Chapter 398: New City Breaks Ground
September 10th.
One thousand miles south of Shuzhou City.
It borders the Shiwanda Mountains to the west, Shuzhou City to the north, Ning'an County to the east, and a few thousand miles south to the territory of Dali.
Although such a geographical location cannot be said to be unique, it is quite good as it is surrounded by mountains and rivers.
Ever since the news that Ning Yuke was going to build a new city came out, countless people have been speculating where this new city would be located.
Now that the answer has been revealed, many people are still somewhat surprised.
The reason is simple: this new city is too close to Shuzhou City.
In ancient times, there were generally two motivations for building a new city:
1. Divert the population.
Second, political symbol.
Regardless of the motivation, the new city built will not be too large and will be far away from the main city in the area.
But Ning Yuke did the opposite. The scale and area of the new city were not small at all, and it was only a thousand miles away from Shuzhou City.
In this way, the two cities will undoubtedly compete for the population and resources in the same area, which is an extremely failed decision no matter how you look at it.
Of course, this is an evaluation based on common sense.
If everyone knew that this new city was for the demon race to live in, they would probably have a different expression on their faces.
“.”
"Worship the land and mountain gods!"
"Good luck in breaking ground! Peace and good fortune!"
"Throw the beans!"
"Rise the stone!"
"Ring the bell!"
“.”
At the time of Si, a ceremonial officer in a green robe stood on a temporary platform and began to preside over the groundbreaking and sacrificial ceremony, with a large number of craftsmen and laborers standing at his feet.
After all, it is a huge project, so the ceremony was held in a grand manner.
The Imperial Astronomical Observatory had specially calculated auspicious times, and some people had gone to several nearby low hills to pay homage to various mountain gods and land gods in advance.
Even Ning Yuke came to the scene in person under heavy guard, ready to write the name of the new city personally.
Her eyebrows are like distant mountains, dark without any drawing; her lips are like sand, red without any paint.
Under the gaze of the crowd, she stood on the dragon platform in gorgeous clothes. Her golden skirt swayed in the wind, and from the end of her hair hung golden hairpins with dragon tassels. The brilliant colorful embroidery exuded incomparable dignity and beauty.
Is Ning Yuke pretty?
Undoubtedly beautiful.
Is the empress new?
Of course it’s fresh.
Most of the tens of thousands of craftsmen on the scene were rough men. They had never seen such a beautiful woman, let alone the emperor in person. Logically, they should have been staring blankly at this moment.
However, when "beautiful woman" and "emperor" are combined together, few people would have any dirty thoughts.
Many people even felt that looking at her any longer would be an insult to Ning Yuke, so they would just glance at her and then lower their heads, only admiring her heavenly and holy figure in their hearts.
Ning Yuke has conquered the people with her beauty and temperament alone, and this can be said to have benefited from her "good looks" to some extent.
However, for the imperial spies mixed in the crowd, they were more concerned about the other woman standing on the platform.
Her face was covered with a white veil, her figure was well-proportioned, and she had a green sword at her waist. There was no trace of sadness or joy in her eyes.
If Ning Yuke has displayed the beauty of "grace and luxury" to the extreme, then this woman in simple clothes vaguely transcends such worldly beauty. Just standing there, she looks as independent as a fairy.
There is only one woman in the world who has this kind of temperament.
It was Qing Xian, who had officially taken office and become Ning Yuke's personal bodyguard.
“.”
Faintly feeling a few gazes, Qing Xian looked in several directions calmly and memorized a few faces in his mind.
These spies probably never thought that they would be exposed so easily, and they are still racking their brains to guess Qing Xian's identity.
And Qingxian certainly wouldn't kill the spy in public, so after taking a few glances, he moved his gaze to a farther distance.
There are dense forests covering hundreds of miles in radius, the terrain is flat, and several small rivers flow through it.
If Wei Changtian can keep his promise, if Shuzhou can defeat the 300,000-strong rebellion-suppression army and gain a firm foothold.
Then, half a year later, a new city will be built here, a new city where humans and monsters can coexist peacefully.
This new city will open the door to a new world for the demon race, which has been suppressed by humans for thousands of years. "Your Majesty, the ceremony is complete."
Suddenly, a voice interrupted Qingxian's thoughts.
The long bell sounds gradually died down, and the ceremonial officer lowered his head and walked to Ning Yuke, respectfully placing a purple-hair brush with an ivory handle in front of the latter.
"Your Majesty, please give a name to the new city."
“.”
He took the purple-hair brush with one hand and slightly lifted his long sleeves with the other.
Ning Yuke glanced at the tens of thousands of people who were waiting eagerly not far away, and the blank gold silk rice paper was spread out in front of him.
Immediately, the pen tip fell, and with just a few strokes, two neat and ancient large characters were outlined.
From this moment on, this highly anticipated new city, which is destined to leave a mark in history, finally has its name.
“.”
As the sunlight shone down, Qingxian narrowed his eyes slightly.
Of course she saw those two words.
As the most direct "stakeholder", she hesitated for a moment and then lowered her voice and asked, "Girl, what is the deep meaning of these two words?"
"Senior Qingxian, this name was not given by me, but by Master Wei."
Gently shaking her head, Ning Yuke turned around and replied, "I was also confused at the time, and Master Wei only answered with four words."
"Which four words?"
“.”
Moving a little closer, Ning Yuke gave the answer in a low voice.
This answer made Qingxian's pupils shrink suddenly and his breathing gradually became rapid.
Then, a green light flashed.
“Cang!”
The long sword was suddenly unsheathed with a crisp sound, and the sword body reflected the sunlight and scattered countless golden dots. Then, in the astonished eyes of everyone, it turned into several sharp sword auras and flew straight to a huge bluestone in the distance.
The bluestone is five people tall and was originally planned to be used to engrave the name of the new city.
However, judging from the current situation, those stonemasons standing aside may no longer be of any use.
"call!!"
“Sizzle!!!”
The sword energy stirred up a gust of wind, which swept across the bluestone, and the gravel turned into powder and was blown away by the wind. After the wind passed, only sword marks several inches deep into the stone were left.
Each sword mark was nearly a meter long. They intertwined with each other, forming two large characters from top to bottom that were almost identical to the ones Ning Yuke had written on the paper.
“.”
"Dude, what are those two words?"
"How should I know? I can't read."
"Do you know this big brother?"
"Well, I only know the first word is '大', but I don't know the second one."
"Big? Big what?"
“.”
Although Qingxian used sword energy as a knife, the two words carved on the bluestone were grand and shocking enough.
However, most of the craftsmen gathered here were illiterate, so they inevitably whispered to each other, eager to know what the new city was called.
There was a sudden chorus of noisy discussions, and then it stopped abruptly with the high-pitched recitation of the ceremonial officer.
"When the great way is practiced, the world is shared by all, the virtuous and capable are selected, trustworthiness is emphasized, and harmony is cultivated. Therefore, people do not only love their own relatives."
"Men have their share, women have their home. If goods are thrown away, you don't have to keep them for yourself. If your strength is not used, you don't have to use it for yourself."
"This is what is called the great unity of the world!"
"Therefore, Your Majesty named this city"
"Datong!"
(End of this chapter)
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