Chapter 1 Ganduo's Inauguration

As the dawn finally broke, and beautiful, moist clouds appeared on the horizon, Ganduo's inauguration ceremony entered its final sprint. At this point, everyone, finally able to venture beyond their previously restricted areas, suddenly realized that not only were they experiencing their first rain season without mud or flooding, and witnessing a city designed to drain water efficiently, but they were also about to see a fully functional road system. The roads around Ganduo, so troublesome to build, were immediately put into full operation. Units that had been delayed by the heavy rain rushed into Ganduo, soaked to the bone, while streams of travelers, supplies, and various goods, along with batches of residents preparing to move in, arrived in droves. The airship routes, which had been suspended for a period due to the rain, became incredibly busy. Jiang Yan and Zheng Zhe, who had always viewed airships as weapons, stared wide-eyed as they suddenly realized that airships could be quite useful for transporting goods. Of course, this only applied to the well-developed airships of Yunzhou, the newer models. The ones purchased by Chunnan didn't have this capability. Given the limited training time, it would be good enough if Chunnan's pilots could just stay in the air for the scheduled duration.

In just a few days, approximately one hundred airships landed at Ganduo's various mooring stations. Over forty of these were messenger airships from the Communications Bureau. From this day forward, except for the annual rainy season when the Communications Bureau would temporarily use Thunder Cliff and Ningyuan as temporary headquarters to communicate with Ganduo via telegraph and telephone, the Communications Bureau would operate primarily from Ganduo. The four divisions of Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, and Alcatel finally began to work separately, fostering competition and fully implementing Yunzhou's complex and thorough security system.

Meanwhile, Tan Xiaopei and his entourage, escorted by two battalions of the Imperial Guards, had set off from Thunder Cliff on the wide road to Ganduo. One of these battalions was the same one formerly led by Zhuo Xianchen. Although Zhuo Xianchen had served as ambassador to Chunnan for many years with great success, most officials at court found it hard to reconcile the current Zhuo Xianchen, who handled matters steadily and carefully, catering to all parties, with the stubborn, unreasonable young officer he once was. They now regarded him as a civil official rather than a military one. However, the troops he once led had always maintained their traditions, executing every detail flawlessly. The Imperial Guards were naturally excellent in terms of equipment and combat power, but this particular battalion was summoned for this ceremonial occasion primarily because of its near-perfect parade performance. In Tan Xiaopei's view, this seemed normal. The current commander of this battalion had been Zhuo Xianchen's best captain, even more stern and rigid than Zhuo Xianchen himself.

The two battalions of the Imperial Guards wore specially tailored ceremonial armor. The surface of each armor piece was meticulously polished, like a mirror, and adorned with gilded bronze ornaments on the shoulders, chest, back, and helmet. From a distance, or from the sky, the reflective light points would be dazzling. When this imposing force marched into Ganduo, the entire city erupted. Such magnificent military bearing was merely a matter of etiquette and parade to the professional soldiers of Yunzhou, who enjoyed fighting, and not necessarily related to combat effectiveness. However, in the eyes of the Benlang Plain tribes and the Northern tribes, it represented the glory and splendor of Dongping.

"Ye Tao, am I not late? The rain lasted a bit too long. I was really uncertain, but luckily I made it just in time. The ceremony is the day after tomorrow, right?" Tan Xiaopei chatted with Ye Tao while admiring the magnificent city. The Imperial Guards' reactions were somewhat strange but not unexpected. They resided in Danyang and Iron City, especially Iron City, which was also a city designed and built by Ye Tao. However, upon arriving in Ganduo and seeing its dazzling white exterior reflecting the bright sunlight after the rain, visible from a great distance, they felt as if they were heading towards paradise. Ganduo seemed like a city from mythology, not a real place. Tan Xiaopei wasn't surprised because the intelligence agency had reported even more extreme reactions from the Northern tribes. A small tribe that arrived in Ganduo before the rainy season had a large number of its members trembling and prostrating themselves upon seeing Ganduo in the sunlight. Some even progressed to the magnificent city built by humans, one step and one bow at a time. After arriving in Ganduo, seeing its various facilities, understanding its rules, and being punished for breaking them, many among the Northern tribes believed that Ye Tao, who could build such a city, could not be an ordinary mortal...

In fact, many people felt this way. How could one ordinary mortal be simultaneously a great craftsman, a talented general, and a generous and wise ruler? The friends from the Samiir Kingdom showed the most obvious admiration and longing for Ye Tao. Almost all of the young people in the large delegation had come from afar just to see Ye Tao. It was conceivable that after the completion ceremony of Ganduo, there would be a discussion and negotiation of interests between the Jiuzhou Trading Company, the Qihai Trading Company, the Samiir Kingdom, Tan Xiaopei, Ye Tao, and others.

"Your Majesty, now, Ganduo's surrounding landscape engineering, greening projects, power transmission and distribution projects, water supply projects, and sewage treatment and discharge projects have all been completed. Now, on behalf of all the people and officials of Yunzhou, on behalf of our brave soldiers, and on behalf of all the people of the Benlang Plain and the Northern Grasslands who are attached to us, I invite you to guide us in the final project. When the project is complete, the ceremony will naturally begin," Ye Tao said with a smile.

"Oh? What is it?" Tan Xiaopei was impressed that Ye Tao understood his thoughts so well. Everyone wanted their name to be associated with such a great city. He was no exception. He had come all this way for this very reason. Even just moving a brick, contributing to the city in some small way, was very appealing.

"In the middle of Ganduo's central square, there are three flag stands. Here, we plan to erect three flags. The flagpole in the center should raise the Dongping national flag. However, the Wenhua Hall and the Ministry of Rites are still discussing this matter, so let's temporarily use Dongping's battle flag. This is also in line with Dongping's ambition to actively seek to unify the Central Earth Continent. The flag on the left is the city flag of Ganduo. After screening, we are using the slightly modified version of the outline image of Ganduo that I drew before. The one on the right is the personal command flag of the highest-ranking person in Ganduo. Since you are here, it will naturally be your general's flag," Ye Tao explained the arrangements for the ceremony one by one. Tan Xiaopei was no stranger to these procedures. The officials of the Ministry of Rites had long explained the simple but dignified ceremony to him. However, hearing these details on-site in Ganduo, with Ye Tao's explanation, gave him a different feeling. Where everything would take place was no longer a virtual concept, but a real location. Especially the wide and straight central avenue and the huge third-floor balcony of the Governor's Mansion used for the military parade, all gave people a strange feeling. Perhaps it was just too much excitement. Finally, Tan Xiaopei heard Ye Tao add, "The artisans of the Ye Family Workshop have also prepared a special gift for the inauguration ceremony... They have cast three stainless steel flagpoles."

Stainless steel? Tan Xiaopei's eyes lit up, and the Dongping ministers surrounding him were also very interested. One of the most demoralizing situations was when a battle flag was knocked down, and flagpoles made of steel had the auspicious connotations of "never falling" and "standing strong forever." In this context, erecting the flagpoles was giving the entire Ganduo a spiritual meaning, a hope, making the significance even greater.

Tan Xiaopei laughed and said, "Good! But you mustn't forget Danyang later. It needs the same treatment." Ye Tao said with a smile, "Of course. When the new capital of Danyang is completed, I will prepare the most generous gift."

Although Tan Xiaopei was put in charge of the flagpole erection, the entire team had already been prepared. For this most important and prominent occasion, Ye Tao didn't have the Ye Family Construction Company dominate the proceedings. Instead, he had organized various construction companies that participated in the construction of Ganduo and the laborers who contributed the most, selecting a team from them and providing long-term training to participate in today's event. The base materials for the flagpoles had long been prepared, and the holes for erecting the flagpoles in the middle of the square's granite floor had also been prepared. With Tan Xiaopei's command, the craftsmen shouted heroically and began to perform their duties, pulling the flagpoles out of the temporary tents in the square, aligning them, and erecting them before slamming them into the holes with a thud. The entire process lasted more than two hours.

Following that was the less exciting process of installing the flagpole bases. Many craftsmen specializing in sculpture piled up pieces of white marble that had been pre-processed into certain shapes, placing them around the three flagpoles. They worked from noon until the next morning to complete the three bases, mainly because the adhesive used between the white marble pieces needed some time to dry. The following day, the best of the sculptors decorated the outside of the three flag stands with various magnificent and auspicious patterns. Before the ceremony began, Ye Tao would personally carve the eyes of the dragons, qilin, and pixiu on the three flag stands.

Everyone liked the symbolism: Tan Xiaopei had set a grand goal for everyone, outlining a promising future, and Ye Tao had made these ideals come alive.