Volume 6: Helping the World Chapter 170 The Power of the People
This discovery made Primo very confused. When they continued on their way after a rest, the old man couldn't help but come close to Xiao Yun and beat around the bush for a long time before he expressed his doubts.
Xiao Yun understood Primo's confusion and laughed immediately.
There are real gods in this world, and when rulers try to gild themselves, they cannot do so like on Earth, where the emperor's power is granted by God in the East and the king's power is granted by God in the West; but it is not a big problem for people who hold the right to speak to gild their identities, so the method adopted by royal families in various countries is to add the halo of savior, nobility, sacredness, and uniqueness to their families to ensure their authority.
If the royal authority is ensured and the inertial thinking of the royal authority is formed, then the rulers basically do not need to spend much effort in the field of ruling - don't say that the people from other worlds are so easy to fool because someone has turned on the aura of lowering intelligence. In fact, it is not easy to fool a single target, but it is very easy to fool an entire group... For example, how many years can the US president stay in office? The people on earth can tell for themselves, except for George W. Bush who lowered the IQ of the entire United States, which president is not "haloed" and can still make a fortune by showing off his eloquence and giving speeches after stepping down?
Even in China, which does not have a policy of keeping its people ignorant and does not treat its citizens like pigs, after certain pigtail dramas became popular, there are still a large number of modern Chinese people who have received ideological and political education who sing along with true feelings and tears in their eyes to "Borrow Another Five Hundred Years from Heaven"... [Funny]
"Primo, you are from Felton, right?" Xiao Yun said with a smile, "The Kingdom of Felton is a medium-sized country in the Federation. What do you think of your hometown?"
Primo's face immediately showed some contempt: "To be honest, I don't really like to mention my hometown to others. Even though I'm from Felton, it's hard for me to find any praise for this rotten country, let alone evaluate it from an objective and fair standpoint."
"Well... So what do you think of the Kingdom of Kronin?"
Primo's expression improved a little. "King Kroning is an ambitious and wise king. Sean also assisted King Kroning in reforms in his early years. Unfortunately, there are too many short-sighted people among the nobles, and King Kroning's policies are always not well implemented."
"Oh - then Primo, have you ever thought that if your hometown, Felton Kingdom, could also get the assistance of a talented person like Sean like Kronin, maybe it could become a little better, and not be as bad as it is now, where you don't even have the mood to comment on it?"
Primo's expression became complicated. He thought for a while before saying, "Maybe... I do think so sometimes, but it's just a thought."
Xiao Yun couldn't help but laugh out loud, and Primo was so confused that he couldn't help but ask, "Ayun, what are you laughing at? Did I say something wrong?"
"Sorry. I was just laughing. The power of mental inertia is so great that even a strong man like you cannot avoid it." Xiao Yun waved his hand and smiled, "Let me make a bold guess, Primo. In fact, you only hate the nobles. You think that the nobles have not fulfilled their due responsibilities and betrayed the king's trust, and the king, or the Felton royal family, is just deceived by the nobles. The king is actually wise. This is what you really think in your heart, right? Otherwise, for a top practitioner like you, it is not difficult to assassinate a few nobles. If you are determined, it is not difficult to assassinate the king. You hate the darkness of your hometown, but you don't use your force to break the law. I can only guess that you think you can't kill all the nobles."
Primo stared at Xiao Yun in shock, even pausing in his tracks.
"Hey, follow me, don't fall behind." Xiao Yun waved with a smile.
Harris, who was eavesdropping on their conversation with his ears perked up, got goosebumps all over his body, but he couldn't help but listen.
Primo followed numbly for a while, his expression changing again and again, and he said in disbelief: "This is really weird... I shouldn't have complained to anyone, how can you guess what I really think?"
Xiao Yun smiled and shook his head. It wasn't that he had the ability to read minds, but simply because he had seen too many similar examples in history books...
In the Chinese feudal dynasties, apart from Song Shenzong Zhao Xu, who truly sought reform and continued to implement Wang Anshi's reform policies after Wang Anshi was dismissed from his post until he died of depression (it is quite strange that an emperor died of depression), and Yongzheng, who knew that he would be criticized but still forcefully promoted the policy of all gentry to pay taxes (good shoots come from bad bamboos), it would be hard to say how many emperors there were who were willing to sacrifice themselves for the country and the people and roll up their sleeves to confront the entire ruling class head-on... For the vast majority of feudal rulers, the starting point of their governance was still to ensure that the country under their butts would last for thousands of years and for their descendants to be endless.
Even with such a low probability of excellence, for thousands of years, the common people still regarded the emperor as a wise ruler and believed that the bad ones were the civil service group and the meritorious aristocrats. That was still the vast majority of people... In modern times, Chinese people who write fan fiction about "Dream of the Red Chamber" still try to discredit Lady Jia and cling to the royal family.
"Primo, you have also listened to many lessons in our tribe. What is a ruler? What is a leader? If people unite around him and are willing to listen to him, then he is a ruler and a leader. If others do not take him seriously, he is nothing." Xiao Yun sighed, "From a small tribe to a large country, who are the really important people? Neither the nobles nor the king, but the people who make up the largest proportion of the population, 99%."
Without waiting for Primo to speak, Xiao Yun continued, "Of course, the people are fragile. If the harvest is bad, the people will have a very hard time, and many people may even starve to death. The people are also weak. The nobles and kings ride on the people's heads and bully them. The people can only endure silently until they die, without any power to resist."
Turning his head and looking at Primo with sharp eyes, Xiao Yun's face lost its smile and said in a very serious tone: "However, no matter how weak and humble the people are, we must admit that the power of the nobles and the king comes from the people. Without the people, they are nothing."
“…” Primo nodded blankly.
"It's not that the nobles and the king don't fear the power of the people. They tried their best to erase the traces of the Lich King in the southern continent, which in itself shows that they are guilty." Xiao Yun smiled again, "In fact, you should also be aware of this... Among all the races, only the human race can treat civilians as livestock without caring about their manners. Elves, dwarves, orcs, and even other races, the lower-class civilians are not completely powerless to resist the rulers who symbolize absolute authority. The rulers of these races, which are called aliens by humans, must be careful about their manners."
Harris, who was leading the way, paused, his heart filled with turmoil.
"Of course, this doesn't mean that the human race's civilians are more humble than other races. I have always believed that the human race has great potential. After all... among so many races, only the human race has a glorious history of causing the once powerful empire to collapse and disintegrate due to the unwillingness of the lower-class civilians. This is something that other races don't have." Xiao Yun smiled, "The power of the human race's civilians has not been effectively guided and concentrated, which makes the human race's people look weak and humble. But this day will come sooner or later, just like the civilians of the old empire did in the past, the human race's civilians will sooner or later set off a huge wave on the land of the southern continent."
Although Primo was shocked, he was still more puzzled. Such arguments were too unprecedented. Even though it was Xiao Yun who was speaking, he still felt confused.
"No race's history is driven by a single hero. It was not the Lich King who caused the collapse of the old empire in the southern continent, but the people of the old empire. Primo, you and Sean both love your race, so you might as well transfer your trust in the royal family to the people." Xiao Yun raised his hand and pointed to the south. "If you find it difficult to accept my words, let's go to Saint Bridge and observe carefully to see what miracles will be created when the people with huge potential burst out with enthusiasm."
Primo's face was full of confusion, and he was hesitant to speak. Ayun was Carlisle Harvey Ferdinand's teacher, and Saint Bridget's transformation began when Carlisle received guidance from this sage. But why... did he make it sound like this matter had nothing to do with him or Ferdinand's royal family?
With such confusion, the group traveled day and night, and after finding a town to settle the brother and sister, they continued to travel for several days and finally set foot in the territory of the Kingdom of Saint Bridge.
Just after entering the coastline of the Kingdom of Saint Bridge, the group came across an extremely rare scene - at night when the temperature was close to zero degrees, which was considered a cold winter for the southern continent, they actually encountered a team that was building a road to the border.
It was called road construction, but in fact it was just picking up gravel and soil to fill the bumpy road surface, and then pulling heavy rolling stones to flatten it; thousands of men, women, old and young were mobilized, using wheelbarrows, baskets, bamboo baskets and other tools to gather the gravel for filling the road like ants moving a mountain.
An overseer wearing a blue cloth coat and a small hat was patrolling the road section under repair. When he saw a stranger approaching, the overseer, who was not holding a whip but had a cow stomach water bag tied around his waist, trotted over and said, "Travelers, please take the path over there. The road here is being repaired and it's too dusty."
"Sorry to bother you!" Xiao Yun stepped forward, holding his headscarf. "We want to go to Saint Bridger's City. Can I ask for directions?"
"Follow this path to the town and rent a carriage there." The supervisor pointed to the path next to him.
"Thank you." Xiao Yun asked everyone to turn to the small road, and looked curiously at the people who were repairing the road as they walked.
The supervisor who was showing the way seemed to think that they were a little suspicious. He hesitated and ran down the road: "Gentlemen, I will take you to the town."
"Then thank you for your help." Xiao Yun replied with a smile.
The supervisor turned around and shouted to the group of people working on the road: "Ruijie, I'm taking the guests to town, you keep an eye on them!"
"Got it!" Another supervisor in a blue cloth jacket waved from a distance.
Xiao Yun motioned Primo to follow him and walked in front, chatting with the supervisor with a smile: "Are the people who are repairing the road residents from nearby towns? Who asked you to go out to work in such cold weather? Wouldn't it be better to start working when it's warmer?"
"They are people from the town and farmers from the village." The supervisor looked at Xiao Yun in surprise. "People sent by the royal city to the town to organize it. Each person is paid ten copper coins a day, and two meals are provided."
"Oh, it wasn't forced?"
"Of course not." The supervisor said unhappily, "The Federation is coming to attack, so we must repair the road quickly so that the army can move to the front line to resist the enemy as soon as possible. Do we need to force this?"
"I see. Who told you this? How did you know there was going to be a war?"
"It's posted on the town's bulletin board. The town master will have someone read it to everyone." The supervisor obviously felt that this group of people was even more suspicious. He looked back at them vigilantly. Xia and Qingyan's vertical pupils and Harris' pupils were both features that could reveal their alien identities, but his gaze did not linger on these people. Instead, he kept looking at the snow wolves of astonishing size.
Xiao Yun pretended not to notice the other party's defense, and asked annoying stupid questions like an annoying reporter: "Come to think of it, even if there is a war, it is the royal family's business, and it has nothing to do with you. Who is the royal family will make no difference to everyone. The Federation is not necessarily worse than Ferdinand's family. Why should we work so hard to build roads for Ferdinand's family?"
The supervisor was successfully enraged. He suddenly jumped far away and pointed at Xiao Yun angrily: "Who are you? Are you a spy from the Federation?!"
Primo couldn't help but laugh loudly, and the grassroots leader who couldn't bear to listen said helplessly: "What are you doing, Ayun, don't say that to Carlisle."
Supervisor: “???”
Xiao Yun took off his headscarf and said with a smile: "No offense, we are not enemies, we are the Snow Wolf Tribe."
"...Ah!" The supervisor stared at Xiao Yun's wolf ears for a few seconds, and quickly took off his dome hat. His weather-beaten black face was embarrassed, "So you are from the Snow Wolf Tribe. Excuse me, are you guests invited by the royal family? The town master has told us to invite you to the town in time if we see you." After a pause, the supervisor was very entangled, "I am just wearing your Snow Wolf Tribe's sweater, but how can you say that about the royal family of St. Bridget?"
"I'm sorry, as you can see, most of us are foreigners, and we didn't even dare to get close to the city of Holmes on the way here. Although we were invited by the Ferdinand family to be guests, we were also worried that other St. Bridgers people would be disgusted with us or even hate us, so we couldn't help but want to confirm whether the Ferdinand family can convince the St. Bridgers people." Xiao Yun explained with a smile.
"So that's how it is." The supervisor was relieved and continued to lead the way. "Don't worry about that, sir of the Snow Wolf Tribe. I was originally a shoemaker in the town. The royal family sent people to organize the locals to work and selected older townspeople like me from the town to serve as supervisors. The money given to everyone is managed by us townspeople and villagers to prevent those black-hearted... ahem, masters from getting involved." After a pause, the old shoemaker pointed to the road construction site and smiled sincerely, "We don't understand too many big principles, but we can feel the prince's concern for us. My boy is carrying soil there and has saved more money than I have."
"Only ten copper coins a day, is this enough money?"
"That's great. After working for a few days, I can afford to buy a pound of wool and let the women at home knit warm clothes to wear." The old shoemaker opened his coat to reveal the plain sweater underneath. "Vermicelli is a bit expensive, so I can only buy half a pound occasionally to try. But the pickles brought in by the royal family are very affordable. One copper coin can buy half a pound and last for two days." He smiled a little shyly, and said a little embarrassedly, "In fact, we didn't even get a few copper coins after working for a day before, but now it's already pretty good."
The most widely circulated currency in this world is the copper coin, but in the human kingdom... there are indeed situations where ordinary people cannot afford to pay a few large coins. The reason for the "money shortage" is somewhat similar to that in ancient China - nobles and big businessmen have the habit of digging cellars to hide money. Gold, silver, and copper coins are buried in boxes underground...
Carlisle was able to obtain a huge amount of copper coins to distribute and promote the circulation of low-end domestic currency, not only because he held the golden hen of maritime trade, but also because Carlisle dug into the cellars of several nobles - even the mildest reform measures would be fatal, and Carlisle could not take action against conservatives at the level of Prince Hillbottom. If he did not kill a few of his cheering brothers to make an example of them, Carlisle himself would not be able to get through it... No matter how good his temper is, he is not a wooden man!
Carlisle made good use of what he learned from Xiao Yun. He knew very well that uncirculated coins were no different from scrap metal, and he completed part of the resource redistribution by building roads and strengthening border defenses, and indeed achieved the goal of building an indestructible reputation capital. The old shoemaker had already regarded His Royal Highness the Prince as the spokesperson of the St. Bridget's royal family in his conversation, and he didn't know where the king, who had not yet abdicated, had been thrown into by him.
After walking and chatting with the talkative old shoemaker, they arrived at the town and saw the border town of St. Bridge with their own eyes. Xiao Yun was fine, but Primo and Harris were all shocked - this town was undoubtedly being strengthened according to the scale of a war fortress. There were many completed arrow towers and arrow towers outside the city wall. The city wall was thicker than that of some big cities, and the moat outside the city gate was widened to about ten meters.
"This is the work we completed last year." The old shoemaker pointed at the arrow tower with great pride and said, "The belt that can quickly hoist people up was hammered out by me."
"Did you locals do all this by yourselves?" Primo couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, people from all the surrounding villages came to work here, and it took only half a year to strengthen the town to this point. If the federal army comes, we will definitely knock all their teeth out!" said the old shoemaker with a laugh.
After entering the town, the old shoemaker, who was rather ostentatious, led everyone to see the most popular place in the town, the grocery store opened by the royal family: all kinds of cheap daily necessities were sold directly to the lower classes, including the cheapest pickles, plain wool yarn that could be bought with a little savings, a whole set of crude pottery utensils that could be bought for a few copper coins, and sweet potatoes that could be afforded by the poor who had no money.
"If we can ensure the supply of the most basic livelihood materials and reduce the cost of living of the people to the lowest possible level, we will be able to gain the most sincere support... The people have never asked much of their rulers."
In the town hall, Xiao Yun said goodbye to the old blacksmith who had enthusiastically escorted them to the place, sat down and waited for someone to meet him, and then he sighed to Primo: "Strictly speaking, Carlisle only wanted to seize power from the old king and the conservative nobles. He actively trained his own people, formed his own team, arranged positions for those who depended on him to avoid conflicts with conservative forces as much as possible, and actively prepared for battles. With this, he earned unparalleled reputation and made the people burst out with unprecedented enthusiasm. You see, it's really easy to be a ruler."
Primo: “…”
He really wanted to say that it was not easy for Carlisle to do this, but thinking about Ayun being Carlisle's teacher, he really couldn't say that...
Primo's personality is not as sharp as Sean's, but it doesn't mean he is a better person than Sean, but he doesn't care much about winning or losing in verbal battles. In terms of frankness and directness, he and Sean are actually the same kind of people. Frowning and thinking for a while, Primo raised a rather heart-piercing question: "Ayun, I always feel that... not only do you despise all the royal families, but you also look down on Carlisle as your disciple?"
"Why do you think so? Carlisle is still very good." Xiao Yun was surprised.
"…So you don't deny the previous sentence at all?"
"I thought my attitude was clear enough, Primo. In essence, an extremely aggressive pig wearing a crown is not much different from some kings." Xiao Yun said politely.
Primo: “…”
Harris, who looked over with a twitching mouth: "..."
"We discussed before whether the Felton Kingdom is a pile of shit for the royal family or a pile of shit for the nobles. I remember I clearly stated my opinion, that is, compared with the people, they are all a pile of shit." Xiao Yun said politely, "Primo, you have actually reached the stage of stripping off the aura of the nobles' identity to see their essence and find that they are just a pile of stinking shit. So why not take it a step further and don't take the aura of the royal family's identity too seriously... I said the same thing when I faced Carlisle."
Primo: “…”
"Carlisle's excellence lies in the fact that he discovered his own shortcomings. In order to avoid becoming a mess, he worked very hard to make changes and tried to guide the people to realize their potential... After all, the halo of status can only be used to fool people who are weaker than you. When people who are stronger than you want to attack you, this thing is no different from paper soaked in water." Xiao Yun said, "The town we see now is a microcosm of the potential of the people of St. Bridge after Carlisle made changes and is gradually bursting out. Carlisle is no longer confused by his own royal halo and does the right thing he should do. When the tens of millions of people in St. Bridge are closely united around Carlisle, the army that the Federation has worked hard to get here will definitely not make any waves. We can just wait and see."
"..." Primo swallowed his saliva and looked away silently. He was very tired and didn't want to talk to Xiao Yun anymore.
Xiao Yun did not explain. Indeed, from the perspective of size, the gap between the Federation and Saint Bridge is too big, just like the difference between a giant and a child. Just looking at the appearance, it is hard to believe that the two sides can fight... But war is not just about size, but also about mobilization capabilities. In this regard, Xiao Yun has great confidence in Carlisle - based on the performance of Kronin, the largest power in the Federation, to be honest, Xiao Yun really can't have much respect for these countries... They are still the expeditionary party, tut tut.
"Mr. Ayun!"
The person sent by the royal family to organize the front-line work returned quickly. He was an old acquaintance of the Snow Wolf Tribe, the knight Dan Claudy.
After not seeing him for a few years, he had changed a lot. His temperament had become much calmer. But when he saw Ashan beside Xiao Yun, he immediately threw away the calmness that Xiao Yun had rarely admired. He rushed over with his eyes shining, wagging his tail, and grabbed Ashan's hand: "Mr. Ashan, we finally meet again!"
Ah Shan: “???”
Xiao Yun reached out his hand expressionlessly, grabbed Dan's head and turned it over: "Is this your style of greeting, huh?"
“It hurts, it hurts…”
Wait a moment.
Dan sat down and rubbed his neck, smiling and saying, "Hey, Mr. Ayun, I'm just so excited because I haven't seen you guys for a long time... Really, I don't have any plans to hit on Mr. Ashan, so there's no need to look at me like that..."
"Stop talking nonsense and get down to business!" Xiao Yun scolded, "Carlisle mentioned in the letter that he was stationing troops at the border. Are you responsible for this? Are you reliable?"
Dan puffed out his chest and said seriously, "I don't like what you say, Mr. Ayun. After all, I am the best knight of this generation of the Claude family--"
"You kid, you still said you have no intention of attacking Ashan? Whether you are a knight or not has nothing to do with your ability to do things?!" Xiao Yun stood up and rolled up his sleeves.
Dan's neck shrank, and he said quickly, "Wait, I am in charge. We have set up a barracks on the coast fifty miles away. Whether the enemy comes by sea or from the shore, we can respond in time. The storage of food, fodder, and armor is strictly in accordance with Carlisle's requirements. There is no problem at all."
"What about the sea people?" Xiao Yun said.
"We've also made the contact. If the enemy comes from the sea, the sea tribe will help us create sea waves." Dan said honestly.
Xiao Yun nodded and said, "Did Carlisle tell us what to do in Holmes Kingdom?"
"Uh..." Dan tilted his head and thought for a while, "The message that Yumi sent via the messenger bird a while ago was that Carlisle hoped to wait until the Kingdom of Holmes made a request for intervention..."
Xiao Yun stared at Dan expressionlessly. When Dan became uneasy and started to wonder if there was something wrong with him, Xiao Yun revealed a mysterious and malicious smile.
Dan almost knelt down before him and shouted hoarsely: "Mr. Ayun, I really don't have any intentions to hit Mr. Ashan!!"
Others present: "..."
"What are you talking about, Claude? Who told you this?" Xiao Yun said kindly, "You still have Yumi's messenger bird, right? Come on, I'll write a letter and you can use the messenger bird to send it to Carlisle... As for us, let's not rush to the Royal City. The scenery here is nice. I plan to stay for two days and take a look at the military appearance of your Saint Bridge army. Is that okay?"
It was common for spellcasters with a wealthy family to raise flying monsters to serve as messenger birds. Evelyn's flying mount also belonged to this category. Dan Claudy took out Yumi's messenger bird and tied up a letter written by Xiao Yun. On the same day, Carlisle, who was hundreds of kilometers away, received the letter.
Carlisle, who had been busy all day, was refreshed when he heard that there was a letter from the teacher, and hurried to the study to read the letter. The teacher's letter was written in the language of the Snow Wolf Man, and Carlisle, who had studied hard for two years, could now use this language fluently - and then he spit out the tea he had just drunk on the spot.
Tim, who is always with him: "???"
"What did Mr. Ayun write?" Tim asked curiously.
"...The teacher suggested that Dan be sent to Holmes as an envoy." Carlisle wiped the corner of his mouth, his expression extremely strange.
Tim was puzzled: "Dan? What can Dan do there?"
Carlisle's expression became even weirder: "The teacher gave me a... way to quickly resolve the Holmes mess."
Tim ignored the etiquette and came up to snatch the letter from Carlisle's hand and bowed his head. He had many things to do and was not yet proficient in the Snow Wolf Tribe's language. It took him a little longer to read through this blunt and explicit letter. Tim's expression became as strange and complicated as Carlisle's - just like being constipated for half a month and finally being able to go to the toilet, and then finding that he had diarrhea again.
