151: You don't recognize me?

"Let go of that girl."

Everyone's attention was drawn to He Ming's voice, and they all looked at him.

The leader, seeing He Ming in a set of battle armor, knew that he was someone he couldn't afford to offend, so he quickly bowed and scurried forward.

"Sir, these commoners have owed taxes for half a year already. We really had no choice but to detain her."

He Ming was a bit curious. This person in front of him was quite shrewd, but he clearly had the face of the Luol Star System's ruler, so how could he not recognize him?

The old man, who had crawled out of the mud, cried out, wanting to get closer, but was pushed aside by two men with disgusted looks.

"Sir, we paid all our taxes long ago. These people have come to cause trouble for the third time this month. They clearly have their eyes on my granddaughter and want to forcibly abduct her."

"Shut up, old man."

The old man was slapped, spun around twice, lost two teeth, and stumbled to the ground.

"Grandpa!"

The girl tried to break free to see her grandpa, but she was pulled back and had her mouth covered.

He Ming: "You don't recognize me?"

"Huh?"

Hearing He Ming say that, the leader finally scrutinized his face.

The sight nearly scared the soul out of him.

Wang Chao?

The ruler of the Luol Star System!?

A bit similar... But the man quickly dismissed the thought in his heart. How could the ruler of the Luol Star System come to a dirty, messy place like the slums?

"S-sir, you are..."

The three men behind him sensed that the atmosphere was off, and upon closer inspection, they froze on the spot, their minds going blank.

"Eyes are a good thing, but it seems you won't be needing them anymore."

Without another word, He Ming controlled his strength and slapped the man in front of him.

A whooshing sound rang out. The man's head first rotated three times on his neck, then, like a cannonball, he was slapped away, with a layer of sonic boom appearing around his waist. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from everyone's sight.

The other three seeing this scene were scared out of their wits; two of them simply wet themselves.

He Ming frowned slightly and snapped his fingers.

Bang, bang, bang... Three airwaves shot out consecutively, and the three men instantly turned into a bloody mist, scattered into the sky by the strong wind. The bloody mist didn't lose its inertia and fall to the ground until it was blown to the main city, drenching a rich second-generation heir who was driving a luxury car with a girl in human blood.

The old man and the young girl, seeing this scene, couldn't help but collapse to the ground, trembling, their faces ashen, their minds a blank.

The old man struggled to crawl to his granddaughter, hugged her, and stammered, "D-don't kill us!"

He Ming chuckled.

"I'm not a murderer, why would I kill you?"

Old man: "?"

Girl: "?"

"You don't recognize me?"

The old man and the young girl hugged each other and nodded tremblingly.

"Get up."

The old man and the young girl tried to stand up, but found themselves powerless, without the strength to rise.

He Ming didn't mind, he squatted down and said calmly, "What are your demands?"

"Demands?"

He Ming: "Yes, demands."

Seeing that He Ming, who could kill with a flick of his finger, had no ill intent, the old man's mood gradually relaxed, but the fear in his eyes showed no signs of diminishing.

"We, we just wish to have enough to eat and live a peaceful life."

He Ming: "What about you?"

The girl, seeing He Ming looking at her, stammered, "I, no, no demands."

"Tell the truth."

"I, I'll think about it."

Not long after, the girl spoke again, "I want to study, and maybe someday I'll have a chance to go into the city."

At this moment, jarvis's voice sounded in He Ming's ear.

"Wang Chao, in order to suppress the lower-class citizens, strictly restricted the spread of knowledge. The illiteracy rate in the commoner district has reached 98.47%."

He Ming suddenly understood. This method was not uncommon; it was much the same in ancient China, where knowledge was held by aristocratic families.

Most people who tried to spread knowledge died mysteriously.

Even monarchs met the same fate.

But He Ming was not an ancient monarch. In the face of absolute power, any antics by petty clowns were meaningless.

Having enough to eat and wanting to study, these two seemingly ordinary demands, were the dreams of most lower-class people in the Luol Star System.

Ten minutes later.

Dozens of hovercars drove towards the field and parked by its edge.

Most of the people who got out of the cars were wearing uniforms.

jarvis: "Sir, the person leading them is the district chief who manages this area. The group behind them are civil servants from the patrol office, tax office, and agricultural office."

A group of people came before He Ming and knelt down in unison, not daring to raise their heads.

The district chief pressed his entire face into the mud, his face ashen, cold sweat pouring out like a faucet.

"Governor!"

He Ming snorted lightly.

"I was wondering why the recent tax accounts seemed a bit off, lower by 0.37%."

"Turns out you worms have been eating it away."

The people kneeling on the ground pressed their heads even lower, almost burying their entire faces in the mud.

"I want to know which part of the process went wrong."

The district chief slightly raised his head and said tremblingly, "Please rest assured, Governor, give me half a day, and I will definitely find all the worms!"

"Hmm, if I see a similar situation that leads to a decrease in tax revenue..."

Towards the end, He Ming's tone became incredibly cold, his voice sounding as if he wanted to kill at any moment.

"Yes!"

"Get up."

The district chief led the way in standing up, and everyone behind him rose, except for the head of the tax office, who had fainted from fright.

The head of the patrol office next to him was so scared that his soul nearly left his body. He scooped up the unconscious man and unceremoniously threw him into the field, as if even a moment's delay would be a dereliction of his own life.

"I'm giving you one day to return all the overcharged taxes from the past ten years."

"Yes!"

"Now get out."

The district chief once again prostrated himself on the ground, kowtowing heavily, completely oblivious to the mud in his mouth.

Watching the group of people scurrying into their cars and leaving, He Ming then turned to look at the bewildered grandfather and granddaughter.

"Don't be afraid, I won't eat people."

The grandfather and granddaughter trembled even more violently.

Normally, those high officials would look down on people, and if an ordinary person dared to look at them for too long, they would be arrested and slapped twice.

But so many high-ranking people, upon seeing this young man who looked to be in his early thirties, were scared into such a state... "Grandpa, Grandpa... Could this Sir be the Prefect?"

The old man didn't reply; in his opinion, it was probably so. The only one who could make a district chief kneel was probably a prefect, one rank higher than the district chief. As for someone even higher, a governor who controlled an entire province, they dared not even imagine.

He Ming paid no further attention to the grandfather and granddaughter, turned and left, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Back at the Governor's Mansion, He Ming had a servant call the steward.

"Governor."

He Ming: "Today, I discovered something."

The steward bowed, awaiting He Ming's next words.

"If the lower-class people are too ignorant, they will be exploited until there's not even a drop of profit left, tax revenue will decrease, and naturally, the money that goes into my pocket will lessen."

The steward nodded in agreement, having naturally already known about what He Ming had encountered today.

"Let the lower classes receive free compulsory education, starting with nine years, and use Central Province as a pilot."

"Yes."

"Get this done within ten days. If you can't, someone else will take your position."

A layer of fine cold sweat instantly seeped onto the steward's forehead.

"Understood."