Chapter 278: Northern Inspection

The Cathayans were very impatient, and by the second day, they were clamoring to set off. Sinuoli naturally understood them; he dispatched guides, provided a signed pass, and notified the various fortresses along the route via rune telegraph.

As for the Old World, he planned to wait until the caravan reached Haimenguan; once the kings saw the Cathayans and their goods, they would naturally support his decision, as seeing it with their own eyes was far more persuasive than a short telegram.

Sinuoli had just finished his leisure time when the first batch of immigrants arrived, injecting new vitality into the entire Nan Shijie Bianyuan Shanmai. According to his initial plan, the Humans went directly to the Lost Plateau to stake out land and cultivate it.

As for his own clansmen, some built houses for those Humans, while others went to the Bone Temple to work for the Slann to earn their rations. Kalake-Zuen suddenly emptied out; traditional Dwarf industrial projects like mining and forging had all stopped, and now it was an office for a construction company.

Beside Sinuoli, only Rogov, who served as the captain of the guard, and his guard remained; all other subordinates had been thrown into production. Sinuoli had sent his confidants here and there, and with no one left to use, he once again realized the problem of insufficient manpower.

"How should I go about discovering or even cultivating enough talent?" Sinuoli sat at his desk and began to ponder.

According to his thinking from his previous life, holding a selective examination would suffice, but unfortunately, he lacked the ability to write test papers or compile a syllabus, and the objective conditions of the Dwarf race did not quite allow him to carry it out that way.

"Currently, the young nobles willing to come to the Southlands are basically those who have certain ideas, but they lack experience and prestige." Sinuoli took out another piece of draft paper.

"However, these people have all received relevant leadership education," Sinuoli himself, as High Prince, had learned courses on how to push through resolutions, establish personal authority, and unite and encourage clan members in various ways, in addition to traditional survival skills.

The growth in the birth rate would not be effective in the short term, and every clansman was a precious asset; any clansman with even a slight blood relation to a lord had a chance to be appointed, and they needed to prepare for stepping into management positions.

"Some of them are quite radical, while others are too idealistic, and their too-short beards will also cause interference in their management." Sinuoli recalled the young people he had communicated with during the expedition. In fact, if they didn't have these traits, they wouldn't have given up a stable life to participate in an adventure.

"Other usable people are the leaders of small clans and civilian civil servants who were frustrated in their original fortresses." Ouyin and Clan Chief Gelate of the Baruk clan were representatives of this.

"They have experience and prestige, but in contrast, they have deep-rooted conservatism; whether they can accept and implement my open policies without discount is a problem. And, well, they may have instances of seeking personal gain through public office."

"My territory will develop rapidly in the next ten or twenty years, and development will bring opportunities and loopholes. I cannot let the cadres be tested over and over again like this." These relatively lower-level clansmen had been polished by life, and their purpose in coming here was to improve their own lives and those of their clans.

In his previous life, "beating tigers and swatting flies" was always "on the road," and considering the Dwarfs' innate love for gold and fine wine, it was difficult to expect them to withstand the test when it was within easy reach.

"I need to make these two sides complement each other and also check and balance each other, plus some additional supervisory power." Sinuoli made a summary; his setup was too big now, and he had four fortresses on hand, including the Tumobao under construction.

Besides that, there were Kuata Port, the Bone Temple construction site, and the planned railway and customs. Adding these up, the only one in the entire Mountain Kingdom who could shoulder the burden with him was Thorgrim, but his father had a group of advisors in the High King's Court, while the group of people under his own command were at best enough to manage a medium-sized fortress.

"Since I'm idle anyway, I might as well take a northern tour; true gold is refined by fire, and perhaps quite a bit of talent will emerge in actual work." Sinuoli acted as soon as he thought of it; he assembled his guard, mounted a Rock Sheep, and headed north along the road he had come by.

Walking the same road again, he had a completely different state of mind; now he was truly riding high. Along the way, he encountered two patrol and hunting teams, one prospecting team, and one survey team; Sinuoli expressed his concern and condolences, and also cared about their work progress.

"It's very lively!" After traveling a bit further, Sinuoli arrived at the designated location for Karak-Demon-Slaying Fortress. On the east side of the Lost Plateau, there was a huge steep slope here, as if the mountain range had split open.

And below the steep slope was no good place; it was the ruins of Astrae, a former southern stronghold of Nehekhara. Astrae was once the territory of the tough guy Alcadizaar, and after the Lord of Undeath made a comeback, everything here was completely destroyed.

A little to the east of the ruins was the huge Huosiren Huankeng. As the name suggests, this thing was a huge corpse pit; the composition of the victims inside goes without saying, and any lone Necromancer could walk in and come out surrounded by followers.

Zou Qilin reminded him that the Nehekhara ancestral land east of Coffin Canyon was not as dead as it appeared on the surface; some dark forces were entrenched there, brewing certain conspiracies, which prompted Sinuoli to speed up the construction of Tumobao.

"My Lord, you have finally come!" The guard walked toward the construction shed, and the person in charge here, Ouyin, came up to meet them. This middle-aged Dwarf was not surprised by Sinuoli's appearance; in his view, building a fortress was far more important than anything else, and it would be strange if the lord did not come to supervise or even work personally.

"Ho, the Restorer of the ancestral land, the respected Ancestor Chosen Sinuoli! Little Beards, what did I say at the time? His Majesty Sinuoli is destined to achieve a great feat; this is fated!"

Before Sinuoli could ask about the situation, an old Dwarf with a snow-white beard rushed out. Sinuoli looked at him and found him somewhat familiar, but for a moment, he couldn't remember. The round, chubby middle-aged man who ran over immediately after pulled up his memories; this was the owner of the bar in the Dwarf settlement of Helmgart at the time.

"Isn't this the Stonemason Elder of Helmgart! Welcome, welcome, the development of the Nan Shijie Bianyuan Shanmai is in urgent need of a Master-class builder like you." Sinuoli grabbed the old Dwarf's hand and shook it several times, which made the Master-class Stonemason even more excited.

"Hahaha! When I was slaughtering rats with you back then, I knew it! That Storm Hammer, hey, you don't know, now the sales of heavy crossbows in the Mountain Kingdom have gone down; every Little Beard with a bit of ambition is practicing throwing hammers, but none of them can reach the tip of your beard!"

The Master Stonemason imitated the strike Sinuoli used to shatter the Screaming Bell.