Volume 6: Helping the World Chapter 173: What Happened in the Snow Wolf Tribe’s Capital (Part 1)
The history of any world must be a spiral upward. Slavery is more advanced than primitive society, power-sharing feudalism is more advanced than slavery, and centralized feudalism is more advanced than feudalism. In the final analysis, social change in any era is for evolution, not regression. The system criticized by later generations at the bottom of history was actually accepted and supported by people at that time because of its advanced nature. (Even the cancer of civilization had certain advantages over dark Europe in the Middle Ages.)
This brings up a problem... The world is not static; it is changing with each passing day. Any system that is advanced in its early stages will find it difficult to maintain its leading position if it cannot keep pace with the changes in the world.
To the extent that many man-made systems may even deviate from the original intentions of their creators...
There are too many similar examples on Earth. Zhao Kuangyin looked down on the poor and powerful, and promoted civil officials over military generals. As a result, the infinitely inflated Song Confucianists destroyed the Song Dynasty. In order to protect the Manchu regime, the Tartar emperor suppressed the firearms cult and boasted about the invincibility of the Eight Banners cavalry and archery, which made the Manchus themselves believe it. The development of firearms in the Ming Dynasty, which kept up with the world trend, forced the Qing Dynasty to abandon its own martial arts. Not to mention the British policy of keeping the people ignorant, the white left counterattacked both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and the jokes about refugees and Brexit will probably be watched by the people of the earth for another decade or so.
The previous ruler of St. Bridge, the old king who was recuperating in the palace, also made a similar joke. The House of Nobles could actually have the audacity to discuss such a ridiculous issue as whether the country should rely on (sell out) the Federation or rely on (sell out) the Church... If it weren't for Prince Carlisle's heroic journey and his brave rise to pull back the national policy that was almost off track, perhaps the "upper class" federal nobles who came to the south for vacation could be seen on the streets of St. Bridge's royal city this winter.
Xiao Yun explained the inner meaning of this to everyone in detail. Even the clan members who never engaged in lazy politics broke into cold sweats after hearing this...
"Being lazy and taking shortcuts may bring convenience for a while, but it will cause great harm in the long run." The grassroots chief sighed, "We absolutely cannot do this in our tribe."
Even Da He and Rosemary couldn't help but nod in agreement. It's true that they like to live a hassle-free life without having to worry too much, but the point is "to enjoy life without being too tired", rather than saying goodbye to their current happy life~!
"Everyone already knows why the aristocracy of the human kingdom was formed. This weird and malignant group is essentially lazy politics, or lazy politics in short. It was born because of lazy politics and grew because of the privileges of fiefdom. Finally, it became a burden that hindered the collective progress. It has a strong presence and cannot be eradicated. Otherwise, it will inevitably cause serious damage to the entire collective." Xiao Yun smiled and nodded, then said seriously, "Our tribe has not reached this stage yet, but we must be vigilant about whether this sick monster will appear among us in the future. So I ask everyone to watch carefully, observe carefully, and fully and seriously understand this malignant tumor based on lazy politics and privileges, and take it as a warning."
Everyone nodded in unison. Chief Ali's eyes sparkled as he spoke forcefully, "If you don't till the soil well when you're farming, your crop yield will drop. If you don't dig a good foundation when you're building a house, you won't be able to live in it for long. The same goes for tribal development. Whoever wants to be lazy and want privileges in the early stages will be our enemy."
Xiao Yun couldn't help but give a thumbs up to Chief Li - he was indeed one of the few shrewd people among the Snow Wolf People who knew how to take advantage of loopholes, and he was also very vigilant towards his "kind"~
"The Ministry of Affairs you went to today is actually quite good. The Minister of Affairs has been sidelined by Carlisle, and half of the people in it are Carlisle's men. Except for repairing roads and cleaning moats, which are thrown to the parliamentarians to play with and reward them with small amounts of money, other matters are handled fairly well." Xiao Yun said, "Everyone have a good rest tonight. Tomorrow, everyone can go to more departments and even the House of Nobles to take a look... Remember, only bring eyes and ears, not mouths. Although we don't intend to have good relations with these bureaucrats that Carlisle is trying to eliminate and replace, it is not a good thing to offend too many people."
"Understood." Everyone nodded obediently.
"Also, Rosemary, you come with me tomorrow." Xiao Yun said again.
"What do you want to do?" Rosemary asked warily.
Xiao Yun looked disgusted: "Why are you talking about me? You are always acting according to your temper. Don't you have any sense? Can't you learn from Qing Yan?"
"..." Rosemary glanced at Qingyan, who was sneering, and became even more unhappy. "Are you sure you really want me to learn from him?"
Xiao Yun stared at Qing Yan for a few seconds: "That's right... Qing Yan, you will follow me tomorrow."
Qingyan: “…” Damn, he got shot even when he was lying down!
The next day, Xiao Yun really set Balk and Daha free. He went to the room where the cats lived early in the morning and took the two big cats away.
Xia stared at the backs of the two tribesmen, not knowing whether to envy them or sympathize with them...
"Xia, come over for a meeting." The grassroots chief in the next room shouted.
"I'm coming." Xia quickly stood up, tied his belt, and walked out the door.
"Today we are going to the City Hall. Our main targets of observation are... uh, the City Police, the City Defense Team, and that... what's their name? Oh, the Market Management Office." The Grassroots Chief called everyone together and began to assign teams. "Ashan, Balk and I will go to the City Police, Mumu, Ashu and Xia will go to the City Defense Team, and Ali, Dahe and Harris will go to the Market Management Office. Xia, Ali, the three of us will be responsible for taking notes. Ali, you keep an eye on Dahe, is there any problem?"
"What do you mean by keep an eye on me? Will I get lost?" Daha protested.
The Grassroots Chief said earnestly: "Dahe, we don't think you are any different from us, but in the eyes of others you are different. Ayun has said that he will make arrangements for you. We should listen to Ayun, right? Or are you willing to follow Ayun?"
Da He thought of the painful experience yesterday, shook his head repeatedly, and then nodded vigorously: "I understand, I will follow A Li well."
"Wait!" Balk asked seriously, "Why can Primo move freely, but I have to follow you?"
A group of snow wolves looked at him silently with a look that asked, "Can you please be more careful?"
"What do you mean? Seriously speaking, I am the oldest one!" Balk said loudly.
The Grassroots Chief picked up the bark paper notebook bound by the gray dwarves and handed it to Xia and A Li: "Take the notebook with you, and try to write down anything you understand or don't understand, and we will study it together later. Xia, keep an eye on Mumu, don't let her run around and talk nonsense..."
"Hey - I'm much more obedient than Daha!" Mumu was unhappy.
"Don't worry." Xia gave Mumu a reassuring look.
"Are you ignoring me on purpose?!" Baker shouted.
"Let's go Balke, it's more lively here than Elliot Palace. If you go out early, you can take a stroll around." The grassroots patriarch greeted.
Balk...followed silently.
The chief guard, Claude, was already waiting in the small garden. He brought three teams of guards to be assigned to the grassland delegation visiting the royal city. He personally escorted them out of the palace and then ran to report the news to His Royal Highness the Prince.
In the meeting room of the main hall, Carlisle and the two princesses were having routine discussions with the ministers. The efficiency of handling government affairs was in a completely different world from the documents of the Ministry of Affairs that the Snow Wolves had seen - the floating tax rates in a certain city, the specific approval procedures for transferring criminals from a certain prison to a quarry, whether the agricultural products would be purchased by the royal family, etc., could basically be finalized within ten minutes to half an hour.
Of course, this was a situation that only emerged after Carlyle's vigorous reforms...When the king was in power, routine political discussions in the council chamber were filled with endless moral attacks on family matters between MPs and ministers, and between MPs themselves. Factional fighting was the main drama in the council chamber every day.
The cost of doing this was that the number of ministers eligible to enter the council chamber was reduced by nearly half compared to when the king was in power.
Carlisle showed an iron fist in allowing people to retire early and go home to enjoy their old age, and was criticized privately. However, on the surface, it had many benefits. At least it pulled the ministers into the realm of "doing things" - not discussing the matter at hand and only knowing how to bite each other was equivalent to giving His Royal Highness the Prince a chance to kick both parties out and replace them with his own people. The ministers were not stupid... This is how the current situation of streamlined staff and improved work efficiency came about.
Claude waited at the door of the council hall for more than two hours before he saw the tired ministers coming out. He knew he was not welcome, so he hid behind a pillar. After the ministers had left and the two princesses had left chatteringly, he came out from behind the pillar and entered the hall to report to the prince.
"You did a great job, Claude." Carlisle nodded in praise, "By the way, did anyone request to visit our guests last night?"
"Not yet, Your Highness." Claude said respectfully.
Carlisle wanted to laugh. The teacher's deliberate entry into the city in the form of a wolf did discourage many people from seeking personal gain. Otherwise, those nobles who were eager to please him, the next king who was certain to be king, would not miss the opportunity to make friends with his teacher.
"If anyone comes looking for you, remember to report to me first." Carlisle reminded him and let Claude go.
Influenced by his teacher's words and deeds, Carlisle actually didn't mind some nobles who disregarded decency to curry favor and seek personal gain... For example, this time, if the teacher deliberately appeared in wolf form to leave a deep impression on everyone and someone still came forward, then such a person with no bottom line could be used - he was extremely annoyed with the bloated aristocratic bureaucracy and had long wanted to let go and cut down on governance, but he hadn't found the right "knife" for such a dirty job yet.
"Big dog!"
The two princesses returned to the side hall. When the little princess saw Xiao Yun, who had been waiting for a long time, her eyes lit up and she happily rushed forward to hug Xiao Yun's waist.
Xiao Yun: “…”
Qingyan let out a “puff” and Rosemary laughed loudly and unbridled.
"Your Highness..." Xiao Yun tore the little princess off his body with a little force and said with a smile, "There is a big cat today."
"Huh?" The little princess' eyes suddenly brightened.
Qingyan & Rosemary's expressions changed.
Xiao Yun turned to look at the two of them, first staring at Qingyan, then at Rosemary: "Well... Rosemary, come and play with the little princess."
"Why not Qingyan?!" Rosemary immediately betrayed her fellow tribesmen.
"Black cats are unlucky." Xiao Yun had a blank expression.
"Huh?!" X2
"Dahe had a lot of fun playing with the little princess yesterday. You can't be worse than Dahe?" Xiao Yun said.
"So that's why Dahao was so relieved when he saw you taking us away, right?" Rosemary shouted.
"Ayunyun..." The little princess was frightened and grabbed Xiao Yun's clothes.
Xiao Yun turned to look at Qing Yan: "If he doesn't come, then you will come."
Qingyan quickly betrayed his fellow tribesmen and attacked Rosemary, pinning her down and stripping her of her clothes...
"Princess, please come in first." Xiao Yun smiled and blocked the howling Rosemary, and made a gesture of invitation to the red-faced princess.
The eldest princess bowed quickly, lifted her skirt and ran into the house without looking around. However, the maids were a little presumptuous and kept looking back...
When Carlisle entered the courtyard where the princesses lived, he saw a listless snow leopard sitting on the grass, being used as a climbing prop by the naughty and lively little princesses to climb up and down...
"It's Rosemary now." Carlisle waved at the snow leopard with a smile.
"Hmph." Rosemary turned her head away unhappily.
Carlisle had just walked up the steps after entering the big house through the courtyard when he heard the teacher's voice:
"...Your Highness, look at this dark-skinned man. If he puts on a hat to cover his ears, does he look like a tropical prince full of exotic charm? Isn't his uninhibited look quite charming? But in fact, he doesn't like sunbathing, and he has no interest in teasing young girls. In fact, he is a boring guy. He does everything in a methodical way. People will lose interest in him after spending more than five days with him. Even Yumi Hockley finds it difficult to have any thoughts about him..."
Carlisle held back his laughter and pushed the door open, and saw the Black Panther Qingyan with a twitching mouth, being used as an example by the teacher to teach the princess how to judge people...
Carlisle was about to speak when he saw the teacher pointing at him: "As for your brother, if there is no blood relationship, we all have to admit that he is a handsome, charming and noble prince who is eligible for marriage. But after getting to know him, we have to admit that any girl's fantasy is impossible to realize in this prince, because his country, his subjects and his ambitions must come before his marriage partner..."
"Teacher, there's no need to use me as an example, right?" Carlisle's mouth began to twitch.
"Don't pay attention to these details." Xiao Yun didn't even turn his head, and continued to teach the stiff-faced princess, "She may not be as cool as Dahe, but she is a foreigner and a female, and her status and talents are not as rich as your brother Carlisle. However, in the eyes of such a capable and idealistic man, so-called love is far less important than career. So you see, love is really worthless. Strip away the rouge and powder that literary youths... literary youths forcibly put on this mating impulse. So-called love is nothing more than a doll or pet that people like when they reach a certain age. Do you still like the dolls you played with when you were a child to the point of death and can't live without them for a day?"
The eldest princess' face turned pale: "...Not really."
"That's right~" Xiao Yun slapped his thigh, "The young nobleman introduced by Grand Duchess Dewitt, is he as handsome as Dahe? Is he as capable as your brother? You have met that young nobleman a few times, right? Do you like him half as much as you liked your favorite doll when you were a child?"
The eldest princess looked conflicted: "Hmm..."
"What?!" Carlisle, who had just sat down, almost jumped up, "Rose, have you seen a young man?!"
"Don't be so loud, we can all hear you clearly." Xiao Yun waved his hand indifferently. "With so many people coming and going in the palace every day, there will always be a time when you can't keep an eye on them. Why not let Her Highness Rose meet as many outstanding young people as possible? After seeing so many pigs running around, will she be easily attracted by a piece of pork?"
Carlisle and Qingyan's mouths twitched when they heard this analogy...
"I'm sorry, brother. I should have told you earlier." Princess Rose nervously grabbed the hem of her skirt and lowered her head.
"I won't allow Archduchess DeWitt to come again." Veins popped out on Carlisle's forehead.
"Carlisle, your attitude will make Princess Rose even more afraid to discuss things with you in the future." Xiao Yun said disapprovingly.
Carlisle thought about it and it was true. He had to suppress his anger: "I was impulsive, teacher."
"In fact, the problem that Her Highness Rose is facing is not how obsessed she is with 'love', but that someone wants her to be obsessed with love and crazy about love." Xiao Yun said calmly, "At her age, she is easily influenced by others, so this is not Her Highness Rose's fault, but the fault of others."
The eldest princess raised her head slightly, and from her expression, it seemed that this shy and introverted princess was deeply touched.
"Yes." Carlisle nodded slowly, feeling a little ashamed. The teacher was always so calm, which was exactly what he needed to learn.
"My suggestion is that the princess doesn't need to be trapped in the building and never see people. It's hard for people to grow without enough experience and knowledge. Didn't I bring my people out from the depths of the grassland? They are much worse than Her Highness Rose in terms of being easily deceived..." Xiao Yun sighed, "But we have to let them grow up. After all, I can't watch them forever. Her Highness Rose is the same to you, Carlisle. If you are worried that she will be deceived, you might as well let her learn to understand people early, know what kind of people say things to her with a purpose, and know how to guard against other people's malice."
As a young cub in the tribe, he said such words from the position of an elder. However, the people present strangely did not think there was anything wrong with it. Instead, they nodded in agreement...
Carlisle smiled bitterly and said, "I have to admit that the Ferdinand family is not attentive enough to their daughter's education. Even I have made the same mistake."
Xiao Yun smiled but said nothing. Carlisle, as the prince, was just trapped in the inertia of thinking. When it comes to identifying people and distinguishing lies and deception, the royal family's elite education cannot fail to involve this - it's just that in the past, the king only considered the princesses as tools for marriage and let them grow up naively.
There's no need to point this out specifically, there's suspicion of being close...
St. Bridget's, Main Street.
Ashan, wearing a hat, the grass-roots chief and Balk, accompanied by a team of guards, walked across Ninth Avenue to the city police prefecture.
There is nothing special about Ninth Avenue from the map, but when you get there you find that it is very special - it is filled with pubs, casinos, hourly hotels, perfume shops, gold shops, cheap food stores and other shops. In broad daylight, drunkards are wandering on the roadside, and gamblers who have lost all their money and cannot go home are lying on the street; haggard-looking women with heavy makeup stand at the entrance of the alley looking outside, and among the men walking in groups of two or three, there are always some men with eyes as cold as predatory vultures.
Entering this street, Ashan and the grassroots chief pinched their noses at the same time, with expressions that were hard to describe... For the snow wolves, the smell of cheap perfume or the smell of pubs and casinos are extremely irritating to the nasal cavity, and these three smells are the most common on this street.
Uncle Balke walked in front with his hands in his pockets and swaggered. His meticulously groomed long green curly hair was not decorated with pearlescent hair accessories like before. He only wore a headband with teardrop-shaped gems. Apart from his flashy spider silk robe, he had less than ten pieces of jewelry on his body. This was because his aesthetic was influenced by the minimalist Xiao Yun - but he still looked very flashy and handsome.
This green dragon uncle had absolutely no interest in human women. With his cold eyes and unbridled aura, even the blind prostitutes who were soliciting customers would not come up to him and hit him with a wall. However, apart from prostitutes, gamblers, drunkards and clients, the red-light district had the most "lively civilians". Even though Balk was followed by two "bodyguards" and a group of "thugs" who wore ordinary clothes to conceal their identities, he was still spotted and followed quietly...
"Even the capital of St. Bridget can't avoid such terrible places~" Uncle Balk complained unconsciously, "But compared to Valentine and Elliot Palace, this neighborhood full of rats and cockroaches at least looks clean."
Ah Shan: "Huh? What did you say?"
Balk tilted his head: "You just held your nose, right? Have you lost your hearing?"
"Be careful." The grassroots chief suddenly took action, pressing Balk's shoulder with his right hand to force him to stop, and stretched out his left hand to lightly and steadily hold the thin wooden box that was rushing towards Balk.
The man holding the box had a slightly changed expression. He gritted his teeth and tried to pretend to slip and continue to fall on Balke. Suddenly, his hand felt lighter. The thin wooden box he was trying to use to "bump into someone's car" was taken over by someone with one hand and was suspended steadily in the air. He himself did not succeed in falling down. A strong arm stretched out from Balke's side, grabbed the man's collar, and lifted him up forcefully...
"I told you to be careful." The grassroots chief frowned and carried the staggering guy to the side of the road, stuffed the thin wooden box back into the guy's hands, and returned to the team while covering his nose.
The scammer: “…”
The accomplices hiding in the darkness: "..."
"——Come again!" A voice said unwillingly.
Two minutes later, a pedestrian in a hurry passed by Balke and others. At the moment of passing by, a bulging cowhide purse fell to the ground.
The person who left his wallet behind looked straight ahead, but he failed to leave...
Ashan covered his nose with one hand and reached out with the other hand to grab the man's collar from behind. With a flick of his wrist, he turned the man 180 degrees. He pressed the back of the man's head with his big hand, forcing him to look down at the "lost" purse on the road. Then he withdrew his hand and followed Uncle Balke's steps and walked away without looking back.
The person who lost the wallet: “…Thank you.”
The accomplices hiding in the darkness: "..."
"——Come again!" a voice said angrily.
Two minutes later, when Balk and his group were about to walk out of Ninth Avenue, they suddenly saw a young woman with an anxious look on her face, wearing a light white dress and running very fast, running out of the alley, shouting for help as she ran, and fleeing in the direction of Balk and his group in a panic.
Several fierce-looking men quickly chased out from the alley behind the woman in the white dress, shouting "Stop" as they chased.
Does the green dragon care about the life and death of mortals? No, Balk only glanced at the fleeing woman and looked away.
The grassroots chief was quite kind-hearted. He put down his hands that were covering his nose and walked out of the queue with a serious expression.
"...Hmm?" The Grassroots Chief sniffed.
The next second, the grassroots chief retreated back into the team and continued walking forward, covering his nose.
The woman in the white dress was so confused that she even forgot to shout for help and ran past them in a daze.
The vicious man who chased after him: "???"
"Hey, don't you need to worry about it?" Ashan looked back curiously.
"That person and the few people behind him smell very similar to the person who was holding the box and lost the wallet before." The Grassroots Chief said, "It's too coincidental that they came so consecutively. It seems to be the trap set by the scammers who specifically target outsiders like us, as Ah Yun said."
Ah Shan: “Huh?!”
"Scamming, losing wallets, betting on which bowl the coins are in, flirting with people and selling stolen fake jewelry, and pretending to be persecuted and bullied when they are clearly in the same group... Didn't Ah Yun tell you all that? Have you forgotten?"
Ah Shan: “Oh, that’s right.” He turned around and looked again, “Really? They are not chasing us or running away anymore. They are gathered together and are still staring at us.”
The fleeing woman and the supporting men: "..."
The accomplices hiding in the darkness: "..."
