Zhao Xin doing her job

"So, are we really going to establish the rice field here?" Tu Shen asked while standing in front of dozens of houses. These were slowly getting emptied but still considering building a rice field where people used to live is quite hard to understand.

Zhao Xin stared at the map and pointed her finger near the hill. There was a river following down the hill which goes straight into the middle of the forest.

"According to this map, Village Chief wants to draw the water from that hill. The water from the hill will reach this land and provide sufficient water for the Dragon Rice. And, not only that, but this place also has the high leakage of Elemental Energy thus providing sufficient energy for the Dragon Rice and other crops."

"If we build the Rice or Agriculture field here, then, we will be able to expand our future residents to the other villages from other sides. Since there is a hill and an entire forest next to this place, we won't be able to expand our village on these sides but we can do it on other sides."

"Of course, this doesn't mean we won't have any problem. Since this place is near the forest, there will be a lot of monster beasts that would try to eat our crops. But, that's the problem we can face later that's why he said."

Han Yang rubbed his chin and muttered "So, he is taking the entire village as his land. He is building the house at the front where he can meet people with ease and building a garden in the backyard."

"Yes, he wants to that." Zhao Xin nodded her head and replied.

"So, what about the Academy? Where will it be?" Zhao Ming asked after understanding this.

"Okay, so, let me explain the entire map first. Our village has four sides, two of which is covered by hill and forest. So, we can't use West and South sides for transportation or expansion unless we are ready to face the monster beasts."

"So, Village Chief has divided the entire village into five segments. The first and the second segments are the eastern and northern sides. The third and the fourth segments are the western and the southern side. And, the final segment is the central side."

"We will use the Western Side as the agricultural land because the hill passes right beside this side and it is a lot easier to bring the irrigation to this place. The fourth segment or southern part will be kept empty and currently used as temporary residents."

"That place will be used as the Academy, and other important developments that will be discussed in the future. We could use the southern part of the agriculture since the water flows right beside this place, but it will also endanger our crops since most of the monsters come there for water."

"And, establishing the Academy on this side will prevent monster beasts to reach the western side. The backyard of the western is already hill and the northern part has no link to the monster beasts. Finally, the first and second segments will be used as residents."

"But, because we have the final segment, half of these lands will be passed to the fifth segment. And, this segment will be used for markets, hotels, and free places for people to meet. Other villages are located at the eastern and northern sides, so we can expand our territory once we win those villages or buy."

"Wait, what do you mean by buy?" Han Yang hurriedly asked. He knew the meaning of buying but what's all about buying a village.

"Well, village chief said violence isn't the method to solve everything. We need to think differently and use different methods to expand our territory. Buying a piece of land is one of them. First, we won't make others think that we want to expand our territory by conquering them with wars and battles."

"Second, we will save a lot of our soldiers for the real battle. Third, we can win over the hearts of people much easily than by declaring the war. So, once our economy rises, we will start buying lands around us. This way we can buy the village even without getting in the wars." Zhao Xin explained.

For some reason, Gu Tan had left some notes with weird handwritings. Actually, these were the notes created by Ace. And, Gu Tan left it for her in case she might need it. This allows her to understand more about his plan for the village.

"Okay, I do understand what you mean but aren't we going to fall in loss if we keep buying villages?" Tu Shen asked.

Zhao Xin shook her head and said "We will only buy the land that can be productive. Such as, we will buy the land that can be used for creating something or which could give the huge economic boost to our village."

"As for barren lands, we won't buy them. In short, we will use the tactic of losing temporary and winning permanently. Using our income from Elemental Veins, we will spend a lot to buy productive lands. Of course, not everyone is an idiot to buy it."

"But, we can use some force here. If it is business, then we will put down our prices by half. If it is raw materials, we will block the path or even buy it for ourselves, thus creating a hopeless situation for our enemy territory. This is why I said it is a process of using losing temporary and winning permanently."

"Of course, for this, we need a lot of resources. That's why our village will go on lockdown for three years."

"Umm…. I have been meaning to ask this. Do you know how our village will be able to hide from others for three years? I mean people will get more suspicious of this." Han Yang asked to hope that Zhao Xin would know this. After all, she is his secretary but he still doesn't have a lot of hope.

Zhao Xin shook her head and said "Village Chief said our village will enter the state of lockdown using a pandemic as an excuse. As for how he will create this pandemic, I don't know. And, let's not speculate about this pandemic."

"Our goal is to finish our job as soon as we can. We can take the entire day to clear and destroy the current houses. And, we will use every bit of economy we have in our treasury and start building houses as planned. And, have we sent the women to visit our villages?"

"Yes, would you like to check it?" Han Yang nodded his head and asked. It got a little awkward for him to ask a ten-year-old girl to check something but he had to do it. After all, currently, Zhao Xin possesses more authority than him.

Zhao Xin nodded her head and four of them walked to the center of the village. In the center of the village, there were seven carts pulled by seven oxen. Seeing this, Zhao Xin nodded her head and asked.

"So, you are planning to drop them in a different village using these carts to keep them safe in their journey?"

Zhao Ming wasn't surprised that his granddaughter was able to find the reason behind the carts. He nodded his head and said "We need to keep our people safe. And, with our current reputation, other villages might use some nasty tricks on us."

"After all, as long as they are not in other villages, they are not under anyone's protection."

Zhao Xin nodded her head and said "This is a good idea. Can you ask them to line up in front of me? It feels little awkward for me to do it."

Although she knew she had to maintain her position, she still feels bad talking to them like this. Hearing her words, Zhao Ming smiled and said "Don't worry, you hold the position that is only second to the village chief. They might take a while but they will eventually understand this. But for now, I will call them."

Zhao Ming walked to them and seeing him, they immediately greeted him. This made Zhao Xin a little uncomfortable but she quickly shook her head. After all, Gu Tan has only become the village chief for a day. It would be surprising if they show a lot of respect for him.

Zhao Ming called them in front of her. Seeing her, they were slightly surprised. Zhao Xin raised her head and spoke "My name is Zhao Xin. I have been appointed as Village Chief's secretary. And, there are rules that he wants you to follow in other villages."

"First, he doesn't want anyone of you to involve in any kinds of conflict no matter what the conflict might be. Rather, he would be happy if you can find a proper solution to such conflict by listing a proper law for it."

"Second, you are not allowed to reveal your identity to anyone except the official soldiers of the village."

"Third, this is actually an improvisation done by me. Once you collect information from those villages, you will bring this information to a person staying hotel close to the gate of that village. Since this is an improvisation, we will need more people and each village will have two of you."

"If you can't bring the information to the person staying in the hotel every evening, that person will return back to the village immediately and inform us. So, every evening, you must bring all of the information you collected to that person."

"As for extra people, Grandpa will choose them. This is all I have to say. Please continue! Grandpa Han, Grandpa Tu, please follow me!"

Saying so, Zhao Xin turned around and nodded her head at her grandfather. As she leaves, Tu Shen and Han Yang hurriedly followed her.