Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 397 The Great Test of Internal Affairs (Bonus Chapter 110 for those who check in for the Alliance Leader's monthly card recommendation)

As Li Wei had predicted, reinforcements from the territory's main camp arrived at dusk.

The team was led by Li Yue, accompanied by Hathaway, and included Zhao Xuanxuan, Benjamin, Javier, nine Riverside Knights, thirty trucks, and ten buses.

The vehicle carried sufficient supplies, as well as three steam generators and three diesel generators.

It can be said that they were well prepared.

Li Wei personally greeted her, and as soon as they met, Hathaway rushed up to give him a big hug, holding him for more than ten seconds without letting go.

Li Wei could understand this. Just think about how much pressure she had to withstand during those five days of flooding. She was practically the commander-in-chief of the riverside fortress area.

Despite such pressure, Hathaway was still able to cooperate with Li Yue, Qin Yu, and Thomas, not only withstanding the flood but also killing a Neanderthal centurion—a tremendous achievement!
It can be said that without them, Li Wei's territory, including this expansion and city-building mission, would have come to an end.

So Li Wei didn't act coy at all. He spoke softly and gently, taking good care of her. His doting manner made even Li Yue roll her eyes. "That's too much!"
However, she also witnessed Li Wei's shamelessness firsthand; it was truly outrageous!
In the end, it was Hathaway who seemed to be struggling.

"Aunt Yue, you've worked so hard this time. Seeing that you're all safe and sound has finally put my mind at ease. You deserve the most credit this time."

"We're all family, why are you being so polite? It's like you have so much time on your hands. Three months of negotiations, maybe it really will take three months. Hurry up, what's the situation here?"

Li Yue rolled her eyes at Li Weiyi and got straight to the point.

“I have over 1,500 people here who need transportation, and there are also some surrendered superhumans who are currently hiding over there. I plan to settle them in that small county town in the north of our territory. Aunt Yue, what do you think?”

“Sure, it’s a nice place. I trust you to handle things. But I heard from Xuanxuan that there’s a magic mine here, so I had Hathaway come along too.”

"The territory has already started the construction of a level 4 city wall, and Qin Yu has agreed to help. She, your second aunt, and Hathaway will work together to build a one-star mage tower. However, you'll need to negotiate the specific rewards yourself."

"Alright, that's enough for now. Hathaway, hurry up and check on that magic mine. If it can be moved, move it; if it can't be moved, demolish it. We can't let such a good thing go to waste."

"Understood, Aunt Yue!"

Hathaway called out sweetly, and the three of them immediately went to the magic mine, but only Hathaway could go and check it out herself, as the other two couldn't help.

“This doesn’t seem to be a standard magic mine from our Kingdom of Locke; it’s from the barbarian tribes. So there’s no need to relocate it. The magic structures are different, so they can’t be connected. Besides, this magic mine has built-in anti-counterfeiting features from the beginning. Instead of wasting time on this, we should dismantle it. I can do it in ten minutes. Also, if possible, Li Wei, I hope Aunt Yue can escort me back immediately.”

"So soon?" Li Weiyi was taken aback. He had planned to have a candlelight dinner with Li Yue and Hathaway tonight.

"Urgent! It's extremely urgent, my Lord Li! If you can't obtain the title of Viscount with real power before the mission is completed, it will be a devastating disaster for me. I am your vassal."

"The reason I came here is to dismantle this magic mine. Once it's done, I'll leave. But I'm indispensable for both the level four city wall and the one-star mage tower!"

After Hathaway finished speaking, she went off to do her work. Li Yue smiled slightly and said, "Yes, that's exactly what I mean. You can lead your people back slowly, but I will continue to be stationed at the Riverbank Fortress in the territory. Qin Yu and Hathaway will both go to the territory's main camp. Their plan is to build a mage tower within a month and construct a level 4 city wall within two months, so that those bastards who want to intercept us can get as far away as possible!"

In less than ten minutes, Hathaway and Li Yue arrived and left in a hurry, leaving Li Wei standing there alone, lost in thought.

The next morning, once all the electric trucks and buses were fully charged, Li Wei personally led the team, directing the individuals to board one by one. There were nearly 1,600 people, which was quite crowded.

Therefore, we have to abandon some of the more important supplies. We can always come back and transport them later. The most urgent task is to return to the territory and register all these people in the prestige card system so that they can officially become free citizens of the territory.

Anyway, if you include Chekhov and the other superhumans, Li Wei's territory has a population of nearly four thousand. Adding the population of Hathaway's territory, it reaches five thousand.

This could be considered a match for a viscount with real power.

The journey went surprisingly smoothly. They didn't see another team of superhumans, let alone any Neanderthals. It seemed like those guys had all vanished without a trace because of the peace talks.

Socrates in the west should be considered to have escaped with his life, right?

With this three-month buffer period, even if Duke Frost turns against him in the end, it will be impossible to take him down.

In short, the situation suddenly changed.

Because of the large number of people and the complicated matters, it took the entire convoy three days to reach the small town located at the exit of the mountain.

Here, Li Wei stopped and arranged for Chekhov and his group of superhumans to stay here.

"You can stay here for now and build your own temporary shelter, or build your own fortress. I will send people to deliver food to you. In any case, this is a brand new beginning, and I hope you will make the most of it. My promise will not change."

After saying this, Li Wei specially renamed the small town Dawn Fortress, meaning hope and light.

He then continued to escort the individuals through the mountain paths to the territory's main camp.

Nielsen and his team had been waiting for a long time, and everything from personnel registration and accommodation to adjustments for follow-up work was arranged in an orderly manner.

This is a major test for the Ministry of the Interior.

Li Wei was still quite worried and kept a close eye on things the whole time, even neglecting the level 4 city walls and mage towers for the time being. He wasn't good at internal affairs, but that didn't mean he didn't know their importance. "My lord, the initial resettlement and registration of all the new free citizens has been completed, totaling 1561 people. Among them, there are 54 children under the age of five, 67 children under the age of twelve, and 43 breastfeeding women. These have been brought under the jurisdiction of the education group."

"Boys and girls aged thirteen to eighteen will be registered as apprentices and divided equally among the departments. They will become the reserve force of each department."

"There are 740 adult women over the age of 18. A large portion of them have lost their husbands and have suffered varying degrees of abuse in the past. The internal affairs group, kitchen group, warehouse group, medical group, gathering group, and tailoring group will give them priority in screening and promise to be responsible for activating and binding their first career cards. If they have a very strong desire to do other work, then arrangements will be made."

"There are 432 adult males over the age of 18. The War Preparedness Group will select 90 of them as new recruits, but this does not include the 37 you selected in advance, Lord. The remaining people will be screened by the Internal Affairs Group, Treasury Group, Engineering Group, Agriculture Group, Mining Group, Blacksmith Workshop, and Armor Workshop. Those who are eliminated will be sent to the Engineering Group and Agriculture Group."

"Furthermore, in accordance with the territory's laws, we have conducted marital investigations for these 432 men and promoted our basic principle of monogamy. In short, adhering to the principle of not dwelling on the past and upholding the rule from today onwards, we have registered their marriages. Each couple can receive a 70-square-meter house free of charge. Those with too many wives will have to find their own way..."

Are our houses enough?

Inside the territory building, Li Wei listened to Nelson's report. He had to go to the riverside fortress next, where the wheat would be ready for harvest soon, which was the most important thing.

Before leaving, he needed to understand the current development of the territory. One of the conditions for upgrading to a level 5 territory was an efficient internal affairs system, which was the test he left for Nelson.

If you can't handle it, don't blame him for sending Hathaway.

"Reporting to the Lord, the construction of houses was a plan we formulated at the beginning of this year. We also designed several house models in detail and arranged the supply of materials. So, although the construction tasks this year are very heavy and the engineering team is extremely busy, these small projects have not been delayed. Moreover, everyone's enthusiasm for building houses is very high."

"For example, the chef group and the agricultural group would participate in the construction during the off-season. After communicating with other groups and submitting the report to the finance group for review, I also formulated some rules, such as allowing free people who are eligible to be allocated houses to participate in the construction themselves, build the houses in advance, and move in in advance, etc."

"To date, we have registered 654 couples in our territory. Two-thirds of them prefer to live underground, so we have built underground residences for them, each with an area of ​​100 square meters."

"One-third of the families are willing to live on the surface, and there are three types of surface dwellings. The first type is built within the second wall, which is basically a four-story building with six households per floor, and a total of eight buildings. These were built earlier and are now occupied."

"The second type is to build on the foundation of the original houses in the town, which is a three-story building with one household on each floor."

"The third type is residential houses built near the northern fortress, which are protected by the fortress. They are mainly inhabited by people from the agricultural, forestry, and gathering groups, and they enjoy detached residential buildings."

"In addition, the riverside fortress can accommodate another 600 free citizens, so overall, there is no problem with housing."

"As for food, clothing, and tools, in principle, every free citizen can enjoy two meals a day for free. Breakfast is pickled vegetables, vegetable porridge, and a piece of hard bread, and dinner is pickled vegetables, meat porridge, and a piece of hard bread. Children receive a meal allowance. If they want to eat better, they have to pay for it themselves."

"In addition, all free citizens are entitled to a set of summer and winter clothing every year for free, but if they want better ones, they have to save up to buy them themselves."

"The tools are provided free of charge, and any damage can be repaired for free, but if they are damaged three times within a year, your wages will be deducted."

"As for salaries, each department sets its own, which consist of three parts: basic salary, overtime pay, and special bonus pay. The special bonus pay is hard to obtain, since there are usually no special circumstances. However, with the first two types of pay covering the salary, an average family can receive five to seven silver coins per month."

"As for job opportunities, there are plenty, enough to ensure that all adults have their own jobs, and the minimum wage will not be less than three silver coins per month."

"Furthermore, the market will continue to buy one-star career cards. All free citizens can sell the experience they have earned at work. The purchase price of a one-star career card has now stabilized at one gold coin."

"At the same time, we have considered starting to levy a territory tax. After all, we now have 400 full-time soldiers. Soldiers risk their lives to go out into battle. Their monthly salary is the highest level, and there are also training subsidies and food supplies. These are all huge expenses. If this continues, the territory's finances may not be able to keep up."

"In addition, there are the salaries of each department. Currently, most of the work of each department is recorded and evaluated by the finance team. The specific model has been fast-forwarded to the point where projects are initiated first, and then financial allocations are made. The relevant departments operate in a company-like manner, and the process is supervised and audited by the legal team. In this way, once a project or task is completed, the relevant departments are responsible for their own profits and losses. Of course, we are currently only in the trial operation stage."

"Correspondingly, there are also the distribution of spoils of war and bounties for soldiers who go out to fight, etc., which will require your cooperation, Lord. Of course, this may not be necessary, after all, military power can only be maintained in the long term under your control."

After speaking cautiously, Nelson awaited Li Wei's verdict.

Little did they know that Li Wei's thoughts had wandered far away.

He had never understood why the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Tactical Department, the Logistics Department, the Resources Department, and the Commerce Department of Ver City, which should be important departments of Ver Province, seemed to be outside the core management of the Duke of Ver.

Now he understands that these five departments are actually responsible for managing ordinary people's livelihoods.

Department heads like Nelson, Lenore, and Allen are certainly important, as they are essentially responsible for the operation of their respective territories.

However, they really can't reach Li Wei's core.

For example, the army. How much was invested in those eighty-two cavalrymen? Hundreds of thousands of gold coins were poured in, and only then did we see a rough outline. It would be a joke to ask the finance team to approve such a huge amount of wealth!

There are also magic-related things, such as the magic mines, the mage towers, and the level four city walls, which are beyond the reach of Nelson and his group.

I suspect the same applies to the province of Versailles.

If you look at it that way, Night Owl's promotion to Chief Spellcaster of the Vil City Branch of the Magic Association in the Kingdom of Locke was indeed a great advancement.

And just like Li Wei wouldn't tell Nelson that the total number of gold coins in his territory's treasury had exceeded 500,000.

The Duke of Verdun would not disclose the amount of his estate's treasury.

(End of this chapter)