Work did not always bring pleasure, but it had to be done. The more important the position, the less one could simply act as one pleased. More often than not, duty demanded that one brace oneself and face it with full attention.
The day after his "fieldside talk" with Lu Yanyu, Zhang Tie took Lu Yanyu—the Quartermaster General in charge of logistics for the entire Western Pacification Protectorate Theater—and the Agricultural Administrator of the Agricultural Administration Hall with him aboard a flying boat to inspect the conditions in Ring Province, Kang Province, Peace Province, and Military Province.
Besides inspecting the official farmlands, Zhang Tie's more important task was to inspect key mines, large industrial production bases, and factories throughout the four provinces.
The responsibilities of the theater's quartermaster service extended beyond food. The weapons for every legion in the theater—from belts, uniforms, and canteens, to ordinary swords, armor, and transport supplies, all the way up to steam tanks, armored vehicles, and all manner of military vehicles—were supplied locally by the theater.
Nearly 480 million Great Xia soldiers had now gathered within the four provinces of the Western Pacification Protectorate. Among them were both Great Xia's Four Upper Armies and the provincial armies of the Western Pacification Protectorate. Supplying the logistics and equipment for so many troops was absolutely no easy task.
Fortunately, Great Xia had deep foundations and the backing of a powerful state apparatus. Once the logistics and military provisions for nearly five hundred million people were spread across the entire Western Pacification Protectorate, they no longer seemed such an insurmountable burden. More than a hundred Class-A major cities supported by equipment manufacturing; thousands of medium and large mines and metallurgical production bases; tens of thousands of supporting industrial factories; over ten billion mu of official farmland; more than