Chapter 666: Upgrading the Hall of Martyrs
Chapter 666: Upgrading the Hall of Martyrs
September 25, 2017
The distance between Luoyang and Bing Province was only a few thousand kilometers. With Lu HaiKong and his group rushing on their journey, they managed to return to Beifeng City within five days.
Lu HaiKong's journey, including the travel time, took over a month in Luoyang. When he returned to Beifeng, it was already the end of December, and the New Year's Eve was just around the corner, marking the end of the year.
New Year's Eve was indeed a joyous festival, but Lu HaiKong felt rather frustrated and didn't get to celebrate it properly. Although he wanted to enjoy the festivities, he didn't have the chance.
During this period, various matters piled up: the issue of compensating the fallen warriors from the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the processing of the spoils of war by the Tomb Raiders, the placement of the numerous talents brought back by the army, and the 'welcome gifts' from the various counties and commanderies for the new Governor of Bing Province...
With all these tasks accumulating, Lu HaiKong, who had been contemplating a grand celebration, realized he had been thinking too much. Being able to spend a quiet New Year's Eve was already a blessing.
It was unclear whether Xi Zhicai had calculated that Lu HaiKong would definitely be overwhelmed during this period or if he had other reasons, but after returning to his hometown, he set off even earlier than Lu HaiKong. By the time Lu HaiKong returned to Bing Province, Xi Zhicai was still in Yingchuan.
Under normal circumstances, if it weren't for Lu HaiKong's intelligence network confirming that Xi Zhicai was absolutely fine, Lu HaiKong would have probably used the Grand Teleportation Order to check on Xi Zhicai's situation.
Of course, this was just Lu HaiKong's thought. With so many tasks at hand, how could he possibly get away?
Wang Jun, Tian Feng, and the other two, leading the hastily assembled administrative team, started working from December 29, when Lu HaiKong returned to Bing Province, and didn't finish until January 15 of the following year.
Even though these tasks were completed, it didn't mean Lu HaiKong could relax much afterward.
After this period of work, Lu HaiKong held a grand ceremony to commemorate the warriors who died in the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The ceremony was held at the Hall of Martyrs in the Yanhuang Mountain Camp.
On the day of the ceremony, several of Lu HaiKong's forces conducted a military exercise outside the Yanhuang Mountain Camp and opened the Hall of Martyrs, allowing all the warriors to enter and pay respects to their fallen comrades.
The ceremony lasted for three days. During this time, Lu HaiKong inscribed the names of a dozen outstanding members of the Fire Camp who unfortunately died in battle on the Martial Monument, along with thousands of names from the Immobile Army and native NPC soldiers from various armies.
The number of inscriptions Lu HaiKong made during these three days far exceeded the previous limit of the Martial Monument. If it weren't for the three Building Upgrade Orders he used before the ceremony, raising the level of the Hall of Martyrs, the original limit would have been insufficient.
After this three-day ceremony, Lu HaiKong clearly felt that the morale and unity of his Wuyuan Army and Immobile Army had significantly improved.
The residents of the Yanhuang Mountain Camp also felt more united, indicating the great success of Lu HaiKong's ceremony.
After the ceremony, Lu HaiKong finally had a moment of respite and time to observe the changes in the upgraded Hall of Martyrs.
Hall of Martyrs
Building Type: Special Building
Building Level: Outstanding (Quasi-Legendary)
Building Accessories: Martial Monument, Altar of Martyrs, Gate of Souls
Accessory Descriptions:
Martial Monument: Inscribes fallen generals and soldiers, nurturing martyrs by gathering their spirits and incense.
Capacity: 50 generals, 15,000 soldiers, and 10 martyrs can be nurtured.
Currently nurturing: Dynasty (99% completion)
Altar of Martyrs: Nurtures Trial Martyrs by absorbing and refining spirit stones, defeating them for a chance to obtain their martial arts, skills, and traits.
Capacity: 50 Trial Martyrs
Gate of Souls: ???
These are the current attributes of the Hall of Martyrs, the most extensively described building in Lu HaiKong's possession, and this is just a rough overview.
This situation is understandable since the Hall of Martyrs is one of the most powerful buildings under Lu HaiKong's command. With this building, Lu HaiKong can continuously produce exceptional generals in large quantities, as well as those mysterious martyr generals and soldiers, though this mass production requires a substantial amount of money.
In fact, each challenge at the Altar of Martyrs requires payment. Before the upgrade, each challenge cost 500 gold, but after the upgrade, the price changed. Especially when Lu HaiKong added various historical generals to the Altar, the challenge prices became more diverse.
The cheapest are the non-historical generals, costing between 500 and 1000 gold.
And as for the challenge fees of those historical military commanders, they were indeed expensive. The cheapest, Pei Yuanshao, required 1,500 gold, while the most expensive, Zhang Liang, cost a whopping 100,000 gold for a single challenge.
After seeing such a price list, Lu HaiKong couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain. He felt as if he had made a foolish decision by raising the level of the Hall of Martyrs.
Apart from the challenges in the Hall of Martyrs, which required gold, the summoning of spirits also demanded a monetary cost.
Several months ago, Wang Chao had been cultivating the Hall with a large number of soldiers paying their respects. The Hall's development had already reached ninety-nine percent, but months passed, and there was still no sign of a spirit being summoned.
Lu HaiKong had been away on military campaigns during this time, so he was unaware of this situation until he returned to Bing Province and, after handling various affairs, raised the level of the Hall. Only then did he discover the reason why Wang Chao had not been summoned.
The reason was simple: summoning Wang Chao required one million gold!
It was a straightforward demand, and Lu HaiKong's heart skipped a beat. Of course, despite his surprise, he didn't hesitate to pay the one million gold.
After all, Wang Chao was the first to follow him, and Lu HaiKong had nurtured him from a small-time mountain bandit who only knew how to recite lines. With Lu HaiKong's protective nature towards his subordinates, there was no way he could bear to part with that one million.
But there was a catch. After Lu HaiKong paid the one million gold, he learned that it would take Wang Chao more than three months to be summoned. This situation made Lu HaiKong so frustrated that he wanted to smash the system. It was not only greedy for money but also inefficient!
In the 1691st chapter, the unerring version!
If Lu HaiKong had just returned to Bing Province, he wouldn't have cared about a mere one million gold. But now, the situation was different.
When Lu HaiKong first returned, he was filled with the belief that an era of rapid development in his territory was about to begin.
On one hand, he held an abundance of resources plundered by the Gold-Seeking Commander from Jizhou during the chaos. On the other hand, he had a large number of talented individuals, and he bore the titles of General Who Conquers the North and Governor of Bing Province. Lu HaiKong felt that his path to greatness was about to unfold.
However, after more than half a month of hard work, Lu HaiKong realized he had been overly optimistic. Well, it wasn't that he had thought too much, but his path to greatness had indeed begun. It was just that the road was challenging and not easy to traverse.
Without going into detail, the compensation for the soldiers alone had cost Lu HaiKong tens of millions of gold. There were also military provisions, construction in the north, and the need to set aside funds for the development of the outer city.
After all this, Lu HaiKong realized that the money he had thought would never run out might not even be enough.
As Lu HaiKong delved deeper into his work, he discovered that the predicament he faced was even more complicated.
At this point, Lu HaiKong held a strong hand with the titles and various resources at his disposal, but he also faced a troublesome situation.
Not to mention that Lu HaiKong's position as Governor of Bing Province was not without challenges. Aside from the three commanderies he already controlled and the cleansed Taiyuan Commandery, the remaining commanderies were basically uncooperative.
During this period, the officials and aristocratic families in the various commanderies under Lu HaiKong's rule were also causing trouble. They were constantly creating problems for him.
"You're the Governor of Bing Province, right? You hold the military and political power of Bing Province. Shouldn't you provide the necessary funds for our commandery's expenses and the soldiers' provisions?" Lu HaiKong had only been back in Bing Province for half a month when the counties and commanderies under his rule started causing him all sorts of trouble.
They weren't causing random trouble; they had valid reasons for their complaints. They just didn't want to make things easy for Lu HaiKong.
Lu HaiKong understood what they were trying to do. No matter what, he was the Emperor's appointed Governor, and they couldn't drive him out. But they wanted to demonstrate their power in this way.
They needed to make it clear to Lu HaiKong that he couldn't control this vast province. If he wanted to continue in his position, he had to learn to compromise and understand that the true decision-makers in Bing Province were not just him but also the deeply rooted aristocratic families.
Lu HaiKong was naturally angry about this situation, but he also understood that it was the reality at present. He had the strength to crush all the aristocratic families in Bing Province, but he couldn't do that yet. If he eliminated these families, managing such a large province as Bing would be a challenge for him at this time.
Moreover, they weren't foolish. They didn't dare confront Lu HaiKong directly, but instead, they chose a more subtle approach, making Lu HaiKong both uncomfortable and unable to voice his complaints.
However, Lu HaiKong had anticipated this situation and wasn't overly upset.
What truly angered Lu HaiKong was that during his absence from Bing Province, some aristocratic families in the three commanderies he controlled had given him an unpleasant surprise...
(End of Chapter)
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