Graycastle, City of Neverwinter.
In the castle conference hall.
With the expansion of the Administrative Office, the hall, which used to be big enough, was now a little small. Many department heads had to move a small stool and sit behind their ministers and deputy ministers. More clerks and assistants had to lean against the wall. The room was tightly packed with nearly 200 people.
It seemed that there was a need to build a special conference hall in the castle area to meet the needs of all kinds of meetings in the future. Roland thought, "These are only the senior officials of Neverwinter. When the managers of other cities come to the new king's city to report, I'm afraid that the first floor of the castle will not be able to accommodate them."
After recording this idea in his notebook, he gently clapped his hands, and the conference hall immediately quieted down.
"I think everyone knows that the" Torch Operation ", which has lasted for nearly 10 months, has been a complete success. Now, our footprints have extended to the Fertile Plains, which is hundreds of kilometers away from Neverwinter. The threat from the demons has been completely wiped out. From now on, the west of Neverwinter is no longer a barren land full of danger and difficult to traverse. It's a fertile land that can provide us with abundant resources! " After a pause, Roland raised his voice and said, "That's right. This plain, which is even wider than the Four Kingdoms combined, will be the main development direction of Graycastle in the next 100 years!"
The hall was instantly filled with thunderous applause.
Expanding the territory was the most important achievement for the king, and it was also the easiest way for the officials to gain benefits. Even the ordinary subjects could get a share of the benefits. Now, there was suddenly a new territory that could accommodate several Graycastle. The significance of this was self-evident, and no amount of praise could be overstated.
"I'm afraid that the 'Four Kingdoms' will completely become history in a few years," Barov said with a smile, stroking his beard. "Whether in terms of size or strength, they're far inferior to Graycastle."
"You're right. If the history books and biographies are written like before, I'm afraid that the future generations will laugh at us."
"How about one big and three small?"
"Three small kingdoms is too hard to pronounce. It's better to give them a new title."
"I agree... I think the Empire is very good."
The ministers discussed eagerly, and the atmosphere at the long table seemed to be a little high.
Roland did not deliberately stop them. Instead, he left some time for them to enjoy the aftertaste of victory before he brought the topic back to business. "But I hope that everyone realizes that this victory is just the beginning, not the end! Driving the demons out of the Fertile Plains was a relatively safe place to live, but it did not mean that they would give up on conquering human beings. The real threat was the legendary Battle of Divine Will. Only when the Bloody Moon came would the enemy show all his fangs! For that day to come, the kingdom must be fully prepared now! "
"In other words, not only can you not relax in the slightest, you have to double your efforts. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Everyone exclaimed.
Roland looked around the hall and nodded to Nightingale.
The latter turned around and pulled open the curtain hanging on the wall.
The place where the map of the Western Region was originally hung was replaced by a huge blackboard, and there was only one word on the blackboard: People.
"This — is what I want," Roland said word by word.
He had so many plans to implement the stability of the Western Region, the unification of the internal affairs, the return of the army, and the people's hearts, but none of them was more important than increasing the population.
In order to implement this policy as soon as possible, he even put the war summary and other matters on the back of the schedule.
It could be said that the population had become the biggest bottleneck of Neverwinter's development.
If the First Army had an armored unit in Operation Torch, even the simplest infantry fighting vehicle, they would have been able to defeat the demons' anti-ambush trap.
Although there were a lot of reliability problems in the first-generation piston engine that had been finalized, these were all minor details in the war. Whether or not they existed was the most important issue.
Roland was aware of this, but Neverwinter's production capacity had reached its limit.
Whether it was the steel output or the production capacity of each factory.
In the last battle, 90% of the accumulated ammunition had been used up.
A railroad across the plains had used up most of the steel reserves.
Agatha's cooling separation method was gradually unable to meet the needs of the chemical plant to produce acid.
The production of individual grenades had also taken up a part of the production of explosives, which was already stretched thin.
It could be said that Neverwinter had reached its limit in many aspects.
It needed manpower to expand the production scale.
It needed manpower to add new production projects.
And it needed the cooperation of many departments and a large number of people to turn ideas and blueprints into reality.
The population of Neverwinter was still growing steadily. At present, it had exceeded the 200,000 mark, which was an incredible number compared to other cities. In another decade or so, Neverwinter would become the core of the whole continent, and it would have no problem to have a population of more than one million.
If not for the unexpected turn of events in the Northern Expedition, he would probably have accepted this result. However, the fact was that the demons' actions had deviated from everyone's expectations. Although the reason was not clear, Roland felt a little uneasy. Even if the demons had gathered a large army and fought with the First Army in Taquila, causing more than half of the soldiers to be killed or wounded, and it would have taken them more than half a year to capture the city, it would have been more reassuring.
Long-term battles were part of the plan.
But the demons did not do that.
The deviation from the strategic plan meant that the situation had changed in some invisible places. The uneasiness brought by the unknown made him unable to be satisfied with the current growth rate. Coupled with the return of the army, he decided to take some extreme measures to shorten the process.
"Your Majesty, this has always been the focus of the Administrative Office," Barov stood up and replied. "According to the statistics, the inflow of foreign population has not only not stopped, but is also steadily increasing. It is estimated that in five years, the population will double —"
"I can't wait for five years," Roland interrupted him. "If possible, I hope to achieve or even exceed this goal within this year."
Everyone could not help but gasp.
"200,000 people a year? Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's difficult to achieve … "the director said hesitantly." To achieve the inflow trend you mentioned, it's not possible to have such a large-scale migration unless there is a riot or famine. "
"You're talking about natural changes, but I'm talking about the administrative order. If we implement coercive measures, it's not a difficult goal to achieve. In a nutshell, this long-term plan can be divided into three parts. "
Roland held up three fingers and said in turn.
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