Chapter 163 – City Planning
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
After dinner, Ouyang Shuo went back into his room and logged into the game.
In the game, he walked out of the room and looked at the cold courtyard. He was still not used to it. Usually at this time, Yingyu and Qing’er would have woken up and started to wash up along the corridor of the courtyard.
Now, it was such a big courtyard, but apart from the maidservants, there was only Ouyang Shuo.
Tossing away the emotions in his head, Ouyang Shuo picked up the spear and started to practice the Yang Family spearmanship technique. After this period of training, his Yang Family spearmanship technique could be said to have grasped a bit of its essence.
At 10 AM, Ouyang Shuo punctually appeared at his office.
Ouyang Shuo took up the blueprint on the table and started to examine it. This was the arrangement plan of Shanhai City, which the Construction Division had delivered yesterday. The chief designer was the Vice Secretary Hao Jiancheng.
Based on the plans by the Construction Division, the second city wall was 6 kilometers Long, 12 meters high, and 6 meters wide.
The only difference was that the second wall only had 3 sides, which was to say the second city wall didn’t have a southern wall, building the eastern and western walls deep into the mountains and becoming one with the mountain range. To put it another way, the 4th wall was the mountain range itself.
As it had only 3 sides, although it was higher than the first wall, based on the work done, the second wall took twice as long to complete. Based on the population of Shanhai City, the Construction Division had the confidence to finish the second wall within a month.
After the second wall was done, it would take up 36 square kilometers, 4 times larger than the old city and it was similar to 3 Shanhai Towns.
At the same time, the city protection river had become an inner-city river, providing water for the residents.
During the Shanhai Town period, the drinking water of the residents was obtained from digging wells. In the future, not only drinking water but water used for daily uses and workshops could be collected from the inner city river, making it very convenient.
The second part of the Shanhai City planning was the reorganization of the city area.
Based on the organization by the Construction Division, Shanhai City would be split into 4 parts. The region inside the first wall would be called the core region. Using the northern part of the first wall as a divider, this would be called the northern region, and it would be the largest region, twice the size of Shanhai Town.
The eastern and western sides would be the eastern and western regions respectively. These two regions were small and took up half the space of Shanhai Town.
The core area of the city was split into north and south. The southern area was the brain of the whole territory and was similar to the old imperial palace. Based on the plan, the southern part was split into left, right, and middle.
The middle was obviously the upgraded lord’s manor and the garden. The left was the government offices. The bureaucrats of the departments would be concentrated in this area.
The right was now the culture and education area. The Yellow Emperor Temple, Mazu Temple, Chenghuang Temple, Recruitment Hall, the private school and Lianzhou College were all located in this area. As the Mazu temple and the Chenghuang temple were places where residents always visited, they would be moved to the northern region instead.
At the same time, the private school was also moved out of the core region. As for the Recruitment Hall and Lianzhou College, they were moved to the northern side of the core region. This meant that the southern region’s right side only had one building which was the Yellow Emperor Temple. The lord could only pray at the Ancestral Temple.
The northern core region was also split into left and right. The left was where the institution region was where the Recruitment Hall and Lianzhou College were placed. In the future, any institutions would be built here. As for the advanced market that was initially here, it would be moved to the western region and be next to the teleportation formation.
The right of the northern core region was the military district. Based on the plan, it would have the Military Affairs Department and barracks. As for the armory division workshop, bow and crossbow division workshop, the weapons workshop, and alchemy workshop, they were all shifted to the eastern region.
As military production increased, the military district couldn’t handle all these workshops. Hence, moving them to the eastern region was for the best.
As for the western region, it was the residence area for the officials. They would be close to the government offices in the core area to make it convenient for going to and coming back from work. The future residential area for officials was going to become a district for the rich and powerful.
Lastly the biggest region: the northern region. It was split into east and west, each region being the size of Shanhai Town. The business street that was initially on the center line from the core area was moved to the middle of the northern region, and its size increased by 100%.
The western half was the residential area. Apart from that, the two temples and the private school would also be moved here. Considering that this region would be where dangers and things would occur, the Law and Order Division and the Procuratorate Division offices were planned here to maintain law and order.
The future residential area was going to become a middle class or wealthy merchant living area, as many of them held power in the shops or workshops. They were the first batch of residents, and as the territory prospered, so did they. Those that came later, it was hard to amass more money than them.
The eastern side was the business region. The big handicraft workshops would all be moved here. Based on the near management personnel, the Four Seas bank, Business Division, and Tax Division were all moved here. The planned business region was 4 times the size of the old one, enough for the workshops to expand their production.
After looking at the plans, Ouyang Shuo was amazed. Jiancheng, that young man not only understood what he wanted, but made it more specific and better.
Based on the organization, the territory would not need any new rearrangements in the near future. As long as they followed the arrangement plan and added buildings to their respective regions, everything would be settled.
Just as Ouyang Shuo was praising the Construction Division, the clerk Bai Nanpu walked in and said, “Sire, Secretary Xu is looking for you.”
“Let him in.”
“Yes, sire!”
Xu Shuda didn’t enter Ouyang Shuo’s office often. This Culture and Education Secretary was a scholar and managed the Lianzhou College well. Hence, Ouyang Shuo rarely interfered in his work.
“Sire.” Upon entering, he bowed to Ouyang Shuo.
Ouyang Shuo smiled. “Shuda, sit!”
“Sire I have a request, please approve it.” Xu Shuda said straight away.
“Please speak!”
“I request to remove the chairs from the meeting room.” Xu Shuda was very serious. Apparently, this was very important to him.
Ouyang Shuo was stunned and surprised. “Why?”
“As the territory’s trade and your rank increases, you need to maintain your honor and dignity. If we all sat on chairs for the meeting, it doesn’t fit our difference in power and goes against culture.”
Ouyang Shuo frowned. “Shuda, your meaning is to ask everyone to stand?”
Shuda shook his head. “If you don’t want us to stand and be too tired, you can follow the olden style and have some short seats, so we all sit on the floor.”
Ouyang Shuo understood.
Respect was treated importantly in olden society. It was the base of governance and was needed for one to build up his rule.
Their importance in manners and respect was shone in the way they acted. Everyone had to act in a way that was suitable for their rank and status.
To not easily break that respect, they wanted the rulers to follow the olden rules. To lead the country as Yao Shunyu did, everything from ruling to the small things like changing and eating all had their rules. The modern day education system developed from such rules and customs.
As a player territory, one couldn’t follow those rules to the letter. Not even talking about the others, just talking about Yingyu, if one followed the old rules, she wouldn’t even be allowed to lead.
The system in Shanhai City was designed by Ouyang Shuo alone, and made use of modern knowledge entirely different from that of the old times.
However, he had to admit that respect was crucial in ruling and had a considerable effect. The key was how to choose which parts of the old customs and rules were applicable and useful.
Shanhai City didn’t have a fixed organization to monitor and guide the actions and etiquette of people at different levels.
At this time for Xu Shuda to step up and correct the poor etiquette, and also to change that flexibly based on Ouyang Shuo’s values made him very happy.
He smiled and looked at Xu Shuda. “Shuda, your suggestion is excellent, I’ll approve it. As for the layout of the meeting room I’ll let the Culture and Education Division be in charge, and I’ll ask the Material Reserves Division to work with you.”
“Yes, sire!” Shuda was delighted. To meet such a lord who was willing to be corrected was indeed a blessing.
