Before the Lord's Mansion, on the 'Golden Platform,' a silver marvel paved with magnificent, bright, and translucent bricks.
Xia Tian, clad in black-gold armor, stood on the platform, accompanied by Qingwen, a young girl in a light purple dress, her face slightly tense and uneasy.
"In the battle just now, many of you faced the powerful Golden Winged Dragon without fear, and some even dared to volunteer for battle. I am very pleased!"
Xia Tian's gaze swept over all the residents of the territory standing below the Golden Platform.
"Captain Wu, please come up to the platform!"
"Yes, sir!"
After Wu Song ascended the platform,
Xia Tian waved his hand gently, and two items appeared in Qingwen's hands.
One was the wondrous item, the Golden Wine Pot, and the other was a set of combat attire embroidered with an extremely exquisite and grand "Four-Clawed Flying Fish" pattern.
"The population of the territory has increased, and various matters require someone to be responsible. From today onwards, Captain Wu, you are officially appointed as a commander of my territory, responsible for managing military affairs!"
Now, with a population exceeding five hundred, it was necessary to formally appoint some "managers."
"Commander" was a temporary title Xia Tian had set, representing someone responsible for a certain aspect of the territory's affairs. In addition to the title, Xia Tian also decided to give substantial rewards to those appointed as commanders.
"This Golden Wine Pot and this golden-quality Flying Fish Robe are both rewards for Commander Wu. I hope you can make good use of them!"
Xia Tian had Qingwen hand the two items to Wu Song.
The Flying Fish Robe, in particular, was produced by the "Weaving Center" building, which had just been constructed today, and he had already enhanced it to golden quality.
"The Golden Wine Pot, I heard that the monster from before seemed to be after this treasure."
"What a huge wine pot, entirely made of gold, with incredibly exquisite patterns on it. The Lord's reward is too generous!"
"But what is a 'Flying Fish Robe'?"
Xia Tian's "generous rewards" made all the villagers below the Golden Platform show envious expressions.
After all, even if the Golden Wine Pot wasn't a wondrous item, just the weight of the gold was astonishing in their eyes!
As for the meaning of the Flying Fish Robe, most of the refugees came from the Song Dynasty and did not understand it.
"Flying Fish Robe!"
Only Shen Lian stared at the Flying Fish Robe held by Qingwen, extremely excited.
Although everyone said that embroidered spring blades were worn on the waists of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Flying Fish Robes on their bodies, in reality, the true Flying Fish Robe belonged to the Ming Dynasty's bestowed clothing , ranking second only to the first-grade python robe.
Generally, only high-ranking officials of the Embroidered Uniform Guard or those specially bestowed by the emperor were allowed to wear it. Before entering the Eternal Land, Shen Lian was just a minor centurion and was not qualified to wear a Flying Fish Robe at all!
Seeing Xia Tian bestow a Flying Fish Robe as a reward, his heart naturally was not calm.
"In addition, once the Golden Platform is fully completed in the future, as a commander, you can choose a pavilion on it to reside in."
And Xia Tian's rewards for Wu Song were not limited to this.
One must know that the ground of this "Golden Platform" was truly paved with a layer of gold bricks, and the pavilions built on it in the future would definitely be extremely luxurious and precious!
"Chief Hua, please come up to the platform."
Then Xia Tian also appointed Hua Rong as a "Territory Commander" and likewise rewarded him with a golden-quality Flying Fish Robe and the wondrous item "Infinite Quiver."
However, he did not bestow a "pavilion," because compared to Wu Song, Hua Rong's merits were undoubtedly still lacking somewhat.
"Shen Lian, Da Niu, both of you have also performed excellently these past few days and achieved many merits. You can become deputy commanders of my territory."
"Among them, Shen Lian is granted a silver-quality Flying Fish Robe and a golden-quality Embroidered Spring Blade!"
"Thank you, Your Excellency!"
Shen Lian excitedly took the two items handed to him by Qingwen.
In fact, the reason Xia Tian bestowed Shen Lian with an Embroidered Spring Blade and a Flying Fish Robe was also because Shen Lian's two characteristics could only be fully utilized with these two items.
With the Flying Fish Robe, Shen Lian's combat ability would directly rise to another level.
As for Da Niu, he also received a silver-quality Flying Fish Robe, but his weapon was not an Embroidered Spring Blade but a large-sized spiked mace. More accurately, it should be called a "Flood Dragon Tooth Mace," crafted from the serrated mouthparts of the mutated black-and-white Flood Dragon-Pheasant combined with metal. Its weight and destructive power were astonishing!
"Lu Gong, Pan Jiang, Song Wang, Zhao Yang..."
Finally, Xia Tian called up a group of people.
For example, the old carpenter responsible for making the Divine Arm Crossbows, the middle-aged man responsible for taming the black-and-white Flood Dragon-Pheasants, the stonemason who once dug up the black-and-white Flood Dragon-Pheasant eggs... Their rewards were more down-to-earth, directly a twenty-catty gold brick for each person.
"Thank you for the reward, Your Excellency!"
And it must be said that for ordinary villagers, the excitement brought by gold was even more obvious than that of Flying Fish Robes, weapons, and wondrous items.
Xia Tian saw that whether it was the people from Qingfeng Stronghold or the original residents of the territory, upon seeing these people descend the platform with their heavy gold, they all showed excited and envious expressions!
"As long as they understand that working hard can earn them a lot of gold, phenomena like hoarding gold will naturally decrease relatively."
Of course, this was just a superficial method.
In fact, every resident of the territory, when stepping onto the "Golden Platform" to receive their reward, would be encouraged by an invisible force, making them willing to work harder and increasing their trust and respect for Xia Tian, the lord. This was naturally the effect of the silver wondrous building's characteristic beginning to take effect.
Actually, Xia Tian had appointed one more "commander," Li Ru.
However, as he had just joined the territory and had not yet achieved any merits, directly appointing him as a "commander" was clearly inappropriate. He could only be directly assigned to manage the territory's logistics first.
Speaking of which, with a wondrous item like the "Poison Wine Cup," Xia Tian felt that Li Ru's suitable positioning in the future might not be in internal affairs, but rather more suited for certain intelligence-related positions!
As for Qingwen, Pan Jinlian, Wu Dalang, and others.
Although they were talents with blue names, just like Da Niu and Shen Lian,
Xia Tian did not give them gold, because they had not yet shown their true talents!
Besides these "temptations," Xia Tian also decided to put some pressure on the residents of the territory.
"Also, I have something to tell you."
"Because the number of people protected by the territory is too large, the 'protective array' consumes too much energy. In about two days, the power of the array will decrease, making it unable to completely block out foreign races and enemies."
Xia Tian stood on the Golden Platform, watching the residents of the territory who had become excited due to the "rewards and gold." His words made everyone's expressions change.
"To truly not fear those foreign monsters, the only way is to strengthen your own power!"
Light flashed in Xia Tian's hand again, and the "Secret Tiger Bone Wine" appeared. He had gathered the materials last night and used up all the remaining bones of the Purple-Striped Fierce Tiger to create enough for over two hundred people to consume.
"This is 'Secret Tiger Bone Wine.' Later, everyone go to Commander Wu to test your physical strength. Anyone who passes will receive three cups of 'Secret Tiger Bone Wine.' Drinking it will greatly enhance your physique, at least allowing you to single-handedly kill those gnolls who raided Qingfeng Stronghold, and protect your wives, sons, and daughters in the future."
"Your Excellency, I am willing to sign up!"
"Your Excellency, I am not afraid of death."
"Your Excellency, my physique is very good; I can last for half an hour at night."
Hearing Xia Tian's initial words, some of the soldiers from Qingfeng Stronghold were a bit at a loss, but upon hearing the latter part, they immediately swarmed forward.
After all, their families were also in the territory. If the territory's protective effect weakened, only by being strong enough themselves could they protect their families from danger!
Your territory residents' level has increased, territory fortune +240.
With everyone's hearts united, things became easier.
Soon, Xia Tian's territory gained over two hundred soldiers who had advanced to the sixth rank.
Seventy-two soldiers in your territory have become "Human Elites," territory fortune +432!
And then, through the "rapid training" method at the training ground, seventy-two more soldiers of the Trap Formation Camp were successfully cultivated.
"Seventy-two people, the success rate of this specialization is a bit low."
Xia Tian shook his head slightly.
He had originally thought he could achieve a 40% success rate, like the first time he trained the Trap Formation Camp, but it turned out to be only 30%.
Fortunately, although the other soldiers did not successfully specialize, they also trained their courage and combat skills during the rapid training. Their military appearance was completely different from the original stronghold soldiers.
After all, Gao Shun was historically known for being "upright and majestic," and his trained soldiers were known for "strictly adhering to military discipline and equipment." Even an ordinary person could be reborn after his training.
"Next, everyone will participate in territory construction: felling trees, collecting stones, building walls, and stocking up on food!"
Xia Tian gave the order.
Except for Wu Song, who took the original ten Trap Formation Camp soldiers to fish and hunt on their black-and-white Flood Dragon-Pheasants, everyone else participated in the territory's construction.
Even the mutated rock elemental, which Xia Tian had contracted and designated as the future "Great General of Stone," was arranged to use its extraordinary power to transform the mud on the walls into "stone," making the defensive power of the originally green-quality walls in important areas no worse than blue-quality walls.
Everything was in preparation for the great battle that might occur two days later!
Hmm, there's another transitional chapter tomorrow.
Next, we'll get to the main topic of this book!
Here, I'd like to thank reader 20230524164333162 for the 2000 Qidian coins, and also the four readers who previously gave rewards: Shilai Yunzhuan Jie Tongli, Meng de Bian, Qiushhen Zhiguang, and Airesman.
There should be some other readers, but I can't see them in the backend, so I'll just thank them all together.
It's a bit awkward because I haven't encountered a reward in so long that I forgot to thank people.
I also thank the readers who voted for monthly passes, at least the total number of fans has now reached 70, so it's not too bad!
But I still hope everyone can be more active in the comment section; the number of comments is still a bit low.