Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1378: Chapter 446: Arrangements, Power Increase, and Departure—The Splendor of Hongmen (Part 3)

”Not bad, all completed, even the youngest got 9.5 hairs, which is overachieving!”

The situation of Su Jing and his three siblings was not entirely beyond his expectations.

In the past three months, except for the time they went to rescue the Hu Brothers, they had hardly stepped out of the side building, regardless of the matter or the person inviting them. This performance made Xia Hong quite satisfied.

Moreover, when the initial goal was set for the four of them, it was established for three months. Xia Hong began his retreat on the night of January 17th, and today is already April 20th, so it is as if they were given an extra three days.

Since all four have met the standard, Xia Hong would naturally keep his promise from three months ago and take them to Lin Chu County City with him.

”Cai Yunzhou hasn’t come to bother me for two months now, probably because the trip to Snow Phoenix Mountain intimidated him. That’s good, starting directly saves trouble!”

Xia Hong pondered for a moment, first getting up to put away the Enlightenment Lotus Platform, and then said towards the door, ”Go notify Su Jing and the others to come see me.”

”As you command, Master!”

Hearing the deliberately coquettish response from the maid outside the door, Xia Hong’s expression showed a slight playfulness. He had noticed the urgent desire to seek patronage from the servants in the residence from the first day he entered the mansion.

To those who have entered slave status, attaching to a good master is indeed considered the foremost priority in life.

”This system satisfies both the superiority complex of those in power and gives a way out for the lower population. The only issue is that it doesn’t provide guarantees for the lower class to leave their status. Coupled with the hereditary nature of such status, the upper levels have long formed solid interest groups. Except for the very few kind-hearted ones, most are unwilling to let slaves rise from their status, effectively blocking the path for social mobility. The hope for slaves to turn their lives around is very slim.

In some respects, those who’ve been slaves for a long time are even more pitiable than those of lowly status. The latter at least know to strive with all their might to change their status. The former might have long gotten used to being slaves, forgetting even how to be normal people...”

Reflecting on the time he spent in isolation, when those maids delivered meals and deliberately flirtatiously posed in front of him, Xia Hong couldn’t help but shake his head. While sighing, he also felt a trace of sympathy for these women.

However, it was merely sympathy!

Changing the situation for a few people, or even a group of people, is currently a very simple thing for him.

But these don’t achieve much.

On a small scale, what he aims to change is Cai Qiu, which encompasses all Four Vassals;

On a larger scale, it’s the thousands of Ice Abyss people.

One mustn’t lose the greater for the smaller!

Xia Hong pondered for a moment, sensing Su Jing and the others had already entered the main building. He then stood up with a smile, left the quiet room, and walked towards the main hall.

............

In the tenth year of Great Xia, on May 10th,

Hongmen City was bustling once again.

The reason was simple: the annual Martial Arts Competition of the Great Xia had entered its warm-up phase.

During the first edition, due to various reasons, some youths and teenagers from the Nine Towns couldn’t participate; but this second edition completely ignited the entire Nine Towns.

With a year of brewing, the rewards for the top hundred of the two groups from the ninth year of Great Xia had been widely discussed and were known by almost everyone.

As long as one could make it to the list, even being at the very end at 100th place, the rewards from Great Xia amounted to a value exceeding 50,000 taels of silver;

The reward for the top ten was valued at a minimum of 200,000 taels;

The first place could even reach up to 600,000 taels...

For the participants, the value of the reward materials was, of course, the primary concern;

But this didn’t mean they only cared about ranking rewards.

Gaining fame was extremely tempting for young people, especially in front of peers from all Nine Towns.

Fame and status were one aspect, but if they could catch the eye of some big figure from any town, regardless if it was for apprenticeship or marriage, it was a chance to rise up overnight.

Given these factors, it’s natural that the number of participants in this year’s Martial Arts Competition was even more than last year, and significantly so.

A large number of participants started arriving in Hongmen City gradually from April. Considering the overwhelming turnout this year, Lin Kai decided not to brand it as the Three Towns Martial Arts as he did last year but instead called it the Nine Towns Martial Arts directly.

This name change further ignited the Nine Towns, and by May, the number of people entering Hongmen City increased day by day.

Lin Kai, being both the Hongmen Guardian and the chief organizer of the Martial Arts Competition, faced with such a lively scene in the city, could not stop smiling every day.

But by May 10th, he could no longer smile.

Because the city’s population had officially exceeded 900,000.

”Sir, it’s a bit too much; we can’t expand the city in time. The temporary housing areas we’ve constructed outside the city are already full, and there’s significant pressure on city defense and security. We need to limit the inflow of people...”

In the top hall of the Hongmen Government Office, following the words of Ying Yi, the Director of the Civil Affairs Department, he exchanged a smile with Lin Kai. Both of their eyes reflected some surprise and helplessness.

It was not long ago that they worried about the slow population growth of Hongmen City, and no one expected that just a year later, the situation would change so drastically that they even considered the necessity of limiting population inflow.