Chapter 1700: Acceptance Preparations and Changes in Land Granting

As they chatted, Niya's voice grew softer and softer, until finally Xia Duo stopped speaking as well, and the two fell quietly into sleep.

……

The next day.

Considering that he had almost forgotten to select people for the Bloodline Sequencing Project, Xia Duo decided to sort out the important matters that needed to be handled in the near future.

The first was selecting people to go to Jilan Tower to participate in the Bloodline Sequencing Project.

Xia Duo handed this matter over to the Progress Society to handle, only setting two requirements: one was that members of the Independent Research Lab were not to be considered for the time being, and the other was to try to select four people from among the new Mages.

The former was because members of the Independent Research Lab were already considered core personnel of the Tower of Time, similar to the David Research Laboratory; if someone leaked secrets at Jilan Tower, wouldn't Xia Duo lose everything?

Although he would implement some protective measures, once people were at someone else's home, no matter how much preparation was made, it could not compare to the other party's ability to adapt and try infinitely.

This was just like how key scientists on Earth did not go abroad; even if the scientists themselves had no issues, one still needed to guard against various unexpected foreign factors.

As for the number of people, Jilan Tower had not set a strict limit, but considering that the Tower of Time itself was very short on people, they could only manage to squeeze out four; if there were too few people, there would be little point in going.

After explaining this matter clearly through the Tower Spirit, Xia Duo went to the Lord's Villa in Linshui Village to summon Laidun.

"How are the preparations for the Midsummer Festival coming along?"

"They are already prepared, just like last year, it's the Prayer Ceremony, really, are we going to—" Speaking of a sensitive topic, Laidun immediately stopped his train of thought.

But Xia Duo knew what Laidun wanted to say; it was nothing more than the fact that he had previously asked Laidun to "report" the achievements made by Daxia Territory to the Lord of Light during this year's Midsummer Festival Prayer Ceremony, the most important of which was the Daxia Standard Weights and Measures.

It was just that Netheril already had a set of Radiant Weights and Measures, and Laidun was perhaps worried about having a dispute with the Lord of Light like last time.

Last time, it was just the withdrawal of Divine Grace; if this time it provoked true Divine Punishment, that would be too dangerous.

However, Xia Duo did not have much worry about this, and instead comforted Laidun, "Don't worry, the Lord of Light is also the Lord of Order. As long as we strictly abide by the Dao of Order, we will never have to worry about receiving His Divine Punishment."

The biggest ideological difference between Xia Duo and the Lord of Light lay in whether the spirit of legislation was needed; Xia Duo's view was, of course, that it was needed.

And the Lord of Light, although not explicitly saying whether it was needed or not, judging from the Doctrine approved by the other party, clearly believed it was not.

However, this ideological difference did not involve the core tenets of the Lord of Light, and could even be understood as a positive extension of the Lord of Light's philosophy.

As long as the other party was not dim-witted, it was basically unlikely they would become enemies; at most, they would simply not respond to the Perception of calls from Xia Duo and his related people.

Not to mention that the Daxia Weights and Measures completely complied with the Doctrine of the Lord of Light, without the slightest violation; Xia Duo really could not think of any reason for the other party to give him Divine Punishment.

Although he had been influenced a lot by Xia Duo, Laidun was still deeply influenced by the Doctrine of the Lord of Light. Since Xia Duo said so, he naturally would not have any objections; his previous inquiry was merely out of worry.

After chatting briefly about the arrangements for the festival, Xia Duo quickly moved on to the main business—

"If all goes well, a batch of new residents will join the Territory before winter arrives. We can start preparing for this after the Midsummer Festival."

Laidun was long since no stranger to preparations for the arrival of new residents; one could even say he was extremely familiar with it, as the arrival of new residents to the Territory had almost never ceased over the past few years.

There had even been an experience of accepting tens of thousands of Langasi at once.

"My Lord, about how many people this time?"

"I'm not entirely sure either; it could be many, or it could be few. Let's prepare with a target of fifty thousand people!"

Nowadays, all work in the Territory had long been on the right track. If it were just a scattering of new residents, there would be no need to prepare in advance; the new residents Xia Duo specifically mentioned naturally were not a small number.

He was talking about the Netherese recruited by the Seven Cities Council through Buluode, numbering about fifty thousand. It was just that he was unsure of the efficiency of the Seven Cities Council, so preparing with a target of fifty thousand was relatively safe.

Even if they prepared too much, it would not be wasted next year; after all, the Territory's recruitment would not stop. Besides Buluode, the Four Chambers of Commerce of Savile were also collecting residents for him.

The addition of the Grey Eagle Tribe last time was brokered by them.

Once the Netherese recruited by Buluode arrived, the ratio of Langasi to Netherese residents in the Territory would lose its balance again.

In other words, it would be time to introduce more Langasi again.

And for Xia Duo, Langasi were undoubtedly easier to obtain than Netherese.

There were plenty of them on the Langas Plain; as long as one treated them with sincerity, with the precedent of the Grey Eagle Tribe, it would not be difficult to introduce them in batches, tribe by tribe.

Whether they were Langasi or Netherese, as long as they came to Daxia Territory, they were all Daxia People.

……

After finishing the matter of the new residents, and since Laidun was there, Xia Duo asked about the situation of the Territory's land-granting ceremony.

"The recent land-granting ceremonies are still based on families, one hundred households each time, and the total number of people is relatively stable, averaging about 300 people per time, but there is an upward trend, mainly influenced by the Territory's fertility policy."

"Mm." Xia Duo nodded, expressing satisfaction.

The Territory's land-granting ceremony would not go on forever; as long as he announced the end of the expansion state, there would be no more land-granting, at least not on the large scale as it was now.

And the land-granting was based on individuals, not calculated by merit; merit would be converted into Gold Coins and settled in a lump sum at the land-granting ceremony.

The residents were certainly not fools. Could having a child now be the same as having one later? Having one now meant getting land for one more person; once the land-granting ended, even if one had a child every day, they would not get a single bit more land.

Plus, the Territory would help look after and educate the children. Now, the residents, especially those who had not yet been allocated land, were all desperately having children!

"Continue."

"Yes."

Laidun glanced at Xia Duo, and as if thinking of something, he hurriedly said, "I haven't strictly followed the order of joining the Territory for the candidates of the recent land-granting ceremonies, but instead added some new residents who have integrated well."

"New residents who have integrated well? From the Grey Eagle Tribe?"

"Yes, except for the high-level members of the Grey Eagle Tribe that you mentioned before, every other one has passed the Territory's language and regulation assessments with excellent results. They are considered to have transitioned from prospective residents to full ones. Since we are still in the expansion stage, they should be granted land."

"Do the others have any objections? Especially those whose land-granting spots were taken?"

"No, not only do they have no objections, they are actually very happy!"

"Very happy?"

Xia Duo's mind turned, and he immediately understood. Because of various policies, land-granting had actually become more beneficial the later one received it.

Not to mention anything else, just having one more child during the time one's spot was taken meant they would get 10 more New Mu of land when the land was granted in the future.

With such a cost-effective matter, Xia Duo did not doubt that some people would find all sorts of ways to delay their land-granting, especially those early-joining residents who were not worried about not getting land at all.

At this point, they were considering more how to get more.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo couldn't help but joke with Laidun, "No one has come to you, have they?"

"About what?"

Laidun did not react for a moment, but after he did, he remained stunned for a few more seconds, then hurriedly explained:

"The Territory regulations forbid favoritism; even if someone came to me, I would refuse. In fact, everyone is very familiar with and supports the Daxia Code, and they know even better that in the Territory, any violation will be investigated, so no one has come to me until now."

"I believe you!" Xia Duo said earnestly.

He also realized that although he had tried hard to steer the Territory toward the atmosphere of a modern society, the inertia of history was still very heavy.

Furthermore, for a devout believer of the Lord of Radiance, such a joke was still a bit too stimulating.