Volume 4: How big is the heart, how vast is the earth Chapter 115 Adventurer's Temper
As a Chinese who enjoyed the benefits of collectivism in his previous life, Xiao Yun is naturally an advocate and defender of collectivism.
Of course, people's thoughts also have their stages. Before he matured spiritually, Xiao Yun, who was in a rebellious period, also had a period of "narrow personal liberalism"... He hated the rigid and numb society, hated the class, school, and social groups that bound people, and believed that collectivism was an extreme cult that oppressed personal liberalism, the tyranny of the majority, etc. After all, who doesn't have a time to indulge in stupidity, cough cough.
When Xiao Yun turned 25, he found out that he was not a "very small minority" but a "majority" among the crowd. Only then did he finally wake up from his long and stupid adolescence and realize that he was actually a super asshole who was holding the bowl of collectivism dividends and cursing the mother of collectivism...
This is not a problem that only Xiao Yun has, but a common problem for most people. Looking back from the lower reaches of history, people will have a certain degree of arrogance, thinking that they are qualified to make decisions by reading history books, and they will classify themselves as the elites at the top of the pyramid without any reason... This is really thinking too much, most people are just ordinary people, and if they go to the Republic of China, they will not become masters, and they may only become rickshaw pullers or bankrupt small landlords, or even one of the characters in Sanmao's Wanderings...
Those who are disgusted by the mention of collectivism and feel that their freedom is oppressed, in fact, hate not collectivism, but themselves who are not dazzling enough in the crowd. They cannot accept that they are just a mediocre member of the collective, have no idea of their own talents, and do not know how much they are worth, so they talk about liberalism half-heartedly to vent the depression of "being talented but not appreciated" - this is indeed thinking too much. Most people actually do not have the qualifications to be oppressed by collectivism. Why? Because collectivism advocates that individuals are subordinate to society and that personal interests should be subject to the interests of the group, nation and country. It is a social viewpoint that emphasizes the interdependence of everyone's personal interests and collective interests. If anyone feels that his personal interests conflict with collective interests to the point of irreconcilability, then he must at least have the personal wealth and social status of Jack Ma, or at least the level of Gome's CEO before his arrest...
You are the top elite in the crowd, who can't hide your cool. Your ability exceeds the average of most people. You feel that you are qualified to demand privileges and specialization in the group. You don't want your personal interests to be interdependent with collective interests. Although this idea is selfish, it is understandable. But the very cruel reality is that many people who follow the trend and shout "tyranny of the majority" are actually like Xiao Yun, holding the bowl of collectivist dividends... ahem.
History, both ancient and modern, both in China and abroad, has proved without exception that any historical progress in social productivity comes from the emancipation of the mind and the improvement of ideological awareness. This is true for the country and nation, as well as for individuals. After bidding farewell to his stupid youth, Xiao Yun will have a much smoother time on the road of life than before. At least he knows that he no longer needs to focus his energy on unnecessary "incompetent rage" and knows how many bowls of rice he can eat.
When he saw young people who were still immersed in the stupid adolescence, he would give a kind smile that only those who had experienced it could understand, just like now when he looked at Prince Carlisle.
This prince can be considered an elite among the crowd, with a high IQ. When he heard the concept of collectivism from Xiao Yun, he was able to quickly understand the conflict between the principles of collectivism and individual interests. He discovered the destructive power of collectivism, and also discovered the threat of collectivism to top elites like him.
Carlisle was silent for too long. Xiao Yun raised his eyebrows slightly and began to slowly rotate the bottle cap in his hand. It seemed that this dose of medicine was a bit too strong?
As a ruler who profited from the feudal power system, Carlisle must have been naturally averse to collectivism. When Xiao Yun handed the sharp blade to him, Carlisle... did not dare to take it for a moment!
The hands on his knees clenched into fists unconsciously. Carlisle struggled for a few times and said with a bitter smile: "Teacher... I..."
Xiao Yun smiled in understanding. If the ruler wanted to use the collective will as a tool of rule, then the first person the knife would hit would be the ruler himself. This murderous knife was so terrifying: "Don't be too nervous. It took a long time for the collective will to become so strong. You haven't gained the recognition of so many people yet and your will has not been accepted by the collective. It's too early to be afraid of this."
Carlisle could only smile bitterly: "Teacher... before you, no one has ever told me that leading a country is so difficult."
Xiao Yun chuckled: "Even if you are an ordinary person, it is much easier to go with the flow than to control your own destiny. The more days you live, the more you can thank God. If you die one day, just think of it as a trick of fate. It's not your fault anyway, it's the world's fault."
Carlisle's face flushed red and he waved his hands quickly: "That's not what I meant."
Xiao Yun changed his tone: "You are a very motivated young man. Two years ago, you knew nothing about the road ahead, but you bravely stepped into the depths of the grassland to find a way out for the country and yourself. I have always admired your courage."
Carlisle said embarrassedly: "At that time, I didn't think that saving the country would be so difficult."
"Yes, you just want to be a hero admired by little girls. I can understand that." Xiao Yun said with a smile, "People are always overly optimistic and blindly confident in areas they don't understand. You didn't agree when I said that. Do you believe it now?"
Carlisle was extremely embarrassed. Even he couldn't stand being teased like that. His face flushed and he couldn't speak.
"Okay, relax, Carlisle. The truth is out there. It doesn't cease to exist if we don't recognize it. I can understand why you don't dare to use a sharp knife right now. The conflicts in St. Bridges haven't gotten that acute yet. You still have time to be a student for a few more years." Xiao Yun didn't intend to force Carlisle to make a choice immediately. He just wanted to take this opportunity to let Carlisle know that there is still the weapon of collectivist will that can be used. "At this stage, you have to deal with only the external enemy Lamia, and external enemies are always easier to deal with than internal troubles disguised as our own people. The simple act of defending the country and standing together against external enemies can unite the collective..."
Carlisle nodded and listened attentively, while sighing inwardly... Only Teacher Ayun could describe the powerful external enemies so lightly. He didn't know when he would be able to learn such courage and magnanimity.
Xiao Yun was very busy. After solving Anthony's problem, he only rested for one night before rushing back. The next day, Tim, who got up early in the morning and rushed over, didn't have time to see him.
"Is Teacher Ayun gone?" Tim felt extremely disappointed. When he found that Carlisle and was not at all panicked by the murder of Anthony, he was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped. "Carlisle, you..."
"how?"
"Uh...it's okay." Tim swallowed, "Did Teacher Ayun give any advice on how to deal with it after returning home?"
"Oh, this." Carlisle seemed to have just remembered that he murdered his eldest brother yesterday. "Father will be very sad. Anthony's death was unclear. I will take responsibility. When I return to the country, I will take over the education of the two princesses and let them participate in the maritime trade business. As princesses of Ferdinand's family, they should learn how to contribute to the country. It is a waste to just let them stay in the palace to prepare for marriage."
"ha?!"
"This is Teacher Ayun's suggestion. In order to help my father get out of the shadow of Anthony's murder as soon as possible, I should be more caring to my sisters and let my father know the family affection of Ferdinand's family." Prince Carlisle nodded in agreement.
Tim: “…”
"Okay Tim, it's time to get busy. This time it's still you and Darren who will deliver the spices to the Elven Forest. Any problem?"
"No……"
"Then let's go see how the cargo is loading. By the way, where's Darren?"
"Uh... he should still be sleeping..."
"Oh, yes, Darren was in charge of investigating the guards yesterday, and he was indeed exhausted..."
Prince Carlisle began a new busy day in high spirits... He had to keep an eye on every aspect of the transactions with the forest elves and the grassland tribes, but he didn't have that much time to waste on Anthony - compared to the series of challenges he would face in the future, the suspicion of murdering his own brother was nothing!
St. Bridge's fleet came and went, and the Elf Port returned to peace after half a month of bustle.
The fleet of the Adventurer's Association has been traveling frequently since the autumn. Their ships depart directly from the ice-free port in the north of the South Continent opposite the inland sea, and it only takes ten days of sailing to reach the Elf Port. After several groups of adventurers have traveled back and forth, bringing back the harvest from the Elf Forest in the Northern Continent and the west coast of the Cursed Land, the number of adventurers signing up to board the ship has increased day by day, and the association has made a small profit from the transportation costs alone.
The development of the new adventure land was on the right track, and the tax rate documents between the branch stationed in the Elf Port and the forest elves were naturally put on the desk. With the friendly foundation laid by the officials of the Research Department, and the fact that the forest elves were particular about eating, after a brief negotiation, the two sides decided on a tax rate based on the grassland tribes: thirty percent tax.
When Primo, the branch chief, signed the document, the fingers of this powerful man in the Adventurer's Association couldn't help but tremble...
The Adventurer's Association often negotiates tax rates and taxes with landlords. After all, most of the adventure resorts are owned by owners, and they can't afford to let the Adventurer's Association come to their territory to make money for nothing. Some poor places even rely on the taxes paid by adventurers to maintain their expenses.
But among so many landlords, none of them has a tax rate as conservative as that of the forest elves - the dark elves' underground world is 30% tax, the Orc Empire is 10% tax, and the forest elves are only 30% taxed. It's really generous!
As for the forest elves... when the first batch of transaction taxes and a box of gold coins were placed on the elf general's desk, Crest's handsome face was a little shy...
Adventurers have to pay to stay in their hotels, and they have to spend money to adventure in the Elf Forest. Several villages in Ananas City that receive adventurers have made a small fortune this year, not to mention that the adventures of these adventurers themselves are helping the elves reduce the number of monsters in the forest, eliminate safety hazards, and reduce the workload of patrol soldiers. Now these adventurers have to share one of the 30 gold coins they earn. Crest, who has a very low standard, feels a little embarrassed...
"Ananas City is the closest to the west coast. This location is really great!"
The happy General Crest took a bottle of fruit wine to take care of the business of the Snow Wolf Food Store that day. He sat in an open-air seat near the beach, enjoying the sea breeze and eating barbecued skewers with wine. It was so delicious.
There are many people like General Crest who like to eat skewers with wine, and most of them are not as good drinkers as the elf general. While Crest was drinking a little wine, over there, in just half an hour, two groups of drunk adventurers were carried by the Snow Wolf cubs and thrown onto the beach to sober them up. Every time they were embarrassed, the diners burst into laughter.
"Nanfeng, stop selling stewed food and follow us on our adventure!" An adventurer shouted to the Snow Wolf cubs.
"No, you guys make so much noise. It's so annoying to stay with you guys every day." Nanfeng clapped his hands and walked back.
There was another round of laughter, and an adventurer from another team shouted, "We're not making noise here, Nanfeng!"
"Hey, if you keep luring our cubs, you won't be allowed to come and eat!" Mumu waved his fist viciously.
"Hahaha no no no we're just joking, don't take it seriously!"
"The cub of the Snow Wolf tribe..."
Isaac and his group arrived late and didn't get a seat. The four of them squatted in a corner with their bowls in hand to eat. The dwarf Arnold looked at Nanfeng with envy, who threw the powerful warriors out like a toy: "They are indeed a natural fighting race. Even their cubs are so strong."
The orc Melken slurped the vermicelli and nodded.
"Yeah, luckily they have a small population and they can't drive away all the monsters on the grassland, otherwise there would be no chance for people like us." Isaac sighed.
The four of them went back to the South Continent last month to sell their prey. After half a year of hard work, each of them received a hundred gold coins, which was equivalent to the income of the previous two years. This time when they came to the North Continent again, even Arnold, the most frugal, bought an enchanted hammer produced by the forest elves. He liked to put this beautiful and majestic hammer on his waist when walking in the port.
"By the way, Isaac, I heard from Theodore's team this morning that they encountered the Lamia Caravan's coast patrol in the eastern swamp. Those people stared at them across the swamp for a long time before leaving. Now everyone says that the Lamia Caravan has taken away the eastern swamp and won't let us adventurers pass. Did the elves say anything about this?" the thief Ali suddenly asked.
"I know about this. Let's see how the association talks to the elves about this first." Isaac said unhappily, "That place is quite far away, and a small team like us wouldn't go there anyway... But if a large team is restricted from moving around by the Lamia Merchants, then the space for small teams like us to move around will also be affected."
"After all, those guys don't dare to cause trouble for the elves. They just pick on the weak ones." Arnold snorted.
Isaac laughed: "If they want to treat us adventurers as soft persimmons, they have to see if they have the ability to do so. The tempers of large groups are not as good as our small groups."
"Isaac, do you know anything?" Alex asked in surprise.
Isaac nodded. "Theodore came to me at noon and asked if we had discovered any nests or haunts of monsters above level three. I told him the location where we heard the noise before."
Isaac was referring to the howling of a level three monster that they heard one night when they first started adventuring in the Cursed Land. Several months had passed, but the four of them still remembered the fear they felt at that time.
Alex's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that Theodore and the others are planning to...?"
Isaac put his finger to his lips and squinted his eyes. "We don't know about this. We have no idea and have never heard of it. It's not uncommon for top-level monsters to attack camps in the Cursed Land. Who can say for sure?"
The three companions understood what he meant, and simultaneously revealed mysterious and obscene smiles...
The adventurers are a group of people with complex origins and all kinds of races. There is a dark elf walker in Theodore's team, who is more familiar to Isaac and the other three. When he first came to the Elf Port, the black-skinned guy was not used to the bunches of green-skinned elves, and he only got used to it after going in and out many times.
It is not difficult to find one or two people with extreme speed talent in the mixed group of adventurers. It is also not impossible to lure the top-level monsters that others avoid to a specific location... The Lamia Caravan would be so angry that they would want to kill people if someone touched their cake, so how good can the tempers of these unruly adventurers be?
Autumn on the West Coast is destined not to be peaceful.
As for the Snow Wolf tribe...it has even less to do with peace.
When Ms. Evelyn rode her flying mount to the Fire Tribe for the second time, she circled twice in the sky but couldn't find a place to land - the Fire Tribe's expansion speed was amazing, and even more amazing than their construction speed was the huge amount of crops they harvested from the fields during the harvest season... The square, the walkways between the buildings, the roads extending outside the tribe, and even all the slightly flat ground were all covered with drying crops. Although there were many snow wolves running around, they looked extremely small and weak against the huge amount of harvest...
There was no choice but for Ms. Evelyn to fly to the harvested field and land. As soon as her feet touched the ground, a group of grasshopper cubs who were catching grasshoppers in nets surrounded her vigilantly.
Ms. Evelyn stayed in the tribe for two days when she came last. She knew many people by name, but now she looked around... well, she really didn't recognize any of these cubs from the Snow Wolf and Cat tribes. She raised her hands helplessly: "I'm not an enemy. I'm a friend of the Fire Tribe, Evelyn from Ananas City. Ayun knows me."
"The elves of Ananas." A cat cub who seemed to be the leader breathed a sigh of relief, waved his hand and asked everyone to continue catching grasshoppers, and walked towards Evelin. "Ayun said that you would have someone coming during this period of time. Are you the only one coming?"
Evelyn was a little surprised that the cat cub spoke like an adult, but when she thought about the fact that the Fire Tribe even had cubs like Ayun, she didn't make a fuss and nodded, "Yes, we forest elves are also quite busy in this season, and we are more familiar with this place, so I can do it."
"I'll take you to the tribe. I don't know where Ayun is right now. You may have to wait until dinner to see him." The cat cub motioned Evelyn to follow him, and pointed at her big bird. "You can't go in here. Will it peck at the crops we just harvested?"
“It doesn’t have to go in.” Evelyn was a little embarrassed and waved her hand to let the pet fly to where it liked to play.
The rice field where Evelyn chose to land was very close to the tribe. After walking out of the field, the wider road leading to the tribe was also filled with drying alfalfa and soybeans... There was only a narrow path left for footing, which was fine, but the cat cub leading the way kept looking back at her feet, fearing that she would step on the soybeans, which was a bit embarrassing...
“I didn’t seem to have seen you when I came here last year,” Evelin said.
"Well, our tribe only came here when winter was approaching last year." said the cat cub.
"You are... from the cheetah tribe, right? What's your name?" Evelyn observed the shape of the ears on both sides of the other person's head and guessed.
"My name is A Jiang." The cat cub turned back dissatisfiedly, "I'm not a cheetah, I'm a golden cat. Look carefully, my ears are bigger and rounder."
The golden cat family and the cheetah family are similar in size. Compared with the cheetahs that are more speed-oriented, the golden cats have more developed muscles and are stronger. They have a certain head-on combat capability and are classified as large cats. They are not happy to be counted as small cats.
“…” Evelin stopped talking. She clearly wanted to ease the awkwardness by chatting, but it ended up making it even more awkward. What was going on…
Entering the tribal square, there was a little more space to step on. After all, there were many people coming and going, and the crops drying had to make way for them. Evelyn looked curiously at the newly added buildings that had not been there when she came last year, and then cast her eyes to the side of the square where the snow wolves were shelling soybeans with flails, and found that... she still didn't recognize any of them.
If the location of the Fire Tribe hadn't changed, Evelyn would have suspected that she had found the wrong place...
"They really have a lot more people. And, with so many crops and fields, we simply can't take care of them with the previous manpower alone." Evelyn felt very curious. Although she knew last year that the Fire Tribe knew how to farm and was good at it, she felt inexplicably relieved that they had developed so well in just over a year. "Teacher Gwendolyn is right. The chief of the Fire Tribe is a very far-sighted person."
"The Snow Wolf Tribe develops in this peaceful way and replaces the Tiger Tribe in managing the cursed land. This will be a good thing for everyone." Evelyn clenched her fists excitedly when she thought of this. This year, Stephens' troops did not send good news back from the Tiger Tribe's royal court. Evelyn began to dislike the restless Tiger Tribe. In contrast, the Snow Wolf Tribe, who chose the path of peace, was naturally more pleasing to her.
