NFBE 041 Yinglong Porridge
041 Yinglong Porridge
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[Territory] Sky Courtyard
[Belongs to] Li Yu
[Level] Village
【Attributes】Literary Style 25, Martial Style 25, Public Security 100, Military Preparedness 0, Public Sentiment 0, Transportation 30.
【Characteristics】White Steed Gathers in the Cold Valley
[Specialty Products] None
[Farm Property] None
[Architecture] None
[Residents] None
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"A white horse grazes in the cold valley"
[Rank] Yellow.
[Attributes] In a desolate village, a wise man is found to reside there, granting +25 to both literary and martial arts skills.
[Description] Hidden in the caves, a white horse is welcomed in the cold valley.
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Originating from the poem "White Colt" in the Book of Songs, specifically the section "White Colt," the phrase "White Colt, white colt, in that empty valley" is often used to describe a virtuous and capable person who lives in seclusion and does not serve in office.
I never expected that I would become a "wise man".
Li Yu guessed that this title should be related to the master of [Immortal Abode], [Fanghu], [Canghai Island], etc.
Tsk, yesterday he told these players that the "Li Yu" at the top of the Territory Ranking wasn't him, and today someone else, [Han Gu Na Bai Ju], has appeared.
However, Li Yu clearly remembered that the Sky Courtyard in the second [Dream] did not have this characteristic.
He was still in a daze when the players rushed over, shouting, "Dean, quickly take us into the village!"
Li Yu replied, "There is a limit to the population of a territory; recruiting too many will affect the territory's attributes."
Upon hearing this, many players looked embarrassed, and some even asked Li Yu what to do.
Li Yu said, "As we discussed yesterday, let's select the best candidates first. Once the quota is filled, we'll establish a [Sky Outer Academy]. When the territory is upgraded and the population cap is lifted, we'll recruit from the [Outer Academy], how about that?"
The players had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Li Yu asked if anyone had made plans for the "selection of the best" that he mentioned yesterday.
Lu Xiuxi, Li Hua, and several other players stepped forward. They had prepared their answers beforehand, and when Li Yu asked, they recited them one by one.
The "Outstanding Talent Introduction Program" was established, and talents were evaluated into three levels: "A", "B", and "C".
Grade A: Talents urgently needed by the territory, available to join at any time;
Category B: Essential personnel for the territory; anyone who meets the requirements can join.
Category C: Talents needed by the territory, applying for membership after waiting in line.
The others added to what Li Yu had just mentioned about the [Sky Outer Courtyard], such as treating the [Sky Outer Courtyard] and the [Sky Courtyard] equally, that all personnel should be friendly, united, and help each other, and that a [Family Search Area] should be set up, etc.
There are also some management regulations, reward and punishment systems, territory behavior guidelines, leveling area behavior rules, and the rights and obligations of territory residents.
With a wave of his hand, Li Yu brought the group into the Sky Courtyard.
Lu Xiuxi, Li Hua, and the other first-batch "residents" were all smiles. But when they saw the [Territory Trait: Cold Valley White Steed], they were all stunned and looked at Li Yu.
Li Yu explained, "I am not the master of that [Immortal Abode]."
Lu Xiuxi and the others looked at him with disbelief, but Li Yu ignored them and simply said, "Get to work!"
These individuals were selected from tens of thousands of people, possessing both high reputation and strong execution skills. At Li Yu's command, they quickly devised a plan.
Then they each called upon their own people to separate the crowd and divide the area. Next, they set up tables and chairs, organized the players into long lines, and took out the prepared pens, ink, bamboo slips, and even draft paper to begin registering, evaluating, and recruiting people.
The process was carried out efficiently and without chaos, earning praise from Magistrate Liang and the other indigenous people.
Magistrate Liang and Wang Zhang were curious about the attributes of the [Territory Stele], so Li Yu showed it to them.
The two elders looked at Li Yu with strange eyes. They had previously asked Li Yu to confirm whether "this Li Yu is the same Li Yu as that Li Yu", which Li Yu denied.
But right now, the words "wise man" stand out particularly...
Similar to Liang and Wang, the new residents of [Sky House] also exhibit similar behavior.
Players were disappointed to see the "None" entries on the [Territory Monument]. They were then taken aback when they saw [White Steed in the Cold Valley].
What the heck? Is it suitable to keep horses in a [yard]?
It still has to be a white horse?
It wasn't until I saw the descriptions of "Literary Style +25", "Martial Style +25", and "Sage" that I realized what it meant.
Holy crap, the dean truly lives up to his reputation as a figure on the "Rankings"—he's even called a "wise man"!
This "wise person" certified by the [system] is really low-level - [Strength] 42 and [Intelligence] only 30.
Huh?
Wait, there's also Li Yu on the Territory Ranking!
Gee!
"The dean is awesome!"
Countless players cheered with joy!
Some of the more straightforward ones were still asking, "Didn't the dean say he wasn't from that 'territory'..."
Before he could finish speaking, someone slapped him: "The dean already said no."
Do you believe it?
"I believe you!"
"Who's a decent person...?"
Li Yu offered no further explanation.
Tired.
Magistrate Liang was curious about the "talent rating" rules of [Sky Academy], so he was led by Li Yu to take a look around the recruitment area.
The classification of levels A, B, and C is currently mainly based on "professional skills before time travel".
Category C typically includes teachers, doctors, farmers, etc.
Category B includes practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, kindergarten teachers, civil engineers, etc.
When Magistrate Liang saw that a player had registered "traditional steelmaking," his eyes narrowed, and after a moment's hesitation, he said to Li Yu, "Nephew, although the government has lifted the ban on salt and iron and allowed people to boil and cast iron, salt and iron have always been heavy taxes. If you want to profit from salt and iron, then you can't escape these taxes."
Currently, the Han court's attitude towards "strange people" is unclear. However, one thing is very clear: Emperor Liu Hong's stance is to collect taxes!
The tax rate in the Eastern Han Dynasty was one-thirtieth, which was not high. However, since the Jianning era, the surcharges on various regular taxes have gradually increased.
For players, poll taxes such as "pollution tax" and "calculation tax" are difficult to collect for the time being, but the current emperor has already issued an edict to levy "cash tax," "mountain and lake tax," and "salt and iron tax"!
We must seize it!
Those independent players, without a fixed abode, are not yet convenient to tax. But the "Territory of Extraordinary People" cannot be ignored, so we'll start by taxing them there.
Magistrate Liang had previously discussed taxation with Li Yu, and his renewed mention of it was due to his increased regard for Li Yu after seeing the poem "[White Horse in the Cold Valley]". He did not want to cause Li Yu any displeasure or create any rift over matters such as taxation, so he spoke frankly beforehand.
Li Yu nodded naturally: "I know."
Players using the "primitive steelmaking method" are classified as "Grade B" because they currently have neither "iron ore" nor "coal mine" available.
After taking a couple more steps, he suddenly heard Li Hua call out "Dean," saying that there was a "Case A" to be decided and asking him to make the final decision.
This was an elderly man in his sixties, with a kind face and a slightly hunched back. Upon seeing Li Yu, he unconsciously flashed a fawning smile and stammered, "Dean." Li Yu quickly helped him up and replied, "Hello, sir."
The old man had an apron tied around his waist; he didn't look like a "top-tier talent," but rather like a kitchen helper at a rural wedding or funeral banquet.
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Yinglong Porridge
[Rank] Not classified.
[Attribute] Eating this hot porridge increases satiety by 25 and stamina by 20.
[Description] Without Mayinglong (a traditional Chinese medicine), starving corpses would litter the fields of Qi.
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The old man's surname is Liao, and he has no one to accompany him in his old age. He has a daughter who married far away and only comes back to her hometown once every two or three years. The old man lives alone, but he doesn't feel lonely.
After "time travel," Grandpa Liao suffered a lot and began to miss his daughter who always made phone calls.
A group of young people said they had seen his daughter, so the old man went with them. Halfway there, they were pushed towards a wolf, and the wolf bit his arm, almost breaking it.
Those young men, shouting things like "hatred" and "don't mention it," rushed over to kill the wolves.
As a result, the wolf released him and killed all the young men.
The wolf turned around and pounced again, but the old man picked up a stone and smashed it to death.
After the wolf died, a scroll fell to the ground. The old man opened it to look at it. He was barely literate and couldn't understand it, but he was enveloped in a beam of light and transported elsewhere.
That was during the Ming Dynasty, in the "Wanli era." There was a severe drought; people were selling their children and resorting to cannibalism.
The old man appeared in Qi County, Kaifeng, just as the county magistrate, Ma Yinglong, was recruiting people to cook porridge.
He went there because the name sounded familiar.
Magistrate Ma opened dozens of soup kitchens, and the old man worked in one of them for half a month.
Until he returned to the Han Dynasty with a water ladle.