Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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"Do you know Wenjin's whereabouts?" Kate asked.

The man nodded. "Of course."

Ronan didn't say anything, but sat back down. "Sir, after saying so much, I think you should introduce yourself."

"Me? My surname is Kang, and my given name is Guizong. I was born in Liangzhou six hundred years ago. My father was a Han soldier and my mother was a Sogdian. I was probably considered exceptionally talented in that place. So I followed a nobleman to the Central Plains and by chance became a Taoist priest. I began to practice the Six Harmonies Technique and practiced it for sixty years. I am over seventy years old and I am only at the fourth level. Among the extraordinary people of that era, I can only be considered to have some fame. If I were alive today, I would be considered an unknown person."

"Later, when the world was in chaos, I simply returned to the Western Regions and continued westward. On one hand, I was fleeing from disaster, and on the other hand, I thought that perhaps I could learn from the experiences of others."

"However, nearly a hundred, and only at the fifth level, means that life is not many years away."

"At that time, I, an ordinary person, experienced the biggest turning point in my life when I met Lavigne."

"That's about it."

Chapter 823 Extraordinary People and Events: Who is the Protagonist? The Only Consensus Reached

Kang Guizong lived in the small celestial realm constructed by Lavigne using an alternate dimension for a very long time, about two hundred years.

Almost exactly, Kang Guizong entered Lavini's paradise after the self-proclaimed legitimate Seres Khan, Wenhua, launched his "Western Expedition." When he left the paradise, Lavini was on the verge of madness, and at the same time, the founder of the Golden Eagle Dynasty, Oranz, and the Taizu Zhao Shu of the Seres David Dynasty were rising to power.

The two hundred years he spent in Paradise coincided with a great era in which the Church in the West and the court in Seres began their decline from prosperity.

Subsequently, Hollande, a "German" from the Hesse region, broke the church's monopoly on supernatural education in "France," seized the military power of the great lords, began to establish a civil service state, and spearheaded the "Agreement of the Oaks," which greatly reduced the intensity of war in the West and allowed ordinary people to slowly emerge.

Meanwhile, Zhao Shu, a benevolent ruler who hailed from Henan and rose to power in Jiangnan, compromised with scholars and warrior groups to allow Seris to establish schools in various places and quickly restore the number of extraordinary individuals in Seris. Seris did indeed recover rapidly, but one consequence was that due to the different natural conditions in various places and the influence of local scholars and warriors on local politics, Seris began to move towards a path of "one country with multiple systems" and "internal Ming and external Tang".

During his two hundred years in Paradise, Kang Guizong learned many things, not only reaching the seventh level but also mastering the art of immortality.

After that, he spent nearly a hundred years traveling the world, leaving his footprints in many places.

Then he returned to the park. By this time, Lavigne had gone mad, and it was during her most insane period, far exceeding the level of madness she experienced when Ronan and his companions first arrived. It's safe to say that if Ronan and his group had encountered the park at that point in time, aside from Ronan and Dinia, none of them would have survived.

While living a life of hardship in Paradise, Kang Guizong searched for a way to restore Lavigne.

He persisted for decades but ultimately couldn't find a solution and had to leave.

He then left the park for the second time and began to wander the world. It was during this time that he met many people from all over the world.

After that, he chose to live in seclusion.

He only started to become active again after Ronan's sudden emergence.

Many years ago, he came to Seris and met Zhao Disheng, who had not yet ascended the throne.

"Actually, my goal is to give everyone in this world the opportunity to become a superhuman, because that is Lavigne's true wish. However, my methods may be rather brutal, and I feel that my homeland needs a great upheaval to enter a new era. The only thing I didn't expect was the appearance of another 'you'."

Kang Guizong looked at Luo Nan one last time and said.

"You truly are the most unique being in this world."

“Ha, you’re more like the protagonist than me,” Ronan laughed.

Kang Guizong smiled with a hint of self-deprecation and asked, "Protagonist? With the help of others, it took two hundred years to achieve immortality and nearly three hundred years to reach the seventh rank. Can that be considered a protagonist?"

"For the main character, luck is the most important thing," Ronan replied.

“No, the most important thing for a protagonist is a burning passion, a heart that wants to change the world.” As he spoke, Kang Guizong pointed to Dinia, “For example, her, she is the protagonist. I am just a lucky mediocre person, you are a cowardly but capable person, she is the one with heart.”

Ronan clapped his hands and said, "Didi, did you see that? You're the main character."

"Indeed, but you, the golden supporting actor, still need to set the stage properly," Dinia teased Ronan.

"Wow, Didi, you're getting more and more humorous," Ronan teased.

And so, Kang Guizong settled down in Foshan for the time being.

The following day, Ronan and Dinia began learning a special skill from Kang Guizong: concealing their presence.

There are many extraordinary individuals in Seris, especially recently a group of seventh-tier individuals are about to emerge from seclusion. To avoid unnecessary trouble, this skill must be learned.

Ronan learned it in just three days. For him, the skill was simply adding a decorative layer to an already constructed model, like adding a decorative layer when modeling a building. It was not difficult at all.

But for Dinia, who only has an elementary school education and relies entirely on intuition to use magic, that would be difficult.

Three days passed, and she still couldn't figure out what it was.

On the contrary, Agustina, who was listening in, the standard academic elemental mage Grandan, Falek who had the ability to see through souls, and even Zhao Yingqi, who grew up under Ronan's cramming education, all began to understand the principles involved.

Ronan's daughter, Astrid, learned it immediately.

"It's alright. I'll enter a combined state with you and I'll activate this move. It's perfectly fine."

Ronan said to Dinia.

Having mastered the technique of concealing his presence, Ronan and Kang Guizong agreed to set off three days later.

Meanwhile, more news came in quick succession.

There were no further reports of large-scale bloodshed.

Another group of "Ronan" led a group of low-ranking officials from Beijing, a small number of imperial guards and their families, along with 70,000 to 80,000 Beijing residents living in the slums, to the area outside the Great Wall. They were clearly looking for a base there to settle down and start developing their businesses.

Besides that, the real big event was the petitions from various regions to select one of the vassal kings as the new emperor.

First, Emperor Zhao Disheng had no sons. His former crown princess, who had not yet become empress, was deposed by a group of regents and forced to establish a new empress.

The weak young emperor was defeated in this struggle.

To be honest, no one could tolerate this, but he could do nothing but avoid touching the Empress and dared not have children with other concubines. He only wanted to wait until everything was successful, then depose her and make Consort Lü the Empress.

Moreover, even if he had a son, he could not be made emperor, because he had already been labeled as "immoral" or "treasonous."

His "misconduct" has had serious consequences. Generally speaking, if he is incompetent and has no son, then a choice should be made from his brothers. But now many people believe that his branch is incompetent and a virtuous and capable person should be chosen from another branch.

The so-called virtuous and capable are just excuses; the regional officials all want to elect a vassal king from their own territory.

Meanwhile, in the central government, a group of people were also divided on their opinions. In fact, since many of the low-ranking officials who used to lead the charge had been taken away, many people had to take matters into their own hands, and a full-blown brawl almost broke out, reminiscent of the era of rampant martial spirit in the previous dynasty.

It's fair to say that the entire Seris region has descended into chaos because of this new emperor.

There was only one thing that everyone worked together on: persuading the mostly reclusive seventh-tier members to gather together and deal with the rebel leader.

The debate over who should be emperor can be put aside for now; this matter must be handled quickly.

Now everyone knows that the rebels have the ability to grant ordinary people special talents. If they were allowed to make a big splash outside the Great Wall, even if the ringleaders were eventually eliminated, there would still be endless troubles in the future.

Chapter 824 Fighting the Little Tiger: Costs and Rebellion, Conditions for Rebellion

Before leaving, Ronan had to give some instructions.

The first person to talk to was Isabel, because after Ronan and Dinia left, their business in Foshan could only be managed by Isabel, with Alice, who was familiar with all aspects of the local situation, serving as her assistant.

In short, you can fight the little tiger, but don't touch the big tiger yet.

Ronan had no expectations of the Seres bureaucracy. They were incapable of operating a primitive form of agricultural capitalism and only knew how to exploit and plunder in the old ways. Greed was not the scary part; what was scary was that they would ruin the improving economy.

Isabelle is a very extreme person. Over the years, she has learned many ways to solve problems, but deep down she still prefers to deal with the people who have problems first.

This vaccination is necessary.

In Ronan's time, the Seres liked to mock Westerners for their historical servility and to boast that they loved to rebel. But without a doubt, those who entered an era of change were the ones who truly loved to rebel, because they were no longer rebelling against people, but against the system.

In reality, the Seres people did not oppose the system, but only the people, and they adored the "savior".

This has nothing to do with human nature, and even less to do with servility.

For the past thousand years, every rebellion has resulted in the killing of the powerful officials of the previous dynasty and the return to a small-scale peasant economy. In the eyes of the Seres, it was as if Westerners were crazy not to rebel.

It can only be said that the Seres did not understand that the small-scale peasant economy and the manor economy under their imperial era were actually quite similar.

Seres was a large empire for a long time, and the small-scale peasant economy under such an empire was not as simple as men farming and women weaving; it was self-sufficient. So much so that even in Ronan's time, when agricultural experts conducted research, they could still find that in the rural areas of the Central Plains, which were known for their diverse industries, people could live a simple life without any problems.

The manor economy is also self-sufficient; within a manor, everything necessary for basic living needs is produced.

Since the lower classes in the West have always lived such lives, why would he rebel? The minor lords and priests are nothing more than village chiefs and gentry. Would a Seresian rebel against his own existence and the elders of his village?

The answer is no. Usually, a counter-creation is carried out under the leadership of the village chief and elders.

Rebellions by minor lords were, for a long time in the West, not just every day, but at least every year.

Ultimately, the strength of servility depends on the era and environment, not on race.

The more advanced the system, the higher the cost of maintaining it. And in any system, the costs are borne by the majority while the benefits are enjoyed by a minority. Moreover, the more advanced the system, the more exaggerated this ratio becomes.

Do primitive tribes incur institutional costs? Almost none. What about the costs of a large empire? Too high.

Without a doubt, the cost of Seris is higher, and without a doubt, the upper echelons of Seris possess more.

At the same time, the Seres people also suffered more oppression.

But they were able to endure centuries of oppression before they rebelled.

Conversely, this is something that Westerners living under feudal lords could not even imagine.

Therefore, the current Seres people are actually more servile than some Westerners. So, Ronan can tell Isabelle that killing a few tiger cubs is enough. But if this were in today's "France," it wouldn't be enough. Ronan would probably have to sacrifice his son.

Firstly, because in the West, nobles often emerge to "stand up for the people" and call for the killing of officials. Isn't that absurd? It is that absurd.

Secondly, the resilience of ordinary citizens is far less than that of people who have just moved to the city. This is much better in Seris, where many of the lower-level residents are people who have just moved to the city, so there is no need to target high-ranking officials.

“The road to reform is still long, Isa, don’t rush,” Ronan said. “The real opportunity will come when we return and bring our talents to everyone.”

"Are you done talking nonsense?" Isabel asked with a disdainful look.

Ronan could only shake his head and leave.

Next, I need to make arrangements for Elena and Agustina. The situation in Seris is rather chaotic right now, and I must give them a proper explanation in order to ensure that the economy continues to improve steadily.

To reiterate, local officials are still stuck at the level of urging production and forcibly collecting taxes; they can't even manage agricultural capitalism.

Next is the technical team. Their current focus is to combine Kang Guizong's brutal talent bestowal technique with samples from several Imperial Guards to research a more reliable talent bestowal technique. Ultimately, they aim to combine this with the previous stabilizing potions to summarize a truly stable method for bestowing talents upon ordinary people.

There's not much to say to Ambrina; she can just keep playing.

Zhao Yingqi should continue to take care of Madam Zhao.

Astrid and her henchmen just need to stay out of trouble.

Finally, it was Lu Jianling's turn.

"What are your plans?" Ronan asked.

“I’ve already sent a letter to Guangxi. I’ll stay here for now and wait for my two sons to come,” Lu Jianling replied.

"Do you know how to train troops?" Ronan asked again.

"Yes," Lu Jianling replied, his gaze suddenly turning serious.

"Originally, many miners and ironworkers from various villages came here, but after this incident, the plan to expand production capacity has been temporarily shelved. Why don't you just train them? We have muskets and cannons here, and we also have a group of people who can serve as officers. It's not for anything else, but for self-defense."

Lu Jianling did not respond immediately because Ronan was lying. The plan to expand production capacity was temporarily shelved? That was only what ordinary people saw. In reality, the production was transferred to manufacture muskets and cannons, and some people were tinkering with something else.

Self-preservation? More like rebellion.

“Since there are people who can serve as officers, there is no need for me,” Lu Jianling responded.

“They are foreigners, they can’t be trusted,” Ronan said, or more accurately, people from the Ship Country.

"Don't be delusional. There are quite a few people with extraordinary abilities here, but it's far from enough, and the basic troops are even worse." Lu Jianling didn't explicitly state that Ronan, this foreigner, was trying to incite a rebellion here, but simply used facts to tell him that they didn't have the qualifications.

Basic soldiers refer not only to ordinary people, but also to those superhumans who make up the majority but are not in the main ranks.

Most of the extraordinary individuals who did not reach the highest level of status lived in the Central Plains region, where rural communities had been established.

The Wei Dynasty's national policy was to prevent any region from simultaneously possessing money, food, soldiers, and weapons, thus ensuring that no place had the foundation for a full-scale rebellion.

“For now, we only have money and weapons here. However, food is not that difficult to obtain. As for soldiers, we will have them in the future, so you can rest assured.” Ronan said, his tone turning serious. “With this kind of technology bestowed upon us by talent, I will have something more reliable on my side.”

Lu Jianling was stunned for a moment, "You, a foreigner, think you can incite government officials to rebel? You think too highly of yourself."

“General Lu, if you’re unwilling, someone else will. Don’t you think they’re even worse? I’m leaving now to deal with that bandit leader. After I’m gone, you can see what we’ve done in Foshan, and you can also ask them about what we’ve done in the West. Think it over carefully.”

Ronan said nothing more and got up to leave.

Finally, Ronan went to visit Madam Zhao. He could only say a few indifferent words to this girl who had lost her husband before she was even twenty years old and might also lose her father who was far away in the Northeast.

Chapter 825 Meeting, Team, One Move

In January 1612, outside the Great Wall, heavy snow was falling. The Pingliao Protectorate, located in the eastern part of the Songnen Plain, was actually the Harbin area in Luonan's timeline.

Another group of "Ronan" had arrived earlier, driven away the local officials and garrison, and occupied the area.

Other civilians who are to be relocated here are still on their way.

A journey of over a thousand kilometers wouldn't take long for top-tier superhumans, but for ordinary mortals, especially a massive group of tens of thousands of mortals, it would take a very long time.

However, this large group of people leaving the pass did not have such a hard time, because the local government along the way was very cooperative. Firstly, the imperial court had issued orders for them to cooperate, and secondly, in terms of military strength, the thousand guards of this large group were not to be trifled with, as each of them was a demon spirit with the strength of a rank-one.