I am the emperor's most beloved younger brother and the empress dowager's favorite youngest son, yet I volunteered to be sent to the most impoverished border county in the whole nation. The court officials all laughed at me for ruining my own future.
Little did they know that I had awakened a population System: for every additional person in my territory, I received a reward of one hundred copper coins.
Refugees, disaster victims, and craftsmen flocked to my county. Its population soared, bringing in a steady three thousand taels of silver every day.
We reclaimed wasteland, built factories, repaired roads, provided disaster relief, and trained troops. In just a few years, a poor county became a prosperous haven.
Later, turmoil erupted at court. Imperial authority teetered, the vassal kings carved up the realm, and the people were plunged into misery.
Everyone thought I was a down-and-out, idle prince. They had no idea that I commanded the people and possessed unrivaled wealth and power, making me the dynasty's one and only pillar of support.
