At the evening assembly, a middle-aged man fell to his knees, sobbing. "I killed my own son and indirectly caused my wife's death."
"My wife needed medical treatment, but I had no money, so I could only sell my son to the Demon Race."
"When I got home, my wife had hanged herself."
"I was useless. If only I could have earned a little more."
Gerd's voice was nearly hoarse from speaking.
Lynn could only step in and take over. "Why didn't you have any money?"
"My job didn't pay enough to cover my wife's treatment."
"How much did you make a month?"
"Ten silver coins."
"Ten silver coins wasn't enough to pay for her treatment?"
"That's right."
"What were your household expenses back then?"
"Eight tenths went to housing and taxes. The remaining two tenths went to medical treatment."
"Why did housing and taxes take up eight tenths?"
"Housing only took up one tenth. The other seven tenths went to taxes."
"You paid that much in taxes?"
"I lived in the Western Territory. There was a tax for fighting the Demon Race, property tax, taxes taken out of my wages, and church taxes."
"Isn't this the fault of the world?" Lynn grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. "You people—have you never realized that this world is to blame?"
Lynn looked at the crowd's eyes, hungry for reassurance. "You all say you're guilty. This was supposed to be a speech about freedom, but now we're talking about what makes someone guilty."
"Everyone, listen up!"
"If you live in comfort and suffer no oppression, then when you commit a crime, you're guilty!"
"But!"
"But!"
"If you've tried your hardest and still can't survive, then this world is the one that's fucking guilty!"
"If the outside world turns people rotten, then this world is the one that's fucking to blame!"
"If a world turns people into devils, shouldn't we smash it to pieces?"
"So!"
"So."
"So I'm going to build a new society. I want you to follow me. I want you to work alongside me. I want you to become followers of freedom, democracy, and fraternity!"
"I will create a new concept: the Aningsbe people. We will uphold the Supremacy of Science, live frugally, and help one another for the sake of the collective."
"Under the flag and laws of Aningsbe, we will gain our freedom!"
"I will lead you in resisting oppression. I will lead you in transforming society. What I say is no empty promise!"
"I will prove it through action. Even if you don't understand what I'm saying yet, that doesn't matter. You only need to understand what you need to!"
"I will create a beautiful world!"
"I want you to have free housing! I want you to have enough to live and work in peace!"
"I want you to have farmland!"
That night was only the beginning. At least the Department of Culture and Propaganda had finally opened a door.
Whether people had heard clearly or understood didn't matter.
Speeches and propaganda only needed to be repeated over and over, constantly hammering home things that couldn't be any simpler.
The next day, the streets were covered with Tricolor flags. Party members performed a shared hand salute, a silent language that kept telling people they belonged to a collective.
This ritual soon spread to every corner of Aningsbe. After all, the place wasn't very big.
The work of propaganda and culture continued.
Ideological fervor needed two things.
First, the social environment had to be terrible.
Second, an Upright Official had to arrive and bring the light.
"Next is the report from the Department of Culture and Propaganda. Your Excellency, Grand Commander Lynn!"
"First, based on our propaganda over the past few days, I propose that we fulfill what we promised as soon as possible and build it for them to see, so they'll believe that such a society really exists." Gerd raised his right hand, his eyes alight with fervor, though also tinged with a little hope.
Lynn knew perfectly well that Gerd had no way to fulfill those promises. Besides, Gerd had only been following his instructions. He, too, was hoping Lynn would make good on the hopes he'd offered.
"Gerd, I've already written up the documents. Take a look." Lynn yawned and handed him the papers, dark circles under his eyes.
Paradox Players had a global view. Lynn didn't. Fortunately, he'd often stayed up late playing games before, so he still had the energy to push through.
A lot of things couldn't be done with a few clicks of the mouse like they could in a game.
Gerd took the documents and read Lynn's preliminary plan.
Agricultural Cooperatives, plus a dual-track system for land distribution.
People would only protect what they owned.
From the perspective of human nature, distributing farmland was the best choice.
But from the perspective of development, collective farming was the most beneficial.
Lynn planned to use a dual-track system.
First, give everyone a plot of farmland, but not too much—just enough for each person to eat their fill.
Second, underground mineral resources would belong to the collective, but the government would have to compensate the owners of the land when it mined them.
Third, enact the Housing Act. People shouldn't have to scramble for a place to live, so when distributing farmland, we would also build houses and give them to people for free. This would gradually replace the current communal dormitory system. Humans might be social animals, but living in dormitories forever would make them depressed sooner or later. Private space was important.
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