Five months had passed since the Battle at Beixi bridge, Liu Five and the Liu parents had received material compensation in the form of coins, while spiritual comfort in the form of a personal letter from Li Ming.

The new batch of wheat since the famine had finally become mature, golden field covers the Northern regions, with figures of human, could be seen harvesting using their relatively crude sickles.

During this time, recruitment for the army had reached one hundred and forty thousand, composed of primary infantry from the Northern regions of the empire, while the cavalry, which the North was famed for, had finally been trained sufficiently to be included into the army.

A part of the new army had been designated with the goal of gaining control over the remainder of the Northern regions, as Xu Jin had already left, there was particularly no opposition against the army

The army West of Hejiang river had not been idle either, they had been expanding through Huxi province, taking over some minor towns and villagers, yet kept their distance toward the city of Dongan, as Li Ming had instructed.

The silver haired girl herself had long returned to the North, where her main concentration of power had been and had begun planning in preparation for the creation of much more sanitary cities.

The Great Sui Dynasty is famed for its Urban Planning, far ahead of those in the Far East, with a sophisticated grid system, the river of Hejiang providing water, which were then boiled with the city’s inhabitants, ensuring little disease were spread, therefore minimum changes could actually be improved with the current technological limitations.

Li Ming herself was rather satisfied with this aspect of the Great Sui Dynasty, the city had remained sanitary, the only issue was the recent influx of migrants due to the famine.

This recent increase in Bingjiang’s population had been a rather difficult task to deal with, as winter had arrived with the retreat of Xu Jin, these refugees, without adequate housing or warm clothing, would certainly die on the streets.

In response to this crisis, Li Ming had spearheaded a massive public housing program, which had never been a concept in the Great Sui Dynasty, and possibly the world in a whole.

Li Ming, having the experience as a leader of a nation, naturally knows the possible damage winter can do to those living in slums or on the streets, and had long planned to expand the city grids to accommodate for the increase in its population.

In the Great Sui Dynasty, the majority of labours were independent and were hired by the state once their skills were needed. Yet Li Ming had formed the carpenters into a collective unit, similar to those of the agricultural farmers and weapon manufacture workers.

Through this organisation, Li Ming had increased the cooperation between the carpenters in the construction of new homes, greatly increasing the speed buildings raise up.

Ultimately, by winter, several new grids had been built, capable of housing those on the streets. As the refugees had lost all their possessions during the famine, Li Ming had made it entirely state subsidies, ensuring almost none had frozen in the bitter winter of the North.

While the building was constructed hastily, with the walls still permitting the bone-chilling wind to pass through, the living conditions of the city had greatly improved.

After the winter had passed, Li Ming had to initiate a public education program. After she had the scholars began to conduct public lectures, literacy had indeed greatly improved, yet their learning conditions does not suffice if a productive society is desired.

With literacy not only comes the rising standard of living, but also a skilled pool of labour, able to perform jobs other than basic manual labour. Li Ming had prioritised the construction of the first public school in preparation of industrialisation, which will undoubtedly be within the span of the immediate future, considering the current world’s history seems to run parallel to his own.

Regardless, as Li Ming tackles these problems, time soon passed, and the 218th year since the founding of the Great Sui Dynasty had come.

The New Year of the Zui ethnicity is based on the harvest season, as a result, the first day that wheat and rice become ripe too had become the first day of the year.

Typically, all cities within the Great Sui Dynasty would hold a festive day in celebration of the new year. When Li Ming was informed of this, she immediately delegated all the task of preparing for the festival to Ling Ping.

As the streets become coloured in a festive mood, with the door of each household containing some form of decoration, and the sound of fireworks run rampant, Li Ming remained in the governor’s study, along continuing to detail the creation of a public school system.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Sir, the people outside seems so festive, are you not going to join them?” Xu Xiaomeng questioned her typical ice-cold voice containing a hint of desire.

“There is no need to worry about me lady, nevertheless, do lady think it would be preferable to have an education system that is rigid, or more flexible,” Li Ming avoided the topic brought by Xu Xiaomeng.

“Naturally one that is more flexible, as it allows for the student to develop their creative skills, along with their characteristics in a superior manner,” Xu Xiaomeng answered.

Li Ming hmmed, and injected her own opinions,” Lady, in my view, it is difficult to implement such a system of education, currently, nearly all the nation is uneducated and we are lacking resources, currently, we should simply prioritise to educate as many as possible, a system of a universal curriculum would be ” Li Ming answered.

“Then would it be possible to implement a combination, where gifted individuals would receive a more flexible system of education catered to their abilities, while the majority simply go through a universal system of education, at least until the conditions are met where we are able to apply a flexible system to all individuals,” Xu Xiaomeng asked.

Li Ming, pondering for a moment, decided to write down what Xu Xiaomeng had proposed onto a piece of paper, before beginning to focus on the matters of the military. Pondering until dawn once again broke out from the Tianshan Mountains, Li Ming ultimately resigned and began to clean herself.

One of the minor changes she had made in not only the city of Bingjiang but all of the territories she possesses is the increase in baths. The Great Sui Dynasty had a culture of washing oneself only every five days, considering the importance of the germ theory, how could Li Ming tolerate this, through the use of woodblock printing, she had created mass numbers of pallets detailing in the importance of keeping oneself clean, as most could not read, it was primarily communicated through various pictures, while worded versions were given out to scholars to read to in a public lecture.

By this point, nearly all craftsman in the territories controlled by Li Ming had undergone a similar transition of centralisation, which allowed for actions such as the mass distribution of pamphlets detailing hygiene.

After the first day of the year, the peasants returned to their field and begun harvesting, the collectivisation of smaller farms into collectives had worked wonderfully, with yields surpassing those of years before the famine. Due to this, the family began to become more vigorous, it seems that more children could be expected.

Of course, it would only be the case with sufficient medical advancements, the infant mortality rate is still too high in the Great Sui Dynasty for a baby boom, yet no matter what, an increasing population is desirable for Li Ming, as the Northern regions truly lack in sufficient numbers to deal with the Great Sui Dynasty.

Li Ming, with the luxury of being immortal, could wait as long as needed for the material conditions to reach. Currently, his revolution based on a peasant base could not achieve the same results as those of other revolutions, such as the French, as the key of the industrial revolution, steam engines, had not yet been developed, thus a growing urban population had never occurred in the Great Sui Dynasty.

Regardless, as long as the Great Sui Dynasty does not succeed in taking over her newly conquered territories, she would eventually win out in the end.

Li Ming shook her head, ridding herself of these thoughts, and deciding to ultimately take a stroll, as Xu Xiaomeng had advised.

As she walked down the streets of Bingjiang, the smell of firecrackers lingers in the air, as the sun had barely risen, the streets are largely empty, only a sleeping guard could be seen down the street that had accommodated so many people just Yesterday. The main street she is strolling around had been around since the times of the nomad.

Bingjiang had originally been a trader’s settlement, established in deeply hostile land it had been incredibly hazardous for the traders, yet the goods of the Central Plains had brought it relative prosperity, with the Khan, leader of the nomads deciding to ultimately tolerate its existence.

Later, during the campaign of the second Sui Emperor against the nomads, it had been converted a military camp, at one point, housing one million soldiers, with tall walls looking over the plains.

Once the nomads were defeated, a vast amount of settlers from the Central Plains were brought to the Northern Region, and through nearly two centuries of intermarriage, caused the culture of the nomads to largely die out.

Nowadays, less than ten thousand could be considered nomads, living in communities, they are constantly migrating from region to, even Li Ming, who had taken over the Northern regions, had seldom heard much from them.

Later on, in the conflicts between the Great Sui Dynasty and the Northern Empire, a camp had been built nearby, causing Bingjiang’s wall to deteriorate, and becoming nothing more than a regional capital of a conquered territory in the eye of the empire.

After Li Ming had overthrown the governor, she had not paid any attention in the reparation of the crumbling walls, not long due to the lack of goods from the famine, but also in foresight of the development of warfare.

As she continued to stroll down the streets, a lone scholar could be seen preparing for the lecture he will hold, as Li Ming had begun to prioritise education, the basic classroom had been built, with shelter from the rain and sun. While stationary could not be provided for the students, textbooks had been printed for the scholars as a guideline, although there is a lack of content, it details basic principles known to scholars today.

Leaving the main street, into an alley, baskets still containing grain could be seen, though most are empty. The grain storage, used to feed nearly everyone in Bingjiang, had all but run dry, with the last remainders beginning used in the festival Yesterday, yet Li Ming was not worried about this, from reports coming from the collectives, the grain had ripened spectacularly, with great harvest, perhaps the storage would be completely filled in few years time.

Ultimately, Li Ming had decided to return, as her silver hair wave to the alley, it lightly brushes past a basket of grain, leaving some stuck in her hair. As she returned back to the study, it still remains as she began to work on a vast stack of paperwork, in the end, Xu Xiaomeng had noticed it, yet found it slightly amusing, and did not speak out.