"Did nothing much happen here in the past?"
The young man chatted casually with the old man.
The old man shook his head: "In the past, all the excitent had nothing to do with us ordinary folks; it was all about those big shots up there. Now it's different, Shichuan University held lectures everywhere, saying that as long as the age is appropriate, anyone can take their children to register, and they can get a free aptitude test. Hey, folks from the entire provincial city and even from other places with kids of suitable age are rushing here!"
The young man nodded: "Do you have any kids of suitable age at ho?"
At the ntion of this, the old man imdiately got excited:
"Hehe, my grandson has already been tested and found to have the aptitude for martial arts, so he can get into Shichuan University!"
The young man laughed and ate another candied hawthorn, cupping his hand towards the old man: "That's really worth celebrating."
"Hahahaha!"
The old man laughed heartily.
"Are the tuition fees tight?"
The young man asked a slightly sensitive question.
The old man, still smiling widely, proudly said, "My son is a soldier in the Provincial City's City Guard Team, and over the years, he has saved so money. Plus, this old man here isn't so old that I can't walk, so I can still earn so money to help at ho. The whole family is working hard, and we can still afford my grandson to finish university."
The young man gave him a thumbs up: "Impressive, impressive."
"Hahaha."
The old man laughed again.
After laughing, he suddenly sighed:
"Speaking of which, my son was able to join the Provincial City's City Guard Team thanks to the Mingxin Reformation."
"Oh?"
The young man seed interested, "Can you tell about it, sir?"
The old man laughed: "There's nothing I can't talk about; before the reform, wanting to join our Provincial City's City Guard ant going through the back door and having connections. Ordinary people like us couldn't even dream about it! Later, the reform started, and there was a large-scale downsizing of local troops, many City Guard teams were found to be abusing their posts, including ours in the Provincial City. A lot of big shots got into trouble.
Later, our Provincial City's City Guard was almost rebuilt once, and for this re-enlistnt, they opened so opportunities for ordinary people; my son is in good shape, and fortunately, he was selected.
Because of this opportunity, he was able to support our family over these years."
After finishing this story, the old man hesitated and lowered his voice:
"I heard that Chief Minister Ye was imprisoned. In recent months, many have been criticizing him. I'm just an ordinary man, not knowledgeable about affairs of the state; I only know that people must understand gratitude. Our family relies on that reform back then to survive, and now we have the chance to send my grandson to university. I don't know what kind of person Chief Minister Ye really is, but to , he is a great benefactor to our family!"
These words had been held in the old man's heart for several months, but saying them now made him feel much better.
The old man looked towards the young man beside him and found him sowhat lost in thought.
"Sir, another candied hawthorn, please."
The young man suddenly said.
"Alright."
The old man took another skewer of candied hawthorn and handed it to him. Seeing the young man scooping for money, he generously said:
"I'm in a good mood today, this one is on !"
The young man was taken aback, accepted the candied hawthorn, but did not eat it or offer it to the woman beside him, instead holding it in his hand and looking at it for a long ti.
A mont later, he looked up and sincerely said to the old man selling candied hawthorn:
"Thank you, this candied hawthorn is very sweet."
The old man was puzzled, you haven't eaten it, how do you know it's sweet?
"No need to thank , it's nothing, really."
The old man waved his hand.
Then the young man and the lady left.
...
Above the Cloud Sea, Li Fei and Ning Qingman walked in the air.
Li Fei was still holding a skewer of candied hawthorn.
Ning Qingman glanced back and asked:
"Feeling better now?"
Li Fei looked back at her and smiled:
"To be honest, I wouldn't say I feel better or worse. If I were him, I certainly wouldn't make the sa choices he did, it's just..."
After a mont of silence, Li Fei's voice, along with the skewer of candied hawthorn, lingered above the Cloud Sea:
"In the past, present, and future, there will ultimately be so people who benefited from him and will rember him, I feel relieved for him."
...
On May 17th, The Ninth Year of Yuanxing.
Li Fei returned to Lanling City.
Over the past year, he wasn't idle, traveling and sightseeing with Ning Qingman; he was visiting various places to appease and resolve various issues.
He traveled throughout the Da Lan Dynasty's twenty-three provinces, visited the grassland, and went to the Great Desert.
The case of Ye Ze'an was like a debrident surgery for Da Lan Dynasty—
Removing so completely necrotic tissues while inevitably cutting away so of the healthy body tissues.
Moreover, to prevent Da Lan Dynasty from dying on the 'operating table,' not all necrotic tissue was removed during this surgery.
After a major operation, Da Lan Dynasty needs to restore its vitality, and the remaining necrotic tissues will bring new problems.
During the establishnt of eleven universities, more than a dozen riots and mutinies occurred in total!
The most serious incident involved two of the Five Great Imperial Camp Armies—
The White Fla Army and the Western Garrison Army's internal mutiny!
In the end, it was the forr commander of the White Fla Army, now a Martial Saint, Zuo Jun who went to suppress the White Fla Army, while Li Fei went to resolve the issues with the Western Garrison Army.
These issues solvable by force were still manageable; the real challenges lay beneath the surface—
Taxes in various places, the refining of elixirs, the preparation of implants, the refining and maintenance of Sha Qi...
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