Year three of Great Xia, the sixth day of August, just after nightfall.
In the main hall of the building constructed against the eastern cliff of the Inner Valley in Hanqiong Gourd Valley, dressed in the regular crimson attire of Viscount Xuanling, Lu Yang sat at the desk, his brows furrowed with worry.
There were three people seated on each side of the hall. On the left, from closest to farthest, were Zhu Shun from Camp Supply and Military Equipnt, He Xing from Artisan Departnt, and He Ning from Civil Affairs Departnt; on the right, from closest to farthest, were Zhao Hu from Hunting Bureau, Lin Fan from Logging Departnt, and Wang Tao from Prison Departnt.
Zhu Shun, sitting at the first position on the left, was reading from an account book:
"The total revenue for July includes 32 jin of Jade Bone, 4,300 jin of Beast Blood, 1.21 million jin of Beast at, 2.8 million jin of Iron Ore, 5.82 million jin of coal stone—I’ll skip the Beast Skin and Bones—additionally, there is one Red Sun Fruit Tree, 52 Cold Beard Grass, 27 Double-colored Liquid Spirit Fruits, 212 Panxiang Leaves, and so mid and low-level dicinal materials, as well as Hanqiong’s unique specialties like Blue Berries, Erald Fragrance Dew, and Green Glowing Silk..."
After Zhu Shun finished reading the accounts, he set down the account book with a bitter smile and continued, "This batch of supplies sounds like a lot, but Hanqiong has a current population of 6,924 people. Just maintaining the camp’s operation every month consus nearly seventy percent of the Beast at, half of the Iron Ore and coal stone, not to ntion other materials. Before the transport team sent supplies past yesterday, I had already checked. We can send just over forty percent to Xia City, and this month, Hanqiong’s Profit Creation Value is estimated to be 520,000, an increase of less than 10,000 from last month, with nearly no change."
The chief administrators of the five departnts in the hall all frowned upon hearing Zhu Shun’s words;
Lu Yang, already with a troubled expression, beca even gloomier.
The Profit Creation Value was a standard set at the beginning of the year by Minister Xia Chuan, signifying the value created by the surplus of a camp. Simply put, it refers to how much material each camp can deliver to Xia City, a figure asured in Contribution Value.
If calculating purely on the total value of materials extracted by Hanqiong, it certainly exceeds 520,000. However, as an independent camp, Hanqiong also needs materials to maintain its operation. Once this portion is excluded, the rest that can be sent to Xia City converts into Profit Creation Value.
Those willing to leave Xia City for external camps obviously co for the local resources, so they are mostly from the Logging Realm and Earth-digging Realm. These individuals have a higher cultivation level and naturally consu more materials, especially cultivation resources.
Thus, the amount of material the camp can deliver to Xia City becos even less.
Currently, there are quite a few camps within the Great Xia Territory, but those governed by the Seven Departnts, besides the Four Districts of the Outer City, only include Long Mountain, Wuyuan, and their Hanqiong.
There’s no need to compare with the headquarters and the Four Districts of the Outer City, where over eighty percent of Hunting Teams, including Advanced Hunting Teams, and a large number of Cold Resistance Levels are stationed, forming the backbone of Great Xia. The entire camp of over 500,000 relies primarily on them.
No need to compare with Long Mountain either. Every ti Lu Yang returns to Xia City, he inquires about it. Under the governance of Yue Feng, the population at the Long Mountain camp has already exceeded 20,000, and its Profit Creation Value in June was as high as 2.9 million, nearly six tis that of Hanqiong.
After all, the resource endownts are different. Lu Yang never intended to compare with Long Mountain. Such a big Long Mountain stands there, providing plenty of shade, drawing in people without Yue Feng even having to recruit them. Many Hunting Teams are eager to rush over, especially those migrated from Longyou. Not only are they familiar with the Long Mountain environnt, but they also know the species of Cold Beasts there, making them more willing to go.
But what about Wuyuan? Surely, it’s up for comparison?
Under Xu Ning’s governance, Wuyuan only has the relatively small Five Ape Mountain in the north, similar in circumstances to Hanqiong with only a branch of Long Mountain. By rights, the Profit Creation Values of the two should not differ by much.
At the beginning of the year when the Seven Departnts were just established, that was indeed the case. Both Wuyuan and Hanqiong camps were in miserable conditions with Profit Creation Values of less than 100,000. Precious cultivation resources like Beast Blood even had to be allocated from the Xia City headquarters to et the camp’s needs.
Lu Yang recruited people and personally led hunting teams, pushing everyone at the Hanqiong camp to mine, hunt, gather, and explore tirelessly. Finally, by June, the Profit Creation Value was boosted to 500,000. He had thought it would surpass Wuyuan, only to find out upon returning to Xia City that Wuyuan’s Profit Creation Value for June had already surpassed 1 million.
Hanqiong, in this way, beca the lowest among the three external camps!
Lu Yang sighed slightly and then said to everyone, "Gentlen, we must think of a way. Not only are we at the bottom, but the gap with Wuyuan is also nearly double. If things continue like this, let alone the year-end evaluations by the headquarters, whether the Seven Departnts of Hanqiong will be abolished next year is open to discussion. At that ti, we might all have to return to Xia City in disgrace."
Hearing Lu Yang’s words, the expressions of the six people present imdiately beca more solemn.
The original intention of Great Xia in setting up external camps was to gather resources for Xia City, and the evaluation of these external camp officials naturally takes Profit Creation Value as the standard.
The better the year-end evaluation results, the more the headquarters’ rewards, and it also concerns the maintenance and promotion of their ranks in the future, which is of utmost importance.
Currently, the positions in Great Xia are divided into five ranks. These chief administrators of the Seven Departnts are ranked second to last, at the fourth rank. But even at the fourth rank, the monthly salary includes 3,000 Contribution Value points, six Yangyuan Pills, 20 ters of silk, and aside from these substantial benefits, serving as a chief of the Seven Departnts ans everyone at the camp addresses them respectfully as ’sir,’ which significantly elevates their status.
So, not improving rank is not simple either!
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