How many guards have to die at the city gate before they realize they shouldn't stir up trouble here?
Every time I enter Ping City, I've never managed to get in without incident.
Perhaps next time I'll break their bones but not kill them, maybe that'll be a stronger warning?
Yan Qing watched Gai Louxian approach while contemplating whether the game system allows 'a point to stop' attacks.
Facing the Second-Turn Messenger, unjobbed low-level players basically have no chance to resist, but waiting to die isn't Yan Qing's style, so 'Ye Si' picked up the dead guard's spear.
Seeing 'Ye Si's' actions, the knights behind Gai Louxian wanted to charge forward, but with a lift of the old general's hand, the knights obediently stood still.
Gai Louxian seemed completely unworried that 'Ye Si' would attack him, allowing the old horse to carry him into the attack range of the spear.
"Why kill him?" he asked curiously, "Charging a bit more for the city entry fee isn't a crime worth dying for, is it?"
"He knows that old lady," Yan Qing replied, "I'm the one who caused the trouble, can't bring trouble to others."
"Makes sense."
Gai Louxian nodded seriously with a pull of the reins, turning towards the city: "Follow me, if you dare run, they'll catch you and kill you."
Yan Qing felt this scene seemed familiar somehow.
No way, you Northern people, do you all love this kind of thing?
However, Gai Louxian did not head to the military camp, but to a restaurant. He sat alone at one table, four knights at another, and Yan Qing, naturally unrestrained, sat boldly facing him. Whatever dish was served, 'Ye Si' ate one and stored one in the public warehouse—tonight's dinner was settled!
"Are you Ding Ling or Kusset?"
"Don't know what you're talking about."
"I asked where you're from."
"I'm from a village outside the city, that abandoned village, I've been away for years only to return and find the village gone."
"So what do you want to do in the city?"
"I want to find a way into the military camp."
Yan Qing answered honestly, though his thoughts were clearly different from Gai Louxian's.
"I can accept you into Baibao."
"I want to clear the Secret Realm daily."
Gai Louxian was unsurprised: "You want to change jobs to Messenger?"
"Who doesn't want to?"
"Then you better change your temper, bullying the weak is one thing, but if you treat nobles with the same attitude, you'd be better off as a big-headed soldier."
"Won't change, if I cause trouble, you can kill me then," Yan Qing thought he might as well keep farming instances for a few days.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you brat, never seen someone as cocky as you. How'd you survive this long without getting beaten to death?" Gai Louxian joked, "Really got the guts to rub me wrong! Fine, if you cause big trouble I'll be the first to kill you!"
"Agreed."
"Agreed!"
At this moment, several guards entered the eatery, calling for the owner to serve good wine and dishes, obviously rowdy soldiers. Noticing 'Ye Si's' gaze, Gai Louxian said, "Actually, life isn't great for these city gate guards, without little rules to skim by, they might barely support their families, go easy on them."
Yet Yan Qing wasn't buying it: "Why isn't their life great?"
"Because their monthly pay isn't much."
"Then why isn't their monthly pay much? Just relying on the Secret Realm, Baibao has enough to let the entire city live in comfort, right? Baibao is overflowing with wealth, but not sharing a bit with Ping City?"
If Baibao Military Camp were a grand mansion, then Ping City would be akin to a toilet. Yan Qing had witnessed Baibao's 'sweep' of the Secret Realm, raiding the Zheng Family daily, three hundred sixty times a year—three hundred sixty Zheng Families equal several Ping Cities!
Even if Baibao Military Camp sends many resources as tribute, wood, bricks, pigs, sheep, cows, and grains can't possibly all be tributed; slight leaks of these materials and food would be enough for all of Ping City to eat their fill. High pay doesn't necessarily ensure integrity, but only low pay drives people to seek extra from city entry fees.
Gai Louxian halted in his posture: "You seem well-versed in the Secret Realm, were your ancestors Baibao or Qian Zhang?"
Yan Qing was just probing, if Qi Kingdom only possessed one or two Secret Realms, Gai Louxian would confidently cite shortcomings, but his attitude indicated Qi Kingdom controls many Secret Realms and the output within can easily sustain the nation.
Seeing 'Ye Si' remain silent, Gai Louxian pondered for a moment, sighing lightly: "Few citizens think like you, they all wish to hide everything about the Secret Realm... Do you know the disparity between Messengers and ordinary people?"
Before Yan Qing could say he knew, Gai Louxian drew the dagger at his waist, kneading it with his palm, squeezing it into a small ball of iron.
"My token, Copper Skin Clothing." Gai Louxian showed him the copper-colored lining he wore: "With this token, I alone can flatten bandits and suppress rebellious armies, while ordinary people, even if they obtain my token, can't unleash the effect of Copper Skin."
"As long as there's a Messenger, no matter if ordinary people rebel or resist taxes, they can't cause a stir."
"We may levy taxes, but even if they don't farm, we can feast on meat and fish."
"The government office may conscript them for labor, but that's for the Civil Servant to consider, many Military Merit Citizens don't care."
"Besides serving us as servants, ordinary people have almost no other value to us, they're like wild grass, they can be there, or not."
Yan Qing was a bit puzzled: "Since their output doesn't matter, why levy taxes?"
Gai Louxian pointed to the meat, eggs, and milk on the table.
"Because to become a Messenger, one must either be literate or possess a good constitution." Gai Louxian calmly stated: "We must ensure the common people don't starve."
Starve not.
Yet merely not starving, being well-fed is out of the question.
Job change requires skill honing, so make sure ordinary people lack the time and energy for skill honing, oppress the commoners, pit bottom-tier officials against each other, frequently conscript for labor to exhaust them, this way maximizing the chances against the emergence of 'Wild Messengers.'
This world, with its nearly infinite resource instances, possesses Messengers with powers beyond mortals, yet ordinary people might actually suffer more, as the upper echelon wields absolute violence, without any demand for ordinary folk.
Yan Qing pointed to the boss with a Central Plains face, "Just because they're Central Plains people?"
Gai Louxian laughed, "What nonsense, weren't you poor before? Central Plains people or Northern people, as long as they're poor, they honestly pay taxes."
"And our Qi Kingdom is already pretty good, at least there are many farmers, look at the southern Liang Kingdom, ordinary people who aren't tenant farmers or servants to aristocratic families don't even have fields to farm. Almost no commoners in the south, only slaves."
"If you want to slightly change this world order, curb your temper and strive upwards. Like Peng City King's governance of Cangzhou, no thieves within, officials don't oppress people."
...
...
Next came the dull time in the military camp training skills, which Yan Qing handed over to system management, he had more important things to do.
Gai Louxian mentioned the southern Liang Kingdom, igniting the fleeting inspiration he just caught—
Indeed, he doesn't necessarily have to persist in Nocturnal Heaven Affiliated Area, he can head to Jiangnan or Chang'an to unlock new maps.
What's more, he can create alts to gather intelligence in Chang'an, and even collaborate in four days to steal Bingzi Pepper Forest!