Doctor, I'm really strong!

Solving problems is difficult, but solving the people who create them is possible. This is called curing the disease at its root, a supreme goal pursued since Shennong, the ancient ancestor of medicine. Liu Jiuli felt that he should learn from the wisdom of his ancestors.

"Alright, it's time to build our own cultural stronghold!"

Chapter 128: The People's Idol Project

(Update delivered, good morning everyone (～￣▽￣)～)

Having seen too many so-called "idols" whose images had collapsed and who were disgusting in the past, Liu Jiuli set very high standards for people's idols.

If Liu Jiuli were an emperor, his requirements would be equivalent to an idol first having to fight a Grand Magus in the Star Forces, then become a Space Marine and gain countless battles, finally become a Grey Knight with unwavering faith, and finally receive a divine blessing before being allowed to appear in public. While other idols need general anesthesia even for a haircut, this one held his own against Angron.

Whether this set of moves will make him an idol is hard to say, but he should have no problem killing a few big demons.

So much so that after Liu Jiuli told Talulah and Ling his thoughts, both of them had a bewildered expression.

Talulah asked cautiously, "Let me double-check, this is a singing and dancing idol, not the Emperor's inner guard, right?"

Ling complained, "Even the Yan Kingdom's Imperial Guards don't have such outrageous selection criteria. Are you planning to set up a stage before going to war and then sing the enemy to death?"

Liu Jiuli explained: "This is to prevent the collapse of the public's idols. As the sharpest weapon in the propaganda field, they must be positive, sunny, uplifting, and full of positive energy. They must know what to say and what not to say. Public figures have a great influence, and a slight mistake could cause social problems."

Ling sighed: "I understand the logic, but I really don't understand your approach. With this kind of routine, every idol who goes on stage would have to have six-pack abs and a body full of muscles, right? Are you sure this is what an idol is?"

Liu Jiuli said righteously, "Warriors who can lie on ice and snow, tear tigers and leopards apart, and love their country and people are the idols we should admire. I have always been a fan of Wu Jing."

Talulah asked, "Who is Wu Jing?"

Liu Jiuli coughed twice: "In short, our idols must be positive and have real skills. Get the garbage created by capital out of the public eye. Those who use marijuana are even worse. You can't squeeze any useful output out of such rotten scum even if you throw them into a recycling station."

Talulah asked curiously, "Isn't your reaction a bit too extreme? Do you have some kind of psychological trauma?"

Liu Jiuli said through gritted teeth, "The main problem is that I'm disgusted by idol dramas where the lines are all just '12345'."

After thinking for a moment, Ling said, "In that case, we need to have our own idol system, and we must firmly control this field with state-owned resources, otherwise it will turn out like that."

The office TV is showing an idol concert; it's an idol group from Kazimierz.

These seemingly glamorous girls are actually money-making machines packaged by the Kasimir Business Association. Their education level is only at the primary school level, and some of them can't even write anything except their own names. Beneath their exquisite appearance lies their true nature as tools, capitalist weapons used to numb the public.

What most people don't know is that behind these girls who can perform on stage are at least a few hundred backups, trained from a young age. Once an idol on stage fails to perform her duties, she will be ruthlessly replaced and become a prostitute in an entertainment club or the lead actress in some explicit films. They cannot escape this cycle. Their lives no longer belong to them from the moment they sign the idol contract. No matter how glorious they are now, their future is bleak and suffocating.

Such a puppet of capital cannot satisfy Liu Jiuli's demand for a people's idol.

Liu Jiuli hopes that idols can be role models to learn from, rather than artillery positions for the "bread and butter" culture.

The idea was there, and the next step was execution. But then a new problem arose in front of Liu Jiuli: they lacked talent.

The field of propaganda also needs talent. The abnormal development of Terra has also led to a cyberpunk-style explosion in some industries when they should not be shining, such as the entertainment industry. Emerging capitalist countries, represented by Colombia, have already shown a trend of entertainment to the death. Compared to those addictive leaves, the addictive nature of electronic products is obviously safer.

Of course, their ultimate goal is the same: to give ordinary people a place to vent their frustrations and release their rebellious spirit into the game.

The idea is good, but they didn't consider the infected population at all, nor did they consider that their pursuit of entertainment to the death also has a threshold. Just like if you want to play online games, you need a computer with internet access, and if you want to play mobile games, you need a mobile phone that can play games. But for these low-end populations, they are almost living in the wilderness every day, so they can't even think about higher-level needs.

Of course, this is not the case in Steel Gridler and Future Science City. With economic development, the locals' wallets have gradually become fuller, and now they have a demand for cultural products. If this demand cannot be met, then smuggling will become rampant. Liu Jiuli does not want to see those cultural dregs crowding out the propaganda front of the proletariat.

Although there is virtually no talent in the relevant field, as long as we don't lose our mindset, there are always more solutions than problems. What the entertainment industry needs first and foremost is someone with high taste, forward-thinking ideas, and ample professional experience.

Liu Jiuli is confident in this regard, but his confidence is concentrated in the ACG field. The publicity platform cannot rely solely on the ACG community; it also needs its own celebrities and labels.

After a search, Zilan was fortunate enough to be directly promoted to Minister of Culture and Entertainment.

Because they have a lot of experience in this field, they are very suitable for this job.

Zilan had no objections to her new job. After all, she not only had a government job, but her benefits were also much better, more than ten times better than when she was the editor-in-chief. Her salary had directly entered the social elite class.

However, when she asked how many people were in her department, Liu Jiuli simply shrugged and said, "Please find them yourself."

Literally, it means starting from scratch, building something from nothing.

Zilan was completely dumbfounded. Although she had been the editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine, at least there were enough staff in that company. Even if there were no experienced employees, a few newcomers would still be fine. But when it came to Liu Jiuli, apart from the treatment and salary, everything else was like an ordinary person taking advanced mathematics – a zero.

"I'm just a supervisor, not a general manager."

“It’s okay. From now on, you will take on the corresponding responsibilities. Consider it training. You can find people from other places to solve the manpower problem, whether it’s hiring from the community or recruiting directly, I will give you the green light.”

Having said all that, and facing a bright future, Zilan resolutely chose to give it her all.

As the saying goes, a scholar will die for one who understands him. Zilan has not yet gone to that point, but as an infected person, Liu Jiuli has given her the possibility of reaching a higher level. Even if this possibility is not guaranteed, Zilan is willing to do her best. Moreover, Liu Jiuli has given her everything he should. It is difficult, but he has definitely not treated her unfairly.

This unwavering trust and support inspired Zilan to set out on her own path.

At that moment, she had no idea what kind of miracle she would create in the future.

Section 129: The Gaze of Paradox Interactive Players

(There's one more chapter coming up. Can I ask for some votes? Comments are fine too (?ω?))

Recently, Liu Jiuli encountered a situation that surprised him.

It seems like I have nothing to do.

With various departments gradually becoming more organized, Liu Jiuli, as the leader, only needs to grasp the general direction. Coupled with the Ministry of Internal Affairs that is constantly on the move and the APP reporting system that has penetrated deep into the people, from the Future Science City in Longmen to the Steel Grid, this people's regime, which has not declared rebellion, is showing unimaginable vitality.

It's fine, isn't it? No, no, no, for other people, this is the most terrifying thing.

When Liu Jiuli felt there was nothing internal to fuss about, he started thinking about messing with the people outside.

Back in junior high, Liu Jiuli loved to doodle on the atlases the school gave out, imagining those places as the empires he had conquered. As he grew up, he became obsessed with Paradox Interactive's map-painting games. Now that he could personally create shapes on the map, he naturally wanted to make the surrounding land his own.

So recently, Talulah often saw Liu Jiuli looking at a map of Terra from left to right, and the originally colorful map was turning into a unified red style. Black Serpent told Talulah that this was a sign of Hammer and Scythe taking over the reins of government.

"He doesn't have a direction yet, but he'll soon have specific execution goals. Let's wait and see."

Then one morning, while Liu Jiuli was having breakfast and looking at a map, he suddenly said, "Kharkov is so close to us."

In the days that followed, Liu Jiuli's desk was filled with more and more information about Kharkiv. Liu Jiuli often asked questions like, "Is the water in Kharkiv very cold?", "Do the dukes there have any family infectious diseases?", "If all the heirs there die, can I take over?", and eventually it escalated to "Do you think there is any possibility that they committed suicide by being shot seven times in the back?", "Recently, it feels like there are too few people in Steelgrad," which almost made everyone lose their composure.

If you want to mess with your neighbor, just say so. All this beating around the bush is putting a lot of pressure on everyone. How about I sing you a song, "Thank you, because of you, the four seasons are warm"?

Liu Jiuli's focus on Kharkiv was not without reason. After all, he had already destroyed Kiev, and Kharkiv was the only city around that was worth targeting. The city was of a decent size, had a large population, and its economic level ranked among the top ten in the Far East of the Ursus Empire. It seemed to be... a supporting city specially prepared for Steelgrad.

At this moment, Liu Jiuli was just like John staring at Yui Aragaki, practically drooling.

Looking at the map that was becoming increasingly red, the Black Serpent Talulah finally couldn't help but ask, "When do you plan to take Kharkov?"

Liu Jiuli roared in anger: "What do you mean by 'take it down'! That's an act of aggression! Our great People's Army doesn't do such things!"

Black Talulah nodded: "Ah, right, right, you're so high and mighty, so when will you liberate Kharkiv?"

"I'm currently gathering troops, looking for an opportunity to strike."

Damn! So you'd been preparing all along, and I had no idea.

It was only then that Talulah realized that her understanding of Liu Jiuli seemed, perhaps, maybe, not enough.

However, she admired such a Tsarist-like speech. This is how the future leader of Ursus should be. Kharkiv is just an appetizer. In the future, we will redeem the whole world.

Of course, for now we can only set a small goal, such as establishing a red Ursus regime.

Now that the decision to expand outwards has been made, a reason must be found to take action, and different methods of action will determine the Red Guards' attitude toward the Ursus Empire.

If they rebelled outright, there would be no need to choose; they would tear off all pretenses, fight to the death, and Kharkiv would be waiting to be liberated.

If they don't want to break ties with the Ursus Empire for the time being, then Kharkov can't go too far. At least they need to make the other side feel that the city still belongs to the Ursus Empire, and at most it can only be considered as being managed by an ambitious person.

After weighing the pros and cons, Liu Jiuli felt that the Red Guards could continue to develop in a low-key manner. Moreover, the Red Guards had already infiltrated almost the entire Far East region of Ursus, but it was still impossible to take over all the cities. There was also a shortage of grassroots cadres. Taking Kharkiv too violently would make other cities wary, which would make it inconvenient to do big things in the future.

Liu Jiuli's goal from the beginning was not just a few cities; he wanted the entire Nysas, the greatest social experiment of human civilization, which of course required a country of a similar size.

"Assassination will do." Black Serpent Talulah shrugged. She was very familiar with this and used it all the time.

But Liu Jiuli shook his head and said, "No, intrigue and trickery are too low-level. If we're going to take action, we'll use an open strategy."

Talulah the Black Serpent: "That's simple. We've already carried out a comprehensive economic infiltration of Kharkiv. The next step is political infiltration. Putting the Duke of Kharkiv in a position of power is also a way to gain control."

The advantage of doing this is that even if other cities discover Liu Jiuli's actions, the resistance will not be too intense. After all, their good life still depends on Steel Geler's products and Dongfeng Express's logistics. Moreover, not all nobles like to hold great power. There are quite a few arrogant people who can survive by giving them a little face. For them, having a company that can manage their wealth and distribute dividends is no different from having a butler. It not only saves trouble but also makes life happier.

Of course, not all noble families are like this; some families still maintain a martial tradition and excellent heritage.

But when it comes to nobles, even if their ancestors were able to conquer the country quickly after several generations, their descendants would at most become advisors in the rear. In most cases, more than 90% of the offspring would become second-generation rulers. At most, there would be some intelligent decision-makers sitting in the positions of clan chief and elders. The overall trend is still downward.

This is also where capitalism is more advanced than feudalism. It uses a more covert but bloodier jungle law to bring human wisdom and cruelty to the extreme, driving human desires to devour everything and not allowing anyone to lie low, otherwise they will be swallowed up by capital.

Then, even more brutal capitalism devoured the aging feudal system.

After Liu Jiuli put forward the strategic goals, the Red Guards' war machine began to operate according to the leader's will. The Red Guards' numbers expanded to two divisions, and at the same time, various infiltrations into Kharkiv gradually intensified and began to surface.

Money and luxury goods flowed through various channels into the hands of Kharkiv's elite, buying official positions and privileges with clear prices. We all acted within the rules; you give me the power, I give you the money, and we both have a bright future.

With the cover of these government officials, the Red Guards entered Kharkiv as a gang, gradually taking control of the city's grassroots system and beginning to reform it according to the Iron Grid model, while also creating conflicts within the nobility.

The method is very simple: just put two sources of wealth out in the open and let three nobles choose. Then these three families will start fighting each other. During this process, you can slightly manipulate the number of orders, the quality of the products, and the delivery cycle. Then you can see the low-level henchmen on both sides bleeding each other. Then the conflict will escalate and the hostility will double. In the subsequent fierce confrontation, anything can happen.

Talulah, the Black Serpent, is an absolute expert in this area. Her rich life experience over the years allows her to easily find the weaknesses of human nature. No one understands the nobility better than her. Those lambs raised under the protection of inheritance rights are no match for the Black Serpent's cold fangs and fall into the beautiful trap she has woven.

By stirring up conflicts, instigating antagonism, forming cliques, and engaging in various overt business collaborations and political bribery by the Red Guards, the effect was negligible, but it was more like using a small force to achieve a great result.

This was also a very exciting life experience for Talulah. She learned a lot of things that she definitely wouldn't have learned in class, and her posture skills were greatly improved. Although she herself was unwilling to learn these things, she still learned them.

“That’s good. At least you’re starting to be willing to understand anything you come into contact with, instead of rejecting it for the sake of rejection.”

Talulah, the Black Serpent, rarely praised Talulah.

Those nobles who had gone through generations of succession had long forgotten the cruelty of political struggles. Talulah the Black Serpent commented on them (note that it was "them," these useless people were not even human in her eyes): "Even the rabbits of the North know more about fighting than they do."

A bloody incident triggered by a duel for honor led to a period of intense self-reform among the nobles of Kharkiv.

The chain of suspicion in the dark forest spread rapidly, with everyone believing that their ally was the greatest enemy.

Later on, their struggle was no longer about the cooperative project with SteelGree; it was simply about taking each other's lives.

So, did the high and mighty Duke of Kharkiv have no reaction to this?

Section 130: Friendly Nations' Astonishment

(Second update, (～￣▽￣)～)

Not only was there no response, but the Duke of Kharkiv was overjoyed.

For him, those nobles were also a potential threat. After all, in Ursus, the strong survive, and there will always be wolves who want to challenge the position of the wolf king. If the wolf king is killed, then Saint-Martin Castle will at most express its condolences and then appoint a new wolf king as governor. Such examples are common in the mobile cities near Saint-Martin Castle, let alone in the bitterly cold Far East.

The harsher and colder the place, the closer its survival mode is to the survival of the fittest.