Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1663 Trouble Stumbled In
On one side, Jie Liancheng and his group were busy searching for the treasures left behind by Zhou Xu. On the other side, Joan of Arc, who had just returned to the mainland some time ago, immediately brought a new batch of missionaries into the Saint Laurent region to begin missionary activities.

This time, with the war just ended, was a good opportunity for their state religion to spread its faith.

The arrival of the missionaries of the State Church did not arouse resentment among the local people.

Because the consistent style of the state religion is disaster relief and aid, missionaries will not start by talking to you non-stop and instilling the ideology of the state religion in you.

They won't do that; they'll help you directly. Who would dislike someone who helps them?

When we encounter someone in trouble, we help them; when we encounter an orphan, we adopt them. This is the guiding principle of our national religion.

Their Great Zhou Dynasty did have an orphanage, a relief facility under the State Religion, which coexisted with the State Religion Church. Or you can understand it as the church and the orphanage being one entity, with the adopted orphans living in the church.

Relieving orphans not only cultivates more believers for the state religion, but also improves their reputation among the local people.

Under this premise, the missionary activities they held regularly, and the doctrines they promoted, were always about loyalty to the emperor and love for the country and its people. There was nothing inherently wrong with this ideology.

The only problem is that the people of Saint Laurent think their previous emperor was an idiot.

Although the order was given by Saint Laurent I, the people considered them all to be the same.

Fortunately, they didn't label every emperor as an idiot, which saved Zhou Xu from being wronged.

From the confiscation of the private property of the powerful and wealthy by the Great Zhou army to the entry of the state religion into the Saint Laurent region for missionary work and relief, the entire process proceeded exceptionally smoothly, which inadvertently and rapidly increased the loyalty of the local people to the Great Zhou.

By the time the report was delivered to Zhou Xu, it was already a month into winter.

The report was quite comprehensive, detailing the work done and listing the various resources acquired after the occupation of the Saint Laurent region.

The Saint Laurent Empire, with its vast territory, undoubtedly possesses abundant resources. Zhou Xu clearly had little interest in ordinary resources; he would simply glance at them to get a general idea and that was it.

What Zhou Xu was most interested in were the special resources that were originally in the hands of the Saint Laurent Empire.

"Wow, there are actually two mithril mines! And there are still over 370 jin of mithril in stock!"

Zhou Xu was overjoyed. This time, Saint Laurent I's wealth, accumulated over at least a hundred years, was all going into his pocket.

In addition, there are also many veins of minerals such as Everstone and Sharp Crystal. After seeing the Necromancer's Bone, Zhou Xu's expression changed visibly.

Clearly, the findings of Xie Liancheng and Zhou Chongshan were now included in the report.

"It's actually beneath the Death Plains?"

After all, these are relics from the old civilization. Over the years, due to changes in the landform caused by tectonic movements, buildings that were originally on the ground have been buried underground, which is not surprising.

The report mentioned that after the discovery, they immediately began organizing manpower to excavate.

However, it has obviously not been dug out yet. It is estimated that it must have been buried quite deep, otherwise it would have been dug out long ago.

This situation is actually quite troublesome.

The environmental constraints of Death Plains meant that the excavation work would be extremely difficult.

[Send undead troops to dig? But the undead troops need to consume necromantic energy to do so. If they absorb the necromantic energy from the Death Plains after consuming it, wouldn't they ruin the undead bones buried underground?]

Although Zhou Xu wanted to dig out the treasures he had left behind, he also did not want the undead bones to be wasted.

With this thought in mind, Zhou Xu seemed to remember something and asked, "Bowen, at the beginning of the month, didn't the 'steam excavator' project team send up a report saying that it had entered the final testing phase?"

"Your Majesty, please wait a moment."

These files are basically sorted by date and type and then placed in the filing cabinets at the back. Every once in a while, they are completely updated, and older files are moved to a deeper file storage room for storage.

The documents from the beginning of the month were easy to find, and Li Bowen quickly presented them to Zhou Xu.

With the increasing maturity of steam engine technology in the Great Zhou Dynasty, many related instruments and equipment have also begun to be developed.

After all, their next goal for the Great Zhou Dynasty was to achieve the widespread adoption of steam engines.

Among the design drawings that Carl had previously submitted was one for a 'steam excavator', so Zhou Xu took the opportunity to set up a project team and begin research and development.

By some strange twist of fate, this equipment really came in handy at this moment.

With the advent of steam excavators, the excavation work that originally required a large number of people can now be done by one person plus one machine.

At most, a few more support staff can be added.

In this way, the problems caused by the special environment of the Death Plains can be largely solved.

Train a few drivers and have them take turns operating the steam excavator to perform excavation tasks, just make sure they don't stay inside for too long, and that's it.

Although the excavator may damage the buried remains during this process, this is currently the optimal solution.

"found it!"

Li Bowen quickly presented the document to Zhou Xu for review.

After quickly reviewing the document's contents, Zhou Xu immediately gave the order.

"Send someone to the project team to check. It's been a month, and the steam excavator still hasn't been tested?"

Zhou Xu couldn't help but complain.

The guards who received the order acted with extreme efficiency, immediately dispatching a giant eagle rider to the project team to confirm the situation, and then returning to report...

"Your Majesty, the project team encountered a minor problem during testing half a month ago. They made adjustments to the machine and are now preparing for a new round of final testing."

"Go and have a look."

Within the Great Zhou, not all project teams' final tests require Zhou Xu's personal confirmation, as his time is limited, and he generally only reviews projects of higher importance.

Occasionally, on a whim, they might conduct spot checks on a few items to confirm the situation, which is similar to a surprise inspection or an undercover visit.

Under normal circumstances, such as this 'steam excavator' project, Qin Fen would usually be in charge.

As long as Qin Fen confirms there are no problems, he can write a report and Zhou Xu will be done with it after he reads it.

This time it was just a coincidence that he went there in person to put pressure on the project team. If things were already settled, then everything would be fine.

Not done yet? Then the project team needs to hurry...

(End of this chapter)