I Became a Witch and Started an Industrial Revolution

The news of the Knight Order’s collapse soon reached the ears of the nobles.

The Lord of Patras City, without saying a word, immediately boarded the already prepared carriage and fled in panic.

The other manor-owning nobles also hastily discarded the noble insignias they had once been so proud of, frantically fleeing the city lord’s mansion in an attempt to blend into the crowd.

After Tina and her comrades had routed the Knight Order and taken control of the city lord’s mansion, they began a large-scale capture of the remaining private soldiers of the lord, forcing them to surrender and be taken as prisoners to prevent them from escaping with weapons and causing chaos elsewhere.

As dawn broke faintly, the citizens, who had spent the night in fear, cautiously opened slits in their windows to peek at the situation on the streets.

Soldiers dressed in coarse linen uniforms patrolled along the roads, while many squads holding large brooms swept away the filth and garbage scattered about.

From time to time, soldiers wearing yellow-and-white caps and armbands marched past in formation, shouting rhythmic commands.

Tina did not understand what Mitia had meant by the “Broken Window Effect,” but she faithfully carried out Mitia’s orders—so strictly, in fact, that in some aspects she was even harsher than Mitia’s original directives.

Because she was not part of Mitia’s original core when Mitia first rose to power, she relied entirely on the regulations to preach and mobilize, just as the doctrine prescribed—to unite everyone who could be united.

The soldiers came from all walks of life, so the overall discipline of the army was relatively poor, which led to the emergence of a more specialized “White Hat Army,” whose sole purpose was to supervise and enforce discipline.

In serious cases, the disciplinary team even held absolute authority to execute offenders on the spot without prior approval, whereas Mitia’s own disciplinary units only had the authority to arrest and punish.

However, in troubled times, harsh measures proved highly effective. After several executions of those who had sticky fingers despite their merits, the old feudal soldier-bandit behavior was virtually eradicated, and they managed to avoid harming the common folk in the slightest.

The disciplinary corps’ slogans were simple and catchy—so much so that they became easy to remember.

Coupled with the occasional speeches given by female party members explaining the nature of their organization on the streets, many civilians finally realized that these were the very same people who had long been fighting against tyranny and oppression—the commoners’ army.

Only then did the braver civilians begin to venture outside. Seeing that no harm came to them, more and more people appeared on the streets, and the entire city slowly resumed its normal rhythm.

By noon, the People’s Army had begun arresting and interrogating individuals, investigating the surrounding populace, and rounding up the guilty private soldiers, servants, city guards, high-ranking nobles, and major landowners under the former lord’s rule.

These were publicly paraded for denunciation.

At the same time, they preached the principles of Mitia-ism, allowing the gathered masses to judge them based on the ideological handbook.

As for the minor landowners and petty nobles, investigations were carried out.

Those found innocent had their extra lands and hoarded grain confiscated according to regulation but were spared full confiscation of family property.

The same policy was applied to the wealthy farmers.

Tina believed that the previous one-size-fits-all approach had provoked extreme resentment within these two classes.

Many who were innocent had been stripped of everything and could no longer survive, leaving them no choice but to defect to the Kingdom’s army.

Using their knowledge of local roads and extensive personal connections, they became guides for the enemy forces—causing heavy losses to the volunteer troops under Tina’s command.

Often it wasn’t the soldiers themselves who suffered, but their relatives and friends who were implicated because of their enlistment.

This greatly affected the soldiers’ morale and mental well-being.

In her communications with Mitia, the latter expressed no objection to Tina’s actions—in fact, she greatly admired them.

Light when necessary, harsh when required; adapting to local circumstances, learning through trial and error without dogmatic rigidity—only such a person could achieve great things.

The results of these policies were indeed remarkable.

Many minor nobles who had packed their gold and valuables, preparing to flee, were astonished to find that they were not purged.

They breathed a sigh of relief—some even broke down in tears.

Aside from a few second or third-generation nobles who had inherited lesser titles from their fathers or grandfathers, there existed a large group of nobles who had earned honorary titles through their professions as magicians or knights. These individuals often had no fief at all—just an empty title that barely entitled them to a few free meals.

They either continued their studies or served greater nobles to save some capital before venturing into small businesses.

Yet before they could reap any benefits, the uprising surged forth, and their once “noble” titles became a death sentence.

Every noble kingdom kept detailed archives to prevent the appearance of fake nobles—but as a result, these archives made them stand out like fireflies in the dark, impossible to hide.

Even if they managed to escape from the territories controlled by the uprising forces, they would lose most of their treasures along the way—bribing a path to survival meant paying with their lives. Their fate was simply to be stripped layer by layer until nothing remained.

Now that the rebels had relaxed their grip, they could at least live in peace again. As for their former noble titles—no one dared to mention them. “If you trace back far enough,” they would say, “my ancestors were farmers too!”

However, the medium and large-scale landowners and nobles were not so lucky. Presumption of guilt, and punishment in full severity—that was Mitia’s unchangeable iron law.

She could allow a portion of the petty bourgeoisie to slip past the crushing tracks, but never the larger ones.

Their entrenched power, accumulated knowledge, and worldview over the years meant that as long as they were given even a sliver of opportunity, they could rise again—even under a new dynasty—with frightening certainty.

At most, it would take decades or a century before they returned, the same people with the same methods.

Since their influence was passed down through mothers, blood, and marriage, their end was clear—follow the bloodline, uproot them entirely, and hang them from the trees to settle everything once and for all.

As for the good and innocent people caught in the crossfire, Tina could only whisper an apology.

After the public trials concluded, Tina fully took over the operation of the city lord’s mansion.

The registry of noble fiefs discovered during the search allowed her to conduct systematic confiscations.

The problem of land monopoly lay precisely in the nobles’ fiefs and the land deeds of the manor owners.

Noble fiefs required reserved lands as potential rewards for future use, so many seemingly fertile lands were off-limits to commoners for cultivation—simply because they had no rights.

Some of these lands had long been granted out, yet their owners simply couldn’t be bothered to farm them.

Meanwhile, manor owners held over seventy percent of village lands through their deeds, giving them absolute dominance.

Their methods were far more insidious and vile.

By cooperating with city nobles, they not only raised taxes but also used their massive agricultural output to suppress grain prices while inflating the prices of necessities such as salt.

The commoners’ ability to resist economic risks was extremely fragile. The combination of high taxes, soaring essential goods, and the long crop cycle often broke their financial chain.

At that point, the manor owners would use high-interest loans with land as collateral to absorb those lands.

Thus, a free peasant became a tenant farmer or poor peasant.

Through gradual rent increases and relentless debt collection, the cycle continued until repayment became impossible.

To avoid becoming completely landless refugees, they had no choice but to sink from tenant to serf.