Chapter Seventy Jack and Xiao An

  Li Xie's massacre of the nobles in Chrysanthemum City has spread throughout all of Tudou!

  It turns out that there is no wall in the world that doesn't leak!

  Due to his numerous killings, Li Xie was given the nickname "Evil Duke", and it is said that for a period of time, just mentioning his name could stop children from crying! As most of those he killed were nobles, at least 50% of the nobility in Tudor signed a petition to Mercedes VII to punish Li Xie.

  Li Xie learned of this and submitted a letter to Mercedes VII, requesting it be read aloud in the imperial court. The general content was: "I heard someone wants to ask Your Majesty to punish me? Well, I've got their list! Each person will obediently hand over 1 million gold coins; otherwise, the nobles of Chrysanthemum City are your example! You can try and see if I dare not!"

  Such threatening words will surely stir up a great storm and unite all the nobles against Li Xie!

  However, life always gives people surprises, and the surprise that life gave to Li Xie was that no one on the imperial court dared to say anything about Li Xie again. For a period of time, slaves from noble families often came to give Li Xie gold coins!

  It can't be said to be surprising, this kind of situation is just normal! The seventh Mercedes didn't punish Li Xie's crime, and no one in the Tudor dynasty could control Li Xie. Li Xie's notorious name had already spread, who would think he wouldn't dare kill nobles?

  Only pity those brain-damaged nobles who were deceived and openly threatened, but could only pay to escape disaster!

  As a result, hardly anyone dared to provoke the "Evil Duke" again! And Li Xie got another nickname "Duke of Greed"!

  This is an episode that happened in these two months!

  For Li Xie, Chrysanthemum City is his current main melody.

  For the past two months, thanks to Xiao An's suggestions and supervision, the grain crisis in Chrysanthemum City has been easily resolved. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that Li Xie's proposal to purchase grain from Mercedes VII was successful, and indeed, about a month later, Mercedes VII sent over a large quantity of grain!

  This matter made Li Ye extremely surprised, and he often asked Xiao An, but unfortunately Xiao An kept her mouth shut.

  In these two months, Li Xie has become increasingly fond of Jack and Xiao An, this brother and sister duo! They are all talented people!

  Jack enlisted 30,000 able-bodied men from the 50,000 slaves and 60,000 young men from the refugees and poor people into the militia, adding to the original militia and imperial army, totaling 110,000 people, forming the new "Evil Army" of Jiu Hua City!

  The various countries on the mainland of gods all have the tradition of recruiting slaves and refugees into their armies, but they are mostly used as cannon fodder! However, Jack is training all the evil troops as regular troops!

  He used the evil army as the main force for opening up and cultivating land, on the one hand training their physical strength, and on the other hand, making them obey! Of course, it didn't start out so smoothly, the original militia were scattered and lazy, and many didn't listen to orders. This situation reflected Jack's foresight in treating slaves and refugees as regular army training and mixing with the Imperial Guard.

  The slaves and refugees have a strong slave mentality, they are very obedient, as long as they have enough food and clothing, they are satisfied. They also fear the nobles and dare not hesitate to follow Jack's orders. Although they do poorly at first, with the elite guard corps, even if the slaves and refugees do poorly, they can imitate and learn, gradually becoming more skilled.

  Only the original militia, sluggish and slow to respond, even continuing their past disobedience and disrespect!

  In such cases, Jack's approach was simple - kill!

  "In Jack's words: 'Military law does not allow any soldier to disobey!'"

  Doing so might earn them the reputation of being brutal, and it would be hard to convince others, but in comparison with slaves and refugees, the militia's lawlessness is highlighted! They were killed without any complaints!

  As a result, about 10,000 people were killed, and all the evil troops were subdued. No one dared to disobey any military law or disobey General Jack's orders!

  "In Jack's words: 'The army, first and foremost, must listen to orders. An army that listens is the prerequisite for strength. If this isn't achieved, there's no need to discuss anything else!'"

  And he did, with 100,000 evil troops, who now obey his every command! This was only two months in the making. Jack promised Li Xie that within three years, he would definitely train an elite army for him!

  Looking at the 100,000-strong evil army with strict discipline and neat actions, Li Xie was very satisfied! What he was most satisfied with was that Jack hadn't forgotten his lord! In the newly built military camp, a bronze statue of Li Xie was erected, and before each morning exercise, the evil army had to pay military respects to the bronze statue. Nowadays, whenever Li Xie walked on the main street, as long as soldiers passed by, they would immediately stop and salute him!

  That taste gave Li Xie a kind of high and floating feeling! How could he not be satisfied with Jack?

  Jack is in charge of the military, while Xiao An, this pretty and seemingly gentle little girl, is actually very mischievous. Li Xie has a better impression of her than Jack, even to the point of admiration!

  Solving the food problem is enough to make Li Xie admire Xiao An! And Li Xie's favor towards Xiao An is actually due to some of this little girl's methods!

  The grain bran has been brewed into wine, and the leftover wine dregs have been made into coarse cakes, which are much better than the poor melon! And Xiao An didn't let people directly deliver it to the poor, but instead called them to come and pick it up themselves, and distributed it in Li Xie's name. Every poor person who came to pick up the coarse cake knew: "This is a special coarse cake sent by Duke Ye to show his concern for the poor!"

  Such behavior made Li Xie's reputation in Chrysanthemum City unparalleled for a time! Walking on the main street, soldiers would salute him, and those poor people were even more overwhelmed, directly kneeling down and saying: "The God of Earth is above, praising you, my most respected Evil Duke!"

  Oh...... that taste...... made Li Xie, who used to think he had made it and could use his money to crush those vagrants who looked down on him, feel another kind of vain satisfaction!

  Just this point, Li Xie couldn't help but look at Xiao An with favor! Plus Xiao An was good-looking, these two months, the one who followed Li Xie's side the most, apart from Ze Er Nai De and Fan Di Sai Er, was Xiao An!

  After being with her for a long time, Li Xie only knew that this little girl understood many things, and many ideas were enough to astonish the countries of the Divine Continent!

  For example, the land cultivation problem in the mainland of gods only belongs to the nobles, while most farmers are slaves and civilians who work for the nobles and receive a small commission. Xiao An's idea is not to give them a commission, but to divide them into batches responsible for a certain area, giving them a certain percentage of the grain produced in the area they are responsible for, which can greatly mobilize their enthusiasm, rather than a fixed commission! Isn't this the precursor to the land contract system?

  What a progressive idea compared to the slave society of the gods' continent!

  For example, the development of Chrysanthemum City is a problem. Chrysanthemum City has been devastated and needs to be revived, but there are no nobles in charge of various positions. Only by promoting agriculture can it flourish. Xia An's intention is to give commoners the opportunity to take important positions, let them assist in construction first, and then open schools, reduce or exempt tuition fees, provide opportunities for commoners to study, and cultivate talents!

  In the mainland of gods, civilians are almost impossible to hold any position, and civilians can hardly go to school! Xiao An's idea is also a breakthrough for various countries in the mainland of gods.

  Of course, Xiao An is because of her humble origins, thinking from the perspective of the broad masses, and compared to the narrow class concept of the nobility, she can embody her progress!

  Li Xie, this modern person, how could he lose to her?

  Xiao An's predecessor to the land contract system, Li Xie directly gave her a complete land contract system! Anyone can apply to be responsible for contracting a certain area of arable land. The output on the arable land belongs to the individual, and the contractor only needs to pay a certain amount of tax each year!

  As for the development of Chrysanthemum City, the school will definitely be established and tuition fees will be reduced to make it accessible to anyone. However, Li Xie has a bolder approach - recruitment fairs!

  Recruit talented people from all over the Tudor dynasty to work in Chrysanthemum City, as long as they have talent, regardless of their background and status, they can come to Chrysanthemum City to be officials, and the salary is generous!

  The recruitment information has been sent to all corners of the land, and the first recruitment fair in the history of the mainland of gods is taking shape.

  "Come! Let's raise our glasses!"

  On the lawn of a garden in the castle.

  Several bonfires crackled and burned, emitting light and heat that made winter nights less icy.

  Today is the God's New Calendar 2012-12-21, the Winter Solstice of the Gods' Continent. As one of the most traditional festivals on the Gods' Continent, families will gather together to have a dinner with roasted Pigg as the main course.

  In the city master's mansion, on Li Xie's proposal, a bonfire was set up on the empty grassland for an outdoor barbecue and dinner party.

  Li Xie himself did not like to eat at the dinner table in a rigid and square manner, but rather this kind of wild barbecue-style gathering was what he loved. Perhaps it was due to his long-term wandering that such gatherings were more free-spirited.

  Jack, Xiao An, Kano, Vandy Sell, Zayn Nard, Meow Meow and Li Xie sat around the bonfire on the ground, while several other bonfires surrounded by some single guards from the City Lord's Mansion were nearby. The others had already gone home for family reunions.

  "Life's pleasures should be savored to the fullest, don't let the golden goblet face the moon alone! Come, everyone, let's have a drink!" Li Xie stood up, his face full of smiles as he raised his wine cup.

  He is indeed at the height of his life!

  Chrysanthemum City is gradually stabilizing, food and drink are no longer a worry, the army is growing in scale, waiting for talent recruitment, all industries are developing, everything is moving in a good direction!

  As Li Xie himself, having been in this strange world for several months, becoming a noble, holding power, and ruling over territory, it's clear that his prospects are limitless! Most importantly, he has these people by his side!

  After a long period of lonely wandering, Li Xie finally had a sense of home in the foreign land. Tonight, on this festival that belongs to family, he can be with everyone and feel an unprecedented warmth!

  This is the pride of life!

  "What a great literary talent! One sentence of poetry, expressing such elegance and heroic spirit! I must write it down!" Vandy Sell was shocked again, didn't even bother to drink his wine, hastily took out paper and pen to write down the poem.

  Xiao An beside him also widened his eyes in surprise, staring at Li Xie: "Brother Xie can actually compose poetry! The atmosphere expressed in just a few words is something that those wandering poets couldn't express even with all their chatter!"

  Vandy Sael was very pleased with the poem and said, "Xiao An, you don't know that an adult's literary talent is comparable to that of the gods in heaven! The words are astonishing! Occasionally reciting them would make them a classic for all eternity! Listen, earlier I also heard the adult say, 'The wine and meat stink at the vermilion gate, while bones freeze to death on the road.' This was written by the adult after seeing the countless poor people in Chrysanthemum City, while the nobles were indulging in luxury. I don't quite understand what 'vermilion gate' means, but it should refer to the nobles! Savor it, it's a phrase that pierces the heart and leaves a deep impression!"

  Xiao An was even more astonished, her small mouth agape, blinking her eyes as she stared at Li Xie: "Xiao An thought that reading ten thousand volumes of books would make one cleverer than others, but Elder has not only the land contract system, but also recruitment meetings, with open-minded and bold ideas, having a unique perspective! Who would have thought that Brother Xie still had such literary talent!"

  This...

  I am a plagiarist...

  Li Xie secretly took a sip of wine, using the wine cup to cover his embarrassment, actually just reciting two lines of poetry, was unexpectedly praised as a heavenly being! It's really a sin!

  But then he thought about it and immediately felt relieved, anyway, as long as everyone is happy and joyful, what's the big deal about borrowing ancient sages' poems? Borrowing books isn't stealing!

  "Haha......" Li Xie downed his wine in one gulp and laughed, saying: "You guys just know that I have good writing skills? Today everyone is happy, I'll come up with a complete one!"