Chapter 1066: Economic Base Determines the Superstructure

"That would be perfect."

Miss Luo Quan was quite satisfied with this reply. Although her goal hadn't been achieved immediately, at least there was a lead.

"By the way, Holy Mother, could you please stand a little closer?"

After emerging from the virtual world, Fafreya took out a spherical instrument and aimed its single eye at Miss Luo Quan:

"The Church has decided to build another 124-meter-tall statue of the Holy Mother in the plaza outside the Summer Palace. We need your body and facial data to replicate it to scale."

"Besides that, this data will also be used to craft the Purest Holy Robes. These are the exclusive garments you will wear when preaching and bestowing blessings."

"Do I need to strike a pose?" Miss Luo Quan walked over as Fafreya requested.

The Saintess smiled and replied, "No need, just stand relaxed. The scanning beam of this instrument is quite intelligent."

Once she finished speaking, a blue beam shot out from the sphere, completely enveloping Miss Luo Quan's entire body. After about three seconds, the beam vanished.

"All done." Fafreya retracted the instrument into her storage ring.

"If there are no other requests, Holy Mother, we shall take our leave now." Varena bowed to Miss Luo Quan with her hand over her chest, and Fafreya followed suit.

"Goodbye, goodbye. If anything comes up, I will contact you again." Miss Luo Quan waved at the two of them.

After they left, Ye Zhining finally asked, "Miss Luo Quan, it seems you are quite obsessed with becoming stronger."

"Who wouldn't like to improve their strength?" Miss Luo Quan countered.

"That's true." As a martial arts fanatic, Bai Xingwei nodded in deep agreement.

The greatest joy in her life was watching her cultivation grow bit by bit, and then defeating one powerful opponent after another, so she agreed with Miss Luo Quan's sentiment completely.

As for Ye Zhining, because she entered the Dao through Qi Luck, the process of gaining power was too simple, so she didn't care about it as much.

Ye Zhining smiled and said, "If you want to become stronger so badly, you could have just told me directly. I still have quite a few Nine-Turn Golden Dans in my possession. Eating just one pill of that grade is enough to reach the Divine Refining realm!"

"The level increase brought by Nine-Turn Golden Dans is indeed fast, but it also comes with an unstable foundation." Bai Xingwei shook her head upon hearing this. "If Miss Luo Quan's ideal is to become a master at the Dao-Entering level, this is not a good choice."

Miss Luo Quan nodded. "That's exactly what I think. Cultivating step-by-step is slow, but at least the foundation is laid firmly. In the long run, it's better."

"That's true too." Ye Zhining didn't dwell on it too much. "In any case, I support your decision. If you are dissatisfied with the cultivation resources the Dawn Church gives you, you can tell me."

Speaking of this, Ye Zhining seemed to remember something and patted Miss Luo Quan on the shoulder. "Actually, just now when the Dawn Church's Saintess asked you to make requests, you could have been much bolder. You could have listed every treasure you could think of, and they would absolutely have been able to produce them."

Miss Luo Quan explained with a smile, "I'm trying to establish a good image for the public, aren't I? As the Holy Mother, I have to at least appear a bit noble."

Bai Xingwei chuckled. "The nobility in your mind might be a bit different from the nobility in the minds of the people of the Universe."

"What do you mean by that?" Miss Luo Quan was a bit puzzled.

Bai Xingwei explained, "On Huan Yu Xing, every family is very wealthy. Even those believers mentioned earlier who live in poverty are actually just choosing to endure hardship on purpose; their secular identities might be billionaires or something similar."

"As for the money required to build a palace, it's not as exaggerated as you imagine. Compared to the behavior of those truly wealthy people, this can only be considered the lowest level of luxury."

"So, you don't have to worry at all about being criticized by netizens for building a palace. In their minds, this is a matter-of-course expense; they won't think you are vain or anything like that."

"The reason is simply that there are just too many rich people on Huan Yu Xing; this level of consumption really can't be called high."

"That's what I wanted to say." Ye Zhining nodded. "Which of the ministers in the court doesn't have their own private vacation planet? On their private planets, they are the emperors and can do everything they want to do."

"Building a palace really is no big deal."

After listening to the two women's explanations, Miss Luo Quan realized she had been a bit narrow-minded.

It seems the development and wealth of the Universe civilization far exceeded what she had seen; it couldn't be summarized by just "peace and prosperity."

She felt bad that she had kept telling the Saintess and the others to keep the Summer Palace simple; now it seemed she was truly ignorant.

It was like dining at a king's banquet where everyone used golden spoons, and when a servant handed her a silver spoon, she didn't dare to take it, hurriedly saying she only wanted a wooden spoon.

That was roughly the idea. After thinking it through, Miss Luo Quan was now full of regret.

If she had known it was like this, she should have asked for the moon. It was such a pity. Now, turning back to ask the Saintess and the others to add more for her was a bit hard to bring up.

After considering it, Miss Luo Quan decided to let it go.

"By the way, how long does it usually take to build a Summer Palace of this scale?" Miss Luo Quan had just looked at the construction area of the Holy Mother's Summer Palace, which was about 300,000 square meters.

Counting the outer walls, landscaping, and other buildings, the final area was estimated to be around one million square meters.

This was already quite large. The total area of the Forbidden City was less than 800,000 square meters. She was suddenly living in a place larger than an emperor's, and she truly wasn't used to it.

"That mainly depends on who is building it." Facing Miss Luo Quan's question, Ye Zhining laughed. "If it were the construction team of the Saint Tang Heavenly Dynasty, it would be built in a month at most."

"But if it were the construction team of the Divine Blessing Federation, it's hard to say. It could take half a year to a year, or it might not even be finished in five, six, seven, or eight years."

"It takes that long!" Miss Luo Quan's eyes nearly popped out.

For a building complex as large as the Forbidden City, the ancients only took fourteen years to build it.

If modern technology were used, as long as enough money was provided, it definitely wouldn't take seven or eight years to complete.

And the Universe people, whose technology was ahead of Earth by who knows how many dimensions, would actually spend so long building such a palace—Miss Luo Quan truly couldn't understand it.

"Why is that?" Miss Luo Quan asked in disbelief. She racked her brain but couldn't figure out why the gap between the two was so large.

"Because they want to make money." Ye Zhining chuckled.

As the Saint Tang Empress, she had collaborated with the Divine Blessing Federation on who knows how many projects.

Whenever a Divine Blessing Federation construction team was used, the efficiency was infuriatingly slow.

A small project that could be finished in three days would be dragged out by them for three months!

Why drag it out? Because the longer they drag it out, the more they earn.

If you finish the work in three or five days, how can you ask the Finance Department for money?

If your subordinates don't go before the Finance Department, how can the Finance Department withdraw funds from the national treasury?

If the layers of interest distribution can't be set up, many big shots will be unhappy.

Building a project slowly will at most lead to being scolded a few times and having the person in charge's ability belittled.

But if the big shots are made unhappy, losing one's head is the least of it; if things go poorly, one might end up dead with five bullets in the back.

Therefore, the Divine Blessing Federation's construction teams have an unspoken rule: after a project starts, let it sit for a month, and then work sporadically.

They call it a benefit for the employees, so that even the workers don't have to work too hard.

In reality, it's just slacking off, keeping the project in a state of construction, and constantly asking the Finance Department for money.

The larger the project, the more this is the case. Previously, the Divine Blessing Federation wanted to transform a large planet into a mechanized habitable planet. The plan was to complete it within five years, and then after three years of work, they had just set up the stage, and various materials hadn't been prepared. I'm afraid no one knows how long it will take to complete.

However, since this habitable planet isn't an urgent or important project, no one cares how long it's dragged out.

In this state, Miss Luo Quan also began to worry about the construction progress of her Summer Palace.

At their speed, I'm afraid the palace might not even be built by the time the Holy Son is born.

Of course, that's assuming there is such a Holy Son.

"In any case, try to mention it when the time comes. You must have the Saint Tang Heavenly Dynasty's construction team take the contract, and try to find a local supervisor as well."

"We are famous for pursuing efficiency here. Although we don't treat people like people when working, at least we can satisfy the client, provided the money is enough."

Ye Zhining gave Miss Luo Quan a heads-up, but Miss Luo Quan didn't even know if she could call the shots on this.

Listening to the tone of Bishop Varena and Saintess Fafreya, it seemed that everything had to be reported to the Pope for a decision.

If she made a request, she guessed it would still be up to the Pope to decide in the end.

So whether this goes smoothly depends on whether the Pope is reasonable.

"Actually, building the Holy Mother's Summer Palace for you this time is all benefit and no harm to the Dawn Church; they don't even need to spend their own money."

Ye Zhining continued to twist the knife in Miss Luo Quan's heart. "The Holy Mother's status in the hearts of the Church and the believers is quite lofty. As long as the Church announces to the outside world that they are going to build the Holy Mother's Summer Palace, there will be plenty of believers coming to donate money."

"You can imagine how many wealthy people there are in a Church with an 85% belief rate in the Divine Blessing Federation."

"And if each of these wealthy people just plucks a single hair, I reckon they could build a dozen palaces."

"Stop talking." Miss Luo Quan raised her hand to stop Ye Zhining's behavior. "If you keep talking, I'm going to regret this so much my intestines will turn green."

"If I had known that building the Summer Palace was such a profitable project, I would have told them to build it to the highest specifications, using the best materials for everything, and bringing in a set of the rarest treasures."

"It should have been like that from the start!" Bai Xingwei nodded fiercely. "Just now I actually wanted to remind you that you could ask for more, but seeing you so noble and selfless, I really thought you were a noble person, someone who had detached themselves from low-level interests, a great person."

"Great my foot!" Miss Luo Quan cursed directly. "Who doesn't want their life to be better? At first, I just thought building a palace was already very luxurious. Who knew that on the Universe, this doesn't even count as showing off wealth."

"It's not too late to regret it now." Like Ye Zhining, Bai Xingwei also suggested that Miss Luo Quan go and make some more requests.

This is using legitimate means to demand one's legal rights; it's not shameful at all.

"Actually, Miss Luo Quan, if you are really too embarrassed, you can also try another way." Ye Zhining suddenly thought of a better method.

"Let's hear it." Miss Luo Quan looked at the Empress seriously, her eyes full of a desire to learn.

Ye Zhining said in a deep voice, "You just post a status online, talk about the details of the Summer Palace the Dawn Church is going to build for you, and then say it's so magnificent and amazing that you never dreamed you would have such treatment."

"In short, just be happy and share your joy with your fans."

"Then, the fans who know their stuff will be enraged by the details you describe and start questioning why the Dawn Church is being so perfunctory, bullying the Holy Mother for coming from a small place and being ignorant of the world, right? Is this all they're giving her?"

"Because your popularity is high right now, the matter will definitely ferment quickly, and more and more believers will know about it."

"When there are many people questioning them, the Dawn Church will definitely adjust the construction plan under pressure."

"And you, you just did a bad thing with good intentions; no one will blame you, and it might even make the believers and fans feel more sorry for you."

Once this plan was presented, Miss Luo Quan was shocked. What kind of "playing hard to get" or "retreating to advance" empty-handed wolf-hunting scheme was this?

Sure enough, those who play politics have dirty hearts. This method was almost flawless.

"But if I do this, will it cause trouble for the Dawn Church?"

Miss Luo Quan thought for a moment, but in the end, she was still a bit hesitant. "After all, they are building the Summer Palace for me out of good intentions. If I end up scheming against them, that wouldn't be very good."

Ye Zhining said righteously, "What's not good about it? They aren't spending their own money anyway, and they have to make money through you. In the end, they are using your reputation to raise funds. Of course, you have the right to demand better treatment."

After much consideration, Miss Luo Quan decided to wait a while before posting the status. "Let's wait a while first. Maybe the Pope will also realize the problem after checking the plan and take the initiative to adjust it for me."

"You are truly innocent and kind. No wonder you can be the Holy Mother." Ye Zhining looked at Miss Luo Quan, her face full of frustration at her lack of ambition. "There aren't that many good people in this world. Do you think everyone is as willing to treat you well as Xingwei and I are?"

"Are you really that lucky that you can run into good things everywhere?"

"Do not do evil things even if they are small, do not fail to do good things even if they are small." Miss Luo Quan lowered her head and said a maxim.

In fact, she was very conflicted inside. She regretted not asking for better gifts, but at the same time, her moral bottom line made her feel embarrassed to use such methods to repay kindness with ingratitude.

This is actually the current situation for most people.

If you are neither extremely noble nor extremely hypocritical, then you will definitely live a very hard life.

Miss Luo Quan was the kind of person who had a moral bottom line but wasn't so noble that she didn't care about anything outside of herself, which is why she was so conflicted now.

However, the good news is that while there aren't many good people in this world, she always seems to run into them often.

After a while, the Saintess sent her a short message:

"The Pope said the previous plan was too simple and needs some modifications. You are the Holy Mother of the Dawn Church; both your image and the influence of the Summer Palace are very important. Being too simple won't do."