"How is the resettlement of the new immigrants going?" Perfikot was leafing through a file on the Flying Airship, her expression relaxed and at ease.
It has been two whole months since the Empire sent the first batch of new immigrants, almost spanning the entire summer.
During this time, Perfikot did not intervene in the resettlement of the new immigrants. After overseeing some matters personally at Beloburg that required her attention, she handed over the remaining tasks to the Northern Territory's administrative officials, allowing them to take charge of everything.
In fact, there was no need for her to intervene personally. After all, the resettlement work is extremely complex and needs to be detailed to each individual. These matters are not ones she, as a Lord, needs to personally involve herself with.
All she needed to do was to have her subordinates handle it while staying vigilant to ensure things wouldn't go awry, and push things forward according to her will.
"They have all been properly settled, providing them with well-paying jobs and corresponding housing as per the Empire's promises." An administrative official answered Perfikot's inquiry earnestly, even though these contents were already noted in the document Perfikot held in her hand.
Perfikot quickly skimmed through the document and casually tossed it on the table before her, her gaze shifting to the porthole outside.
This Flying Airship was not one of those from the Northern Territory; it was a gift from the merchants under Langton.
A specially designed and custom-made luxurious private Flying Airship, a new product recently launched by merchants with airship construction licenses, reportedly selling very well in the Empire, with even the Empress and Eldest Princess Annie each having ordered one.
Of course, Perfikot didn't think Eldest Princess Annie would spend the money herself; it's more likely the Royal Family procured an airship for each member.
As for whether this procurement was real-money purchases or nominal purchases but essentially gifts, Perfikot wasn't concerned about such details.
She only knew these merchants indeed worked hard at making money. Although this luxurious private airship was no better in performance than the one she built herself, it wasn't much inferior either. Moreover, its functionality and interior decoration were even superior.
After all, the airship she built for herself at that time was essentially an experimental function validation aircraft intended for survival, with excellent performance but lacking in living and comfort dimensions...
At that time, Perfikot was just a young lady from a baron family, with limited wealth and resources at her disposal, hence her capabilities were naturally constrained.
Moreover, Perfikot wasn't the type to pursue luxury enjoyment, so naturally, she hadn't considered that aspect when designing the Flying Airship.
Functional sufficiency was enough. Why seek luxury in such times? With the world ending, it was better to bolster one's survivability than chase after enjoyment.
But merchants are different; they pursue profits, so naturally, they add more extra value to the airship.
For instance, the walnut furniture Perfikot was now utilizing or the fine velvet beds in the specially prepared bedroom of the airship.
The last time Perfikot saw similar velvet bedding was in the palace and Windsor Castle.
Though a set of fine velvet bedding wasn't unaffordable for Perfikot, she really wasn't interested in this, nor did she have any desire for such luxury. She just left these matters to her loyal old butler to handle, using whatever Foster prepared.
As for the use of gold, silver, and other precious metals for decoration on this private airship, that goes without saying.
Perfikot even joked after inspecting this airship: If all decorative parts were removed, this airship could reduce weight by 3%. It reflects the considerable effort these merchants put into the decor.
Decorating an airship isn't just about piling luxury materials onto it; one must also consider the airship's load-bearing capacity.
So apart from some replaceable structural decorations, many processes like gilding and silversmithing had to be hollowed out to make the decorations viable.
As for the wallpaper attached to the walls and the wooden flooring laid on the ground, although seemingly inconspicuous, the weight of each material added up substantially to the entire airship.
To use premium materials, one must consider weight reduction and maintaining the airship's strength, finding a suitable balance.
Clearly, these merchants spent a lot of effort on this airship.
However, this gave Perfikot some inspiration too. These merchants could be utilized as a resource; provide them with enough benefits, and they could handle tasks she had no time or convenience to manage.
For example, developing large passenger or cargo airships.
This requires substantial resources and time, which is not complex for Perfikot herself, only needing to spend some adequate effort and time.
But if she hands the project to these merchants and instructs them that the Northern Territory and Empire need to order a batch of such airships, Perfikot is confident they will complete the development task well.
And indeed, from any perspective, the Empire needs a batch of large passenger and cargo airships, crucially important for the impending cold apocalypse.
After all, in the apocalyptic cold, airships are more suitable than any current means of transportation.
Although those merchants have developed large passenger airships, their design is somewhat makeshift; the size isn't sufficiently large to meet Perfikot's requirements.
What she needs is a colossal transport vehicle capable of carrying at least hundreds or even thousands in one go, equivalent to a cruise ship.
But now, the passenger airships traveling between the Northern Territory and the Empire's mainland, limited by technology and scale, though usable, seem somewhat impractical to Perfikot, or it's not quite handy.
Especially their multi-balloon composite design, which feels strained at the limit, making Perfikot uncomfortable.
Thus, she decided to have those merchants design a new one that satisfies her before considering ordering more airships under the Empire's official name.
But all these must be done promptly because time is running short, with only a year and a half left.