High Above

"Although there are many loopholes, as long as this news is released, no matter whether other mountain people believe it or not, they will know that I have dragon-shaped organs - in this way, my identity as a white citizen and an imperial citizen will be diluted, and anyone who wants to Anyone who wants to accuse me of being an outsider must consider a possibility.”

"That is, what if my ancestors really have even a trace of mountain folk blood?"

Sitting on an armchair at the conference table, Ian calmly told his plans to his partners: "Actually, it's impossible for them to be separated - the mountain people sound good to me, but they are actually a group of people of gold and people of iron. , there are also a small number of red people and white people, even demi-humans. They are essentially a group of humans protected by the dragon god in their ancestors, and there is no blood difference between them and the people of the empire."

"It would be better to say that with dragon blood, I am closer to the 'Dragon God' than they are... All the mountain people know this, so they will not question it, at least they will not insist on refuting my statement."

There were not many people who came to the conference hall for discussion, including Scott Qingchao and Adlbert. For a long time in the future, there will only be these four people in the conference room.

Two days after the victory, post-war preparations were completed, and everyone began to discuss the future development direction and strategies of the territory in a real sense.

"so."

Adlbert is a truly good boy. He didn't understand the situation a bit: "Ian, you really have dragon blood... How are you sure that this dragon blood does not come from the Dragon God?"

Good question. If Ian didn't know how his ether crystal arm appeared, he probably wouldn't be able to prove that he is not the heir to the Dragon God. This question of Adebert is simply the essence. Everyone else is wondering how Ian can prove it. He was the heir to the Dragon God, but he took a different approach and asked Ian why he wasn't.

Yeah, does anyone else have evidence?

There is no answer.

"Then I am."

Although he complained in his heart, Ian did not show any flaws on the surface: "Anyway, things like bloodline are not valuable. What is really valuable is the sublimated bloodline - but don't I already have that thing? So it's all a trivial matter."

"Scott, you arrange for some people to hire bards and ask them to write some poems praising my victory over the mountain people. Remember to emphasize the part about me having dragon blood."

After finishing the propaganda work, Ian knocked on the table: "Although it is basically impossible for the enemy to attack us before next spring, as long as the war between the Flying Flame Land and the Empire does not end, Nanling will always be threatened. New The training of the troops must be put on the agenda."

"We must summarize the lessons learned from this battle and prepare for the future education of new troops...In the final analysis, wars are fought by people."

"Yes." Qingchao nodded seriously, but his words were as simple as a primary school student: "After all, weapons need people to operate them - no matter how good the weapons and equipment are, if the people are not good, aren't those mountain people just typical?"

"Moreover, if the psychological quality is not good, people will easily be scared out of their wits... Boss, can you provide more fear potions? I feel that as long as you use more potions and train people to be fearless, you can fight any battle! "

"...Before you become a commander, I will definitely educate you to at least a doctorate degree. I promise, otherwise it will be too embarrassing."

Ian was almost choked by Qing Chao and couldn't speak. He couldn't say what Qing Chao said was wrong, but all the other party's thoughts and feelings were extremely simple: "What I want is a professional soldier with brains and wisdom, not what you said He's a madman with no brains and no skills at all - he only relies on his muscles, and that's all when he encounters a weak enemy. When he encounters a strong enemy, won't he collapse at the first touch?"

"I have learned how to read..." Qingchao leaned back in aggrieved manner and slumped on the chair.

"I see."

And Adlbert seemed to understand what Ian meant: "Indeed, many militiamen don't pay attention to the tactical angle at all. If the mountain people are not also inexperienced, they will be concentrated by enemy fire if they show their heads slightly."

"This combat experience really needs to be passed on, as it can save a lot of lives."

Scott thought thoughtfully and said seriously: "I understand, sir, what you mean is that we need to build a specialized training program for soldiers and even officers."

"What Mr. Qingchao and Mr. Guying said are correct - we must ensure the basic quality of the soldiers and avoid the phenomenon of timidity and refusal to fight... This time when I was commanding, I discovered that some troops in the front position were in danger of the enemy. When the artillery was fired, they already started to run away in fear. If the mountain soldiers really came to attack the position, they would definitely run away directly."

"It is precisely because I noticed this and thought that they did not have the ability to go out of the city to fight offensive warfare that I kept asking to defend the city."

Having said this, he, who has the most command experience among all the people, couldn't help but sigh: "Back in Harrison Port, when I was commanding the convoy to fight with the indigenous people, I discovered that some people dared to attack their own people more than attacking the enemy. Who is in danger? He will attack anyone who gets in the way of his escape."

"Of course, such people die relatively quickly. The real problem is those people who are unorganized and undisciplined and think they are smart - they will think they have found a suitable time, then blindly start a war, blindly disturb the target, and attack when they shouldn't. Attack at the right time, focus fire into a fight, ambush into an encounter, or even be surrounded by others... Because of this kind of person, several well-prepared tactics were ruined in an instant!"

"There is even a type of people who feel that everyone will take away their credit, so they conceal important information and delay the fighter plane out of thin air - it sounds incredible, but there are really a lot of them!"

"But because of the recruitment system, we can't guarantee the quality of the soldiers. At least these people still dare to fight, and they don't have to choose at all!"

When he said this, Scott, a good-tempered man, gritted his teeth: "Of course, there is also the most terrifying kind of people - they are really stupid, so they don't understand our tactical arrangements at all!"

"The front can be cured, but the back really can't be cured!"

Everyone turned their attention to Qingchao, causing the sea-born swordsman to sit up straight uneasily: "What? What are you looking at me doing? I really haven't thought so much, but I can still understand the tactics!"

"It's okay." Ian comforted: "You are a genius, I'm sure."

Scott summed it up very well. Soldiers without professional training have a lot of problems. The things mentioned above are actually quite good. There are also many real soldiers and gangsters in Terra. That kind of thing is not what any The troops must eliminate its existence.

"Find some experienced people among the mercenaries, appoint them as instructors, summarize their experience, and compile it into a book."

Ian summarized all the suggestions given by everyone and refined them into a general outline. He even included what Qingchao said - what the other party said was indeed correct, but the suggestions he gave later were too outrageous: "To be honest, the instructor did not It’s hard to find, the mercenaries from Port Harrison all have more than fifteen years of combat experience, and each of them has a lot to teach, and they don’t mind passing on these experiences as long as the price is sufficient.”

"What is currently lacking in the territory are the 'civilian staff'... such as tax collectors and plantation managers."

"Huh."

Hearing this, Scott's heart moved. He understood the implication of Ian's words: "Could it be that, sir, you want to remove all the tax collectors from the Baron Ryan period..."

The tax collector is not a small official here in Terra. He can basically be said to be the lord's confidant. Without some status, he is basically unworthy of being a tax collector. There are many small nobles who basically work as officials when serving the big nobles. stewards and tax collectors.

"of course."

Ian's tone was calm, as if he was not talking about deciding whether to leave or stay dozens of important personnel at all: "These tax officials are all in the wrong place. Each one of them was placed by some powerful families and big shots in the Ryan Territory. Normally, Tax evasion and tax evasion are common, and territorial assets are often even misappropriated.”

"Baron Ryan doesn't care about these things himself, as long as no one interferes with his resurrection experiments, but I am different. What I want to do requires a lot of money, and the taxation must be clear and reliable. This situation must be eradicated."

Unlike Feiyandi's estimate that Ian might quickly recruit troops and arm a group of nearly a thousand elite militiamen with captured weapons and equipment, Ian was not in a hurry to expand his army.

At most, his idea is to retrain the existing more than 200 militiamen and 80 mercenaries, recruit an additional 200 reserve teams, and maintain the size of a brigade (500 people), but this brigade must To enforce orders and prohibitions, and to be elite enough to carry out various tactical tasks.

Everything comes first with finances.

After losing its lord, Rhian Territory was occupied by mountain people. Now its finances are in extreme chaos, and taxes have not been collected for a long time. The agricultural reform and alchemy industry development that Ian will do next will also require a lot of talers. Financial issues will be the key to all subsequent developments. Starting point, if you don’t tighten your wallet, it’s impossible to develop the territory entirely with Ian’s research funds, right?

Ryan City is such a good place, it should be Ian's help, rather than Ian selling his own blood to make it move forward slowly.

"First solve the financial problems in terms of taxation, then count the population, count the number of manors and plantations, and prepare for the next agricultural reform. Agricultural reform is a prelude to the development of the alchemy industry. We need a large amount of raw materials and talers. Originally, Ryan City Our main pillar industry is alchemy raw materials, which we can produce and sell by ourselves. Only by laying a solid foundation can we make great strides forward."

Ian spoke very clearly, and everyone present could understand his thinking: "Except for raw materials, the main problem in the alchemy industry is energy. I will talk to Gu Ying about this aspect later. After all, whether it is the light prism system or the Magnetic storm systems require a large amount of energy to develop, and they can also be regarded as a defensive force that strengthens the territory from the side."

"Then, the most important thing is education. Start with adult technical education and slowly transition to universal compulsory education."

"I think you've heard of it?"

Adlbert felt that this term was very familiar, and he subconsciously said: "Isn't that the policy of the late emperor and your current majesty? I remember that the results did not seem to be very good..."

"The late emperor didn't understand education at all. In other words, he understood it, but it was not allowed in his era."

Ian said without hesitation: "Mandatory compulsory education for all employees should be the last step. Before this step, we must first let the people in the territory have enough to eat without the need for children's labor - this is the point in Ryan City The conditions are very good and wealthy enough, so the literacy rate here is high, but the same is not true for other towns in the territory, so we need to count the population of the entire territory, determine the territory’s situation and then formulate policies.”

"Before compulsory education for all employees, we must first set up adult technical education - this education must be closely related to the subsequent agricultural reform. Those who participate in adult technical training in the future will be given priority for recruitment."

“This is to ensure that ‘educated people have a stable upward channel’. It takes time to study and learn knowledge, and we must ensure that the ‘price’ they spend has a corresponding ‘return’.”

“Only when the people in the territory enjoy the benefits will they be willing to invest their most important asset, their children, in us so that we can forge a path to the future.”

Ian's tone was calm, but his words were cold and even ruthless: "The uneducated people are just tools. They will only be manipulated at will by lords like me, and they have no way of knowing their own destiny."

"What we need are real 'people' - people who can understand my ideas and my policies, and even if they don't support them, they know why I have to make this decision."

"Only this kind of people have the power to make a system and an order move forward."

Everyone was silent.

Everyone, including Adebert, suddenly discovered something at this moment.

——They seemed to have no idea what Ian was going to do.

Why is Ian so determined to travel and go to the imperial capital?

Why did Ian resolutely return to Nanling after visiting the Imperial Capital and seeing the larger world?

Why did he seem to have all the plans in place from the beginning, only to wait until he actually had another territory before starting to implement them?

And he worked so hard and planned so hard... for what?

money? Not like that.

strength? Wouldn't it be better to stay in the imperial capital, or follow the Ellen family or the second prince?

The same goes for power, which is actually the same thing as the former.

"...Ian."

After swallowing, the dead king's voice even trembled: "What...what do you want to do? A lord doesn't need to do so many things...you are just like..."

Just like the Archduke Thorin who created hell...

The white-haired boy turned his head, looked at Albert, and smiled.

"There are too many hells in this world, and I don't want to join them." Ian said calmly: "Guying, you and I have seen several hells - even hell is right next to us, where it is dark, bleak, hot and terrifying. , can’t see the sun or the stars.”

"Don't talk about that."

He turned his head and looked at the silent blue-haired swordsman: "Qingchao, you too - do you just support the policy of Jingsong Cliff? Do you think what happened to your father and other veterans of Jingsong Cliff? Is it reasonable? That kind of thing won’t happen in the order I want to build.”

"Of course not." Qingchao muttered: "So I want to become a big shot, or follow a big shot. At least this is fair... Okay, maybe it's unfair."

Ian chuckled lightly and looked at the Iron People: "And Scott, you are an ordinary person, so you understand how difficult it is for an ordinary person to become the person you are now, right? If I didn't exist , if I didn’t guide you, would you want your children to live in such a world?”

"No..." The Iron People murmured to themselves: "Yeah... I really don't want to live my whole life in Harrison Port, living without hope..."

"In that case."

Staring at the young man, the dead king saw that in those blue eyes, there was a bright fire, originating from the brilliance of the deepest part of the soul.

Those were cyan stars, a pair of cyan suns...the slowly vibrating heart light body, with a burning desire.

It is gradually taking shape...leading people to look to the future.

A more lofty picture leads to the shaping of dreams.

In reality, Ian calmly said: "Why don't we build a kingdom of heaven?"

"Anyway, many things in this world are already so bad, why not give it a try?"