152: Chapter 152 An Unprecedented Reward!

"A reward?"

Upon hearing these two words, Li Mo was momentarily stunned.

Being promoted directly from a second lieutenant to a major general, wasn't that already an immense reward?

One had to understand that this wasn't just a simple promotion in rank; Li Mo was currently serving in The Military, and this major general position was one with actual power.

Once a large-scale war broke out, Zhao Zhenyuan could even promote Li Mo directly to the level of a corps commander.

A corps consisted of about fifty thousand soldiers; what kind of power was that?

It was no wonder the veterans in The Military were unhappy; they had climbed the ranks for so many years and had accumulated countless merits, yet Li Mo, a young man under twenty, had instantly reached a position equal to theirs.

At this moment, Zhao Zhenyuan continued, "This time, Li Mo has rendered great service to our army, so I, the Marshal, have decided to reward him with the operating rights to all mineral resources in the Misibi Mountain Region!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone sitting below stood up in an instant, looking dumbfounded.

The reason was simple: this reward was truly too shocking!

It surpassed any form of commendation in the past!

The mineral resources of the Misibi Mountain Region referred to a star crystal mine that Zhao Zhenyuan had just obtained from Morpheus, several rare metal mines, and quite a few oil fields.

What Li Mo received were the operating rights to all these mineral resources!

What kind of concept was this?

It meant that after the state sent people to extract the minerals, Li Mo could take these minerals to sell them, and in the end, he only needed to return the cost of mining and the raw ore to the state!

This was an immense benefit!

Take that star crystal mine, for example; one had to know that the number of star crystal mines currently held by the entire country could be counted on two hands, and all rights to these star crystal mines belonged to the state.

Currently, these star crystal mines accounted for seventy percent of the country's energy supply!

In other words, star crystal mines were actually assets of national strategic importance!

Yet Li Mo was able to operate a star crystal mine individually in his own name; the potential profit in this was unimaginable.

One had to know that something like a star crystal was something even the Martial God Family coveted, and its utility far exceeded that of money.

Even using money as an example, the profit involved was frighteningly large. For instance, the current cost for the state to mine one kilogram of star crystal ore was about one hundred thousand, while the value of one kilogram of star crystal was about two million.

And when Li Mo sold one kilogram of star crystal, he only needed to give the state that 2.1 million; the rest was his own personal profit.

However, because the state's control over star crystal mines was extremely strict, very little star crystal flowed onto the market. Currently, the average price of one kilogram of star crystal on the domestic market was already approaching ten million or even twenty million per kilogram.

That was at least a 500% profit margin!

Therefore, the shock of the crowd was understandable!

What was even more terrifying was that, besides the star crystal mine, the Misibi Mountain Region also had many rare metal mines and oil fields!

One could put it this way: after today, Li Mo could leap into the top one hundred of the Great Xia rich list, and in time, becoming the number one was not impossible.

Moreover, because he solely held the operating rights to a star crystal mine, those Martial God Family members would definitely seek to purchase from him; how much influence could he accumulate through this?

Even Li Mo himself froze in place.

He never expected that Zhao Zhenyuan would give him such a commendation!

No wonder Zhao Zhenyuan said to let Li Mo distribute the pensions for the fallen soldiers; with the mineral resources of the Misibi Mountain Region, these pensions were simply not worth mentioning to Li Mo.

Furthermore, if Li Mo used his own assets to distribute the pensions, everyone would respect him even more; one could say it was a way to buy people's hearts.

Zhao Zhenyuan had even paved this path for Li Mo.

Li Mo was flattered and said, "Marshal Zhao, this reward is truly too great! I cannot accept it! The resources of the Misibi Mountain Region belong to the country and are the property of the people; I, Li Mo, should not possess them privately!"

It wasn't that Li Mo had such high political awareness; naturally, his promotion from second lieutenant to major general had already made many people jealous, but given Li Mo's achievements, no one would openly show it for the time being.

Moreover, Li Mo believed that in time, he would be worthy of this major general rank.

But the mineral resources of the Misibi Mountain Region were different. He wasn't trying to become a warlord, nor was he trying to claim territory and declare himself king; taking such a piece of land would definitely lead to trouble.

Sure enough, the next second, someone from below raised an objection.

"Marshal Zhao, this is against the rules! Li Mo holding the operating rights to the Misibi Mountain Region all by himself—isn't this benefit a bit too large?"

"Exactly! Marshal Zhao! Since the founding of our army, there has never been such a reward!"

"Marshal Zhao, have you reported this to the government? Will they agree?"

However, facing the crowd's rebuttal, Zhao Zhenyuan's reaction was unquestionable.

He said directly to everyone, "I have already decided on this matter! Whether you question it or oppose it, my mind is made up!"

"I have not reported this to the government, but the Misibi Mountain Region was compensation I secured myself! Does this Marshal not have the right to distribute it?"

Upon hearing these words, the eyes of the crowd became somewhat startled.

Even Li Mo felt a chill run down his back.

Just from Zhao Zhenyuan's words earlier, those who knew understood he was a Great Xia Marshal, but those who didn't might think he was some rebel leader!

Even if he was a Great Xia Marshal, this was a matter concerning state assets; shouldn't the government be consulted?

It wasn't a military issue!

Li Mo's expression also became somewhat awkward; this piece of the Misibi Mountain Region was now like a hot potato—accepting it was problematic, and not accepting it was also problematic.

Seeing Zhao Zhenyuan's stern expression, the other officers could no longer argue and had to sit back down helplessly.

They understood that since Zhao Zhenyuan dared to say this, he wasn't afraid of them reporting it to the government.

Immediately, Zhao Zhenyuan took out a document, which was the certificate for the special operating rights of the Misibi Mountain Region.

He walked up to Li Mo and said slowly, "Li Mo, are you not going to accept it?"

Li Mo was now in a dilemma, so he could only bite the bullet and sign the document.

He didn't understand what exactly Zhao Zhenyuan was up to, so he could only smile awkwardly: "Thank you, Marshal Zhao!"

"Hmm."

Zhao Zhenyuan responded softly and immediately took the lead in applauding.

Then, a thunderous round of applause erupted throughout the entire army.

Afterwards, the commendation meeting ended, and Li Mo, holding the document, returned to the camp with a furrowed brow.

At this time, Zheng Jiahao and the others also arrived at the camp.

Regarding this immense wealth, Zheng Jiahao's concerns were basically the same as Li Mo's.

"Li Mo, this is a business that could cost you your head! An individual holding state assets is unprecedented in the entire history of the New Calendar! I'm afraid the government won't let this matter go so easily!"

Xu Feng said more directly, "No, what does this Marshal Zhao want to do? Does he want to rebel? Even if he wants to rebel, he should go do it himself; why drag us into it?"