Chapter 315
The optical communication experiment was a great success. Paul announced to everyone that he named this thing [telegraph] - as the name suggests, it is as fast as lightning. He also announced that the telegraph would be open to the public. As long as the public is willing to spend money, they can enjoy the convenience brought by telegraph communication. When their message arrives at the destination, someone will write it on paper and send it to the recipient's door.
Paul's words were conveyed through the [telegraph]. Not only did it reach Fulan Port, but this time it was also conveyed eastward to Butuya, the capital of Bayerdin.
In Paul's plan, the right to use the [telegraph] is divided into three levels.
The first is military intelligence. In most cases, military-related information must be given priority and delivered free of charge.
The second is the information of government departments. Officials of all sizes can use telegraphs to communicate some short, fast and urgent messages with Huxin Town, but they must be related to official business, and they also need to spend money - reimbursed by their own departments.
The above two types of messages need to be distinguished by confidentiality levels. For confidential messages, the sending and receiving base stations shall not keep archives. Moreover, the confidential military intelligence and government messages are specially encrypted when they are written. To those who are not aware of it, they are just a mess of letters, words or incoherent sentences. Even the telegraph operators at the telegraph base station cannot understand them. They only need to strictly follow the regulations to place the signal arm into the shape corresponding to each letter.
In order to reduce the probability of the ciphertext being cracked, the encryption rules need to be changed from time to time, and this still depends on manpower to send new encryption rules to various places. In addition to sharing a set of encryption rules, some special areas or special departments have unique encryption rules with Huxin Town, which depends on the situation.
Of course, the current encryption methods are still very primitive, just simply scrambling or replacing the letters or words in the message according to certain rules, but it should be enough in this era.
The third level is the information of civilians. Their information will only be transmitted when the telegraph line is idle, and it costs a lot of money, which most people probably can't afford. The tentative price is 1 copper coin per letter (including the name and address of the sender and the recipient), and a silver coin (equivalent to 1,000 copper coins) can only transmit about 200 words. They have to think carefully when writing letters.
Take Mr. Marlowe, the chief of the cannon casting at the arsenal, as an example. When he first came, his monthly salary was only 800 copper coins. However, at that time, the whole of Arda was not very rich. Later, with the development of the commodity economy and Mr. Marlowe's promotions, his salary rose to 3 silver coins. In terms of economic level, he was already an upper-middle class person in Arda and even Lake Town. If Mr. Marlowe wanted to use a telegram to convey his greetings to his friends, he would have to spend nearly one-third of his monthly salary if he was a little enthusiastic.
However, for those businessmen and factory owners who regard market information as extremely important, a high-value message is worth spending more money, and the speed of information transmission may determine whether they make money or lose money. [Telegram] is also mainly aimed at this group among the people.
Civilian information must be sent in plain text, and it is necessary to keep records when sending and receiving. The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Intelligence will conduct regular inspections to determine whether there are any unstable factors. However, many people may use some codes and cryptic words to convey some private information that they do not want others to know, especially some commercial secrets, which cannot be identified one by one.
A few days later, Paul sent a message to Fulan Port and Butuya by telegram in the name of the State Council: Huxin Town Machinery Factory will hold a "product launch conference" to display several newly developed products, mainly focusing on agriculture and textiles, and welcomes relevant knowledge of these two industries to come and observe.
After receiving the information sent by the lord, the local government department quickly conveyed and spread it to the surrounding areas, and even to Emden, which had just taken over.
Judging from the information sent by the State Council, the new products of the machinery factory will greatly promote the improvement of the so-called "productivity". According to previous examples-such as harvesters-this often means an opportunity to make a fortune. People with a little wealth will move when they hear the news, and it is always right to keep a close eye on the developments in Huxin Town.
Before the product launch of the machinery factory, Paul held a banquet in Lake Heart Town, entertaining the former vassals of the Kent family, including branches of the Kent family.
In the war of usurpers, these small lords had provided financial, material and human support to Maltz Kent. Now they have become losers. As punishment, they are now under the control of the Lake Heart Town Government Council.
The guests came to Lake Heart Town with trepidation. In the past, this place was a rural place that they disdained to talk about, but it changed a lot after they came. Lake Heart Town is showing a thriving scene. The roads are being widened, the original dirt roads are paved with stone slabs, a large number of houses are under construction, and the town area is beginning to expand to the southern shore of Lake Weiss.
The streets are full of business and travel, and people and horses are neighing. It doesn't look like the remote town in the previous impression.
This scene makes the old-fashioned lord's castle on the island in the middle of the lake look out of place and even a little shabby.
However, the guests did not dare to laugh at Graman's taste. After the banquet began, they were all dressed neatly and took their seats respectfully under the arrangement of old Philip, the castle's butler.
Paul, the main character, arrived last. He raised his glass and said, "Everyone, welcome to Lake Heart Town. Today's dishes are made under the guidance of the famous chef of Jiaowan. They are authentic Jiaowan cuisine. Please enjoy them and drink to your heart's content."
"Thank you, Lord Earl Graman."
Everyone picked up their glasses and toasted Paul from afar.
After saying a few words in the opening remarks, Paul was not very active. He suffered from a certain degree of "social phobia" and actually didn't like this kind of scene with so many strangers. Even his desire to eat was greatly reduced. In most cases, he pretended to be enthusiastic and answered a few words when others asked him questions.
The banquet was mainly promoted by senior officials of the State Council, such as Old Ford and Hansel, and it can be said that both the host and the guests had a good time.
What made everyone happy was that Paul announced that they would not deprive them of their territories, nor abolish their titles, and the State Council would not "actively" infringe on their rights in the territories.
Of course, the cooperation of the lords is still needed in some "major policies", such as the adjustment of tariffs.
Paul advised them: "Everyone, I advise you not to leave in a hurry. Stay in Huxin Town for a few days. I believe you have heard that the machinery factory will hold a product launch conference in a few days. There must be something that interests you."
Finally, he said: "People, don't always stare at the small piece of land under your feet. Sometimes you will get better things by giving up some stale things. You can only gain if you give up!"
Everyone pricked up their ears. The words of the Earl seemed to have a deep meaning.
A viscount stood up, toasted Paul with a glass of wine, and asked: "I heard that the Earl is promoting culture and education?"
No mistake, one post, one content, one book, one bar, one 6, one 9!
Old Philip standing behind Paul hurriedly reminded him in a low voice: "Viscount Helson."
Paul nodded: "Yes, Viscount Helson. That's right, I plan to build Lake Heart Town into the academic center of Northwest Bay. Haha, you must think I'm bragging, let's wait and see in a few years."
The Viscount named Helson waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, no, I have no doubt about the determination of the Earl. When I first arrived in Lake Heart Town, I visited the school you opened. It teaches some knowledge that even I have never heard of. May I ask the Earl, can I send the children of my family to your school to study?"
The other guests were shocked. Someone expressed loyalty so quickly? They, the lords of Emden, are far away from Lake Heart Town. The people in the family must live here permanently when they come to study. Isn't this a disguised way of sending protons?
Paul nodded to the viscount: "Of course, I welcome young people from other places to come here, and we can communicate and learn from each other. We will not refuse anyone who is interested in this."
"Lord Earl, I also have this intention..."
"Lord Graman, and my family..."
The banquet is getting more and more lively.
I have been stuck recently, especially in terms of technology...