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For humans, whose lifespan is only a mere hundred or eighty years, ten years is always a huge span.

But when people reach their fifties, they often find themselves sighing involuntarily at how quickly time has passed.

At least that's what Richard thinks.

For him, these ten years seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, or even like a dream.

He had similar thoughts every day when he woke up in his luxurious governor’s mansion in downtown Harrisburg.

Yes, Richard's family moved from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, nine years ago.

He moved here after he won the election for state legislator.

However, the house in Fish, Philadelphia, has been preserved.

He has been financially secure since his successful election as a state legislator, and can afford the property tax.

Not to mention that real estate in Fishtown and even throughout Philadelphia will be high-quality assets in the future. Continuing to hold them will only lead to greater profits.

Don't ask him how he knew.

For someone who aspires to become governor and even live in a white house in the future, this information is a foregone conclusion.

Of course, Richard didn't just coast through those ten years.

In fact, the fact that he was able to successfully run for governor as an independent can be said to have directly created a new chapter in the history of the new century.

After all, the last time someone ran for governor as an independent was back in the last century.

Even if you go through the entire history of Northwest University, only a handful of people have achieved this.

One of them even became the first president in the history of the Western University. The capital city was even named after him.

But to be honest, Richard knew very well that his success was due to more than just his personal efforts...

Well, his personal efforts actually only accounted for a small part of the reason.

The most important thing is the support from China.

Especially eight years ago, when he was a senator, Qiao Yu took the initiative to contact him and had someone send him a set of electronic devices.

Computers, mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, smart glasses, and countless sets of smart underwear for changing...

Richard initially thought these products were for monitoring him, but he later realized he had underestimated the other party's true intentions.

The set of products delivered to him included the same artificial intelligence product—July.

Although the name is a bit strange, it's really useful.

Since it was delivered in July, Richard has discovered that this thing is truly equivalent to a team of staff.

It truly seems to understand everything.

Economics, politics, law, foreign relations, voter demands and attitudes, even how to put on a show to maximize the favor of the majority of voters...

Even now, he always asks July to review the documents he needs to sign every day to check for any errors.

At first, he was somewhat wary and resistant to July, this kind of artificial intelligence.

But after eight years of working together, he has gotten used to leaving everything to July for pre-processing.

For example, the documents that need to be signed every day will be reviewed by July first.

Because by doing this, he could ensure that no one under his command could deceive him...

Seriously, in July, you could find out the true cost of a newly built public toilet in one of Pennsylvania's most remote towns in just a few minutes, as well as who was involved in the project and how much they legally pocketed from it...

Similarly, if he wanted to, he could even find out why a particular voter was suddenly no longer satisfied with his job...

Of course, Richard did not completely eliminate some phenomena; he merely drew a red line for legally making money, based on his advice in July.

No matter how many hands a project goes through in the state, as long as the additional costs do not exceed 20% of the originally approved project cost, it is acceptable.

If it exceeds that limit, then I'm sorry, someone will definitely lose their job...

In addition, since July's assistance, he has been able to know everything about the situation in Pennsylvania, from major economic issues to minor thoughts of supporters.

These findings are based on information obtained through publicly available channels, such as social media, the sources of materials used in economic activities, and the various taxes that companies must pay…

Analysis shows that the accuracy rate of the results given in July has consistently remained above 95%.

It's so incredibly useful!
Once you start using it, you can't live without it...

Of course, after two years in the governorship, he no longer paid attention to those minor details.

His eyes also started to look upwards, after all, what he wanted to achieve was group satisfaction.

Of course, his achievements in the past two years have been truly remarkable. This is due in part to Richard's hard work and dedication, but more importantly, it comes from the support of China.

Now, schools built with Chinese investment are springing up all over the state.

Pennsylvania's entire policing system underwent a comprehensive reform. A dedicated Ideology Department was even established…

In addition, Richard pushed through a policy on civilian firearms despite numerous obstacles.

Simply put, while buying weapons remains as easy as before, purchasing matching standard ammunition is extremely difficult; one can only buy rubber bullets, which lack significant lethality.

This also means that even guns bought in Pennsylvania are modified.

After all, the design of the ammunition has changed, and the internal pressure also needs to be adjusted to make its power weaker.

As for these items in private possession, they must be modified free of charge at the nearest relevant store within the specified time, or exchanged for new ones. If they are found to be in possession of items that have not been weakened or modified after the deadline, it will be considered a serious crime.

This caused the prices of legitimate related products in Pennsylvania to skyrocket more than tenfold, since legitimate items were no longer legal and would be severely punished if caught.

The airport also has a dedicated inspection department, and it is illegal to bring in such items even from out of state.

The first time you get a warning, the second time you go straight to jail...

In contrast, the public security environment is visibly improving.

Despite serving only two years, gun-related cases in the state have decreased by 70 percent year-over-year.

Furthermore, its economy is exceptionally strong compared to the rest of the state. Therefore, Richard currently enjoys extremely high approval ratings within the state.

All of these policies were implemented with the help of July.

Of course, the implementation of these policies has not been without its challenges.

Initially, there was great resistance, and Richard even received anonymous death threats.

But there was nothing he could do; Richard's connections were too strong...

Furthermore, a host of powerful tech companies were backing them. The anonymous death threats were quickly uncovered, the perpetrator was arrested, and the incident even made the news…

Richard also capitalized on this wave of attention by giving a statewide speech titled "This is a War."

Although the speech was only broadcast on state media, it actually generated a great deal of buzz throughout the entire Western University campus.

There are many voices supporting and opposing it.

But over the years, as Pennsylvania's economy, people's livelihoods, infrastructure, and everything else have visibly improved, the voices of opposition have gradually weakened.

It is no exaggeration to say that, thanks to the power of the internet, Richard, this unconventional governor, has become the most well-known governor in the entire Western region, bar none.

Especially within Pennsylvania, at one point many people only knew Governor Richard and didn't know who lived in the white house now...

As a matter of course, with the election just two years away, Richard announced his decision to once again run for a place in the White House as an independent individual.

Richard's slogan was also very simple: he simply wanted to promote Pennsylvania's successful experience to the entire Western University...

This slogan carries significant weight.

Despite serving only two years as governor, Pennsylvania's economy has achieved an unprecedented leap – the state's GDP has jumped from the bottom of the nation to among the top five in the country.

Its total tax revenue ranks third among all states in the country! This rate of economic growth has even left Western University's own economists in disbelief.

Coupled with a declining crime rate and increased happiness among state residents, the moment Richard announced his candidacy, online polls showed him far ahead of the two candidates nominated by the Democratic and Republican parties.

Of course, the traditional bigwigs wouldn't sit idly by. Just three days after Richard announced his candidacy, voices in traditional media and online claimed that Richard was colluding with China.

They even posted a lot of evidence and concluded that Pennsylvania's success could not be replicated.

Because affecting one state and affecting the entire Western University are two completely different things.

Even with the size of China's economy, it's impossible to revive the entire economy of Xida.

The purpose of creating such a "god" in China is nothing more than to enslave the people of West University in the future. If Richard really moves into the white house, the people of West University will definitely have to work at least sixty hours a week or even more in the future...

In response to this claim, Richard simply stated in a media interview that the decision to open up Pennsylvania's infrastructure and cooperate with China was not his...

The White House and the Pennsylvania governor were both partisan figures who made these decisions.

All he did was deepen some cooperation based on those decisions.

If this is to say that China has controlled it, then it would be more accurate to say that China has already controlled the White House...

Richard's response wasn't particularly aggressive. But it was a different story online.

Countless netizens from Xida University launched a mocking attack...

"My God, you mean you only need to work 60 hours every seven days, you don't need to find another job to support your family, and you can eat three full meals a day without selling your blood?"
If so, that would be wonderful! Please introduce me to such a job as soon as possible, and make the most of my remaining value.

"A Chinese conspiracy? Haha, if I hadn't just traveled to China, I would have believed it too! Can I say that the Chinese are living the life I've always dreamed of?"

The women there can appear anywhere in the city at any time, without fear of the risks they might encounter outside.

"That's why I always say we need to have the ability to think independently. A conspiracy by the Chinese? Let me tell you, China's space-based defense system can even prevent our planes from taking off."

They don't even need to fear the threat of nuclear weapons, because those missiles would be dismantled by lasers as soon as they took off! But even so, China has not started a war anywhere in the world!
I can't even imagine what the world would be like if our politicians had this system! Think about those wars, folks. You'll then know how hypocritical those who say such things are!

"I learned a saying from China: don't look at what people say, but look at what they do. My question is, why did we spend the most money in the world before, but still couldn't even fix a public toilet!"

Since the Chinese came, they've been able to build ten beautiful public toilets with less than a tenth of the original budget! So I'd like to ask, where did all that money go before?

……

Seriously, Richard didn't even need to personally lead the charge; a whole bunch of people online did just that, completely dispelling those kinds of opinions.

Even the most controversial policy of reducing legal possession of weapons has gained a lot of support.

After all, when the new generation of young people are watching videos, they often see fully armed professional military and police officers, with the cooperation of armored vehicles, eliminating armed bandits in a fixed location as easily as killing chickens.

Looking back at Richard's policy of comprehensively weakening civilian weapons, one can't help but have some different thoughts.

To put it simply, as long as civilians use rubber bullets, except for police officers on special missions, routine tasks will also be carried out with rubber bullets, thus ensuring the safety of both sides.

As for whether having a gun can protect you?

Don't be ridiculous. While buying this stuff is legal, buying bulletproof vests is illegal...

Not to mention playing with this stuff, those are the real professionals.

Thus, the most outrageous scene in the history of Xida University unfolded.

An independent individual without any political affiliation, and without a large campaign fund or much donations, has just announced his candidacy, and all major polls show him with an overwhelming lead over the candidates from the other two parties...

Moreover, it was an absolute crushing defeat.

This conclusion was drawn independently by several companies.

Richard's approval rating fluctuates between 43% and 57%.

The combined approval ratings for the other two candidates were less than 50 percent.

The survey data among young people is even more alarming.

Some companies have even found that Richard's approval rating among young people under the age of thirty is a staggering 70% or more!
So much so that the media exclaimed that the new generation at Xida University was completely fed up with elitist politics, and that these young people, who represented the future, had been thoroughly "Easternized"...

When the report was presented to Qiao Yu, the young mathematician, who was not yet forty and still in his prime, smiled broadly.

"Haha, you've all lost, pay up! What did I tell you? You all underestimated July!"

What exactly is meant by subtle, gradual influence? If over five years of intelligent, network-wide push notifications can't change someone's stubborn mindset, then such a person simply doesn't exist! (End of Chapter)