Chapter 779.3: Human Nature...

The Wolf Clan were the Xilande Empire’s most loyal warriors, and the Gray Wolf Army, as part of the central forces, was the only army of a different clan that remained absolutely loyal to the Heavenly City.

As for the local armies, they had already demonstrated through their actions just how unreliable they were. Unless the Xilande Empire first freed its hands to deal with the Fierce Tiger Army and Black Panther Army warlords, using any local force right now would only add fuel to the fire!

After hearing Nihark’s argument, Wutuo Xilande fell into thought. Although he was an amateur when it came to wars against foreign enemies, he still had some understanding of the Empire’s internal affairs.

“We’ll do as Duke Nihark says. Transfer the Gray Wolf Army to Mammoth State to suppress the bandits. Also, Dilip, travel to the capitals of Horse State and Bird State. Tell the local nobles there is no need to panic. Their only responsibility is supplying the Gray Wolf Army.”

Prince Dilip was reluctant, but His Majesty had already given the order. He could only nod and accept. “As you command.”

Seeing that His Majesty had not assigned him anything, Duke Nihark couldn’t help speaking up. “Your Majesty, I can also share your burdens!”

Ever since returning from Port Gallon, he had been idle for quite some time. As a duke with nothing but a title and no fief of his own, if he remained idle much longer, he feared there might not even be a place for him in court anymore.

Seeing Nihark’s anxious expression, Wutuo Xilande was in no hurry. He spoke unhurriedly, “You have a more important assignment. I want you to take a ship to the South Sea and finalize that loan arrangement I mentioned before.”

Nihark froze. He hadn’t expected the emperor to suddenly bring up the South Sea here, and for a moment his mind failed to catch up. Especially with something so serious having just happened, he had assumed His Majesty had already forgotten about that matter. He didn’t expect the man to still be thinking about it.

“But Your Majesty... with rebels at our doorstep, is this really the right time to do that?” Nihark asked.

Wutuo replied with indifference, “The unrest is along the Tassen River. That’s far from the Everflowing River. Besides, a bunch of bandits are nothing more than an itch on the skin and flesh, hardly worth worrying about. The urgent priority is to get that economy thing moving.”

Mammoth State wasn’t even a state where the Moon Clan formed the majority. On top of that, he had already purged the Moon Clan throughout the Poro Province. Those who were still alive were living on farms or in slave camps. He might be anxious, but deep down he simply didn’t believe a resistance army raised by slaves could create any truly serious trouble. Besides, lately he had begun to appreciate some of the advantages of having money.

It was especially so after seeing the photographs Garawa had taken of the Ideal Grand Hotel, he had gone nearly mad with jealousy.

His palace might float in the air, but compared with the height of the Ideal Hotel, it was still far too short.

It was no wonder the Wislanders were unimpressed by his palace.

Once the Empire became wealthy, he too would invite people from Ideal City to build him a palace that could touch the clouds!

Still, one had to eat a meal one bite at a time, and to break down a wall one brick at a time.

He could take advantage of the fact that the War for Paradise in the Ocean Edge Province was still unfinished and start with the South Sea, where the New Alliance was temporarily unable to devote much attention.

That was the safest place he could start.

The New Alliance wasn’t the Army. Their administrator had at least talked about ending the wasteland or some such thing. Surely he wouldn’t send troops over just because Wutuo Xilande conducted a little business there?

Once the Xilande Empire became the largest creditor in the South Sea, that so-called Southern Sea New Alliance would become his dog. By then, even if the New Alliance regretted it, it would be too late.

As Wutuo Xilande expanded the plan in his head, a smug smile covered his face. The officials around him also showed expressions of sudden understanding and began praising His Majesty’s wisdom.

Only the finance minister’s smile was somewhat complicated, or rather, carried a trace of grievance he had no way to voice. The Poro Province might cover vast territory, but it also had plenty of mouths to feed. He did think lending Xilande currency to the South Sea was a decent way to deal with the problem of unsold cement, but the whole arrangement felt a little too much like blindly copying someone else’s methods.

What if the borrowers simply defaulted? Could the Empire sail a fleet over there and knock on their door to collect the debt? Or did the Empire have some enormous Southern Sea New Alliance investment at home that could be seized to offset the unpaid balance?

Dealing with the bad debt later would probably become another enormous headache.

If the other side was willing to play along, then perhaps they could slap a ridiculous string of zeros onto the value of some coral reefs and call the debt settled, allowing both sides to save face. If they weren’t willing to cooperate, then presumably the creditor would simply have to become a little more magnanimous...

...

At the same time that the Empire began moving to suppress the Moon Clan rebels, far away in the Southern Sea New Alliance, Interim President Li Minghui was worrying about a shortage of labor.

It was already late October. Reconstruction of the northern islands had been underway for nearly a month, but progress had remained poor due to insufficient manpower.

The Baiyue Strait Development Company’s construction teams were primarily responsible for projects such as the North Island naval base and the Ocean Current Power Plant.

However, those were hardly the only things that needed rebuilding. And because of that, the Southern Sea New Alliance had run into an awkward problem.

Although their technological reserves were absurdly extensive and they had no shortage of highly educated specialists, they severely lacked ordinary laborers capable of doing physical work.

Automation could solve part of the problem, but that would have to wait until the Ocean Current Power Plant and the advanced productive capacity of the various islands had been fully restored.

Put simply, distant water couldn’t put out a nearby fire. What they needed right now wasn’t more learned men and engineers. They needed enormous numbers of concrete workers and construction laborers!

Those people didn’t even need to be literate. They only had to understand the language of the Federation of Human.

Recently, French Fry Harbor had opened a migration route from Port Gallon to the Baiyue Strait, and Li Minghui had been wondering whether the Southern Sea New Alliance ought to start attracting immigrants as well.

But there were plenty of problems with that idea.

The Southern Sea New Alliance’s Council was far more xenophobic than the New Alliance’s Council, and distrust of outsiders was practically part of the islanders’ nature.

Even Ring Island, the most pro-New Alliance of them all, had always opposed the immigration of outsiders, though it cared very little about local survivors moving away.

If Li Minghui forced through a law relaxing immigration requirements at a time like this, then although it would help the Southern Sea New Alliance’s postwar recovery in the long run, it would undoubtedly put him in opposition to the survivors of the South Sea, and to the Council.

Why bother?

He counted on his fingers. There were only a few months left in his term as interim president anyway, depending on when the War for Paradise finally ended.

Having just won a beautiful victory, Li Minghui now wanted nothing more than to avoid making mistakes for the remainder of his term, hand back his authority as a hero, and complete the final and most glorious page of his heroic journey. After that, he could peacefully return to being naval commander until he finally reached retirement age.

Whenever there was a war, he would fight. When there wasn’t, he could feed seagulls and blow up fish. And when he had nothing else to do, he could head to a bar in French Fry Harbor, drink a little, and brag.

His life had already been exciting enough.

As for that bastard Chalas, he would never again get to hear drunken sailors bragging about his achievements. If that guy were somehow still alive, he would probably be insane with jealousy.

Li Minghui thought it over from every angle until he finally came to a realization.

There really was no reason for him to spend the final stretch of his term wearing a worried expression.

However, just as he finally figured everything out and prepared to toss the report aside, leaving all those troublesome problems to his successors, someone knocked on the office door.

Li Minghui raised his teacup and took a sip of black tea, sat up straight, and cleared his throat. “Come in.”

The door opened and his secretary for government affairs stepped in to speak. “Sir, someone is here to see you.”

Li Minghui immediately put on a concerned expression and interlaced his fingers on his desk. “Who wants to see me? What is it about?”

Looking at the president who had worked tirelessly over every matter large and small concerning the South Sea, the secretary replied respectfully, “It’s a representative from the Mammoth City authorities. He says they can solve your most urgent problem...”

Mammoth City?

Li Minghui froze.

Almost instinctively, he reached for a map of Baiyue Province, wanting to see when the New Alliance had written another new item onto the menu right outside his doorstep.

Seeing this, however, the secretary standing before his desk coughed awkwardly and quietly reminded him, “It’s... it’s the other map.”

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