Chapter 906: Security, Righteousness, and Restarting

Sure enough, upon hearing the Lord's request, Yatewude's eyebrows knit together, and his face was full of hesitation. "My Lord, I am willing to share your burdens, but I am truly ill-suited for this task; I fear I would fail to live up to your expectations."

"There is no need to decline. I am not asking you to write it immediately; this is a long-term mission. If you have suitable candidates, you may recruit them yourself to complete it together. I will impose no restrictions."

Not only that, Xia Duo was also prepared to recruit people from Savile Territory and even Seventon. For now, it was merely about setting a framework, which could be filled in slowly later.

Since he had said as much, Yatewude said nothing more and sat back in his original seat with a contemplative expression.

……

"There are three more matters to follow. One is the issue of territory security. Now that the territory's population is nearly ten thousand, disputes and even conflicts are inevitable. If not handled well, it could easily lead to greater accidents."

"Jibu, I now appoint you as the Territory Security Officer, responsible for maintaining territory security and handling emergencies!"

"Your first task going forward is to recruit new soldiers, expanding your subordinates to 200 people. Afterward, build a Security Office near the second residential district in the east to serve as a permanent office. From now on, the internal patrol missions of the territory are entrusted to you!"

Jibu was considered an old hand in Daxia Territory, so whenever there was a suitable new appointment, Xia Duo would always think of him first.

The work of a Security Officer might seem tedious, but it lacked the danger of being a frontline soldier. For the old subordinates who had followed him all along, Xia Duo still held a great deal of care.

As for Jibu himself, he expressed complete acceptance of this. He stood up, slightly agitated, and said loudly, "Yes, my Lord!"

Not long ago, he had just brought his wife and children from Savile Town to Daxia Territory and was currently arranging for them to work in the Logistics Department. But this was, after all, a Pioneer Territory, and the dangers were still greater than in a mature territory.

Now that he could become the Territory Security Officer, he no longer had to worry about not returning from field missions, or the territory being attacked, or his family getting hurt.

He could protect his family close by; what else could he be dissatisfied with!

Not to mention, in terms of position, Security Officer sounded much better than his previous title of Territory Guard Captain, and he had more men under his command.

……

"Aiwa!"

"My Lord, please issue your orders!"

"I feel this matter is best left to you. Establish three long-term outposts in the east, south, and west of the territory, respectively, to record information about the surrounding environment and provide early warnings for anything that might pose a threat to the territory. I will give you a batch of Teleportation Scrolls. Choose experienced hands; I do not want any accidents to occur. If you need any supplies, go to the Logistics Department to collect them. If they don't have them, come directly to me."

"Yes!"

Having arranged this matter, Xia Duo felt slightly more relaxed. In fact, establishing long-term outposts in the Green Pearl Forest also served the purpose of asserting sovereignty.

Although within the country of Netheril, the Green Pearl Forest was already tacitly acknowledged to belong to Savile Territory, this was merely a tacit understanding, an unwritten rule. If someone refused to acknowledge it, there was nothing to be done.

Just like the previous Rodney Lord, who insisted on coming to the Green Pearl Forest to pioneer new land. Savile Territory could object, and it could resist, but the problem was that its strength was insufficient, making it difficult to expel the other party.

Yet, Savile Territory's great backer, that Princess, did not oppose such behavior—at least, she could not express opposition openly, because this behavior actually supported the pioneering movement she was guiding.

After all, the Green Pearl Forest did not have a strict owner in legal terms. If she opposed it, wouldn't she be slapping her own face?

This is actually a degree of "a gentleman can be deceived by what is proper." As long as a person adheres to principles, one can naturally use those principles to restrict them.

However, this is precisely where faith and philosophy lie. A person without principles is the truly terrifying one. In such a situation, Xia Duo would rather not have the Princess's help than wish for the Princess to be a person without principles.

Since support from above could not be obtained on this matter, then he would just have to work hard himself.

By building some outposts in advance, he would at least occupy the moral high ground first. Even if it were occupied by others for the time being, in the future, as long as Xia Duo became strong, he could easily claim it had been his "since ancient times."

Whether a matter is just or not still makes a big difference; Xia Duo would certainly not fail to consider that.

……

"The last matter concerns the Settlement Department. The population issue is the weightiest factor in territory development. The reason Daxia Territory has been able to develop so rapidly over the past year is inseparable from these nearly ten thousand new residents."

"However, these residents were all recruited through the efforts of the Seventon Council. Now that the one-year reward period for the Silver Ring Badge is about to pass, it will be very difficult to recruit so many new residents relying solely on Daxia Territory itself."

"Therefore, I have decided to restart the population introduction plan that was interrupted by the Silver Ring Badge rewards a year ago. This matter will be entrusted to the Settlement Department."

"Jiake, you are to contact the Hans, Silaiwen, Golden Flash, and Liadun merchant guilds in Savile Territory as soon as possible to discuss specific introduction plans."

"I will only mention one point: no coercion, no underhanded tricks. You only need to state the facts. I need new residents, not enemies. Keep this in mind at all times!"

This matter actually did not have much difficulty. Those merchant guilds had previously brought back a Langas Tribe called "Kewu" from the Northland, so they already had some experience.

Xia Duo had mentioned some issues to be aware of during recruitment before, and reiterating them now was also to express the degree of his importance.

If it were buying slaves, that would be one thing; after all, one's own side would be the liberator. But if the people sent out by one's own side used deception or trickery and coercion to bring people in, then the hatred would be concentrated on Daxia Territory.

Perhaps Daxia Territory's accommodating environment could dissolve that hatred, but Xia Duo was unwilling to take the risk.

One must know that he was preparing to popularize Knowledge and popularize Magic in the territory. If he really cultivated a Great Arcanist enemy who was a fool, that would be truly unjust.

If some hidden dangers could be avoided in the early stages, then he would avoid them as much as possible. This was also Xia Duo's consistent principle.

Even for a strong person, if one does not pay attention to these details, as time accumulates more and more, from the perspective of a Chang Sheng Zhe, one will surely trip over these small matters in the future!

To borrow a phrase from a cultivation novel, it would probably be "accumulate less karma, so as to avoid backlash"!

……

After the meeting ended, Xia Duo walked to the corner to flip through the meeting minutes and encouraged the Clerk a few words before leaving the meeting room.

And after he left, this meeting did not end. What had come before could only be considered a subordinate reporting session and a leader's instruction session; now, it was the true regular meeting belonging to the heads of the various departments of the territory.

Xia Duo also knew that they would have discussions about the few new matters he had proposed. Staying there would only increase the pressure on them, making them unable to speak freely and causing the discussion to become formalistic.

So he left decisively. In any case, he could read the meeting minutes later to see what they had discussed.