Doctor, I'm really strong!

The people who live here shine as brightly as Theresa's diamond-like ideal.

Section 277: Branching

(Second update! ?(^?^))

After speaking with the couple, the King of Shapeshifters waved goodbye and went to the immigration registration office.

During our conversation, he learned a lot about the unique local customs, such as the crucial ID card. That thing is so useful; without it, you can't go anywhere, and you can't even use it to buy things or get money.

After obtaining his temporary ID, the King of Shapeshifters decided to take a good look at Kazdel now.

Meanwhile, Liu Jiuli met Manfred and his two companions at the detention center.

The reason the three were arrested this time was for illegal entry. Because of the previous incident with Koja, the three did not dare to resist and obediently let the police take them to the police station to wait.

Even outsourced cities like Koga have disaster-level security capabilities, so Kazdel, being a local community city, is certainly no weaker in this regard. Liu Jiuli gave them face in Koga, but causing trouble on community territory is disrespectful to Liu Jiuli, and the consequences of disrespecting the Demon King are severe.

Fortunately, Liu Jiuli didn't make things difficult for them. Instead, he gave them three temporary ID cards and told them to take a good look at Kazdel now and write down their travel impressions.

"This is the origin of the Sarkaz. Now that we're home, let's take a good look around."

"Thank you for your understanding, we are very grateful."

After the three received the cards, the King of Carrion looked at Liu Jiuli and asked, "Where is the other young Demon King?"

Liu Jiuli: "If you're talking about Amiya, she's in Steelgrad. If you want to see her, I can arrange it."

As for whether these people would suddenly cause trouble, Liu Jiuli was not worried at all, because he would definitely be there. If these three were stubborn, then the Sarkaz Ten Royal Courts would become the Eight Royal Courts.

After answering the question, Liu Jiuli looked at the three of them: "What? Don't you have any other questions?"

The King of Carrion shook his head: "I used to have a lot of questions, but after witnessing the prosperity of Kazdel, I feel that these questions are insignificant."

Liu Jiuli expressed his understanding of this answer.

In the game, the questioning of Kal'tsit and others by the King of Carrion is actually a choice between two paths: Theresis and Amiya, who can lead the Sarkaz to the future?

Neither side had produced any remarkable achievements at the time, so the only way to get the Ten Kings to take sides was through persuasion. But Liu Jiuli didn't need that. The prosperous Kazdel, the wealthy local people, and the crushing of the Red Army by the Eight-Nation Alliance—that was the persuasive power of the community, strong and effective.

Faced with such an unprecedented and unparalleled answer, the questions raised by the King of Carrion are utterly insignificant.

He now wanted to know more about the progress of New Kazdel, whether this city rising from ruins truly had a bright future. It wasn't just Kazdel's future, but the Sarkaz's future as well.

Frankly speaking, the Scavenger King, who was on the side of the Sarkaz people's interests, had already begun to lean towards the community.

So Liu Jiuli extended an invitation to them: "The New Year is in a week, why don't you stay for a New Year's Eve dinner?"

All three said they would definitely come.

After leaving the police station, the three went their separate ways, with one going to investigate Kazdel now.

The King of Carrion changed his clothes and took a bus to the city center, Manfred chose the subway, and his destination was the industrial area of ​​Kazdel. The Blood Lord, on the other hand, rented a car and chose to go on a road trip.

With the addition of the Shapeshifter King, the four-person expedition team officially began their journey in New Kazdel.

Steel Grid, People's Grand Theatre

The Spring Festival Gala rehearsal is underway here, where artists from all walks of life are giving full play to their talents and hard work. Liu Jiuli has only one requirement for the community's Spring Festival Gala—to be down-to-earth.

It should be interesting, reflect real life, and satirize social problems and ills. Don't be afraid of being ashamed to tell the truth. It's the kind of lie that no one can be fooled that's shameful, and it's shameful on top of shameful. If it's discovered by foreign countries, it's even more shameful.

A harmonious atmosphere sounds good, but it's like trying to offend no one with a policy. Being a nice guy and trying to smooth things over will ultimately leave everyone worse off and make the people feel disgusted. These small conflicts will accumulate and eventually become big problems. By the time you deal with them, it will be too late, and you'll be damaging the government's credibility.

The Spring Festival Gala is also a window for the community to promote itself to the outside world. Liu Jiuli never intended to present a perfect image to everyone. Humans themselves are not perfect, and the countries created by humans are even less so. A cold and aloof persona is easy to collapse. To establish a normal national image, it is more realistic to admit mistakes and correct them than to never make mistakes. In the long struggle to come, it is easier to gain the upper hand.

The kind of beacon-like propaganda that the US uses may seem effective at first, but once the veil is torn off, the number of people who believed it before will multiply by a factor of two. A lie repeated a billion times is still a lie. The sun won't explode just because you talk nonsense. Any sophistry is a laughable clown in the face of objective laws. Just like betel nut, the more pleasurable it is in the beginning, the more severe the backlash will be later.

As for whether programs reflecting the hardships of ordinary people would cause surprise among friendly nations, Liu Jiuli remained calm.

You disagree? Come and bite me if you dare, hehehe.

The propaganda work was naturally handled by Mi Yunjiao. Because of what happened last time, Zhenli was particularly vigilant this time, strictly reviewing all programs. For satirical sketches and crosstalk, as long as what you said was correct and true, you could directly point your finger at Liu Jiuli and scold him. But if it was sarcastic or distorted, then we'd have to discuss the recent manpower shortage at the Siberian farm. "Let's make a slight modification to this part, to highlight the character's personality, not make him too generic."

"It's too rigid! This place must be changed."

"Readjust the angle and lighting, move it five degrees to the right, and see how it goes."

Ni Yan is very nervous because she is going to participate in a dance performance, and she will be performing in front of the whole country. She has no experience in this area. At most, she is more flexible and has a little more talent than others when performing arts in the army, but that's about it. Now she is going to be on the Spring Festival Gala stage, and the pressure is immense.

"Don't be nervous, just follow our movements, like this... like this... and then like this..."

"Okay, I understand. I'll give it a try."

There are many Spring Festival Gala performers like Ni Yan, who are selected directly from the grassroots level. There is also the national model worker collective chorus of "Motherland", the drama "Red Flag Fluttering" which reflects the spirit of workers' resistance, and the skit "Twenty Mu of Land" which depicts the liberation of farmers. They are down-to-earth and easy for anyone to understand what the performances are about.

Of course, some "high-minded" intellectuals also expressed their heartache, saying that these vulgar things had actually entered the halls of high culture, which was a regression of civilization, a tragedy of the times, and a complete failure of the education of the past twenty years.

However, these kinds of people are generally abroad. Such creatures within the community have been thoroughly cleaned up. Those who remain live with their tails between their legs, not daring to express even the slightest dissatisfaction. Faced with the changes in the arts and culture scene, they are powerless. They either adapt or stay away. Those idiots who dare to stand in front of the proletarian cultural chariot have been crushed into dust.

One week later...

Chapter 278: Times Have Changed

(Third update, I tried my best, where are everyone's rewards? (?ω?))

February 11, 1105, the day before the Spring Festival in Terra.

Since the leader of the community was Liu Jiuli, the country's holidays followed the example of China. Holidays with strong religious overtones were all abolished and replaced with holidays based on labor and commemoration.

Yan Kingdom has inherited this pattern quite well, so the Spring Festival holidays in both countries are at the same time, but Yan Kingdom is obviously not as lively as the community.

"Thank you for your hard work. Here's the money. Also, take these and buy some candy for your kids."

"Thank you, miss, you're such a kind person."

"Be careful on the road."

After the rickshaw driver left, Jingzhe entered the Lin family's mansion. Because it was almost the New Year, the entire mansion was bustling with activity.

But Jingzhe couldn't feel this atmosphere at all. What came to her mind were beggars freezing to death on the streets, mothers selling their children, and farmers dressed in rags, all of whom were struggling to survive the winter.

There are snow disasters in the north and floods in the south, but the western region is relatively stable because the actual controller there is the community.

The Yan Kingdom is gradually declining, and the court's control over the local areas has obviously decreased. The most typical example is that disaster relief funds have been embezzled. In order to ensure that relief grain can be distributed to the disaster victims, officials have to use very poor quality coarse grains to provide relief, because these things are difficult to even use as animal feed, and the people below will not embezzle them, so at least some will end up in the mouths of the disaster victims.

Not long ago, Jingzhe visited Longmen. The changes there can only be described as earth-shattering. The original slums have been completely transformed, and the city has been replanned. Apart from a few buildings of commemorative significance, there is no trace of Longmen in many places.

The Longmen of the past was a place of prosperity tinged with greed; the Longmen of today is a place of flourishing and full of hope.

The children in those slums have all gone to school and are receiving a good education. Because they eat and dress well, they are all very healthy now. In contrast, every month, a large number of people from Yan Country enter the community or enter the community through human trade. People are fleeing Yan Country.

Following this trend, the community will eventually march south, and by then, the Yan Kingdom will certainly be powerless to resist.

The common people might even cheer with joy, thinking they had finally welcomed the mighty army.

I really hope that day comes soon.

"elder sister!"

"My sister is back!"

"Sister! A gift, a gift."

"What about mine? What about mine?"

The sudden appearance of his younger siblings forced Jingzhe to switch from thinking about the future to dealing with reality.

"I've prepared gifts for everyone, so don't rush, we'll do them one by one."

After comforting her younger siblings, Jingzhe went to the main hall to pay New Year's respects to the family's ancestors.

"Lin Qingyan pays his respects to the ancestor."

"Alright, alright, Qingyan, come here quickly, let the Ancestor take a look."

The ancestor of the Lin family was named Lin Baishi. He was one of the people who followed the Yan Emperor ancestor into the pass back then. He is now like a satellite spirit. Even the current Yan Emperor has to pay respects to him as a junior.

As the most promising young man of the Lin family, Jingzhe naturally attracted the attention of the ancestor, which is no surprise to everyone. Although the ancestor is very old, he has never been short of expectations for his family.

The Lin family's ancestral motto: Do ​​not refrain from doing good because it is small, nor do evil because it is small.

It is said that this saying was unearthed from a pre-civilization site. It was a book called "Records of the Three Kingdoms". The ancestors regarded that book as a treasure and were reluctant to show it to others. This is the origin of the Lin family's ancestral motto.

After the greetings, Qingyan was led to the study by the patriarch, where a serious conversation ensued.

"Qingyan, what are your thoughts on the current state of Yan Kingdom?"

Although Lin Baishi asked for his opinion, Jing Dian was very clear that Yan Kingdom's biggest problem right now was the community, a country that was destined to be irreconcilably opposed to Yan Kingdom from the day it was founded.

"Reporting to our ancestors, the Yan Kingdom now has no chance of stopping the community."

Lin Baishi sighed: "Yes, let alone the current Yan Kingdom, even the Yan Kingdom of the past couldn't stop them."

After thinking for a moment, Jingzhe finally spoke up: "If Yan Kingdom wants to stop the community, there is only one way left."

Lin Baishi nodded, but didn't speak, clearly knowing that this was not feasible.

A comprehensive and thorough reform, which could easily turn into a revolution if not handled carefully, requires a radical approach to completely eliminate the internal problems of the country, redistribute resources, and then choose a more advanced social system to promote development.

This is tantamount to letting Emperor Yan rise up in rebellion and distribute the power of the scholar-officials to the common people. Is that even possible?

The only certainty is that everyone who made this suggestion to Yan Huang is doomed.

After a long while, Lin Baishi said with some sadness, "The Yan Kingdom once had the opportunity to become a community, but unfortunately... never mind, let bygones be bygones. Qingyan, now it's time to make a choice again. If possible, take a few shrewd and capable family members to the community."

This is a choice that powerful families would inevitably make when they foresee a change of dynasty: hedging their bets on both sides.

By dividing the family members into many groups and having each group pledge allegiance to several different factions, the family lineage can be ensured to continue unbroken.

But these words sent a chill down Jingzhe's spine.

It's normal for large families to want to take sides, but the problem is that Liu Jiuli isn't the kind of person who follows the script.

Just look at the current community to see that Liu Jiuli doesn't give those powerful and wealthy people a chance to choose sides. No matter who you are, once you join the community, you have to start all over again. Furthermore, once someone passes the civil service exam, their children and grandchildren cannot take the civil service exam before they retire. This is equivalent to tearing apart the interconnected family system in terms of time. Other measures, such as lateral transfers, relocation, and promotion assessments, place even more stringent requirements on officials.

In the community, all officials are secretly assessed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs before being promoted. This assessment not only considers their personal abilities and financial situation, but also the situation of their family members. All of these factors are taken into account. This investigation is conducted in secret. After retirement, they are also subject to corresponding asset audits and secret investigations of their family members. If any problems are found, they are required to report to Siberia.

For the newly liberated areas, Liu Jiuli adopted a thorough revolutionary strategy. For families like the Lin family, they would not be spared punishment just because there were comrades among their family members. Their property would still be confiscated, and the entire family would be forced to leave with nothing. Their family background would also be registered. This kind of assessment would only be abolished after three generations, thus eliminating the possibility of large families emerging from the root.

Of course, you could say that policies are made by people and that people can ruin them, but at least before Liu Jiuli died, no one dared to be so arrogant. The Ministry of Internal Affairs' control was always online, and the gates of Lubyanka, Siberia, and Sun Prison were always open to these people.

The ancestors of their own family thought that the rules of the game were still the same as before, but little did they know that times had changed.

But for Jingzhe personally, this was indeed an opportunity to help the community liberate Yan Kingdom, which was much better than watching the country slowly decay from within Yan Kingdom.