Chapter 1535: No Permanent Allies

What Baifeng said made a lot of sense, and he had said it more than once, but would Xuanyuan believe him? He could only believe half of it; he would not believe it all.

There could never be permanent allies in the world; as long as there was a major conflict of interests, they would inevitably turn against each other. Baifeng saying these things now was merely to put his own mind at ease, and Huaxia had not yet accumulated a sufficiently powerful force.

Just as Baifeng said, for a war of such a large scale, if they did not have the help and support of Huaxia, relying solely on the Xuanyuan Tribe—while they could indeed defeat the Shennong Clan and occupy what they wanted—this vast expanse of plains here could be used to settle down and establish a more powerful nation in the future, making the Xuanyuan Tribe even more prosperous.

However, in the short term, the consumption for the Xuanyuan Tribe was truly too great. Tens of thousands of people could not participate in labor or farming, as they were all involved in the war; furthermore, these people not only failed to produce food, but also had to consume a massive amount of it.

If not for increasingly mature farming techniques, the Xuanyuan Tribe would likely have to sacrifice nearly half of its tribal strength to take down the entire Shennong Clan, and then spend over a dozen years to develop.

By letting Huaxia participate, besides sharing the pressure, he was also restricting Huaxia and dragging it into the war. War would not only consume the resources of the Xuanyuan Tribe, but it could also consume the resources of Huaxia. If he could not recover his vitality for many years, Huaxia would certainly be the same.

By that time, even if he were much weaker than before, Huaxia would not be able to set its sights on him; in the end, everyone's strength would be about the same.

After taking down the Shennong Clan, it would be a major period of development for the Xuanyuan Tribe. Whether they could completely surpass and leave Huaxia far behind would depend on the next ten years.

Huaxia looked powerful now, but its scale was small; after all, the time it had developed was truly too short, and its population and territory were far inferior to the Xuanyuan Tribe. Therefore, Xuanyuan was confident that after occupying the Shennong Clan, he could rely on the broad and flat farmland of the Shennong Clan's territory to rapidly develop his own tribe.

As long as they could produce more food, they could feed more tribesmen and give birth to more children. In this current era, a batch of young Soldiers could basically be cultivated in ten years; the Soldiers did not need to be that old.

His own population base was larger, and the speed of reproduction was faster. No matter how wealthy Huaxia was or how many Bombs they had, when facing a tribe like his that did not lack food and had a number of Soldiers far exceeding theirs, they would also have to be afraid. Even if he could not attack Huaxia, he could make Huaxia afraid to attack him; mutual stability was indeed the best choice.

Of course, all of this was because Xuanyuan did not know that Huaxia had already annexed the Suiren Clan. If he knew, he might have adjusted his attitude and policies toward Huaxia; after all, his neighbor had almost become the largest and wealthiest tribe in the world.

He had occupied the Shennong Clan and obtained the largest territory in the world, and by dividing up more of the population, added to his original population, he reckoned it should be about the largest in the world.

However, the original population of the Suiren Clan was not small, and added to that of Huaxia, plus the portion taken from the Shennong Clan, that would far exceed the Xuanyuan Tribe.

As for the Jiuli, although they were also an ancient tribe, there was little contact and insufficient mutual understanding. He remained stuck in the era of the old, independent Jiuli and did not know that the current Jiuli had already become a coalition of several large tribes; they were the largest tribe in the world now and also possessed the largest territory.

After all, the Sanmiao and Dongyi were not small tribes, and added to their continuous expansion over these years, along with the leadership of Chiyou, the warmer and more prosperous Jianghuai region had more abundant food, giving them a greater developmental advantage than the Xuanyuan Tribe and the Shennong Clan, who lived deep inland.

No matter what they thought, in the next ten-plus years, a tripartite balance of power would likely form. It was just that this third leg of the tripod was no longer the Suiren Clan, but the Jiuli, or rather, the Jiuli Group. A stable triangle could bring long-lasting peace to the world.

As for when disputes and the flames of war would occur, that was unknown. The course of history had already been changed too, too much; Baifeng did not know, and Xuanyuan knew even less.

Perhaps the Xuanyuan in history did not come to attack the Shennong Clan so early, nor could he have attacked so quickly.

As for when the Jiuli and the Xuanyuan Tribe eventually fought, Baifeng did not know if he should step in and whose ally he should be.

Xuanyuan was chosen by history and had a heavier protagonist halo than Baifeng. Baifeng did not know if he could win; after all, there was the precedent of Liu Xiu in history. What if he were Wang Mang? No matter how powerful his dynasty was, it could not compare to a Meteorite falling from Heaven.

The Xuanyuan Tribe was also a major, long-term partner of Huaxia. In this barbaric era, Xuanyuan and he could still talk to each other, and Xuanyuan could also identify with everything he did. The Jiuli might not necessarily become such an ally.

The Jiuli were also his in-laws; although there was not much contact and it was not very close, he still had to consider Ayuduo to some extent. Therefore, who to support and who not to support was a dilemma for Baifeng.

However, upon reflection, if this stable state could continue to be maintained, then let it continue. Another ten-plus years of peaceful development would be even better. When his own scale was large enough, whether the two tribes fought or not would have nothing to do with Huaxia. He might even be able to force the two tribes to stay stable; as long as your strength is great enough, whether the world is in chaos or at peace depends on you.

When a few more decades passed and the world situation became clearer and more distinct, and he was powerful enough not to fear a Liu Xiu, Huaxia could do whatever it wanted. It would be good if he could make other tribes come to Huaxia to submit on their own, seeking better development.

Xuanyuan and Baifeng did not discuss the war anymore, because this was something difficult for anyone to comment on. Although the two of them were two kings, they could not decide everything on a whim; they still had to combine it with the actual situation.

And now, the two of them, one riding on horseback and the other on an elephant, watched the Soldiers of the Xuanyuan Tribe hunt the herd of elephants they had encountered.

The Xuanyuan Tribe now had the appearance of some military formations, with front and rear, supporting and coordinating with each other; they were no longer fighting blindly.

To fight elephants, one could only use thrown Spears, but after throwing once, it would anger the elephants and make them prone to charging. Therefore, they divided into several directions and several layers, attacking in turns, making the elephants not know where to strike, achieving the greatest benefit with the minimum loss.