Genshin Impact, the new God of Grass, makes Xumi great again

"As everyone knows, thousands of years have passed since the Geo King signed the initial contract and established the kingdom of Liyue."

Among the seven kingdoms of Teyvat, Liyue can definitely be called the oldest one. Not only are its gods ancient, but the country was also established very long ago.

This is just the period from the establishment of Liyue Harbor. If the period of returning to the original place is also included, this time can be extended even further.

"But it is precisely because of this long and uninterrupted history, precisely because of the thousand-year-old careful care of the Geo King, and precisely because of this eternal and unchanging "contract", that Liyue gradually fell into a predicament. "

Like a string of cannonballs, Nashida unleashed all her thoughts on Zhongli without reservation, and then fell silent.

Nashida knew that she was ultimately just an outsider in the Liyue affair. Although there was a saying that those involved were often confused while bystanders could see things more clearly, Zhongli would ultimately have to figure the matter out on his own.

And judging from Zhongli's various behaviors, he had actually already made a decision on this matter. Otherwise, why would he decide to fake his death?

The reason I came to see her today was just to get other people's perspective and strengthen my inner thoughts.

"Sigh~" After a long silence, Zhongli let out a long sigh, and he had already made a decision in his heart.

Today, after a thousand years of watching and witnessing another possibility of human social development on Xumi, he naturally understands the crux of the problem.

Although Liyue today is still prosperous on the surface, it is dead and lifeless at the national level.

This can be supported by many current situations in Liyue.

The most striking point is reflected in Liyue’s official administrative body - the Seven Stars and Eight Gates.

Everyone knows that Liyue is a country ruled by the God of Geo, but except for the one-day ceremony of inviting the immortals every year, all of Liyue’s policies on the remaining days come from the Seven Stars and Eight Gates.

But just as the administrative agencies of the other six countries have more or less problems, Liyue’s administrative agencies also have a subtle but very serious problem - aristocraticism.

The selection method of the Seven Stars and the personnel composition of the Eight Gates are a good example.

If the Liyue Seven Stars want to change their leadership, the first step is to obtain the recommendation of the former Seven Stars. Only with the recommendation of the former Seven Stars will you be eligible to enter the next stage of competition.

However, this kind of recommendation, as well as the criteria for evaluating talents, largely depends on the subjective opinions of the previous seven stars, and there is no direct standard to determine the quality of talents.

This will lead to a problem - the selection of the Seven Stars is actually controlled by a very small number of people.

And even if you are recommended, your appointment must be unanimously approved by the other Seven Star members. As long as the other Seven Star members disagree, no matter how talented you are, you cannot succeed the Seven Stars.

In this way, the birth of each of the Liyue Seven Stars must be the result of the struggle among major interest groups, and only those who meet the common interests of the major interest groups are qualified to serve as the Seven Stars.

Even if there are some accidents in this process, such as the rise of a poor family child like Ningguang, the way the Seven Stars are produced means that this is just another story of a dragon slayer becoming a dragon.

Even if this girl from a poor family can stick to her original intention, under the general trend, she can only make some small reforms and cannot touch the real root of the problem.

Looking at the other side, the personnel composition of Liyue’s administrative agency, the “Eight Gates”, is also very peculiar.

Take the "Yinyuan Hall" for example. This is the department among the Eight Gates responsible for managing Liyue's salt industry, but the source of personnel in this department is very unique.

Many of them were followers of Heulia, the goddess of salt.

Thousands of years ago, after the fall of the Salt God "Heulia", the Rock King was merciful and gave these people shelter and allowed them to live in Liyue.

Based on their specialties, Emperor Yanwang signed a contract with them and let them be responsible for the production of salt. As time went by, they gradually formed the "Silver Plain Hall" among the Eight Gates today.

However, what is shocking is that even after a thousand years, with so many changes taking place, Liyue's "Silver Origin Hall" is still controlled by the remnants of the Salt God.

Based on the contract of that year, these survivors completely monopolized the personnel rights of this department, and even secretly believed in the deceased Salt God under their protection.

To judge the whole by the small, even Liyue’s administrative organs are like this, so other industries in Liyue will naturally not escape this curse.

For example, among the major chambers of commerce in Liyue, some have shown signs of monopolizing certain industries. What's worse, some of the more powerful chambers of commerce have begun to cross borders and intend to involve all walks of life with one chamber of commerce.

Not only that, the disadvantages of Liyue's urbanization and population siphon effect are also beginning to emerge.

Apart from the Chenyu Valley area, an interesting phenomenon has emerged in other areas of Liyue, that is, the rural population is gradually migrating to the cities.

For example, in Qingce Village, a famous granary in Liyue, the aging population is extremely serious, even to the extent that it has affected grain planting. As a result, every time there is a bumper grain harvest, the Liyue authorities have to send the Thousand Rocks Army to help harvest rice.

But in fact, Qingce Village itself is not short of young and middle-aged people. It’s just that in order to earn higher income, these strong laborers have gone to big cities like Liyue Port to look for opportunities.

What this reflects is the regional development differences in Liyue and the gradually emerging problem of income disparity.

After all, Liyue is a very strange country. The primary and tertiary industries are very developed, but the secondary industry is unexpectedly lacking.

Due to the loss of industry as a buffer and the upper limit of agriculture, this objectively magnified the gap between the rich and the poor in Liyue and further accelerated the pace of Liyue's urbanization.

Because everyone knows that doing business in Liyue makes money quickly. Since it is so easy to make money through speculation, how many people would think about engaging in industry?

So everyone rushed to the city to look for so-called opportunities to make a fortune.

On the one hand, this aggravated the unemployment situation in cities, caused social unrest, and gave rise to the "urban poor"; on the other hand, it led to the decline of the rural economy and no one engaged in agricultural production.

Combined with all the previous events, a strange country was born in Teyvat.

First of all, the social class mobility in this country is basically blocked, and due to the lack of upward channels, everyone can only find other ways.

Secondly, due to the lack of sufficient industry and the decline of rural areas, other people can only engage in business or make a living through other means.

Finally, due to its status as a trade center and its former status as the currency minting center of Teyvat, this country seems to be moving away from the real economy and toward the virtual economy.

It can be said that although Liyue today is developed and inclusive on the surface and is a commercial capital, beneath the surface, many things are even more eternal than the eternity of Inazuma.

It’s just that due to the prosperity of Liyue and the development of the times, these things are hidden in the dark and unknown to the public.

But unknown does not mean non-existent. It was because Zhongli gradually noticed these problems that he decided to break the contract he had made and take action.

Looking back now, the root cause of all of Liyue’s current problems can actually be traced back to that original “contract”, which is truly heartbreaking.

"So, after seeing the situation in Xumi, you plan to abandon your original reform plan and use your fake death as an excuse to intensify the conflicts in Liyue, so as to quickly resolve the problems in Liyue?"

Unlike the original plot, this time Zhongli did not sign the contract with Zhidong to end all contracts.

Instead, he chose to follow Nashida's suggestion and called all the immortals out from Qingyunding, and participated in Liyue's political life in the name of immortals.

However, it was different from what he had originally expected. Even after almost two years, his reform did not have any effect and the various policies were implemented very slowly.

Even in the two ceremonies of summoning the gods, he imitated Nashida and issued orders directly in the name of the gods, but the effect was still very limited.

Especially those policies that attempt to improve the talent selection system and open up Liyue's class mobility. Although they have been implemented on the surface, the actual implementation is another matter.

Even though the immortals have dealt with quite a few people, it would be of no avail no matter who was replaced.

It was as if they were going against the entire political system of Liyue. Unless they fired all the civil servants, there was no better solution.

So, after witnessing Xumi's method and having an in-depth conversation with the Great Compassionate Tree King, Zhongli finally made up his mind to take extreme measures.

It just so happened that Nashida was coming to Liyue to discuss cooperation, so he simply went with the flow. After inviting Nashida over, he faked his own death and introduced external forces to break Liyue's deadlock.

The next most important step for him is to thoroughly intensify the conflict and make good use of Nashida, an important variable.

Thinking of this, perhaps feeling a little sorry for Nashida, Zhongli put his hand on Nashida's head again.

He had heard Buyer say in Xumi before that this child has liked being patted on the head since he was little, so just pat him nicely.

Chapter 167: Zhongli's Transformation

"Sister, this is the halwa mamaz I made for you. Please enjoy it slowly."

Sitting upright on his high throne, Apep was very satisfied as he looked at Nashida who presented pastries to him.

"You are so sensible. I will come and taste my good sister's cooking skills."

First he touched Nashida's head with his hand, and after receiving a flattering smile, Apep picked up the meal that Nashida brought over.

With a light bite, the pastry melts in the mouth, and the sweet feeling fills between the lips and teeth, making Apep smile happily.

"As expected of my sister, the desserts she made are delicious, but I'm full, so you can leave first."

After brushing off the crumbs on his hands, Apep waved to Nashida, indicating that she could take the plate and leave.

And Nashida was very obedient. She smiled at Apep again and turned away without hesitation.

"Come on, Buyer, continue to massage me. And you, Morax, where are the grapes I asked you to get?"

After saying goodbye to Nashida, Apep leaned back on his throne and hooked his finger at the other two people waiting on the side, indicating that they could start serving.

"Okay Master Apep, I'll give you a massage right now."

After receiving Apep's order, Buyer also showed a flattering smile, gently pinched Apep's shoulders and began to massage her.

Zhongli, who was standing by, also held a plate of grapes. He stood next to Apep and fed her the grapes with his hands.

"And you, you lackey of justice, why don't you quickly bark at the great Grass Dragon King!" After eating the grapes that Zhongli handed to his mouth, Apep turned his head to the other side again.

Not far away on the other side, a beautiful woman with white hair and golden eyes was kneeling on the ground with her hands and knees prostrated. From her attire, it was not difficult to tell that she should be the upholder of justice on the Sky Island.

"Yes, Lord Apep, I'll bark right away." Upon hearing Apep's order, the upholder of justice did not hesitate at all and imitated the barking of a dog twice.

"Hahaha, very good, this is what a righteous dog like you should do."

Seeing the white-haired beauty being so obedient, Apep laughed twice again and felt even happier.

But then she turned her gaze back to the front with a puzzled expression.

Because not far ahead, Nashida, who had just left, actually came back again.

And she was still holding the empty plate in her hand, and no new pastries were brought in as she expected.

"My dear sister, why did you come back empty-handed?"

This made Apep very curious. Seeing that Nashida was still walking towards her, she became even more confused and asked directly.

"Sister, I suddenly have something I want to ask you."

Hearing Apep's question, although she still had that bright smile on her face, Nashida quickened her pace and walked in front of Apep in a moment.

"Ahem, what is it that you don't understand that you need your sister to help you with?"

For some reason, Apep suddenly had a bad premonition in her heart, but she looked around and couldn't find the source of this strange feeling. Looking at her sister's lovely smile, she simply didn't continue looking for it.

"Well, my question is... Sister! Hurry up and get up!"

"If you don't get up, I will tell Mom and Zhongli everything you dreamed about, and then broadcast it in the void so that everyone will know what you usually dream about!"

Before Apep could react, Nashida suddenly jumped up, dropped the plate in her hand and hit her hard on the head.

Then, everything around her was instantly covered with cracks and began to shatter, and her consciousness gradually disappeared into the darkness.

...

"My dear sister, you have been very comfortable being served by Master Hu these past few days, right? You can't be woken up even if I call you?"

When he opened his eyes again, the first thing Apep heard was Nashida's complaints.

Then she looked around again and confirmed that she was still in the guest room of the Hall of Rebirth. Only then did she come to her senses and looked at the two people beside her awkwardly.

"This... Isn't it that you, sister, have been very busy these days, so I just relaxed a little..."

In theory, Apep should be angry about having his beautiful dream interrupted, especially in this way.

But when she thought of what the other person had just said and saw Zhongli standing next to Nashida, she calmed down instantly.

Forget it, forget it. She, the Grass Dragon King, would not argue with her own sister. She should listen to what they have to say first.

"But it's not even daybreak yet and you came to find me, sister. It's normal that I can't wake up. Tell me, what do you want from me?"

After a short while, she had figured out the current situation, and she put her arms across her chest again and regained the ability to speak.

My goodness, it was still the middle of the night and her sister came to find her, and brought Morax with her. No one knew what she was going to do.

"Ahem, sister, don't you want to meet the elemental dragon of Liyue? Today is a good day, I think. I'll take you there right away."

With a light cough, Nashida ignored Apep's slightly resentful tone and directly stated the purpose of her trip.

After saying that, she grabbed Apep's little hand and, together with Zhongli, broke through the roof of the Hall of Rebirth and flew towards the "Fulong Tree" that sealed the Ruota Dragon King.

As for why she was so anxious, it all started with the plan Zhongli had described to her before.

In order to complete this plan, King Rotolong is a very important link.

But until now, when she recalled the conversation with Zhongli not long ago, she was still speechless...

“Senior, do you mean to say that you want to start a civil war in Liyue?!”

After listening to Zhongli's description of herself, Nashida was of course very shocked. She really didn't expect that Zhongli would be so radical and actually wanted to start a fight in Liyue?

This is not like Zhongli's style, because no matter how you look at it, Zhongli is not a radical person. In Nashida's impression, Zhongli should be the kind of mature and steady god who follows the doctrine of the mean.

No one would take the initiative to start a civil war. This is not a "contractual" decision in any way.

"Yes, I have talked with your mother these days, and I have also witnessed the changes in your Xumi. My experience of reform in the past two years has also made me understand that perhaps you are right."

Standing on the top of Tianheng Mountain with his hands behind his back, gazing at the lights of thousands of homes in Liyue City, Zhongli's tone was very firm.

"Nashida, Buyer once told me that you are a good child who cares about the world and takes the people of the world as your responsibility."