Chapter 120 Lingyan Pavilion

After the on-site meeting, Ye Tao and Guan Haishan came to Lingyan Pavilion on the top of the cliff. Because the top of the cliff has an excellent view, overlooking the entire Gondor City, Lingyan Pavilion has always been a good place for many veteran soldiers to visit and pay attention to the construction progress of Gondor City since its construction. Although Lingyan Pavilion has not actually been put into use, and the inside is still empty, without furniture, or even statues, scrolls, souvenirs, and name lists, this intention alone has moved many veteran soldiers and civil servants who have made great contributions in Yunzhou's history. In the first batch of confirmed lists, Dai Ye and others who are now living in retirement in the Dai family's villa in Danyang are impressively listed.

No one in Yunzhou or Dongping has ever done such a thing. But everyone felt that Ye Tao was indeed such a person. He cared too much about everyone's life, livelihood, and dignity. For example, this time, the strategy of Zhenzhou, everyone felt that it was a great victory. Although it cost nearly 30,000 casualties, resulting in the largest casualty list since Ye Tao took over Yunzhou, everyone felt that it was worth it, that it was an incredible victory. However, Ye Tao wrote letters to the families of 300 meritorious martyrs afterward, expressing his self-reproach on the paper, and also required the chief officers of the troops to visit the families of the martyrs door-to-door to deliver the compensation, and required local officials to properly resettle the wounded soldiers in the war. All these clauses were later formulated as local laws in the name of the Yunzhou Pacification Commission and submitted to the imperial court for approval. The compensation due to those unmarried martyrs was also deposited in the name of a fund, which was properly managed by a foundation composed of some veteran soldiers to ensure the lives of the wounded soldiers in Yunzhou.

Ye Tao did it to make himself feel a little better, but the result was that the people of Yunzhou were proud to join the army, proud to defeat the enemy, and proud to die on the battlefield. If the proportion of families with someone serving in the army was high when the Dai family was in charge of Yunzhou, it was because they had to because they were surrounded by strong enemies. Now it is voluntary. There are only more than 50 battalions in the main combat troops. It doesn't matter, at least they have to enter the garrison battalion. Can't get into the garrison battalion? No problem, at least you have to enter the training camps everywhere. Only in this way can it be guaranteed that when something happens and mobilization is required, you can take your turn and you can be useful. Now, there are quite a few families in Yunzhou who have this idea.

It was precisely because of this fanatical atmosphere that there were already many blessing cards left by veteran soldiers or others who had visited here in Lingyan Pavilion, which had not yet been officially opened. Later, Guan Haishan specially asked to put it on a memorial album on a wooden shelf, and half of it had already been written. Since Lingyan Pavilion is usually unguarded, except for someone coming to clean it every few days, there is no permanent management organization for the time being, but every time a veteran soldier comes to visit, they will almost always do some cleaning work. The air in Yunzhou is warm and humid, and the air is fresh in this era, so there is not too much dust in the air. Combining several factors, the current Lingyan Pavilion can almost be said to be spotless.

"Senior brother... let's put this place into use as soon as possible. Although it will be a little troublesome, the projects on the top of the mountain have been completed, and the eagle station and sentry tower have been built. It's just some adjustments for mooring airships. Opening this place should not affect the ground construction site, right? But after it is opened, those heroic souls will have a residence, and those old soldiers will have a place to remember." Ye Tao looked at the current appearance of Lingyan Pavilion and sighed a little.

"I never said that Lingyan Pavilion would not be opened." Guan Haishan glared at Ye Tao and said, "You are the one who is delaying the progress. Furniture and stuff doesn't matter. Didn't you say that you would make the statues inside yourself? Where are the things?... Also," Guan Haishan pointed to the facade facing the cliff and said, "Now this is a transparent glass facade. Didn't you say you wanted to make a stained glass facade? I asked, and the drawings you made have been sent to the workshop long ago. The glass workshop has been delayed for two months and hasn't finished it yet? Or is it finished and not sent to me? Once you finish these, Lingyan Pavilion can be opened at any time. Of course, Lingyan Pavilion must not be opened casually. There must be a ceremony. I don't know how to do this. You ask a master in the Pacification Commission to come up with a proposal? Now I have plenty of funds in hand, and Lingyan Pavilion is the finishing touch of the entire Gondor. The cost of this entire ceremony will be paid from the construction funds of Gondor City."

When Ye Tao heard this, he smiled embarrassedly and said, "I was wrong about the statues. I will ask someone to prepare the materials later. Once the materials arrive, I will come over and finish them before going back. As for the funds for the ceremony... how should I put it, you are willing to pay this money, but in fact, neither you nor I are probably qualified. The Veteran Soldier Foundation has already registered, and they will handle the ceremony. They just hope that I will come forward to invite some guests and help with some traffic matters. Originally, they thought that Lingyan Pavilion would not be ready so quickly, and it was estimated that it would be synchronized with the completion of Gondor City, so the fundraising was not slow. But some veteran soldiers who have been successful in business after retiring are donating money in piles. It is said that a lot of money has been saved... How about this, let's finalize everything as soon as possible and hold this completion ceremony in half a year. By then, Gondor City should look more like it, right..."

Guan Haishan tilted his head and calculated for a while, and said, "It should look more like it. The construction of Gondor was originally the main part in the back. Too many details need to be modified. This is too gorgeous a city."

Ye Tao immediately decided, "Then it's settled." Suddenly, a familiar person's message appeared in the memorial album he was flipping through. It was Gao Senqi.

Ye Tao quickly summoned the two people who managed the access to the platform on the top of the cliff and asked about this matter. Gao Senqi was not too low-key. He climbed to the top of the mountain with six guards. And the management here has actually been quite loose. Gao Senqi came here only two or three days ago, and after that, he should have gone west.

"Gao Senqi? What's his background?" Guan Haishan had no interest in these things. Even if the Western Route Army advances now, his construction site will inevitably be the first to bear the brunt and will definitely have to stop work for a while. But Guan Haishan didn't even know who the young master of the Western Route Army was?

Ye Tao smiled and said, "Senior brother, this matter has nothing to do with you. Just build Gondor quickly. With the addition of electricity, the construction of Gondor will be even more complicated. And, maybe someday, there will be new things that you will have to worry about adding to this city. Everyone is looking forward to moving here. There are still many interesting people in this world... I'll set up a telegraph station here for you later, so we can chat at any time without the need for messengers to travel back and forth so slowly."

Guan Haishan nodded and didn't ask any further. The things Ye Tao and he paid attention to were indeed completely different. He was quite satisfied with being able to focus on doing certain things. Especially, he was supported by all parties. He had no interest in politics anyway. Since Ye Tao didn't want to explain it to him, he was happy to be confused. However, it would not be so easy to let people come to the top of the cliff in the future. Guan Haishan decided to open the sentry post and eagle station on the top of the cliff as soon as possible.

After chatting with Guan Haishan for about two hours, management personnel on the construction site began to appear anxiously at the entrance of Lingyan Pavilion, wanting to ask Guan Haishan for instructions, but were unsure whether to disturb Guan Haishan and Ye Tao. Guan Haishan stood up and said with a smile, "You take care of yourself. I'm going to be busy." After saying that, he left.

At this time, Feng Zi, who was following Ye Tao, shrugged and asked, "Do you want to send someone to investigate what Gao Senqi is doing in Yunzhou?"

Ye Tao frowned. His attention was focused on the end of Lingyan Pavilion facing the gate. In fact, Guan Haishan had missed one thing. Ye Tao hadn't prepared for this place, and that was the pipe organ. The pipe organ, which was specially made for Lingyan Pavilion, was being tuned and was about to be transported. And Lingyan Pavilion did seem a little empty because it lacked the statue that should have been in that position. On the shelves beside it, on the cork boards, stuck, nailed, and inserted in the gaps between the cards were messages, each of which was a memory of comrades and a remembrance of comrades-in-arms. The hard fonts unique to warriors made the atmosphere here strong. Indeed, these people were simple and straightforward. They were not like those civil officials who had more ways to commemorate friends and more ways to relieve their thoughts. In Yunzhou, a place dominated by the character of warriors, a statue of a god of war might be more appropriate. Sometimes, Ye Tao couldn't help but be dumbfounded. In the special atmosphere of Yunzhou, those civil officials who had always been gentle and elegant had now become resolute and vigorous, and their style of doing things had changed greatly. Of course, perhaps this was also because the balanced scorecard performance appraisal method and strategic management tools deployed in Yunzhou now made everyone's positioning of their own identities different. They were no longer civil officials or military officials, but: Yunzhou people!

Just like the arrogant words Gao Senqi wrote in the memorial book: "I must fight with you, I want to fight with you, what a luck in this life!" This was a message from a general who had just been contained and retreated from the battlefield of Zhenbei Pass. He was still a good opponent because he had already seen the combat power of the Tianxuan Army, the Imperial Guards, and the elite soldiers of Zhenbei Pass, which could be compared with the combat power of the Yunzhou armies. He had his own goals, and he was still studying his opponents.

"Chief Ye!" Feng Zi reminded.

"We must investigate, but after tracking the whereabouts of Gao Senqi and his party, if the other party does not have any actions to spy on the military secrets of our army, then no action will be taken. You can send someone to ask if Gao Senqi has anything he wants to talk to me about. If he does, I will wait for him in the villa." Ye Tao said decisively.

"Yes..." Feng Zi smiled. Ye Tao originally wanted a good opponent too. It turned out that this guy was also competitive...