Chapter 1639: Don't You Want to Unify the World?

Xuanyuan did not answer Baifeng directly, but instead shifted the topic: "Baifeng, are you truly willing to just keep guarding those territories of your Huaxia, unwilling to unify the world and become the greatest king?"

"Since you are capable of attacking the Shennong Clan, and also merging the Suiren Clan, and you are still attacking other small tribes to expand your territory, why is it that here among our three tribes, you say you do not want war?"

Baifeng answered very sincerely: "Of course I want to unify the world. Not just the world here; I want to unify even more, even further places."

"Xuanyuan, I know what this world is like and how big it is. Your current focus is only on the territories of our three tribes. You think the land you know of is the entire world, but in reality, it is not."

"The land we have here, the crops grown to feed people, could easily support over a billion people—a billion being ten thousand ten-thousands, and ten thousand ten-thousands being one hundred million. You can imagine how vast that land is. The entire world, the land covered by this Heaven, is enough to support a billion people without issue. But look at us now; how many people are there?"

"If we add our three tribes together, even counting those wild people not yet discovered in the territories, do we have three million? I think, I fear, we do not."

"Therefore, I do want to unify the world, but not now. Because the land I currently possess is already too vast for people to fully tread upon, so there is no such necessity to seize so much land."

"Seizing land requires war, and it requires people to die. If our three tribes must fight to determine a final victor, then this war will likely last for many years and many people will die—perhaps twenty or thirty thousand, perhaps forty or fifty thousand, or even more."

"But how many people do we have in total?"

"Natural disasters, wild beasts, hunger, and cold are our greatest enemies right now. We are still unable to let our tribespeople eat their fill and dress warmly; why should we let them suffer and die for our own personal desires?"

"Unifying the world is necessary, because when our respective strengths grow to a certain degree, we will need more resources—we will need water, land, and minerals. If we do not have them ourselves, we will need to seize them from others, and then war will naturally be unavoidable."

"But when it can be avoided now, why must we attack each other? Is it not better for each to develop well, and let the tribespeople have more children and farm more land?"

"After a hundred years, one of our three tribes will surely become strong enough to surpass the other two. When the three legs supporting this massive Sacrificial Tripod begin to grow uneven and unbalanced, it will naturally topple."

"It may look like the long leg is crushing the two short ones, but perhaps the two short ones can topple the long one. When only two legs remain, a final one must be decided, because one leg is actually more stable than two. By then, this world will naturally have an owner."

"When resources and population are all concentrated in the hands of one great nation, then distribution can be carried out without war, ensuring that no one in the entire nation lacks anything. No external enemy can defeat it; the only thing that can defeat it is itself, just like the Shennong Clan."

"Afterward, this world will again divide into many small nations, and the small nations will war against each other, only to unify into a great nation once more. Such division and unity is the great trend of the world."

"And Xuanyuan, at this moment, it is not the time to unite, but to first prop up this Sacrificial Tripod together, then develop individually, and see who can eventually become the thickest, largest leg. When that time comes, it will naturally be known who the world belongs to, and war will be unavoidable."

"Perhaps we will both still be alive then, or perhaps that is the time our descendants will need to contend for it."

Once Baifeng finished this long discourse, the entire place fell silent, not a sound to be heard. Such a theory could be said to be eye-opening for them, as if they had gained a new understanding of this world.

Baifeng did not urge them to answer, just waiting, waiting for them to think. If they chose war, then Baifeng would have to assess the situation to see who it was best to unite with. But to stand alone and watch them fight would be the most unwise, because their two tribes could not possibly let Huaxia rest and build up its strength, waiting for them to suffer heavy casualties before coming to snatch the final fruits of victory.

It was just that being caught between the two tribes was truly difficult for Baifeng. If he united with the Xuanyuan Tribe, Xuanyuan had great ambition and ability; once they cooperated to defeat the Jiuli, Xuanyuan's target would become Huaxia, and Baifeng did not have one hundred percent certainty of defeating this Son of Heaven.

But as for the Jiuli, Huaxia was not familiar enough with them, even with Ayuduo there. Chiyou would not necessarily trust him, a former close ally of the Xuanyuan Tribe. Furthermore, the Jiuli's strength was greater—Xuanyuan had almost been defeated. Once the Jiuli digested a portion of the Xuanyuan Tribe, they would only become stronger, and Huaxia's situation would be even more difficult. Therefore, Baifeng striving for peace was the best thing for Huaxia.

If Huaxia were given another twenty years, it could become the truly strongest of the three tribes. If there were forty years, Huaxia would have the confidence to take on two at once and completely unify the world. But right now, Huaxia's situation was very dangerous; Huaxia was the one among the three tribes that most needed time and most needed peace.

After long contemplation, Xuanyuan finally gave his answer: "Baifeng, if we are to persuade Chiyou, should you go, should I go, or should we go together?"

"And what kind of alliance would this be?"

Baifeng felt the heavy stone in his heart drop, and then he spoke what was on his mind: "If we want to persuade Chiyou, it is best for our two tribes to go together, and finally find a place to sign a covenant, setting a time during which we will absolutely not raise troops."

"And our three tribes can open up major transportation routes, trade with each other, and exchange what we have for what we lack. We could even build a city in a location between our three tribes, specifically for trade. Even knowledge could be exchanged and learned from one another, just like our two tribes."

"The produce of the Jiuli is richer than you think. The Jiuli have many things that you all need, and it is not limited to Iron. If this alliance can be reached, then our Huaxia might also open up the trade of Iron, allowing us all to develop faster. Xuanyuan, this is my vision."