Chapter 1 The New City of Yunzhou

The new city of Yunzhou was built around a previously unknown mountain, with part of the city established on the mountain itself. City walls were constructed in circles around the gently sloping mountainside, each with complete and sturdy walls. The width of the walls, except for the outermost layer, could only be considered average. However, the multiple layers of defense formed by these concentric walls, especially the crossbows, Shenbi bows, catapults, and other facilities inevitably equipped on the walls and defense towers, would transform the entire city into a three-dimensional defense system from top to bottom, forcing anyone who wanted to attack the city to pay an unbearable price. However, these defensive measures were merely standard practice and not the key to the city's appeal. The key was that this layered defensive system somehow looked so light and beautiful, without the heavy feel of those fortress cities of the past. But solely from the perspective of the defensive system's strength, this new city undoubtedly qualified as a fortress city.

While such a defensive system could ensure the city's invulnerability, it would only be solid, not enough to make this new city the center governing the entire north. The fortress complex built along the mountain concentrated most of the public buildings, especially the offices of various administrative organs and the command organs of the army, as well as huge shelters and storage facilities to provide personnel and material support for the fortress complex. However, there was not much space for residential buildings and commercial activities in the fortress complex.

These functions of the city were placed at the foot of the mountain on the plain near the Di River. The fortress complex on the mountain and the ground part were connected by a huge central avenue. The central avenue divided into six directions in the city center, leading to the city's hexagonal shape, with the exception of the city gates in the other four directions besides the part connected to the fortress, and another road leading directly to the dock area on the Di River. The intersection of the central avenue and these roads was a huge square, surrounded by government agencies managing commerce and trade. Unlike the light and beautiful buildings in the fortress complex built of stone, these public buildings appeared simple and dignified.

Besides the docks, a waterfront residential area was also carved out along the water, and models of those houses and courtyards were also built, obviously Ye Tao already had plans. Outside the city, courtyard houses could also be built, especially the section close to the upstream part of the Di River, which should have complete and peaceful scenery since the water traffic was not visible. As long as the city was not threatened, building houses outside the city was not a big deal.

And in the city, public green spaces and artificial lakes were available in every fan-shaped direction. In the north of the entire city, a large area was set aside to plant an irregular forest park, probably due to a modern person's Central Park complex.

Although the city's ground part was mainly for civilian and public areas, the city wall design could not be as exaggerated as the fortress complex on the mountain, but it still had a height and thickness no less than that of the current Danyang. The city's defense was already formidable just like that, and this circle of city walls in the new city had many gorgeous defensive towers integrated with the walls. The waterfront side might have some problems in defense, so there was an entire open space behind the dock area, followed by complete defensive institutions to prevent the enemy from attacking and occupying the dock and then directly entering the city. In peacetime, this open space could be used to pile up incoming and outgoing materials, and those gate towers and buildings could be used as offices for checking goods, paying taxes, and other affairs. In wartime, it would be a completely different scene.

According to the current design, even if the ground space and the fortress space on the mountain were added together, the city was only slightly larger than the current Danyang. As a central city that Tan Xiaopei had high hopes for in the future to govern the entire north, it was really not big. But everyone was immediately informed that this model was only the initial design, and there were already plans for future city expansion.

Although the ground part of the city was exquisite and complete, and the fortress system was powerful, they were not attractive enough. The fortress built on the mountain, with circles of city walls overlapping, supported the building built on the sharp and narrow cliff on the top of the mountain. That building should be made entirely of white rock, and unlike the other buildings, this building had a golden roof, as if it were a temple. The temple was not too big, probably because it was not easy to build such a building on the top of the cliff. In front of the temple, the entire protruding corner of the cliff was built into a narrow square, which would be dotted with some shrubs and paved with gorgeous floor tiles. At the top of the cliff corner, a little space was left to plant a tree, the only big tree in the entire narrow square in front of the temple.

Looking at the entire city from the front of the cliff corner, the city was like a towering crown standing on the earth.

"Please be quiet, everyone. Now I will introduce the various designs and plans of this city to you. Before that, I am honored to announce to you that the name of the new city of Yunzhou has been decided. This name was proposed by the Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner, Ye Tao, and approved by His Majesty. The name of the new city of Yunzhou is: Gondor." A Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner's subordinate with a clear voice said loudly.

This time, Ye Tao's plagiarism vision finally jumped out of Warcraft and plunged into the Middle-earth world of The Lord of the Rings. In terms of construction technology, Ye Tao was not too worried. Perhaps the most difficult thing was the temple-type building on the top of the cliff. This temple was named "Lingyan Pavilion," used to enshrine all those who made outstanding contributions to the construction and development of Yunzhou. Usually, to get from the fortress part to the top of the cliff, there were stone steps attached to both sides of the cliff. And when carrying out sacrificial activities that required more people to go, there would be a relatively wide winding road. For the needs of construction, the winding road was actually almost completed, because the buildings on the top of the mountain were not just this Lingyan Pavilion, but also some others. The most important was a lighthouse-style building combining a sentry post, a watchtower, an eagle station, and the management needs of the Lingyan Pavilion. Due to the extremely good view from the top of the cliff, even the watchtower and the eagle station were only a very simple four stories high.

Judging from the appearance alone, this city was too gorgeous, so gorgeous that it did not look like a building that should exist in this world. As the Yunzhou subordinate who was giving the explanation spoke eloquently, everyone present gradually understood that the uniqueness of Gondor City was not just in its appearance. Those innovative designs and unique understanding of urban functions would make this city a model for urban construction for a long time to come. And Yunzhou was now making preparations in all aspects to make this city a reality without compromise.

"We are holding such a press conference here today for two purposes. First, the construction of Gondor needs funds. Second, after the city construction is indeed completed, it needs popularity." The subordinate on the stage performed very well today, successfully mobilizing the emotions of everyone present. "The ground part of the city, after careful discussion, we have divided into thirty-six *fang*, occupying a considerable area. Except for the land reserved by the Pacification Commissioner's Office, we will auction off about half of the ground space of the city. After research, these lands are divided into a total of five hundred and fifty-seven plots, and the specific distribution has been printed into a book, which will be distributed to everyone later. Since Gondor has many unique designs in terms of municipal engineering, after purchasing the plots, the Pacification Commissioner's Office will send personnel to coordinate the related construction and supporting facilities. Our various ideas for this city, including the distribution of commercial districts, administrative districts, residential areas, etc., will also be explained in more detail in the book. Naturally, it is not allowed to leave the land vacant after buying it, and it is also not allowed to maliciously drive up land prices and housing prices for profit after the city is built. The Pacification Commissioner's Office already has plans for these, and these laws are also attached to the book. Since they are a bit of a buzzkill, I won't mention them here."

"The construction of the new city of Gondor, we sincerely hope that everyone can participate in it. Our goal is to create a beautiful city that will never be forgotten." The subordinate who was giving the explanation said emotionally. Then, his tone turned calm and he said, "Today is only the first session of the Yunzhou New City Plan release. After that, we will hold several more sessions of explanation. Then, the Gondor land auction will be held in February next year."

The time in February next year was not set casually. It was right after Queen Zhuo Xiu's birthday and also after the completion of the Danyang Grand Theater. At that time, Ye Tao would have to run to Danyang again. And this time also fully considered the needs of message dissemination and various merchants to discuss their own strategies and raise funds. During this period, Ye Tao's subordinates could also continue to communicate with everyone to enhance everyone's understanding of this brand-new city.

Amidst thunderous applause, the first press conference successfully came to an end, and from that day on, Yunzhou's office in Danyang continued to receive various inquiries. Regardless of whether they were invited to the first press conference, there were still many merchants and aristocratic families who wanted to participate. Buying land at this time might indeed involve considerable risk, and the form of auction would make the prices of some popular locations be炒 to a considerable extent. But regardless of whether they looked at the future development of Yunzhou and the entire north, or whether they looked at the tradition of Ye Tao and Tan Weixin leading a large number of followers to make a fortune, this was unlikely to be a losing business.

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