The Prosperous Yanhuang Empire, Emperor Ye Wants to Shirk His Responsibilities

From atop the dragon throne, Ye Chen watched these changes unfold before him, his expression utterly impassive.

Clearly, he had long known these effects would manifest.

When the Longevity Liquid was first produced, the very first person Ye Chen bestowed it upon was Long Yu, the current commander of the Imperial Guard.

As his most loyal and devoted personal guard, Ye Chen naturally would not show favoritism.

Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, twenty years passed, arriving at Yanhuang Calendar year 144.

Over those two decades, the Yanhuang Empire grew ever more prosperous.

Imperial Capital City, the very heart of the entire empire, was now incomparably bustling and magnificent.

Standing atop the city wall of the Imperial Palace, Ye Chen clasped his hands behind his back, clad in a simple black silk robe. His gaze fell upon the thriving Imperial Capital below, and he remained silent for a long moment.

"This is the empire Imperial We have built with Our own hands—a golden age. Now the realm is at peace, the people's hearts are won, and the education system is complete. After twenty years, the empire's pool of talent is sufficient. It is time to begin the first Industrial Revolution."

As his words fell, Ye Chen's gaze pierced through the endless void, across the vast ocean, as if he could see that land of Huaxia.

According to the fleets he had dispatched over the years, some had successfully reached the opposite shore—the land of Zhonghua.

Based on the reports sent back, Huaxia over there should currently be in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty period. Before long, the Ming Dynasty would likely fall.

Following the course of history, the Qing Dynasty would be next. He planned to wait until the empire completed its Industrial Revolution before crossing the sea to Huaxia.

When that time came, he intended to personally overthrow the Ming Dynasty—or perhaps the Qing Dynasty—and then merge Huaxia into the Yanhuang Empire, beginning a sweep across the entire world.

This ambition was evident from the very fact that he had named the empire the Yanhuang Empire.

Although he knew that remnants of the Deno Star System still existed over in Huaxia, he was not worried that they would hinder him.

Because, constrained by the presence of the Angels, they simply dared not interfere in the dynastic changes among mortals.

In this regard, the Righteous Order of the Angel Civilization was a good thing—at least for civilizations like Earth, which could not even step into the stars, it was very friendly.

The Righteous Order was like a double-edged sword. It was extremely beneficial for low-level civilizations, ensuring they would not be strangled in the cradle while weak. But for powerful civilizations, it was a shackle.

It firmly locked down the advancement of higher civilizations, ultimately affecting all high-level civilizations in the universe—especially troublemakers like Karl, who delighted in stirring up chaos. And this was the true reason the Righteous Order would eventually collapse.

The first grand court assembly after the New Year.

Star Hall.

"Kowtow!!"

"We pay homage to the Emperor."

"Acclamation!!"

"Rise!!"

"We thank the Emperor."

After the formalities were completed, the court assembly officially began.

Ye Chen looked at the assembled officials and spoke in a deep voice: "Ministers, the empire is now stable, and all under heaven is united. In this region, aside from a few remnant tribes still hiding in the great mountains, all other territories have been brought under Yanhuang's rule.

At the same time, it has been over twenty years since the education system was fully established. The empire's illiteracy rate has greatly decreased, and the number of talented individuals within the empire continues to grow..."

"Although the empire is now prosperous, the people are settled, and the national strength has reached its peak, We tell you this: the current empire is still far from strong enough. What you see as a peak is, in Our eyes, merely a beginning."

Hearing Ye Chen's words, the ministers below could not help but show expressions of pride, sharing in the glory.

But when they heard what Ye Chen said next, they were stunned. They had not expected that such a powerful empire, in Ye Chen's eyes, was still far from strong enough—and was merely a beginning.

Thinking this, they all raised their heads to look at Ye Chen on the throne, waiting for his next words to guide their direction.

"Minister Zhao."

"Your subject is here."

"In the days to come, the empire will undergo earth-shaking changes. Ten years ago, We tasked your Academy of Sciences with research. Has it been completed?"

As he spoke, Ye Chen cast an imposing gaze upon Zhao Ximing, the dean of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, who stood below.

Ever since the education system was fully established and the first batch of graduates emerged, Ye Chen had selected a large number of talented individuals from among them to enter the Academy of Sciences, forming the core of scientific researchers, and began building the industrial system.

This laid the foundation for the future development of the Industrial Revolution.

Over the many years, the content of the textbooks in the empire's education system was all purchased by Ye Chen from the system using Civilization Points—modern materials that he then rewrote to suit the current conditions of the Yanhuang Empire.

Thus, the first generation of literate people in the empire were all Ye Chen's students—truly disciples of the Son of Heaven.

That first batch of students was the seed of the Yanhuang Empire. After a hundred years, one gave birth to two, two to three, three to all things. Over decades, this radiated across the entire empire, reducing the illiteracy rate year by year.

Zhao Ximing, upon hearing Ye Chen's words, immediately declared in a clear voice: "Reporting to Your Majesty, after ten years of effort, using the materials you provided, we have already developed a complete construction plan. The Empire's first railway and first train are nearly finished."

Indeed, Ye Chen intended to kick off the industrial system with transportation; for the Empire to develop quickly, transport was indispensable.

As for why, despite having the system, he didn't spend some Civilization Points to exchange finished products for the Academy of Sciences to study—

There were two reasons.

First, he was very poor. As the Empire advanced toward the industrial age, the things and technical materials he would need to exchange in the future were numerous, and his current Civilization Points were far from sufficient. Moreover, he wanted to save up to exchange for that great weapon data capable of safeguarding the nation.

Second, the Empire was now at a critical juncture of transitioning to an industrial system. Cultivating the Empire's scientific research foundation was the top priority; there was no need to force premature growth.

Haste makes waste. Sometimes, forcing growth brought temporary benefits but caused harm for ten thousand years.

Because of this, the Empire's people would become too dependent on him, while stifling the Empire's creativity and the scientific thinking of its talents—it was harmful in countless ways.

Therefore, Ye Chen exchanged a large amount of foundational scientific research materials and study data, letting the people at the Academy of Sciences research, think, and figure out how to make things work, thereby cultivating their scientific thinking and creativity.

In this way, as generation after generation of researchers pressed forward, the number of scientific talents would only increase, and scientific thought would flourish ever more.

Next, besides the railway transport issue, he also planned to lay cement roads extensively across the Empire to boost transport efficiency.

Cement roads had existed in the Empire for a long time, but only between major cities. As for why they weren't widely laid—it was mainly because the Empire had no money.

Poor, poor, poor!!

Since the Yanhuang Empire was founded, the word "poor" had run through the entire nation. Sometimes Ye Chen wished he could split one coin into ten to spend.

After the Empire's establishment, Ye Chen's energy had all gone into education, as well as how to increase the population and ensure the people's food and shelter.

After all, population was the most important thing for a country. Without enough people, wanting to develop was nothing but a joke.

According to current statistics, the Yanhuang Empire now had a population of twenty-three million.

From less than a million at the start to tens of millions now, just to feed so many people, Ye Chen worked himself to exhaustion every day, handling all kinds of Empire affairs late into the night, his mind solely focused on how to keep these people alive.

At the same time, he had to personally train officials and civilize the local natives.

To be honest, if it weren't for the system's Super Healing Ability, he probably would have died from overwork.

Now, all he wanted to say was: being an Emperor is damn exhausting, and he really wanted to throw in the towel.

But unfortunately, as the Empire, nurtured by his own hands, grew more prosperous and thriving, the lives of tens of millions of people all rested on his shoulders. Every time he had the thought of giving up, he felt an immense sense of responsibility.

Or perhaps, he simply couldn't bear to let go.

After all, he had been toiling for nearly decades. If he gave up now, wouldn't all that hard work go down the drain?

So he just endured, bit by bit, for a hundred years, until the thought of quitting never crossed his mind again.

Because he had grown used to the exhaustion—or rather, he had unknowingly become a qualified Emperor.