Even emperors have it tough, so don't be too picky about the entries.

"I will not regret even if I die nine times; though there be thousands of people, I will go!"

She spoke with her back straight and her chin slightly raised, as if she were not sitting on a bottomless abyss, but still on her throne.

Chen Shao chuckled.

"Two hundred thousand men of the Northern Barbarians died without a burial place."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was piercing.

"Beneath Yunzhong City, atop Ningwu City, and in Wolong Valley, when you, Helian Yunni, led them out, you said you'd bring back as many as you went. How many are left with you now?"

Helian Yunni froze.

"Just for your own pipe dream."

"You still don't regret it?"

"What's the difference between you and my cheapskate father?"

"Back then, Chen Yuan led an army of 500,000 northwards, saying he would flatten the grasslands. 500,000 people perished, yet he felt no remorse. You are exactly like him today."

"No!"

Helian Yunni shook her head decisively.

"no the same!"

"How are you the same? He's ambitious but ignorant about warfare. He risked the lives of 500,000 people to glorify himself. Now you have 200,000 cavalry marching south. Apart from Yunzhong City being decorated with flowers, there are only thousands of miles of scorched earth and countless graves. How are you and him the same?"

"No!"

Helian Yunni shook her head again, "How can Chen Yuan be compared to me? He fought against Northern Mang for the throne of his Chen family, for his own face, and for a place in history."

"But I... I, Helian Yunni, have only thought about one thing since the day I returned to the royal court from the north of the grasslands."

"The grasslands and the Central Plains have been fighting for hundreds of years. You come here and I go there. Today you take a few hundred of my sheep, tomorrow I will rob a few of your villages."

"The cattle of the grassland people freeze to death in winter, while people in the Central Plains starve to death in famine years."

"Both sides are suffering, both sides feel they are suffering, and both sides think the other side is a beast."

"I unified the grasslands not to become an empress, but because I wanted to stop dozens of tribes from fighting each other on the grasslands."

"Others can't do this; only I can hold the knife in one hand and chop in one direction."

"Two hundred thousand people followed me south. They weren't there to plunder a few silver coins or bolts of silk. They believed in my words: After this battle, the grasslands and the Central Plains will no longer have to fight each other."

"So you're saying I'd die nine times but not regret it, what do I have to regret?"

She turned to look at Chen Shao, her eyes still glistening with tears, but even more so with stubbornness.

"What I regret is losing. I should have abandoned Chen Yuan and captured you directly!"

The Empress recalled that day when he had knocked Chen Yuan off the carriage with a single spear thrust, while showing no interest whatsoever in Chen Shao, who was frantically fleeing on a donkey.

At that time, Chen Shao was just an unknown and useless prince.

Helian Yunni just broke through 500,000 with 50,000, so even glancing at him felt like a compliment.

But who would have thought...

Today, I have been utterly defeated by this person!

Chen Shao didn't respond to the topic, saying that the past filth was nothing to boast about.

"You certainly know how to make excuses for yourself."

Helian Yunni also didn't want to talk about these trivial matters anymore; the victor is king, the loser is villain.

"Chen Shao, what are your plans regarding the grasslands?"

"Let me ask you a question first: What are the people of the grasslands most afraid of?"

Helian Yunni replied without hesitation: "White disaster, a heavy snowfall in winter, cattle and sheep freeze to death in large numbers, and people starve to death. Then there is black disaster, drought so severe that even grass cannot grow."

"So how are you going to defend against it now?"

"How can you defend against it? There's no way to defend against it."

Helian Yunni smiled wryly, "Drive the livestock south, wherever it takes us. Those that can't go any further will stay in the snow."

"That's why you go south to plunder every year."

"It's not that you're born with a love for killing, it's that your way of life is too fragile. A single snowfall can wipe out an entire tribe. No matter how skilled you are, Helian Yunni, can you defeat the heavens?"

"I know that grasslands cannot be turned into farmland."

"Those lands on your grasslands have thin soil, strong winds, and little water. If you try to cultivate them, they will turn into desert in three years. At that time, even grass will not grow, let alone grain."

Helian Yunni looked at him, somewhat surprised.

"You even know about this?"

"What don't I understand?"

Chen Shao looked at her intently. "Helian Yunni, I've seen a world. I have more experience than you. The one thing that makes me stronger than you is that I stand on the shoulders of giants. So you can't compete with me."

"Anyone who dares to challenge me will die by my sword!"

"Leaving that aside, I have the Academy of Natural Sciences in the capital, which I'm sure you've heard of. It specializes in studying these kinds of things that are known in the world as ingenious and frivolous skills."

"What kind of land is suitable for planting, what kind of land is suitable for grazing, and what kind of land needs to be rested for two years after three years of planting are just some of the factors."

"The Institute of Geology..."

Helian Yunni knew this, but she hadn't paid any attention to it before.

In the Central Plains, all sorts of nonsense are happening, like poetry gatherings, tea parties, and the winding stream party. They're always trying to figure things out, but can they really come up with something really useful just by looking at a bamboo stick?

She didn't believe it.

The Northern Barbarians believed in strength; whoever was the strongest was the warrior, and whoever had the biggest fist was the ruler of the royal court.

Hearing Chen Shao say that such a high-class and elegant place was actually studying farming made her eyes light up.

"What exactly does the 'Academy of Geology' examine?"

"To find the truth of a strong and prosperous nation, and the path to ensuring that everyone in the world has enough to eat."

"That's amazing...where do you find such talent?"

"This is also where you fall short of me. These talents are not the kind of learned scholars or talented men and women you specially found in Cloud City; they are people who can actually get things done."

"They may be old farmers toiling in the fields, village doctors breeding sows, or blacksmiths working in the smoke and fire all day long... In short, I will recruit anyone who is useful, regardless of their background."

Upon hearing this, Helian Yunni, like the other renowned scholars in the capital, found it unbelievable.

It's not their fault; it's a limitation of this era.

She remained silent for a long time, her lips trembling, as if a fishbone was stuck in her throat.

"I can also tell you the secrets of how to manage the grasslands."

"First, the land was distributed to the herders."

"Each household is allocated a pasture according to the number of people and livestock, and they manage it themselves. Only when the pasture is their own will they cherish it and graze the livestock in rotation, instead of overgrazing it."

Second, domestication.

"In autumn, we cut grass, dry it, and stack it up. In winter, when the mountains are covered in snow, the livestock will have something to eat. We also teach them how to build warm sheds, so that lambs and calves won't freeze to death in winter, and the survival rate can double."

Third, dig a well.

"The Gewu Academy has a method for finding water. By observing the terrain, the color of the grass, and ant nests, you can find shallow water layers, dig a well, and use the surrounding grasslands for several miles."

Fourth, veterinarians.

"There is a magical book in the Great Yan Dynasty called 'The Barefoot Doctor.' It clearly explains what herbs to use for what disease, how to administer medicine, and how to deliver babies."

Fifth, livestock products.

"Now you're selling sheep and cattle, driving the live animals hundreds of miles, and by the time they arrive at their destination, they've lost half their weight."

"The Gewu Academy can research methods for processing milk powder, dried meat, hides, and fur. A sheep's meat can be dried, its hide tanned, and its wool spun into yarn, fetching three times the price. Herdsmen can survive; why would they need to rob?"

"sixth..."

Chen Shao gave a lengthy and detailed explanation of the methods for making the grasslands prosperous and strong.

Helian Yunni's eyes lit up as she listened, "The Academy of Physics is so powerful..."

"It's not that the Academy of Sciences is powerful, it's that the ordinary people who are truly rooted in the lives of ordinary people are powerful!"

"How many years will it take for all of this to happen?"

"ten years!"

"Within ten years, every banner on the grassland must have a veterinarian, a greenhouse, and a well."

"In twenty years, there will be a highway connecting the grasslands directly to Beijing, and children on the grasslands will be able to read and write just like children in Beijing."

"Twenty years..."

Is this even possible? Helian Yunni asked herself.

"I understand everything you've said, and it's indeed quite good, but you haven't answered my question yet: how do you plan to deal with the people of the grasslands...?"

She was prepared to be defeated; now the grasslands were Chen Shao's prey.

"People of the grasslands have two paths."

"First, those who are willing to follow what I just said are subjects of my Great Yan."

"The second path is for those who are unwilling to surrender, who do not submit to the rule of the Great Yan, including those who are used to taking advantage of others and who refuse to lay down their scimitars."

"Only killing is possible."

"For those people on the grasslands who want a better life, I will give them a way out. But if anyone wants to lead a group of people south to rob grain, kill and burn, then they are the enemy of my Great Yan."

"You should also have experience dealing with enemies, Helian Yunni."

Helian Yunni did not refute.

If it were me, I would kill while simultaneously comforting them.

When faced with overwhelming circumstances, one cannot afford to be soft-hearted.

If Chen Shao lets a chieftain go today, he'll take advantage of it tomorrow and lead hundreds of people to raid a village. The day after tomorrow, a dozen or so tribes will start fighting each other.

After a moment of silence, Helian Yunni suddenly asked, "One last question."

"ask."

What will the Great Yan Dynasty become afterward?

"You want to hear the truth?"

"nonsense."

"If I told you, you might think I'm delirious."

"But Chen Shao, in my life, only wants to do this one thing: to let the people on this land live a different way."

"I've seen a place that's completely different from here."

Chen Shao looked into the distance, a sigh escaping his lips.

"There, men and women are equal, and everyone thinks about how to make their lives better, not how to survive."

Helian Yunni didn't react much to this, as this was the world she imagined.

"There will be vaccines, antibiotics, and public health there, which will increase life expectancy to over 60 years."

"What?!"

Helian Yunni was shocked and exclaimed, "This...how is this possible..."

In this era, let alone the grasslands, even in the Central Plains, the average life expectancy exceeds thirty years. She can eat...

Sixty! Are you kidding me!

Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it's impossible.

"There is nine years of compulsory education, social security, and a humane system there..."

This was the first time Chen Shao had ever told someone about his past life. In the past, he had only made empty promises to win people over, but this time, he spoke of it with pride and eloquence.

From travel to communications, from healthcare to lighting...

"Here, it depends on timing, status, and clan; we depend on machines, organization, and rules."

"So-called divine arts are nothing more than engineering methods, and so-called fate is nothing more than something that can be dealt with."

"Even the emperor could be absent, or rather, he could be no different from other officials like the prefect, and his position would be rotated."

"What?!!"

These words shattered Helian Yunni's worldview.

The emperor was the Son of Heaven, who performed ancestral sacrifices and promulgated the calendar.

Being an emperor does not necessarily mean having power, but it certainly means being ordained by Heaven.

Even if he is a puppet, he is still the nominal ruler of the world.

Her first reaction was that she didn't understand.

Can an emperor be eliminated?

Dead? His line died out? He was usurped by a powerful minister? The world is divided? Or have you gone mad?

The alternatives to the death of an emperor were mostly: replacing the emperor, having a powerful minister as regent, having a feudal lord as the overlord, having a foreign tribe take over, or establishing a separatist regime.

Furthermore, Chen Shaoke was a native of the Central Plains, a Han Chinese.

What do Han Chinese people say?

To be without a ruler or father is to be a beast!

When the rites and music collapse, the world will descend into chaos!

Without an emperor, who will carry out the mandate of heaven? Who will rectify the hearts of the people? Who will command all officials?

Will we still have to pay taxes? Will we still have to perform corvée labor? Who will repair the water conservancy projects? Who will quell the bandits? Who will provide relief during years of famine? Who will mobilize troops in times of war?

Without an emperor, who controls the military? Who commands the generals? Who pays their rations and salaries?

Without an emperor, who issues travel permits? Who manages the checkpoints? Where can contracts be appealed? Who will suppress bandits?

These are all problems.

But Chen Shao's wildly imaginative words had already made her instinctively afraid to question them.

All the questions were summed up in one sentence.

"Without an emperor, would the world be in chaos?"

"Not chaotic."

Chen Shao said solemnly:

There are laws.

"The law is written on paper, and everyone in the world can see it."

"The emperor is subject to the same laws as the common people, that's the meaning of it."

"Even if the emperor breaks the law, he will be punished the same as the common people. No one can lose their head with a single word, nor can anyone absolve someone of their crime with a single word."

"Isn't this..." Helian Yunni thought for a long time but couldn't find the right words.

"Are you saying this is tantamount to the lawlessness of the people?"

Chen Shao said on her behalf, "On the contrary, this is the true law."

"In the past, the laws of your grasslands were the laws of you, Helian Yunni, alone. When you were happy, you would grant amnesty to the whole country; when you were angry, you would massacre the city."

"Your laws are dictated by your own whims."

"The law, which can be written on paper, does not follow anyone's mood; it follows reason."

"At that time, military pay will be paid by the national treasury, troop deployment will require legal procedures, and the examination, assessment, appointment and dismissal of officials and their salaries will be standardized. Independent or semi-independent courts will be established, and ordinary people can sue officials. Local autonomy or local councils will be piloted first, and the revenue from imperial estates, the imperial treasury, and monopolies will gradually become national revenue."

"Of course... this will take a very long time."

"You may not be able to process this, but knowing this before you leave is... a kind of good fortune."

This statement was a warning of Helian Yunni's fate.

The latter clearly had no intention of living, and ignored these words.

Helian Yunni stared at him for a long time.

"Chen Shao, you're even crazier than I thought."

Whether it's crazy or not, we'll see how it turns out in the end.

"Is it a dream that a useless prince could defeat you, Helian Yunni? Is it a dream that the Great Yan could destroy the Yellow Turbans, pacify the warlords, and drive the Northern Barbarians back to the grasslands? Is it a dream that we can stand on the top of Wolong Mountain today and speak to you calmly?"

"Dreams are all made up by people."

"A dream, and then step by step turning it into reality, and now, I want to lead tens of millions of people in realizing this dream!"

"This is true harmony under heaven!"

These four words, in this era, are definitely not something that can be summarized by a single good word.

It was more like a complete upheaval of one's worldview.

"Universal harmony..."

Helian Yunni pondered these words repeatedly, suddenly realizing they carried a far greater weight than the title of "Emperor of a Thousand Ages"...

"Don't think this is wishful thinking. I, Chen Shao, came here specifically to do this."

"Everyone, sit down and eat together!"