Doctor, I'm really strong!

When Emperor Yan learned of this, he was both amused and exasperated. However, the Yan Kingdom could not afford to lose face over such a trivial matter. "So what if you want to go home for a few days? Granted. The court will pay for a tour guide for you."

This is the tour guide. Who should we assign?

At this moment, Emperor Yan actually thought of the princesses in the palace. You know how it is with marriage alliances.

However, at this moment, Si Suitai reported that the tour guide had been found; Liu Jiuli had found him himself.

To be precise, Jing Dian, who came to Si Suitai to deliver documents, was conscripted by Liu Jiuli, who said that this girl was good and would be his tour guide.

Damn it, these are people from the Dali Temple! How can you conscript men from other departments like this?!

At this moment, the official in charge of the Si Sui Tai was completely at a loss. He didn't know that when the officials from the Dali Temple came to the Si Sui Tai to deliver a message, they were conscripted by the Sui Beast's clone because of the matter of the Sui Beast. If this matter were reported, which side would ultimately be responsible?

In just half an hour, Liu Jiuli successfully embroiled the two important offices of the Yan Kingdom's court, the Si Sui Tai and the Dali Temple, and stirred up a mess of things.

After all, government departments need to follow procedures when handling affairs. Although special cases can be handled in a special way, Liu Jiuli is not the Yan Emperor. Who the hell knows whether the conscripted men were lustful or had other intentions?

Fortunately, Emperor Yan's permission solved the problem; otherwise, the official in charge of the Suitai today would have to pull out all his hair.

Jingzhe was completely bewildered, utterly confused, and utterly at a loss. But the imperial edict had been issued, so this was an official matter that had to be handled. It must be an official matter, I suppose.

"Hello, you can call me Surprise Pad."

"Liu Jiuli, your employer, I'll be relying on you to be my tour guide for the next period of time."

Chapter 183: The devil is not as scary as a street lamp pendant.

(This is the second update for today, comrades. Can I ask for a reward? (?ω?))

As a major country, Yan's economic level is quite good.

The city here is very prosperous, and you can always trust the food in Yan Kingdom. In some inconspicuous corner, there may be a family's ancestral craft that has been passed down for hundreds of years.

With the Yan Kingdom's court backing them, Liu Jiuli and Jingzhe's expenses were naturally not a problem. The two of them spent public funds on eating and drinking, spending lavishly everywhere. They could be found in luxury hotels in almost every city, and this was reported to the Si Suitai officials who were secretly observing them.

Someone who knows how to enjoy the glamorous world so well seems like one of our own ambitious people.

Emperor Yan smiled and put the report aside, looking quite pleased with himself.

As for the expenses for the two of them, it's just a small amount of money, which my Great Yan can afford.

However, if you don't look at things up close, the information you gather will be biased.

For example, Jingzhe knew that although Liu Jiuli liked to go to luxury hotels and order a table full of dishes, he would always pack up the leftovers and take them away, without wasting a single bit. These dishes would either become his breakfast or become food for beggars on the street.

As Liu Jiuli watched the beggar wolfing down his food, he muttered, "So there are beggars in Yan Kingdom too."

Jingzhe retorted, "Aren't there beggars everywhere?"

Liu Jiuli smiled slightly: "Steelgrad, Kharkiv, Yansk, Kazdel, there are no beggars."

Jingzhe was stunned, then asked curiously, "Where are the beggars?"

Liu Jiuli patted her on the shoulder: "If given a choice, no one would want to be a beggar."

To onlookers, it would be a disservice to the crowd if something didn't happen between Liu Jiuli, a man of such high status, who specifically chose a female civil servant from the Dali Temple to travel with.

In reality, although the light in Liu Jiuli's room often stayed on until the early hours of the morning, Jingzhe was mostly in the adjacent bedroom. Occasionally, Liu Jiuli would call her over to ask her some questions, and then Liu Jiuli would continue with his work.

At first, Jingzhe thought Liu Jiuli was writing in his diary, but you don't need to write in your diary until the early hours of the morning, do you? Are you handling official business? If so, you're really bold, aren't you afraid I'll see everything?

Liu Jiuli wasn't afraid at all. The paper and pen were specially made, and the writing wasn't done with ink, but with Liu Jiuli's own encrypted Originium technology. To others, it would just be a blank sheet of paper, without even any Originium energy fluctuations, but to Liu Jiuli, it would be the information he had collected over this period of time.

Everything I see, hear, and think is recorded in this notebook.

Without the right to investigate, one has no right to speak. Liu Jiuli couldn't possibly let go of such a close opportunity to contact the Yan Kingdom. However, going straight into the mountains would certainly arouse suspicion, so his route was to circle outwards from the major cities, thus "accidentally" passing by those towns and villages.

Yan Kingdom also has mobile cities, but Yan Kingdom has a large central plain and northeastern plain. For Yan Kingdom with a total area of ​​15 million square kilometers, the area of ​​these two disaster-free lands reaches an astonishing 7 million square kilometers, and both are suitable for cultivation. Liu Jiuli almost cried with envy when he found out.

This is amazing! It's so good, it feels like it's oozing oil when you hold it in your hand.

However, the mechanization level of these lands is not high, which shows that the industrial support for agriculture in Yan State is not going well. Although there are large-scale agricultural reclamation companies, they are subject to the local powerful landlords.

Wow, you powerful landlord, did you travel all the way back to the Three Kingdoms, Jin Dynasty, and Northern and Southern Dynasties in one go?

No, it's not that. Rather, when upper-level management fails to reach the lower levels, unclaimed niches are filled by those in power at the bottom. By taking over these positions, these grassroots families begin to transform and eventually become powerful and influential clans.

Once these powerful landlords emerged, the next step was the usual scenario—land consolidation.

Land is the foundation of all wealth, and landlords controlled the most fundamental means of production from the very beginning. The privileged class of feudal dynasties was the landlord class, along with the bureaucratic group that was a political derivative of them. Such a group naturally represented the interests of the vast majority of landlords.

Liu Jiuli did a quick online search and found information on hundreds of state-owned agricultural reclamation companies in Yan State. It seemed that the land distribution was very much in line with the characteristics of productive forces, at least preventing feudal landlords from succeeding and allowing the relatively more advanced bourgeoisie to take control.

But in reality, if you look at the shareholders of these companies, nine and a half out of ten are local powerful families who not only monopolize the land but also form a unique form of local protectionism. Passing caravans are always fleeced because the places where tolls are collected are checkpoints called "checkpoints".

The local self-sufficient farmers were almost entirely wiped out. In the worst-hit areas, there were no self-sufficient farmers left, only so-called "agricultural workers." To ensure that these people could continue to work in their own homes, while granting them freedom, the local powerful landlords also required them to sign employment contracts with them and register as individual business owners.

In this way, the obligations that powerful landlords had to pay to these farmers were completely wiped out—a perfect policy.

They make it sound like they've done something to deserve this.

However, they also argued vehemently, saying that setting aside the facts, aren't you troublemakers completely wrong?

In addition, Liu Jiuli also discovered that bandits were rampant in many parts of Yan State. Coincidentally, the more self-cultivating farmers there were, the more bandits there were. As a result, many local farmers went bankrupt and had to borrow money or flee. Then, these lands were taken over by local landlords in the name of agricultural reclamation companies.

Capitalism and feudal landlords coexist quite well here.

"I think they should broaden their thinking."

Jingzhe asked curiously, "What's the idea?"

Liu Jiuli: "How much money can we make from land annexation alone? We can speculate on real estate in the city, arrange the shared area, and collect the property fees into the company. At the same time, we can tie the real estate to schools and jobs, and mobilize speculators who want to get rich to create a real estate speculation group and rental apartments. But before that, we should bankrupt the farmers first. This requires the price scissors between industry and agriculture. We can start with... Why are you so far away from me?"

Jingzhe frowned deeply: "I feel like you're a devil."

Liu Jiuli smiled slightly: "Devil? A devil only wants your soul, but what I want is for you to work for me even after you die."

From that day on, Liu Jiuli felt that Jingzhe was actively keeping her distance from him, as if she was afraid of getting involved with something dangerous, which was very interesting.

That night, Jingzhe tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. She got out of bed and went to the hotel balcony, where she felt the cold wind blowing on her as she recalled what Liu Jiuli had said that morning.

There was no emotion in those words, only surplus value. After thinking it over and over, Jingzhe finally deciphered two words from them: "cannibalism".

Jingzhe shuddered. The fact that cannibalism could be turned into an industrialized assembly line process was terrifying in itself, especially when the other party had the power to do so.

Liu Jiuli previously said that there were no beggars in the cities under his rule. Could it be that all the beggars have been turned into slaves?

This world is already so cruel, why do you have to make it even more heartless?

Jingdian walked into the room and took out a harmonica from her underwear.

This was her most important gift. Whenever she was in a bad mood, Jingzhe would pick up her harmonica and play it, using that unique song to soothe her soul.

Jingzhe started playing the harmonica in the room. The soundproofing was excellent; apart from the next room, no one could hear it anywhere else. This design was mainly to prevent guests, especially those with female companions, from having to study at night without causing any embarrassment due to overly vigorous movements.

The harmonica's unique melody filled the room, and the singing was full of fighting spirit and resilience, representing a spirit of fighting to the end. Jingzhe liked this song very much, but unfortunately, she only learned the melody and not the lyrics.

Just as the first verse of the song was finished playing on the Jingzhe stage, the next verse of the song suddenly started playing from the next room.

What's even stranger is that this song has lyrics.

The singing is coming from next door? How could that be!?

Jingzhe suddenly stood up, and without caring that she was still wearing her pajamas, she barged into Liu Jiuli's room.

Upon entering, he saw Liu Jiuli smiling at him, and in front of him, a song was playing from a phone, with the line: "The Inter-Sonner must be realized."

The man stood frozen in shock, unable to believe his eyes.

Liu Jiuli then spoke up, saying, "We come from all corners of the country, but we all share the same goal, don't you think, Comrade Jingdian?"

Section 184: The So-Called Golden Age

(Comrades, let's get the comments flowing! (～￣▽￣)～)

When the Internationale started playing next door, Liu Jiuli was startled.

However, recalling the map Wei Renmin had given him earlier, Liu Jiuli quickly realized that their comrades were scattered all over the world.

When the flames begin to rage, something will always remain, something that cannot be destroyed by slaughter and burial. Death does not belong to the proletariat; the spirit will only seek new bearers.

Back then, San Dezi burned quite a few banned books, but the effect was only self-comfort. Just like a locked box will always be opened, when you try your best to stop something, it only proves that your fear of it exceeds your strength, and then someone will inevitably want to reach out and touch that power.

Regardless of their initial intentions, as long as they remain loyal to the end, they are comrades.

Jingzhe looked at Liu Jiuli, and Liu Jiuli looked at her. Their eyes met, one in shock, the other smiling.

At this moment, Liu Jiuli spoke up: "Comrade Jingzhe, please sit down."

Jingzhe's mind was still a bit fuzzy. After nodding, she sat down opposite Liu Jiuli.

After a moment, Jingzhe asked, "Why do you have an organized method of communication?"

Liu Jiuli laughed: "Using 'The Internationale' as an organization's slogan, you guys are really something. If there's any backstabbing force that knows about this song, you're finished."

Jingzhe shook her head: "Actually, I only know how to play the flute, I don't know what the lyrics are."

Liu Jiuli: "The first line of this song is 'Arise, ye prisoners of hunger and cold.' Do you consider yourself a slave?"

Jingzhe was stunned. She began to think about the question seriously, and finally shook her head and said, "I don't know."

Liu Jiuli: "Of course you are a slave, a slave under the feudal system, a slave without your own will. Even if you hold a high position, you are just a tool in the hands of the highest ruler. What truly determines your value is not your struggle and effort, but how much they value you."

Jingzhe nodded, agreeing with Liu Jiuli's statement.

The Dali Temple was equivalent to the Supreme Court of Yan Kingdom, possessing the highest judicial power. To outsiders, it seemed incredibly prestigious, but the so-called judicial independence was a joke. In reality, the Dali Temple's judgments were more driven by political needs. You were only truly guilty if the emperor deemed you guilty, so if the emperor granted leniency, the Dali Temple had no choice but to release you.

The court has seen heinous criminals escape punishment, and it has also seen those who did not deserve to die being branded as criminals. The chances of truly handling cases fairly are few and far between. The Court of Judicial Review does not need justice; there is only politics here.

Sometimes, Jingzhe really wants to go out and become a minor official like a county magistrate, far away from troublesome places like the Dali Temple.

However, after learning about the officialdom of Yan State, Jingzhe knew very well that this was just wishful thinking on her part.

When you arrive in a local area, it's true that the emperor is far away, but you can't stop the local tyrants. The powerful landlords are the ones who make the decisions. The officials of the imperial court are just working for them. Once you offend these bigwigs, they can easily make you forget about doing your job with the slightest gesture. It can even lead to serious trouble, and framing and slander are common occurrences.

Good officials do exist, but those who lack interpersonal skills have all been removed, leaving behind either opportunists or cunning individuals.

At that moment, Jingzhe truly understood that the imperial court did not need justice, nor even correctness. Just like what was written in the book she had read, the government also had class attributes, and the government of which class served which class.

Bankrupt farmers, destitute workers, and starving disaster victims—faced with these, the so-called prosperous era of Yan Kingdom is nothing but a joke.

The imperial court remained a scene of singing and dancing, with everyone praising the current Emperor Yan's civil and military achievements, completely oblivious to the suffering of the common people at the bottom of society.

Admittedly, compared to other countries, Yan is relatively better to its people, but is it meaningful to compare the worst?