Chapter 608: Exceptional Appointments, Ten Thousand People

Xia Duo also felt some regret; currently, it takes 10 Small Merits accumulated in the Territory to shed the status of a slave, while improving the brick-making craft is only worth 1 Small Merit, equivalent to the merit of one year of normal work.

However, it is difficult for Laidun's status to allow him to propose so-called "exceptional appointments," but Xia Duo does not care; those in power naturally have the privileges of those in power, and pardoning a slave is not a big deal.

It is just that he does not want to do so; the existence of the regulation for shedding status through accumulated merit naturally has its necessity, and being merely a Supervisor of the 【Development Department】 is not yet important enough to require an exceptional appointment.

But having talent and not using it is also a waste; Xia Duo does not approve of this, so he said:

"Let Jiefu be responsible for the 【Development Department】, and have Kelake serve as Jiefu's Clerk and Consultant. If the 【Development Department】 achieves good results, you can record an extra point of merit for him to let him shed his slave status as soon as possible. As for the candidates for the Supervisors of the 【Settlement Department】 and the 【Logistics Department】, let's use Jiake and Kaide as you suggested!"

"Yes, my lord." Laidun had no objections to this.

……

Then Xia Duo took out the appointment Documents he had written beforehand, filled in the names of the three department Supervisors, and then used a Spell to leave a glowing Territory Badge—the Chinese character "Xia".

Xia Duo handed the three Documents to Laidun and instructed him: "These three departments are all considered your subordinates; what you need to do is ensure they operate normally."

This is actually what a true Territory Administrator is, and Laidun is undoubtedly the Chief Official. To put it broadly, at this moment, Laidun is equivalent to Xia Duo's prime minister. Xia Duo helped him clarify the system, powers, and responsibilities, so that no matter what he does later, it will be much more convenient to place it within this system.

After receiving Laidun's response, Xia Duo asked again: "By the way, how is the literacy situation of the residents in the Territory?"

"The children are learning very quickly, but the adults are a bit slow, and since new residents have just arrived, it might need to be rearranged again." Laidun did not avoid the question.

"There is no rush for this; take it slow."

To tell the truth, Xia Duo is actually very anxious in his heart, wishing all the residents could turn into Spellcasters all at once, but he also knows this is not realistic; reality still needs to be taken step by step:

"Evening studies must not stop! In addition, I plan to send all residents around 16 years old to the Tower of Time to learn Magic. Let this be the first task after the 【Settlement Department】 is established! Complete it as soon as possible!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Sending residents to learn Magic was actually something Xia Duo only thought of yesterday. On one hand, there are more and more people in the Territory, and there is no shortage of these teenagers who are physically weaker; on the other hand, it is to deal with the potential Drow crisis.

Of course, there is also that Scarlet Flash Star in the northwestern sky.

Although it might not be able to quench a thirst from afar, regardless, engaging in education is also a proactive and never-outdated method. It just so happens that the Tower of Time is transforming, so stuffing a few Apprentices in is nothing.

Just as he was about to let Laidun leave, Xia Duo suddenly dismissed the thought. He always felt he had forgotten to say something. He took out the notebook specifically for recording daily arrangements from his Personal Space, and when he saw a line of text written more than a month ago, he remembered:

"Laidun, there is something you need to pay more attention to recently."

"What is it? Please speak, my lord."

"I should have mentioned it to you when I just returned from Seventon: in August, that is, at the beginning of this month, a fleet transporting new residents will arrive. Complete the formation of the new departments as soon as possible; there will be more new residents arriving one after another later, so prepare for ten thousand people!"

What Xia Duo recorded in his notebook was actually the approximate arrival date of the Beilaila fleet. Besides Beilaila's own fleet, there were other fleets contacted through Beilaila.

The 【Silver Ring Badge】 is only valid for this year. Xia Duo only reached the deal with Beilaila in May, but the Seven Cities Council also needs time to gather new residents from various places, so Beilaila's fleet only set off in June, and as for the other fleets, they will be even later.

Because the time required for a round trip from Seventon to Nan Jing is really too long, there will probably only be two more shipments this year. The number of people is certainly not ten thousand, but there will definitely be several thousand. To put it broadly, this is also preparing for the future.

When Xia Duo mentioned "ten thousand," Laidun could not help but show an expression of surprise. A year ago, the Territory only had a few dozen people recruited from the Savile Territory. He did not expect that in just one year, the Territory's population would exceed ten thousand.

Laidun felt great pressure, but at the same time, if he could implement order among more people, he also felt incomparable joy and excitement.

"My lord, Laidun will surely complete the task even if it costs my life!"

"I don't need you to die; live well. There will be many more things for you to do in the future!"

"Yes!"

Watching the impassioned look on Laidun's face as he left the Study, Xia Duo shook his head slightly, not knowing what to say, but with Laidun there, he was quite worry-free.

……

After Laidun left, Xia Duo pondered for a moment and then went out to the Military Camp. The order he had previously given to expand the Territory Guard to 200 people had been well executed, but now it seemed it might be time to expand again.

It is not to guard against the new residents causing trouble; after all, in Netheril, almost all lords are Spellcasters, and Xia Duo has never heard of residents directly rebelling against a lord; at most, they just run away.

Expanding the Territory Guard is mainly to protect the residents who are working, as well as to continuously clear various creatures in the forest. While obtaining meat, it also weakens the backlash of destroying the forest as much as possible.

The so-called "backlash of destroying the forest" is actually a Druid term. They believe the forest has consciousness, but Xia Duo also has his own views; there are no shortage of natural backlashes on Earth.

However, that is a balancing mechanism. After humans destroy Nature, the original balance is broken, and the series of events triggered is the so-called "backlash of Nature."

Now that Xia Duo is opening up a Territory here and clearing a large area of forest, the creatures that originally lived here will naturally react. Even if they don't react in the short term, as Xia Duo's Territory expands further, the living space of the original creatures in the forest will further decrease.

Excluding their mutual slaughter, charging at the human Territory is also a normal choice, and of course, a normal phenomenon.

……

Xia Duo did not see Jibu in the Military Camp; Jibu had already taken people out to patrol at this moment. However, Aiwa rarely leaves the Military Camp; he is now mainly responsible for training soldiers to use Magic Items, as well as some experience and techniques of Rogue Scouts.

Seeing Xia Duo arrive, Aiwa immediately bowed respectfully, even more earnestly than Laidun.

Regarding this, Xia Duo could not help but feel a bit disappointed (being pretentious); originally, the two had been on the battlefield together and had fenced stolen goods together, so they could be considered friends. But because Aiwa was cursed after assassinating the branch manager of the Eagle Chamber of Commerce for revenge, and was saved by Xia Duo, he voluntarily became his follower.

With this, although the relationship between the two became closer, it basically had nothing to do with friendship anymore.