When the granaries are full, the people know propriety; when food and clothing are sufficient, they know honor and disgrace; when the ruler observes proper measure, the six relations are stable (Monthly Ticket Request)

"Good evening, Lord Yun Chuan."

Amid the rippling sounds of the lake breeze and waves, the two men standing guard before the gate bowed slightly and spoke respectfully to Yun Chuan: "Please present your identification."

A moat several zhang wide, and a wall ten zhang high and over eight zhang thick—Yahiko and Konan's mouths hung slightly open.

This wall and moat alone might not stop the ninja of Amegakure, but they would be enough to dissuade most bandits from even thinking of raiding.

When had a small city suddenly appeared here out of nowhere?

Hadn't the Lord and those officials noticed anything?

Yun Chuan was practically building a nation right under their noses!

Those useless fools were truly beyond saving!

Just as Yahiko was still marveling at this, the guard's words snapped him back to reality.

"Huh? Present what identification?"

As if he'd heard something unbelievable, Yahiko's eyes went wide, and he watched Yun Chuan pull out a card with a smile and hand it over.

It was a card engraved with some characters, its surface bearing strange patterns.

After one of them examined it, they stepped back slightly, making way for Yun Chuan and his group, and handed him a black umbrella. "Apologies, Lord Yun Chuan. Please forgive us."

"No need for that." Yun Chuan took the umbrella, shook his head, and smiled. "You did well. It's just your duty."

With that, under the watchful eyes of the two guards, he opened the umbrella and walked into the city where scattered rain drifted.

Passing through the city gate, the wide bluestone road made the little ones pause for a moment, as if they'd arrived at a capital.

No—it looked even cleaner and more orderly than any capital they'd seen before!

"Hey, Yun Chuan-ge."

Glancing back one last time at the two guards, Yahiko sidled up to Yun Chuan and asked in a low voice: "Are you sure this is a city you built? Why do you need to show ID to get into your own home?"

"...I didn't build it." Yun Chuan shot him a look, replying with a bored dismissiveness. "I built it together with everyone."

Tch.

Yahiko curled his lip in disdain, grumbling inwardly: If you led the building, just say you built it. Why drag in 'everyone'?

This guy sure knows how to put on airs!

"You'll both need to register for household registration later. Only with the ID can you come and go..."

At that, Yun Chuan shot Yahiko a warning look and added: "Also, those two are men with a strong sense of duty. Even if I tried to force my way in, they'd find a way to drag me back. So you'd better behave!"

Of course, setting aside whether they could actually catch him, if that happened, they'd probably commit suicide to atone afterward.

After all, "duty is duty," and "the master's disgrace is the servant's death."

There was no need to explain that to Yahiko—even if he did, the kid wouldn't understand.

"Got it!" Yahiko drawled in response, then asked, "What's household registration?"

"Mainly your name, date of birth, relatives, marital status, and such." Yun Chuan explained simply. "All you need to know is that it helps reduce the chance of spies and undercover agents slipping in."

He did have some talented individuals under his command.

The so-called "household registration ID" wasn't just a card that could be easily forged. It was a form of identity verification with a special encryption method, extremely hard to crack or detect, and it recorded detailed information like height and appearance.

And those two unremarkable-looking men at the gate—before meeting Yun Chuan—had been rogue ninja forced out because they couldn't accept Hanzo's ideology. Both possessed sensory secret techniques.

Unless it was someone like Orochimaru, who had undergone soft-body modifications, using the B-rank forbidden technique "Vanishing Facial Copy Technique" with a real human face, it would be hard to fool those two with simple disguises or transformation jutsu.

Of course, if someone's illusion skills were strong enough to ensnare them without their notice, there was no counter for now.

Fortunately, their presence wasn't yet strong enough to make them a thorn in anyone's side. Once Yun Chuan found more suitable replacements later, that would be fine.

"The Uzumaki Clan feels like a good fit," Yun Chuan mused inwardly. "Guarding the gate is a vital job too!"

But beyond reducing the risk of spies, undercover agents, and infiltrators, household registration also brought huge benefits for taxation, population management, and conscription—making it easier to conduct censuses, adjust population structure, gender ratios, and so on.

The sooner this kind of thing was set up, the better. It could divide people into occupations like "scholar," "farmer," "artisan," and "merchant." Later, when the group grew too large to manage, each subdivision could be handled by its own department.

To tailor the household registration system to reality, he'd spent quite a bit of effort and words back then, so naturally he had to set a good example.

"Lord Yun Chuan! You're back!"

Though a light drizzle still hung in the air, the village seemed lively.

Some people had set up small rain shelters, while shops had put up awnings, bustling with loud hawking inside.

As Yun Chuan was lost in thought, they'd unknowingly arrived in front of a tavern. The woman at the door lit up when she saw him.

"Have you eaten? Want some late-night snacks?"

Yun Chuan snapped back to reality, recognized the woman, and smiled warmly. "Good evening, Mrs. Yoshikawa. But no late-night snacks for me—I'm not used to four meals a day."

Just as the woman was about to say something, a shout came from inside the tavern.

"Mrs. Yoshikawa! We're out of sake! Bring another bottle! Made some money today, so I'm drinking my fill!"

"Stop your nagging, you old drunkard! Coming right up! I'll have to excuse myself for now, Lord Yun Chuan!"

"Please, don't mind me." Yun Chuan waved lightly, his expression a bit helpless.

"Lord Yun Chuan, you've brought back four more poor children this time?"

"Yeah, since I saw them, I couldn't just leave them be. I'll have to trouble you all again to help look after these little brats."

"As gentle as ever, Lord Yun Chuan!"

"..."

Along that short stretch into the village, whether merchants or commoners, everyone greeted him with a smile, or came over to chat a bit, and tried to force something into Yun Chuan's hands.

This left Yun Chuan, who was leisurely leading the few little ones, unable to bear it. He waved his hands in surrender repeatedly, but it didn't do a bit of good.

Yahiko, who had been watching the commotion with a grin, grew uncomfortable under their enthusiasm.

In the end, the group simply broke into a run, and only when they had left the designated commercial district did people stop crowding around.

Because they had reached the "residential area" that was still under expansion.

The pungent smell of cement, the dull thuds of hauling, the noisy shouts of workers...

"Keep at it! Almost done... Hey! You old bastard! Where are you going? Watch your feet! If you break a leg right under my nose, Lord Yun Chuan will tear my bones apart!"

The men worked with their backs to the sky and faces to the earth, carrying loads of sand and gravel on their shoulders while lugging two buckets in their hands. A foreman in a hat directed them from all sides.

The rain in the air, carrying a hint of chill, did nothing to dampen their resolve.

"This... it's a strange feeling."

Staring at the scene before them—a place in ruins yet bursting with astonishing vitality—Yahiko and the others couldn't help but feel an inexplicable awe.

"I came here with my father three years ago."

Jiyun's eyes flickered slightly, her tone odd. "If I remember right, back then, this place was still being ravaged by Mountain Bandits. It was so rundown it wasn't even as good as an ordinary village. But now..."

If the Rain Capital was like a steel jungle, with towering spires and exposed pipes everywhere, looking cold and imposing at first glance but messy after a while, Then this small town before them might not match the capital in size, but it had already surpassed most cities and villages. Especially the scene of bustling labor before them, which far exceeded the little ones' imagination.

Standing here and looking out, though there were many pipes on the buildings, they could tell everything had been planned—no haphazard jumble.

The buildings didn't differ much in size, only in style, and there was no chaotic feel at a glance. Clearly, strict standards were in place, with interior customizations done afterward.

They even saw that if a worker didn't meet the standards, the supervisor would curse them out thoroughly, and those workers could only smile wryly and beg for mercy.

"Brother Yun Chuan, this..." Konan's face was full of confusion and surprise, and she asked curiously, "How did you get them to be so self-disciplined and obedient?"

In her sparse memories, these workers were usually low-quality, often slacking off and refusing to listen unless threatened.

"Hmm, explaining it is a bit complicated." Yun Chuan narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and said, "To put it simply, it comes down to one sentence."

"What?" Yahiko stepped forward instinctively and blurted out.

"When the granaries are full, the people know propriety; when food and clothing are sufficient, the people know honor and disgrace; when the leader follows the rules, the six relations are stable."

At these words, Yahiko's pitifully small brain short-circuited on the spot.

Granaries full what propriety? Know what and what? Leader follows what relations stable?

He understood every word individually, but put together, it made no sense!

"The meaning of this sentence is..."

Yun Chuan sighed, rubbed his head hard, and laughed. "Only when the granaries are full do people know propriety; only when food and clothing are ample do people understand honor and disgrace; when the leader follows the system, those below learn from it."

Hearing this, unlike Yahiko, who stood frozen as if struck by lightning, Jiyun furrowed her brow briefly before giving up on thinking.

She didn't need to understand these principles that seemed to have no meaning.

She only needed to know...

When the whole world is a locked room, the one with the key is the "king."