Infrastructure Throne

The founding ceremony ended successfully with roaring gun salutes and cheers.

The envoys from the three major countries and various forces were stunned by the deafening gun salute. If it wasn't for the other people around watching the ceremony who were accustomed to this, the envoys would almost have thought that this was a signal that Beiyuan Nation wanted to wipe them all out.

After the celebration was over, Shen Qingze and Yan Zui graciously invited all the guests to visit Yuanliu City. At first, the envoys from all over the place were very interested in it. Maybe they could get a glimpse of the secret of Beiyuan Kingdom's rapid annexation of three cities and its rapid growth.

When they saw the large stretches of mulberry, cotton, and poultry breeding bases, they were not surprised. They also had these planting and breeding gardens, but the scale was larger, and the division of labor and procedures were more cumbersome. When they learned that Yuanliu City did not use slaves , and when all the civilians were hired, everyone laughed secretly.

As for those strange looking machines, they attracted the attention of some people, thinking that this was the reason why Yuanliu made high-quality and cheap machines.

And when they came to the school grounds to see the "antique" salute that Yan Zui called, facing the flames soaring into the sky and the roar shaking the earth, everyone turned pale and almost couldn't stand up in fright.

Especially the envoys from the cities of the north, their faces are extremely ugly, this is a blatant show of power!

As expected, Beiyuan Kingdom has a lot of ambitions, and it sent a signal to declare war on the entire Northland just after its founding!Aren't they afraid that these military secrets will be obtained by them and carry out targeted defense?

The envoys from the northern cities were filled with righteous indignation, and when everyone calmed down, they found out sadly that even if the Beiyuan Kingdom put these deterrent weapons in front of them, they would be powerless to resist with their strength, and could only increase their fear.

At the end of the celebration, the envoys from all over the country left one after another with mixed feelings. The prosperity of Beiyuan Kingdom seemed to be like the dark clouds hanging over the cities of the Northland. As time went by, it became heavier and heavier, and it would rain cats and dogs at any time.

Taking this opportunity, the envoys of each city secretly contacted each other and exchanged information. Facing such a powerful enemy, the cities of the Northland had to work together to protect their own interests under the strong attack of Beiyuan Kingdom.

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After Beiyuan was formally established as a centralized monarchy, the original system of enfeoffment and self-government by the lords of each city was obviously no longer applicable. Fortunately, Shen Qingze had a wealth of experience to refer to.

In today's Beiyuan Kingdom, the title of nobility is officially cancelled, and only the title of honor is retained. For example, the Yan family behind Yan Zui, as one of the founding fathers, is listed on the monument of merit, and still inherits the title of city lord.

Within Beiyuan's territory, most of the land is registered as state-owned. From the founding fathers to the self-cultivating farmers, their legal private land and property are still protected by law. However, including the monarch, the taxes that should be paid Not a penny is missing.

Except for Yuanliu City, the capital of the country, the other cities no longer enfeoff the city lords, but the central government will promote and appoint suitable talents from among the officials with outstanding performance, and dispatch them around to manage the city.The selection examination for junior officials is still open to all citizens.

Politically, the king of a country enjoys the highest decision-making power, and Yuanliu City Lord's Mansion was renamed the State Affairs Office as the highest administrative agency.

It consists of several executive agencies such as agriculture, industry, finance, education, medical care, science and technology, transportation, and commerce. The military, supervision, and judicial departments are independent, and they are directly under the leadership of Yan Zui and Shen Qingze respectively.

Beyond the three major cities, administrative units such as counties, towns, townships, and villages are divided layer by layer according to region, population, and economic level.

So far, the framework of an independent empire with a small territory but complete internal organs has been completely established.

Its bones and flesh and blood will grow rapidly with the expansion of the population, the expansion of the territory, the exploitation of resources, and the improvement of technology, and it will become a giant that makes the entire Dawn Continent pay attention.

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When Shen Qingze handed over the schematic drawing of the steam engine in the third stage of the technology tree to the technology research and development department, a group of technical experts headed by the goblin orc Lance buried themselves in the fight for three months, relying on high precision With the help of machine tools, the first practical steam engine was finally made.

The steam chariot used by Shen Qingze at the founding ceremony was its prototype. Although it was heavy, slow, and difficult to turn, it undoubtedly got rid of manpower and animal power and embarked on the road of steam power.

The blueprints given by the system have detailed parameters, and the R&D department of science and technology hardly needs to take too many detours, and they can follow suit according to the gourd.

After understanding the principle of the steam engine and solving the technical problems, coupled with Shen Qingze's request, the steam engine has gradually been put into practical use in various industries such as smelting, mining, transportation, and textiles, gradually replacing the original human, animal, and water power.

With the explosive growth of production capacity in various industries, Sierra's alchemy laboratory has long been unable to meet the needs.

The personal laboratory that Shen Qingze promised to him at the beginning has now been rebuilt into a national scientific research laboratory, which has several subdivided and classified research directions such as medicine, chemistry, physics, and biology.The high-power microscope that Shen Qingze picked up ten times in a row has become the laboratory's treasure.

The system technology tree only gives Shen Qingze the most basic technology, other branches still need players to organize their own research.

For example, regarding the pollution problems caused by steam factories, in addition to continuing to study separation and decontamination in the chemical field, we can only recycle pollution residues and waste water as much as possible to maximize waste utilization before breakthroughs in technical difficulties.

After the steam field was fully opened, the direct help brought by the system became less and less, and the huge investment in education and medical services in the early stage began to highlight its importance, and it could send a group of highly savvy talents every year.

With the accumulation of education year after year and the popularization of literacy classes, the literacy rate of the people under Beiyuan's rule has been increasing year by year. Today, it has already dropped a large part of the three empires, and the speed of literacy will increase with more and more people. The school was newly built and developed in a snowball style.

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The orcs in the Grand Canyon were terrified, and no one in the northern cities dared to provoke them. Driven by the steam engine, Beiyuan has entered a period of stable and rapid development. Every day, new factories are established or expanded, and the surrounding area is constantly flowing Some immigrants came to settle and work.

However, the labor force brought by these immigrants was still far from meeting the needs of Beiyuan Nation. After a few years, Yuanliu City, whose population had doubled, began to worry about the shortage of labor force again.

After the founding of the country, Shen Qingze passed the first decree issued by the State Council, which was to officially abolish slavery and prohibit the slave trade. No matter if it was a human race or a beast race, only employment was allowed, and slavery was not allowed.

To this, Yuanliu City and Nanji City and Beiji City didn't respond much. In fact, these three cities have long since lost their slaves.

And Pearl City, which used to rely on the slave trade as the pillar of economic development, almost exploded, causing countless slave traders to lose their jobs. Even the former city lord Tia approached Shen Qingze, tactfully persuading him not to give up this profiteering cake.

Shen Qingze was unmoved, and once again emphasized that the decree must be carried out to the end, and the merchants who were secretly engaged in the slave trade were caught, and the buyers were guilty of the same crime, and all of them were severely punished, just like an arbitrary tyrant.

Under his severe blows, the slave trade was completely shut down, and Pearl City no longer sent slaves to the other three empires. The slaves liberated thus regained their legal freedom. became legal equals.

In just two months, the liberated slaves brought explosive labor force growth to Beiyuan.

However, the cities of the Northland and the three empires had to suffer this dumb loss at the same time, especially the Northland.

Without the source of slaves, coupled with Beiyuan's policy of encouraging immigration, a large number of poor farmers and low-level civilians are lost to Beiyuan every day, and slaves flee desperately in order to obtain equal status.

The major city lords watched their own population decrease day by day, the slave labor force dropped sharply, and the tax revenue also shrunk at a speed visible to the naked eye. Even the most idiot aristocratic rulers could understand it and continue to let it go. When soldiers approach the city, they will all become empty cities first.

Beiyuan Nation wants to dig their roots, which is really unbearable!

In order to prevent the loss of population, Beiyuan became a big city, and under the connection of the cities of Beidi, the two empires of the east and the west bordering Beidi also took measures to block the border of Beiyuan.

More and more checkpoints are appearing near the national border, and civilians are not allowed to cross the border. Even caravans have to charge huge transit taxes before they can be released.

It has only been a year since the founding of the country, and the Beiyuan Kingdom seems to be surrounded by the whole world. It is bordered by the Chiyuan River and the Beastman Grand Canyon to the north, the Manxi Allied Kingdom to the west, and the Northland Cities Alliance to the east.

The only Southern Blue Sky Merchant Alliance that has ever shown friendliness is separated by half of the Shuguang Continent, thousands of miles away, and the journey is long.

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Moon City, once the second largest commercial city in the Northland, gathered many ruling nobles from other cities in the dinner hall of the City Lord's Mansion tonight.

During the staggering of toasts, everyone whispered to each other, and there was loud laughter from time to time, which made the red candles hanging upside down on the ceiling tremble.

"Everyone, only the cities in the northern land unite to form an alliance of nobles can resist that demon king of Beiyuan!" The lord of Moon City raised his glass drunkenly.

"Master City Master is right. Think about what happened to the City Master of Mingzhu. How powerful Mingzhu City was in the past, but now? You can only be an idle nobleman without any privileges in Yuanliu City! If you want to regain power, you have to participate What Laoshizi official examination! Let us take the examination with the humble commoners? It's ridiculous!"

The words of the nobles immediately attracted everyone's support: "That's right! We are all nobles of noble birth. Our privileges and property are all obtained by the meritorious deeds of our ancestors. Why should they be taken away?"

"Although Beiyuan Kingdom looks powerful, it is only a three-year-old child compared to the three great empires. Once it is completely blocked, what can they do? Will they start a war against us at the same time? It's ridiculous!"

Facing the crowd, they were full of self-confidence, and some nobles who had seen the power of Yuanliu City were obsequious: "But it's urgent, if Beiyuan Kingdom really sends troops to us, we can't hold it at all?"

The Lord of Moon City narrowed his eyes, shook his head and smiled: "Don't worry, the two great empires of the East and the West will not hope for a unified empire in the North, they will secretly give us military aid, no matter how strong Beiyuan Kingdom is, it will be able to withstand it." Is something pinching?"

"Besides," he licked his lips, his eyes flickering, "The envoy we sent to negotiate with the Lord of Beiyuan has arrived in Yuanliu City, as long as he agrees that the nobles of the northern cities maintain their status of autonomy and continue to confer the title of our lord, you will be honored." It is a good thing that Beiyuan Monarch is the Lord of the Northern Land!"

"From then on, the rights and wealth still belong to us, but as the lord of the Northland, we have the responsibility to protect the safety of the people in the territory. In the future, if there is another beast tide in the Grand Canyon, we can justifiably ask for assistance."

"Isn't it the best of both worlds!"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then laughed at the same time: "Your City Master's plan is really thoughtful, so, we are all willing to enshrine Shen Qingze as the Lord of the Northern Land!"

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Starlight and Huiyue looked down on the earth equally.

In the Yuanliu Palace, a temporary meeting of ministers had just ended. The ministers took two documents and bowed to His Majesty the monarch with a relaxed and happy mood.

One of them is the "Northern Land Enfeoffment and Autonomy Negotiation Document" submitted by envoys jointly sent by the various cities of the Northern Land, and the other is the "Blockade Breaking Plan" written by Shen Qingze earlier.

In the study room, Shen Qingze, wearing a black silk singlet, stood in front of the transparent pane glass floor-to-ceiling windows, looking at the glowing lights in the distance.

In his hand he was playing with a golden crown-shaped medal with the word "Marshal" engraved on it.

The pitch-black glass window reflected Yan Zui's arm quietly stretched out, he was grabbed by him, wrapped around his waist and brought him into his arms.

"Are you worrying about those jumping clowns in the Northland?"

Shen Qingze pinched the corner of the medal, and said lightly: "Trouble? Not to mention, I was just thinking, after the Northern Land is unified, I will personally wear it for you."

Yan Zui blinked: "Only this?"

Shen Qingze was taken aback for a moment, couldn't help but smile, and gently stroked the top of the opponent's head: "Of course there are bigger ones."