to school without exception.

But there were always those who didn’t know whether it was shit or soybean paste. 

Especially in the southern continent, parents who secretly made their children work were caught in droves.

“Oh, please forgive me just once! I heard the news late…”

“Shut up! How dare you lie like that! His Majesty himself ordered you to send your children to school… Did you think you could disobey the imperial decree and be fine?”

“Ugh!”

It was too late to regret. 

They became examples. 

As a result, they received much heavier punishments than usual.

The imperial citizens who saw this clicked their tongues.

“Tsk tsk. They are so bold. How can they rebel against such a strong imperial decree?”

“They brought it upon themselves. Instead of being grateful to His Majesty for trying to educate everyone fairly, what are they doing?”

“That’s right.”

Most of the imperial citizens were not on their side. 

And the rest, who were dissatisfied, had to shrink their bodies under the powerful example.

This made the compulsory education system firmly rooted in the empire.