Chapter 1221: The Talented Scholars Tower Opens
Chapter 1221: The Talented Scholars Tower Opens
November 3rd, 2017
Capital Military Camp, Luoyang City!
Ever since the confirmation of Princess San's pregnancy, Lu Hai Kong had practically stopped doing anything.
Calculating the time, Lu Hai Kong had been in this world for seven years. Due to his sudden rejuvenation upon arrival, his age had reverted to seventeen, and seven years later, he was now only twenty-four in this world.
However, Lu Hai Kong's mental age was far beyond that. He was twenty-seven when he crossed over, and now, with two lifetimes combined, his mental age should be in his thirties.
As a thirty-something-year-old bachelor, Lu Hai Kong, despite his prior mental preparation, wanted to have a healthy baby with Princess San. But when he heard the news of her pregnancy, he realized that his mental preparation was not as thorough as he thought.
This sudden news, however, was not a surprise but a delightful shock to Lu Hai Kong.
Upon learning the news, Lu Hai Kong, overwhelmed with joy, did nothing but stick by Princess San's side, eagerly serving her. He worked tirelessly in front of her, causing the three maids, Nu Nu, who had recently moved from Northern Beacon City to Luoyang with Lu Hai Kong's efforts, to look at him with a mixture of awe and exasperation.
Initially, Princess San appreciated Lu Hai Kong's attentiveness, but as time passed, she became a bit overwhelmed. She found that Lu Hai Kong showed no signs of restraint and even seemed to be getting more and more excessive.
Even before the baby was born, Lu Hai Kong directly ordered Xi Zhi Cai and his team of top scholars to drop everything and come up with names for the unborn child, ten names each for a boy and a girl, all with the best and most meaningful meanings for him to choose from.
At the same time, Lu Hai Kong instructed his best tailor to start making clothes for the child who was still months away from being born, with ten to twenty sets of clothes for each year from birth to the age of five.
Lu Hai Kong also tasked the top masters from the Carpenter Camp with designing various toys for both boys and girls.
A series of meticulous and seemingly absurd tasks were continuously issued by Lu Hai Kong, while on Princess San's side, he kept providing her with various precious herbs and treasures to stabilize her pregnancy, treating her like a woman about to give birth even though she was only a month into her pregnancy.
Finally, after a week of Lu Hai Kong's devoted service, Princess San could no longer hold back. She grabbed the Crimson Heaven Sword and chased after Lu Hai Kong, giving him a good scolding, which only slightly calmed him down.
Of course, during this time, although Lu Hai Kong was preoccupied with Princess San, he hardly paid any attention to state affairs. Fortunately, the talented individuals under his command ensured the smooth operation of his forces.
After the farce of the lords' rebellion ended, Zhang He's finance department began to exert its power. The commercial systems in the Capital Military Camp, Bingzhou, and Youzhou started operating at full throttle, engaging in another round of frenzied wealth accumulation, or rather, economic construction initiatives.
In addition to the finance department, the Northern Defense Tower also sprang into action.
Ever since the arrival of the Foreign Demons and Lu Hai Kong's acquisition of the Base Portal, the focus of his forces' development shifted towards the various system cities.
The operation of the Northern Defense Tower also began to focus on the development and expansion of the system cities.
Currently, Lu Hai Kong had control over five system cities: Luoyang, the capital, the two cities of Huaxia City and Northern Beacon City in Bingzhou, the newly rebuilt Lingzhi City in Youzhou, and the Beyond World City in the grasslands, currently managed by Xun Yan.
Five system cities are insufficient for the vast territory of Lu Hai Kong, which now spans over a million square kilometers.
After deliberations at the Northern Defense Tower, Lu Hai Kong decided to construct approximately ten more system cities within three years and build official roads connecting each city, creating a network of system cities within their territory.
This is an enormous and costly project.
Even without considering the full city construction, the initial investment for such a massive project would require tens of billions as a starting point.
And it's not just this project; Lu Hai Kong's Talented Scholar Tower project is also underway. If successful, it will consume tens of billions of funds within five years, in addition to military expenses and the training of various special troops.
Although Lu Hai Kong's territory has been developing well economically in recent times, and Wang Jun has a substantial surplus in his hands, when he saw the various project plans and the astronomical amount to be spent within five years, he remained remarkably calm, almost eerily so, causing concern that he might have gone crazy from the overwhelming pressure.
Fortunately, in the following days, Wang Jun demonstrated his rationality through his actions, but his rationality came at a cost. His subordinates were driven to the brink of madness as Wang Jun pushed the concept of 'thrift' to the extreme in his subsequent work.
Witnessing the hardships faced by Wang Jun and his scholars, Lu Hai Kong felt compelled to take action. He reactivated the Treasure Troop, which had been in cold storage after the development of Luoyang City, and assigned them to Wang Jun's command.
In fact, when Lu Hai Kong previously utilized the Treasure Troop, there were dissenting voices within the Northern Defense Tower.
While many scholars in the tower were cultivated by Lu Hai Kong, there were also numerous scholars who joined Lu Hai Kong after he had established his power base.
These scholars had reservations about Lu Hai Kong's use of the Treasure Troop, and even Xun You felt that it was somewhat inappropriate.
However, this time, with the immense economic pressure bearing down on them and the looming threat of powerful foreign demons, they had no choice but to set aside their concerns.
In addition to providing the Treasure Troop to Wang Jun, Lu Hai Kong issued another command: a massive sweep operation!
The targets of Lu Hai Kong's sweep were the Capital Military Camp, Bingzhou, Youzhou, and all training points and dungeons outside the grasslands. Previously, Lu Hai Kong's development focused on large-scale dungeons, such as various types of Mountain Strongholds or Refugee Camps.
But recently, as Lu Hai Kong aimed to pursue the elite troop path and faced unprecedented financial strain, he began targeting high-level dungeons suitable for small teams of a dozen or so members.
Lu Hai Kong hoped to enhance his subordinates' strength while alleviating his economic pressure through this strategy.
Whether this approach would be effective remains to be seen, as the plan has just commenced. However, Lu Hai Kong would soon discover the surprises that awaited him from the five-billion-gold investment he had recently allocated.
In the Talented Scholar Tower within Huaxia City, a golden light soared into the sky, and the tower's doors opened...
(End of Chapter)
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