"Listening to you, are you an immigrant from the Eastern Great Liang Empire?" Yutianxiao asked curiously.

"Oh, you're mistaken. I'm an Oxiulia person. The Oxiulia Empire has already signed an alliance treaty with the Great Liang Empire, allowing people from both countries to travel back and forth between the East and West freely, whether for business or study. Before the age of 18, citizens of both countries can hold dual nationality, but after 18, they must choose one."

The shop attendant's comments left the three of them bewildered.

"Wait a minute, that's a lot of information."

Long Yuqiong paused for a moment, then asked:

"Can I ask, what is the current time—without the narrative calendar?"

"Right now, this year is the Fifty-First Year of Xuming reign of the Great Liang. As for the Oxiulia calendar, today just happens to be the day for a new calendar system, so we have to wait a bit."

"Changing the calendar?" Night Fighting Sword asked: "Who is the current Emperor of Oxiulia?"

"No, wait, wasn't Oxiulia a Duchy before?" Yutianxiao suddenly recalled: "When did you become an Empire?"

"Just last year."

The shop attendant wasn't surprised; there are many Longevity Breeds among the People of the Border Abyss, with long lifespans, staying asleep for dozens or hundreds of years, some even end up sleeping themselves to death. So he patiently explained:

"During the Duchy period, it ended after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince turned six. At that time, the Crown Prince had not yet officially inherited the Duke's seat. It was the wife of Lord Ao Sha Merston, under the title of the Duchess of the Nation, who announced the union of Oxiulia and the Platinum Orchid State."

"As a result, the old title of Duke became insufficient, so His Royal Highness was crowned as the King of the Oxiulia people."

"When the Crown Prince came of age and inherited the Dukedom and the Crown, he began a long road of conquest."

"First, he moved north to the entire steppe. It took the King four years to defeat the Khan of Sodanland and the White Wolf God behind him, bringing a large number of herders and horses into the kingdom's territory. After obtaining a significant population, land, mounts, and livestock, the kingdom began an agricultural revolution."

"The King issued the 'Oxiulia Homestead Act,' allowing slaves, foreigners who obtained permanent residency, and illegitimate children to cultivate land in the wilderness. After cultivating for 5 years, they could gain permanent ownership rights—In essence, all land in the kingdom belonged to the King personally. Even members of the Royal Family would have to pay fees and go through procedures to obtain usage rights for specific lands if needed."

"Such land reform naturally impacted the interests of many landlords and nobles, since their hereditary land instantly became the private property of the King, causing quite a stir initially. There were even nobles who wanted to rebel, but soon, they were attracted by the new Act."

"Although the ownership of the land belonged to the King personally, the King himself would not arbitrarily remove the usage rights from the holders. This made the Oxiulia landlords, tenants, and serfs realize that all the taxes they used to pay were simplified and consolidated into rental fees—saving up to forty percent compared to before!"

"Although this move turned everyone who cultivated land into tenants of the King, the more land they cultivated, the more usage rights they held in their hands. Whether for factories, mining, or training private soldiers, the King did not care, and they could use it as they wished. Plus, with a significant tax reduction, those landlords and nobles found themselves with a lot of spare cash."

"Once these nobles had money, they didn't care about their lands, so they moved to the big cities to set up shops, open workshops, run schools, and start banks. This left the land available for hirelings and refugees. The city became more prosperous and beautiful due to the influx of population and resources."

"In this way, a large number of overseas merchants, refugee farmers, and exiles all swarmed into Oxiulia. The wealth and taxes these people brought soon amassed a vast fund for the Kingdom."

"Once sufficient funds were obtained, the King embarked on further conquests. This time, he proposed the concept of the Oxiulia nation, hoping to unify all countries that speak the Oxiulia language or are influenced by Oxiulia culture into a strong empire."

"Thus, after 20 years of warfare, a universal, multi-ethnic empire built on Oxiulia culture officially appeared on the lands of the Border Abyss."

"Even though the Empire was established, the Emperor was still not satisfied. He continued conquering, subjugating the entire north and reaching the Frost Sea where all the steppe residents submitted to the Empire's rule, and even called the Emperor 'Dragon Khan.' To the east, he approached the 'Crimson Blood Alliance,' officially bordering with the Inherent Time Domain, thus receiving the favor of the Narrative Civilization. With the Alliance's tacit approval, the Empire continued expanding in all directions, fully taking over the southern deserts. After the eastern route was opened, the population now exceeds 180 million, making it the second most populous empire in the Border Abyss, after Great Liang."

The shop attendant boasted proudly:

"However, Great Liang and Oxiulia have effectively become brotherly allies. The rulers of both countries have close personal relationships. It is said that the national treasure of the Great Liang Dynasty was found and returned by Oxiulia. To express gratitude, the Emperor of Great Liang also gifted Oxiulia with 3000 Tiger Ben Cavalry. Both sides station troops in each other's territories. Although there are still a few hundred small nations yet to be unified or annexed, it seems it is only a matter of time before the two great Eastern and Western Empires become the strongest forces outside the Narrative Civilization."

Just as he said this, the sound of ceremonial cannons boomed from outside the door.

He turned his head, glanced out the window, and remarked:

"Looks like the enthronement is about to happen. The current Emperor has never held a grand enthronement ceremony until his victorious return from the southern desert campaign, where he formally crowned himself as Emperor. Unfortunately, I'm stuck managing the shop and don't have the chance to watch."

"By the way, with all that said, what is your Emperor's—or rather, His Majesty's—name?"

"Leoz," the shop attendant replied without much thought.

"'Renouncer of Surnames' Leoz. The last of the Dawnbreaker Family, he converted to the Eastern schools of immortality cultivation, and hence announced the abandonment of his surname, adopting the monastic title of 'Hidden Dragon,' meaning 'the Hidden Dragon in the Abyss.'

"So, the new reign title is very likely to be 'Hidden Dragon.' Our Emperor, naturally, will be—Hidden Dragon Emperor."

Pfft—

Night Fighting Sword nearly spat out a mouthful of water.

"Easy there, easy," Yutianxiao patted him on the back, although he could barely keep a straight face himself.

"God save us, Hidden Dragon Emperor… Don't tell me his father is Yongzheng and his grandfather's name is Kang Xi or something."

Night Fighting Sword wiped his mouth, muttering:

"I should have avoided watching Earth's history with you guys; it wouldn't feel so out of place then."

"Come on, weren't you the one enjoying 'Great Justice, Awakening from Delusion' the most?"

"Elevent, if you keep going, I'll exile you to Ningguta!"

"We're in the Starry Abyss, where would we find a Ningguta?"

The shop attendant didn't understand what the two were talking about and simply added:

"Of course, His Majesty Leoz himself realizes that his name with the reign title sounds out of place for an Oxiulia person, so he also took an Eastern name: Li Aozi."

Pa.

Long Yuqiong placed a bag of Border Abyss' Kroner down solemnly and asked:

"Tell me, where is Li Aozi's enthronement ceremony?"

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