Doctor, I'm really strong!

Standing behind Chen Huijie, Wen Yue frowned slightly, clearly having thought of something as well.

Chen Huijie then asked, "Should we take more proactive measures?"

This more proactive approach has a very wide range of values; simply put, it means shifting from passive defense to active offense.

Wei Yanwu shook his head: "It's difficult, very difficult."

Chernobog is, after all, the territory of the Ursus Empire. Wei Yanwu can scheme against others on Yan Kingdom's territory, but once he goes abroad, whatever he does will become a conflict between countries. If the invasion of Chernobog by Lungmen is confirmed, that old silver coin Black Serpent will probably be laughing in his dreams.

Wei Yanwu took a few puffs of his cigarette, filtering through the recent events in his mind, before asking, "What's the situation in the Longmen slums now?"

The slums are full of infected people, who are natural recruits for the Reunion Movement. Even if they are not encouraged, they are a hidden threat, which makes Wei Yanwu have to be careful.

Chen Huijie replied, "The crime rate has more than doubled compared to the past, but it is still within a controllable range."

But who knows what will happen in the future? Now that something has happened in distant Chernobog, Lungmen has also been affected. It's hard to guarantee that some Reunion Movement members won't infiltrate among those infected. They certainly didn't come to Lungmen for tourism.

After much deliberation, Wei Yanwu issued a new order: "Increase the manpower of the Lungmen Guard Bureau. I authorize you to select directly from the Lungmen garrison. At this stage, you must ensure the stability of Lungmen at all costs!"

Chen Huijie stood at attention and saluted: "Yes, sir!"

Wei Yanwu nodded, sat down, and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Chen Huijie hesitated for a moment, then said, "There is a rather special piece of intelligence, which is also about the Reunion Movement."

Wei Yanwu knocked away the ash from his cigarette and asked, "What is it?"

Chen Huijie: "There is an organization called Rhodes Island that is cooperating with the Reunion Movement."

Wei Yanwu looked up and frowned: "Rhodes Island, are you sure you want to call it that?"

Chen Huijie nodded and said, "Yes, that's the name. It's a medical company."

Wei Yanwu put down his pipe and asked, "Is the Reunion Movement purchasing medicines from Rhodes Island?"

Chen Huijie shook her head and said with a serious expression, "There is no such indication. They just sent one person to Chernobog, and that person has now become the new leader of the Reunion Movement."

Wei Yanwu and Wen Yue were both startled. In fact, Chen Huijie's expression was not good either. They both knew about Talulah and were witnesses to that tragedy.

Wei Yanwu asked in a deep voice, "Where is the original leader?"

Chen Huijie: "I became the new leader's assistant."

Now everyone frowned even more. Given Talulah's personality, how could she willingly become someone else's assistant unless that person was far superior to her, leaving Talulah with no other choice?

If that were all, it wouldn't be a big problem. The problem is what Rhodes Island is up to.

Ursus, Reunion, Black Serpent, Lungmen, the grudges and entanglements of the three royal families—is this tangled mess really that captivating? Why does your medical company have to get involved in everything? Are you feeling lonely and looking for some excitement?

Wei Yanwu then asked, "Who is that person?"

Chen Huijie replied, "Liu Jiuli, a doctor from Rhodes Island."

Wei Yanwu stared at Chen Huijie for a long time before asking, "That's it?"

Chen Huijie nodded: "That's all the relevant information we have for now."

Wei Yanwu felt a headache coming on. What did all these people who had inexplicably joined want to do? Did Rhodes Island want to control the Reunion Movement? But that conflicted with their ideology, and it didn't seem like something that old lynx would do.

Furthermore, Rhodes Island's involvement means they have direct contact with the Ursus Empire. What role do they play in this? Are they friend or foe? Or is Rhodes Island actually one of the Ursus Empire's smokescreens, and that "Doctor" is just part of the Black Serpent Project, a complete smokescreen?

There's too little information; no matter how hard we try to analyze it, we can't figure anything out.

However, Wei Yanwu still remembered the name Liu Jiuli. Little did he know that this name would appear before him countless times, bringing one shock after another.

Don't dwell on things you can't understand for now. The most urgent thing is to keep Lungmen in order, especially to be wary of the Ursus Empire playing the Reunion card. We need to increase surveillance in the Lungmen slums and impose martial law and curfews if necessary.

When Chen Huijie left, she also took with her Wei Yanwu's latest orders, and Longmen began to enter a state of covert preparation for war, which was outwardly relaxed but inwardly tense.

On the same day, a mysterious person arrived at Longmen.

Section 29: Canned Food Standard

Chernobog has been turned into a huge construction site.

Busy people were everywhere, and relatively intact factories were being put into operation, only now they were filled with a lot of brand-new equipment.

All of these devices were created by Liu Jiuli, and their functions are varied. In particular, the food synthesis factory is the one that everyone looks at with the same expression as they would look at their own wife, because this factory can convert biomass into edible canned food that tastes quite good.

It's basically luncheon meat, in various versions.

Pshaw, it's just luncheon meat, what's the big deal?

Then you're judging others with the mindset of having plenty to eat and wear; that's like saying, "Why don't they eat meat porridge?"

Don't forget, the world of Arknights is a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The Originium catastrophe has rendered large tracts of land unusable, creating an extremely harsh living environment. In addition, Ursus itself is located in a high-latitude region, where extreme cold is inherently deadly, and under extreme conditions, temperatures can reach an astonishing -100 degrees Celsius.

In such an environment, it's considered good to be able to eat black bread mixed with sawdust and salt. Those with better conditions might have scallions as a side dish. For most people surviving in the wilderness, being able to live in complete poverty is considered wealthy, and everyone is pitifully poor.

When a person is in such an environment, let alone eating canned food, even catching a fish would be considered a blessing from God. They dare not have any other expectations besides survival.

If someone can provide enough food at this time, and that person is so powerful that no one dares to steal it, then you will be the overlord of Ursus, or at least a regional overlord, and the people there will follow your lead.

You should know that when the Emperor of Ursus rebelled in the stables, all he promised was that everyone who followed him would be able to drink meat soup with oil and plenty of salt every day.

If this standard were applied here, and it were the treatment you were giving to someone else, the Public Security Bureau would come to your door the next day to offer their assistance. If it were for your own life, the Poverty Alleviation Office would rush over to process your special hardship allowance.

But here is paradise, and Liu Jiuli is the savior of all of them, the kind of person they would enshrine in their homes.

Moreover, the templates for these canned goods were redeemed by Liu Jiuli using points from the system. They are not only nutritionally balanced but also rich in flavor, with plenty of various seasonings, not to mention salt.

Faced with this devastating impact from industrial civilization, the local poor people's taste buds exploded, and they were so full of nothing but babbling that they could barely eat anymore. This is no exaggeration.

Modern people, whose palates are spoiled by MSG, can hardly imagine how ancient people, without MSG, managed to obtain glutamic acid. Do you know about boiled cabbage? Its essence is to extract as much glutamic acid as possible from the animal's body, which is essentially broth. In terms of freshness, even the broth that ancient imperial chefs prepared for three days cannot compare to the three spoonfuls of MSG in your hand.

Honestly, most people don't have such strong tastes.

Luncheon meat swept through Chernobog in an instant, becoming a symbol of the Reunion Movement. Even ordinary people who were forced to stay in the area accepted this delicacy, and everyone was conquered by luncheon meat.

The initial popularization was to alleviate food panic. Now that food is no longer a problem, Liu Jiuli can continue to operate on this foundation. High-level management often only requires the simplest methods.

In response to the current situation of a double collapse in Chernobyl's financial system and market, Liu Jiuli decided to adopt a canned-food-based system.

Don't laugh. The essence of a general equivalent is that it has value that everyone recognizes. The intangible asset of this value is reputation. Only when everyone trusts you can your market expand.

The reputation of canned goods is now quite solid, so we'll use canned goods to pay everyone's wages.

These canned goods all have a shelf life of more than five years, since the initial templates were all redeemed from the system and are of high quality.

Take workers as an example:

The workers were divided into nine levels.

Level 1: Daily wage equals one can of luncheon meat.

Level 2: 2 cans; Level 3: 3 cans; Level 4: 4 cans plus 1 can of fruit.

Level 5: 5 cans of fruit plus 2 cans of fruit and 1 can of vegetables;

Level 5: 10 cans of canned fruit plus 5 cans of canned vegetables;

Level 10: 20 cans of canned fruit plus 10 cans of canned vegetables;

Level 50, 50 cans of fruit cans and 50 cans of vegetable cans;

Level 100, 100 cans of fruit cans and 100 cans of vegetable cans.

All canned goods are 500 grams each, which is quite an extravagant treatment.

Before the war, canned beef in Cesarean cost around 25 rubles. Based on 20 rubles, an average worker's daily wage would be 20 rubles, which is ten times the price offered by local business owners.

What? You're asking what you can do with a two-ruble-a-day salary, or even if you can eat your fill?

Having enough to eat is the workers' business, not the entrepreneurs' business. If you're not full, it's because you don't know how to work hard.

Let's not even talk about the more advanced skilled workers, but it's important to note that starting from level six, the workers correspond to the factory's technicians and senior technicians, and even researchers. They're all called workers, but there are different levels for them. This is to constantly remind everyone that even if you earn a million a day, you are still a proletarian.

Currently, the workers in the Integration Movement are at most Level 3 workers. It is possible that there are hidden Senior Workers among them, but if they want to get a rating, they must first prove themselves in their work.

To establish the organization's financial credibility, wages are settled on the same day, and workers can leave directly with canned food after get off work. Overtime is paid at three times the normal rate, but you must get approval before you can work overtime, otherwise you have to go home and rest.

After this system was established, the labor productivity of the Integration Movement greatly improved, and Liu Jiuli's prestige smoothly surpassed that of Talulah. This made it easier for Liu Jiuli to carry out reforms within the Integration Movement later. Forced reforms were not impossible, but Liu Jiuli preferred to do the groundwork first and then resolve the issues smoothly.

If employees don't want to eat canned food and want to exchange it for something else, that's fine too. After signing an agreement, the employees' canned food will be stored and sold as traded goods, and they will receive a share of the profits. However, this share of profits is subject to market fluctuations. Currently, there are no trading partners in Chernobog, so not many people do this. Private trade involves bartering canned food for other goods.

At this stage, even if basic economic civilization has been solved and the market framework has been established, laying the foundation for the future introduction of fiat currency, it is actually possible now. Liu Jiuli can directly DIY currency from the system, select materials, and then mass-produce it using the universal factory.

However, you have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. Start with the basics and don't be overly ambitious, otherwise you'll easily fall to your death. Throughout history, many people who messed around with economics ended up being ruined by it.

Of course, there's an even more outrageous method: directly minting gold coins. Sure, pure gold! Don't forget the manufacturing principles of the All-Powerful Factory. However, this powerful weapon can't be revealed casually right now. If the Ursus Empire finds out that Chernobog has a mountain of gold, things will get really messed up. Liu Jiuli might run away, but the entire Reunion Movement won't.

However, when Liu Jiuli is able to build the Tsar Bomba, that will be another story.

The most important thing now is not to ruin our lives, but to start by turning the economy around and making small amounts of money.

In this way, Longmen is a better place for him to show his skills.

It's time for a spontaneous trip to Longmen.

Section 30: The Weakness of Intelligent People

If every city has its own calling card, then freedom and trade are Longmen's calling card.

This mobile city, located in the northwest of Yan Kingdom, is situated at the crossroads of East-West trade on the Terra continent. The constant flow of merchants has brought prosperity to the city and endowed it with a special historical mission.

The Great Yan is a powerful nation, both conservative and open, and it takes every step very carefully.

Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish; it requires refinement, moderation, and a gradual approach. In short, stability is paramount.

Longmen is both the window to Yan Kingdom and its firewall. Two completely different economic systems have merged and checked each other, forming Longmen today, a city full of opportunities and challenges.

Along the way, Liu Jiuli had a very high opinion of the environment around Longmen.

Because it is a commercial city, Lungmen does not have much manufacturing industry. The lack of manufacturing industry means that there is not much Originium industry. The surrounding Originium environment is very stable and rarely suffers from natural disasters. Therefore, the vegetation coverage in the northwest region is very high, and many locals live in small villages. The overall living environment is relatively good.

Compared to the icy and snowy landscape of Ursus, even with the introduction of industrial equipment, the small-scale farming economy remains very fragile.

It could even be said that the introduction of industrial equipment made the small-scale farming economy more vulnerable.

Industrial equipment requires maintenance and consumes energy, which are not things that ordinary farmers can handle by hand. To make things easier for them, they must purchase industrial products. This expense undoubtedly increases the cost of farming. Coupled with the inherent fragility and disaster resilience of small-scale farming, their very survival may become a problem.

This has resulted in a very low adoption rate of agricultural machinery, and many places remain largely undeveloped.

To put it simply, it's about the productivity level of the curved plow. To implement large-scale machinery, you need a large farm and corresponding massive capital resources. This system represents the industrial-era agriculture's devastating impact on traditional natural agriculture.