Aside from the highly productive exotic crops, the high-yield potatoes from another world, which the Ministry of Agriculture and Industry began planting three months ago, have now been harvested in large quantities.
The number of potatoes produced far exceeded the ministry's expectations. Each one was large and tasty. Just the experimental fields in a few key areas produced enough potatoes to feed the entire Plumera Kingdom for half a month.
At this rate, the kingdom would not only achieve self-sufficiency but could also produce even more grain in large quantities. These could be sold abroad as commodities through the Lianyi Pavilion or the Zhaiyun Pavilion, becoming another major source of income for the national treasury.
After the Agriculture and Industry Ministry finished their report, the Construction Ministry followed.
Over the past three months, they had been working nonstop. Besides building New Plumera City and several surrounding satellite cities, they also helped the Commerce Ministry by sending people around the kingdom to build new roads connecting major counties, along with roadside relay stations and inns.
The Commerce Ministry, a combination of the Commerce and Industry departments, had dispatched three road construction teams in the past three months. These teams traveled across the country inspecting and building roads.
Because the workload was massive and required precision, Damon assigned one thousand elite soldiers to accompany each team. These soldiers helped escort prisoner laborers and maintain order while guarding construction materials.
Until Elara returned to the capital yesterday, the three road construction teams were still busy across the main routes of the Plumera Kingdom.
It was exhausting work, but their efficiency was remarkably high.
In the past three months, each team had built around seventy to eighty kilometers of new road.
Altogether, that was over two hundred kilometers of new roads. The road-building task Elara received had already been half completed when it was handed to her. At this rate, within a few months, the entire task would be done.
Once the roads reached all major counties, it would boost not only commerce but also agriculture, industry, the military, and nearly every department and sector.
After the Construction Ministry gave their report, the Military Industry Ministry followed with their own.
They reported the new smelting and casting plants they had built over the past three months. They also gave a summary of the weapons they had continuously produced, including refined iron weapons, shields, and armor.
In the past three months, the officials from this ministry almost lived in the factories to meet the demands of the war in the Northern Frontier.
The factories worked day and night, smoking constantly as they rushed to produce weapons. The officials, constantly surrounded by smoke, had their faces blackened, looking several shades darker than normal, giving them a solemn and strict appearance.
Elara looked at their darkened faces and paused for two seconds. Then she told them to arrange a rotating shift schedule after court.
After the national exams, she would assign more people to the ministry. Keeping the same group inside those smoky factories would harm their health.
The Plumera Kingdom now had many competent, dedicated officials. Elara didn't want anything bad to happen to any of them.
After the Ministry of Industry finished their report, the other major departments also quickly reported on their developments over the past three months.
The Medical Ministry, with the help of Oswyn and two assistants Elara assigned to him three months ago—Assistant Kian and Assistant Di—had already negotiated import and export deals for various medical herbs with the Commerce Ministry. Once the main hospital in Plumera City was built, medical officials began working with the Construction Ministry to build branch offices in other counties, addressing leftover infectious diseases.
The Household Ministry, led by Mr. Zhiron, also sent staff to the counties alongside the Construction Ministry to establish local branch offices.
Within Plumera City, the Household Ministry had nearly finished compiling all the personal records of court officials. Next, they would gather records for all noble families, wealthy merchants, scholars, and commoners across the kingdom.
Commerce had grown rapidly over the past few months. The Commerce Ministry not only produced large quantities of Plumera specialties and various foods and crafts Elara introduced before her departure, but also kept recruiting talented artisans to expand and diversify the country's commercial products.
All major national transactions—such as grain trades with the Zhaiyun Pavilion and the purchase and sale of military equipment produced by the Military Industry Ministry—were handled mainly by this ministry, along with national income and expenditure records.
Currently, there was no head of the Commerce Ministry. The highest-ranking official was Damon, who also led the military. Since he was mainly a general, Elara had handed most of the ministry's affairs to Mr. Gong three months ago.
However, with Mr. Gong accompanying her abroad these past three months, the other officials had handled all ministry affairs in his absence.
During their overseas journey, Mr. Gong not only witnessed the bustling commercial model of the Zhaiyun Pavilion headquarters in Sargassum but later traveled to the Geranium Kingdom and experienced the grandeur of the Hundred Nations Banquet.
He filled dozens of notebooks and brought back many valuable commercial goods from various countries.
Elara was now waiting to see how he would use his experiences to develop the ministry further.
While listening to the reports from each department, Elara also announced the expansion of Plumera Kingdom's territory in the great hall.
"Through the sweeping advance of our army, from today onward, all former territories of the Salvia Kingdom and lands north of it are now part of Plumera Kingdom. Our total land area now reaches that of a mid-level second-tier nation. What remains are economic, population, and military developments. It's now up to you all to push forward quickly, so our kingdom can truly step into the second-tier ranks as soon as possible."
After Elara finished, the officials who had not known or confirmed the news were visibly shocked and delighted.
Seconds later, all the ministers knelt down with flushed and excited faces, shouting together:
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty."
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. You are wise."
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. May our Plumera Kingdom continue to grow and thrive."
Elara smiled as she waited for the ministers to finish their excited congratulations before allowing them to rise.
She had already heard most of what had happened in the country over the past three months, and it was time to promote those who had made great contributions.
"The military officials followed me on the campaign to the Northern Frontier, sweeping through the nations and Salvia Kingdom. Their achievements are undeniable."
"As a reward, the head of the military, General Qi, will receive five hundred taels of gold, ten thousand taels of silver, a set of iron shield armor forged with refined steel, one long spear, thirty bolts of silk, and a top-tier residence in Plumera City."
"Damon from the military and commerce departments, a first-rank martial general, will receive four hundred taels of gold, seven thousand taels of silver, a set of iron shield armor forged with refined steel, one fine bow, twenty bolts of silk, and a second-tier residence in Plumera City."
"Egbert and Hector, second-rank martial generals of the military, will each receive three hundred taels of gold, five thousand taels of silver, one set of iron shield armor forged with refined steel, one longsword, one warhammer, fifteen bolts of silk, and each a third-tier residence in Plumera City."
"All other military generals, captains, and soldiers who participated in the Northern Frontier campaign will be rewarded based on their merits. Those deserving of promotion will be promoted, and those deserving of rewards will receive them."
After Elara finished speaking, General Qi, Damon, Egbert, Hector, and all the military officials knelt and thanked her.
Elara looked over at Senior General Duanmu and General He, who were still standing in a daze.
Senior General Duanmu and General He had been in the Northern Frontier too long. After returning to Plumera City with Elara, they found the city had completely changed into something grand and unfamiliar.
When each department was reporting earlier, they had been shocked and confused.
They were shocked that Plumera City had developed to such a complex and sophisticated level without them knowing. They could barely understand what was being said or shown.
They remembered a year ago when the Plumera Kingdom was still a poor and weak third-tier kingdom. Yet now, in less than a year, it had already taken a half-step into becoming a second-tier kingdom?
They were confused by the many technical terms used by the ministers. Many of them they had never heard of or seen before and had no idea what was being discussed.
They originally thought that under the Prince's management, the Northern Frontier was already a prosperous and peaceful place. But they hadn't expected Plumera City to have surpassed it in grandeur and sophistication by many times.
Just the new city walls surrounding Plumera City had left them in awe when they entered the city yesterday. Then, visiting the military department, they were stunned to find that the iron shield armor, which even second-tier countries couldn't buy abroad, was fully equipped on tens of thousands of elite troops under General Qi and the other commanders.
No wonder Her Majesty had given them the five thousand sets of iron shield armor captured at Beichen Pass from Salvia Kingdom's elite troops. It turned out her own forces lacked nothing. In fact, the quality of their gear seemed even better.
Elara saw the two of them still standing there in shock and called their names.
"Senior General Duanmu, General He."
The two snapped back to reality, quickly put away their surprise, stepped forward, and knelt to salute.
"You two made great contributions in defending Beichen Pass against Salvia and other invading nations, and later led your troops with me to sweep through the nations and Salvia Kingdom. From today on, both of you will join the military department. Senior General Duanmu is appointed as a fourth-rank Yiwei General, and General He as a fourth-rank Mingwei General."
"You will each receive two hundred taels of gold, five thousand taels of silver, one set of iron shield armor forged by the military workshop, ten bolts of silk, and a fourth-tier residence in Plumera City. What do you say?"
Senior General Duanmu and General He never expected Elara to reward them, let alone with so much.
Especially when they heard "a set of iron shield armor forged by the military workshop," their eyes lit up. They couldn't hide their excitement as they bowed deeply and said,
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Elara looked at the two kneeling men and continued, "As for the Northern Frontier troops under your command, I won't reassign them for now. But the name must change. They are part of the Plumera Kingdom's national military now. There will be no more Northern Frontier troops. All rules will follow the unified laws of the military department and fall under its full command. How about that?"