Section 102: Harvest and Strategy

Zhou Yingxiong also smiled. No matter what one has been through, reaping the rewards is always a joyful thing.

"The existing skill books, the ones we had before, all raised their level to Lv4 upon learning: Slash, Thrust, Charge, Parry... and some new, limited-edition rare skills have been added. Bulwark, Heavy Strike, Aim, Intermediate Forging, Intermediate Carpentry, Intermediate Sewing, Intermediate Cooking... There are at most five of each, and some only have one."

"What about the prices?"

"They're about ten times the price of those primary skills," Zhou Yingxiong said, setting down the list with eyes shining. "We checked the auction house before; a single book for Intermediate Forging was selling for 50,000 Universal Points. Here, the unit price for all five is only 3,000."

Smiles gradually bloomed on both their faces. "Hahaha, hahahahaha!"

Wang Luo was all smiles, laughing uncontrollably. "If I told you I didn't have high hopes for this at the beginning, would you believe me?"

"There's more." Once Wang Luo’s excitement subsided, Zhou Yingxiong pulled out another sheet and handed it over.

"These are limited-sale items with very high prices. I didn't notice them when we were taking inventory, but Liu An sent this list over this morning, saying it required your personal attention."

"The prompt says they cannot be purchased without leader authorization, meaning only you can buy them."

"Decree," Wang Luo read from the list. "Price: 10,000 Universal Points. Allows a mission to be considered instantly completed, ignoring all other conditions, and immediately allows the acceptance of follow-up missions."

"There are time and mission difficulty restrictions," Zhou Yingxiong reminded him.

"Captain’s Seal, price: 100,000 Universal Points. Allows a contractor without command abilities to command up to 1,000 troops within a scenario. For a contractor who already possesses command abilities, it increases the Command attribute by 3 points. If the bearer is a team leader, team experience increases by 300 points."

"This thing doesn't seem very useful," Zhou Yingxiong commented. "Neither Wantian nor I have Command points, but with your appointment, we can command soldiers just the same. And the attribute bonus is too low."

Wang Luo made no comment, continuing to check the list.

There were items like the County Magistrate’s Seal, which increases production speed for professional skills and the chance of attribute improvement, while also expanding team capacity; the Dispatch Order, which can mobilize indigenous soldiers for attacks and secure the majority of the spoils; the Iron Hammer, which increases attack power and adds a stun effect; the Great Axe, which increases attack power and adds sharpness and critical hit effects; the Iron Chain, which causes lacerating wounds; the Captain’s Armor, which provides additional stamina and defense while granting immunity to critical hits; and the County Magistrate’s Robe, which boosts Spirit, Intelligence, and Stamina. Most of these could be purchased for around 100,000 Universal Points.

And that was at a discounted price. One can only imagine how insane the original prices for this gear must have been. However, after the excitement faded, there wasn't much that was truly necessary.

Intermediate Forging was valuable, and the Decree was decent, but as for the rest... perhaps one Captain’s Seal and one County Magistrate’s Seal would be enough.

"How exactly did we win?" Seeing Wang Luo’s expression settle into calmness, Zhou Yingxiong couldn't help but ask.

Wang Luo glanced at him. "Do you remember how we won the last round?"

"You mean... by spreading propaganda? But you didn't do that this time."

"In the last scenario, what I did was: attack the heart." Wang Luo extended his right index finger, gesturing in the air, then traced a circle. "As for propaganda, it was merely a means to attack the heart."

"First, one must establish a goal. What am I doing? What should I do? In Grizzly Town, I wanted to save people, to save those Americans whose crimes did not warrant death... So, upon returning to ancient China, could I save these 40 million people?"

"After that, I set my goal: regardless of whether it was possible, I would try my best to do it."

"As for the strategy, it remains the same as last time. But the era is different: this is ancient times; there is no developed media to exploit. The location is different: this is China. The people are different: the target audience is farmers, not bandits—those Americans, from top to bottom, from gangsters to civilians, were bandits to the bone."

"If they encountered an opportunity to plunder, those Americans would grow excited and participate actively; but in China, our compatriots and ancestors worked hard to cultivate the land, hoping for a better life—they have earned that right."

"Therefore, in the United States, I could use various methods without restraint. But in this scenario, I chose more positive, vibrant, and constructive means. Of course, the difficulty was also much higher."

"The foundation of the action has not changed. It still relies on those two points: human desire is infinite, but energy is limited; most people, most of the time, are not in a state of reflection."

"In the Han Dynasty, the energy of the landlords was limited, but their desire—mainly manifested in the pursuit of land—was infinite. They did not know how to restrain themselves. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the core contradiction was that the expansion and demands of the landlord-gentry class had pushed the farmers to a point where they could barely survive."

"As a collective, the landlords do not think, and as a collective, the farmers do not think either. They rely on instinct to view each other with hostility, yet neither side can find a solution. In such a situation, direct confrontation might occur—peasant uprisings, like the Green Woods and Red Eyebrows, the Wagang Rebellion, Zhu Wen, Li Zicheng. But this time, history took a detour; there was a backlash from a religious system against the blood-kinship system—yes, the nature of the Yellow Turban Rebellion was closer to a clash between two different types of civilizations."

"Then, the landlord-gentry, who were already in a period of decline, relied on the power of their civilizational core—knowledge—to defeat the Yellow Turbans and win. Yes, the side with more people does not necessarily win. In this era, the side with knowledge won."

"However, their own internal contradictions had accumulated to an unsustainable point. Eventually, the contradictions erupted, and tens of millions of people were slaughtered—the Nine-Rank System was established, the powerful noble families were solidified, and the landlords fully secured their own interests."

"Then foreign tribes invaded, the landlords suffered defeat, and the entire civilization was nearly destroyed, left to linger in dark corners relying on the remnants of their wisdom."

"'When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact.' These two sentences describe the situation at the end of the Han Dynasty most aptly. After defeating the primitive religious system that attempted to rise from the ashes, the fundamental contradictions of the Han Dynasty remained unsolved."

"And since I have come to this era, I intend to do my best to change this situation."

"Of course, this way of classification is too simple. But at the stage of determining the direction, it is correct."

"Farmers do not think. They rely on instinct to oppose the landlords who exploit them, yearning for catharsis and direct violence. In concrete action, this manifests as being easy to manipulate and guide. Very well, then let us guide them well. Propose the most extreme strategy that can solve the problem—strike directly at the right of inheritance."

"If this can be publicized, all the landlord-gentry will oppose it madly, because it will severely damage their interests. Very good! The more they oppose it, the more the farmers who hate them will support it."

"In such a situation, the farmers will unite with unprecedented solidarity through their instincts. Gather them together, clarify the direction of the uprising, construct a system of interest distribution, and give everyone among them a chance to strive."