You became an emperor by letting me AFK.

With this thought in mind, Xia He shifted her perspective from first-person to overlook the entire country. A quick glance revealed no rebellions, natural disasters, or uninhabitable conditions—that was enough. The rest was up to time…

Just as I was about to exit, a pop-up window suddenly appeared:

[Breaking News: A tax resistance incident has occurred in a village on Longshanpo in the city-state. The tax official has been beaten to death, and the unrest is spreading.]

[Clear Selection]

[1. This is unimportant; let the local government handle it.]

2. This matter must be taken seriously; we must use this case as a model.

Suddenly something went wrong!

Xia He doesn't ignore pop-up events that suddenly refresh while playing games.

In terms of mechanics, Civilization Evolution will not randomly release junk information to distract players, as that would only be annoying and lack gameplay logic.

There must be a problem.

The pop-up event may seem insignificant on the surface, but it's a harbinger of a long-simmering crisis. Based on players' observations of previous games, this is generally referred to as a "trigger warning"—pay attention!

Theoretically speaking, of course, we can ignore it.

At worst, we can use the power of the players to wipe out the consequences directly, regardless of any signs of rebellion. One loss, move out.

Some players deliberately push their tax burden to the absolute maximum.

They longed for war and bloodshed, adhering to the principle of "rather maximize taxes to incite rebellion and use the money to quell it than relax taxes," thus keeping civilization teetering on the brink of famine.

Paradox Interactive's actions.

Xia He sometimes plays like this without any psychological burden, but in this game, she has to follow Feng Tianyin's overall decision.

Clearly, the little robot has a certain conscience, high moral standards, and a sense of responsibility for the world.

She certainly didn't want a rebellion.

"With the leader's authority, they should have received a notification by now."

The high priest will also receive pop-up events, but players lacking experience and awareness may not realize that it is a setup for a series of events, so the temple needs time to react.

Even if one is willing to handle it, orders need to be relayed down through the ranks and implemented.

Feng Tianyin has some player privileges and very limited administrator privileges; it's a severely weakened version on the execution side.

Unlike the will of Heaven, which can bestow great blessings with a single thought.

This is called permissions.

Only fully-fledged players can ensure the 100% execution of a policy, making their word law and acting as if it were the law of heaven. This is worthy of being called "Heavenly Way" by the people of Daqian. Feng Tianyin, on the other hand, needs some time to make a decision.

Xia He's curiosity was piqued, and she immediately set her sights on Longshanpo City.

Located not far from the northern part of the Great Plains and Yuhuopan, it is named for the huge rock formations that extend like dragons and snakes, and because it is situated on a high slope.

The area is filled with strangely shaped rocks, creating a rugged and magnificent landscape.

"It must have experienced intense crustal activity in the past, making it a rare find for a quarry."

It was a strategically important location, so the Great Qian Dynasty granted it favorable conditions and expanded its autonomy, eventually granting it fiefdoms.

After all, finding a high place on the southern Cifu Plain is not easy. This place, at an altitude of 300 meters, offers a commanding view. It initially made its fortune with high-quality quarries, and later began to transform into agriculture, naturally controlling the villages and towns that emerged from the surrounding farmland.

Loyalty: 100

Loyalty that is not absolute is absolute disloyalty, and Longshanpo is a perfect example of that.

"Since the city-state is loyal, then there must be a problem underneath. It's this chaotic world that's harming you."

Xia He glanced at the indicators and found that all of them were healthy.

She compared it with the other city-states and found that the mainstay of the northern section of the Southern Blessed Plain, second only to the Southern Plain, was not easily shaken.

Subspace?

After scanning the area and finding nothing amiss, those guys didn't have the guts.

Even without delving into the village's micro-perspective, she guessed that "it was probably man-made."

The tax burden in Daqian is not actually harsh, since a large amount of harvest is actually accumulated from the gains. The healthier the happiness level and livability, the more gains it can generate. In an extreme case, it is even possible to maintain only the minimum tax burden and rely on accumulating gains for everything else.

It's just too unsafe.

Xia He was certain that the shrewd and calculating Feng Tianyin wouldn't allow the tax burden to escalate to the point of inciting a rebellion, and that the city-state itself was also safe, because at this moment she had entered the perspective of a priest in the city lord's mansion:

"What if this blatant tax resistance blows up?"

The city lord paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, looking impatient, while his subordinates around him also wore serious expressions.

They are a whole leadership team, sharing both honor and disgrace. If they are held accountable by higher authorities, wouldn't they all be wiped out?

Dangerous!

"Priest, please say something and show us the way."

Everyone looked at the members of the inner sanctum.

According to the established system of the Great Qian Dynasty, even vassal states had to establish temple institutions to manage religious affairs, which was equivalent to an extension of their control. Therefore, even though the other party did not interfere in political affairs, they still invited the priests.

"I only came here to oversee the construction of the temple, but you've taken on a huge project. This is really difficult to handle."

Hearing the other party's excuse, everyone assumed they wanted a non-stick pan.

Unexpectedly, she changed her mind: "What kind of people do you all think the temple is full of? Those who lack responsibility will not rise in rank. I will witness it. The most urgent task is to send troops to stabilize the situation. Go ahead and do it."

"It's easy to make mistakes in military affairs."

“I will report this truthfully to those above. The High Priest will make the judgment. You will be punished for doing nothing.”

"Well, I also have a guess. I suspect the tax officer in that town is the problem."

The city lord's mansion immediately began mobilizing troops, ready to launch an attack at any time.

The response was good.

Xia He felt a little relieved. Under Feng Tianyin's rule, most of the people were doing practical work. Although they had some tendency to shirk their responsibilities, they had at least taken them on. After all, the city lord had withstood the risk of being criticized for mobilizing troops.

If the high priest were known for his suspicion and distrust, this matter would definitely have been suppressed.

The future is destined to brew an even bigger storm.

Feng Tianyin's long-standing political credibility gives people a sense of reliability, and this intangible confidence drives efficiency.

"Tax officer?"

Xia He took the city lord's guess to heart and instantly switched her perspective to the village where the incident occurred. Sure enough, the tax officials in the mansion were also having a meeting, but they were mostly filled with fear.

People know where they went wrong, and they feel fear, not panic.

"A bunch of idiots! I told you to charge 10% more and to report it as a loss so we could split it up, and how did it turn into a brawl?"

"Huh? 10%? I heard it's 20%."

Faced with the tax official's reprimand, a tax agent looked puzzled, and then everyone understood.

It's time to reconcile the accounts.

"Damn it, who spread the rumor that I overcharged by 40%?"

Xia He was amused. It turned out that the deductions were layered upon layer, with each layer adding more and more, resulting in mutual buck-passing, lying, and ultimately, a situation where everyone was sabotaging each other. Moreover, this matter couldn't be discussed casually, causing these idiots to form an information barrier among themselves.

Their exploitation thoroughly provoked resistance, which led to a brawl in which a colleague was killed—a consequence of their own actions.

[Warning: Risk of rebellion is increasing]

Loyalty in this region is decreasing, currently at 95%.

The political inertia of the Great Qian Dynasty was still too strong. The foundation of the prosperous era was solid, and even with this additional measure, the public believed that it was mainly the tax officials' fault, and at least it was not related to the capital temple.

That's not wrong, after all, Feng Tianyin was indeed a sage ruler incarnate, reigning for 57 years and renowned throughout the world.

The core base is too stable.

As Xia He was pondering this, she saw the tax official organize a group of security guards, who seemed poised to storm the village that was resisting taxation.

"This is going to escalate further."

PS

The bounty was quite effective, so I'm updating with a long chapter to express my gratitude!

Chapter 107 Joins Cyber ​​Butterfly (6K)

Human beings' capacity for self-destruction should not be underestimated, especially when they are in a hurry, they are prone to making reckless moves.

Xia He almost lost her composure.

The tax official actually thought of launching a "war to quell the rebellion" without caring about the risk of being exposed. His logic was clearly to "cover things up and not let them leak out," and he was even willing to pay a greater price.

This is not the way the clerks of the Great Qian Dynasty operate.

The bureaucratic group cultivated by Feng Tianyin was taught to "bring things up to me, I'm not afraid of trouble, I'll take responsibility," and they were only afraid of having too little work.

She was eager to have something to do.

The supercomputer brain is always underworked, far from being fully utilized.

The high priestess's schedule was packed, barely reaching her limit, in the eyes of the temple's permanent senior clerks. Little did they know that the efficiency of the Great Qian's decision-making transmission had reached its limit, and according to calculations, it would be meaningless to add more computing power, so they deliberately slowed down the progress.

Now, Feng Tianyin is actively adapting to the inefficient state apparatus.

Only when we reach the information age and the number of decision-making variables explodes will we be able to see the High Priest unleashing his full power.

Therefore, she always urged her subordinates to report more to their superiors.

Xia He guessed in a second: "This guy is definitely from the city-state."

Check the ingredients.

As expected, for the sake of convenience, the Great Qian Dynasty adopted a system in which local tax officials were promoted and then managed several tax farmers. This was a common practice, and the production relations could only be used due to the limited level of productivity.

In a village, the land is intertwined, and sometimes the relationships between farmers, lessees, and property owners are complex and intertwined.

This doesn't even include specific production volume, losses, and types, etc...