The Second World in Ancient Times

I sat across from His Majesty in the Imperial Study. Before us were memorials from various regions regarding the state of the nation. Reconstruction had begun, but progress was slow, and many problems needed urgent resolution. I took a deep breath and decided to offer my advice to His Majesty.

"Your Majesty, I have been thinking about this for a long time recently and feel that if our dynasty wants to develop and progress rapidly, we need to implement a series of new policies." I looked at His Majesty with a firm gaze.

His Majesty leaned forward slightly, listening intently: "My beloved concubine, please feel free to speak."

I said, "Your Majesty, regarding the economy, our dynasty currently relies mostly on traditional farming and simple commercial trade. We should encourage diversified operations. For example, in addition to cultivating food crops, we can vigorously develop the cultivation of cash crops such as cotton, tea, and mulberry trees. Just like modern agricultural industrialization, we can form an industrial chain of planting, processing, and sales. Cotton can be grown for weaving cloth, tea can be grown for sale, and mulberry trees can be grown for raising silkworms and producing silk. This will not only increase farmers' income, but also drive the development of related industries such as textiles, tea making, and silk weaving."

Upon hearing this, the Minister of Revenue said with some doubt, "Your Majesty, this is good, but the farmers are used to traditional farming and don't know how to integrate the cultivation of these new crops with subsequent industries."

I patiently explained, "Sir, this requires guidance from the court. Agricultural technicians can be dispatched to various locations to guide farmers in growing cash crops, much like modern agricultural technology is being brought to the countryside. Farmers willing to try can be given subsidies for seeds, farm tools, and other supplies. Regarding industrial integration, the court can support some handicraft workshops, such as textile workshops and tea-making workshops, allowing farmers to sign purchase agreements with the workshops to guarantee farmers' income and market their products. This is similar to modern contract farming and township enterprise support policies."

Discussing educational reform, I said to Your Majesty, "Your Majesty, education is the cornerstone of national development. Currently, our education primarily focuses on traditional classics like the Four Books and the Five Classics. While valuable, these texts lack practical knowledge and skills. I believe that we should incorporate natural sciences into our curriculum, such as astronomy, geography, arithmetic, and physics, much like modern basic education curriculums. This would allow students to not only compose poetry and couplets, but also gain a basic understanding of scientific principles, enabling them to contribute to national projects, astronomical observations, and business calculations."

The minister in charge of education asked, "Your Majesty, our dynasty has no systematic textbooks on natural sciences, and our teachers may not be good at teaching them. What should we do?"

I replied, "Your Excellency, the textbooks can be compiled by organizing scholars to refer to the scientific records in ancient books and combine them with some modern scientific knowledge that I know. For example, they can draw inspiration from ancient books such as "Dream Pool Essays" and incorporate modern knowledge such as simple mathematical formulas and explanations of astronomical phenomena. As for the training of teachers, we can select some intelligent and studious young people and send them to scholars with relevant knowledge reserves to study. After graduation, they will return to teach in various places. This is similar to the modern teacher training system, cultivating professional teaching staff."

Regarding improving the welfare system for the people, I said, "Your Majesty, people's livelihood is closely related to national stability. Although our dynasty currently provides some assistance to the elderly and orphans, it is still not perfect. We can establish a social security system similar to the modern one. We can set up nursing homes so that the helpless elderly can enjoy their later years, providing food, accommodation, medical care and other services. We can also establish orphanages to provide orphans with education and life skills training so that they can become self-reliant when they grow up. At the same time, we can provide poor families with material assistance or low-interest loans according to their poverty level to help them develop production and escape poverty."

A minister said worriedly: "Your Majesty, this will require a huge amount of financial and material resources, and the court finances may not be able to support it."

I said, "Your Excellency, initially, we can raise funds by streamlining palace expenses and adjusting the tax structure. For example, we can reduce unnecessary extravagant consumption at court and impose reasonable property taxes on wealthy households. Once these welfare institutions are up and running, we can encourage private charitable donations. For example, wealthy households can receive honorary recognition from the court for their donations. This would be like a modern charitable incentive mechanism, mobilizing social forces to participate in the protection of people's livelihoods."

After hearing this, His Majesty pondered for a moment and said, "Your proposal is quite novel and bold, but I believe it is feasible. I will discuss it with you, my dear ministers, and work out a detailed plan for implementing this new policy as soon as possible."

I bowed. "Your Majesty is wise. I believe that if these new policies can be implemented, our dynasty will be completely transformed and our national strength will be greatly enhanced."

In the harem, I summoned the concubines and told them about the new policy.

"Sisters, the country is implementing new policies. Although we cannot directly participate in government affairs, we can also support the new policies in the harem. For example, we can donate some of our own property to support the construction of nursing homes and orphanages." I said.

One of the concubines said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to donate some of my jewelry to help those poor old people and children."

The other concubines also responded: "Your Majesty, we are also willing to contribute."

I added, "In addition, we can also carry out some cultural popularization activities in the harem, such as teaching the palace maids and eunuchs some simple natural science knowledge so that they can also broaden their horizons. This is like modern cultural popularization education, starting from the surrounding environment and creating a learning atmosphere."

The concubines nodded in agreement and began to actively prepare.

In the court, His Majesty and his ministers had a heated discussion on the new policy.

His Majesty said, "I have listened to the Queen's new policy proposals, and I believe they will be of great benefit to the development of our dynasty. My dear ministers, please feel free to speak freely about your views on these new policies and how to implement them."

A general stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I am very impressed by the development of cash crop cultivation and industry. If the textile and silk industries flourish, they can provide our army with more and better clothing, tents, and other supplies, which will help improve our military's combat effectiveness."

The Minister of Revenue said, "Your Majesty, regarding the financial raising, I will carefully calculate and adjust the tax revenue and palace expenses, but this will take time and the cooperation of all parties."

The Minister of Education also said: "Your Majesty, I will organize scholars to compile textbooks and select and train teachers, but I hope Your Majesty can give sufficient support and time."

His Majesty nodded and said, "My dear ministers, the implementation of this new policy concerns the fate of our dynasty. I will fully support it. All departments must work together and not shirk or slack off."

The ministers shouted in unison: "Your Majesty is wise and wise. We will do our utmost to help you!"

As preparations for the new policy progressed, I kept busy in the harem. I told Jinshu, "Jinshu, collect some folk craft techniques, such as weaving and embroidery. We can compile them into a book and send it to workshops across the country, allowing artisans to learn from each other and improve their skills. This will help develop the cash crop processing industry."

Jinshu took the order and left. Not long after, she returned and said, "Your Majesty, I have collected quite a few, some of which are quite unique."

I said, "Excellent. Arrange for someone to quickly prepare it and send it to the workshop. You can have the craftsmen there demonstrate and teach it, so more people can master these skills."

As the new policies are about to be implemented, I am filled with anticipation and confidence. I know that these new policies draw on successful modern experiences. If successfully implemented in this ancient nation, they will surely transform the nation's destiny and lead it to prosperity and strength. And in this historical process, I will, with my wisdom and hard work, create a bright future for our country and its people.

While focusing on collecting and organizing handicraft production methods, I thought again about the importance of business innovation in implementing the New Deal. I told the Minister of Commerce, "Your Excellency, in implementing the New Deal in the commercial sector, in addition to developing traditional industries, we can also encourage business innovation. For example, we could establish a model similar to modern business cooperatives, allowing small vendors to unite, jointly purchase goods, and share sales channels, thereby reducing costs and improving competitiveness. We could also hold business innovation competitions to reward those who come up with innovative business ideas and stimulate commercial vitality."

The Minister of Commerce said, "Your Majesty, this business cooperative model is indeed novel, but most small vendors are profit-driven. How can we get them to cooperate?"

I said, "Your Excellency, the imperial court could take the lead in formulating cooperation rules and profit distribution mechanisms. For example, profits could be distributed based on each vendor's investment and effort, and tax incentives and other policy support could be given to vendors who abide by the rules and actively cooperate. As for business creativity competitions, local chambers of commerce could organize preliminary rounds, and the imperial court could organize finals. The winners would not only receive prize money, but also receive special imperial franchises for business operations. This would be like modern business innovation incentive policies, promoting the diversified development of commerce."

In the harem, I organized the concubines to learn some business knowledge. I told them, "Sisters, learning business knowledge will be useful in future matters such as foreign exchanges and palace procurement. For example, understanding the value of goods and market conditions will help us avoid being defrauded by merchants, save money for the palace, and, when appropriate, contribute to the development of national commerce."

The concubines all expressed their curiosity and interest: "Your Majesty, this business knowledge is very complicated, but we will study hard."

During the preparations for the implementation of the new policy, I have fully utilized modern thinking, knowledge and experience, and continuously proposed new concepts and methods in various fields, from economy, education, people's livelihood to business, and worked together with Your Majesty, ministers and everyone in the harem, hoping to create a new development pattern for the country, so that this ancient country can be guided by modern thinking and radiate unprecedented vitality and vigor, striding towards the goal of prosperity. I will also continue to write my own legendary story on this stage of history and contribute my own strength to the rise of the country.

While encouraging business innovation, I also considered the role of transportation in driving national development. I addressed the Minister of Works, "Your Excellency, convenient transportation directly impacts economic development and the delivery of government policies. We should vigorously build roads and bridges to improve transportation. We can draw on modern road planning concepts and design road networks based on factors such as population density and economic development needs. For example, we could build wide arterial roads in prosperous commercial areas, connecting surrounding towns and villages to facilitate the movement of goods and people."

The Minister of Works said, "Your Majesty, building roads and bridges requires a great deal of manpower, material resources, and time, and our craftsmen's skills are limited."

I said, "My lord, in terms of manpower, we can recruit more civilians and provide them with reasonable compensation. In terms of material resources, the court should increase investment and encourage local wealthy families to donate. In terms of technology, we can organize craftsmen to research and improve traditional skills, and we can also refer to the engineering technology records in ancient books. For example, the "Yingzaofashi" contains many construction techniques that can be used as reference. Combined with my understanding of the structural principles of modern bridge construction, we can improve the quality and efficiency of the project."

In the harem, I also organized the concubines to make gifts for the road construction workers, such as insoles and towels. I told them, "Sisters, the craftsmen have worked so hard, and making these gifts expresses our gratitude and care for them, and also inspires them to better contribute to national development. This is like the embodiment of modern humanistic care in engineering construction, boosting the enthusiasm of workers."

The concubines all started making them: "Your Majesty, we will do it with all our heart and let the craftsmen feel the warmth of the harem."