Perfikot didn’t immediately grant Oliver a development document. Although she could write it on the spot, she hadn’t officially been enfeoffed as the Northern Guardian yet, and hadn’t received the relevant seals and such. Anything she wrote now would appear somewhat unofficial.
After all, this is her first loyal vassal. Perfikot still hopes it can be more formal, and she also needs to discuss with the old butler.
Of course, the most important thing is that Perfikot wishes to enfeoff her first vassal at the ceremony where she is officially enfeoffed as the Northern Guardian. This not only adds a sense of ceremony but also showcases her majesty to the world.
At the very least, she won’t be seen as a commander without even one vassal under her command.
Though as long as Perfikot is willing, there’ll be plenty of people eager to follow under her banner.
Even if the Northern Territory is indeed barren with nothing now, it also means there are no entrenched old noble forces; it’s all a new beginning and a blank canvas waiting to be painted.
This will be an excellent opportunity for many who aspire to become nobles or prove their abilities.
In fact, Perfikot is indeed considering whether to return to Langton to recruit some talents.
After all, military matters are easy to solve. Within the Empire’s vast military structure, she can casually choose a few units or simply get a designation to form her own. She could quickly muster a usable army.
In the end, during the age of the first industrial revolution, an army was just a transition from classical to modern armies. There wasn’t much demand on the quality and training level of soldiers.
The recruits that countries could enlist at this time were generally not well-behaved individuals, most weren’t even farmers.
At least farmers could farm to pay taxes to the state, whereas most recruits had no land, no formal jobs, and no stable income, joining the army because they could not sustain themselves.
In the original world, it was after Napoleon enacted compulsory military service that countries began reforming their military systems, optimizing recruits, and improving the combat quality of their forces.
So for Perfikot, even if she only presented a university-level military training standard, it wouldn’t be a problem to train an army adequate for this era.
After all, during the era of line infantry, discipline was paramount. As long as that was ensured, everything else was manageable.
But gathering administrative personnel wasn’t as easy, or relatively speaking, not as easy.
Although the Empire has a vast civil servant system, and Langton University continuously provides the Empire with qualified graduates every year, recruiting them is much harder than conscripting common soldiers.
When you can’t even draft ordinary soldiers, you can still use prisoners and street gangs to fill the numbers, but you can’t make do with qualified civil administrators.
However, considering the vast noble group within the Empire, and the fact that not every graduate from Langton can find suitable employment each year, Perfikot isn’t worried about recruiting appropriate officials and aides.
She’s more worried about whether the recruited people are trustworthy enough to entrust with tasks during this crucial moment in facing the end-times.
And whether they can maintain their loyalty as the world changes drastically, without developing inappropriate desires.
This issue is not only directed at those who may be recruited by her but also at everyone involved in the Empire’s end-time plans.
The human heart is forever the most incalculable existence in this world, whether good or evil, right or wrong.
Perfikot does not wish to test people’s hearts; she will use methods more in line with the style of an Alchemist to ensure she is not affected.
The Flying Airship carried everyone back to the Eagle’s Beak Cliff forward base, and for the first time, those following Perfikot here saw the place.
But what surprised most was that the Eagle’s Beak Cliff base wasn’t as primitive or awful as they imagined.
Although from the sky, the houses looked particularly low and there were no roads, one could still see the good construction planning, clear functional zoning, and that houses and buildings were being built, and the planned narrow-gauge railway was under construction as expected.
Though everything couldn’t be called prosperous, it was orderly, with a burgeoning sense of vibrancy.
What’s peculiar, however, is that the buildings here all have huge pointed roofs and are very low, as if the designers designed the spires but forgot the towers.
Aside from these strange buildings, everything else at the Eagle’s Beak Cliff base appears normal.
The Flying Airship landed on the Eagle’s Beak Cliff, which Perfikot had transformed into a docking platform specifically for mooring Flying Airships.
Next to the airship mooring platform was a huge lift driven by steam to transport goods and personnel. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novel⟡fire.net
This was one of the foresighted facilities set up by Perfikot, as although the Eagle’s Beak Cliff isn’t high, climbing up and down is inconvenient. If large quantities of cargo are transported via airship, relying on manpower or animal power to transport goods up and down isn’t realistic.
However, when the thing operates, with its loud steam roar and metal friction sounds, it resembles a beast more than a lift.
Perfikot had considered optimizing its operating experience, but the various busy affairs have not allowed her time.
But after looking at the Alchemists who followed her off the Flying Airship, Perfikot thought for a moment and said to them, "Can any of you solve the noise problem with this lift?"
"I can! I can optimize its structure and improve its lifting method to reduce the noise!" a young Alchemist quickly raised his hand to express that he could do it.
Perfikot noticed a technician’s badge pinned to his collar.
The others were unwilling to lag behind, each offering their own solutions, seemingly none wishing to admit incompetence on this matter.
Perfikot nodded slightly, then said, "I’ll give you all an opportunity. Submit a proposal each, and I will decide your roles in my laboratory based on your proposals."
After speaking, Perfikot didn’t wait for their reactions and stepped into the lift first.
In a way, this rumbling, steam-spewing giant is quite the embodiment of steampunk romance.