Chapter 178: The Newhaven Council
"Your Majesty, in this minister’s opinion, the Grand Concord Dynasty must march on Newhaven City at once. How can we allow another to sleep beside our bed? Newhaven City is a grave threat to the realm."
Ever since returning from his mission to Newhaven, Lucan had become a staunch hawk. Time and again, he urged the emperor of the Grand Concord Dynasty to attack the city immediately.
The lord of Newhaven City was ambitious and possessed grand designs.
Since he dared to educate the masses and carry out sweeping reforms, he would inevitably expand beyond his current borders.
A single city could never contain such a dragon.
His ambitions reached far beyond it.
Lucan knew that once this man bared his fangs at the Grand Concord Dynasty, the dynasty might no longer possess the strength to fight him.
Anyone who had never visited Newhaven could not understand how powerful Lucan’s sense of danger had become.
The officials at court lived in comfort and luxury. How could a few scattered reports make them grasp the immense impact Newhaven’s reforms were having on the age itself?
"Enough."
The emperor brushed aside Lucan’s remonstrance.
"Lucan, I understand the danger hidden within Newhaven City. But war cannot be declared on a whim. Thalric is watching us closely."
"Your Majesty!"
Lucan continued, "If we do not strike now, then in the future..."
"Dismissed!"
His words were cut off.
Lucan let out a heavy sigh, shook his head, and left the court with worries weighing on his mind.
The emperor watched him depart and sighed inwardly as well.
"It is not that I do not wish to attack. It is that I truly cannot."
The emperor of the Grand Concord Dynasty was no fool.
From Lucan’s account and the delegation’s descriptions of Newhaven City, how could he fail to understand its strength?
How could he fail to recognize the threat it posed?
One move would affect the entire board.
Attacking Newhaven meant opening the door to war with Thalric.
Once that happened, the situation would spiral beyond control.
The Grand Concord Dynasty might choose when the war began, but it would not be able to decide when it ended.
Until Newhaven inflicted a pain that cut to the bone, the emperor could not justify starting a war with Thalric over a single city.
The cost simply outweighed the gain.
After all, it was only one city.
Newhaven’s reforms had produced obvious results.
The emperor had considered attempting similar changes within the Grand Concord Dynasty.
But the resistance would be immense.
The establishment of public academies alone would create a major conflict.
The scholarly houses would never agree to it easily.
Unlike Caelum, the emperor lacked the resolve to wipe them all out in one stroke.
The Grand Concord Dynasty was not Newhaven.
The scholarly houses had deep roots.
They were called great houses for a reason. No one knew how many court officials were tied to them through countless connections.
If the emperor dared move against them, the scholarly houses would do far more than merely threaten death through remonstrance.
"Alas."
His helplessness needed no further words.
Before anyone realized it, a full year had passed.
After a major expansion, Newhaven City covered a far larger area than before.
Its population had also continued rising until it surpassed one million.
Looking across Newhaven now, cement buildings stood everywhere.
Tall structures filled the skyline, while all kinds of factories occupied carefully planned districts.
Roads paved with brick and cement were smooth and even.
Crowds moved constantly along them.
In the distance, towering chimneys rose from the ground and released thick columns of black smoke.
Utility poles and streetlights had been installed around the palace and a small section of the inner city.
Whenever night fell, electric lamps lit up and turned the area as bright as day.
Whether under sunlight or darkness, the district remained lively and crowded.
During that year, the Physics Academy and Engineering Academy built a thermal power plant.
It burned coal to generate electricity for the palace and part of the inner city.
That, however, was only a secondary purpose.
The plant’s primary role was to provide power to the major factories.
With electricity available, the factories began installing automated assembly lines.
The arrival of automated production caused factory output to multiply again and again.
The results were remarkable.
Plans to add further assembly lines had already been placed on the schedule.
However, the power plant had only recently been completed, and its output had not yet risen enough.
The factories were still unable to operate at full capacity.
There was also nowhere near enough electricity to supply all of Newhaven.
Naturally, one year was far too little time to construct a truly large power plant.
This was only a small experimental facility.
Its design was also relatively simple.
It was not that the city lacked the desire to build more.
Power plants were simply expensive.
Every piece of coal burned each second had been purchased with real money.
At Newhaven City’s current scale, keeping even one thermal power plant running was already the limit.
There were many other fields that also demanded resources.
Research into new materials.
Development of new weapons.
Synthesis of new chemical compounds.
And countless other projects.
Once talent from the academies entered the factories, Newhaven City experienced an explosive surge in technology.
Military industry, chemistry, materials science, and many other fields advanced rapidly.
The enormous increase in production capacity left Newhaven rich in resources.
After the textile mills received electricity, fully automated looms also appeared.
Their production speed was dozens of times greater than before.
The cloth they produced not only met Newhaven City’s own needs, but could also be sold outside in large quantities.
Textiles soon became one of the city’s major industries.
Aside from firearms, cement, steel, and other vital strategic resources, many goods produced in Newhaven City were sold abroad.
Their quality and technical superiority left competing products far behind.
They sold extremely well and were especially popular among merchants from both the Grand Concord Dynasty and Thalric.
Because Newhaven’s industrial technology was so advanced, many products could only be made there.
Their prices were naturally high.
Even so, demand never became a problem.
That same year, Caelum reformed Newhaven City’s political structure and established the Newhaven Council.
Seats on the council were held by leading authorities from different fields, military commanders, and government officials.
Caelum served as First Chair and held the highest authority in the council.
He possessed the power to make the final decision with a single vote.
Everyone beneath him was addressed as a leader.
In matters of clothing, Newhaven City gradually became increasingly modern.
Its style was completely different from that of every other nation in the current age.
Ordinary residents wore simple, practical clothes.
Military personnel and officials dressed with solemn dignity.
If fashion had been left to evolve on its own, reaching this point would have taken a very long time.
Even then, the same style might never have appeared.
Caelum simply preferred modern clothing, so he accelerated the trend himself.
No special decree was needed.
People naturally imitated those above them.
Once the ruling class dressed a certain way, everyone below soon followed.
The students of the academies were especially enthusiastic.
They called themselves the New Youth and loved copying Caelum’s style.
Whenever they saw him wearing a white shirt beneath a black standing collar coat, they dressed the same way.
The technology tree accelerated more than their ability to absorb knowledge.
Their thinking evolved rapidly as well.
Little by little, they broke free from the rigid framework of feudal society.
In its place emerged a strikingly energetic and active spirit.
