Slay the Unrighteous

After listening, Song Jingping still hesitated and asked, "Master, do you think my godfather truly wants to integrate the Manhua people? Or is this just a pretext he's using?"

"The Heavenly Lion King is an unparalleled ruler of the Barbarian Race. His wisdom is as deep as the ocean, and his foresight is extraordinary. Precisely because of this, he is able to see one thing clearly—the integration of barbarians and Chinese is the only way out for the Barbarian Race."

Why is that?

"Because the number of Barbarian Race is too small, a mere five million, less than a tenth of the number of northern Huaxia, and their civilization is too backward to compete with the brilliant Huaxia civilization. Even if they temporarily conquer the north by force, it is like sitting on a volcano, and sooner or later they will be destroyed by the erupting volcano until they die without a burial place."

No matter how proud they are now, in the eyes of the Huaxia, they are still barbarians. Even if they wear the stolen silk robes, they are nothing more than monkeys in crowns. The current submission to them is merely a surrender to force. Once the people realize that they are not as terrible as they imagined, and that they are confident of victory, they will not hesitate to drive them back to the Black Water and White Mountains.

Song Jingping objected, "But the Barbarian Race' greatest reliance is their adoptive father, and given his age, he could easily live another hundred years. In contrast, the Grand Tutor of Li State is already quite old; he has lived for 180 years. Even if Void Returning Great Grandmaster, he is nearing his limit and could pass away at any time. Once this pillar of strength is gone, Li State could collapse at any moment."

Xunan shook his head and said, "Even without the Grand Tutor, the Barbarian King wouldn't dare to annex the Li State, because he knows one thing very well: once the Li State is destroyed, the end of the Barbarian Race will come. Saying that the two are like lips and teeth, perhaps that's not quite right, but it can be roughly described as 'if the skin is gone, where will the hair attach?'"

"This disciple does not understand; please enlighten me, Master."

"Alas, if there were only one Li State in the world, the Barbarian King could use forceful means to break the spine of the Li State, and then use appeasement and surrender to make good use of a few traitors as pawns. In this way, the country could last for at least a hundred years. However, in addition to Li State, there are also powerful countries such Su State, Germany, and Nation of Valor in the Sea Continent. The reason why they do not intervene is firstly because cross-sea warfare is extremely costly, and secondly because they abide by the Non-Aggression Pact proposed by Su State back then."

The Mohist advocated universal love and non-aggression, but their universal love was directed at civilized people. Barbarians, on the other hand, were beasts, and they would not be polite to beasts. Even the Non-Aggression Pact was a contract concluded within the various states of Huaxia, and barbarians were never included in the scope of the covenant.

I guarantee that once the Li State falls, the Su State will immediately raise the banner of "Unifying the World" and launch a cross-sea attack. Moreover, they won't need to deploy too many troops; they can simply recruit those unwilling to submit from their fallen kingdoms locally. This will save them a significant portion of their military resources. At that time, beset by internal and external troubles, even the Barbarian King, with his personal strength, will be helpless. Being able to retreat safely back to the Blackwater and White Mountains would be a blessing from heaven.

Song Jingping suddenly realized, "When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits. Even if the Great Qian had the opportunity to destroy the Li State, my godfather wouldn't dare to give the order. In a sense, the existence of the Li State is actually a protective barrier."

Xu Barbarian Hu Xunan, "That's right. The only chance for the barbarians to survive is to learn our Huaxia culture, adopt our customs, and make good use of our talents. They need to spend decades or even centuries integrating themselves into our culture. Just like the ancient Yue people, who were barbarians, they now acknowledge that they belong to the Huaxia people, only they were the conquered ones."

Song Jingping asked incredulously, "So, my adoptive father led his clan to work so hard to occupy land and rule the Huaxia people, all so that they could be successfully absorbed by us in the future and become part of 'Huaxia'?"

"That's right. Only in this way can they survive and live peacefully on this land. And it is because the Barbarian King is a wise and outstanding ruler that he was able to realize this. Of course, his thorough understanding of our Huaxia classics also played a role. No matter how helpless or frustrated he felt, he could only admit that this was the only way out for the Barbarian Race."

Xunan paused, then patted Song Jingping on the shoulder, saying earnestly, "That's why he wants to adopt you as his son and promises to pass the throne to you. After all, only when you become the emperor of the Great Qian can he legitimately annex the Li State without facing attacks from Huaxia states. Only with your intervention can the resistance of the Li State be quelled, thus smoothly achieving the goal of unifying the barbarians and the Chinese and bringing peace to the world."

"But will the barbarians submit to me? Will they agree to let a Huaxia person be their ruler?"

"Barbarians have always believed in the strong. As long as your adoptive father supports them, they shouldn't act rashly. The only remaining concern is the Witch Gu Sect. They have immense power and numerous followers, all of whom obey the words of the witch priests and disobey the king's orders. Your adoptive father has long been wary of them, which is why he is cooperating with my Buddhist sect. When the two sides work together, they can suppress all dissenting voices. Once you have been on the throne for ten or twenty years, everyone will get used to it and there will be no more resistance."

In fact, the Barbarian King's fear of the Witch Gu Sect had another reason, not simply for the purpose of consolidating power. Xunan had already sensed this when he met with the Barbarian King, but there was no need to tell his disciple about it now.

Song Jingping nodded, then let out a long sigh and said, "Master, since it's just the two of us here, I'll tell you what's on my mind. Actually, I don't have such lofty ambitions. I don't want to be an emperor at all. What's so great about those emperors and generals who spend their days scheming and plotting? Sometimes it's really better to be a carefree hermit in the mountains."

"Haha, a carefree hermit in the mountains? Ridiculous!"

Xunan reprimanded them sternly, "Look at those common people outside. Do they have enough to eat? Do they have good clothes to wear? With a single order from your godfather, they have to work day and night, homeless. Some say, 'A true man would rather live ten years less than be without power for a single day.' This may sound ambitious, but in chaotic times it is merely a self-preservation statement. Even I, an outsider, am not immune to this, otherwise the entire temple would suffer."

My disciple, you grew up in a temple and were too well protected. You don't know the dangers of the world. Go and ask around. How many perfectly good people have been steamed or boiled and eaten as food?

In this day and age, official laws are abused, punishments are severe, people prey on each other, money buys money, thieves become officials, and officials become thieves... Idle people? There are no idle people in this world, only the living and the dead!

Upon hearing this, Song Jingping was stunned, standing there for a long time before finally sighing, "Master is right; I was too naive."

Xunan's expression softened, and he comforted him, "I know you are kind by nature and don't crave power, but you must understand that a peaceful and prosperous world doesn't fall from the sky; it has to be fought for by heroes and valiant men, and sacrifices are inevitable in the process."

The reason our White Cloud Temple agreed to cooperate with the Barbarian Race is to quell the war, quell the resentment, and stop the cycle of revenge. When the Buddhist kingdom on earth is established, and peace and tranquility prevail, you can choose to live a secluded life as a hermit if you wish."

"... Your disciple will remember your teachings, Master."

Chapter 882 Punishing the Unjust

"A letter has arrived from White Cloud Temple; they have promised to arrive in two days, and the Grand Tutor has also pledged to keep his promise on time."

Mu Wu acted very efficiently. The day after Si Ming proposed "taking a big gamble," he had already made contact and received a definite reply.

Si Ming was curious. In this era without telephones or the internet, how did the other party manage to do this? Carrier pigeons certainly couldn't travel that fast. Could it be some kind of powerful technique like "flying sword delivery"?

He asked the question out of curiosity, only to be met with an Anomalies reply from Mu Wu: "Of course, it's the radio station invented by your Mohist School."

"..."

Embarrassed by his public humiliation, Si Ming quickly changed the subject, saying, "I remember that the former emperor's son also seemed to have the identity of a 'Buddhist disciple.' It seems that White Cloud Temple is the force supporting him behind the scenes."

Mu Wu nodded and said, "Buddhism is flourishing in the Li State, with temples scattered throughout the north and south. As the leading Buddhist sect in the Li State, White Cloud Temple holds a position of great influence. It is precisely because they have endorsed and promised never to covet the throne of the Li State that the former prince has been able to remain safe."

"Oh, it seems that White Cloud Temple has many masters."

Si Ming did not believe that the vested interest groups would give up eliminating the threat completely just because of White Cloud Temple's promise. They must be afraid of White Cloud Temple's power. So, he took advantage of the situation and turned the assassination operation from overt to covert.

In the eyes of politicians, oaths are just a piece of paper that can be torn up at any time. It's just a matter of whether it's worth it and whether they can keep it. If they could really help a prince ascend the throne, the loss of reputation would be nothing compared to the benefits they would gain. Judging from their own experience, how could they believe what White Cloud Temple said? It's just that they lack the strength and can only settle for second best.

Mu Wu said, "White Cloud Temple alone has four Spirit Transformation Grandmaster, and there are even more Spirit Transformation Grandmaster belonging to the Buddhist School, probably no less than ten. That's why the Barbarian King ordered that temples not be destroyed after conquering the Northern Lands. I've heard that many temples in the Northern Lands are still thriving."

"Don't the barbarians believe in the Witch Gu Sect? And they've even made it their state religion. Why do they tolerate the existence of heretics?"

"According to everyone's speculation, it is very likely that the Barbarian King did not want the Witch Gu Sect to become too powerful, so he introduced Buddhism to counterbalance it, thereby distributing the benefits to the believers and balancing the power of the Witch Gu Sect."

"Is it a sordid conflict between monarchical power and divine authority?"

Si Ming calculated that this would result in four forces vying for the divine sword: the Barbarian Hu, the officials of the Su State Li State, their foreign aid forces, and the Buddhist School sect. The Buddhist School sect was the weakest because it lacked Void Returning level expert, but it still possessed considerable power and should not be underestimated.

"From a purely economic standpoint, it doesn't seem impossible for the Buddhist School to side with the Barbarian Hu," Si Ming said meaningfully.

Mu Wu said, "I know what Young Hero Si is worried about, which is why I implore you to lend a hand."

Without the intervention of Si Ming and others, the battle Barbarian Hu and Li State would have been evenly matched, with Buddhist School becoming the key factor in determining the outcome. Whoever could win them over would secure victory. However, with the arrival of Si Ming and his group, the importance of Buddhist School was greatly reduced. Even if they sided with the Barbarian Hu, it would at most cause the plan to kill the Barbarian King to fail, and would not affect the outcome of the battle.

Upon hearing Mu Wu's reply, Si Ming knew that this marshal had not lowered his guard because of the former prince's presence; he was as clear-headed as a mirror and had not made the mistake of being blinded by his own involvement.

Although the former prince's position seemed to preclude any possibility of helping the Barbarian Hu, the interests of Buddhist School and the former prince were not necessarily aligned, and no one could guarantee how much say the so-called "Buddhist disciple" actually had.

The possibility that the Buddhist School betrayed the former prince and actively sided with the Barbarian Hu cannot be ruled out.