267: Develop online shopping

The next day.

Upon learning that Su Xiaobai had emerged from seclusion, Your Majesty immediately summoned him to the palace.

Inside Your Majesty's bedchamber.

Looking at Su Xiaobai, who had two dark circles under his eyes, she asked in confusion, "Did you go thieving last night?"

"No, I couldn't sleep because of someone's snoring." Su Xiaobai yawned, looking listless.

That Black Abyss, not only did he snore incredibly loudly, but he also fell asleep the moment he lay down and couldn't be woken up no matter what, leaving him sleepless all night.

With such poor vigilance, if he were to sneak into the next room and actually sleep with White Flower one day, Black Abyss would still be sleeping like a dead pig.

Your Majesty wasn't in the mood to care if he had slept well. She crossed her long legs and coldly snorted, "You sure know how to hide. You sent people to call me a tyrant, and then you immediately went into seclusion, didn't you?"

Su Xiaobai plopped down, bowing his head in obeisance, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This is slander, pure slander. Your subordinate absolutely did not send anyone to insult you!"

"Heh, the testimonies of those people were surprisingly consistent. They all said you told them to spread it.

A full twenty-one crimes. Now everyone in the city knows I'm a tyrant. I truly raised an ungrateful wretch."

Your Majesty looked down at him, a faint trace of Killing Intent appearing in her pupils.

Su Xiaobai was about to cry; it was all the karma from his past actions!

"...Forget it. So many days have passed, and my anger has mostly subsided. I called you here today because there's another matter I wish to discuss with you." Your Majesty's tone shifted.

She knew Su Xiaobai's original intention was good, and once her anger passed, she no longer cared.

Su Xiaobai was overjoyed, "Your Majesty, please speak!"

"How do you view the current Great Zhou?" Your Majesty asked.

"Why does Your Majesty suddenly ask this?" Su Xiaobai's expression was puzzled.

"Alas!" A hint of solemnity and melancholy appeared between Your Majesty's brows. "I just received news that the Southern Demon Kingdom will send an envoy mission to visit Great Zhou in a year. On the surface, they say it's to learn from us, but in reality, it's to probe Great Zhou's foundation."

"Ever since Duke Mo defeated the Southern Demon twenty years ago, they have been unwilling to accept it and now plan to make a comeback."

"And this visit by the envoy mission is their first step against Great Zhou."

Su Xiaobai nodded slightly, "Your subordinate understands. If Great Zhou appears to be in decline or inferior to them, they will directly raise an army to attack Great Zhou.

If they find Great Zhou's national strength to be powerful, they will return home and make long-term plans."

"Mm, the current Great Zhou has only just begun to show improvement, and I do not wish to immediately go to war with the Southern Demon.

So I sought you out to ask you, to see if there are any areas in Great Zhou that still need correction?"

Su Xiaobai thought for a moment, then solemnly said, "Does Your Majesty wish to hear the truth?"

"Naturally. Speak your mind, I will not blame you."

"Very well, then I shall speak." Su Xiaobai cleared his throat, adopting the Aura he had when he angrily criticized the tyrant, "Your subordinate believes that the current Great Zhou is fraught with endless hidden dangers!"

"First and foremost, the arduous lives of the common people at the bottom are of utmost importance."

Your Majesty nodded thoughtfully, "Continue."

"The common people at the bottom account for the vast majority of Great Zhou's population, yet most of them live day to day, not knowing where their next meal will come from. The capital city is somewhat better, but other barren regions are simply unbearable to look at.

Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. If we can gain the faith of this portion of the populace, the power of Luck within us will surely increase significantly, and our strength will become greater," Su Xiaobai said.

Your Majesty's eyes lit up, "You are right. I previously focused too much on the interests of the nobles, neglecting the lives of ordinary people.

But how can we improve the quality of life for the common people?"

Her brows furrowed. The quality of life for the common people couldn't be improved just by saying so; it required concrete policies and measures.

"Your Majesty, what do you think is most important for a person to live happily?" Su Xiaobai asked in return.

Your Majesty thought for a moment, "Family companionship, and freedom from worries about food and clothing?"

"No, no, no, Your Majesty, you are too shallow." Su Xiaobai shook his finger profoundly.

Under her veil, Your Majesty's mouth twitched. You, Su Xiaobai, how dare you call me shallow? I think you're asking for a beating again!

But she ultimately suppressed her anger and said coldly, "Then what do you say it is?"

"Money!" Su Xiaobai said emphatically.

"Money?" Your Majesty shook her head, her face full of disdain, only feeling that Su Xiaobai was truly shallow.

Can money buy happiness? Can it buy joy? It's merely an external possession.

She had a pile of money in her private coffers, and she didn't feel much happier.

"Your Majesty, you are the well-fed not knowing the hunger of the starving." Su Xiaobai looked at Your Majesty's expression and immediately understood that she was someone who had grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth.

"Money can't make a person incredibly happy, but at least it can make their life decent. For ordinary people, that's enough.

Money isn't everything, but not having money is absolutely impossible."

Seeing that Your Majesty still didn't believe him, he stepped forward and extended his hand to her, "Your Majesty, would you accompany your subordinate to a place?"

Your Majesty's willow brows furrowed, but she ultimately couldn't suppress her curiosity and placed her slender, jade-like hand in his.

The figures of the two disappeared from the bedchamber.

...

A certain small town.

This was a barren small town.

Broken streets, houses built with mud bricks.

But what was most striking were the beggars begging on the street corners, lined up densely in a row.

Su Xiaobai and Your Majesty appeared on the street.

Given their strength, if they didn't reveal themselves, these people wouldn't be able to discover them.

Your Majesty withdrew her small hand from Su Xiaobai's, "Next time, you can just tell me where the place is, and I can walk there myself."

As soon as she finished speaking, her willow brows furrowed, and the smell of dead rats wafted over.

"Why is it so smelly?"

She quickly covered her nose, having a cleanliness obsession.

"The streets aren't cleaned, and without food, even rats starve to death, so naturally, it's foul-smelling." Su Xiaobai explained, then pointed to the beggars by the roadside, "Does Your Majesty see them?"

Your Majesty turned her head to look. Among the beggars were adults, children, and even women holding newborn babies.

Each of them was emaciated, and a sense of deathly stillness permeated the depths of their pupils.

The unweaned child was crying inconsolably from hunger because its mother lacked nutrition and couldn't produce milk.

Your Majesty couldn't help but frown, "Is there a famine here?"

"No, the vegetable market is on the other side, and this place just experienced a bountiful harvest. However, all that grain belongs to the landlords and has nothing to do with them."

"Dastardly! These landlords, how dare they oppress the common people right under my nose!" Your Majesty immediately turned around, wishing she could find those landlords at once and severely punish each of them.

Su Xiaobai quickly pulled her back, "This has nothing to do with those landlords. Their grain is sold at normal prices.

The problem lies with these refugees. They have no jobs, no source of income, and can't even afford rice, so they can only live by begging."

"Then why don't they go find work?" Your Majesty couldn't help but ask.

Su Xiaobai turned his head away, speechless, "Your Majesty, how is this different from 'Why don't they eat meat porridge?'"

Only then did Your Majesty realize how foolish her question had been. Her cheeks immediately flushed, and she glared at him angrily, "Mind your own business!"

Su Xiaobai turned back and explained, "Great Zhou's economic sources are very singular, nothing more than digging spirit mines and some simple trade.

One consequence of this is that many jobs are in short supply, leading to widespread unemployment among the populace."

"Don't be fooled by the relatively good living standards of the people in the capital city. That's the capital city. How many other cities in Great Zhou can compare to the capital city? Most towns are just as you see before you."

Your Majesty's eyes drooped, her brows furrowed, and she fell into deep thought.

But after a long period of contemplation, she couldn't come up with a solution to this predicament.

She looked up at Su Xiaobai, a pleading look in her eyes.

You want me to teach you? Beg me then! ...Su Xiaobai thought mischievously to himself, then said aloud, "Throughout history, the most profitable method has been commerce. Allowing the economy to circulate can fully stimulate economic development in various regions.

However, Great Zhou's commerce is not developed, and the operation of the few merchant guilds remains at the most primitive stage, with extremely low efficiency."

"So, your subordinate has a suggestion: we can develop Online shopping."