Douluo Continent: A Thousand Miles of Cultivation

"Who's the singer?"

Chapter 104 Matters of Heavenly Struggle

"What singer? Two-dimensional foil?"

"What 'Second Alley'? 'Singer' is your nickname!"

"My nickname is Old Wang!?"

"what?"

After joking around for a while, Qian Shui finally understood the origin of his new nickname.

"Didn't you defeat those two disciples of the Clear Sky Sect while singing during the Elite Tournament? That's when the news got out. Since we don't know what your martial soul is, we can't give you a nickname in a common way. That's probably why, along with the fact that your deeds at the Moon Pavilion have spread, the public calls you 'The Singer'."

Qian Shui combed Qian Renxue's hair, dried it, and listened to her explain the origin of the matter.

"You're the one who gave this title, aren't you?"

"Humph."

Qian Renxue did not answer directly, but her cold snort answered the question.

What is "Second Alley Thin"?

"It's nothing. You can think of it as a weapon in my imagination that can turn everything I see into a painting."

"Oh~"

"All right."

Qian Shui casually tied Qian Renxue's hair up, and Qian Shui clapped her hands in response.

"What's going on? Why is your hair falling out?"

Looking at the small tuft of golden hair in her hand, Qian Shui was a little puzzled. After all, Qian Renxue's hair was of very good quality, and with the support of high-level soul power, there was no such thing as hair falling out.

"Who do you think it's because of?"

Qian Renxue turned around and looked at Qian Shui with annoyance.

"Because of me? All I did was comb my hair."

Qian Shui shrugged, indicating that he had definitely combed his hair very carefully and had even used soul power to protect it, so it had nothing to do with him.

She rolled her eyes at Qian Shui with annoyance, grabbed the wrist guard she had taken off, ignored Qian Shui, and went straight to her desk, taking out a stack of documents half her height and starting to review them.

"Uh... what is all this? You're processing official documents in the middle of the night?"

It was already late at night when Qian Shui was waiting for Qian Renxue. He probably just glanced at her and left without disturbing her rest.

"These are all documents and materials from the initial phase of your 'major infrastructure plan'."

"What the hell?"

In Qian Shui's plan, Qian Renxue could simply be a hands-off manager and hand everything over to contractors like Ning Fengzhi.

The client, those who know, know.

Unable to resist flipping through the documents, Qian Shui grew increasingly numb as she read.

What kind of bullshit political system is this! It's all in name only! There's no basic administrative structure at all!

Tax collection is basically all-inclusive; there's no basic bureaucratic system! Isn't this just asking for trouble?!

Qian Shui's most direct impression after seeing this was that Qian Renxue personally made all sorts of messy decisions, even down to the work arrangements for grassroots staff. It's not like this is a village or town-level administrative unit. It's no wonder that such a large empire would be exhausted if it were run like this.

Qian Shui slammed her hand on the table, her face full of anger.

"Stop it!"

I was originally thinking of coming up with a suggestion to strengthen the power of the various parties, since we will be taking over the Heaven Dou Empire in the future, so it is necessary to advance the large-scale infrastructure construction plan.

Qian Renxue ignored her and continued writing furiously.

"Stop doing it! Did you hear me!"

He walked up to Qian Renxue and grabbed her hand as she wrote.

"Stop fooling around, Xiaoshui, if you don't hurry up, we won't finish tonight..."

Qian Renxue raised her head, her heavy dark circles and bloodshot eyes having lost their original liveliness.

Taking a deep breath, Qian Shui said seriously, "It's my fault!"

"you are wrong?"

Qian Shui didn't offer much explanation, forcefully pulling Qian Renxue up and pressing her onto the bed.

"You should get some rest." With that, she walked to the table.

"The empire's administrative structure is flawed and needs a comprehensive reform. You'll be exhausted before you even ascend the throne!"

"Starting tomorrow, you'll claim you're sick, and the word will spread that you're exhausted."

Let's outsource all this work to either Xueye or Ning Fengzhi, and let their people take over first.

If those two come to see you in a few days, you should offer your advice: a radical overhaul could lead to disaster.

Prioritize this project, ostensibly to fill gaps and deficiencies, but could also be used to train a group of low-level Soul Masters. Those with education could become administrative officials, as long as they are capable. Military force must be provided to match, otherwise, it will be difficult to control those below…”

Qian Shui's voice grew increasingly faint; she was exhausted, but at this moment she felt so at ease. 'He can do anything! He saw through such a thorny problem instantly; he's truly amazing!'

Clutching the blanket tightly to her heart, Qian Renxue felt incredibly relaxed at that moment, and unconsciously drifted off to sleep, thinking, "It's good to get sick sometimes."

Qian Shui wrote for a long time, and he put his ideas on the administrative organizational structure that he felt was suitable for this era into writing.

"Having only the client, what about the supervisor and consulting firm? The CEO has to handle all the subcontractors personally, leaving the accountant and business development staff basically as figureheads. No wonder they're exhausted!"

Qian Shui's task for Qian Renxue was not just about assigning tasks; it involved project planning and design, fund allocation, and final acceptance upon completion.

These standards are based on modern society on Earth, and each one corresponds to a different department to follow up. The big boss of the client only needs to spend money, assign tasks, and then wait for the final result.

If there are professional managers, the boss doesn't even need to worry about it. To put it bluntly, if there are officials like consuls or prime ministers, the emperor doesn't need to be so hands-on.

'This is a really big problem. We can't even keep up with all the messages coming up from below. How are we supposed to get anything done?'

This is equivalent to one person holding the positions of prime minister and all the functions of the three provinces and six ministries, while also having to handle matters concerning the Spirit Hall. No wonder he's in such a terrible state, even losing his hair. He probably hasn't had much rest in all this time. If this continues, he'll go bald sooner or later!

Qian Shui felt a pang of sympathy for him at this moment. This was the fundamental reason why he didn't want power: it was too exhausting!

If he were in charge, he would inevitably have to make reforms. The administrative organization under the red flag was ingrained in our DNA when we were in school. How could we possibly adapt to such an extremely primitive administrative structure?

"The organizational structure of Douluo Continent is basically a European aristocratic feudal system. Forget about the emperor's power extending to the countryside; even reaching the provinces is considered a feat for an emperor. And then there's the Barak Kingdom, a country within a country—it's utterly ridiculous!"

……

When Qian Renxue woke up, it was already noon the next day, and she habitually put on her disguise.

She finished reading Qian Shui's letter and told her to get some rest.

The comments included a suggestion for gradual reform of the administrative structure, and even considered the consequences of some radical measures.

Qian Shui had long since left, but what he left behind was a storm, a storm that swept across the entire Tian Dou Empire.

Qian Renxue's expression was solemn as she made this assessment in her heart.

She opened the window and gazed into the distance, murmuring softly, "You left without saying a word. Are you going to do something dangerous again?"

Meanwhile, the commotion outside the mansion reached her ears.

"If I said you can't come in, then you can't come in!"

"Your Highness, Second Prince, Xue-ge, please have mercy! My father has something important that he needs Your Highness's help..."

"Stop talking nonsense! Big Brother was made sick by all of you! Gordon! Don't you dare bring up Marshal Gordon! Don't think I don't know what kind of ideology you're spouting!"

Today, no one but my father will see my elder brother!

The Second Prince, Xue Luochuan, learned early in the morning that his elder brother was ill and not receiving guests, and he was furious.

Since being taught a lesson by Xue Qinghe, he has become much more well-behaved, and his two younger brothers have also moved into the Crown Prince's residence.

Xue Qinghe is usually very busy, but he is never careless towards his brothers. Sometimes he also helps Xue Qinghe with his own tasks. Although he doesn't handle many things well, the Crown Prince never blames him. Instead, he patiently teaches them.

As these incidents continued, he grew to admire his older brother, who possessed an exceptionally charismatic personality, more and more.

He knew something about the country's recent major projects. Since then, the light in Xue Qinghe's room had almost never been turned off. As the younger brother, he was always a little embarrassed to admit it. Although he had tried to persuade him, it was to no avail.

Seeing his handsome elder brother grow weaker day by day, he was very anxious, knowing that today he would be bedridden.

And now, Marshal Goron's foolish son was bothering his elder brother again, over some trivial matter concerning taxation. How could he not be furious?

"Xiao Chuan, what's wrong?"

"Big brother, why are you out here?"

Seeing Xue Qinghe being carried out in a chair, his face deathly pale, Xue Luochuan was so anxious he almost jumped up. He turned around and glared fiercely at Gordon.

"Your Highness, it's so good to finally see you!"

"Does Young Master Ge have something important to discuss?"

"It's about the tax district. We haven't received a reply from you, so my father asked me to inquire..."

"So it was Marshal Golong who invited us. Qinghe will certainly pay a visit in person."

"No need, no need. Your Highness only needs to issue a warrant and then go down to complete the rest."

Looking at Gordon's weak and listless appearance, even a fool could tell there was something fishy going on. However, from Xue Qinghe's perspective, it was indeed difficult to refuse. Without saying much, he gave the young master a tax zone adjustment order.

"Big brother, how could you still..."

"It's alright. Marshal Goron's relationship with us cannot be taken lightly, do you understand?"

"All right…"

……

"Young Master, have you obtained the warrant?"

"Got it! We were really unlucky last time. The Spirit Hall took down our stronghold in Heaven Dou City. What a pity."

"The schedule is already tight during the Elite Tournament, so it's really difficult to manage."

"It's a pity that so many people and animals can't be used properly. Fortunately, we got a new tax zone, which is relatively remote, so we don't have to worry about it as much anymore."