Chapter 193: Fatty Lou’s Advice

Fatty Lou had only stayed in a Residential Courtyard for one night and was already finding problems?

Mo Xiaobai did not think the fat old man was causing trouble without reason, so he immediately sat up straight and said, “My Lord, please speak.”

“My Lord, last night I asked some old villagers. Several of them, including some old farmers, said that since coming to Daming Town, although their days are comfortable and they no longer worry about daily food and clothing, they work from dawn until dusk without rest and are exhausted both physically and mentally. They only keep farming those seemingly endless fields because they are grateful for your Lordship’s kindness.”

Lou Shide slightly bowed his hands and then spoke, “Besides that, I also found that some villagers in Daming Town already own their own farmland, while most others can only work under your Lordship. Among these people are some with special skills, and they also want to have their own businesses. For example, the carpenter Xu Si really wants to open a small workshop.”

“Daming Town is indeed peaceful under your Lordship’s governance, but you should listen more to the voices of the people in your Territory. They are all human, and humans have selfish desires. A moment of gratitude might suppress these desires for a while, but over time, this gratitude will wear off. To truly earn the support of the people, it is not enough just to make sure they are full, nor is it enough to just keep everyone inside the Territory.”

While speaking, the fat old man was also watching Mo Xiaobai’s facial expressions. Seeing that Mo Xiaobai was listening attentively without showing any sign of annoyance, a faint smile briefly appeared on Lou Shide’s face.

He lived in the Residential Courtyards and chatted with some villagers. It might have looked like he was trying to suffer on his own, but in reality, he was starting from the grassroots life level to understand every detail of Daming Village.

This was a completely different style from how Guo Yuan had conducted household surveys on every villager in the beginning to understand their characteristics and arrange jobs better.

However, after hearing Lou Shide’s questions, Mo Xiaobai realized that this was indeed a major issue in his Territory that he had ignored all along!

Collecting Advice!

As the Lord and the master of Daming Town, Mo Xiaobai actually did not often communicate with his Territory Citizens. This was not a big problem originally, but with the increasing population and the gradual prosperity of the Territory, the villagers of Daming Village, who once only cared about being full, now had higher life goals.

It was not that they had become lazy or harder to deal with. Rather, as the Territory developed to a certain point, the Territory Citizens indeed needed to make some changes.

For example, regarding carpenter workshops. In the past, if a villager wanted to make something, they could just ask a carpenter in the village to work on it. But now, since all the carpenters serve Mo Xiaobai, many simple items that villagers need, which could be fixed in half an hour, often get delayed until the next day.

If Lou Shide had not brought this up today, Mo Xiaobai, who had never managed a large and mature Territory before, did not know how long it would take for him to discover these problems on his own.

So, after hearing what Lou Shide said, Mo Xiaobai immediately nodded, “I understand. What Zongren means is that I should not blindly manipulate the people under my rule based only on my own ideas, nor let them do whatever they want. Instead, I should absorb their thoughts and opinions more and think more for the people under my rule.”

“That is correct. Take the little carpenter Xu Si as an example. He is just an assistant in the workshop and does not participate in the core wooden machinery production. He does not have such great ambition to move up; he just wants to open a small shop to make tables, chairs, doors, and windows for his neighbors. Since that is the case, why doesn’t your Lordship grant his wish? First, it ensures that Territory Citizens can exchange goods with each other. Second, hiring a new carpenter apprentice who is willing to learn is also a good thing for the workshop. It is a win-win situation, so why not do it early?”

Lou Shide nodded with a smile, squinting his small eyes, looking very much like a teacher who thinks, “This pupil is teachable.”

Hearing the old man explain it this way, Mo Xiaobai also nodded slowly, “I indeed neglected this aspect. Zini is good at governing agriculture, but he is not as perceptive about people’s conditions as you. However, there is another problem with what you just mentioned. While the carpenter can indeed open a small shop to make a living, there are not enough households in the Territory who need his help, and the Territory Citizens do not have much spare money. How should they trade?”

“My Lord, not everything in interactions between townspeople and neighbors requires money. For example, today Xu Si makes a wooden bed for someone, and tomorrow someone might repay him with half a bolt of new cloth or half a jin of cooked meat. Such a trade is perfectly normal.”

While giving examples, Lou Shide continued, “Since your Lordship is willing to share land with all the common people, why not give them a little more push? The prosperity of a Territory relies not only on how many assets your Lordship owns or how much output is produced daily. If the people can live a truly stable life, Daming Town can make further progress.”

After Lou Shide finished speaking, Mo Xiaobai finally understood what the old man meant. This old man had seen through a strange loop that all Players inevitably fall into!

Run the Territory and desperately gather all kinds of blueprints and Intellect Brain buildings.

Build all the structures first, then obtain more advanced resources.

After that, use war and robbery to get more Intellect Brain blueprints and obtain more Attributes, constantly upgrading the Territory step by step.

This was the pure game management model of Players!

But the territory development Lou Shide talked about was a different matter. While the external force, the Intellect Brain items, was indeed important in the old man’s eyes, he valued all the people within the Territory even more.

This was a development model from the inside out. It seemed that even without the help of Intellect Brain items, a Territory could still be built vibrantly.

“As the old saying goes in the Daoist School, having an old man is like having a treasure. You are truly a great treasure for Daming Town!”

Awakened by Lou Shide’s words, Mo Xiaobai immediately nodded about the importance of governing the Territory on two fronts at once, “I also planned to use the opportunity of Daming Town’s successful promotion to call everyone together to discuss the future development of the Territory. What you said is the core of this meeting. I will issue an order immediately for everyone to come and hold a discussion.”

Discussion!

All the civil and military officers of Daming Village gathered completely.

In the huge Council Hall of the Baron’s Manor, many people sat in two rows on the left and right.

The left row was the Scholar branch of Daming Town. From top to bottom, they were Zheng Xuan, Guo Yuan, Lou Shide, Guo Jia, Liu Ye, and Hu Zhao. The right row was the General branch, with Li Ji, Li Guang, Zhang He, Gao Lan, and He Chun taking their seats in order.

“I have gathered everyone here today for discussion for only two matters. First, since the Territory is now the size of a Small Town with a population of no less than five thousand, we should indeed add some more Territory officials.”

Sitting down one by one, Mo Xiaobai still did not say useless words but went straight to the point, “In the past, Daming Village only had two Vice Village Heads. Now, besides Maogong and Zini, there is still a vacancy for a third Vice Mayor of Daming Town. Today I formally announce that the third Vice Mayor of Daming Town will be Zongren, who has just joined the Territory.”

“Additionally, for Town-level Territory officials, besides the Vice Mayor, there is also the position of Village Elder in charge of moral education. I would like to invite Duke Kangcheng to serve in this role. There are not many important matters in daily life, but it will be more convenient for Duke Kangcheng to teach at the Academy.”

“Below the Vice Mayor and the Village Elder, there are five positions for junior clerks to assist in managing agriculture, granaries, households, theft, and lawsuits. I do not intend to arrange these five positions for you anymore. Zini and Zongren, you two need to promote usable young officials from within the Territory to supplement the Daming Town official system. Once you have candidates, just report them to me directly.”

“This is the first matter of the meeting. The second matter will be announced to everyone on my behalf by Zongren.”