area51novel Chapter 127 One Year Later
Chapter 127 One Year Later
Chapter 127 One Year Later
For the next year, Dai Youheng followed his long-planned strategy and made improving his cultivation level his top priority.
He made full use of the abundant resources provided by Xu Jiujiu, which far exceeded the standards for a son of a concubine in the Duke's mansion, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivating his soul power.
In his spare time, he would stay by Xu Jiujiu's side and assist her in handling some imperial affairs.
Xu Jiujiu fulfilled her promise and even opened up her exclusive mimicry training ground for him to use at will.
This treatment reminded Dai Youheng of his past in the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. Back then, Zhu Man specially built a simulated training ground most suitable for the White Tiger Martial Soul for Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin, while he and his younger brother Dai Luoli could only occasionally use it. Moreover, the environment, full of masculine and murderous aura, was not entirely compatible with the attributes of the Evil Shadow Demon Tiger, making it less effective.
It wasn't that the Duke's mansion lacked the capacity to build one for him; it was purely that his stepmother deliberately ignored and suppressed him. Dai Hao was away fighting battles year after year and never bothered with these "minor matters" within the mansion. Thus, the original Dai Youheng could only struggle forward amidst such a scarcity of resources.
In comparison, what Xu Jiujiu provided truly deserves to be called a resource.
Even more coincidentally, the simulated training environments required by their martial souls were remarkably compatible. Xu Jiujiu's Star Crown martial soul needed to cultivate in the vast starry sky, absorbing the power of starlight, while Dai Youheng's Evil Shadow Demon Tiger also needed to cultivate in the darkness. Their simulated training grounds were both the same deep and dazzling night sky, allowing Dai Youheng to cultivate under the stars even during the day, greatly increasing his daily training time.
With such favorable conditions and his own hard work, a year later, Dai Youheng's soul power level broke through four levels, reaching the level of a Soul King of level fifty-six. His cultivation speed was astonishing.
In addition, his occasional insights into political affairs have often surprised and even shocked Xu Jiujiu.
During this period, several cities in the northern part of the Star Luo Empire were hit by a severe snow disaster, with the cold blocking roads and leaving the people in distress.
In the imperial court, a group of officials looked worried, and the proposed solutions were rather uninspired, amounting to nothing more than opening granaries and distributing grain.
The same old three methods of allocating funds for relief. When the officials in charge of household registration tremblingly indicated that the national treasury might not have enough money, many officials even showed a helpless expression of "doing their best and leaving the rest to fate," as if the people who could not be saved were destined to die here.
This sight left Dai Youheng, who was listening in, dumbfounded. He thought to himself, "As expected of a society that prioritizes individual strength..."
In a world where domestic affairs skills are generally misjudged, these officials' crisis management abilities are truly "no joke".
No wonder Tang San's strategy of robbing grain was hailed as a military genius.
He knew his chance to shine had arrived. Although he wasn't an expert in domestic affairs in his previous life, his exposure to the information age, coupled with the disaster relief strategies he had learned from various historical records and novels, was enough to crush these guys who only knew how to give people fish but not how to fish.
He immediately offered his advice to Xu Jiujiu and soon got the opportunity to present it at the court assembly. He clearly pointed out that riots are prone to occur in years of great disasters because the disaster victims have no food, no clothes, no work, and are desperate about their livelihood in the coming year. If the court only knows how to distribute money and grain, it is the most foolish method.
His core strategy lay in "work relief" and "self-help through production," which can be summarized as follows:
I. Guaranteeing basic survival: First, ensure that disaster victims can have enough to eat and not freeze, but this is not simply about distributing aid.
II. Developing Sideline Businesses to Generate Income: Based on local conditions, organize disaster victims to engage in sideline businesses. For example, in cities near southern waterways, organize the weaving of reed products such as bibs, tea sets, and straw mats, which can then be transported and sold through official channels to Tianhun,
The Douling Empire exchanges funds for grain, which is then used to purchase grain from the southern part of the empire, creating an internal cycle that can even boost the southern economy.
Third, make good use of the power of Soul Masters: Hire Flame Soul Masters to concentrate their efforts on specific areas, such as seedling bases and workshops, to provide heating and snow melting. Although this cannot change the overall celestial phenomena, it is enough to ensure key production activities.
IV. Large-scale infrastructure construction: The imperial court organized projects such as road repair, bridge construction, river dredging, and mountain reclamation and mining, recruiting able-bodied young laborers for work-for-relief programs to earn wages and prevent idleness. In some warmer climates, these projects could even continue until the following spring.
Fifth, ensuring spring planting next year: Spring planting seeds will be allocated by the state through special funds, and disaster victims can receive them free of charge and will be exempt from taxes for that year. If there is a bumper harvest the following year, they will be required to repay the seed cost without interest.
His series of moves left the officials in the court stunned, and they all exclaimed that he was a "great talent for stabilizing the country and bringing peace to the nation"!
Dai Youheng was speechless. These disaster relief procedures, which he considered common sense in his previous life, had become groundbreaking strategies in this world.
Those officials initially didn't understand; they just mechanically allocated funds and grain supplies. When they ran out of money and grain, they would think of raising taxes to make ends meet.
Helpless, Dai Youheng could only personally participate in the coordination and, with Xu Jiujiu's support, teach the relevant officials how to implement the plan step by step. During this period, he worked hard and painstakingly, which made him deeply understand the principle of "doing things personally" and gave him more sympathy for a certain Prime Minister Zhuge Liang who devoted himself to the cause. No wonder he died from exhaustion.
However, the results were extremely remarkable. Although the snow disaster was severe, under the new policies, the disaster was effectively controlled, the people's hearts were at peace, and the speed of post-disaster recovery far exceeded that of the past. In fact, the court's expenses were much less than expected.
Following this battle, Dai Youheng's prestige in the country soared. No one expected that this combat genius, who had shone brightly in the Soul Master Competition, would also possess such astonishing talent in domestic affairs.
He gradually transformed from a "bastard son who luckily gained the princess's favor" into someone who was "both scholarly and martial in the eyes of others."
A hero who can help Her Highness the Princess to secure the country and maintain peace.
He and Xu Jiujiu were inseparable, going in and out together every day. Originally, there were many complaints from the court and the public that "a son of a concubine is not a good match for her," but now they have gradually turned into praise as "a perfect couple, a match made in heaven."
Xu Jiujiu also grew to appreciate and even depend on him more and more. When dealing with government affairs every day, having him by her side to provide insightful and unconventional perspectives made her feel much more relaxed.
Before she knew it, she had begun to get used to and look forward to his punctual appearance in the palace every day.
Of course, some people are pleased, while others are extremely resentful.
Duchess Jumant never stopped making things difficult for Dai Youheng throughout the year. Overt harassment was ineffective due to the emperor and princess's tacit protection, so she resorted to underhanded methods.
Dai Youheng had been assassinated several times while on official business. Initially, it was three assassins at the Soul Emperor level who launched a fierce attack, clearly intending to finish him off quickly.
However, they greatly underestimated the strength of their target. Dai Youheng didn't even need Ling Ya, who was secretly protecting him, to make a move. He single-handedly killed three Soul Emperors under the Tyrant Tiger Soul Refining Blade. His formidable combat power terrified Zhu Man when she learned of it.
When one plan failed, she gritted her teeth and went to great lengths, enlisting the help of two Soul Saint-level experts. Given her current situation, Soul Douluos were too costly and difficult to mobilize; Soul Saints were the strongest force she could currently muster, and dealing with a Soul King should be a sure thing.
Unfortunately, she miscalculated again. She had no idea what kind of person was always by Dai Youheng's side.
The two Soul Saints didn't even get a chance to touch Dai Youheng's clothes before Ling Ya, who appeared like a ghost, effortlessly dispatched them. For a Title Douluo to deal with a Soul Saint was a foregone conclusion.
That night, Zhu Man tossed and turned, unable to sleep, filled with extreme unease. The next morning, when she awoke, she was horrified to find two grotesque, unseeing heads on the coffee table beside her bed—the very heads of the two Soul Saints she had sent out!
"ah!!!"
A piercing, terrified scream shattered the morning tranquility of the Duke's mansion.
According to the maid on duty that day, who was recounting the events with trembling fear, the Duchess turned deathly pale upon seeing the two severed heads, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and then fainted. It's unclear whether she was terrified by the bloody and horrific scene, or enraged by the stark warning and the sense of defeat.
Since then, Zhu Man seems to have really kept a low profile, at least in the short term, and dares not easily resort to such extreme measures again. And Dai Youheng's rise to power also seems to have cleared away a layer of the most direct shadow.
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