As Ye Chen issued imperial decree after imperial decree in the court, the empire's future gradually became clear.
After the grand court assembly ended, Ye Chen had just returned to his sleeping quarters when he heard the voice of the Civilization System ring out in his mind.
"Detected that the Yanhuang Empire has developed to a certain stage. A mission is now being issued.
"Mission: Industrial Revolution.
The Yanhuang Civilization System was intended to help its inheritor advance the civilization system.
A convenient industrial system was destined to replace the primitive system of labor.
As the starting point for opening the technological system, the Industrial Revolution was divided into two stages: the Steam Revolution and the Electricity Revolution.
The inheritor could choose to carry out the two Industrial Revolutions separately and in sequence, or combine them into one. The system would evaluate the difficulty and degree of completion, then determine the final reward.
Mission duration: 100 years.
Basic reward: "First-Generation Human King Body, 500,000 Civilization Points."
Additional reward: "The higher the inheritor raises the empire's civilization level during the mission, the more additional lottery opportunities the inheritor will receive according to the civilization's level."
"As for the level of the lottery opportunity, that will depend on the inheritor."
Friendly reminder: "The advancement of civilization is not necessarily better the faster it goes. Sometimes, by taking one solid step at a time and laying an extremely firm foundation at every stage, you may discover in the future that the gate to the starry sky has already opened."
"First-Generation Human King Body? What does that mean? Is it a divine body?"
Seeing that the mission reward was the First-Generation Human King Body, Ye Chen could not help asking curiously.
In the Super God Universe, the most famous things were the various divine bodies. Seeing that this mission reward was a Human King Body and even had "first-generation" attached to it, it was not difficult to guess that it was probably modeled after the genetic engineering system of the Super God Universe.
"Inheritor, the god-making system of the Super God Universe is essentially a microscopic modification of genes.
"At the same time, it uses Dark Dimension technology as an auxiliary tool to tap into the energy of the vast universe outside, thereby obtaining various abilities. This system has a major drawback: it consumes an enormous amount of energy.
"Moreover, the god-making system is heavily skewed in its development of the body's three treasures of essence, energy, and spirit. It can be said to provide almost no improvement to the soul.
"As for the rewards within the Civilization System, calling them physiques is less accurate than calling them cultivation methods. With the cultivation method supplementing the spirit, they form an inner-world cycle, thereby connecting with the power of the dimensional universe hidden in the depths of the unknown. This allows the inheritor's essence, energy, and spirit to naturally evolve.
"This method is like the cultivation of immortality in the inheritor's memories. It has an extremely high energy-utilization rate, consumes very little energy, and is completely independent of the Dark Dimension.
"And to help the inheritor understand the strength of each level, the system has made a specific classification according to this universe's rules.
"Therefore, the First-Generation Human King Body rewarded to the inheritor has a strength standard equivalent to the peak of a first-generation super soldier in the Super God world.
"And it is a complete hexagonal peak, with every aspect reaching its highest level..."
After hearing the system's explanation, Ye Chen gained a rough understanding of this First-Generation Human King Body.
The system meant that this thing belonged not to the technological side, but to the fantasy side.
Moreover, the Human King Body rewarded by this mission was essentially a physique cultivated through a cultivation method.
After rewarding it to him, the system would help him cultivate until he reached a level comparable to the peak of a first-generation super soldier in the Super God Universe.
And it was a first-generation body with every aspect at its peak. In simple terms, he would be the absolute king among first-generation super soldiers—invincible, and capable of easily defeating ordinary second-generation super soldiers.
Ye Chen then looked at the additional reward and friendly reminder given by the system. The lottery opportunity was easy to understand, but the system's friendly reminder was rather interesting.
Is the system reminding me to develop cautiously and not get reckless? Well, that seems to be exactly what it means.
After all, the higher a civilization advanced, the more difficult each subsequent step became.
If he focused only on raising the civilization level while neglecting everything else, the entire empire would probably become stuck at a certain level and be unable to advance.
Moreover, such prosperity would merely be a castle in the air, an empty shell with nothing beneath the surface.
In that case, his decision not to forcefully accelerate the empire's growth had been correct.
Yanhuang Calendar, Year 145, summer.
The empire's first railway, connecting its northern and southern regions, was completed.
At the same time, the empire's first steam train was finished.
On May 1, the area around the train station east of the empire's Imperial City was packed with people for several miles in every direction.
All of them had come to watch the spectacle. Outside the station, everyone excitedly discussed it.
"Have you heard? That Academy of Sciences of the empire has developed some kind of train. I heard it can travel a thousand li in a single day."
"A train? What kind of vehicle is a train? A vehicle that can run after being lit with fire?"
"You really are uncultured. The emerging industrial knowledge system of the past decade or so—don't you study it at all?
"And hasn't the Imperial Capital Daily explained it? A train is driven by a steam engine. As long as you burn coal, it can keep running..."
"Uh... I can't understand that stuff..."
Seeing the man's expression, as if he did not care at all about the empire's news, the other person could not help scratching his head and laughing awkwardly.
Hearing this, the man was rendered speechless. "Good grief. The empire's five-year compulsory education has now spread across the entire country, yet I can't believe there's still an escaped illiterate like you.
"By the way, buddy, where's your family from?"
"Xing'an Province. Why?"
"That explains it. That place in Xing'an Province was incorporated into the empire only a few years ago..."
Several hours earlier.
After receiving word in the imperial palace that both the train and the railway had been completed, Ye Chen closed the document in his hand and said with a smile, "Yuan Long, make the arrangements."
"Yes!!"
Upon hearing Ye Chen's words, Yuan Long, who had been attending him nearby, immediately acknowledged the order before quickly leaving to make the arrangements.
As the emperor of a nation, Ye Chen's outings were extremely complicated. Although troublesome, they were indispensable.
After all, there could be no mistake where Ye Chen's safety was concerned. Although the empire's crude firearms could not possibly injure him with its current level of weapons, it was better to be safe than sorry.
No one dared to gamble on whether someone might be capable of harming Ye Chen. Likewise, Ye Chen did not dare to gamble on it either, because doing so would not only be irresponsible to himself, but also irresponsible to the empire's millions of common people.
Ye Chen was the core of the Yanhuang Empire. It could be said that if anything happened to him, the entire empire would instantly fall apart.
That was because he had never had any children and had no way to pass the empire on.
He had been in this world for more than a century. From the founding of the nation until now, the enormous imperial palace had never had a harem, much less the legendary three thousand beauties.
Over the years, it was not that the ministers had stopped advising him to take concubines, establish an empress, and leave behind heirs. However, after he outlived batch after batch of ministers, the later ministers stopped mentioning the matter altogether.
As for taking concubines and establishing an empress, it was not that Ye Chen lacked desire in that regard. Rather, he truly could not take a liking to the women of the empire.
After all, with the angel A-Zhui's dazzling beauty setting the standard, how could he possibly take an interest in the ordinary women of the empire?
There was another reason as well: his lifespan was far too long. If he married an ordinary human, his current abilities would be unable to grant her true longevity. At most, he could extend her lifespan somewhat.
In the end, he would still have to watch his loved ones grow old one by one. That was a future he was unwilling to face.
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