Chapter 303: Security Bureau and Ministry of Education

Gao De was telling the truth.

Phoenix was indeed short of people everywhere, and the abilities of Catherine and these hunters would indeed be useful in his next construction plan for Phoenix.

But if they weren't willing to stay in Phoenix from the bottom of their hearts, Gao De would rather not use them.

Keeping people who are capable but have crooked minds by one's side is called nursing a viper in one's bosom.

Catherine was silent for a moment, thinking again and again, before cautiously asking, "May I ask, you want us to stay in Phoenix, what are you preparing for us to do?"

"Even if you didn't ask, I was prepared to tell you." Gao De smiled slightly.

How can one recruit employees without explaining their job responsibilities in advance?

"The Agricultural Force is already on the right track, and in another month, the first batch of naturally growing Northwest Barley No. 1 will be ready for harvest..."

Gao De suddenly realized that Catherine had just returned to Phoenix and shouldn't understand what Northwest Barley No. 1 was, so he explained, "It's those barley seedlings planted in the fields outside the city."

The natural growth cycle of Northwest Barley No. 1, from sowing to harvest, was four months.

In an ideal state, it would be three harvests a year.

"Once the first batch of barley is harvested, the food problem of the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe will be greatly alleviated, and then some manpower and material resources can be freed up to do other things..."

Gao De revealed a small part of his plan. "So, next, I plan to set up two new departments in the City Hall."

Grant, who was listening silently on the side, had his eyes light up instantly upon hearing this.

The City Hall, to this day, only had their Agricultural Force as a lone seedling.

But just this one Agricultural Force had already brought earth-shaking changes to the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe.

Now Gao De was going to set up two new departments, clearly another big move.

He subconsciously pricked up his ears, while curiosity and anticipation grew in his heart.

"The first is the Security Bureau," Gao De tapped the table. "Phoenix is the only city in the northern realm. Besides the 500,000 Enduring Zhenbing tribesmen, there are over 200,000 to 300,000 people of other tribes living here permanently; it is already a mixed bag."

"Among these 200,000 to 300,000 people of other tribes and outsiders, there is no lack of those with ulterior motives."

"Especially after Phoenix sent troops to the Ice Temple and Northwest Barley No. 1 was planted, these people with ulterior motives have long been unable to hold back and have made some small moves."

"Additionally, Phoenix, as a city of 800,000 people, will inevitably face expansion and the absorption of other tribes in the foreseeable future. The population composition will become complex, and conflicts and even criminal acts will only increase."

"There must be a corresponding department responsible for preventing, stopping, and investigating these criminal activities."

Phoenix still didn't have a law enforcement team in the strict sense.

All illegal and criminal acts in the city were generally solved by the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe sending hunters after discovery, and for criminals who had already fled, they adopted the method of issuing bounty orders to bring them to justice.

Such a security system was indeed formed because of Phoenix's situation and had its reasons for existence, but the drawbacks of being slow and inefficient in actual operation were also unavoidable.

For those evil people, such a security system couldn't form much of a deterrent; they could often flee thousands of li after committing a crime, and the unlucky ones brought to justice were ultimately a minority.

For the public, such a security situation couldn't provide much sense of security either.

Su Naifa wasn't unaware of this problem.

The problem was that the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe couldn't even afford "professional soldiers" before, so where would they have the resources to specifically support a law enforcement force? The scarcity of resources made the perfection of the security system a luxury.

But now, the conditions for establishing a security system were mature.

The appearance of Northwest Barley No. 1 greatly alleviated the tribe's food pressure, allowing the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe to no longer be like before, and they could be freed from the heavy labor of obtaining food—under the farming system, one farmer could support more than a dozen people.

Additionally, it was impossible to wait until the situation had become bad before trying to remedy it.

If one wanted to expand and grow strong, one had to take precautions and make all preparations first.

"The Security Bureau is the department I plan to use for this matter. Its main responsibility is to maintain the stability of Phoenix, eliminate threats and hidden dangers, arrest and punish criminals according to the rules, and also handle some common civil disputes."

Gao De didn't plan to set up a complex organization similar to the public security, procuratorate, and judiciary of his previous life, which would require a large number of people, increase management difficulty, and be prone to mutual shirking, resulting in half the effort for twice the result.

Phoenix, with its overall structure still close to a primitive tribe, was not suitable for such a complex system, otherwise, it would only be counterproductive; taking too big a step would only lead to trouble.

Most importantly, the power of "law" was still best held in his own hands.

Therefore, a simpler system was more suitable for Phoenix's current situation.

A Security Bureau, existing as an independent department and directly under the jurisdiction of him and Su Naifa, was enough.

"If you are willing to stay and be loyal to me and work for me, I want you to serve as the Deputy Director of the Security Bureau... Of course, the position of Director is temporarily vacant. If you perform well during your tenure as Deputy Director of the Security Bureau, the position of Director is not impossible later."

Gao De offered his conditions while not forgetting to paint a... describe the prospects.

Catherine was not a member of the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe, but came from the Snowfield Guardians, who had been wiped out by the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe.

From this level, Catherine might harbor hatred for the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe.

So even if he needed talent again and Catherine's ability was strong, Gao De wouldn't say he would directly hand the position of Director of the Security Bureau to her—in other words, she hadn't passed the "political vetting," so she needed more time to prove her ability and loyalty.

"Deputy Director of the Security Bureau? Me?" Catherine blinked, her face showing undisguised shock.

Although she didn't fully understand what Gao De said, she could understand the gist, so she understood the power the Security Bureau possessed and understood that the Deputy Director of the Security Bureau was a pivotal position.

And Gao De would actually hand such power to an outsider? This was truly an incredible thing.

"Yes, it's you. Your ability is just right for this position; why can't it be you?"

Gao De affirmed, "Not just you, other hunters, if they are willing to be loyal to me, the Security Bureau will also have a place for them. Of course, their position will be team members."

"However, besides you, there will be another Deputy Director in the Security Bureau." Gao De also had to explain this point in advance.

He had already considered the candidate:

The former conservative, Su Naifa's loyal supporter, and one of the four fourth-circle Iceborn mages in the tribe, Elder Lu En.

"What do you think?" Gao De asked.

Catherine didn't answer Gao De's question directly. She stood still and was silent for a while, but Gao De wasn't in a hurry, quietly waiting for her to make a decision.

Finally, Catherine took a deep breath, and with a bang, knelt on one knee before Gao De, her hand on her chest, her head slightly lowered. This was the standard etiquette for swearing loyalty to a superior.

"Respected King of the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe, I swear to you in the name of Catherine Hernandez," she said in a firm voice, "As long as you can bring food, peace, and prosperity to the northern realm, I am willing to be loyal to you!"

So that's how it is... Gao De took a deep look at Catherine.

The doctrine of the Snowfield Guardians was to guard the snowfield. Although the Saint Arbiter Lei Sen, who was the leader of the hunters, had abandoned this doctrine, it didn't mean that no one in the Snowfield Guardians followed this doctrine.

And Catherine, it seemed, still believed in the doctrine.

The Snowfield Guardians were gone, and she knew he was the person in the prophecy and had seen the miraculous Northwest Barley No. 1 with her own eyes, so it was logical for her to regard him as the savior of the northern realm and Phoenix as the new "Snowfield Guardians."

Gao De stood up, followed the etiquette knowledge he had learned at the Sairis Academy, drew 【North Wind】, and tapped Catherine's shoulder with the back of the sword.

"I accept your loyalty."

Then, Gao De stretched out both hands to help Catherine, who was kneeling on one knee, to stand up.

"The office of the Security Bureau will also be set up in the City Hall first; it will definitely have to be independent later."

"As for the composition of the Security Bureau, I currently plan to set a quota of fifty team members first. You first convey my meaning to those hunters who have regained their freedom and see how many are willing to stay and be loyal to me."

【In the error-free version!】

"This is the first thing," Gao De continued without stopping. "Additionally, there is one more thing I need you to do."

"Please instruct me, my King." Catherine had already adapted well to the change in address.

"You Snowfield Guardians have thirteen branches in the northern realm, used to accommodate orphans and cultivate the next generation of members of the sect. Initially considering the food problem, I kept these thirteen branches first, but now the conditions are mature, and it is time to deal with these branches."

Gao De picked up his cup and took a sip of water, looked at Catherine's eyebrows that rose involuntarily, and continued, "I plan to absorb all the people in these thirteen branches, from the instructors down to those orphans, into Phoenix."

"However, these thirteen branches are distributed in various locations in the east, west, north, and south of the snowfield, and they are not close to Phoenix. The journey is long and prone to danger, so it requires someone to be specially sent to pick up those children. To avoid conflict, this work will be entrusted to you."

"Especially those instructors, they are very important for the other department I plan to set up."

Catherine then realized that Gao De had previously said "set up two new departments."

"My King, what is the other department?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Ministry of Education," Gao De smiled. "This department will be under my responsibility."

"Ministry of... Education?" Catherine and Grant asked the same question.

"It is the department responsible for cultural training... well, actually it should be more than just cultural training, but the conditions are as they are now. Later, more other knowledge will be taught." Gao De explained briefly.

"Cultural training..." Grant was stunned, clearly never having thought about this before. "Does it mean reading and literacy?"

"Temporarily, yes."

"But 【Tongue of Tongues】 is a spell that Iceborn mages will awaken on their own?" Grant was shocked.

So, what is the significance of cultural training? Gao De shook his head. "Deputy Minister Grant, you misunderstood. The cultural training I mentioned is for everyone."

"You mean, you want to teach non-Iceborns to read and write?" Deputy Minister Grant was shocked. "Their daily work is just doing heavy labor; literacy is useless, and it's a waste of time."

"In any world, in any era, popularizing education is absolutely the most effective means to promote the development of civilization. This is historical experience." Gao De said lightly, and then stopped abruptly.

He didn't plan to explain too much to Grant. First, with the other party's current understanding of the world, even if he explained, Grant wouldn't be able to understand.

Facts would tell him everything.

Second, with Gao De's status and class, making a decision didn't need too many reasons.

"Now there is a shortage of teachers and teaching materials. Once these problems are solved, I will promote compulsory education in Phoenix. The purpose is to let everyone master basic reading and writing skills, and those instructors in the Snowfield Guardian branches will be the first batch of teachers in Phoenix."

Sending off Grant and Catherine, Gao De stood up, stretched, and also left the City Hall, ending today's work.

—With Phoenix's current situation, although there is not much manpower available, there are actually fewer things to deal with.

Returning home, Gao De first started his daily practice of the 'Qingmu Changsheng Jing'.

After accepting the feedback from Yujia Te Xila and his mental power breaking through the bottleneck to reach 150, his practice efficiency increased by a small margin again.

In the past two months, with the assistance of the fourth-rank spiritual land, Gao De not only condensed the 22nd drop of liquid mana, but the 23rd drop of liquid mana was also close to taking shape at this moment.

This progress, placed anywhere, should be counted as a mage genius.

After two hours of practice.

Gao De took out the prepared three bottles of Ice Sha and summoned the ice crystal fragment hidden in his ear, which was called the Blade of Ice but was actually an Ice Needle.

【Blade of Ice+】 still retained the ability to increase spell damage by improving the quality of ice crystal fragments.

Previously busy with the great cause of planting trees and farming, he hadn't had time to study the specific details of the Blade of Ice.

Now that he was a little freer, Gao De took the time to learn the strengthening method of the Blade of Ice during the day today.

"There are only two bottles of second-rank Ice Sha, not enough for strengthening. However, I don't have many opportunities to take action now, so I'm not in a hurry."

Gao De whispered to himself while going over the strengthening method in his mind again.

Then, he opened the bottle containing the Ice Sha.

In an instant, a blue air current surged up, but it didn't disperse.

This air current carried astonishing coldness and was mixed with a sense of sharpness.

If it weren't for Gao De having the Intermediate Ice-Blessed Body, he would have been frostbitten if he were unprepared.

"First-rank Ice Sha has such efficacy; it's truly magical."

Gao De sighed, then placed the ice needle above the surging Ice Sha air current, closed his eyes, and then probed with his mental power to perform some operation.

A moment later, strands of blue light silk were drawn from the Ice Sha air current, drifting into the ice needle like willow catkins.

As the blue light silk continued to merge, the spell power contained in the ice needle began to slowly increase.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 304 =====