My wife is an immortal black snake.

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all in all.

He's innocent! Yang Hao swears on Margarita's perfume [she doesn't use perfume], he's truly innocent!

Yang Hao's solemn and indignant declaration clearly did not soften Judge Koschei's heart in the slightest. This woman was not only Yang Hao's wife, but also the only woman in this territory who could subdue him, his supporter, his soulmate, his lover with whom he was getting to know each other, and his partner who helped him, but now she was also the judge who held the power of life and death over him—the Duchess of Koschei.

She just smiled sinisterly, gently stepping on his lower abdomen with her small foot, while asking a question that made Yang Hao pale, shrink back timidly, and dare not answer:

"Who exactly holds the position of being second only to the emperor, above all others?"

"What kind of person can hold such a high position that even the head of the newly established intelligence agency can only swallow his anger and dare not utter a single word?"

"Why would someone who claims to have 'not gone in' know so much about every detail inside—like the crumpled diary and ledgers, or Miss Teresa in disheveled clothes?"

"My dear husband, do you think I'm a fool?"

Kosichrie gently traced circles on Yang Hao's lower abdomen with her stockinged toes, then suddenly thrust downwards, pulling his pants down quite a distance before stopping precisely at his sensitive, erect spot.

“No, no…” Yang Hao, the victim, defendant, lawyer, and convict, nodded palely, then shook his head. “Although…although I think my wife can be a little slow at times, she’s definitely not stupid, definitely…”

"Then tell me, where did I go wrong?" Kosiché smiled, looking at him with bright, piercing eyes. Her small feet were like those of a little fairy eating ice cream in the dead of winter—slender, soft, and delicate, paired with the stockings, bringing Yang Hao countless wonderful sensations.

"Just as I was about to come to my climax in bed—ah!"

...

Kosicie, furious that her husband, who was on the verge of death but still couldn't resist interrupting, had given her a round of exhilarating pleasure, then half an hour later, they curled up in bed, ending their usual playful banter, and began to seriously discuss their respective work situations and mistakes of the day.

This has become part of the couple's daily routine. Before, when Koschitch was all alone, even if she made a mistake, she had no one to confide in or correct. But now it's much better. She has a husband, and even if she makes a mistake, as long as she talks to him about it, she can correct her mistake the next day. It's much better.

"In short, this is my work for today." Nestled in Yang Hao's arms, Kosiche solemnly explained her day's work to him—such as supporting the new policy proposals for the administrative center, strongly supporting the work-for-relief program, establishing diplomatic relations with other cities, and managing the future movement routes, business plans, and even military expansion and the surrounding villages and settlements of the Kosiche Duchy. She then lazily stretched, feeling much more comfortable knowing she had someone to rely on. "Do you see any problems?"

Faced with his wife's trust, Yang Hao held her seriously, pondering whether there were any oversights in Koschich's work. After a while, he found them.

"There are some places. For example, villages settled around cities don't have access to urban services, in other words, things like compulsory education schools... so they can't enjoy these conveniences and responsibilities?"

"Yes. After all, strictly speaking, they are not our people—our people, strictly speaking, refer to the citizens of the city."

“That won’t do. We need to unite all the forces we can. Besides, I don’t want to witness the horrific things those ignorant villagers are capable of again… Honestly, I’d rather they all be factory workers than run off to that desolate, impoverished place to rob caravans.”

"Then what do you mean?"

“Let’s build some schools in some outlying towns near villages so that people in the villages can attend school—it’s about the same for the infected. We need to win over the hearts of the infected, enlighten the villagers, and more importantly, this is something that can be done incidentally: the schools for villagers and the infected don’t need to be so high-class, and the teachers don’t need to be so qualified.”

"Schools are categorized, right? I understand that."

"Yes. Just like elite schools and schools for ordinary people—we can modify this to create our own system. For example, public schools with A, B, C, and D levels, and public schools for infected individuals. The better the school, the better the ability required to get in, and the better the school, the better the teachers who will teach them knowledge."

"Heh, but if we do that, I guess some people will gossip, right? Like saying we can't provide a unified education for the people?" Koschei thought for a moment and realized it was feasible. It just would take a long time to produce results. "But that's fine too. By then, the Koschei Duchy will be the first in all of Ursus—no, it will be the first in the whole world—to provide basic education to all people, including the infected."

"Yes, that's what I'm thinking."

Yang Hao's idea was actually very simple: he couldn't make everyone receive a royal education, but at least he could provide everyone with a path to upward mobility while ensuring that everyone received basic compulsory education.

At first, a poor student from a barren village might only be able to study in the lowest-level D-grade school. But if he works hard enough, he can get into a slightly higher-level C-grade school based on his academic performance. Don't underestimate this small level. If D-grade represents a barren village, then C-grade represents a city dweller who, although poor, is at least much better off than the villagers.

Through learning and compulsory education, people from the lower classes are given the opportunity to improve their social class, and are motivated to learn and work hard. This gives them a strong drive to strive for improvement, thinking, "If I can climb the social ladder and become a poor city dweller, then at least my children won't be villagers who can't even get enough to eat."

The Duchy of Kosice is the only territory in the world that adopts this policy. Naturally, all the poor people who are dissatisfied with their social status, and the talented young people who cannot get support because they are short of money, flock to the Duchy of Kosice like madmen.

Even if Yang Hao thought about it in a very casual way, he could imagine the day a dozen years from now, the Duchy of Koschei would be flooded with young foreign laborers. Although most of them might spend their entire lives studying only to become cheap laborers in the Duchy of Koschei, at least their children might become relatively expensive laborers, wouldn't they?

"But I have a question, the infected people..."

"Yes, an infected person. Koschche, as I said before... what are you afraid of?"

"The new nobles of the Ursus Empire seem to be planning to use the infected as a dumping ground for social problems."

"Oh?"

His wife's reminder made Yang Hao look thoughtful. She was worried that the Duchy of Koschche's blatant care for the infected would provoke the anger of the new nobles.

Sigh! What's the point of this? Let them persecute us if they want. The more they persecute, the more attractive the Duchy of Koschei will be to the Infected and their talent, and the greater their sense of belonging to the Duchy of Koschei will be. Besides, are those new nobles planning to launch a military operation against us?

If they dare to do this, after Duke Nikolai is purified, the next ones to be purified will be those new nobles.

Yang Haozhen clearly explained his thoughts to his wife, and after realizing that her husband was really determined to do this, his wife just smiled and said, "If you want to do this, I will support you."

...Of course, she also repeatedly emphasized her bottom line: that is, not to harm the direct interests of the Ursus Empire, or to weaken the Ursus Empire.

"Well then, that concludes my report. What about yours?"

After finishing his report, Kosic turned around, wrapped his arms around his waist, and then buried his face in his chest, blushing, and put his cat ears close to his mouth.

...On my end?

Now it's Yang Hao's turn. Actually, Yang Hao doesn't seem to have much to say today.

He chuckled dryly and took his wife's ear into his mouth. After explaining his work for the day, he asked curiously:

"Were the craftsmen and blacksmiths truly impressed by the products of the Martian military factory?"

"Yes. You can produce weapons there at any time—we'll prioritize the re-equipment and then find a way to sell or make effective use of the medium-quality equipment."

"Hmm, speaking of which, after my [Work Relief] national policy tree ends tomorrow, I'll have a second Martian military factory... Should I dedicate all of it to weapons production?"

Yang Hao's question surprised Kosichrie for a moment. However, she quickly calculated the gains and losses and gave Yang Hao a good suggestion.

1. Currently, the army of the Duchy of Kosiché does not have a great need for weapon replacement. One military factory can gradually replace all the equipment with the best. Moreover, if two factories produce equipment together, in the end, the army may be overwhelmed with the equipment that has been replaced before the warehouse can be expanded.

"That's equipment for tens of thousands of people. Even if the Duchy of Kosiché has four cities, there isn't enough space to stockpile that much equipment in a short time—let's take it slow."

2. Producing weapons in two factories simultaneously is too cumbersome. Considering the high value of Crimson Gold, Koschche's idea is to use one factory for the actual production of Crimson Gold, while the other factory, while producing weapons, can readily switch to new designs to produce the latest weapons. This ensures long-term profits while allowing for short-term equipment upgrades—a win-win situation.

"One will be used to produce pure gold, and the other to produce weapons. When the time comes, we can handle any financial needs, whether it's trade or anything else, with ease. Isn't that great?"

"Ah."

Yang Hao agreed with Kosiché's suggestion. However, on the other hand, he was currently fortunate to have a military factory outside the map; what if he later acquired a naval shipyard outside the map?

Sigh! We'll see when the time comes~ Just as Yang Hao was holding his wife, eager to spend the night with her—Kosiché suddenly grabbed him and said with a sinister smile:

"Then, my dear husband, can you explain this flattery to me properly again? You just managed to fool me, but if you don't resolve this tonight, I won't let you sleep."

"Haha...actually, it's just..."

.....

Yang Hao spent half an hour explaining to Kosichrie some of his mistakes regarding the Kazimierz pony spy affair: for example, inadequate supervision, giving them too much trust, and being blinded by his own desires, which led him to do irrational things.

"Well, it's normal to be a bit impulsive since it's my first time seeing Kuranta people..."

"...To act so impulsively, my dear husband, you really are a complete pervert."

"Yeah, I am a pervert, so what?" Yang Hao readily admitted that he was a pervert. "If I weren't a pervert, why would I marry an immortal who has lived for thousands of years?"

"...Although I'm very happy that you said that, your soft thing down there is making the atmosphere terrible. My husband, you can still move, can't you?"

His actions seem to have had some negative consequences.

He looked up at the clock on the wall, his face covered in cold sweat; it was already one o'clock in the morning.

Chapter 4.4

On the morning of April 4th, after the completion of the "Work-for-Relief" national policy tree in the "Puppet Stage" section, Yang Hao immediately received the corresponding feedback.

"...These are the [tokens] that suddenly appeared on our desk." Kosiche murmured to a green banknote on the desk as she sat on the bed, enjoying her husband's affectionate gesture of styling her hair. "Hmm, just in case, let me confirm—is this good news from your national policy?"

"Of course. Shall I tell you?"

"of course."

As Yang Hao combed her hair, he explained the effects of completing the national policy tree.

The most immediate effect is the creation of a token called "Duke Coin"—these banknotes will form the foundation of the work-for-relief program, its cornerstone. Only with these banknotes can Yang Hao's work-for-relief plan be implemented normally.

As for whether the people believe in the effects of these tokens? Haha—what's the point of the puppet stage? From the moment the puppet stage activated the national policy tree, everyone in the entire Duchy of Kosiché now believes that these [Duke Coins] are genuine currencies that can buy consumer goods and improve their lives!

Once the people believe that [Duke Coins] truly possess purchasing power and government credibility, naturally, the residents' stability will begin to rise daily. Of course, since Yang Hao hasn't yet officially provided large-scale job opportunities to the unemployed, the increase in stability is still slow. However, once he provides the first large number of jobs this afternoon, stability will surge dramatically, like—

Just as Margarita's stock price was declining while Duke Kosiché's stock price was rising every day, the public sentiment in the Dukedom of Kosiché was soaring to overflowing levels every day after people had jobs, which was quite remarkable.

"The people are starting to stabilize, so can I finally let my army end the reign of terror? To be honest, maintaining military patrols and order in the city is very expensive..."

"Yeah, yeah, but wait for my signal, okay? Ah—would you like to try a ponytail?"

"If you like—wait? I remember those Kuranta people—"

Once the residents settled down, with jobs and renewed confidence in the future, they naturally stopped thinking about things like "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?" or overthrowing the current Duke of Kosicé to live a better life. They started working diligently again, not for any other reason than that, who would dislike a stable life? Naturally, the residents' resistance level also decreased significantly.

Once the resistance from the residents, which had been a potential threat, subsided, the entire Duchy of Kosiché began to thrive again, attempting to shake off the heavy impact of the economic crisis. Merchants, driven by greed, would then flock back to the city, bringing goods and taking Kosiché's products with them. The circulation rate of the commodity economy would gradually rise from its original 0%—how much it would rise is not important. What matters is that commerce begins to circulate again, and the commercial economy can restart; this is the best outcome.

And when the commercial economy was able to restart... well, now aren't there many entrepreneurs and factory owners in the Duchy of Koschie who have gone bankrupt and are so indebted that even if they sold their bodies for decades, they might not be able to pay off their debts? Alas! They still hold the ownership of their factories and businesses, but they are no longer able to repay their debts. Even if they were to borrow money, I doubt many banks would be willing to lend them any.

So, what role will the Duke of Cosice's mansion play here? It will be—an acquirer. And a low-price acquirer, like buying Coca-Cola at wholesale prices, buying up these bankrupt businesses and factories by the case, and then renovating them.

Of course, not all factories and businesses will go bankrupt. Some factories and businesses that are still struggling will receive new orders and regain vitality due to the morning dew brought about by the recovery of the commercial economy—and the Duke's Mansion is naturally the one issuing these new orders.

The Duke's Mansion will not only be the leader of the "Work Relief" program, but also, under Yang Hao's leadership, will build "Specialty Stores" in various residential areas after the program begins. These specialty stores, which buy back large quantities of "Duke Coins," will sell large quantities of cheap, stockpiled consumer goods to the workers. However, the consumer goods stockpiled in the warehouses will eventually run out.

When things got to that point, Yang Hao naturally wouldn't mind sharing the profits with other private or state-owned enterprises. After all, it's not good to push someone to the brink and make them jump off a building, and besides, the pig is skin and bones now, so there's not much profit to be made from slaughtering it...

"In short, we will not acquire some of the private and capital companies that we are optimistic about for the time being—we will wait until they are stronger before we go after them in person."

"Hehe, and they have no other choice. Either they refuse the orders we divert and go bankrupt after a few months of starvation, then they're bought at a low price. Or they get fat and healthy by us and end up eating their fill... My husband, you're so cunning."

"Heh? Compared to my wife, I'm still a bit green, aren't I? So, my wife, do you have any good suggestions?"

Kosic simply smiled in response to Yang Hao's affection.

“Your basic education is quite good. Come on, let’s send all the heirs of those private and capitalist companies to our top schools. After all, it’s too wasteful to spend money to acquire them. There are places where the money is needed more—why can’t we educate those heirs so that they can pack themselves up and give themselves to us? With my dear husband’s abilities, it shouldn’t be difficult, right?”

Simply put, Yang Hao's plan had a flaw—once the pig grew big and fat, the person slaughtering it would not only need to buy a good knife, but also find several people to hold the pig down to prevent it from accidentally injuring others while struggling, which would be quite unsightly.

Koschche's plan was much more sinister—that is, to brainwash the pigs before they grew up so that they would become fat and jump into the meat grinder on their own.

This not only saves on labor costs, but also requires very little money. Plus, Yang Hao's reforms to improve people's livelihoods can conveniently send people in for a "good education." The only problem is that if a few business owners simply choose not to marry, then Yang Hao's old methods will have to be used to get to them.

Sigh! Since I'm going to die either way, why bother worrying so much?

The couple smiled at each other in front of the mirror, knowing with unspoken understanding that the other was thinking the same thing.

Chapter 137

At 9:4 AM on April 4th.

When Ivan Levsky went out to look for work as usual, he was worrying about his family's next meal.

Not long ago, Ivan got the job of cleaning up the ruins of three noble mansions damaged by a gas explosion. Thanks to those ruins, he was finally able to put his brute strength to work and earn a few crumpled bills so his wife, Leia, could buy some bread on the street.

But this work wouldn't last long. Right now, the rubble at the ruins where he was working was almost completely cleared, as were the two ruins next door. Ivan was starting to worry about finding work.

"Phew... the cash and bread at home should last a few more days." Ivan stood at the end of the line looking for work, his face full of worry. "Work, work... I need to find long-term work, at least three or four months' worth..."

He had initially thought that the ruins would be used to build new houses after being cleared, but it was clear that only the ruins with outsiders' help were intended for new construction. The remaining two ruins seemed to have been left unattended after the debris was cleared?

Maybe so, or perhaps something more advanced needs to be built there, and an ordinary worker like him simply isn't capable of undertaking that kind of work.

Ugh!

Ivan dreaded the thought of those high-level jobs: he was illiterate, so even the previous newspaper articles had to be dictated to him by Leia. What would happen to his family if he truly needed to be literate to continue with the upcoming work?

Ivan sighed heavily. Just then, he suddenly noticed a commotion breaking out in the ranks.

How is this going?

Seeing the line of unemployed people looking for work become chaotic and run in one direction, Ivan, for some reason, impulsively followed them.

Following the surging, noisy crowd, Ivan, feeling dizzy and disoriented, arrived at an intersection not far from the street where they were queuing to find work. In the middle of the intersection, there was a makeshift platform on the road; the street was blocked off, and he had no idea why.

As Ivan kept tiptoeing, trying to get a glimpse of the dark mass of people over there, he noticed that a man who appeared to be a civil servant, with the help of several armored soldiers wielding greatswords, jumped onto the makeshift steps.

What was going to happen? Ivan looked at the civil servant with utter bewilderment, as did everyone else. They held their breath, realizing this could be a momentous event that could change their current impoverished and miserable lives.

...

After climbing onto the platform, the civil servant first dusted off his clothes. Then, the slightly young-looking man took out a document from his clothes and looked around at the unemployed people.

After a while, he coughed a few times, cleared his throat, and, with a voice like that of a hen being strangled, his face flushed, began to explain the contents of the document to everyone through a megaphone:

"Attention, attention! Starting today, Duchess Kosiché will, under the leadership of the Duchess House, Duke Kosiché, and her great husband, Lord Yang Hao, launch a work-for-relief program that will continue until the economic crisis ends!"

Work relief? What's that? Is it just another policy of distributing relief meals? Ivan was somewhat disappointed, but also very grateful: although the people of Ursus are resilient and hardworking, they won't accept relief from others unless absolutely necessary... but if it really comes to that, receiving relief can still save a family's life.

But—is that all? Just as Ivan and most of the unemployed were feeling somewhat disappointed, the civil servant took a breath and continued to roar:

"Now, I will announce the general contents of the work-for-relief program!"