Chapter 904: Cultural Expansion, A Mark of Greatness

After Yatewude came Jiabasi, though today Xia Duo did not have much heart to listen to Jiabasi recount his adventures.

Besides, the ruins discovered in the Territory that contained the statue of a scaled creature had already been ordered filled in by Xia Duo after he mastered the spell 【Turn into Earth and Stone】.

In just these few days, could any new ruins possibly be discovered? With this thought in mind, Xia Duo did not stop Jiabasi from speaking.

Yet Jiabasi did not give him any surprises or shocks; indeed, no new ruins had been discovered in these few days, and when Jiabasi began telling stories again, Xia Duo interrupted him in time.

"Jiabasi, if you are interested, I can find someone to write a biography for you, specifically recording those adventures of yours. For now, it is better to keep the meeting concise!"

"Write a biography?"

Jiabasi's voice instantly rose by several octaves, and his body gave a sudden jolt; clearly, he was startled by Xia Duo's words.

In his impression, only those renowned Spellcasters with legendary qualities had their own biographies; he was nothing more than an ordinary Adventurer, so what qualifications did he have to possess his own biography!

"Yes, write a biography, write a biography about you!"

Xia Duo repeated what he had just said; in fact, this was not a spur-of-the-moment idea, but one he had long premeditated.

With the Paper-making Technique being put into use by him, a large amount of paper would certainly appear, and by then, let alone Adventurer biographies, even writing a dedicated cookbook would be possible.

And in fact, Xia Duo was preparing to do just that, using it to spread the gourmet food of Daxia Territory and increase the influence of Daxia Territory.

As for publishing a biography for Jiabasi, it was merely to enrich the collection of the Tower of Time Library, while also allowing the Mages of the Tower of Time to gain different life experiences beyond Mage biographies.

Of course, Jiabasi himself was also quite outstanding; after all, Adventurers who could live this long were rare in themselves. To call him Legendary would be a stretch, but at least he could be called "rare."

And in the future, these adventure novels—or other forms of literary works—personally reviewed by Xia Duo could even become promotional brochures for exporting Daxia culture.

Success comes to those who are prepared, and failure to those who are not.

Some things can be prepared for in advance now.

……

When Xia Duo confirmed the matter of the biography again, Jiabasi was so excited that his body trembled slightly, becoming flustered, and his gaze did not even dare to meet the eyes of others in the meeting room, as if he feared it would invite ridicule.

Seeing this, Xia Duo signaled for him to sit down first, then said to everyone: "The matter of biographies is not just for Jiabasi; each of you will have a share as well. As long as you work hard, I guarantee everyone will have one!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion broke out in the meeting room, though in his presence, no one acted rudely, only unable to hide the excited glow on their faces.

Xia Duo could see that the appeal of biographies to everyone was quite heavy, but it was a pity that in the past, Netheril had no cheap paper, and ordinary people could not even see a few books, let alone publish any biographies.

However, this situation would improve greatly after the popularization of the Paper-making Technique; of course, the premise for all this was sufficient food, for only when one is full does one have the strength to think of other things.

And wanting sufficient food is actually not difficult to solve; if it were truly ancient times on Earth, it would be difficult, but in a magic world, Magic easily breaks conventions.

The simplest approach is to move the Arcane Garden out of the Mage Tower and share it with more ordinary people, then increasing food production would be very easy to achieve.

Of course, the construction of an Arcane Garden requires massive investment; if it were only to satisfy the needs of a few Mages, it could maintain a balance of payments, but if restrictions were lifted and production was unlimited, then presumably no one could afford such expenditures.

But what Xia Duo wanted to do was not to build an Arcane Garden for everyone, but to popularize the advanced productivity brought by Magic, or rather, Knowledge, among ordinary people.

These advanced productivities might be the Arcane Garden, or breeding and seedling methods, or spells for gestation and acceleration, or perhaps some kind of efficient harvesting tool.

In short, only by incorporating the vast majority of ordinary people into the entire circulation system of magical civilization can it be considered a true magical civilization.

Carrying along countless wisdom to progress together is far stronger than a few Mages enclosing land to amuse themselves.

Of course, at that time, the definition of ordinary people might not necessarily be the "non-Mage group" defined today, but it is certain that ordinary people would definitely not be that small handful of people with the highest power.

Representing the fundamental interests of the vast majority of the people may not necessarily be the mark of a powerful nation, but it is certainly the mark of a great civilization.

Whether from an idealistic perspective or a utilitarian one, Xia Duo would not abandon ordinary people; this was also his most important realization regarding the future.

……

After the small interlude of the biography, it was time for the report on the military aspects of the Territory.

Currently, the Territory Guard had not been separated, and Laidun could also command it, so Xia Duo had not appointed a separate commander for military affairs.

That is to say, the current Territory Guard system was managed by four people, each with only differences in seniority, while their actual Permission Level was exactly the same.

During the report, Jibu, Qiaoqi, Ximeng, and Meili, the four captains of the Territory Guard, also reported on their respective work.

Including daily patrols, vigilance, protection, scouting outside, map drawing, clearing out beasts, and so on.

As for Aiwa, because he was a follower of Xia Duo and had a close relationship with Aiwa, he did not hold a specific position in the Guard system.

He was only responsible for training Scouts at the Training Ground and training ordinary soldiers to use Magic Items; such days, for Aiwa after his revenge, could almost be called a vacation.

And under Jibu's persuasion and introduction, Aiwa had already taken a wife in Daxia Territory, and now only lacked children, as if he had completely taken root and found a home.

Xia Duo was also quite concerned about Aiwa's marriage.

To put it darkly, having a family makes one easier to control; of course, Xia Duo was not dark, he more so hoped that this taciturn follower of his could have a relatively happy life.

……

Aiwa's report could be said to be the most concise among those attending the meeting, ending after only saying that 25 new people had learned to use Magic Scrolls.

Xia Duo had long known Aiwa's personality, so he was not surprised, and as for the 25 new people learning to use Magic Scrolls, he did not take it too much to heart.

Previously, twenty or thirty people had already learned, and now having 25 more would not cause any qualitative change, and by the time those age-appropriate residents sent to the Tower of Time to learn Magic returned to the Territory, such things would not even be worth mentioning specifically at a meeting.

In the future, Territory soldiers must use those who have received magical enlightenment; all being Mages (Apprentices) would be the standard, let alone using Magic Scrolls.

Additionally, after witnessing the role of the Resonance Spellbook, Xia Duo was also very skeptical about how much effect ordinary soldiers could have in a real magical war.

Even the 【Spell Breaker troops】 that Xia Duo had always been thinking about were prototypically a group of special Mages, not ordinary Warriors simply armed with Magic Items.

Of course, at the current stage, wanting perfect soldiers is not feasible, nor is it realistic; for now, it is still necessary to strengthen the armed construction of ordinary soldiers.

And this was exactly what Xia Duo was preparing to talk about next.