Worldly Affairs

How many people have to die before the guards realize they shouldn't cause trouble at the city gate?

Every time I enter Ping City, I can never do it peacefully.

Maybe next time I should break their bones but not kill them; perhaps the warning would be stronger?

Yan Qing watched Gai Louxian approach while pondering whether the game system allowed for 'stopping short' of a fatal blow.

Facing a second-class The Herald, an unranked small fry has basically no chance of resisting, but waiting for death isn't Yan Qing's style, so 'Night Four' picked up the dead guard's spear.

Seeing 'Night Four's' actions, the knight behind Gai Louxian wanted to rush over, but the old general raised a hand, and the knights obediently stopped.

Gai Louxian didn't seem worried that 'Night Four' would attack him, letting the old horse carry him into the spear's attack range.

"Why did you have to kill him?" he asked with slight curiosity, "Charging a bit more for the city entry fee isn't a capital crime, is it?"

"He knew that auntie," Yan Qing replied, "I caused the trouble, so I can't make things difficult for others."

"That makes sense."

Gai Louxian nodded thoughtfully, pulled the reins, and turned towards the city, "Follow me; if you dare to run, they will chase after you and kill you."

Yan Qing felt this scene was a bit familiar.

Don't tell me, you Northern Border people, do you all love this kind of thing?

However, Gai Louxian didn't go to the military camp but went to a restaurant. He sat at one table, the four knights at another, and Yan Qing naturally didn't care, sitting opposite him casually. Whatever dishes were served, 'Night Four' would eat one and store one in the public warehouse—dinner tonight was settled!

"Are you Ding Ling? Or Kusai Te?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm asking where you're from."

"I'm from the village outside the city, that abandoned village. I returned after many years away, only to find the village was gone."

"Then what do you want to do entering the city?"

"Find a way to get into the military camp."

Yan Qing answered honestly, but what he thought and what Gai Louxian thought were obviously different.

"I can take you into Bai Bao."

"I want to clear Secret Realms every day."

Gai Louxian wasn't surprised, "You want to become The Herald?"

"Who wouldn't?"

"Then you better change your temper. Bullying those below you is fine, but if you treat nobles with the same attitude, you might as well be a common soldier."

"I won't change. When I cause trouble, you can just kill me then." Yan Qing thought he'd farm dungeons for as many days as he could.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, you little brat, I've never seen anyone as arrogant as you. How have you lived this long without being beaten to death?" Gai Louxian said with a laugh, "You really suit my temper! Fine, if you cause big trouble, I'll be the first to kill you!"

"It's a deal."

"It's a deal!"

At this moment, several guards entered the eatery, shouting for the boss to bring good wine and food, clearly behaving like thugs. Noticing 'Night Four's' gaze, Gai Louxian said, "Actually, these city gate guards don't have it easy. If they don't skim a little from their positions, they probably can't even support their families. Go easy on them in the future."

But Yan Qing didn't buy it: "Why don't they have it easy?"

"Because their monthly salaries aren't much."

"Then why aren't their monthly salaries much? Just with the Secret Realm, Bai Bao could let everyone in the city live a life without worrying about food and clothing, right? Bai Bao is rolling in wealth, doesn't even share a little with Ping City?"

If the Bai Bao military camp was a big house, then Ping City was practically a latrine. Yan Qing had seen Bai Bao's methods of 'sweeping' the Secret Realm. Copying the Zheng Family once a day, three hundred and sixty times a year—three hundred and sixty Zheng Families are equal to several Ping Cities!

Even if the Bai Bao military camp had to offer many resources as tribute, wood, bricks, tiles, pigs, sheep, cattle, and grain couldn't possibly be offered as tribute as well. Even a little bit of these building materials and food leaking out would be enough to feed everyone in Ping City. High salaries might not necessarily foster integrity, but only low salaries would drive people to greed for a few coins of entrance fee from grandmothers.

Gai Louxian paused: "You seem to know quite a bit about the Secret Realm. Was your father a Bai Bao? Or a Thousand Commander?"

Actually, Yan Qing was just probing. If the Qi Kingdom only had one or two Secret Realms, then Gai Louxian would definitely say straightforwardly that this or that was insufficient. But Gai Louxian's attitude indicated that the Qi Kingdom controlled quite a few Secret Realms, and the output inside was enough to support the entire country without any problems.

Seeing 'Night Four' not speaking, Gai Louxian thought for a while, then sighed softly: "Few people in the country think like you. They all wish they could hide everything about the Secret Realm... Do you know how big the gap is between the Herald and ordinary people?"

Before Yan Qing could say he knew, Gai Louxian pulled out the dagger from his waist. As he rubbed it with his palm, the dagger was kneaded into a small ball of iron.

"My insignia, Copper Skin Armor." Gai Louxian let him see the copper-colored lining he was wearing: "With this insignia, I alone can flatten bandit dens and suppress rebellious armies. But even if ordinary people get my insignia, they can't unleash the effect of the Copper Skin."

"As long as the Herald is around, whether the common people rebel or resist taxes, they can't stir up any waves."

"Although we levy taxes, even if they don't farm, we can still have plenty of meat and fish."

"The government will conscript them for corvée labor, but that's something administrative officials need to consider. Many martial meritocrats don't care."

"Apart from serving us as servants, the common people have almost no other value to us. They're like weeds, it's okay to have them, it's okay not to have them."

Yan Qing was a little puzzled: "Since you don't care about their output, why do you still levy taxes?"

Gai Louxian pointed to the meat, eggs, and milk on the table.

"Because to become a Herald, you either have to be able to read, or have a good body." Gai Louxian said calmly: "We have to make sure the common people don't starve to death."

Not starve to death.

But that's all, don't even think about eating your fill.

Job advancement requires honing skills, so let ordinary people have no time and energy to hone skills. Exploit the common people, make the low-level officials harm each other, and frequently conscript them for corvée labor to keep them busy, so as to minimize the birth of 'wild Heralds'.

This world clearly has dungeons, a nearly infinite resource, and there is also the power of the Herald that transcends mortals, but the ordinary people in this world may actually live even more miserably, because the superiors have more absolute violence, but have no need for ordinary people.

Yan Qing pointed to the boss with the Central Plains Person face, "Just because they are Central Plains Person?"

Gai Louxian laughed: "What are you saying? Weren't you poor before? Whether you're a Central Plains Person or a Northern Border person, as long as you're poor, you have to pay taxes honestly."

"And our Qi Kingdom is already very good, at least there are still many farmers. Look at the Liang Kingdom to the south, ordinary people can't even farm unless they become tenant farmers or servants of aristocratic families. There are almost no commoners in the south, only slaves."

"If you want to change this world a little, restrain your temper and work hard to climb up. Like Pengcheng King governing Cangzhou, there are no thieves within the territory, and officials don't deceive people."

Next is the boring time of entering the military camp to practice skills. Yan Qing directly handed it over to the system to manage. He has more important things to do.

Gai Louxian mentioned the Liang Kingdom to the south, allowing Yan Qing to capture the fleeting inspiration just now—

Right, he doesn't need to keep stubbornly sticking to the Evernight Sky's subsidiary areas; he can go to Jiang Nan or Chang'an to open up new maps.

More importantly, he can create a smurf account to scout out information in Chang'an, and even help him steal the Bingzi Jiaolin together in four days!

Thanks to Dream-Seeking Meow for the alliance leader!