Longcheng, the General Staff headquarters.
Zhao Baihui made a rare appearance here.
Before him stood a large globe, one meter in diameter.
It had been made by Longcheng's own craftsmen.
"Is it accurate?"
"My lord, it's close enough — give or take. The positions of the major landmasses should all be correct, though their sizes may be off by some margin."
"Certain blank areas remain uncertain."
Much of the globe's surface was left empty — whether ocean or undiscovered land, no one could say.
Zhao Baihui slowly spun the globe, setting it turning.
Not quite the same as the Earth I knew.
"The part where we are — from now on, let's call it Asia."
The Eurasian continent was somewhat smaller.
"This section here — Europe."
"And over here — Africa."
…
"The dominant powers at the moment would be Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Tsarist Russia?"
"All neighbors in Europe, at each other's throats day in and day out — it's driven every one of them to develop their full potential."
"And the European royal houses are all relatives, so even when they fight, they don't go for the kill. They always leave each other some room to breathe — then get beaten back all the same."
"These days the fighting has died down a bit. They've all gone running off to Africa, the Americas, Australia — even Asia, where we sit — to grab colonies."
"The way things are heading, once the colonial pie is carved up, they'll start fighting each other again."
"Yamato? Is that the Land of the Rising Sun?"
"Japan's gotten quite a bit bigger this time around. If it's still the same old temperament, that wolfish ambition of theirs will only swell further, I'd wager."
…
"Make a point of friendly exchanges with foreign nationals. Be more proactive about understanding the wider world — pay particular attention to any news about petroleum."
"Yes, my lord!"
"One more thing — four regiments, sixteen thousand men, is beginning to feel thin. We need to prepare well ahead of time."
"Break up those four regiments and reorganize them into twelve."
"Four regiments to a division. Let's stand up four divisions to start."
"Yes, my lord."
"Have the shipyard begin producing a batch of coal-powered warships for now — if we keep failing to locate petroleum, we have no choice."
"Use steam engines for propulsion in the meantime, but plan ahead and leave room for internal combustion engines when the time comes."
"That's all for now. Everything else — handle it as you see fit."
"Yes, my lord!"
Truth be told, Zhao Baihui felt rather helpless about the whole situation. He had by now taken the full measure of the System.
It was a system built around developing and constructing everyday civilian life. Military equipment was essentially absent.
Which meant that if he wanted to build military strength, he would have to do it himself.
There were advantages, certainly — just not nearly as great as he had imagined.
Everyone else went from military to civilian applications. But he had it backwards: he had to figure out how to convert civilian goods into military ones.
Military-grade equipment was universally of higher quality than civilian equivalents. Taking something of comparatively lower quality and repurposing it for military service meant the end result would never be exceptional.
What's more, he was no military enthusiast. He had little grasp of how military technology evolved and advanced, and could only point people in broad general directions without being able to define specific intermediate goals.
That had significantly slowed the pace of research in certain areas.
Slow by his standards, at any rate. By anyone else's, the rate of innovation was still breathtaking.
"Jinyi — give me a rundown of the current population figures."
"My lord, Longcheng's total population currently stands at eighty thousand. Longbei District alone holds fifty thousand, and from an urban-planning standpoint, if we don't expand further, it's approaching saturation."
"The other four districts combined account for just over thirty thousand."
"Recruit large numbers of civil servants in Longbei District and disperse them to the four other districts. Even if there isn't enough work to go around, we'll pay their salaries and keep them on."
"Then begin relocating population from Jiangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou — compulsory relocation. Village by village, move them here by force."
"My aim is for Longcheng's population to grow from eighty thousand to a hundred and fifty thousand before the year is out."
Having come to understand the changes in this world, he felt a creeping sense of urgency. He couldn't afford to keep coasting along like before.
"Xinguang District is our gateway to the outside world. Keep accelerating its development — I want it at a population of fifty thousand by year's end."
"Taoyuan Town, Xinghuo Town, all the other smaller towns — give them all orders to bring in more people."
"Let's set a target: a hundred and fifty thousand for Longcheng, fifty thousand for Guangzhou, fifty thousand for Baihu City — include those still under evaluation. Combined, we need to reach five hundred thousand."
"Outside those three locations, distribute the remaining targets according to capacity. Any region that meets its target — every civil servant gets a commendation, and year-end bonuses of no less than three months' pay."
Short on funds. Short on people.
In terms of ordinary wealth, Longcheng had more than it could spend. But the System's subsidies were still far too meager.
With a population of two hundred thousand, the daily allowance was only two million — not even enough to buy half a heavy-duty truck.
And with all those vehicles, plus the generators drawing fuel, and occasional book purchases to enrich cultural and intellectual life, and textbooks for the schools, and a dozen other daily expenses — he was bleeding over a million a day.
At the end of it all, he was putting aside only three to five hundred thousand.
When it had come time to support Xinguang District, and Jinyi had asked for ten heavy trucks — fifty million right there, plus fuel costs — it wiped out the modest reserves he had carefully saved over the new year in one stroke.
Lord Zhao was, frankly, broke.