Douluo Economics

Spirit Hall is a typical regime that integrates politics and religion, although the people of the Douluo Continent do not seem to believe in the Angel God all that much.

The farmers living under the jurisdiction of Spirit Hall lead relatively decent lives; compared to the slave system under the aristocratic politics of the two great empires, Spirit Hall is still a bit too feudal.

The farmers in the two great empires cannot even be called farmers; they are serfs under the thumb of the kingdom's nobility.

Not only does the ownership of all land belong to the kingdom, but they also lack personal freedom, essentially serving as the property of the nobles. Whether they can eat a full meal depends entirely on the whims of their noble masters.

Spirit Hall, however, is a very complex polity; Qian Xunqian prefers to call it a semi-feudal, semi-imperialist state.

It is semi-feudal because the basic production revenue of Spirit Hall still relies on farmers tilling the land.

However, every year, Spirit Hall must build or renovate Spirit Awakening Halls across the Douluo Continent, and it must also provide subsidies to spirit masters.

Such a massive sum of money is not something a Spirit Hall the size of the Bala Kingdom could afford by relying solely on land rent.

Clearly, Spirit Hall has other sources of income.

The first is relying on the tributes paid by the two great empires to Spirit Hall.

Spirit Hall relies on its powerful base of spirit masters to deter the two great empires, forcing them to pay to avoid disaster.

Another source is competitions. When Qian Xunqian was studying the Douluo Continent, she was very puzzled as to why the people here placed such importance on the Spirit Master Tournament.

It felt as if spirit masters would die if they didn't compete.

Tang San, for instance, couldn't handle not winning the championship; he was even more devastated by a draw with Heavenly Water Academy than he was by the death of Xiao Wu.

It's just a competition, is it really that serious?

One second he defeats Huo Wu of Blazing Fire Academy and arrogantly shouts, "My Blue Silver Grass is fire-immune!"

The next second, after being forced into a draw by the spirit fusion skill of Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu, he falls into depression: "Could it be that all my efforts over these years have been in vain? Should I give up on Blue Silver Grass?"

If Dugu Bo hadn't acted as a psychologist to counsel Tang San, he really would have switched to cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer.

The Old Poison is truly acting as both father and mother—gifting immortal herbs, gifting spirit tools, and serving as a psychological counselor. With his immense strength, he is the true teacher of Tang San!

Does Yu Xiaogang, that genius who hasn't even broken through to level fifty by the age of fifty, even deserve the title?

Later, she realized that the purpose of holding the Spirit Master Tournament was mainly to rake in money from the nobles, just like the NBA or the World Cup.

The noble lords don't have many entertainment options; they enjoy watching spirit masters fight and are willing to spend money, which is how the spirit masters' income is generated.

The two great empires, including every city in Spirit Hall, have Great Spirit Arenas, and every four years, they hold a "Spirit Master Olympics." If there weren't huge profits involved, who would bother hosting such events?

Qian Xunqian clearly realized that competitions are, at best, a tertiary industry. Without a solid industrial and agricultural foundation, prosperity earned solely through competitions is ultimately unsustainable.

After all, the money of the nobles is also derived from the exploitation of serfs on their manors; the entire operation of the Douluo Continent is still supported by vast numbers of slaves and farmers.

In her view, Spirit Hall is indeed much better than the two great empires, as most of Spirit Hall's expenditures are used to maintain its powerful base of spirit masters.

Unlike a certain country in later generations with a "kill threshold," which only knows how to crazily squeeze its own base.

However, comparing who is the least rotten will only cause Spirit Hall to stagnate! Obsessing every day over which is the worst—the two empires, Spirit Hall, Shrek, the Tang Sect, or the Sun Moon Empire—and then feeling better about the others is meaningless.

"Only by creating a more beautiful Spirit Hall is the right path!"

In Title Village, Qian Xunqian took Bibi Dong to experience farming firsthand, researching soil and crafting farm tools, and engaging in in-depth conversations with the villagers to summarize a wealth of experience.

Relying on the power of Gold Soul Coins, the villagers told her everything they knew without reservation. Within a month, Qian Xunqian frantically recorded knowledge, preparing to return to the laboratory to improve the technology.

Even for the farmers with relatively higher status in Spirit Hall's jurisdiction, their farming tools were nothing more than iron hoes and oxen, which was enough to reflect the backwardness of the countryside. Research into spirit-tool farm equipment was urgent.

After returning to her own laboratory in Spirit Hall, Qian Xunqian, relying on her strong hands-on ability, spent a week manually crafting a tiller.

But her ambition did not stop there. What was the point of making one tiller? She couldn't spend 24 hours a day hand-crafting them; industrial mass production was the optimal solution!

As the new generation of genius in Spirit Hall, she was either soaking in the lab or driving a tractor in the fields every day. Although Qian Daoliu expressed understanding for his niece, he was also deeply worried.

Isn't this a waste of talent?

Qian Xunqian didn't care about that. First of all, she thought competitions were incredibly stupid. Besides the nickname "Romance Continent," the Douluo Continent was also known as the "Competition Continent."

In the original work, cultivation and increasing spirit power seemed to be solely for the purpose of participating in the Spirit Master Tournament. Aside from that, there didn't seem to be any other place to demonstrate the advantages of the spirit master profession.

In the end, they only showed the advantages of spirit masters during wartime, but it seemed as if spirit masters were born just to compete...

Such a meaningless thing was not as good as driving a tractor every day!

At the same time, Qian Xunqian shamelessly opened her mouth to borrow money from her uncle.

Qian Daoliu was so angry that his hair stood on end. She asked for one million Gold Soul Coins right off the bat—did she think they were candy beans?

Qian Xunqian scratched the back of her head and said:

"My niece's Innate Spirit Power Cultivation Device is still in testing and I haven't planned to sell it yet. So, Uncle, please be kind. Once I get the school running, you will be our school's first principal!"

Qian Daoliu was so angry he laughed:

"Do you even know what kind of school you are running?"

"An Agricultural Academy!"

"If you were running a Spirit Master Academy, I wouldn't say a word. But tell me, what do you want to do with an Agricultural Academy? Training people to farm? People are perfectly fine spirit masters, and you want them to go farm?"

Qian Xunqian explained her blueprint and vision to Qian Daoliu in great detail.

Why establish an Agricultural Academy?

1. Revenue generation. By researching various agricultural techniques and applying them in practice, crop yields can be increased, helping Spirit Hall generate income.

2. Only when agriculture develops can a foundation of feed be provided for soul beast cultivation. This allows for the continuous breeding of soul beasts, ensuring soul masters never run short of soul rings! Therefore, agriculture is closely linked to soul masters; helping agriculture is helping soul masters!

3. Agriculture is the foundation of the future soul guidance device industry. It provides the raw materials for the production of soul guidance devices. Without a solid agricultural guarantee, it would be difficult to achieve mass production of soul guidance devices in the future!

Qian Xunqian framed every point of her vision in a way that benefited Spirit Hall and the soul masters, coaxing Qian Daoliu, that old man, into a state of bewilderment.

Qian Daoliu thought to himself: ? How did he not know that farming had so many benefits? Oh no! Having been a soul master for so many years, he had lived his life in vain; it seemed his own contributions were not even as good as those of a farmer.

Qian Daoliu looked at his niece, who had grown up in such an unexpected way, with mixed feelings and let out a long sigh:

"Old brother! It is not that this elder brother failed to raise Qian'er well, but the child is simply too clever. There is truly nothing this old man can do!"