Xiaolan Was a Qualified "Farmer"

Nuoding City.

Although the Continental Elite Tournament has ended, the excitement in this small town has not subsided. On the contrary, it will remain very lively in the coming months and even years.

Spies from various factions, large and small, arrived in Nuoding City, some to acquire properties, others to gather information, and some even joined Nuoding Academy.

The number of high-level Soul Master is also increasing.

Nuoding Academy Dean followed Zhou Qing's advice, accepting all comers. Under the guidance of teachers such as Bu Yi and Mo Hen, he sought advice from these high-level Soul Master, subtly learning about the operating model of the Advanced Academy and making appropriate changes based on their existing systems.

However, the city lord Romanyac was somewhat alarmed by the large number of Soul Master appearing in the city, including even Soul Return Sect and Soul King level beings.

"Dad, don't worry. It's better with them around. Maybe Nuoding City can develop into a city comparable to the main city in a way that is hard for ordinary people to imagine."

Romantina went home and advised her father to have a longer-term perspective and not to lose his courage when meeting those high-level Soul Master.

"You make it sound so easy..."

Romanyac was speechless. After all, his daughter had grown to a level he couldn't understand, and even won the championship of this year's Continental Elite Tournament under Zhou Qing's guidance.

But he's only a minor Soul Elder right now!

How could he not be nervous when facing those Soul Ancestor, Soul King, and even the occasional Soul Emperor and Soul Saint?

"What are you afraid of?"

Romantina offered a suggestion, "Dad, just act like you normally do at work. Those outside Soul Master are only after our secret to power. They represent different forces behind them, so naturally they don't want other forces to get it. They might even start fighting among themselves."

"I now seriously suspect that you're just trying to stir up trouble!" Romanyac was speechless.

"Then I'll invite Senior Poison Douluo to visit my home more often."

Romantina had an idea.

Poison Douluo escorted Xiaolan and the other students back to the Holy Soul Village area. Out of curiosity, he stayed in the area for two or three months and has not yet returned to Heaven Dou City.

During this period, spending more time with him will surely deter petty people.

"That's all we can do."

Romanyac nodded seemingly helplessly, but a hint of joy flickered in his eyes—with Titled Douluo backing him up, his prestige would undoubtedly be greatly enhanced...

···

At the same time.

Inside the Hope Primary School in Holy Soul Village.

Zhou Qing then examined the learning outcomes of the thirty-six trainees on this trip and asked them to share their insights on how to govern a city well.

Regardless of whether they gained any constructive insights, we must examine what they learned from this trip.

Finally, after discussion, Xiaolan, as the representative of the thirty-six trainees, stood up to speak.

"Teacher, based on our comprehensive consideration of the environment, economy, politics, and culture of the various cities and villages we visited along the way, our thirty-six trainees have discovered that to govern a city well, the following principles need to be followed—"

"First point: adapt to local conditions."

"This is something you often say, teacher. Every city and village has a different geographical location and natural environment. It is necessary to develop according to the local resources and find a suitable place for development so that the local residents can benefit. Only in this way can we mobilize their enthusiasm and give them hope for life."

"With hope in sight, a series of systems and rules that can protect the personal safety and property of residents can be established, and effective management can be implemented. After enjoying the benefits of the system, residents will also spontaneously maintain it and cooperate with the managers."

"The Two Great Empires today both adopt the method of herding the people, without considering whether the common people can have enough to eat, only caring about whether they are still alive... As a result, they do not understand, or rather, do not think about how to truly develop local resources so that the common people can live better."

Limited resources?

Actually, that's not the case. A large portion of the resources simply haven't been developed; otherwise, even if the continent's population increased dozens of times, it would still be more than enough.

Zhou Qing nodded and asked, "And the second point?"

"The second point is that it must be sustainable and keep getting better."

Xiaolan said, "Just like planting rice, one season after another, it can be developed sustainably."

The same principle applies to the taxes levied on the people by the nobles of the Two Great Empires; however, most of those nobles were unwilling to put much thought into this matter.

We ordinary people grow rice and have to go to the fields every day to tend to it, weeding, pest control, and fertilizing, in order to make the rice grow better. Even Teacher Tang San is now researching grain varieties in order to increase the yield and variety of grains.

However, those nobles didn't understand. They wouldn't take care of us commoners as carefully as we take care of our rice fields; they would just take grain from us periodically.

In fact, we are not against them collecting taxes; what we are against is that they take away most of our hard-earned income after not giving us much benefit.

In the past, Xiaolan would have believed that the Heaven Dou Empire collected taxes to support its army in order to fight against the Star Luo Empire and protect their safety.

But now that they understand the concept of class, Xiaolan and the other thirty-five people realize that the war Two Great Empires is not for the sake of making life better for them, the common people, but for the glory of the nobles and the desire for conquest.

And all the taxes collected from civilians are used for the military?

No!

A large portion of it must have been used for the enjoyment of the nobility!

Xiaolan used to think that this was how it should be.

Now--

She felt that this was what Teacher Zhou Qing called "exploitation".

Even if war broke out Two Great Empires, it was merely a conflict between nobles, while the common people were simply being coerced and morally blackmailed.

"And the third point?"

Zhou Qing then asked.

"Thirdly, it is necessary to establish a suitable and sound system to ensure the implementation of the above two points."

Without rules, nothing can be accomplished.

Xiaolan believes this is necessary.

"Once the rules are set, should they be changed?" Zhou Qing asked again.

"It needs to be changed."

Xiaolan's eyes were serious. "After all, once the rules become unsuitable, they naturally need to be changed. Blindly following them will only lead to losses. Just like the concept of Aura Field, water flows, wind blows, and even the earth shakes and changes due to earthquakes. The Aura Field will naturally change accordingly. So the rules set by people must also be constantly changed, checked for omissions and filled in, so that they can last, or even be eternal."

Zhou Qing's eyes were serious. "Then, what if it was me, or your teacher, Tang San, who set the rules?"

Xiaolan's eyes flickered.

If the rules set by Zhou Qing and Tang San are outdated, should they be changed?

If I were to change it, wouldn't that be going against my teacher's wishes?

But if we don't change it and everyone follows it, won't we fall behind the world when the rules become outdated?

Close your eyes!

For a long while!

Xiaolan firmly stated, "It must be changed!"

Zhou Qing smiled and clapped his hands, saying, "Tang San has taken on a good disciple... I hope I can really see that day."

So that's how it is!

Uncle Wang's son, who was sitting in the last row, suddenly realized what was going on.

Just as Zhou Qing was about to start pointing out the shortcomings in Xiaolan's methods of city management, he suddenly stood up and shouted, "Brother Qing, I have a rebuttal!"

"What?" Zhou Qing raised an eyebrow, wanting to see what kind of logic this Uncle Wang's son could come up with.

"I don't want to go to class, I want to go out and play!"

"······"

Zhou Qing was speechless. "You'll have to copy what I said a hundred times later."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The students in the class burst into laughter.

Uncle Wang's son. "..."