Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 321: The Reformed Li Xuanling, the Reorganization, the Ninth-Class Viscount

"Madam, to get to the Star-Picking Palace, we need to cross the iron bridge. We can go directly through the Council Hall. Please follow me!"

Hanyue led Li Xuanling into the main building, to the top floor, and directly into the council hall.

After the shock brought by the Star-Picking Hall, Li Xuanling did not react much when he saw the Council Hall again. He quickly followed Han Yue and others through the hall, climbed onto the iron bridge at the back, and walked towards the Star-Picking Hall.

"Why didn't they follow?"

When he reached the porch of the main hall, Li Xuanling realized that Xiao Ning and Xiao Yu behind him were gone, and he immediately asked out of curiosity.

"Madam, in the entire camp, apart from the fifteen of us maids, only you and Si Cheng are qualified to enter the Star Picking Palace. Others are not allowed to enter unless summoned by the Lord."

Li Xuanling nodded and continued to follow Hanyue, along the porch, and walked into a room right behind the Zhaixing Palace.

After entering the room, Li Xuanling's face suddenly showed a complicated expression.

It’s not that this room is so luxurious. Of course, the dazzling array of accessories and summer clothes in the room did open her eyes, but this was not enough to make her show such a reaction.

The key point is that the layout of this room is exactly the same as her boudoir in Longshan, and even the items she brought with her are placed exactly as they were.

"These...were all arranged by him?"

Han Yue nodded first, then covered her mouth and smiled, "The lord personally ordered us to do this. This is the first time Han Yue has seen the lord so attentive. Madam will be blessed in the future."

Hearing this, Li Xuanling was silent for a moment, looked around the room, and his eyes stopped on the weapon rack beside the west window sill. He was stunned again.

A silver sword was placed on the top of the shelf, it was her Tianhua Sword.

She led her men to launch a surprise attack on Xia Hong that day but failed, so her weapons were naturally confiscated.

During this time in Longshan, she wanted to ask Xia Hong for it several times, but she held back every time the words came to her lips. Unexpectedly, Xia Hong returned it to her directly.

"By the way, Madam, please take a look. This is what the Lord specifically asked me to give to you."

Han Yue suddenly remembered something, opened the wardrobe in the room, took out a white palace dress, unfolded it, and handed it to Li Xuanling.

The clothes felt as light as a feather in the hand, and when unfolded, the white velvet on it seemed to glow, with a very textured feel. What was even more magical was that under the light of the fire in the room, the original white color gradually turned into a crystal clear blood jade color.

“What a magical dress.”

"This dress is so beautiful."

“This dress is so beautiful!”

"No wonder the lord named it Chi Xiao Ying Xue, so that's how it is."

"It's so beautiful. This dress must be very precious."

…………

Han Yue and other maids obviously didn't know the characteristics of the clothes. When they saw the changes in the clothes, they exclaimed in amazement and their eyes were full of envy.

Han Yue and others were not sure, but Li Xuanling recognized it at a glance. The material of this palace dress was the fur of the blood jade fox. The key point was that a blood jade fox could only produce more than 20 centimeters of fur at most. This set of palace dress would require at least ten blood jade foxes to make.

She looked down at the beautiful palace dress in her hands, and an unprecedented strange feeling surged up from the bottom of her heart. The complexity deep in her eyes gradually turned into entanglement.

"Chi Xiao Ying Xue, this is the name he gave himself..."

"Madam, you just came from Longshan, so you must not have had time to eat yet. We have prepared everything. Please have dinner first!"

Han Yue was standing behind Li Xuanling and naturally didn't notice her expression. Remembering that she hadn't eaten yet, she quickly signaled to the other maids to prepare dinner.

Li Xuanling put away his worries and quickly returned to normal. He noticed that Hanyue was talking about dinner. He remembered that when he first entered the city, he saw that every household on both sides of the street was preparing food. He immediately asked curiously, "What does dinner mean?"

Han Yue hurriedly explained with a smile: "Dinner is the last meal of the day. Da Xia now has three meals a day, namely breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

Li Xuanling turned his head to look at the moonlight outside the window and roughly deduced that it was almost the third hour of the second half of the night, and immediately knew it was time for meals.

"Lunch is the fourth hour after nightfall?"

Hanyue nodded, and just at this moment the maids came in carrying plates.

Before the plates were opened, an extremely tempting aroma emanated from them, making Li Xuanling unable to help but turn his head to look over.

She walked over to the table and sat down, watching Hanyue open the first plate.

"This dish is fried bamboo shoots with snow bamboo shoots and pork. The bamboo shoots are the most precious bamboo shoots from the Arrow Bamboo Forest, and the pork is the most delicious piece from the back of the neck of the mid-level snow bamboo shoots. Madam, please try it and see if you like it."

It’s not that Li Xuanling hasn’t eaten good food before. She has even eaten high-quality animal meat. Moreover, she is familiar with the two ingredients that Han Yue mentioned and has eaten them before. But why didn’t she smell such a rich aroma before?

She picked up the iron chopsticks that Hanyue handed over, picked up a piece and put it in her mouth, and her expression changed instantly.

"This...this taste, how come it's so delicious?"

She suddenly remembered something and asked, "It's salt? It's salt, right?"

Han Yue didn't understand at first, but then she remembered that Li Xuanling had just arrived in Da Xia, and immediately nodded and explained: "That's right, Madam, the food that the Lord and you eat will be added with refined salt."

She had heard rumors about salt during the previous two months in Longshan, but she had never seen it with her own eyes or tasted it, so she didn't take it seriously.

Only when she tasted it herself did she realize how magical this thing was.

It's not just the taste, the body feels very comfortable after eating it, and it also has a very obvious effect of clearing the blood, qi and meridians in the body, which means that eating this can increase the speed of cultivation.

Braised white bear paw with green saliva, grilled lamb chops with ripe fruit, stewed Kui ribs with crystal twigs, and painted tiger soup with fragrant cold fruit. After tasting the next four dishes, Li Xuanling's mouth was never empty again. In the end, it was Hanyue who took the initiative to pour a glass of blood-cold wine to draw her attention back from the food.

Li Xuanling picked up the wine glass and drank it all. Her face turned red instantly and a feeling of dizziness surged into her mind. She closed her eyes and savored the feeling for more than ten breaths before slowly opening her eyes, her face full of excitement and excitement.

This wine is not only delicious, but it can also improve your cultivation?
"This is Blood Cold Wine. The Lord specifically asked me to prepare five pounds for Madam. If Madam wants to drink it in the future, I will get it anytime."

From beginning to end of this dinner, the psychological shock Li Xuanling felt was no less than when he saw the scene in Xiacheng just now.

She didn't react until Hanyue and others packed up everything and prepared to leave.

"Madam, Hanyue will have to serve the leader. Hanshuang, Nongying, Qiuru, Mingyue, and Hualing will be responsible for serving you from now on. Hanshuang is the maid's adjutant. Madam, if you have any questions, you can ask her to come to me."

Hanyue left behind five maids, among whom was a maid-adjutant named Hanshuang, who looked 70% similar to her and should be her sister.

Li Xuanling nodded, and after seeing Hanyue off, she lay down on the bed with the help of five maids and prepared to rest.

In fact, it is almost dawn now. Normally, the cold-resistant level should sleep at night, but if you are not going out hunting, there is nothing wrong with sleeping during the day.

She had already eaten a lot and drank a pound of blood-chilling wine. She felt groggy and fell asleep on the bed naturally.

But soon, she was awakened by a big hand reaching into the quilt.

"Who dares to..."

After being awakened, Li Xuanling subconsciously yelled angrily, but before she could finish her words, she realized who the person was and immediately shut her mouth.

Then there was a rustling noise coming from the room.

After a long time, the noise in the room gradually subsided.

"Weren't you unwilling before? Have you changed your ways?"

"Get out!" The two maids on duty outside the door had already blushed with shame.

………………

The first day of October, the second year of Daxia
As night falls, the inner city becomes extremely lively.

Normally, night is the time for hunting and production in the camp, so it is normal to be busy and lively, but the situation tonight is obviously a bit unusual.

Many Cold-Resistant-level warriors made an appointment to walk towards the main building. A large number of Digging-level warriors seemed to have received some news in advance, and gathered together under the main building, some here and some there, chatting excitedly.

"In the battle to defend the hive, I killed one enemy, which is considered a small achievement."

"Killing the enemy is no small feat! I have made clear that the troops attacking the Beehive were from the Longyou Army, and all of them were above the Digging Realm. Killing one of them is definitely a great feat!"

"That's right. Those who could kill the enemy at that time were basically at the Cold Resistance level. Not many of us could do that."

"I severely injured two of them with my archery. The quartermaster department has already contacted me to confirm it."

"Me too, seriously injured one person."

"The highlight tonight should be those cold-resistant masters. They killed more enemies than each other, and the lord will definitely reward them with a lot of contribution points."

"Contribution value is nothing, the title is the real highlight."

"Knighthood, what is a knighthood?"

"I heard from the Quartermaster Department that the Lord has established a nine-level nobility system to reward those with outstanding military achievements."

"I know. I heard that people with titles will have a different status in the future, and will receive special treatment, but I don't know what the specifics are."

"The status is different, what difference can it make? If you ask me, it would be more cost-effective to give some contribution points!"

"The camp has so many people now, and it's getting harder and harder to earn contribution points. Every night, hundreds of hunting teams go there from Redwood Ridge. If you go too late, there won't even be any trees to cut, and the low-level frigid beasts will fight over them."

"I know. I heard that last month several teams fought over prey. It almost resulted in a loss of life. Yuwen Sizheng even intervened personally."

"Indeed, it is not easy to earn contribution points now. If this title is useless, it would be more cost-effective to give more contribution points."

"Wait and see what's going on. It might be useful!"

Tap tap tap…

The discussions below the main building were interrupted by the sound of a large army marching.

Everyone turned to look towards the outer city, only to find that a large group of soldiers wearing light golden armor were slowly walking towards them.

"It's the Yunjiao Army. The Yunjiao Army is here too."

"Nonsense, the reason we were able to conquer Longyou this time was mainly due to the Yunjiao Army. How can we exclude them when rewarding them for their merits?"

"There look to be over a thousand of them. Didn't they say that more than 300 people were killed in the battle of Longyou?"

"There have been so many new people in the camp during this period, and the camp has already been filled."

"The leader is Captain Liu Yuan, and Si Cheng is not here."

"Si Cheng must have been in the Council Hall a long time ago."

"Captain Liu was also there when the leader attacked Longshan. I think he made a great contribution."

"Not just Longshan, I heard that he was there in Changbaigou, Ningyuanqiu, and when we were guarding the Beehive, the leader led the army to defeat Baiyuan and Xiling. This time, he took over Longyou. I guess few people can compare to his military exploits."

"That would be incredible!"

........................

"Liu Yuan, captain of the Yunjiao Army Scouting Camp, greets the Lord!"

"No need to be polite, just get up."

In the Council Hall, with the arrival of the last person, Liu Yuan, including Li Tiancheng and Li Xuanling, all 89 existing cold-resistant-level warriors of Da Xia were finally gathered together.

In early July, Xia Hong took an inventory in Longshan. At that time, there were a total of 75 people, not counting Li Tiancheng and Li Xuanling.

At this moment, there were 12 extra people in the hall, namely Hou Ming, Hou Ying, Hou Bing, Hou Tong, Hou Quan, Hou Ming, Lin Ye, Zhou Yuan, Cheng He, Wang Lie, Zhang Qingyuan and Lu Yin.

The surrender of these 12 people was within Xia Hong's expectations. After all, Zhaoyang Longshan had been lost, Hou Hu had also escaped, and with the excuses given by Li Tiancheng and Hou Jing respectively, these 12 people would definitely choose to surrender, unless they were stupid.

"I won't waste my time talking to you guys, I'll just get straight to the point. I called all of you here tonight mainly for two things. One is the reform, and the other is to reward people based on their merits. Let's talk about the reform first..."

Xia Hong paused for a moment, and seeing that everyone's attention was focused, he continued, "I won't say much about the new policy in Longshan. You all have a general understanding of the local organization of the Six Departments. What I want to change this time is the grade of the existing positions in Daxia."

Having said that, Xia Hong signaled Xia Chuan with his eyes.

Xia Chuan nodded, stood up immediately, and said loudly to everyone: "Except for me, the current positions in Daxia can be roughly divided into four levels. The first level is the six ministers in charge of the six ministries, that is, the current six directors; the second level is the six deputy directors who assist the directors; the third level is the newly established six departments; the fourth level is the six deputy directors and the local garrisons.

The lord decreed that from now on all positions in Daxia will be classified into grades, which are currently divided into grades one to five. Each grade of position will have a corresponding monthly salary, which is divided into three items: contribution value, Yangyuan Dan, and silk.

The fourth rank has a monthly contribution value of 3000 points, 6 Yang Yuan Dan, and 20 meters of silk;
The third rank has a monthly contribution of 4000 points, 9 Yang Yuan Dan, and 25 meters of silk;
The second-level contribution value is 5000 points per month, 12 Yang Yuan Dan, and 30 meters of silk;
The first-class contribution value is 6000 points per month, 15 Yang Yuan Dan, and 40 meters of silk."

Everyone who held a position at the scene suddenly began to breathe heavier.

Xia Chuan's meaning was obvious: this was a monthly salary.

In other words, as long as they are in this position, they can get these things every month even if they just sit there doing nothing.

Contribution points and silk are nothing. The main thing is the Yang Yuan Pill, one pill is worth 3000 points, and it is the indispensable elixir for their cultivation.

There are indeed not many people holding positions in Daxia now. Among the 89 cold-resistant-level people in the entire hall, less than half of them actually hold positions.

Therefore, the vast majority of people looked at Yuwen Tao and a few other people with envy in their eyes, and then they developed a strong desire for the position.

"Of course, this is just a preliminary draft. The population of the camp has increased dramatically this time, and a large number of people will be added to the six departments and six bureaus. By then, more and more management talents will be needed, and the number of grade positions may continue to increase. At that time, it will depend on personal ability and the best candidates will be selected."

After Xia Chuan finished speaking, he paused for a moment and immediately continued, "In addition, the lord has ordered me to set up the Criminal Justice Department and the Military Affairs Department. The former will be responsible for all the prisons in Daxia, and the latter will be responsible for all the military affairs of Daxia. At that time, I will also select the chiefs of these two departments from among you. It depends on your performance."

As for the Military Department, everyone had heard Xia Hong mention it in Longshan in early July, so they were not surprised. However, they were immediately interested in the Criminal Justice Department.

With the addition of two new departments, that means a lot of additional positions!
Everyone's minds immediately became active.

"In addition to these, there is also the future corvée labor. In the past, the camp stipulated that everyone must pay a fixed amount of coal and iron every day according to their cultivation. From today on, people with positions will no longer have to perform corvée labor. You only need to focus on your position affairs. However, once you leave office, you still have to continue to pay."

After Xia Chuan finished his remarks, Xia Hong immediately took over.

"Of course, it's not just people with positions who can be exempted from corvée labor, people with titles can be exempted as well!"

After Xia Hong said this, everyone below instantly became alert.

Compared to those Digging Realm outside, these Cold-Resistant-level information channels are naturally much more powerful. They obviously know more about the Nine-Level Noble System than others. Looking at Xia Hong at this moment, there is both curiosity and expectation on their faces.

"There are nine ranks of Viscounts, from the lowest to the highest, namely Xuanling, Chixiao, Qingming, Zidian, Jinque, Yuheng, Tianquan, Taiwei, and Zhunbo..."

After Xia Hong announced the nine levels of viscount, the expressions of everyone in the audience became solemn.

(End of this chapter)