Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 571 Disappointment, Ecstasy, and Emotion
"They're changing the location of the city to Guangning, instead of the river valley? What... why did they suddenly change their minds?"

Outside Hegu Village, Fan Kong, who was directing villagers to transport coal for Xia Jun, was stunned when he heard the latest news brought by his son Fan Hong. He then asked his son anxiously what had happened.

Fan Hong's face was full of bitterness as he whispered, "Father, I heard from the Xia soldiers that a large army of theirs launched a surprise attack on Guangning Mountain in the first half of the night, driving away Cai Yunzhou's 70,000-strong Cai Qiu army. Now Guangning Mountain has also become Xia territory..."

At this point, Fan Kong basically understood, and his face was instantly filled with bitterness and resentment. He didn't listen carefully to what his son said after that.

Compared to Hegu Village, Guangning Mountain, a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, is obviously more suitable for building a city. Since Daxia has conquered Guangning Mountain, it is naturally impossible to build a city in Hegu.

Whether or not a city is built in the valley will not have much impact on the people of Daxia, but for the more than 20,000 people in the valley village, it is a crucial opportunity that will determine their future fate.

To be honest, Fan Kong didn't know much about the Great Xia, but he was a shrewd man and knew very well that a military camp like the Great Xia was not much different from the Caiqiu system, and that the major cities within its territory would not accept people at will.

With over 100,000 people in the entire Qingyugou area, and their strength being so weak, the Great Xia would certainly not go to great lengths to relocate them. Therefore, the most likely outcome would be the adoption of a military garrison to govern them.

Simply stationing troops would actually be beneficial to Qingyugou. After all, every camp considers its army to be of paramount importance, and its soldiers are known for their lavish lifestyles. Qingyugou, being close to the military, could live a good life simply by engaging in any business related to the army.

Not only can troops be stationed there, but a city will also be built, which would bring even greater benefits.

First of all, regardless of the camp, as long as a city is built in a certain place, it means that the higher-ups value this place. For example, Changqing Valley has been around for more than a hundred years, and apart from Qinghua City at the north entrance of the valley, there is no other city in the valley.

Secondly, sticking together for warmth is in the nature of the Ice Abyss people. Once a city is built in the valley, the surrounding population will inevitably gather there.

Finally, there's the importance attached to it by the higher-ups of the Great Xia. The first priority in building a city is definitely defending against enemies, so the number of Xia troops stationed there won't be too small. Moreover, the Great Xia will try every means to ensure their daily cultivation and living resources. As long as a little of these things leaks out, it will allow the people in the Qingyugou area to live a good life.

Once the population surges and the resource supply increases accordingly, the region will prosper. This is an age-old truth. When the population strength of Qingyugou region increases, everything will change.

It was because of these factors that Fan Kong was so excited when he learned that the Great Xia Dynasty was going to build a city, especially when he learned that the city was going to be built in their River Valley Village, he was overjoyed.

But now, his son suddenly told him that the location for building the Great Xia city was going to be changed to Guangning Mountain.

Although Guangning Mountain and Hegu Village are only 15 kilometers apart, according to the principle of the most benefited area, in his mind it is naturally better to build a city in Hegu.

"Father, is there any way to get those adults to change..."

Fan Hong is almost fifty years old this year and understands these principles. He subconsciously asked his father if there was any way to change Da Xia's mind.

He stopped speaking before he could finish, then exchanged a glance with his father, both of them shaking their heads with bitter expressions.

So far, the highest-ranking person they've met in the Great Xia Dynasty is Yuan Bai, the deputy commander of the Dragon Guard. Just from that name, you can tell it's just a military position, and probably not very high.

With little influence and little power, what means could they possibly use to change the minds of those in higher positions?

Furthermore, the location of the city is a huge matter for their River Valley Village, but what does it matter to the high-ranking officials of Great Xia?
"Fortunately, Guangning Mountain is not too far from us. After the city is built, we should be able to move in among the first batch. At that time, we will be able to take advantage of our proximity and gain some benefits. At the very least, we will not be worse off than other villages in Qingyugou."

Hearing his son's words, Fan Kong shook his head and said, "The biggest beneficiary should be Qingtan Village..."

Fan Hong was taken aback when he heard this, but he understood after listening to his father's explanation.

The four key figures in the Frost Ash Society who were in charge of organizing the uprising were all from Qingtan Village. No wonder Su Lie was so enthusiastic about the uprising, and he started running around and contacting these people as soon as Cai Qiu conscripted laborers.

Thinking of this, Fan Hong seemed to suddenly realize something and said, "I remember now. I heard that the big shots of the Frost Ash Society also played a big role in attacking Guangning Mountain. There are rumors that they planned this great battle with that general named Hou Bing in order to meet the lord of Great Xia."

Fan Kong's face turned even more bitter upon hearing this. He had a good relationship with Su Lie and naturally knew more information than his son. He knew that the Frost Ashes Society's leader, who had planned this uprising, not only came from Qingtan Village but also had some connection with the Great Xia Lord. According to Su Lie, they seemed to be master and disciple.

Therefore, when Guangning is built as a city, Qingtan Village will inevitably be the most valued among the sixteen villages in Qingyugou.

"Old Fan!"

As if to confirm his idea, as soon as Fan Hong led the coal transport team to the village entrance, Su Lie's slightly excited greeting immediately came over.

He looked up at the village entrance and his expression froze.

It was nighttime, and the villagers had gathered in large numbers at the village entrance, crowding around something in layers. Because they were too far away, he couldn't see it clearly at first glance.

Su Lie and several people from Qingtan Village were waiting outside. They only waved and greeted him when they saw him return.

Fan Kong immediately broke away from the group and went up. He keenly noticed that the villagers' faces were glowing and their pupils were full of excitement, as if they had encountered some happy event. He was immediately puzzled.

The surrounding area was filled with villagers from the river valley village. When they saw the village chief coming, they immediately made way for him.

"Brother Su, what's wrong with you...?"

As Fan Kong walked in, he asked Su Lie his purpose, but before he could finish speaking, he froze when he saw what the crowd was surrounding, his face full of astonishment.

It turned out that the crowd was surrounding ten giant iron-wheeled vehicles.

They are described as gigantic because these iron-wheeled vehicles are 20 meters long and 5 meters wide. It is obvious at a glance that everything from the wheels to the body is made of pure iron, and it seems to be made of ten-fold iron, with an extremely high load-bearing capacity.

The sheer size of the pure iron cargo truck was enough to shock him, but what truly astonished him was the cargo of supplies it was filled with.

The first eight carts were filled with bundles of azure meat strips, clearly meat from the Frost Beast. These iron-wheeled carts were already large, and the meat strips not only covered the carts but also piled up five or six meters high. By his estimation, each cart carried at least 200,000 jin of meat.

Eight cartloads, which is more than 1.6 million jin!

On the ninth vehicle were twenty wooden barrels. One of the barrels had already been placed on the ground with its lid off, and Fan Kong could clearly smell the scent of animal blood inside.

In other words, these twenty wooden barrels are filled with animal blood!

The tenth vehicle was loaded with mostly beautiful containers. Although we didn't know what was inside, we could roughly guess from what the first nine vehicles had.

Crucially, one of the boxes wasn't closed tightly, and Fan Kong could see through the gap that it contained many exquisite small porcelain bottles of various colors. These beautifully crafted bottles were clearly meant to hold precious cultivation pills.

"Ugh..."

If the sheer volume of animal meat and blood on the first nine carts had already made Fan Kong hold his breath, then the tenth cart, with its indistinguishable but precious supplies, was enough to drive him mad.

He only just realized why everyone in the village was gathered here, and why they all looked so excited.

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss!
The villagers' attention was entirely focused on the meat and blood of the animals, because they had no idea that the tenth truck was carrying the most valuable supplies, which were likely better than the previous nine trucks combined.

"Brother Su, what are these things...?"

Although Fan Kong was extremely excited, he still managed to regain his composure. There were also many Xia soldiers stationed beside the ten large carts, indicating that the supplies had obviously been transported by the Xia army.

The Great Xia wouldn't give them so many things for no reason, so he directly asked Su Lie.

"Brother Fan, I'm only in charge of escorting the goods. I'll explain the details to you once Lord Bai comes out of the main building."

"Master Bai?"

Su Lie nodded hurriedly and was about to introduce Fan Kong when a middle-aged man in a brown summer uniform, leading a dozen soldiers, walked out of the village.

"Lord Bai Wuting is one of the five chief officers of the Logistics Department of the Eight Ministries of Great Xia. I heard that he was in charge of the construction of Guangning City this time, and he led three thousand soldiers to escort this batch of supplies."

As Su Lie led Fan Kong to greet them, he quietly introduced the newcomers to him.

Upon hearing this, Fan Kong's expression immediately became more solemn. In the past two days, he had gone to great lengths to gather a lot of useful information. The highest-ranking person in the Great Xia Dynasty was, of course, Lord Xia Hong. Under the Lord, the Chief Minister was in charge of administration, and the Eight Ministries each had their own duties. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of the Eight Ministries were the highest-ranking people under the Chief Minister. Bai Wuting was one of the five chiefs of the Logistics Department, so his position was second only to the Deputy Chief Minister.

In his view, this already made him a remarkable figure.

"This humble servant greets Your Excellency!"

Before Bai Wuting could even get close, Su Lie and Fan Kong knelt down respectfully and bowed to him.

"Get up, get up. Kneeling is not customary in the Great Xia Dynasty. Except for the lord and one's own parents, one does not need to kneel to anyone. It's fine if this person doesn't know, but Su Lie, didn't I tell you that?"

Seeing the two kneel down and bow to him, Bai Wuting's face flashed with helplessness. He dodged and immediately helped them up.

Unfortunately, he encountered this scene in almost every one of the fifteen villages south of Qingyugou when he passed through. At first, some civilized people might have been smug about seeing the barbarians, but after a while, they just got used to it. In addition, Qiu Sizheng had just given him some pointers in the main building, so he had already calmed down and no longer regarded the people of Qingyugou as barbarians.

Su Lie felt somewhat awkward after getting up. Qingtan Village was at the southernmost end of Qingyugou, so he was the first to receive Bai Wuting's convoy. Naturally, he also performed the kneeling ceremony according to Caiqiu's rules when they first met, even though Bai Wuting had reminded him of it at the time.

"Alright, enough with the nonsense. These ten cartloads of supplies are just the first batch. Our Great Xia will be stationing troops here to build a city, and more supplies will be continuously delivered. These supplies will mainly be used to supply the army, but we will also allocate a portion for recruiting laborers for the city's construction. You are all considered Xia people now, and you must perform labor according to the rules of our Great Xia..."

When Bai Wuting said he would use some of the cultivation resources to recruit laborers, Fan Kong's expression became somewhat excited; but when he heard that everyone would have to perform labor according to the rules of the Great Xia, his face immediately changed; however, as Bai Wuting slowly finished explaining all the rules of the Great Xia, his face continued to turn red, and his emotions became more and more agitated.

The labor service in the Great Xia Dynasty is divided into three types: mining, logging, and hunting. There is a fixed quota for each month, but it is only for those who are over fifteen years old and have a cultivation level of logging or above.
The amounts of the three types of labor service are not large, and Qiu Sizheng, considering the scarcity of cold beast resources and the extremely high vegetation coverage in Changqing Valley, decided to significantly reduce their hunting labor service and then add it to the two labor service services of gathering and logging.
As long as individuals complete their labor duties according to the standards, they can freely engage in other work. Any additional resources collected can be directly exchanged for contribution points at the eight departments that will be established in Guangning City in the future. Contribution points are linked to silver and can be exchanged for any cultivation resources such as beast meat, beast blood, or even pills.

All those with a cultivation level of Lumberjack Realm or above must register in Guangning City, and their contribution points will be recorded under their names...

Children under six years old receive a fixed monthly ration of 5 jin (2.5 catties) of animal meat. Children between six and fifteen years old who haven't broken through to the lumberjack realm receive one jin (0.5 kg) per day...

Bai Wuting gave a very detailed introduction, covering almost all the systems that the Great Xia Dynasty would implement in Guangning City in the future.

Fan Kong went from being excited at the beginning to becoming somewhat uneasy as he listened, because what Bai Wuting said was simply too unbelievable.

He turned his head and saw that not only Su Lie, but also the village chiefs of the other dozen or so villages in Qingyugou were present. His mood instantly relaxed a lot. When he looked at Bai Wuting again and confirmed that there was no hint of joking on the other's face, his mind went blank. He felt that Qingyugou must have been blessed by the heavens, and his body was so excited that it even began to tremble.

"To be fortunate enough to become part of the Great Xia territory is a once-in-a-century blessing for my Qingyu Valley! This old man kneels before Lord Bai, kneels down, sobs…"

Fan Kong, who had suffered his whole life, couldn't help but burst into tears after Bai Wuting finished speaking and he was completely certain that everything he said was true. Overwhelmed with emotion, he even prostrated himself on the ground and knelt down before him again.

The village chiefs of the remaining dozen or so villages, including the villagers of Hegu Village, were also hearing about the many policies and measures of the Great Xia Dynasty for Qingyugou from Bai Wuting for the first time. They were so excited that tears streamed down their faces, and they all followed Fan Kong and knelt down before Bai Wuting.

Bai Wuting was so frightened by this scene that his expression changed instantly. He quickly stepped aside and said urgently, "These rules were all personally established by the Lord of Great Xia. You should be grateful not to me, but to the Lord of Great Xia, Xia Hong..."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Of course, from this day forward, you are all citizens of the Great Xia, so he is not just my lord, but the common lord of all of us..."

"Long live the Lord! Long live the Great Xia Dynasty!"

A loud shout suddenly rang out from the front of the crowd. The others reacted instantly and quickly followed behind the person, shouting in unison with fervor and excitement.

"Long live the Lord! Long live the Great Xia Dynasty!"

"Long live the Lord! Long live the Great Xia Dynasty!"

"Long live the Lord! Long live the Great Xia Dynasty!"

………………

It was Su Lie who shouted this slogan.

Xia Jun defeated Cai Qiu at the north entrance of the Bone-Eating Road, and the soldiers shouted this slogan in unison at that time. He can now put it into practice.

Bai Wuting had noticed Su Lie long ago. When he saw everyone shouting those eight words along with him, a look of satisfaction appeared on his face. He couldn't help but feel a bit of goodwill towards this shrewd old man who was over seventy years old.

(End of this chapter)