My wife is an immortal black snake.

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“…I understand. Your Majesty…never mind.” While Koschei was taken aback, she quickly recovered and decided to handle this rather thorny issue. “If Her Majesty comes, treat her with the highest honors. Sigh…hopefully she won't do anything too outrageous…”

"Honey, are you sure?"

"...I'm not sure."

The emperor's arrival extinguished the couple's joy. One was wondering if the emperor was really going to abduct him, while the other was contemplating whether they could seize this opportunity to gain some advantage for their family.

Their loyal head maid, after helplessly watching Lord Koschitch's tail still twitching restlessly, indicated that she would leave first. Please call her if anything is needed.

...... ......

And so, with the news of His Majesty the Emperor's secret trip being leaked, time passed without incident and the day arrived at May 25th.

On this day, nobles from Yan, Victoria, and Ursus gathered at the palace of the Duke of Kosiché. They discussed the economic crisis, but for some reason, everyone, including the guests from Yan, was subtly targeting the pretentious Victorian nobleman.

Perhaps it's because the Victorians are similar to the English from Yang Hao's hometown; after all, nobody likes a troublemaker, unless it's a golden one. And then again, the Victorian nobles were the ones who most wanted a detailed plan for the "work relief" program, and they were also the ones who most despised the policy – ​​"You're hypocritical, why don't you just die?"

Yang Hao was well aware of the other guests' dislike of the British...Victorians. But that wasn't his main concern; his main concern was:

[Event: His Majesty the Emperor]

...

His Majesty's entourage was still a day's journey from the Duchy of Kosiché.

...】

They didn't even give him a chance to reply; they just shoved this big news in my face first thing in the morning?! Yang Hao turned pale and quickly went to report the situation to Kosichev. Kosichev, looking grim, gave him a series of small coping strategies.

1. During this period, quickly feign illness in front of other nobles so they will stay home and not go out. Even if the emperor asks, the other nobles will know you don't look well and won't say anything strange.

2. During this period, try to stay home as much as possible. If you need to gather information or collect anything, try to have Monica do it for you.

3. Koschei will contact the Ursus Emperor in his place. If that doesn't work... then there's not much Koschei can do.

...

Now that things have come to this, what can Yang Hao do? He could only laugh and cry as he expressed at the gathering that he was feeling unwell and had some health problems, then he stayed in his palace and sent Monica out to bring back the political affairs that needed to be dealt with.

13:20 p.m.

Monica brought back a lot of work for Yang Hao. After simply labeling some completed "work-for-relief" buildings and casually planning some "building wonders" projects, Yang Hao turned his attention to two other more important matters.

The first thing is that the refugees from the Duchy of Nikolai have found a place of rest around the city under the protection of the Duchy of Kosice. Their numbers are 7324—originally there were about 12,000, but nearly 5000 died on the way due to attacks by infected creatures, hunger, and disease.

If it weren't for the army of the Duchy of Kosice meeting them at the border and bringing them food and medicine, it's estimated that fewer than 3000 refugees would have survived to reach the Duchy of Kosice safely.

...

However, it's a fact that these 7000-plus people are already living near the Duchy of Kosiché. Now, Yang Hao's concern is how to arrange jobs for them.

These are more than 7000 refugees, and the vast majority of them are women and children—they have almost no ability to work. If they could survive on the road with the protection of their men and brothers, what about now?

Many of the women's husbands or brothers had died. Some had starved to death because they had to endure the lack of food, while others had died protecting them. Now, how to accommodate these refugees who were unable to work had become a major concern for Yang Hao.

First, it's certain that there are currently no suitable jobs for them in the territory. The positions offered by the "Work Relief" program are almost all labor positions that require a high level of physical strength and power, which they definitely cannot fill.

So what can I do for them based on my experience from the past?

Yang Hao thought about it for a long time, and the last thing he thought of was the new policy on student loans.

...This is probably for future considerations. After all, there are quite a few students from poor families, and this policy will have to be implemented even after the Duchy of Kosiché implements compulsory education.

"After all, not everyone has the financial means to support them in receiving a higher education. And then again, student loans are necessary—if someone who could have become a scientist can only become an ordinary technician because they are short of money, it would be a considerable loss to our territory."

The core of this policy is to allow capable people without money to receive higher education through loans, enabling them to become more skilled workers or even scientists. Moreover, because of the loans, Yang Hao isn't worried about their future—they're already tied to the Duchy of Kosice in the early stages by money and debt, and later further bound by achievements, salaries, and families. What could be happier than this?

Of course! That is, you can also collect interest on the loans you make.

"Hmm...that's fine then. Monica—make a note of this for me."

"Yes."

Yang Hao had Monica come to his side and then asked her to write down his policies and ideas. He then prepared to have her hand over the policy to Mr. Joseph in the administrative department so that he could implement it.

Incidentally, he also inquired about Paul from Monica. In response to Yang Hao's question, Monica simply stated that most of the Serpent Scales within the Duchy had been assigned important tasks, and Paul was no exception.

“We need to ensure there are no assassins targeting His Majesty the Emperor within the territory, and we also need the Kurantas to gather information on the nobles recently, and even have Serpentscale ensure the number of the Nikolai ducal nobles who have infiltrated the territory at this stage—in short, his work is very heavy, and he probably won’t have time to be by our side to provide support in the near future.”

"Oh dear... but in that case, Monica, you'd better be careful about your personal safety."

"Hehe, I'll be careful."

Monica smiled and nodded, and after confirming several times that she had memorized Yang Hao's policy, she left first.

Chapter 172

[Resolution: Student Loans and Financial Aid]

The Duchy of Cosice has decided to implement a new policy that will bring countless benefits to future generations—but the problem now is that the women and children among the refugees desperately need relief funds. Perhaps some lighter jobs could be arranged?

After that, we can consider student loans—many talented students from underprivileged backgrounds are capable of becoming rigorous scientists with a higher education, and even if they fail, the loans they incur will still need to be repaid. However, given that basic compulsory education is not yet implemented, it would be better to prioritize employment and aid for refugees.

'Textile factory.'

'Sanitation worker?'

'The kitchen auntie?'

Yang Hao's policy, which he had Monica send over, was primarily aimed at women and children among the refugees. Textile factories were considered relatively suitable jobs for women—but there were very few textile factories still operating normally in the Duchy of Koschche, and even if there were, they probably couldn't accommodate so many people for the time being.

However, there was a severe shortage of sanitation workers and cooks at various construction sites... so these were the two things he had Monica write down.

Hopefully, the women and children among the refugees can get through this difficult time with the help of jobs and aid money—thinking this through, Yang Hao muttered, "I'm going to the House of Lamentations," as he stretched on the bed, wanting to check on the ponies' work before the emperor arrived...

but.

“There’s a second thing.” Yang Hao lay on the bed, stretched again, and closed his eyes to check the second thing Monica had brought up using [Puppet Stage]. “Good heavens… Duchess Nikolai is strongly dissatisfied with our army accepting refugees? I haven’t even settled the score with you for the assassination yet! But I can’t act now. I’ll wait until that assassin arrives and their nobles cause trouble before I can kill them all at once.”

Simply put, this is related to the refugees mentioned in the first point.

Essentially, the Duchy of Nikolai strongly condemned the Duchy of Kosice for **unauthorized** harboring of refugees from their territory. Yang Hao wasn't sure if they had actually gone mad from cannibalism, but they had indeed issued a diplomatic condemnation. The map shared by the **Puppet Stage** showed that the soldiers still stationed at the border were indeed being pursued by the Duchy of Nikolai... these guys were clearly prepared for war.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that both the Duchy of Kosice and the Duchy of Nikolai have made the most basic preparations for war. However, before truly breaking off relations, Yang Hao still has time to develop his forces—and the Duchy of Nikolai certainly thinks the same way. Hopefully, their total number of flesh-and-blood puppet soldiers won't be too high.

Of course, Yang Hao's development, which is essentially his [military expansion], is a bit problematic...

The Duchy of Kosiché currently has a permanent population of approximately 520 million—which appears to be much larger than other places because it consists of four mobile cities and includes the people of the surrounding villages.

but.

The Duchy of Cosice has a standing army of less than 2, which is roughly 1:230 to the resident population – that is, about 230 citizens support one soldier.

This army of less than 2 was no match for the neighboring Duchy of Nikolai. Yang Hao learned through the [Puppet Stage] that the Duchy of Nikolai had a total of approximately 4 to 6 soldiers—although he didn't know how they managed to squeeze out so many men when the territory was so impoverished that it couldn't even support its own people, nor did he know whether so many soldiers with low morale were actually useful. However, this stark disparity in numbers still sounded an alarm bell for Yang Hao: he needed to expand his army.

"But even with the expansion, while we don't have to worry about the quality of the equipment, we are worried about the training period and the number of personnel..."

Not everyone is willing to join the army, especially given the economic crisis. What happens to the family if the breadwinner of the family joins the army and dies in battle?

Yang Hao believed he could offer policies that would give the families of martyrs hope for survival. However, people with happy families now certainly wouldn't want their families to be empty. So, in a sense, unless Yang Hao had completely stirred up the war sentiment of the Duke of Kosice, he couldn't expect to quickly expand his army to 4 men to contend with the Duke of Nikolai in the near future.

However, the inability to expand the army doesn't mean Yang Hao can't find external assistance. Take those female deep-sea hunters, each with a combat strength rating of 95—each one is a warrior capable of taking on a hundred. Ten deep-sea hunters would be equivalent to 1000 elite soldiers! They could provide a significant amount of combat power, but Yang Hao would need to find a way to resolve things with them...

...I've heard of instances where handsome men seduced wealthy women to gain military and diplomatic support. Although I'm not exactly handsome, why don't I give it a try?

At that moment, Yang Hao had a strange thought. But he quickly came to his senses: How could he do such a thing!

I can tolerate the pony and Margarita, but if I keep doing this, am I even human?!

He righteously rejected the suggestion in his heart, but his body honestly noted down the possibility. This is what you call saying one thing and meaning another.

...However, on the other hand, the Deep Sea Hunters are indeed someone Yang Hao must recruit. Not only because they come from the coast and might be able to obtain information about the [string] he needs for ascension, but more importantly, the Duke of Koschie's three secret forces are currently missing one department.

The Knights Templar, skilled in direct combat and breakthroughs, are ill-equipped to undertake engineering tasks.

The Serpent Scales, skilled in infiltration and assassination, can at most help gain access to the control tower.

Even a foal skilled in espionage and assassination couldn't possibly take over a city on its own, not to mention that Yang Hao hadn't completely tamed them yet—sooner or later he would let Theresa know who was the master riding on her back.

So, what's missing? Yang Hao is currently missing a [siege department]. A siege department composed of humanoid monsters—and the Deep Sea Hunters undoubtedly meet his requirements.

...How to make contact is a good question. If the contact is successful, Yang Hao will establish a new department called [R'lyeh]. Yeah, that's it.

Yang Hao's thoughts were in this state: the enlistment rate couldn't be raised anytime soon, and the Deep Sea Hunter girl wouldn't join anytime soon either, so what should be done about the third backup plan?

He stared blankly with his lifeless eyes, finally fixing his gaze on a resolution. The resolution system contained many things he had overlooked—things that, in most cases, were irrelevant to the current state of the Kosichè Duchy's economic development. But now, there they were.

"First this one—oh? It's so expensive..."

[Resolution: Martian Mechanicus (2000000000000 Political Points)]

Mercenaries from the Martian Cult of Machines will come to assist you for a period of time.

Effect: A full-strength mechanical frigate will descend upon this location.

This was an impossible expense, so Yang Hao just laughed it off. After filtering out units that were impossible to hire, such as the Fallen Empire's fleet support, the Planetary Star Colossus, and the Giant Battle Body, he found the Martian soldiers that he could hire at this stage—commonly known as wild monsters that would spawn on the map overnight.

[Resolution: An army composed of integrated bandits (200 political points)]

The band of itinerant bandits gathered around the Duchy of Kosiché may not be as skilled or disciplined as regular troops, but at least they are numerous enough to fill the gaps in the front lines.

Effect: Three divisions of low-trained bandit troops will appear at your territory's rally point.

In general, Yang Hao couldn't afford to hire those god-like figures who required tens of millions of political points to be hired, but couldn't he hire bandits who could spawn randomly on the map? Besides, bandits are like used condoms—use them and then discard them, which is perfectly reasonable, isn't it?

Besides, these temporarily recruited cannon fodder will be sent to the meat grinder-like front lines to fight to the bitter end. They'll probably be reduced to nothing, and Yang Hao might not even need to worry about the aftermath—is there any better cannon fodder than them? No, right?

[Resolution: Refugees (20 Political Points)]

A group of starving refugees would commit countless terrible acts in their quest for food.

Effect: Approximately 5 refugees will appear on the map, randomly bringing disaster and rebellion to surrounding duchies.

It seems there is, but Yang Hao doesn't like things that might turn around and stab him in the back... so his decision is to join the bandit army.

However, he would have to wait until Kosichelle returned to discuss the details with her. With this in mind, Yang Hao, who had prepared a backup plan for the military expansion, stretched and dozed off for a while before entering the [House of Elegy] to see what good things were there.

A familiar, strange feeling. Accompanied by a wave of dizziness, Yang Hao arrived at the House of Elegy—

But the House of Elegy is still gray today, just like last time? He blinked, and was quite surprised to find that Miss Elegy wasn't standing in the same spot this time.

"Miss Elegy? You're not standing where you were when I left last time?"

"Hehe, because you've activated the facility called the Military Factory Outside the Map, I occasionally go over to take a look," Miss Elegy said with a smile, gesturing for Yang Hao to come in before continuing. "So, you still hope to obtain the goods this time, right? This time, the goods are still related to the [Winter] Divine Interpretation."

"Sigh... let me take a look."

Curious about Miss Elegy's ability to access the military factory outside the map, Yang Hao chatted with her while browsing the newly appeared goods under her guidance.

As always, there wasn't much good stuff. However, through the chat, Yang Hao obtained some rather important information.

"Miss Elegy, do you mean that the officials might inadvertently... seduce the people of the material world?"

"To be precise, it's not seduction, but rather that the Sichen are incomprehensible yet alluring beings to those ignorant yet sensitive souls. Because they are alluring, they approach. Because they cannot understand, they try to understand—in this pursuit, many lives lose their rationality and embark on paths they would never have taken."

Miss Elegy explained, showing Yang Hao one useless item after another.

"For example, people who yearn to understand the [Casting] Hour will eventually temper their bodies into steel—while those who have seen the [Cup] Hour may commit all sorts of evil deeds for sensual stimulation and indulgence. But they are merely beings who have been [unwittingly seduced]; in essence, they did not intend to do such things in the first place."

"You mean there are people who voluntarily do similar things?"

"Yes. Si Chen is an immortal with unparalleled power, so naturally some people want to take his place."

Duke Nikolai of your neighboring territory is a similar person. He witnessed the appearance of the [Cup] and actively devoured its flesh and blood. Therefore, he has desires, and the stronger those desires, the less satisfying they become—unless he becomes a Celestial or an Immortal.”

"...Doesn't that mean that he might gain Si Chen's power in the process?"

Yang Hao couldn't comprehend the extent of Si Chen's power, but this was something that needed to be guarded against.

"Yes. But you don't need to worry, he is still a mortal. A prisoner's power has its limits, unless he has transcended humanity... and become an ascended being."

"...I see."

This visit to the House of Elegy was very beneficial for Yang Hao.

On one hand, he figured out why Duke Nikolai was willing to eat people—the duke wanted to become an immortal, to become an being called [Sichen]. On the other hand, he realized a hidden danger.

That means Duke Nikolai may have acquired some of the power of the Celestial. Although he doesn't know how powerful the Celestial's power is, the fact that it possesses special abilities... is troublesome enough.

Fortunately, he had Miss Elegy to help him! So, to Yang Hao's surprise, Miss Elegy remained silent for a moment before smiling and giving her answer:

"If you're talking about countering Si Chen's abilities, it's not a big deal—before ascending, he was still human. As long as you're willing to let insignificant people wear down your opponent's stamina, you can easily win. But, would you become that kind of person?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but at the very least, I can't accept cannibalism."