Chapter 1931

"Bajia's success involved tremendous chance; at the time, the Great Return Sect occupying Lingxu City and Mount Xushan was already in decline, and was locked in bitter struggle with the nearby human nations. To tell the truth, at that time——" Xin Yi pressed his brow, casually placing a stone on the board, "——Ling Mountain's interior also produced some disagreements, hearts were not united, so six hundred years ago, on what is now Bajia's territory, several major sects and factions were very much at odds with the Great Return Sect. These parties weakened each other, giving the demon race an opening."

"The Demon Emperor's founding of Bajia also had the convenience of heavenly timing. Over six hundred years ago, spiritual qi waned, even more severely than seven years ago. This environment made immortal sects and cultivators suffer greatly, but human nations thrived like fish in water." Xin Yi said softly, "The Demon Emperor precisely seized this opportunity."

Sun Fuling blinked: "Spiritual qi weakens, immortal sects and cultivators are uncomfortable — do demons escape unscathed? Why was it instead a good opportunity for the northern demon nation to act?"

"The demon race naturally also suffered. But taking history as a mirror, every time the spiritual qi tide recedes, human nations' advantages become prominent. In my view——" Xin Yi's expression turned serious, "Their unique advantage lies in 'humans' themselves."

"Human methods of organization and governance, concepts of ruling nations, are renewed in almost every spiritual qi tide. Sometimes worse, sometimes better, but overall superior to both immortal sects and the demon race."

He Lingchuan nodded, looking thoughtful.

What Xin Yi is saying now is his own view on Bajia's success, but immortals are universally arrogant toward humans; how many would bother to gather data and research evidence with feet on the ground?

Arrogance easily brings prejudice.

So this is very likely Xin Yi's own doing, or the result of Xin Yi having subordinates observe.

Hmph, that would take a very long time.

"The founding Demon Emperor of Bajia realized this point, so he heavily employed humans to manage the empire." Having kept his head down too long, Xin Yi turned his neck, producing a cracking sound, "It's said the resistance encountered then was enormous; demon kings and demon generals were furious, questioning the Demon Emperor why he would lightly hand over the fruits they won with blood and sweat to humans who had achieved nothing?"

"This resistance was indeed not small. The founding Demon Emperor had far-reaching strategy and knew how to make trade-offs." The Demon Emperor thought: to employ humans, to borrow human intelligence, one must give high office and generous treatment — simply put, give power. Other great demons naturally refused; the wars of expansion were fought with demon blood and sweat, so why were rights and wealth given instead to weak humans with no prior achievements?

Is this fair? This is of course not fair.

They absolutely would not yield willingly.

But a vast empire wanting to stand firm and develop must be pragmatic.

The newly established Bajia was not yet stable, still faced the powerful threat of Ling Mountain, and there had never before been a precedent of a successful demon nation; the leader's pressure was immense.

Between "fairness" and "capability," the founding Demon Emperor leaned toward the latter. That is why He Lingchuan said he knew how to make trade-offs.

"The Demon Emperor established an institution named the 'Vice Prefect Grove,' broadly recruiting talent, accepting memorials, preparing to assist governance, and correspondingly granting official rank and treatment. Result: the Vice Prefect Grove had just been established when seven or eight of its talents were killed, including ones the Demon Emperor particularly relied heavily on." The game grew increasingly difficult; Xin Yi could only spare half a mind to converse with He Lingchuan, "The Demon Emperor flew into a rage, investigated and found the mastermind behind the scenes was a great general with merit from the founding. He showed no leniency either, executing all participants under pressure, including many soldiers who had rendered meritorious service in the founding wars. That great general was also stripped of cultivation and thrown into Mount Xushan's dark dungeon."

"Because of this matter, the newly established Bajia nearly collapsed again. Fortunately the Demon Emperor, or rather his newly accepted human ministers, had great means, plus the Heavenly Demon strongly supported him, so this crisis was ultimately passed with danger but no disaster. One of the prices paid, or rather a compromise the Demon Emperor made, was that he had to enfeoff the most meritorious demon generals as kings, giving them larger territories and higher weight, before the opposing voices slowly diminished."

"I see." He Lingchuan asked him, "Then why could the northern demon nation succeed, while the human nations supported by Ling Mountain could not? Clearly the founding Demon Emperor faced greater resistance."

Human nations employing human ministers is perfectly natural; unlike a demon nation first employing human ministers, which still had to go through a difficult ice-breaking process?

"Exactly, that is the key point." Two or three golden osmanthus petals drifted into the courtyard; Xin Yi turned his head to the sky, his tone full of 'hating iron for not becoming steel,' "Speaking of 'employing people,' Ling Mountain truly falls short of the demon nation by ten thousand eight thousand li!"

Sun Fuling smiled: "That exaggerated?"

"Not exaggerated at all." Xin Yi shook his head, "Not mentioning human nations that couldn't be propped up; any that could be propped up, immortals and immortal sects would soon demand offerings and filial tribute. After all, heaven and earth spiritual qi is scarce; since they had vassal states under them, they naturally tried every way to make them collect resources and provide services. Think: in that spiritual qi environment, the human nations' own output was barely enough for themselves, yet immortals still gouged away a large portion — how could the common people below have a way to survive?"

Neither asked whether immortals and immortal sects could restrain themselves from exploiting emerging human nations. Because the answer is they could not.

You've already starved seven days and seven nights; suddenly a bowl of steaming, fat-glistening braised pork rice appears before you, aroma assaulting the nose. Tell me, how long can you hold back?

If other starving ghosts also see this bowl of rice. Even if you can hold back and not eat, what if someone else eats it?

"And besides open offerings, within human nations there were ambitious men colluding with individual immortals of immortal sects, mutually conspiring, stirring up wind and rain in the royal court. Finer reasons need not be mentioned; anyway these small nations were barely established, and after being ruthlessly tossed about like this several times, it would be strange if they didn't collapse."

Xin Yi sighed: "Actually, the Yu Nation supported by Ling Mountain came closest to success. The Yu Nation's ruler had courage and foresight; after founding the nation he rested and recuperated with the people, governed effectively, and knew how to negotiate with immortal sects, largely severing the vicious cycle previous human nations fell into. What a pity——"

Not a single mistake, not a single word, not a single shot, not a single inner, not a single content, not a single at, not a single one, not a single look!

"Why did it not succeed?" He Lingchuan thought: actually Shanjin Plain also produced many wise rulers, but all were ephemeral, unable to consolidate their legacy or pass it on well.

"In the prime of life, he died violently." Xin Yi sighed, "Heaven did not grant him years; nothing could be done. After his death, Yu Nation's subsequent rulers all lacked his talent, plus at that time Bajia was still causing trouble from the side, so Yu Nation couldn't last twenty years before perishing."

Sun Fuling thought a moment, somewhat moved: "Unexpected — the Heavenly Demon being unable to descend personally instead became an advantage when facing immortals."

Hearing this, Xin Yi clapped his hands: "It really is like that!"