Chapter 1353 - 38: Wang Shouzhe, Mastermind Behind the Scenes (2)

"This teleportation array has been preserved quite well; it only has some minor issues. Master said as long as he spends a bit of effort, he can repair it properly."

"That’s excellent." Wang Shouzhe nodded in satisfaction. "Our Wang Family’s territory is getting bigger and bigger. With such a teleportation array, the experts stationed at the main residence can rapidly support all regions, and it will also make our clan’s defensive system more flexible and mobile."

Ever since the Wang Family launched its land reclamation plan, it had been continuously expanding toward the southeast. The furthest reclamation point had already reached several thousand kilometers away. The cultivated reclaimed land had also extended to a radius of a thousand kilometers.

Even if one did not count the Southern Wilderness Ancient Marsh jointly reclaimed with the Primordial Water Cyan Dragon and the Qingluo Guard, the land truly controlled by the Wang Family to the southeast of the Changning Guard had already reached nearly one hundred thousand square kilometers.

Moreover, for a certain well-known reason, defense and garrison in these places had always been of paramount importance. Basically, wherever reclamation extended to, the defensive system would be deployed accordingly.

This was also the main reason why, even though the Wang Family now had several hundred clan members, they still remained short on manpower.

"Little Xue, how much fertile farmland does the Wang Family have now?" Emperor Longchang asked sourly. "Unknowingly, the Wang Family’s territory has grown so much again. Why do I feel like this seems more than what I know~"

"Your Majesty the Great Emperor, our Wang Family’s fields pay taxes every year in strict accordance with regulations." Artifact Spirit Xiaoxue’s figure fluttered into view, hands on her hips as she glared angrily at Emperor Longchang. "These figures are all registered and recorded in the Government Office."

"The total area of fertile farmland in the Wang Family’s private estates has already reached 19.15 million mu. Lower-Grade Spirit Field: 790,000 mu; Middle-Grade Spirit Field: 120,000 mu; Upper-Grade Spirit Field: 18,000 mu; Top-Grade Spirit Field: 3,600 mu; Saint-Grade Spirit Field: 400 mu; Immortal-Grade Spirit Field: 20 mu."

Emperor Longchang drew in a sharp breath.

He had said it already—the Wang Family’s territory was getting outrageously large.

He hadn’t expected that after the Wang Family had worked diligently at reclamation for so many years, the amount of fertile farmland they possessed had already reached such an astonishing scale. It had been less than two hundred years, right?

At this pace, what kind of size would the Wang Family’s territory expand to after a thousand years?

What’s more, the lands of the Wang Family were all planted with high-quality grain seed, and now a sizeable portion was already being exported to the Immortal Dynasty.

"Shouzhe, I feel that you serving as this local Great Emperor isn’t quite satisfying. Why don’t I take a trip to the Immortal Dynasty and help you apply for a Nation-Building Decree?" Emperor Longchang said sourly. "Once your Wang Family’s territory gets a bit bigger, you might as well found a kingdom and form an alliance with our Daqian, advancing and retreating together. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?"

He was getting sour again.

Wang Shouzhe cast Emperor Longchang a bland glance. "Your Majesty, we’re having a meeting—don’t cause trouble. If you’ve got nothing to do, go out and take a walk."

"Hmph!" Emperor Longchang turned his head away. This little brat Wang Shou was showing less and less regard for him, the Great Emperor. If not for Ruolan and Xian’Er’s sake, hmph... he would’ve long since let this kid taste what the wrath of a Great Emperor truly meant.

"Next small topic. This time, we’ve reached a series of cooperative agreements with the Yao Family of the Immortal Dynasty. We need to roll out a new generation of grain seed as quickly as possible. We must strive to have thirty percent of the nation’s fertile farmland and Lower-Grade Spirit Field planted with the new grain seed within ten years, so we can get our share of the grain-seed market in the Immortal Dynasty."

"War burns through money the most. Right now, Daqian is still too poor. Our primary goal is to make Daqian wealthy first."

"On this point, the Saint Land and Emperor’s Son An will both participate in the plan."

"Next small topic. To prepare for the upcoming National War and to share the responsibility of resisting Outer Domain Demons, our Wang Family must establish a true clan army on the foundation of the Family Soldiers and Clan Soldiers. An Ye, this matter is handed over to you to organize."

"Next topic. The Blood Venerable’s relic bait has already been released for some time. Those few in the True Demon Hall must be getting restless. Send someone to notify Shi Zhao and Emperor’s Son An to proceed strictly according to plan, and make sure our Daqian Army does not take rash action."

Wang Shouzhe called it a small meeting, yet each topic was enormous, touching on national governance, foreign trade, and National War.

This made Emperor Longchang roll his eyes again. This shabby courtyard of Wang Shouzhe’s felt like a fusion of the Inner Pavilion and Zhuozheng Hall. It was as if all the major affairs of the nation were being manipulated by him from behind the scenes.

...

At the same time.

Southern Qin.

Geographically speaking, the Southern Qin Kingdom lay to the southwest of Daqian. Some locations in its northeastern part bordered Daqian, but most of the remaining areas were separated by a vast inland sea and the Anjiang Section.

Compared to Daqian’s complex and ever-changing climatic environment, Southern Qin’s geographical environment was relatively much simpler, yet also far more harsh. This place not only suffered from sparse rainfall year-round, with scant vegetation and impoverished Spirit Veins, its mineral reserves were extremely limited. Whether for developing agriculture or industry, it was exceedingly difficult.

The only thing that could be considered an advantage was probably just its still-considerable population.

Precisely because of this, Southern Qin had long coveted Daqian’s fertile lands and richly endowed mineral deposits.

In the north-central part of Southern Qin stood a colossal metropolis occupying an extremely vast area, named "Bifang City."

It was not only the largest city within Southern Qin, but also the Capital City of Southern Qin.

Its location happened to be the region where the Fire Spiritual Veins of all Southern Qin were the most densely concentrated. It could be considered the area with relatively the richest mineral deposits and most abundant resources in the whole of Southern Qin, and at the same time, it was also the most prosperous place in all Southern Qin.

At sunset, the towering and majestic city walls of Bifang City were bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, as if coated in a layer of golden-red halo, looking incomparably breathtaking.