Chapter 356 — The Snows of Winter Melt
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 3
For Gao Yang, whether or not to accept those exiled by the Church of the Shining Stars had never really been a question worth pondering. For Cecil Territory—developing at breakneck speed, saturated from top to bottom with a new order—any group of people in this era, once tossed into the mix, had to be polished into a qualified part of this industrial machine in the shortest time possible. It did not matter whether you had once been a believer, a noble, a merchant, or a slave. Upon entering Cecil, the first thing you faced was the buffer camps; after that came prolonged indoctrination and reformation—laboring in the factories, attending classes in the barracks, and growing on this land into a glorious and qualified Cecil citizen...
This was an era in which every means of propaganda and education lagged far behind. The impact of the Cecil industrial system and educational system upon the natives of this age was immeasurably powerful, and the identities those natives had held before entering the territory... were, in truth, of no consequence to this land.
Or, to put it another way, every native of this era was in fact unqualified for a magical-industrial society. Since everyone required reformation and education before being put to use, the only differences among them came down to how quickly and how easily they could be reformed.
Of course, accepting those exiled heretical cultists might indeed bring some extra trouble—Gao Yang had considered this as well.
The Church of the Shining Stars might make some moves, might spread rumors in regions where its influence was strong. But no matter what, such troubles fell within Gao Yang's acceptable range. The southern borderlands were not the Shining Stars Church's domain, so the Church's slander and restrictions could stir up ripples at most in the Plains of the Holy Spirit; moreover, in the face of Gao Yang of Cecil's natural prestige, the Church's defamatory rumors would not dare be too conspicuous. And putting it even more bluntly—even if those fanatical believers of the Holy Light truly harbored hostility toward Cecil Territory, what of it?
Gao Yang's future plans were already destined to bring him into conflict with the entrenched forces of the Plains of the Holy Spirit...
Pastor Wright departed, leaving together with the territory's merchant caravan. This pastor gentleman would return to where his preaching had begun—or rather, where he had first been exiled—to see with his own eyes just what those Holy Light priests intended to do.
And more people were pouring into this brand-new land of Cecil Territory.
As the weather steadily warmed, the waters of the Whitewater River rose with the meltwater from the snow mountains. Ever larger merchant ships appeared on the river channels, while overland transport likewise gradually revived. Covered wagons shuttled ceaselessly along the newly built North-South Highway (linking Cecil's main city with the Kant region) and the East-West Highway (built along the Whitewater River, linking Cecil's main city with Tansang), hauling an endless stream of raw production materials into this place—and bringing with them an endless stream of people.
Through overt and covert means, Cecil Territory reaped enormous wealth from alchemical potions, mining equipment, and magic-net technology, and that wealth was consumed at an astonishing rate, transformed into raw materials and industrial population and poured back into this land. At the very beginning, the daily gold-coin income of the territory made Heddy—the "chief steward"—tremble with dread, and then seeing the gold coins the territory spent each day made her tremble so much she nearly choked. But after so long a tempering, she had finally learned to face these figures with composure, and had come to accept something Gao Dai had once said:
Development is change; circulating capital is true wealth. Gold coins piled up in a castle are nothing but heaps of gleaming metal.