Chapter 1429: Territorial Inspection and the Probationary Resident System

The next day, the sunlight was just right.

Xia Duo and Niya rode two Pegasus together, patrolling above Daxia Territory. Some of the residents had already begun the autumn harvest, and the golden wheat ears looked like strips of golden carpet when viewed from the sky.

Since the land was granted at the beginning of April this year, the six new villages split off from Linshui Village also looked exceptionally striking from high above.

Neat and uniform houses, farmland connected into a single expanse on the outskirts, and a few children playing by the edge of the fields.

In Xia Duo's view, if it weren't for the fact that these houses were still slightly crude, the roads had not yet been fully solidified, and agricultural machinery had not yet appeared in the fields, this would almost be the new countryside of his hometown.

Looking at such a scene, Xia Duo was in a great mood, but further away, the Green Pearl Forest, mottled with green and yellow in the autumn, had likely not even had one-tenth of it developed or utilized.

Looking down from high altitude, Daxia Territory was just a small depression in the sea of forest.

"The future holds great promise!"

At this moment, Xia Duo's heart surged with emotion, though further beyond the forest, to the east, there was still Cormanthor, which eyed Netheril with hostility.

Thinking of this, his previously good mood was suddenly cast with a shadow.

At this time, Xia Duo noticed several familiar figures had already walked out of the Government Hall and were waiting at the entrance, so his thoughts of continuing to play faded, and he greeted Niya:

"Let's go down, Laidun has spotted us; let Yabo and Pamela go play on their own."

"Alright."

Niya responded, and together with Xia Duo, she urged the two Pegasus to descend. Pamela was fine; she had a gentle temperament, and even upon hearing that she could play on her own, she still maintained her poise and descended slowly.

But Yabo was different. Perhaps because it was in a playful mood, it went straight into a vertical dive toward Xia Duo, and upon landing, it kicked up a massive gust of wind, blowing Laidun and the others waiting at the entrance of the Government Hall in all directions.

"You guy!"

Xia Duo made a gesture to pat Yabo's big head, but unexpectedly, the guy dodged quickly, then lifted its head and spread its wings, taking off while brushing past Xia Duo's body.

Flying into the sky, it even turned its head back to let out two triumphant neighs at Xia Duo, looking exactly like a naughty child acting out, only to realize the severity of the parent's discipline once it got home.

Given Xia Duo's temperament, Yabo would normally need to be strictly disciplined for this, but Niya loved the two Pegasus very much, and since Niya usually took care of them more, Xia Duo let her be.

However, in today's situation, it would have to be taught a lesson after returning, otherwise, wouldn't it be acting even more arrogant next time!

"Laidun, Kaide, Jiake, long time no see!"

After Yabo flew away, Xia Duo greeted Laidun and the others, and after waiting for Niya to land on Pamela, the five of them walked into the Government Hall together.

At this time, the Government Hall was no longer like it was in the beginning, with only a few Clerks here assisting Laidun with his work. Now, just as Xia Duo walked in, he saw seven or eight Clerks shuttling between the offices of various departments.

In the conference room, the five sat down, and before Xia Duo could speak, Jiefu, Jibu, Yatewude, and others who had received the news arrived.

"Since everyone is here, let's all speak up. Jiake, you go first!"

"Yes, my lord."

Being called upon first, if it were the former Jiake, he might have already started to panic, but now, after such a long time of tempering in territorial affairs, he was no longer the person he once was.

He knew the importance of the territory's population and was well aware of the weight of the matters he was in charge of in the eyes of the Lord, so he immediately introduced:

"Over the past half year, the Settlement Department has cooperated with the Four Chambers of Commerce of Savile to rescue one thousand four hundred and fifty-six Slaves from the northern riverside territories, the vast majority of whom have already been converted into Daxia residents."

"Converted directly into residents?" Xia Duo asked curiously.

The rules he had set before did not include direct liberation from slave status; to avoid things like "a grain of rice breeds gratitude, a bushel breeds enmity," they had to accumulate merit to be released from their status.

Could it be that Laidun and the others had come up with some innovative policy?

"It is like this, my lord!"

Laidun explained: "The Apprentices from the territory who returned from the Tower of Time spoke of the system of the Progress Society at the Tower of Time. We unanimously agreed that it could be applied to resident management. The rescued slaves were indeed directly converted into residents, but they are 'Probationary Residents' and must accumulate merit as before to be converted into official residents."

"So that's how it is!"

Xia Duo nodded, considering it approved.

This was fine; if those people were still labeled as "slaves," it might cause discrimination and division within the residents. Calling them "Probationary Residents" was not bad.

Everyone was a resident; it was just a matter of who arrived first and who arrived later.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo thought of another issue: "The Four Chambers of Commerce of Savile have already made good progress on the Langas Plain. Soon, a large group of Langasi may join the territory. From now on, all new arrivals to the territory will be classified into the 【Probationary Resident】 Sequence, and can only be converted to official resident status after completing education in literacy, laws, and regulations."

"All of them? Wouldn't that be treating them like slaves?" Jiake asked in surprise.

But as soon as these words left his mouth, he realized he had spoken wrongly and hurriedly explained: "I mean, if later residents must go through a probationary-to-official process, will it make them have opinions about the territory!"

"It won't! The territory's pioneering work is already nearing completion; from now on, there will be more development. It is natural that latecomers cannot enjoy the fruits of the predecessors' pioneering without cost. Furthermore—"

Speaking to this point, Xia Duo paused deliberately, his gaze sweeping across the faces of everyone in the conference room, before saying: "Do you really think those new residents can adapt to the life of the territory as soon as they arrive?

"The process of literacy and learning the law will allow them to integrate into the territory at the fastest speed.

"As for accumulating merit to become official, it can still be kept as the final channel for the weak, but the process of literacy and learning the law must be there; the speed of becoming official just needs to be faster than accumulating merit.

"Additionally, for craftsmen and some special talents, they can be converted to official status early at your discretion, but they must pass the literacy and legal assessments within a specified time. You decide the specific time yourselves; I am just bringing this up."

In fact, Xia Duo set this up by referencing some of the foreign population introduction plans on Earth. Not to mention the future, even in the current Daxia Territory, the residents had already pulled away from other territories.

At the very least, in the current Netheril, there was no territory where the literacy rate of the residents was as high as in Daxia Territory!

Furthermore, there was the deep-rooted influence of the Daxia Code, which was not just order, but also included education in concepts of good and evil, abstract Perception, logical reasoning, and more.

Reading a code thoroughly had an influence on a person that went far beyond just recognizing the words within it.

If the incoming population did not go through a probationary-to-official process, how could they possibly integrate into such a group that was closer to civilization!