In the magnificent palace, Fang Mingzhou, dressed in his imperial robes, slowly opened his eyes.
The surrounding scene was both strange and familiar; he shook his head and chuckled.
He had been in this world for nearly ten years, yet he still hadn't completely gotten used to it.
Today was the day the East Continent Empire offered sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, and also the day East Continent completed its unification.
"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister's Office and others are waiting for you outside," Xiao Xi walked over, also dressed in a gorgeous auspicious gown, looking graceful and refined.
When the palace gates opened, everyone looked over.
Everyone bowed their heads, not daring to meet his gaze, for he represented imperial power.
Fang Mingzhou walked steadily forward, his gaze firm and majestic.
Fang Mingzhou scanned the crowd and slowly began, "Today, the unification of East Continent is a blessing for all its people. East Continent's current state is due to the wisdom of its officials, the bravery of its generals and soldiers, and the diligence of its common folk."
"This is a great era, a tumultuous great era, full of unpredictable changes, yet it is the best time for our generation to achieve great deeds."
"We should lead the five hundred million people of the East Continent Empire to push this nation and its people to their peak, so as not to live this life in vain!"
In the Lunar New Year of the new millennium, the East Continent Empire Emperor Fang Mingzhou led all officials in offering sacrifices to Heaven and Earth and issued the "Proclamation to All of East Continent."
Four years after the founding of East Continent, this ancient land finally completed its unification with the arrival of the new century.
The first year of the new century, the East Continent Empire issued its first reign title: Zhaoming.
At the same time, the Prime Minister's Office also released the new cabinet list: Prime Minister Ouyang Geng, Minister of Internal Affairs Yan Youling, Minister of Transportation and Railways Zhan Da Chao, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hu Wenbo, Minister of Commerce Zhou Shouchen, and Minister of Education Li Enfu.
Minister of Health He Tingliang, Minister of Justice Zhang Kangren, Minister of Science and Post Zhou Chuanjian, Minister of Agriculture Zhang Fengmao, Minister of Colonial Affairs Xu Dingyong, and the newly added Minister of Ethnic Affairs Liang Dunyan.
At the same time, the General Staff was established to manage the nation's military forces, with Chief of the General Staff and Minister of Defense Zhang Shun, Navy Minister Sun Fu, and Minister of Air Force Zhou Liwei.
Concurrently, the East Continent Empire was divided into twelve provinces, from north to south: East Guan Province, Lingbei Province, Dongmeng Province, Zhongshu Province, Jianghe Province, Guanlong Province, North Court Province, Wuzang Province, Chuanqing Province, Dianyun Province, Jiangzuo Province, and Guanghu Province.
As well as East Continent's overseas territories: Xiaweiyi Province, Funan Province, North Sea Province, and the secretly controlled Java Province.
After four years of construction, the East Continent Empire had undergone a complete transformation.
The Prime Minister's Office also released the East Continent Empire government report in the new year.
As of now, the East Continent Empire's land area reached 13.16 million square kilometers, with a population of 460 million.
Last year, the East Continent Empire's fiscal revenue reached 600 million blue coins, though the per capita income was only a little over one blue coin, which certainly couldn't compare to the powerful Europa nations.
But this had already created history.
Everyone was filled with confidence because they knew that the era belonging to East Continent was about to arrive; last year, the East Continent Empire's economic growth reached double digits.
The Prime Minister's Office also announced last year's achievements, including in education, where over a thousand new primary and secondary schools were built, illiteracy was eliminated for twenty million citizens, and education expenditure reached an astonishing fifty million blue coins.
In terms of industry, with the heavy industries invested in the past few years successively completing construction.
The East Continent Empire's pig iron output reached an astonishing 3.1 million tons, steel output reached 1.8 million tons, ranking sixth in the world.
The world's leading economic power, Lighthouse Country, had a steel output exceeding ten million tons.
At the same time, four important shipbuilding bases were completed, with over ten dry docks exceeding thirty thousand tons, and coal output reached seventeen million tons.
The development of industry brought about powerful consumer products; compared to the foreign goods that previously flooded all parts of the East Continent Empire, localization had begun to gradually replace them.
Last year, the East Continent Empire issued over 1.2 billion blue coins in national debt, meaning that each person even carried a debt of nearly three yuan.
Similarly, last year, the Prime Minister's Office invested over 1.7 billion in construction funds, and this money, like sweet rain, nourished this parched land.
Acres of farmland were developed, factories rose, and villages began to appear.
Due to the continuous introduction of indigenous labor, a large number of East Continent citizens were freed from the land; they became either farmers or established small workshops, further promoting the development of the national economy.
The Prime Minister's Office proudly announced that the East Continent Empire achieved self-sufficiency in grain last year, with over 150 million mu of new agricultural land added.
Grain must always be secured first; Fang Mingzhou, from the beginning, took on the largest investment areas of the Prime Minister's Office: education and heavy industry.
The purpose was to use the Prime Minister's Office's limited funds on the most important area: agriculture.
This was not a hundred years later; even the world's economic hegemon, Lighthouse Country, also had vast agricultural lands, and its annual grain exports brought them abundant profits.
To be able to feed 460 million people without them going hungry, even if one searched through history, no dynasty had ever been able to achieve it.
The next step for the Prime Minister's Office was to ensure these 460 million people were well-fed.
As for animal husbandry, with Dongmeng Province returning to the embrace of the East Continent Empire, in the past two years, the entire Dongmeng Province had been completely transformed.
Those herdsmen who were previously like slaves received their own pastures and their own lambs.
This greatly increased their enthusiasm, and with a large number of industrial goods entering Dongmeng Province, their lives also improved day by day.
As long as they could eat their fill and have clothes to wear, no one would be willing to risk their lives to launch an invasion.
The once unstable grasslands now became the East Continent Empire's largest source of meat.
Aside from Dongmeng Province, the stability in the northwestern direction of the Empire also led to a large population migration, but the Prime Minister's Office considered the fragile ecology of this land.
They tried to minimize agricultural development, instead beginning afforestation and large-scale reforestation.
After all, the East Continent Empire no longer lacked land; the fertile land of East Guan Province, exceeding one million square kilometers, was waiting to be cultivated.
The rapid development of industry and agriculture had already placed the East Continent Empire's strength among the world's leaders.
Of course, this was closely related to the East Continent Empire's massive military buildup.
First, in terms of the Army, the Royal Army of the East Continent Empire now had a standing Army of five hundred thousand and an equal number of reserves.
Among them, five hundred thousand regular troops and one hundred fifty thousand National Guard forces.
The National Guard consisted of fifteen divisions; apart from the two divisions in Zhongshu Province, each other province, including overseas colonies, had one division stationed.
Forty-five regular divisions, including thirty infantry divisions, twelve cavalry divisions, two mechanized divisions, plus the independent Central Guard Division.
Additionally, local police forces under the management of the Prime Minister's Office also exceeded two hundred thousand.
The reserve system, which had existed since the founding of the nation, allowed the East Continent Empire to maintain a considerable number of reserve alert forces.
It can be said that East Continent's Army truly fought its way through; in nine years of formation, over twenty thousand officers and soldiers heroically sacrificed their lives.
Secondly, the Navy, as the world's fifth-largest navy, also fought its way through countless battles.
Over twenty million square kilometers of sea territory submitted to the Royal Navy's massive warships.
As for the Air Force, while all other nations were still immersed in airships that blotted out the sky, the Royal Air Force had already begun researching airplanes.
In four years, this land had completed tens of thousands of kilometers of railways, crisscrossing like the veins of a giant's body, closely connecting this vast land.
This is now a powerful East Continent Empire.