It doesn't matter what the lord is.

Zhan Mei put down her wine glass, and Bai Luo lowered his hands, looking like he was listening attentively. Fileta sat up straight early, waiting for Lid to speak.

Lied tapped the table twice with his fingers and said:

"Filita should already know the history of the research institute and the magic club. I'll tell Zhan Mei and Bai Luo about it. In the earliest days, Yuxi City did not have a research institute or a magic club. At that time, there was an organization that combined education, research, and production, called the Northern Industrial Base."

"At that time, because of the small scale, we basically did not feel like a small workshop. Education was used to cultivate talents, and talents were engaged in research. Research and creation of new technologies were applied to the factory, bringing direct economic benefits. Part of the money received was continued to be invested in education and research, and the other part was used to support the overall construction of Yuxi City. This is why we were able to snowball so quickly."

"Now, the former Northern Industrial Base has been divided into three parts, namely Yuxi Academy, Research Institute and Industrial Park. In essence, not much has changed, except that the division of labor has become clearer. Each department operates independently and does not have to be crowded together like before. In the past, the Northern Industrial Base was actually quite chaotic, and the roar of factory production would often directly disturb the school and research departments. We had no choice before, but now that we have the conditions, it is naturally better to separate them."

Zhan Mei nodded vigorously and said:

"It would be much better if they were separated. I agree with that. Although I haven't been in contact with them for a long time, I can imagine that if these departments were always together, it would be easy for them to go astray. For the benefit of the entire industrial base, the university will definitely train talents in research directions, and the research department will also choose the most profitable areas to explore. Although it's not impossible, judging from your plan, it seems that you don't want to stop there."

Li De added a chopstick of steamed fish with black bean sauce and replied:

"That's right. After becoming independent, Yuxi Academy can train talents in various fields more freely, the research institute can do a wide variety of research, and the industrial park no longer has to worry about the start time, and efficiency will also be improved. In the final analysis, the technology developed in Yuxi City in the past has brought us huge economic benefits, but science and technology itself was not born just for money."

Lid glanced at Bai Luo and continued:

"Everyone likes money. The most direct benefits brought by science and technology are economic and military benefits. Pills and strong liquor can be developed at a very low cost through scientific methods and then sold at a high price. Such technology can directly promote economic development. Similarly, research used in the military will produce new weapons, which will greatly help Yunyang's military growth."

"We have invested 700,000 gold coins in the research institute every year. Since we have made such an investment, we must hope that it can bring returns. However, this return is not limited to the two fields of economy and military, but permeates all walks of life. For example, ideology, culture, administration, medical care, and all aspects. To sum it up in one sentence, I hope to use the development of science and technology to promote the continuous progress of the entire society, so that Yunyang as a whole can continue to move forward and everyone can live a better life."

Bai Luo exhaled and said:

"My Lord, you want me to not just focus on creating wealth with technology, and not let the research institute become a tool for making money."

Reed said without comment:

"The improvement of technology will definitely bring a lot of new things. Take Lingwu as an example. Because of the emergence of compressed magic cannons, an iron wall defense line has been established, and the number of people who need to guard the border every year has been greatly reduced. Some of these people work, some farm, and they are all creating wealth, making Lingwu, which has always been a bitter and cold place, slowly more vibrant-"

Lidd paused and continued:

"After that, you will feel this more and more intuitively. Technological development will change many things. I hope that you who are closest to this core circle can guide the people to change in a good direction. This is what I ask of you. It is not just about managing the personnel changes in the institute, nor is it just about using the institute to create wealth. You should find ways to make the people accept the changes, find ways to promote our research results, and find ways to make every citizen in Yunyang benefit from the dividends brought by technological development."

Lid raised his head, still smiling, but with a cold look in his eyes, and said in a calm tone:

"I don't need a new monopoly class that has risen up with the help of technology. Because right now, most of the technology here has been developed with the help of my theories, and others are not qualified to do so. I allow some people to rise to prominence through this, but I cannot allow others to hoard all the new things and turn them into their own cash cows."

15. Recruiting foreign aid

When Li De discussed this matter with He Yue before, he once said that overcorrection is inevitable.

In a mature market economy, any new technology will gradually become popular from the moment it is born, meeting the various needs of the public. But in this era, when people see that something will create huge profits, the first thing they think about is how to use it to maintain their rule.

Nowadays, all the research talents in the world are gathered in the research institute of Lingyun City. If a monopoly is formed here first, the speed of scientific and technological development will definitely drop sharply. It is equivalent to exchanging Yunyang's future for the bright future of a small number of people.

Why is that?

After confirming the future development direction with Zhan Mei and Bai Luo, Lid mentioned Fileta again:

"Filita is currently the head of the Magic Society, so I'll just mention the relationship between the Magic Society and the Research Institute. Zhan Mei, you've seen magicians when you were in Lingwu, right? Are there any related talents among the Moon Guards?"

Zhan Mei did not hesitate at all and immediately replied:

"Yes, we have a few magicians at the eighth or ninth level. Otherwise, who would charge the compressed magic cannon?"

Lid asked again:

"So in your opinion, what is the problem with magic at the moment?"

Zhan Mei thought about it carefully and replied:

"The inheritance is broken! Not only is there too few people on the human side who are adaptable to magic, but also since the end of the Age of Gods, the magic that humans have mastered has been slowly decreasing. When I was in the Northern Territory Library, I also saw many magic scrolls that described the effects of some ancient magic. At that time, I felt that if I could learn this, it would be easy to resist the giants. However, later I found out that, let alone the Kingdom of Eternal Heaven, even if we trace it back further, to the time of Yong Yuan, there were not many magic books that could be preserved. After the construction of the national defense formation, the exchanges between humans and foreign races gradually stopped, and magic was passed down from master to apprentice in this small circle of humans. There are fewer and fewer magics that can be used today."

Zhan Mei scratched his head and replied:

"Of course, Lingwu has quite a lot of magic books. If you ask Lingwu leader for them, she might give them to you."

Reed drank his tea slowly, thinking that given that woman's personality, it would be strange for her to give it to him.

What Zhan Mei said was roughly correct, and it was close to the essence of the matter. Lid didn't know what happened after the end of the Age of Gods, when humans and the old gods fell out, but the national defense formation did hinder the interaction between humans and foreign races to a great extent. There were many races around Yongtian Kingdom, including the demons, giants, dragons, oceans, and lava tribes. None of them had a harmonious relationship with humans.

Yuxi City does have two core bloodlines from other races, but the giant princess Taisis inherited the fine tradition of the high giants and used fists to fight when in doubt; the elf princess Delis also inherited the characteristics of the pure-blooded elves very well, and was basically useless except for her powerful mouth and healing talent. The only one who could help with magic was Fileta, who was 22 years old and was under pressure that did not belong to her age.

Regarding the future development path of magic, Lid had already determined it with Fileta. It just needed the cooperation of the research institute, but there was no person in charge there. After Zhan Mei took office, Lid also had a capable general. When Zhan Mei was in Yuewei, she was in charge of the logistics of Yuewei on a part-time basis. She could manage tens of thousands of people in an orderly manner, so hundreds of people would be no problem.

So after confirming that Zhan Mei understood the problem of magic, Lid told her about the research plan for super ancient magic. Zhan Mei quickly said that she would come up with a cooperation plan and dynamically adjust the resources allocated to magic research later. Magic is not like technology. Magic is basically used in wars. There is no need to popularize it, and it does not bring much economic benefits. Bai Luo is not very interested in this area, but he also said that he would use the convenience of business to contact as many magicians as possible, perhaps they would be interested in replicating super ancient magic.

After the meal, Fileta returned to the Magic Club, while Zhan Mei and Bai Luo went to Lingyun City to familiarize themselves with the terrain.

After they left, Reed let out a long sigh, but his brows did not relax. Instead, he tapped the table silently.

Yunyang was just beginning to settle down, and everything was in ruins. The people who survived were living a stable life, and Yuxi City also gave them a lot of resources for post-war reconstruction. The whole Yunyang seemed to be radiating a vitality that it had not had in the past, but upon closer inspection, there were still various problems.

First of all, it is the geographical location. From Yuxi City to Yunyang, the problem of being surrounded by enemies has not changed. Although the pressure from the east has been reduced, once the crusade against Tiancheng Territory begins, it will face the situation of armies from multiple territories competing for the front, and the pressure will always be there. Although Zhaochen in the north, the demons in the west, and Yunhai in the east are now in a cooperative relationship, no one can predict what will happen in the future. After all, the first choice for the demons to invade, Yunhai to the north, and Zhaochen to expand will be Yunyang. This is determined by the geographical location and is an inescapable fate.

Secondly, the Dog King was still alive, and he remembered the past grudges very clearly. This made the royal family naturally stand on the opposite side of themselves. Similarly, there was the Traditional Temple. Although the pressure of the Temple itself was borne by the Abyss Church, there were many territories in Yongtian Kingdom that cooperated with the Traditional Temple to drain the wealth of the people. These territories were also naturally hostile to the new Yunyang.

During this period, Li De occasionally thought about the future direction, and had discussed it with Yunye before.

Yunye's point of view is this:

"Although we have taken Yunyang, the alliance we had won over is still there. However, in the face of the general trend of the world, this alliance is more like a death squad buying time for us, rather than a friend worthy of our trust. During our attack on Yunyang, they did not contribute much, but after we took Yunyang, many of their territories wanted to share a piece of the pie in the name of Tongfugui."

"My grandfather once told me that everything in the world is driven by interests, and everyone in the world lives for interests. So those who can transcend interests can be friends. Our biggest problem at the moment is actually the lack of external support, not internal conflicts. Of course, this is not the fault of the Lord or the Prime Minister, because as a new territory, we do not have the connections that other territories have accumulated over hundreds of years, nor do we have the intention of bowing to them."

"My Lord, you should have realized that we are no longer the hidden force we were in the Yuxi City period. As a newly emerging territory, we will definitely attract attention from the outside world. In this case, what we need is friends who can form an alliance with us, so that we can transform from a territory into a force."

Reed's hands stopped tapping on the table and he exhaled again.

He spoke as if talking to himself:

"It seems that I have to go to Nanchu as soon as possible."

16. Come to my door, and then I will leave.

He Yue actually didn't suggest that Lid leave at this time, but he didn't stop him.

After the talent recruitment plan, Yunyang quickly recruited a large number of capable officials, but the selection of external aid could only be done by Lid himself. So far, he has been to the capital, Yunhai, and Lingwu, but these places seem to have failed to win his favor, and Yuxi City's external allies are basically empty.

Perhaps Fang Yuan was one of them in the past, but after the incident in Wangdu, cracks began to appear in the relationship between Fang Yuan and Lid.

Before setting off this time, Lid decided on the accompanying members as usual. He originally wanted to take Bai Huang with him, but Bai Huang said that she wanted to go back to Yunhai. She heard that her eldest brother Bai Ye had been watching the sea since he went north. She thought that perhaps Bai Ye's pursuit of martial arts could overshadow his desire for the position of the crown prince, and then the battle for the throne in Yunhai would have a turning point.

"My eldest brother was not like this before. He once told my second brother that if he had a promising future, he would be willing to give up the position of Yunhai Crown Prince. My second brother's power actually developed with the tacit approval of my eldest brother. I think my eldest brother may have encountered a bottleneck in martial arts, so he wanted to fight for the position of Crown Prince again. Now that his martial arts heart has been restored, maybe he can change his mind."

Bai Huang, wearing a heavy coat that was somewhat similar to Bai Feng's, sat on a chair, looking towards the south and said.

Lid only asked her one question:

"Do you think there's any danger?"

Bai Huang shook his head:

"No matter what, I am the daughter of the Lord of Yunhai. My brother sent me here because he was afraid that I would be used by someone with ulterior motives. But in fact, there are only a handful of people in Yunhai who can use me. I don't believe that Yunhai is less safe than the outside world."

Lid patted her head and said:

"Then I'll give you a month's vacation. I'll come back from Nanchu, and if you're not in Lingyun City, I'll go find you."

Bai Huang hummed, and swung his legs under the table. After a moment, he stopped and gently kicked Lid's calf, saying:

"You still have a conscience. Last time you went to Lingwu, I asked my eldest brother to take care of you. This time you go to Nanchu, I can't help you much. I've heard from my brother that Nanchu is very powerful but very chaotic. I don't know the details, but you should know when you go there."

Bai Huang stood up and told Lid:

"I don't know why Nan Chu suddenly came to you. Maybe because she saw that you just took office as the lord and have no one to rely on, she wanted to win you over. Don't be afraid. If anything happens, you can report my name. Although my body is in the sea of ​​clouds, my spirit in heaven will protect you."

Lid waved his sleeves:

"Alright, alright, why does this sound so weird to me? Don't worry, I am the lord of Yunyang now. No matter how dangerous Nanchu is, they won't dare to kill the lord without authorization. At most, they will kick me out. If I really die in Nanchu, this matter will be reported to the world, and millions of lives may not be saved."

Bai Huang snorted, stared at Lid with contempt, and said:

"You just know how to brag. Get out of here right now!"

Bai Huang didn't go to Nanchu with Lid, and Lid couldn't find a better choice for a while. It was difficult for Fileta to get out of the magic club at present. Alayya and Shiloh's realms were both above the eighth level, and they had passed the period of "traveling around the world and experiencing thousands of dangers". Although it was okay to bring them with them, there was always a feeling of overflowing experience points. Moreover, these two people were at the forefront of the journey to the north and Pingyunyang, and they were always in a state of exhaustion, so they were not suitable to travel with Lid.

As for the other people in the lord's mansion, Liushi would definitely not go out, and Delis and Taisis did not plan to leave either. Lid thought about it and decided to give up looking for a travel companion. When he went to Yunhai, he went there alone. Except that there was no one to accompany him when he slept, there was no big problem. It was unlikely that he would encounter any danger this time, so whether there was someone around him would not have much impact on him.

Before leaving, Li De specifically instructed He Yue:

"When I'm not around, Yunyang's affairs will be decided by you. If there is any friction with other territories and it escalates to the point where war is needed, we can just fight and that's it. If it's just a diplomatic friction, use my going to Nanchu as an excuse to delay the other party. Without knowing why I'm going to Nanchu, most territories will not act rashly."

"Also, this... um... remember last time I told you that the child of Lord Lingwu's relative is coming? Yes, he should be here soon. I guess he was sent here by the commander of the Hidden Guard himself. This... child might be a bit noisy, so don't take it too seriously. Also, just listen to what the child says, don't believe it, and don't spread it."

The first He Yue was relatively clear. It was nothing more than using the power of Western Qin and Southern Chu to intimidate other territories. But the second He Yue was confusing.

No one in the entire lord's mansion knows how to take care of children. Liu Shi, the only man with a daughter, didn't take care of her when she was little, and was an irresponsible father. Now Lid suddenly said he wanted to abandon a child - and a child related to the Lingwu lord, even He Yue was a little confused about where to start.

But Reed didn't wait for her to understand and just ran away.

He had calculated that Chocolate was coming, and there would be a bloody storm in the Lord's Mansion. With the speed of Chocolate's propaganda, it wouldn't be long before the entire Lord's Mansion would know about his affair with Lord Lingwu, and it would probably be an exaggerated version. How would the people around him look at him at that time? Lid felt a headache just thinking about it.

So the invitation sent by Xiaobai and Xiaohei gave him a way to survive. Lid took advantage of this opportunity and decisively chose to run away. He would lose contact for a while and come back when everyone in the Lord's Mansion calmed down. By then, the bloody storm would have passed. At most, there would be a few drizzles, and it would be a peaceful and prosperous time with clear skies and gentle breezes.

So after Reed packed his luggage, he boarded a carriage heading directly to Nanchu that night.

He slept soundly and comfortably.

However, what Reed did not expect was that on the second night after he left, someone knocked on the door of the lord's mansion.

It wasn’t the commander of the hidden guards who brought chocolate, but another person who sent him a letter—

"first meet."

The slender woman outside the door said calmly to He Yue:

"I wrote to you before, asking about your lord's plundering of magic talents, but I didn't get any response. So today I hope to come to your house in person and ask for an explanation."

He Yue looked into her deep purple eyes and asked tentatively:

"you are……?"

The woman put down the silver suitcase in her hand, took off the magic hat with phoenix tail feathers and placed it on her ridiculously large chest, and answered in a neither humble nor arrogant manner:

"Skadi."

17. The Girl from Southern Chu

Reed did not reveal his identity as the Lord of Yunyang. After all, theoretically speaking, there were still many dangers along the way.

Although he was not afraid of assassination, it was better to save some trouble. Li De forged an identity as a Yunyang merchant and put on a simple makeup, so he did not arouse any suspicion along the way. During this journey, Li De also made some inquiries. Most of the people in the outside territory did not know the current situation in Yunyang. They only knew that the old Yunyang lord stepped down and his son took over smoothly. As for what Li De did after taking office, basically no one knew.

However, Lid believed that with the strength of the secret organizations in other territories, it would not be difficult to spy on He Yue's governance philosophy and then deduce Yunyang's development strategy. Ordinary people may know nothing about what is happening thousands of miles away, but those above will understand something.

In fact, after hearing that Li De was a "merchant" in Yunyang, many people asked him about Yunyang's news, and Li De also came into contact with many members of the territory's secret department. There were even some people in the territory's secret department who were not well-trained and were easily tricked by Li De into revealing their secrets.

In any case, these fully prove that after committing the "killing of father and brother", Li De and his Yunyang have gradually come into the public eye. Taking down Yunyang is a move that has been planned for a long time, but there are more people playing chess on this board than just Yu Xicheng.

Lide wandered all the way to the border of Southern Chu, and could see that the villages and cities he passed by were becoming more and more prosperous. This prosperity was not due to the addition of many large buildings, but the people's food, clothing and daily expenses were significantly improved compared to other territories, and commercial exchanges between the east, west, south and north were becoming more frequent. Many people came to ask what Lide brought this time.

In order to make the performance more realistic, Lid did bring some things with him. The carriage was loaded with steel forged in Yunyang, but it was not the best quality. In this world, steel of too high quality is as hard currency as gold. Bringing too much will only cause unnecessary trouble.

It was no secret that Nanchu was short of iron. There were many people who came to Nanchu to do iron business every day, so most of the merchants chose to leave after a quick look. Lid found a workshop to sell the iron blocks, and then found an inn to store the carriage, and then rented a cruise ship on the spot and started to wander around.

Although Nanchu is located in the south of Yongtian Kingdom, it is not a remote and poor place, but a truly prosperous place. The water system here is very developed. It is conservatively estimated that there are two large rivers and four large lakes. The rice planting area is very large. There are also developed silk weaving, handicrafts and commerce. It has been rich for a long time and has accumulated a lot of wealth.

The girls in Nanchu are not tall, but they are very pretty, and their eyes and eyebrows are very pretty when they smile. The atmosphere here is not as closed as other places, and girls can also go to the fields to plant rice, so you can clearly see the difference when walking on the street: those fair-skinned girls in the painted boats are gentle young ladies, most of them are holding books, reading with a smile on their lips, and occasionally chatting with the maids beside them, and they all cover their mouths lightly, which is very cultured.

The tanned girls on the roadside were farm girls or fishermen's girls. Many of them walked barefoot in the mud, holding a bunch of lotus roots in their hands and wearing many strange patterns. The two groups of people were not out of place when they were together, and there seemed to be no barriers between them. There were often fishermen's girls on small boats holding a bunch of lotus seeds in their clothes and selling them to the young ladies next to the pleasure boats. Most of the noble ladies were willing to spend some money to buy a bunch, and occasionally they would buy a few homemade sachets from them to carry with them.

"Ah... Is this your first time in Nanchu, young master?"

Just as Reed was looking into the distance, a small boat came over. The barefoot girl grabbed the edge of the boat and looked at Reed from bottom to top.

Lid also sat down in the cabin and asked:

"Can you see this?"

The girl laughed and said:

"You can tell by looking at the clothes you are wearing. The climate in Nanchu is humid and warm like spring all year round. Everyone wears short-sleeved shirts and shorts, but no one is as tightly wrapped as you are."

Lid scratched his head and looked around. It was almost the twelfth lunar month, but people on the street were still wearing shorts and shorts, and they looked relaxed, not feeling cold at all. The girl was still smiling, resting her chin on the edge of the boat, blinking at Lid, and continued:

"Sir, would you mind telling me what you are here for? I can help you with your outfit. I have sold all my lotus roots today, but it is too early to go back. If you are willing to pay a little money, I can help you be a guide."

Lid took out a gold coin from his pocket and handed it over.

He Yue is a typical person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. When she is at home, she keeps telling him that the territory is very poor and he should spend frugally. But when she goes out, she brings a large sum of money to Li De, saying that Nanchu is a prosperous place with many places to spend money. She is afraid that when Li De goes there, he will be regarded as a country bumpkin who has never seen the world and will not be able to make friends.