Chapter 618: A Major Decision

In the days that followed, Zhishou observed and learned in this way, and then continued to teach musical instruments to the people of Huaxia. Now that Baifeng had drawn the sketches, even the Zither had begun to take shape, though for the time being, it still sounded discordant and difficult to listen to.

At the same time, Zhishou was also learning the characters of Huaxia. Zhishou was indeed among the most intelligent people of this era; he used a very short amount of time to become able to recognize the common characters of Huaxia, though writing them was still quite laborious.

Such days continued until Huaxia finished the first phase of repairs on the Xuanyuan Tribe Embassy, meaning that a portion was already ready for occupancy. Baifeng passed this news along through the merchant ships trading with the Xuanyuan Tribe.

Upon learning this, Xuanyuan immediately sent over the thirty-plus people who had been selected. These people were here to study Medicine; those studying other techniques would have to be pushed back because the embassy had not been fully repaired yet. Xuanyuan, after considering all aspects, felt it best to learn Medicine first, which was why he sent the students of Medicine over.

Qibo held several positions and could not leave the Xuanyuan Tribe at all, so he was not among those studying. Cangjie, however, because the Huaxia Construction Team had taken the time to build him a small room, now had a place to record the characters he had created using paper.

It was just that he currently lacked experience and direction; he had merely changed his recording tool from a stone wall to paper. Aside from it being more convenient, he had not achieved any substantive change.

To accelerate the progress of exchanges between the two tribes, Baifeng sent two people from the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for planting fruit trees to the Xuanyuan Tribe. The goal was to observe the growth environment of wild Tea Trees, investigate the growth conditions of the Tea Trees, and then find suitable locations in the Xuanyuan Tribe for large-scale planting.

During this process, people from the Xuanyuan Tribe accompanied them the entire time. In the process of researching together, they also learned how to observe and summarize, such as what kind of soil Tea Trees liked, whether they preferred moisture or dryness, and whether they preferred light or shade.

Such experience could not only be used on Tea Trees but could also be applied to other species. Changle had requested of Baifeng more than once that he wanted to go to the Xuanyuan Tribe, but he had been refused every time. Not only did Baifeng disagree, but Xuanyuan also disagreed, because they felt that given the current situation, they could not ensure Changle's safety; it had to wait until the Huaxia Embassy was built.

Changle was thwarted and could only continue to stay in Huaxia. The thing he had been looking forward to had not been achieved to this day, so he had no choice but to study new musical instruments with Zhishou and then teach students at the school, living a life he considered uninteresting.

All the grain had been returned to the granary, and Huaxia entered a period of agricultural leisure. Now they were just waiting for the arrival of Winter. The Construction Team was still busy; they were still rushing the work. It was impossible to finish everything this year, but before work stopped for Winter, they wanted to build as much as they could.

The three new towns of Huaxia City and the two new towns of Lema City were now beginning to take shape. At least all the Residents who moved to the new towns would have at least one room to spend the Winter in, without having to worry about the problems of Winter.

At the same time, the order for the new towns was also put on the agenda. Baifeng still collected suggestions comprehensively first, and after everyone submitted names, they would undergo a preliminary review by the Secretariat, and then Baifeng would conduct the final audit.

Once the document was issued, it immediately caused a huge sensation in the two cities. After all, this could be said to be a very important matter in Huaxia. If one were lucky enough to have their chosen name selected, that would be a tremendous honor. When the time came, they could proudly point to the plaque on the town gate and say, "Look, I was the one who chose that name!"

But what most people did not know was that these new towns would not have city walls built. Unless they grew larger and gradually developed from a town into a city, only then would the construction of city walls be considered. A town could not possibly have them. Of course, the currently planned Xiao Town was an exception; it certainly had to have them, because the existence of Xiao Town was mainly to serve the military and industry of Huaxia, so its safety had to be guaranteed.

Finally, after several rounds of screening, Baifeng determined the names of the three towns near Huaxia City: Yongfeng, Yongning, and Yonggu. The source of these names was the children who were studying in those towns, not the adults. Only children who had studied could come up with relatively appropriate names.

As for those who were illiterate, the names they chose were mostly things like "Always Harvest Town," "Riverside Town," or "Under the Mountain Town." Baifeng felt that these were even too cumbersome for Village names.

It was much the same for Lema City. One was called Yongan, but there was another that Baifeng chose directly, called Tongan, because it was a bit far from Lema City and happened to be on the only path between Huaxia and Lema City. In the future, it would naturally serve as a post station. Although the distance between the two cities was not far now, it could serve as a link and a means of communication.

The matter of naming the towns ended quickly. Just when everyone thought that this was it for the year and there would be no more major events, Baifeng suddenly summoned all the officials and announced a major event to them—collectively bestowing surnames and granting Nobility.

Baifeng's words were like a Bomb in deep water, instantly stirring up a great splash in the entire conference room. All the officials made sounds of disbelief and then began to discuss it with the officials around them.

Baifeng had long known that this would be the scene. He had originally intended to only bestow surnames and grant Nobility to Xiong and Wu, and incidentally, make up for Changzhi's as well. But now, he decided to reward everyone in China who had made contributions all at once.

In fact, counting them up, there were not many people. With so many departments in Huaxia, each department only had two or three people. The Ministry of Works had a few more because the contributions made by those Artisans were relatively large. However, those without particularly significant major contributions would not be granted high Nobility; after all, it was impossible for all of Huaxia to be a Marquis.

After everyone's voices gradually slowed down, Baifeng continued: "In view of the fact that many people have made great contributions to Huaxia, but apart from grain, they have not received great honor, I have decided to bestow surnames and grant Nobility to reward these people. I have already prepared the entire list. I will read it out now, and it will be handed over to the Ministry of Rites for preparation afterward. If anyone has any objections, you can also come directly to me."

"Alright, now I will state who is on the list. Secretariat: Yu. Chancellery: Yishang. Ministry of War: Xiong, Lu. Ministry of Revenue: Jiliang, Chou. Ministry of Agriculture: Geng, Changzhi, Changxu..."