Alien Knights

Stepping into the main entrance of the government affairs building, the first thing Todd saw was a tall bronze statue standing in the center of the lobby on the first floor.

The bronze statue holds the Bible in one hand and raises the other palm up to the sky. The overall design adopts the sculpture techniques of the ancient Tyro period. The facial features are three-dimensional and plump like a mythical figure, the eyes are firm and charismatic, and the body lines are full of muscle tension, which makes people amazing.

Huggins, who was busy maintaining order with the guards, suddenly heard Todd's voice behind him: "Who is this statue?"

Huggins turned his head with difficulty, and gave Todd an awkward smile: "Of course it's you!"

Todd, who almost didn't bring it up in one breath, opened his eyes wide and looked at the sculpture again, cursing secretly in his heart, this is obviously not like me at all!

Since Todd seldom appeared in public, when the news that the king appeared in the government affairs hall spread among the crowd, the turbulent crowd on the street rushed into the hall, just to get a glimpse of the holy face.

Seeing more and more people pouring into the hall, soldiers and officials struggled to maintain order on the scene, Todd gave up his plan to stay, walked through the hall, and walked to the rear of the first floor of the government affairs hall.

Pushing open the door, a church worship room that Todd was familiar with and kind, appeared in front of his eyes.

The dilapidated benches were neatly arranged together, the cracked floor was cleaned, the cross, the pulpit, and the candle holders, memories of the past kept flashing in Todd's mind.

Huggins came behind him and said softly: "Everything here is exactly the same as in the past."

Todd nodded: "Yeah, it's the same as before."

The two people in the room fell silent, thinking of the bitter experiences of the past few years, filled with emotion.

After staying for about five minutes, Todd came to the back porch from the side door, and followed the spiral stairs to the second floor.

Joe, Elijah, Ulysses and others led officials at all levels, waiting in the hall on the second floor early, welcoming the arrival of the king.

Huggins walked to Todd's side and said to him: "People above the level of directors of agriculture, personnel, and urban planning have come. The tax and legal departments are absent due to business trips. As for the business department..."

Thinking of the Raglan couple, Todd sighed, and said to Huggins: "Let the chief advisors of the kingdom stay, and the others return to their respective positions to continue working."

A few minutes later, the only officials left were Brother Joe in charge of agriculture, Elijah in charge of urban planning, and Ulysses.

Huggins said to Todd: "Master Emerson, who is in charge of the personnel department, rarely comes to the government affairs hall because he also serves as the royal privy envoy. Most of the affairs are handled by the second adviser Ulysses."

Todd nodded, moved his footsteps, and while visiting the government affairs hall, he said to everyone: "Please introduce the departments you belong to."

The monk Joe in charge of agriculture first said: "Your Majesty, the agricultural department is mainly responsible for the kingdom's agricultural affairs, ranging from seed selection to warehouse building, all within the scope of our responsibilities. As for the composition of department officials, in addition to scholars in agronomy, they are mainly composed of three major monks' associations: San Sidro, Miletci, and Svorenfke. Currently, there are twelve branches with a total of 96 officials."

Elijah, who was in charge of urban planning, had only met Todd a few times, but he left a deep impression on him.

The reason is very simple, this favorite student of Master Terrence, in terms of knowledge reserves and areas of expertise, simply surpasses the normal people by far.

Not only is the current person in charge of the city planning of the kingdom, but according to Todd's knowledge, he is also the designer and painter of the Muxi Cathedral, the president of the Theater and Performance Association, and even serves as a ship and ordnance designer in the Muxi Shipyard and the Muxi Knights.

"Your Majesty, urban construction planning is mainly responsible for the regional planning and building restrictions of the city, including the division of cultivated land, forest land, pasture, commercial, residential, and industrial land. In addition, we are also responsible for the planning and construction of urban sewers, diversion canals, and waste transportation channels. There are nine branches under it, with a total of 63 officials."

Finally it was Ulysses' turn.

This young man in his twenties is the youngest of the three and the only acting head of the department.

"Your Majesty, I passed the examination and became Lord Emerson's secretary three months ago. When the Lord was away, I was in charge of the affairs related to the kingdom's public personnel. It mainly included the acquisition, review and deprivation of city resident qualifications, the organization and planning of official examinations, the external recruitment of public facility maintenance personnel, and the promotion and demote of all officials. Now there are twelve branches, with a total of 128 officials."

Todd wandered around each floor while listening to the report.

After looking around, he was surprised to find that many design elements here actually refer to the research institute in the soul space.

Vertical screens to separate people, glass cabinets for files and reports, and well-equipped break rooms.

Turning his gaze to Elijah behind him, Todd asked, "You made all the designs here?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have referred to the place of creation of the kingdom of heaven in many places."

Todd was taken aback: "The place of creation?"

After realizing what was going on, Todd thought to himself: You can choose the name as you like, it's not an important thing anyway.

Looking around in the government affairs hall, Todd had a simple lunch with everyone, and stepped into the carriage again.

"Next, go to Muxi University."

After saying this, Todd, who was a little tired, leaned on the soft back of the carriage and took a nap for a while.

When he woke up again, the carriage had already stopped at the gate of the university.

Looking at the sky outside through the car window, Todd asked Huggins outside the car: "Did you wake me up?"

Huggins, who was standing beside the carriage, said with a smile, "Your Majesty, it's a rare time to rest. It's always good to sleep a little longer."

After straightening his clothes, Todd got out of the carriage, and the scene at the door stunned him in place.

Hundreds of scholars have already stood at the gate of Muxi University, waiting for the king to appear. Among these people are the respected academic master Terrence, as well as scholars and elites from various countries.

Todd walked to Huggins' side and said in a deep voice: "You really should wake me up earlier! How can these scholars wait for me here for so long?!"

Huggins smiled bitterly and whispered to Todd: "Your Majesty, at first I wanted to wake you up early, but when the scholars arrived, Master Terrence specifically told me not to disturb you and let you sleep for a while."

Hearing this, Todd was deeply moved, and walked quickly to Terrence. Just as he was about to say something, the other party spoke first: "When I was in Taylor City, sitting at home today, I might be sent to the stake tomorrow. Some people even had coffins made while they were alive. In this era of darkness everywhere, Muxi City has become our only and last refuge. In order to protect this land, let us sacrifice our lives without hesitation, let alone wait for the king to wake up?"

After saying this, Terrence blinked at Todd, and laughed like no one else.

Hearing this, Todd also laughed.

Next, accompanied by a group of scholars, Todd began to visit the newly built university.

Terrence walked at the forefront, personally serving as the king's guide, explaining the origin and structure of Muxi University to the latter.

"Muxi College was originally located near the port area, with a lot of people coming and going, an extremely noisy environment, and a lack of academic atmosphere. Apart from these, the key problem is that the place is too narrow to accommodate so many teachers and students." Terrence pointed to the stretch of land in front of him and said, "So, we made a request to the royal family to relocate the school. After Your Majesty agreed, I and a group of scholars finally selected this plain in the north of the city after a long period of investigation."

Terrence took a deep breath and seemed very satisfied with the place in front of him: "The campus covers an area of ​​more than 500,000 square meters. It is planned to build 23 buildings including academic buildings, residences, gardens, laboratories, and cafeterias. Once completed, it will undoubtedly be the largest school in the parish."

Todd looked around, and the construction pattern of Muxi University was clearly the same as the university in his previous life. It should be that Terrence found the blueprints and photos while browsing the computer materials.

Terrence pointed to the construction site in the distance and said: "After the land problem is solved, money has become the biggest problem. Building materials, equipment procurement, road greening, all of which require a lot of money. We made an estimate that the completion of the university may require an investment of about 400,000 silver moons."

Hearing this, Todd frowned and said: "If I remember correctly, in the construction budget proposal of Muxi University, you only wrote "I hope the treasury will allocate 200,000 silver months."

"That's right." Terrence nodded towards Todd: "Muxi University is not only a matter of the kingdom, but also a matter of us scholars. We can't let the kingdom pay all the construction funds with peace of mind, so we only applied for half of the financial assistance in the proposal."

"How did the other half of the funds be raised?"

"Contributions."

"Donation?!"

Terrence pointed to his nose, smiled and said to Todd, "Your Majesty, don't underestimate us bad old men. Compared with the speed of spending money, our ability to change money is not bad at all!"

Terrence counted them one by one with his fingers: "The first way is that scholars like us who used to be teachers have more or less taught a few students from good families. Some of them are nobles with prominent backgrounds, and some are wealthy merchants. As long as we are willing to put down our old faces, it is not difficult to ask them for some money by writing."

"The second way, many of us have property in other kingdoms, such as mansions, vineyards, mills and so on. I persuaded them to sell all their properties, donate the money to the university, and settle in Muxi City from then on."

"The third method is to sell patents. Speaking of this, I must first thank His Majesty for promulgating the Patent Law. Without this law, there would naturally be no way to make money. Many of our inventions and theories can be applied to handicrafts and commerce. Selling these patents can exchange for a large sum of money."

Terrence continued with a smile: "It is precisely because of these three methods that we finally collected the remaining 200,000 silver moons, and the construction of the university is proceeding as scheduled."

While speaking, a group of people came to a concrete building.

Just as Todd was about to enter the gate, a tall and thin scholar ran out in a hurry, almost bumping into the king.