179: Chapter 180 Shortage of Personnel

The room fell silent.

Outside the window, the wind passed through the leaves, rustling softly.

Zhou Yun lowered his head and glanced at the city lord seal in his palm.

On the face of the seal, golden patterns flowed quietly.

The number on it was no longer what it had been at the very beginning.

In his hands, there was now more than just Flower City.

The city lord seal of Qing City had been burned by his own hands and was not included.

However, the new cities and satellite settlements gradually opened up later had truly fallen under his command.

The "Three" engraved on the seal sat quietly, unassuming, yet it spoke more clearly to the current progress than any words could.

It was still a long way from the next Rank, but it was no longer a distance without any clue.

Seeing that he was not speaking, Elder Tie's tone softened slightly.

"City Lord, I am not here to complain."

"The Tiangong Department can still hold on. No matter how busy it gets, I can still get the work done."

"But you need to be aware of this shortage."

"What Flower City lacks most right now is no longer timber, nor ore, and certainly not weapons."

"It is people."

Zhou Yun slowly withdrew the city lord seal into his palm, remained silent for a moment, and then nodded gently.

"Elder Tie is right to remind me; I understand."

Elder Tie breathed a sigh of relief.

"That is good."

"I was originally afraid that bringing this up would be a damper. But everything in the city is moving forward, yet we are stuck at this step. I figured I had to say it; I couldn't not say it."

Zhou Yun smiled.

"You came at just the right time."

"It is better to see some things early than to wait until they are right in front of you before trying to find a solution."

Elder Tie grunted, lowering his head to roll up the blueprints again.

"Then I will head back first."

"There is still a pile of work waiting."

Zhou Yun wanted to ask him to stay for something to eat, but seeing that his whole demeanor screamed "I have things to do," he finally just smiled and waved his hand.

"Go ahead."

"Don't wear yourself out."

Elder Tie acknowledged this and left in a rush, clutching the blueprints.

After he left, the room fell silent again.

Zhou Yun sat at the desk, his fingers tapping the tabletop twice.

Population.

This word slowly sank into his mind.

A moment later, soft footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

Wan'er walked in, holding a document that had just been delivered.

"City Lord."

"Hm?"

"It just arrived."

She placed the document gently on the table, her voice very steady.

"Qinghe City has submitted a tentative document for transfer of household registration, citing commercial exchanges as the reason."

Zhou Yun raised his eyes to look at her.

Wan'er's gaze was quiet, but the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

"They say that there is a group of commoners in their city who have recently applied for transfer of registration multiple times, yearning for Flower City."

"They are asking if Flower City could... make things convenient."

The room was silent for two breaths.

Then, Zhou Yun also smiled.

The smile was very shallow, falling into the lamplight, yet it seemed to gently press down on the document on the table.

Wan'er stood to the side, watching his fingertips press lightly against the edge of the paper, and she knew that this matter was no longer a question of whether to accept it or not.

It was a question of how to accept it.

More accurately, it was about how to make the other side feel that opening this door was not easy.

"Sit."

Zhou Yun pushed the document forward.

"What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Wan'er first raised her hand to adjust her sleeves before sitting down at the table.

She did not speak immediately, only lowering her eyes to read the document again.

The words on the paper were written very politely, but between the lines, they revealed a sense of practiced slickness.

Things like "commoners yearning for Flower City."

Things like "commercial exchanges, mutual benefit."

Things like "if you can fulfill this, it would be considered a good deed."

As she watched, her fingertips tapped lightly on the desktop.

"This director-general of internal affairs in Qinghe City certainly has a smooth pen."

Zhou Yun smiled.

"It sounds like they are doing a good deed for others."

"Indeed."

Wan'er raised her eyes.

"Sending away a burden, yet speaking of it as finding a way out for others. If they really wrote it clearly, the people sent out from the city later might even have to owe them a debt of gratitude."

Having said this, she paused slightly, her gaze falling quietly back onto the document.

"However, since they have offered a step, Flower City has no need to refuse."

Zhou Yun grunted in acknowledgment, not rushing to reply.

Outside the window, the wind passed gently, and the leaves rustled.

The candle on the table flickered, casting the shadows of the two people slightly aslant on the floor.

A moment later, he spoke in a gentle voice.

"We must accept, naturally."

"But we cannot accept too quickly."

Upon hearing this, the corners of Wan'er's mouth moved slightly.

"Is that what the City Lord is thinking as well?"

Zhou Yun raised his eyes to look at her.

"It is a fact that Flower City is short of people right now. But just because we are short of people does not mean we will swallow whatever they send."

"This first opening must be made."

"But the degree must be controlled. In this aspect, you surely understand better than I do."

"I wouldn't dare say so."

Wan'er shook her head gently, then said:

"Then we should suppress it first."

"Suppress it, then loosen it."

After she finished speaking, she reached out to refold the document; her voice was not loud, but it landed steadily.

"What they fear most is not Flower City refusing. It is Flower City agreeing too readily."

"The more easily we agree, the more uneasy they will be."

"But if we first show a bit of difficulty, and then reluctantly open a gap out of consideration for commercial relations, they will only feel that this is something they fought for themselves."

"What do you think?"

Zhou Yun looked at her, his eyes full of smiles.

"With Wan'er's arrangements, it is naturally impeccable."

Wan'er lowered her head and smiled charmingly.

"City Lord is too kind with the praise."

"Then it is settled."

Zhou Yun pushed the document back to her side, his tone still gentle.

"How about we have the people from Internal Affairs, Supervision, and Resettlement come over tomorrow first, unify our stance, and then carefully sort out the procedures."

Wan'er acknowledged this and was about to get up, but her movements suddenly slowed by half a beat.

She raised her eyes to look at Zhou Yun.

"There is one more thing."

"Hm?"

"If this opening is truly made, Qinghe City will not be the only one."

"It won't be."

Zhou Yun answered very calmly.

"Of those four cities, no one will be willing to watch others take a step forward first."

Upon hearing this, Wan'er exhaled gently.

"Then it is even more necessary to solidify the resettlement procedures first."

Having said this, she added another sentence.

"The treatment... cannot be changed either."

Zhou Yun nodded.

"Naturally."

The basic treatment for Flower City citizens was established from the very beginning.

Ten jin of spirit rice, one hundred mu of fertile land, one tree house, and the removal of the metal ring.

If they are a Professional, the corresponding equipment set is issued according to their Rank.

This is not a special grace granted to anyone.

This is Flower City's own rule.

Since we are bringing them in, we are accepting them as Flower City's people; we cannot tamper with this because of where they came from.

Wan'er clearly meant the same thing.

Seeing Zhou Yun nod, her expression became more settled.

"Then I understand."

"The quota can be restricted, the pace can be suppressed, and the words can be spoken more strictly. But as long as people truly enter Flower City, what they are owed cannot be less by a single item."

"Correct."

Zhou Yun smiled and said:

"If rules only work for our own people, then that is not called a rule."

Wan'er looked at him, her eyes flickering slightly, but in the end, she didn't say anything more, only putting the document into her sleeve and getting up to leave.

Early the next morning, the government hall was busier than usual.

It wasn't that there were so many people that there was no room to stand, but the footsteps coming and going were noticeably faster.

Documents were sent in one after another and sent out one after another; the tea on the table had been refilled twice and hadn't had a chance to cool down.

Wan'er sat in the innermost part with a stack of registers by her side, and standing in front of her were the people specifically in charge of Internal Affairs, Resettlement, and Supervision.

Nuan Nuan had also been called over.

She had originally been counting items at the Granary, and upon hearing that Wan'er was looking for her, she hadn't even had time to brush the dust off her sleeves before grabbing an account book and rushing over.

"Lady Wan'er."

She greeted her in a low voice, her eyes still carrying a bit of lingering confusion.

"Did something happen at the Granary?"

"It is not that something happened."

Wan'er raised her hand to signal her to sit, her tone unhurried.

"It is to have you get an idea of things in your mind first."

"Qinghe City has submitted a transfer of registration document; for the first batch, Flower City plans to let people in."

Nuan Nuan was stunned at first, then her eyes widened slightly.

"Are we really accepting them?"

Several gazes in the room fell on her face.

Nuan Nuan then realized that her question had been a bit too quick, and she hurriedly lowered her voice a little.

"What I mean is... accepting them, naturally we can handle it. But if too many people come in all at once, tree houses, spirit rice, farmland registers, equipment sets, and registration—all of these must be prepared in advance."

Before she finished speaking, she had already lowered her head to flip through the account book in her hands.

"If we calculate based on five thousand people, there is no problem with the spirit rice. We need to have the Tiangong Department rush out another batch of tree houses, although we can still clear out some existing ones. I have to verify the farmland registers with that side again, and the Professionals need to be diverted; we cannot cram them all into one place."

She flipped faster and faster, and her recitation became smoother.

"Also, the metal rings... this must be calculated clearly."

"If we only remove them when people arrive at the city gate, the line will be very long."

"It would be best to divide them into several columns: the old and weak in one column, those with children in a separate column, and Professionals in another separate column..."

Wan'er had not interrupted her.

It wasn't until Nuan Nuan stopped talking that she belatedly raised her head.

The room was quiet, and several people were looking at her.

Nuan Nuan's cheeks flushed slightly, and she tightened her grip on the account book.

"I, did I speak too quickly?"

"Not too quickly."

Wan'er shook her head, her expression softening a bit.

"It was just right."

She then unfolded the document by her side and placed it in front of everyone.

"Calling everyone here today is not to discuss whether to accept them or not."

"It is to discuss how to accept them."

The room, which had originally had a slightly relaxed atmosphere, truly tightened up at this moment.

Wan'er looked at everyone and went straight to the point.

"First, Flower City's door must be opened, but it cannot be opened too easily."

"Second, for everyone brought in, since they are to be resettled as Flower City citizens, what they are owed cannot be less by a single item."

"Third, this matter must leave a trail, be filed, and have people watching it from beginning to end."

Having said this, she shifted her gaze and landed it on Shang Youjun.

Shang Youjun had also come today and was sitting very quietly, his left eye azure blue and his right eye crimson red; hearing this, he only raised his head slightly.

"The Supervision Department will watch two things."

Wan'er's voice was flat, as if she were speaking about the most ordinary official business.

"First, in the entry process, who takes the opportunity to cause trouble."

"Second, among the people coming in, who has problems."

Shang Youjun did not respond immediately, only lowering his eyes for two breaths before nodding gently.

"Good."

Someone in the room subconsciously glanced at him and then quickly looked away.

Nowadays, in Flower City, there were not a few people who knew that Shang Youjun's eyes were unusual, but there were still very few who knew what those eyes truly signified.

But even so, as long as he sat here, he himself carried a quietness that made people dare not treat him lightly.

Wan'er then looked at the others.

"Let us also unify our external stance."

"It is not that Flower City does not accept people."

"It is just that the resettlement pressure is great, and we have to look at the number of people, the structure, and whether there is space."

"Therefore, we can only give five thousand for the first batch."

"Any more is not impossible to discuss."

"It just has to come in batches."

Someone heard this and asked tentatively.

"Lady Wan'er, what if they continue to increase the stakes later?"

Wan'er raised her eyes to look over.

"Then we will continue to talk."

"Talk slowly, grind slowly."

"If they are willing to send them, Flower City does not need to stop them. But every time, we must make them feel that this opening did not come easily."

When she said this, her tone was still gentle.

But beneath that gentleness, the line had already been pulled very taut.

The people in the room looked at each other, and they all had an idea in their hearts.

At this moment, Nuan Nuan suddenly seemed to remember something; she lowered her head and flipped another page in the account book, saying softly:

"If it really is five thousand people, the Granary is fine."

"But if there is more than just Qinghe City later..."

She paused, her voice becoming even smaller.

"Will Flower City be too exhausted?"

Once these words were spoken, no one in the room laughed at her.

Because this worry was not superfluous.

Flower City looked stable and wealthy now, but if it really had to swallow people batch by batch, it wasn't just swallowing a few mouths; it was the entire resettlement, the tree houses, the farmland, the order, and everything in the city that had already started running.

Upon hearing this, Wan'er did not answer immediately.

She lowered her head to adjust her sleeves, then spoke calmly.

"It will be exhausting."

"But what Flower City lacks most right now is not things."

"It is people."

Nuan Nuan was stunned.

She understood this sentence, yet it seemed like she didn't fully understand it.

Wan'er did not explain too much further, only letting the words fall where they could most put people at ease.

"Besides, even if it is exhausting, it won't be in vain."

"Once people enter Flower City, they are no longer goods, no longer a burden."

"They are Flower City's people."

After this sentence was spoken, the room was silent for a moment.

Even Nuan Nuan's movements of flipping the account book slowed down.

After a few breaths, she let out a soft "Hm," as if she had set her heart at ease a little.

"Then I will go back and prepare the spirit rice and tree houses first."

"Also, the Professional equipment sets, a batch must be set aside in advance as well."

Wan'er nodded.

"Go ahead."

"Submit the data to me before this afternoon."

"Okay."

Nuan Nuan stood up with the account book, but when she reached the door, she seemed to remember something and turned back to ask.

"Lady Wan'er."

"Hm?"

"If those people come and find that Flower City really gives, will they..."

She opened her mouth, but the second half of the sentence was left unsaid.

However, the few people in the room all understood what she wanted to ask.

Would they not dare to believe it?

Would they be stunned?

Would they make a scene?

Would they cry?

Wan'er looked at her, her eyes flickering slightly, then she smiled faintly.

"They will."

"But as long as they enter the city, they will eventually understand."

Nuan Nuan then nodded, turned around, and walked out of the door quickly.