Li Wei actually had no idea that he was extremely popular among the Empire's military researchers.
It had nothing to do with his looks, of course. It was mostly a matter of self-interest.
As mentioned before, as the Empire expanded, Li Wei had brought back many entirely new raw materials, and the Empire's military research and development had continued to advance.
But there was one major problem.
Military weapons ultimately had to be used in actual combat.
Especially with guns and artillery, no matter how impressive their specifications looked on paper, nobody knew whether they could deliver that ideal performance in battle.
The Empire had tested some of its weapons during the earlier wars in Cront and Francis, but others remained untested.
Now that the wars were over, the normal course of action would have been to gradually reduce military investment and put more funding into public welfare and civil administration. After all, there were no more wars to fight. Where were they supposed to find a battlefield to test their weapons?
Li Wei had provided the answer.
The wars against humans were over, but the wars against monsters had only just begun!
And in many cases, fighting monsters was more intense than fighting humans, making it even easier to test new weapons!
The same went for the Empire's soldiers. War was naturally the only way for a soldier to get ahead. But fighting fellow humans was ultimately mentally exhausting. Unless someone was psychologically twisted, few wanted to kill their own kind at every turn.
Fighting monsters came with none of that psychological pressure. As long as they survived, they could earn a promotion! Those who performed exceptionally well could even become officers! After all, fighting mysterious creatures required experience, and the more experienced soldiers they had, the better.
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