Torrant bowed deeply, a pleased smile spreading across his wrinkled face. "I will return and gather the other masons, my lord. We will be ready whenever you need us."
"Very good," Jason Liu nodded. "Master Torrant, go back and find at least twenty masons. That should be enough to manage the two thousand workers I've recruited."
Jason wasn't surprised by how quickly the mason agreed. After all, the wages he was offering were generous, and it was only natural that these craftsmen would be eager to work for him.
Hearing Jason mention two thousand workers, Torrant's eyes widened in shock. "Two thousand people?" he repeated in disbelief.
He had known that this lord was recruiting heavily outside the store, but he never imagined that he had taken on so many workers.
To be honest, Torrant had never led a construction project of this scale before, and the thought made him uneasy. He hesitated before asking cautiously, "My lord, how large is this lumber mill? Do you really need so many workers?"
Jason Liu explained briefly, "I need a large warehouse to store the cut logs. The logging farm will require many workers, so we'll also need plenty of wooden houses for them to live in. Your job is to plan everything and make sure the workers are used efficiently."
Jason then gave Torrant a knowing smile. "For someone like you, isn't having more workers a good thing? The more hands you have, the faster the work gets done. I want this lumber mill built as soon as possible."
Torrant silently agreed that construction did require manpower, but two thousand workers still seemed excessive. However, if this lord was willing to spend his money on hiring more people, it wasn't Torrant's place to object. He would simply divide the labor among the masons under him and make it work.
"I think twenty masons should be enough to oversee them," he thought to himself.
Without further comment, he accepted the job and left to contact the masons in Bidong Market Town and nearby villages. He needed to gather everyone that night to start planning the construction process.
That afternoon, even more peasants arrived to apply for work.
Bud and McCann worked to maintain order, ensuring that things didn't descend into chaos, while they also helped pick out suitable recruits. Meanwhile, Jon sat behind a desk, questioning the applicants and carefully recording their names and villages on paper.
The simple task of interviewing so many people left all three of them exhausted, their throats dry from speaking nonstop.
The recruitment process continued until after five o'clock in the evening, and they eventually exceeded their target, hiring a little over two thousand people.
Many of the extras were older women whose husbands and sons had been drafted by their lords and lost in battle. With no one left to provide for them, they struggled to survive. When they heard that Jon and the others had recruited enough people and would not be taking any more workers, the desperate women broke down.
Dressed in tattered, patched-up clothing, these thin, frail women clutched their daughters-in-law and grandchildren as they knelt on the ground, weeping. "Please, my lord, have mercy on us! We will work hard, we promise! We beg you to take pity on us!"
Jon, McCann, and Bud were only around sixteen years old—just coming of age in Westerosi terms. Seeing these suffering old women kneeling and begging made them deeply uncomfortable.
They found it impossible to turn these people away. After a brief discussion, Bud volunteered to seek Jason Liu's approval. Even if these women couldn't do heavy labor, perhaps they could cook or clean.
Sitting in his store, Jason Liu listened to Bud's report. He had no problem feeding a few dozen extra people, and since many villagers had witnessed the scene, rejecting these women would tarnish his reputation.
So, he nodded and agreed to let them work in the kitchen, doing simple chores like cooking and cleaning.
"My lord, thank you! You are truly the kindest nobleman in the world!" Bud exclaimed, his face full of admiration and pride. Though he had expected Jason to say yes, hearing the confirmation filled him with excitement.
This was the lord he had sworn to follow, and serving such a compassionate and noble man felt like the greatest honor of his life.
Jason Liu watched as Bud ran off to deliver the news, shaking his head with amusement. He didn't consider this a big deal.
With that settled, Jason turned his attention back to the sketch he was working on—a rough layout of the lumber mill.
The most important structure was a massive warehouse to store the cut logs. Not only would it protect them from rain and snow, but it would also provide a way for Jason to manage transportation discreetly, away from prying eyes.
Next, he needed housing for the workers. Since the logging site was near the Wolf's Wood, the workers could use the very trees they cut down to build wooden houses quickly and efficiently.
However, to prevent the risk of fire, the housing should be divided into separate sections. If a fire ever broke out, it wouldn't consume the entire camp at once.
He made a note to place buckets of water around the camp as a precaution.
Another key structure was a large open yard next to the lumber site. The Winter Shelter Market Town was too small and too close to Winterfell for his purposes. The extra space near the logging camp would allow him to set up a proper training ground for his soldiers.
"It seems like a good opportunity to expand my forces," Jason mused.
He knew that Westeros would soon plunge into chaos, and he needed to strengthen his self-defense. Since the logging camp was ten kilometers from Winterfell, increasing his soldiers from one hundred to three hundred shouldn't alarm the Starks.
He would need to justify this expansion to Lady Catelyn. What excuse should he use?
After some thought, he settled on the most traditional reason: defense against wildlings and beasts.
"A logging camp is an important asset," he reasoned. "It must be protected from wildlings and dangerous animals in the Wolf's Wood. Having soldiers stationed there is a necessity."
It was a perfectly valid argument.
With more soldiers, he would also need stables for their horses. If he recruited another two hundred men and expanded his cavalry to one hundred riders, he would need at least two hundred horses. The small stable in Bidong Market Town wouldn't be enough.
"Yes, I'll have to build a proper stable next to the military camp," he decided.
Other facilities were also necessary—a kitchen for preparing meals, a laundry room for washing clothes, and a medical area for treating the sick and injured.
Currently, he only had Boris and his five assistants who understood medicine. He would need more trained healers in the future.
Jason tapped his fingers against the table, deep in thought, as he refined his plans for the lumber mill and the growing settlement around it.
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