People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

The tutor took his seat, and Ernst nodded to Hinterlea, who understood and went to the tea room to brew a pot of tea.

This task is usually handled by the two secretaries, Horhyah and Lafshini, but unfortunately, it's long past closing time. Horhyah has already left, and Lafshini has gone to the Sherag Hotel.

Her sister was waiting for her there, and Ernst couldn't very well disturb the sisters' reunion and forcibly drag her back to work overtime.

We'll have to trouble Cintraya.

The three sat down, and Ning Ciqiu spoke first, somewhat curious:

"Prime Minister Ernst can actually speak Mandarin?"

Ernst smiled and said, "I have some understanding of Yan culture."

"Yan Kingdom is a large country with a population of 80 million. Its capital city, Baizhao, is hailed as the most magnificent mobile city in Terra, comparable to Londinium. Many people believe that if Yan Kingdom were not for its reclusive attitude, it would be a country that could rival Victoria for the hegemony of Terra."

"Hehe, that's too kind. Yan Kingdom has no ambition to contend for supremacy. For us, it's better to send a young man to the fields than to send him to the battlefield. Great Yan Kingdom hopes for peace throughout the world."

The Grand Tutor stroked his beard lightly and smiled faintly.

"However, I have heard a little about Prime Minister Ernst's understanding of the Yan Kingdom. The Chronicles of Erslie is a very good work. I wonder when we will be able to read the next chapter?"

Ernst's expression immediately froze.

I'm writing it, I'm writing it.

It wasn't a newly created folder; the folder for "The Legend of King Arthur" had already been created long ago. Ernst had been diligently writing whenever he had free time, but he had been too busy lately with his visit to Laterano, organizing the World's Fair, rebuilding Tucarim, constructing the venue, and dealing with internal issues in Sherag. Each of these required his energy, and Ernst couldn't be in two places at once, so he couldn't take care of everything.

For example, Ernst entrusted the issues of factory construction and investment attraction to Enciodis and Latatos, the latter of whom had already registered their own company, Bronta Home Textiles, with the Sherag Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Incidentally, Ernst had originally intended to hand over the position of Minister of Industry and Commerce to Enciodis, but the old fox refused. His reason was—"The Prime Minister is Enciodis's, and that goal remains unwavering!"

Since Ensiodes was unwilling to accept the position, Ernst had no choice but to temporarily hand it over to Hinterlea, who, after all, came from Kazimierz and had seen the world, and so far she seemed to be doing a pretty good job.

Enciodes, while not accepting the appointment, did not oppose it. Instead, as a "representative of the business community," he frequently provided guidance to Hintelia through "suggestions, criticisms, and petitions."

The tone of voice might not be very gentle...

Ernst was not entirely sure how serious the behavior was, as it had caused Hinterlea to experience breast pain.

But considering her brother's stubborn and arrogant nature, and since she hadn't come to complain, she decided to leave it for now. Who knows, maybe he'd get too angry? There's a saying that anger can make your head split in two, right?

Compared to these issues that clearly concerned the national welfare and people's livelihood of Sherag, the writing of "The Legend of King Arthur" was naturally postponed. Fortunately, the stories were already in place, so there was no interruption to his train of thought. During the three-month preparation period, he wrote quite a bit, and it should be published soon.

Handing it over to the Duke of Caesar would be a way to ease the tension from what just happened. After the big stick was used to intimidate, shouldn't there be a sweet treat?

Even after all this, you're still urging me to update? I'm going to explode!

Ernst smiled wryly, "It should be soon. I never expected that His Excellency the Grand Tutor had read my humble work; it is truly an honor."

The Grand Tutor waved his hand slightly, indicating that Ernst did not need to be so modest:

"Prime Minister Ernst is quite accomplished at a young age. His writing is imaginative yet grounded in reality. Many of the stories and legends have prototypes that can be found in the history of the Great Yan Dynasty, especially the stories of Kuafu chasing the sun, Houyi shooting down the sun, severing the connection between heaven and earth, and Yu the Great controlling the floods. It is an honor for our Great Yan Dynasty to receive such high praise from foreign leaders."

The Grand Tutor paused, then suddenly asked:

"However, I have always had some minor doubts about the contents of the book."

Ernst perked up, knowing this marked the end of the pleasantries and the beginning of the main event: "Please ask me, and I will answer to the best of my knowledge."

"In the book, the ancient Chinese emperor Zhuanxu severed the communication between heaven and earth, a process known as 'severing the connection between heaven and earth.' The observer makes no comment on this myth; I wonder why?"

After each myth, Ernst, as the "observer and narrator," would provide a brief summary and evaluation of the "story he witnessed," a convention in his mythological works.

But this is the only part that Ernst did not add.

The reason is simple: the act of severing the connection between heaven and earth is essentially no different from what his brother Ensiodes wanted to do—to cut off the link between gods and humans, so that heaven, earth, and humans could each perform their respective functions, and the world would be in order.

However, from the perspective of the Terrans, this history naturally alludes to the war against the gods that the Great Yan Dynasty waged, also known as the Great Beast Hunt.

Ernst thought the Great Yan was very powerful, capable of defeating all the giant beasts in its territory in that era, achieving the legendary feat of "forbidding the gods to traverse the land of China." But as powerful as it was, Ernst did not choose this path.

When he came to power, he relied on the "power" of the great god Jeragand, so naturally he had to consider Jeragand's feelings. Jeragand was different from the evil gods who were fought against in the history of the Great Yan Dynasty; she had genuinely protected Kjerag for thousands of years, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her the mother of all Kjerag people. Ernst had no intention of expelling her, nor did he have any need to. The role he was to play was not that of Zhuanxu, who severed the connection between heaven and earth, but rather the "chain connecting gods and men"—Enkidu.

Therefore, when faced with the Grand Tutor's question, he only used four words:

"Different stances."

The Grand Tutor raised an eyebrow: "What stance?"

Ernst said, "The Great Flame drove out the gods, and Sherag coexisted with the gods."

"Since the Grand Tutor has read the *Eris*, he must also know that the Pharaoh in the *Egyptian* section proclaims himself the incarnation and heir of God, claiming to be omnipotent on earth. But he did indeed create the brilliant civilization of ancient Egypt. If the creator of the *Eris* were a Yan citizen, how would he evaluate the Pharaoh?"

Positive reviews? That reflects dissatisfaction with the Great Yan Dynasty's policy of expelling deities.

A bad review? That would be too biased, commonly known as "smuggling in personal opinions."

Whether or not an author has personal biases is not important. Every author has personal biases. After all, literary works are meant to be vehicles for expressing the author's personal thoughts and ideas. If you have absolutely no personal biases and are completely objective, are you a robot, an AI, or a high-dimensional observer?

The important thing is whether the personal agenda is good or bad, whether it is acceptable to people, and whether it conforms to popular values.

Promoting dedication and patriotism in one's work is a form of personal agenda, and that's acceptable. But if someone is mentally unstable and insists on writing about cuckoldry, disgusting everyone and demanding approval, then they're practically asking for trouble.

The Grand Tutor clearly understood this principle, and nodded with a smile, seemingly quite satisfied with the answer.

There were no fancy cover-ups or explanations; he presented the facts and reasoned clearly, avoiding misunderstandings caused by information biases and differing opinions. Ernst's temperament suited his taste.

This kid knows how to talk, and he understands the psychology of the Yan people very well; he's clearly put in the effort.

The Grand Tutor's gaze towards Ernst softened, and he cleared his throat, offering a friendly correction:

“What Prime Minister Ernst said makes sense, but I also want to correct a small mistake on his part.”

"The Great Yan Dynasty did not simply expel the giant beasts. In fact, the court had not yet reached a consensus on its attitude towards the giant beasts."

"My principle is to appoint people based on merit. Whether they are giant beasts or humans, if they can serve the country and be loyal to it, they can become citizens of my Great Yan. However, there are quite a few people who oppose me."

His eyes flickered, he leaned forward slightly, looked into Ernst's eyes, and slowly said:

"I came to Kjerag specifically for two reasons, besides being invited to attend the World's Fair hosted by Prime Minister Ernst, I also had some personal motives."

"Prime Minister Ernst, could you share some methods for controlling giant beasts?"

Chapter 278 Ernst: It's love!

How do you tame a giant beast?

Ah, good question!

Watch carefully, I'll only demonstrate once!

Focus your energy in your lower abdomen, generate power from your abdomen, concentrate your mind, and engage your emotions!

"mom!"

cough cough cough.

After a few slightly awkward coughs, Ernst solemnly explained to the bewildered Grand Tutor and Ning Ciqiu:

"Your Excellency, the word 'control' might be a bit inappropriate. For Jeragand, the goddess plays the role of a mother. What child would 'control' their mother?"

The Yan Kingdom is known as a great nation, a land of propriety, and places great importance on the ethical order of seniority and hierarchy. Without Ernst needing to elaborate, the Grand Tutor could understand his meaning from Ernst's reply.

Sherag did not "control" Jeragand at all.

This behemoth stayed in Sherag voluntarily, unlike some unfortunate creatures who couldn't answer and could only be "voluntarily" left. Even if the Grand Tutor took this question to Jeragand himself, He would give the same answer—I have no objection.

But this only made the Grand Tutor more puzzled.

If the reason why the Sami behemoths and their lords have remained in the Sami region for so long is because the threat posed by the demons of the northern tundra is unavoidable no matter where you are in Terra, then they simply choose to stand on the front lines. According to Si Suitai's analysis, this behavior is somewhat influenced by a sense of "territoriality." That is, both the Sami [Grandfather's Spirit] and [Anma] consider the Sami region their own territory, and categorize their actions against the demons as "protecting their territory from invasion." As for protecting the humans on the land, these are merely insignificant byproducts of this "territorial defense" logic, perhaps even unimportant to the behemoths themselves.

While this speculation may seem somewhat like judging others by oneself, the Grand Tutor felt it wasn't entirely without merit. After all, it was very difficult to explain why a giant beast would help humans, except for this one reason.

But now, this logic clearly presents a paradox—Jeragand of Sherag doesn't need to fight anything. Behemoths have disappeared near its habitat, and it doesn't have to face the threats of demons and sea monsters. Behemoths often don't care much about the dynastic changes and rule changes among mortals. So why would it stay in Sherag when it is not "bound" in any way?

"I cannot answer that question."

Ernst shook his head, expressing his thoughts frankly.

Ernst had gained some understanding of Da Yan's attitude towards the giant beast during their brief exchange.

Whether it's the Grand Tutor's "appointing people based on merit" that treats even giant beasts equally, or the opposition's advocacy of "those who are not of our race," both essentially place the Great Yan Dynasty in a position that is higher, more powerful, and more authoritative than the giant beasts.

Appointing people based on merit, and excluding those of different races, didn't necessarily create conflict in their eyes. Ernst could even boldly guess that this so-called "struggle" was just a political charade in the court. After all, in the Great Yan Dynasty... aside from anything else, Ernst had seen far too much factional infighting. Four people in one office could create more than ten different group chats. If things got really chaotic, the level of bickering would be no less than that of a college girls' dormitory.

Besides, he didn't believe that the Great Yan Dynasty hadn't done things like appointing people based on merit while simultaneously favoring those who weren't of their race.

Ernst respected the Great Yan Dynasty's attitude towards the lives of giant beasts. It was certainly inspiring that a nation could grow and rule without relying on the power of giant beasts. Their disdain for them was simply a reflection of the Great Yan's unique national character—unyielding and unconventional.

But given this, it's unlikely that Ernst will offer any effective advice.

As I said before—different perspectives.

Jeragund deserves much credit for Scherrag's success today. Ernst can't control others who would eat the rice and then curse the cook, but he certainly wouldn't do it himself.

To expect the Grand Tutor to accept the idea of ​​"regarding giant beasts as the first citizens of Great Yan" is nothing short of absurd. He dared to say it, but the Grand Tutor dared not say it either. If he really said it, where would that leave the current first citizen of Great Yan, His Majesty the True Dragon?

Guess how His Majesty the True Dragon would react if he woke up to find himself transformed from the supreme True Dragon into the Emperor.

Your family tree appears to have been mass-produced and printed.

Even something as simple as "treating the behemoths as equals to the Great Yan and developing an equal and mutually beneficial relationship" seems unlikely to Ernst.

To shake someone's worldview, shaped over decades, with just a few words is utter nonsense, especially for someone as powerful and shrewd as the Grand Tutor. Besides, changing the behemoth policy involves far too many "untouchable topics"!

To put it in the least threatening way, if the current True Dragon dared to do this, and someone asked, "Are you denying the policies of past True Dragon Emperors towards giant beasts, denying the achievements of the Great Yan in expelling giant beasts and establishing an era of 'human will conquering nature' over thousands of years?"

How should we answer the question about the true dragon of our time?

This is a truly deadly question. Whoever touches it dies!

And this is without even considering the vested interests of families who benefited from the national policy of expelling the behemoths; it's purely a moral slap on the wrist. If the true dragon were to actually do this, the political storm he would face would be ten thousand times more severe than it is now.

Therefore, rather than offering solutions that were clearly impossible, Ernst wisely chose not to answer.

Anyway, I can't give you the "method of controlling the behemoth" you need. It's better for you to think I'm stupid than for you to think I'm a dangerous element who interferes in Yan's internal affairs and instigates conflicts.

The Grand Tutor clearly noticed the thoughtful and worried expression on Ernst's face, and naturally knew that Ernst had concerns in his heart.

However, he didn't want to open up Ernst's concerns, since he could more or less guess what Ernst was thinking.

That's the kind of trouble that can turn a "dignified three public officials" into a "mere three public officials".

It seems we won't get any answers today. Let's leave it at that, rest for the night, and discuss it again tomorrow.

Although somewhat disappointed, his trip tonight wasn't entirely fruitless. At least, he had witnessed a shining new star.

He was steadfast in his stance and knew when to advance and retreat. Although he was a fair-skinned, clean-shaven young man, he possessed a rare maturity and composure. Most importantly, he had a good understanding of Yan Country. Throughout the conversation, which took place entirely in Yan language, there was no sense of incongruity. It felt as if he were having a heart-to-heart talk with one of the top ten outstanding young men of Great Yan.

I just don't know who his Mandarin teacher was, or why he was taught Mandarin with a strong Sichuan accent, which makes some of his tones and words, though they can convey the meaning, sound a bit ridiculous when he says them.

Heroes have always emerged from among the young; one can't help but admire and respect these younger generations.

The Grand Tutor smiled and stood up, preparing to take his leave: "Well, it's getting late..."

He had barely finished speaking when Ning Ciqiu chimed in:

"Prime Minister Ernst, would we have the honor of having a conversation with Jeragand?"

The Grand Tutor's brows furrowed instantly, and he glanced with some surprise at the Vice Minister of Rites who had accompanied him on the trip. It wasn't just the Grand Tutor who frowned; Ernst, who was already preparing to see the guests off, also did so.

Communicating with Jeragand?

Since they couldn't get any information from me about how to deal with the behemoth, they decided to start with the behemoth itself.

But isn't this a bit too hasty?

Ernst turned his questioning gaze to the Grand Tutor. The Grand Tutor also sighed softly.

Too hasty.

When communicating with someone of Ernst's level who understands the Great Yan, the worst thing you can do is be hasty and reveal your intentions. The Grand Tutor had previously used the "Ers" technique, the method of severing the connection between heaven and earth, and the method of controlling giant beasts to repeatedly distract Ernst, precisely to prevent Ernst from immediately realizing his purpose.

Unexpectedly, they ended up being betrayed by their own people.

He went a little too far in explaining things to Ning Ciqiu on the train. He essentially led this newly appointed, first-time visiting young woman, a bronze-level novice, into a masterclass in a high-level game.

Making contact with Yeragand was indeed their most important objective for this trip, aiming to obtain from Yeragand a way to deal with the threat of the behemoths.

Just like what the Great Yan did a thousand years ago, they obtained the method to deal with other giant beasts from Sui, and after driving away the remaining giant beasts, they finally killed the seriously injured Sui as well.

However, this time the Great Yan had no intention of eliminating Yeragand. Sherag was so far away from the Great Yan that they had no need to do so.

But that doesn't entirely mean that Jeragand and Shelag are without risk, does it?