Chapter 1 Spring Southern Nation

The lord of Chunnan received the thin stack of documents from Danyang after watching an extremely secret demonstration of a dirigible manufactured by Chunnan itself. Besides the documents, Zheng Zhe also included his views on the dirigible research and development in Dongping, as well as an observation report, compiled by him and his spies in a mere two days, on the model of dirigibles used for the air routes. Zheng Zhe wasn't proficient in drawing blueprints, but he still attached the most detailed observation diagrams possible. From those external details, anyone with some knowledge of dirigibles could discern some clues.

Jiang Yan naturally saw this document at the same time. The lord of Chunnan looked at him, clearly seeking his opinion. Jiang Yan sighed and said, "Your Majesty, even to solidify the Western Front, this two million taels of silver must be spent."

Just a single sentence caused the lord of Chunnan to sigh and nod.

How could they not know that Dongping was willing to sell these things to Chunnan because the emergence of the two new types of dirigibles, whose simplified external diagrams were drawn by Jiang Yan's spies, had made the older models less valuable. How could they not know that even if these things were of little value, Dongping was still entitled to ask such an exorbitant price because they possessed the dirigible technology. And Chunnan could only obtain these dirigibles to further research newer things on that basis. Relying solely on the ingenuity of artisans had indeed produced dirigibles, but those things couldn't compare to Dongping's even first-generation, practically deployed dirigibles in terms of speed, altitude, stability, or practicality. However, having developed dirigibles themselves at least gave the lord of Chunnan some confidence. He naturally agreed that this was a considerable achievement, attributed to the son who was now working hard to undermine his elder brother.

"Make a trip to Danyang. Although Ye Tao considers things very thoroughly and isn't conservative, he's a sentimental person. Draw the money for purchasing the dirigibles and training the pilots from the internal funds. See if you can get something else from Ye Tao. It would be best to get that signal machine as well. Although I'm not like Tan Xiaopei, not a lord who rose from the military, I've watched for so many years that I know a little. That thing is useful. Take a group of people with you, and directly take the dirigibles to Chen Xujing's place to set up the camp. I'm really a bit worried about Danan Pass."

Jiang Yan nodded and replied, "Your subject will certainly handle the matter well."

The lord of Chunnan was very helpless. Starting last year, the Xiling army had begun to move again in front of Danan Pass, which had been quiet for a long time. Perhaps they had become accustomed to Dongping's sieges and land grabs over the years. The several passes originally bordering Dongping had fallen into Dongping's hands, and the remedial measures were becoming more and more skillful. After the formation of the second pass facing Xuanshan Pass and the completion of the defensive strongholds facing Zijing Pass and Changshi Pass, three huge camps facing Danan Pass from afar also began to be built and quickly took shape. Chen Xujing had repeatedly requested that a portion of the troops be transferred from the rear, so that he could fight a few battles in front of Danan Pass, to disrupt Xiling's defensive posture and maintain the offensive posture and pressure on Xiling, but these were overturned by the surging opinions of the ministers in the court. What made the lord of Chunnan even more depressed was that even his two sons opposed doing so. They were thinking of recalling Chen Xujing, the old general who didn't belong to either side, to retire and return to his hometown, and then replace him with someone from their side. This kind of internal strife had reached the point where it disregarded national interests, making the lord of Chunnan even more disheartened. The lord of Chunnan did indeed intend to recall Chen Xujing as they wished, but he wanted Chen Xujing to take charge of all the military power in the capital, Yuhang, and then prepare to let his younger brother, Chang Hongquan, take charge of the defense of Danan Pass. Although Chang Hongquan had always been on good terms with Dongping and Ye Tao, if Chunnan were to fight Dongping in the future, he probably wouldn't have a good attitude, but on the Xiling side, he could be counted on. Chang Hongquan, the Lord Juxian, was indeed a peaceful prince, but he wasn't incapable. And now it seemed that this very low-key but very intelligent prince was actually much more reliable than the two princes.

After Jiang Yan came to Danyang again, after several conversations with Ye Tao, he had to leave the dirigible crew in Iron City for training and do other things first. He certainly expected that the training of the dirigible crew would be very complicated, but he didn't expect it to be so complex. Although the dirigibles sold to Chunnan couldn't be said to be advanced, most of them were a bit old, but they were all very well maintained and had no problems at all. And at least Dongping didn't cut corners in the training of pilots. Many subjects that couldn't be carried out due to the old-fashioned dirigibles were allowed for the Chunnan trainee pilots to board newer models of dirigibles, even the Snow Owl dirigible. The entire intensive course required a full two and a half months to complete, after which Dongping would send several instructors to Chunnan to continue guiding the training of the dirigible force for about half a year. Jiang Yan also knew that these few dirigible instructors were probably the most professional personnel Dongping had sent in military cooperation with Chunnan, and it might be the last major military cooperation between the two sides. Now, the Chunnan military was obviously far behind Dongping, but they didn't know where the arrogance came from, and they were becoming increasingly impatient with the guidance of Dongping's military officer corps. And Dongping's military officer corps naturally didn't have the habit of offering a warm face to a cold reception, and they all took the initiative to leave those troops who were impatient with them. Now, the military officer corps mainly trained in Yuhang with the same intensity as they did in Dongping, while taking high overseas allowances to eat, drink, and have fun.

Jiang Yan went to see the training of the military officer corps more than once, and every time he would sigh, except for a few individual troops, he didn't know what qualifications the vast majority of the troops had to put on airs in front of these people. Dongping didn't send high-ranking officers, but those who were sent were young officers with solid foundations and unlimited prospects in the military, all of whom were outstanding in the military.

After Jiang Yan flew the route from Danyang to Thunder Cliff several times, he finally decided to stay until the completion ceremony of Gondor before returning to Yuhang. And after he expressed this intention to Ye Tao, he immediately became a distinguished guest at the completion ceremony of Gondor, along with Zheng Zhe. In the eyes of most people, Gondor had actually been completed long ago. More than 50,000 people were now living in Gondor, many of whom were craftsmen and laborers who participated in the construction of the city, and their families. Many officials from Yunzhou had also moved into Gondor and began to shift the entire political center of the north to Gondor. Departments such as the Communication Bureau had fully begun to operate with Gondor as the core. After all, the software and hardware facilities were much better.

But Ye Tao didn't think so. His explanation to Jiang Yan was, "The surrounding green vegetation and small landscape features haven't been restored yet. The outside of the city walls is all sand and soil, it's ugly. Can such a city be considered completed?" This explanation was laughable, but Ye Tao insisted on waiting until at least most of the greening project was completed before holding the ceremony, which finally gave Tan Xiaopei and others a chance to break Ye Tao's idea of simply doing a ritual and being done with it. It was the first time Ye Tao had been attacked by the entire court for this matter. At most, someone would only impeach him. Ye Tao's desire to be simple in this regard was simply unforgivable in everyone's eyes. The construction of Gondor cost almost 27 million taels of silver, most of which was spread out through early land auctions, pre-sales, and many other means, without causing too much burden on the national treasury. Due to thorough planning, various regulations on private construction of houses and gardens, full interaction between public facilities and the private environment, and considerations in all aspects, Gondor had become the most advanced and practical city in this space-time. And because Gondor's exterior design was so magnificent, it was probably the most beautiful city in this space-time. And because of the terrible density, the unimaginably advanced tiered arrangement of city defense equipment, and the mature dirigible technology and tactical application methods, Gondor was probably the most unbreakable city in this space-time.

Jiang Yan lived in Gondor for a few days. He lived in a courtyard built by a large Chunnan merchant after buying land. Because the merchant's financial resources were limited, the courtyard wasn't too extravagant. What convinced Jiang Yan wasn't these courtyards, but the feeling that the city gave people. Walking out of the small courtyard, there was bound to be a public green space within a quarter of an hour's walk, and each block was bound to have a public service station. The service station was mainly to provide a place for the employees who maintained the public facilities to rest. Whether it was street sweeping, sewer cleaning, or roadside tree maintenance, there were dedicated people in charge, and residents paid a monthly public management fee to share these costs. Because Gondor now had a small population, this part of the cost was mainly paid by the Northern Frontier Pacification Office, but in the future, this part of the business should be self-sufficient without any problems. Although it cost money, Jiang Yan had no complaints about paying a small amount to see a clean and well-maintained city.

The city had been divided into twelve internal districts, each with a sub-administration office where people could complete various registration matters and taxes in one stop, and even report various civil and criminal cases. Each district had a dedicated person in charge of helping those who were illiterate and didn't understand arithmetic to handle various matters, quite patiently, and basically able to treat people who came to do business equally. Jiang Yan personally went to pay the public service fee, originally wanting to experience the governance of Yunzhou, but he waited in line for a while. Although a nearby military officer recognized Jiang Yan, he accompanied him in line, and neither of them were given special treatment.

The good attitude of the tax officials in Yunzhou especially made Jiang Yan unable to understand. And the attitude of the people to actively pay taxes was also really surprising. Jiang Yan later learned that in Yunzhou, any increase in any tax or any increase in the collection ratio of any tax had to go through layers of approval and a hearing with the participation of the people. The people of Yunzhou were indeed rich now, but the proportion of taxes was also really not low, basically reaching 15 percent of the family income, which varied slightly from family to family. But these taxes were used very transparently in various aspects of Yunzhou. The Northern Frontier Pacification Office actually announced the governance expenses every six months. No other place in the world had such transparency. The people felt that their taxes were used where they should be used and that they could benefit from it, so they naturally paid taxes actively.

Jiang Yan couldn't imagine what kind of city this was, what kind of system this was. What he saw was only the part that all ordinary people could see. And he couldn't help but sigh, to yearn, hoping that he could also live in such a city. Jiang Yan could understand why Ye Tao was attacked by everyone. It was too normal. Even someone as indifferent as Jiang Yan probably wanted to take this opportunity to show off and declare to the world: "Come and see, this is what you can't do."