Chapter 366

In the fifth year of the new Heavenly Court, you ended the large-scale operation 'Lin Six's expedition to the Eastern Ocean'; over a million mere soy-sauce soldiers followed you around the world, only to return empty-handed to their hometown, Xiniu Hezhou…

Strictly speaking, this eastern expedition was obviously a failure, because you neither achieved the strategic goal of conquering the Southern Abundant Continent by force, nor achieved the economic goal of stimulating domestic demand through war, and you didn't even fight a single decent battle the whole way.

Over a million ambitious youths who hoped to achieve fame and fortune ended up with nothing; they merely followed you on a round-the-world trip, a publicly funded travel group built for that…

Everyone privately complained about it.

But with the rollout of your 'Northeast Two Continents Grand Development' strategy, the most enthusiastic responders were precisely these soldiers who returned from the eastern expedition empty-handed!

The reason is simple: these soldiers truly followed you around the world, personally seeing the spice-covered islands of the Eastern Victory Divine Continent and the vast, uninhabited plains and clustered gold, silver, and iron mines of Northern Luzhou… No one knows better than them what wealth opportunities the other two continents hold!

Now that you encourage private overseas development and are willing to provide safe routes and basic support, they will surely not miss this profitable opportunity…

Soon, the first batch of civilian development teams were ready; their core members were precisely those former eastern expedition soldiers, harboring dreams of 'gold', 'manor', and 'spice', either as individuals or in groups of several or dozens forming 'development companies', they set sail with fleets toward the distant seas.

…

While encouraging private large-scale development, you also continually innovated production techniques, causing mortal productivity to leap forward!

In Year 6 of the new Heavenly Court, you and your subordinate gods invented a new textile machine, greatly boosting weaving efficiency; thus you established a cotton mill, which not only provided jobs but also greatly lowered the price of cotton yarn and related goods, meeting people's needs.

That year, you and the gods also invented a new steel-making technique, instantly raising West Continent's original steel output nearly tenfold; agricultural tools and other products were thus upgraded, becoming sturdier and more usable, greatly promoting development across all industries.

That year, you again invented new farming techniques and fertilizers, greatly increasing grain production…

Under you and the gods' ingenuity, one beneficial invention after another for mortal development emerged, injecting strong momentum into the thriving Xiniu Hezhou!

More importantly, you have fully absorbed the lessons of your past life this time, so all your inventions are replicable by mortals, and there will no longer be any 'divine-power technology' that exceeds mortal limits…

Of course, your reason for doing all this for mortals is not to single-handedly prop up mortal productivity, but merely to act as a 'guide' who inherits the past and opens the future, stimulating mortals' independent innovation wave!

And your purpose has evidently been achieved as well…

The following year, mortals followed suit, using your ready-made technology to set up factories while also relying on their wisdom and experience to make many related inventions, thereby increasing efficiency!

Having tasted the benefits, they quickly seized the era's opportunity and became flying pigs on the windfall.

Factories sprang up one after another, new inventions emerged one after another, bringing comprehensive progress to the economy and industry!

Moreover, these advances are no longer solely reliant on divine power but are led by mortals; this alone proves they are on the right path—high-spirited and full of fighting spirit!

A brand-new era is beginning to show its dawn…

…

In Year 7 of the new Heavenly Court, the first batch of overseas development teams returned, but not dejected from failure; instead, they came back triumphantly to sell their goods!

The situation in the North and East Continents was even better than they imagined—spices, gold mines, land, and other resources were virtually inexhaustible.

When their small ships, laden with goods, docked, these fine products from those continents were almost instantly snapped up!

The substantial profits left these overseas voyagers greatly satisfied, and also stirred the still-cautious West Continent civilians: the chance to get rich is right before your eyes—go for it!

Thus, large ship orders filled the shipyards; even with overtime, the shipyards couldn't meet demand, sweating profusely…

Seeing the booming shipbuilding market, many wealthy people seized the opportunity, set up big shipyards, and before long were raking in profits hand over fist!

The shipyard owners were pleased, the merchant caravans eager to sail for wealth were also pleased, and everyone had a bright future…

Amid this wave, another group spotted a business opportunity, thus heavily investing in new machinery and technical staff, and followed the fleets to the East and North Continents!

Their vision was sharp: the remaining two continents urgently need development, so demand for clothing, food, housing, transportation, and usage will surely be great; although the market is still small now, if we follow this trend, the future will surely have vast prospects!

If one seizes the chance to dominate a weak market and grows alongside the development teams, wouldn't one become a local tycoon-level mogul!

Opportunity must not be missed, for once lost it never comes again…

Free market, thriving and prospering!

Thus, this thriving trade and grand development of the three continents seemed as if guided by an invisible hand…

Too great, Lin Yek!

Of course, facing this seemingly thriving free market and its invisible hand overhead, you were very cautious: a prosperous free market inevitably leads to disorder and chaos, even to the occurrence of nefarious events.

Therefore, you must extend your visible hand and firmly grasp that invisible hand!

Thus, in Year 10 of the new Heavenly Court, you formally established the 'East Continental Company' and the 'North Continental Company', letting these institutions nominally 'private companies' but actually 'state units' uniformly oversee development affairs in the two continents.

This way, they could promote orderly development through normal commercial means, and suppress illegal companies with force, fully ensuring the order of reasonable development!

The two major companies stationed in the two continents served very well as the visible hand…

Thus, you came to possess two hands—one invisible, one visible—together maintaining humanity's forward, rapid development.

Even greater, Lin Yek!

…

Industry, economy, technology, population—all obtained ever-renewing development under the joint stroking of your two hands.

And when these benefits truly reached the entire populace, the people of the West Continent, who had long regarded you as an incompetent tyrant, gradually changed their opinion.

Your reputation step by step shifted from rottenly bad to normal, then to excellent and omnipotent, caring for the people, until you became a living sage!

"Loyalty! Sincerity!"

"Pasha's favor is not yet repaid!"

"Too great, Augustus! Great, no need for many words!"

"…"

The populace sang praises of your merit and virtue!

But you merely smiled, then immediately issued a new decree…

"The Sultan heard that southern jade flowers are extremely beautiful, but land transport is inconvenient, so he always lacks the chance to see them; therefore, effective immediately, he conscripts four million men and women to dig a grand canal connecting north and south, so that the Sultan's black ships bearing the eagle flag can roam the south to view the jade flowers!"

Commoners: …

"Pasha's order: seeing that past land routes were blocked, hindering troop movements and trade, effective immediately, he conscripts one million men and women to build a speedway for Pasha, connecting all major cities under heaven, so that vehicles travel on the same gauge!"

Commoners: …

"Augustus' order: since irrigation is difficult under heaven and floods and droughts frequently occur, he commands all prefectures and counties to extensively repair canals, reservoirs, and other water facilities, without error!"

Commoners: …

"The sovereign has issued an order: my pyramid is still not big enough, so I am conscripting seven hundred thousand people to rebuild the pyramid—no mistakes allowed!"

"Commoners: ……"

"The order of Sultan Lin is passed down! For now, we'll set it at this much; later we'll add more depending on the situation…"

"Commoners: Wait!"

"Commoners: What can I say?"

"With this series of massive wonder constructions, the people who had been praising your endless generosity suddenly burst into loud curses…"

"But fortunately, times are different now; after your two great hands' careful governance, the people's productivity has long since changed beyond recognition, and with your divine assistance in these matters, though building these wonders causes chaos everywhere and endless complaints, it does not actually exhaust the people or drain the treasury."

"Moreover, aside from rebuilding the pyramid, these engineering wonders are all beneficial to the state and the people; built within limited labor, they will not provoke too much opposition."

"Thus, under your rule, the Western Province continues to improve…"

"……"

"In the twentieth year of the new Heavenly Court, the commoners of the Western Province improved papermaking based on past experience, causing paper production to surge!"

"In the twenty-second year of the new Heavenly Court, the Western Province commoners invented an advanced printing technique, making large-scale dissemination of knowledge possible! Meanwhile, while you were undertaking massive construction projects, you also early on implemented compulsory education, personally compiling teaching materials, organizing much scientific knowledge into a complete system and teaching it to the people by category… However, due to the high cost of learning, your compulsory education was not very effective."

"Therefore, as soon as papermaking and printing were discovered, you applied them to compulsory education, thereby greatly reducing the cost of learning!"

"This practice may seem to yield no short-term gain, but it is in fact a true millennium plan, awaiting future fruition…"

"In the twenty-fifth year of the new Heavenly Court, someone based on the black gunpowder of Jambudvipa invented a more powerful new gunpowder, which was quickly applied to basic construction: splitting mountains, cutting stone, mining and road building—tasks that formerly required much effort, now became much easier!"

"And after everyone saw the great prospects of gunpowder, they became interested in it, thereafter studying it more intensively—researching more powerful gunpowder on one hand, and contemplating its many other uses on the other."

"Soon, everyone began to apply it to military affairs…"

"When you first saw firearms and cannons, you were astonished!"

"Although such things cannot threaten true gods who possess incense‑law divine bodies, if used well, mortals can thereby threaten cultivators!"

"Cultivators still burdened by their mortal flesh, if caught off guard, are highly likely to have their physical bodies destroyed…"

"Faced with this dangerous substance, Daoist cultivators flushed with anger, loudly cursing mortals for having the audacity to create something so perilous!"

"You wicked commoner! What is your purpose? Why do you specifically invent such things!"

"The cultivators, while cursing, also memorialized you, requesting that these frivolous tricks be burned and the inventor's family be executed en masse…"

"You certainly know their fear and anxiety, for after all, an ordinary farmer holding this is enough to threaten a cultivator who has trained for years—it is truly too dangerous!"

"But you gave it much thought and ultimately rejected the proposal to burn the guns and bury the artisans."

"Not only did you reject the proposal, you also greatly encouraged the nervous inventors, awarding them a large sum of research funds so they could press on!"

"Many people expressed their incomprehension to you, but you merely smiled and said nothing…"

"In the thirtieth year of the new Heavenly Court, you placed large orders with the emerging firearms and artillery factories, and trained a batch of new‑style troops to reequip."

"After a certain period of training, you dispatched the new forces to various parts of the Western Province to suppress many lingering remnants of the old order!"

"The suppression was highly effective: mortal rebels instantly surrendered on their knees, cultivator rebels were swiftly annihilated, mortal flesh could not withstand bullets and shells, leaving only impotent divine‑form rage, which was then easily subdued by the accompanying cultivators…"

"After the first battle victory, delighted, you immediately equipped the entire Western Province, phasing out old troops and equipment, and cultivating a new‑style army that uses the new weapons!"

"With the new weapons, mortals' independent administrative capacity greatly increased, reducing their reliance on divine power; whether suppressing bandits, exterminating rebels, or police enforcement, the difficulty was greatly lowered…"

"Moreover, while the Western Province was undergoing large‑scale reequipping, you also sent many firearms and cannons to the 'East Province Company' and 'North Province Company', greatly enhancing their ability to crush native rebellions and nefarious merchant convoys, thereby making development projects proceed much more smoothly!"

"It is evident that your efforts in this life have been immensely effective; mortals are truly forging a new path by their own strength…"

"……"

"In the thirty‑fifth year of the new Heavenly Court, your old crippled mortal body finally passed away peacefully at the age of one hundred eight."

"On the day the 'Pharaoh' passed away, the whole nation celebrated wildly!"

"Then everyone began to process this great 'saint's corpse': first, according to desert‑ancient custom, they removed the heart and lungs, hollowing out the body, then wrapped the whole corpse in linen bandages and air‑dried it…"

"Once the mummy was formed, another ancient‑custom faction bound it with a cross, sprinkled 'holy water' and 'holy oil', let it sit for three days, and performed a 'resurrection' ritual…"

"After completing those strange acts, you watched helplessly as they soaked the corpse in a coffin full of honey…"

"Finally, amid the excited blessings of the desert high priest, muttering incoherently, they filled the coffin to the brim with 'holy scarabs'…"

"Now it's properly pickled!"

"Fortunately, after completing all those procedures, the ritual finally reached its last step: opening the burial!"

"Several desert natives carried the coffin, and to a local cheerful pallbearing tune, slowly conveyed it into the already‑built grand pyramid…"

"……"

"Having witnessed the entire ceremony, you are truly speechless: why do the customs of the Western Province always clash with corpses? The old crippled body that followed you for over fifty years has been tossed about again and again—it is truly pitiful…"

"You shook your head, then turned around, and saw a large group of envious, jealous, hateful priests from other cultural ancient states staring at you expectantly, their gazes seeming to say: 'Your Majesty, what will you die of next?'"

"Your Majesty! Hurry up and die! We have long wanted to hack the desert priests, seize your corpse, and make our own mummy!"

"You: ……"

"You could only sigh helplessly: 'Well, if the people like it, what does it matter who I am?'"

"Or just let it be…"

"Your new body is that of a blond‑haired, blue‑eyed Western Province youth who died accidentally; after obtaining his family's consent and sending his soul to the eternal wilderness as recompense, you naturally attached yourself to his flesh, and with a turn of divine power, the body revived!"

"But because this youth had long suffered from a strange ailment that caused his limbs to atrophy and even his head to tilt, after possessing him you took seat in a carefully crafted wheelchair…"

"Everyone is puzzled: clearly you could take a healthier body, yet you keep seeking the disabled—last time the old cripple, this time the crooked‑head wheelchair lad… Could this be some strange fetish of the great Sultan?"

"But you smiled, saying that seizing another's flesh is inherently unjust; therefore, using a disabled body and sending his soul to the eternal wilderness where he can live forever undying is also a form of recompense for his miserable fate!"

"Hearing your explanation, everyone exclaimed in admiration: 'Too great, Augustus…'"

"You really… I'm crying to death!"

"……"

"You seated yourself in the wheelchair and continued to use your two great hands to jointly maintain the current three‑province development plan."

"Gazing upon the ever‑changing three great provinces, you could not help but feel lofty ambition: wherever you fall, there you shall rise again!"

Now the common folk of the Three Great Continents are advancing ever higher, having completely overwhelmed the Southern Jambu Continent by a whole level, and it's time to launch a strategy against this final 'Old Great Empire'!

But you still remember the humiliation of those years, and you also reckon that you still lack the strength to confront those clustered true gods head‑on, so this strategy must absolutely not rely on military force; it can only break through via commerce, industry, culture, weapons and other livelihood aspects, gradually realizing the occupation strategy…

Thus, at your command, a huge envoy team was assembled, carrying your 'National Letter', they crossed east to the Southern Jambu Continent, headed for East Land Great Shun, to pay birthday respects to the Emperor of Great Shun and discuss trade matters.

On the gift ship, you carefully prepared many gifts: firearms, cannons, soap, globes, microscopes, steel furnace blueprints, and so on and so forth…

They are all recent new products, representing the highest technological achievements of the West Continent!

And the reason you have invested so heavily is, of course, not just for trade; more importantly, you hope to spur productive progress within Great Shun, then unite East and West together, so that on the path of mortal advancement we go ever farther, until we break free from the gods' restrictions and achieve worldwide unity, looking forward as one!

You believe the Emperor of Great Shun will surely see the merit in this, and together you will cast off those various true gods who are as insignificant as turtles in shallow water…

You eagerly handed a personally written 'National Letter' to the envoy, urging him to accomplish the mission; the envoy was also deeply moved, repeatedly bowing before the great 'Augustus II' and swearing an oath!

Thus the fleet gradually sailed away…

……

You waited a full year; only after a year did the envoy team finally return.

But the envoy's expression was very downcast…

Your heart gave a thump: 'What did the Emperor Shun say?'

The envoy, head hung low, handed you a letter, which was personally written by the Emperor of Great Shun.

You solemnly opened the letter, then read it carefully, wanting to see what attitude the Emperor of Great Shun had…

In the letter, he first expressed satisfaction with your birthday tribute, deeming you, the chief of western barbarians, utterly sincere in sending your loyalty across ten thousand miles—truly loyal beyond words!

But as for trade…

"Our Celestial Dynasty possesses vast lands and abundant resources; we have no need to exchange what we lack with foreign lands… Moreover, your Western goods are nothing but frivolous tricks; our Great Shun already has the Kangzhuang Divine Way, I appreciate your goodwill, O foreign chief, but let's forego trade…"

"You: ……"

……

(End of Chapter)