Chapter 30

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation

Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

When Chu Tian checked Li Kui’s attributes, he was shocked.

[Name]: Li Kui

[Talent]: Imperial (Civil Minister)

[Rank]: 30

[Experience]: 0/10000

[Official Position]: None

[Role]: Strategist for Warring States 

[Loyalty]: 80

[Status]: Healthy

[Command]: 54 (up to 67）

[Strength]: 30 (up to 45）

[Intellect]: 75 (up to 80）

[Politics]: 85 (up to 97)

[Charisma] : 85

[Work Method]: None

[Phase]: 53

[Level of Favor]: 50

[Characteristic 1]: Farming effectiveness (SS-level characteristic: When in charge of agriculture, territorial grain output rises +30%)

[Characteristic 2]: Famine-prevention method (S-level characteristic: Expropriation of grain in years of harvest, and sale of grain in years of famine, so that popular sentiment does not easily decline, and any loss caused by famine is greatly reduced)

[Characteristic 3]: Rule of law (SS-level characteristic: When public security does not easily decline, greatly reducing the probability of crime and corruption)

[Characteristic 4]: Emphasis on farming (A-level characteristic: Farmers in the territory are not easily converted to other professions)

The upper limit of the political attribute was 97 points, which meant a full-level Li Kui could reach 97 political points, bringing a comprehensive bonus to the territory.

No wonder he was an imperial civil servant… There were very few people who could compare to Li Kui as a reformer.

Just the 30% increase in grain output alone was already incredible. A 30% increase in food production meant that more of the population and more soldiers could properly be fed.

This did not even include the bonus brought by Li Kui’s own political attribute. The political attribute had various hidden bonuses. So if Li Kui was in charge of agriculture, the annual increase in food production would not be as simple as +30%.

In addition to the SS-level characteristic of “Farming effectiveness,” Li Kui also had other characteristics, which could help stabilize popular sentiment, maintain public order, and keep the government ethical.

He was an all-star civil minister.

Xia Tianliang asked, “What is the gentleman’s name?”

Hearing the question from the woman next to the village chief, Li Kui answered truthfully, “I am Li Kui.”

“Li Kui?!” Xia Tianliang had clearly heard of Wei State’s Li Kui reform. She looked at Chu Tian, asking, “Is he an imperial hero?”

“Correct. He is a civil minister.”

“You’re so lucky. You’d have few worries having a Minister of the Interior like him,” Xia Tianliang couldn’t help but state enviously.

Chu Tian didn’t know if there were even one hundred imperial heroes in the Eastern Han region. They are extremely rare, after all. They must have a single attribute exceeding 95 to qualify as an imperial hero. As for heroes like Liu Bei and Sun Quan… Perhaps their comprehensive abilities were very strong, but without outstanding abilities, they could not be imperial heroes.

“Li Kui has become number one in the Eastern Han region.”

When Xia Tianliang checked the rankings, Li Kui had already surpassed Hua Mulan and became the number one hero in the Eastern Han region.

Hua Mulan was well-known to every household, while Li Kui was a real political achiever. He had helped Wei State prosper and strengthened the country. Li Kui had a political attribute limit of 97 points, even higher than Hua Mulan’s strength maximum of 95 points.

It didn’t matter who ranked first or second. Chu Tian knew that both heroes were his.

Chu Tian noticed that Qin State’s General Meng Wu was ranked third and fourth was Ming Dynasty’s military commander, Zu Dashou.

“Zu Dashou…”

Chu Tian did not know which lord ruled Zu Dashou. He was an officer of the Ming Dynasty. Later, he defected and became a military commander of the Qing Dynasty. He was destined to not be very loyal in “Feudal Lords.” It would be troublesome to become his lord, as one had to worry about his subordinates rebelling.

Generally speaking, someone with a loyalty of 70 or more was more reliable. A loyalty of 80 or more meant there would be no betrayals and 90 or more was equal to a faithful comrade or old confidante. To achieve 100 in loyalty, one had to either be brother-in-arms, like Liu Bei-Guan Yu-Zhang Fei, or a brother-in-law, like Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, or be married.

Several heroes were added to the world rankings. It was likely that the number one lord in other regions had also received a Special Hero recruitment order.

In first place was Li Kui, second was Black Prince Edward, and third was Hua Mulan…

However, the leaderboard had certain problems that weren’t apparent if one just looked at the individual attributes.

Chu Tian suspected that the upper limit of the Black Prince’s command was 96. If his strength was also high, then he would be a fierce commander of the Vatican. It was unbelievable that the Westerners gave Black Prince Edward such a high level of command.

The ranking was just a reference. The lord determined the hero’s actual effect and application.

Ranked fourth was a hero in the Dashi, or Arab, region, whose actual achievement wasn’t known to Chu Tian.

Most lords of the Eastern Han region were only interested in the heroes of the Eastern and Western continents. They had little interest in the complex names and forces of the desert continent, such as ancient Persia, ancient Egypt, the African tribal kingdoms, and the Arab empire.

“I’m entrusting your caravan in Xiaozhu Village to purchase a Level 2 shipyard drawing, a Level 2 dock drawing, and 1000 units of wood and 1000 units of grain from Langya City.”

Chu Tian unceremoniously hired the caravan from Xiaozhu Village. As the caravan in Xiaozhu Village would earn processing fees from the work, it was a fair exchange.

“No problem.”

Although Xia Tianliang didn’t understand why Chu Tian needed the 1000 units of wood and 1000 units of grain, she was still willing to lend out the caravan from Xiaozhu Village.

Chu Tian was buying the drawings and wood to build a Level 4 fish market. As for the large amount of grains, it was because Xia Village didn’t have enough food in storage to meet the demands of the influx of refugees.

The next major crop harvest would have to wait until the next year.

Chu Tian couldn’t help but envy places where grain could be harvested twice, or even thrice, a year.

“Li Kui? What does this character do?”

“Does anyone know the hero who ranked first? Which lord in Eastern Han does he belong to?”

Hero Li Kui of Eastern Han had pushed the Black Prince to second place with his individual political ability, causing an uproar in “Feudal Lords.” Players from other civilized areas were all asking around about Li Kui.

They could only breathe a sigh of relief when they learned that he was a civil affairs hero.

In everyone’s subconscious mind, the generals still posed a greater threat. If this was a military commander with a command value of 97, the Eastern Han region would put a lot of pressure on the surrounding civilized areas, such as the Dongying region, the Goryeo region, and the Annan region, all of which were much smaller.

However, only Chu Tian understood how insane Li Kui’s additional 30% grain output was. Afterall, production of grain and feed were very important to the development of the territory in the early stage.

“From now on, you will be the peasant officer of Xia Village, and you will also manage the granary and public security.”

Xia Village was still too small, so Chu Tian did not set up a complicated management organization. He managed the village by relying only on special talents that were no more than dozens of minor officials.

If his 1500-person village had three ministries and six departments, it would be too bureaucratic.

Li Kui needed to manage agriculture, law, and the national granary at the same time… Actually, it was the village granary. This was due to it being the best usage of people, not because Chu Tian could not afford to pay additional salaries.

As for Xia Village’s industry, Chu Tian did not make Li Kui manage the business and the treasury because Li Kui’s own emphasis was on farming.

Xia Village still needed a business talent. Ancient-era civil servants focused on agriculture and overlooked business, so it was extra difficult to recruit business talents.