Chapter 182:Administration


    Having so many refugees arrive at his doorstep saved Cheng Yang the trouble of transported them from the Cloud City safe zone himself. Civilians were the backbone of a territorys agricultural economy. Phoenix Viges previous poption of a hundred thousand civilians wasnt quite enough to support the entire domain.


    That number had suddenly doubled, and although Cheng Yang didnt know for sure, the other viges should also have experienced explosive poption growth. Rather than just satisfying his territorys needs, Cheng Yang would even be able to export food!


    So, Cheng Yang scrapped his ns to obtainborers from the safe zone. Since he didnt need it, it wasnt necessary to risk bringing a spy to the vige. A few spies wouldnt be a huge problem, but it would be a hassle if Yuan Jianzhe tried something.


    However, the refugees here would need to visit the safe zone eventually. There werent enough quota slots in the vige, and it would be wasteful if those refugees were incapable of fighting. To leave a strong impression on them, Cheng Yang nned to force them to switch to the Farmer Profession before going to the safe zone.


    Thats why Old Lee and his assistants were registering all of the refugees and current citizens. The registry was more than just a name and an age. The most important part was the individuals ns for the future. Without a doubt, it was a very time-consuming job.


    For those that didnt want to fight, their only option was to be a farmer or get permission to switch to one of the other Professions. There were many such people. After all, working within the viges confines guaranteed their safety and livelihood without fighting monsters. They wouldnt have much, but theyd have clothes, food, and shelter.


    Before the apocalypse, most people shied away from manualbor, but now countless people rushed to do it. Even if a soldiers standard of living is several times higher than a farmers, some people will value their lives more. After all, if you werent forced to join, who would want to be in the military?


    However, there would also be some people that wanted to get ahead. Bing a soldier was the fastest way to gain power, wealth, and prestige. When the poption survey isplete, Cheng Yang nned to take people like that to the safe zone to perform a ss change ceremony.


    Thetest patch also introduced a change in the functionality of ss change statues. Two new features were added: Naturalization and Fealty.


    Those two functions were designed to allow people who performed their ss change ceremony in a safe zone to be a part of a territory officially. The most obvious benefit was that the ss change statue research bonuses would affect them.


    Of course, there was a difference between Naturalization and Fealty.


    Naturalizing an individual consumed a slot from the corresponding ss change statues and bestowed its full research bonus onto the individual. However, if there werent any avable slots, Naturalization was impossible.


    Fealty allowed an individual to pledge loyalty to a territory and doesnt require any open slots. The downside is that only half the research bonus will apply. Even so, it was a highly coveted process.


    The number of people who could pledge Fealty to territory was also limited to a hundred times the ss change statues total slots. Presently, Phoenix Vige could apply Fealty to a few million people.


    Cheng Yang watched Old Lee from a distance until the other man noticed him. When he did, Old Lee dropped what he was doing and walked over.


    My Lord, we have taken all of the refugees into the vige for resettlement. Old Lee said calmly.


    Great. How does it look so far?


    Our current poption is around two hundred seventy thousand, of which weve surveyed twenty thousand. Forty percent are willing to be Adventurers while the other sixty percent want to pursue a nonbat career. In general, older people tend towards nonbat positions, and younger people are more willing to fight.


    Thats about what I expected. Cheng Yang mused. In other words, well eventually have over a hundred thousand Adventurers thats a lot. Old Lee,e with me back to my ce. We need to deliberate on how we want to handle this.


    Old Lee didnt refuse. At this point, it didnt matter whether he was here to supervise his assistant or not.


    When they arrived at Cheng Yangs Meditation Hall, they sat down to deliberate.


    Old Lee, our poption increased by almost a hundred and sixty thousand people today. It was a surprise, even for me. If all of them performed a ss change ceremony, theirbat prowess couldnt be looked down upon. It would increase the territorys ability to defend itself from monsters, but that many Adventurers will be hard to control with only four thousand official soldiers. Do you have any suggestions?


    Cheng Yang already knew what methods of control worked and which ones led to disaster. The reason he asked Old Lee was to test him. In the future, Old Lee would upy a vital position in his empire, and he needed to be worthy of it.


    My Lord, this subordinate was pondering on that problem while collecting the survey data. IF you intend to allow every civilian to perform a ss change ceremony, well need to expand our military. Otherwise, if theres an emergency, we will only be able to respond passively.


    Expansion will be necessary. Anything else?


    If we examine how the gods rules work, youll see that Professionals arent the only threat to stability. Certain Professions will be an economic danger if they are left to their own devices. Therefore, it will be necessary to strengthen our control of people with Professions. Old Lee tactfully kept his involvement in military matters to a minimum and focused on how his newly created administrative department could help. Take Farmers, for example. To better manage them, we can divide them into groups based on their geographic proximity to one another. Managers would be assigned to each group of a hundred farms that we could designate as branches. We could further group these branches into a bureaucratic chain ofmand leading to you. A simr system could be implemented for other Professions as well. What do you think, my Lord?


    A hundred is a bit much for a single administrative unit, but it should be fine for Farmers since they only do one thing. The details arent important right now, anyway. Cheng Yang said after a few minutes of rumination. Which do you think is better: an employment system or a taxation system?


    Old Lee hadnt thought of that yet, so he needed some time to think about the question.


    My Lord, this subordinate feels it will be better to use an employment system at present. It would give the civilians a greater sense of security and better guarantee that the territorys interests are addressed. Especially since all of the resources necessary for Farming and the other Professions are provided by us and protected by the military. Old Lee said. IF we used a tax system and set the taces too low, the territory will suffer, but if we set them too high, there will be discontent. Better to avoid the situation entirely. Moreover, everything produced, whether it be food, weapons, or other supplies, are strategic war materials. It would be for the best to have the government handle the distribution of those resources.


    Cheng Yang was satisfied when he heard Old Lees answer since it coincided with his current ns. A tax system would only be viable once Phoenix Vige escaped a state of constant crisis.


    My Lord, how do you n to handle the Adventurers? Old Lee asked after seeing Cheng Yangs expression and knowing his idea had been approved.


    Thats easy. Well suppress them with military strength but increasing the quality and quantity of our soldiers. Then, well collect taxes from them. Every transaction they make will be taxed, including their food. Well assume people will attempt to evade the taxes and establish a system of punishments. Then, when an Adventuring group breaks the rules, punish them ording to the publicizedws.