Plan

The atmosphere in the study instantly froze.

The world.

The moment those two words were spoken, they carried the weight of a mountain.

Even Di Ming could not help becoming serious. Looking at the sword embedded in the map on the wall, the Silves Kingdom seemed far smaller compared to the Douluo Continent.

"Fourth Brother, are you planning a rebellion?"

His voice was low, but everyone heard it.

Di Yuan looked at his son, feeling as though he no longer recognized him. Was this really his son? The old Di Hong had devoted himself entirely to cultivation and cared about nothing else.

Yet after going out to fight a war, he had returned saying that he wanted the world.

"Do you want to become the King of Silves?"

"No, I've never thought about becoming a king. I've never even thought about becoming an emperor." Di Hong shook his head.

"Then what do you want the world for?" Di Ming asked, utterly confused. He wanted to rebel, yet did not want to become emperor himself. What kind of scheme was that?

"We're family. If I want the world, doesn't that mean you want it too?"

"Why must I be the emperor?"

"Why can't it be Father, or Eldest Brother?"

"We're all members of the Di Family. Whoever becomes emperor makes no difference."

"After this war, I finally understood something. If we want lasting peace, we must unify the land. Only unification can put an end to war."

The study fell silent once more. Di Hong was not wrong. Di Yuan understood the benefits that unification could bring, but honestly, he did not want it. Unification would inevitably affect the interests of too many people.

For instance, nobles like them, as well as Spirit Hall.

A powerful, unified Continental Empire would not permit an organization like Spirit Hall to exist. Moreover, in a war of unification, nobles like them would inevitably be the side sacrificed or abandoned.

Once someone had enjoyed life among the upper class, it was difficult for them to return to an ordinary life.

Could you make an emperor beg for food?

Of course, although he opposed the unification of the continent, he opposed others unifying it. Unless the one who unified the continent could continue protecting their interests, he would never support them.

But if he were the one to unify the continent, he would agree without hesitation. Who would complain about having greater power?

"If we truly intend to do this, the kingdom does not possess such strength. Whether in military power or the strength of our Soul Masters, we lack the capability to unify the continent."

Di Yuan was clearly tempted, but he was no fool. He knew very well that, with the Silves Kingdom's national strength, unifying the continent was nothing more than wishful thinking.

"Then we'll take it slowly. Twenty years, thirty years, forty years, fifty years, even a hundred years."

"If one generation cannot do it, then two will. If two cannot do it, then three will."

"As long as we keep working, the day of success will eventually come."

Di Yuan looked at Di Hong.

"It seems you've had a plan for a long time."

"You haven't been thinking about this for just a day or two, have you?"

"Tell us your plan."

"Alright."

"My plan can be summed up in just a few points: strengthening ourselves, infiltration, and winning people over."

Afterward, Di Hong told Di Yuan and the other two about the plans he had considered over the past year. Naturally, he concealed much of it. He could not tell Di Yuan and the others about Bibi Dong, Qian Renxue, and Tang San, nor could he tell them that Spirit Hall would launch a war decades later.

Strengthening themselves meant increasing the Silves Kingdom's overall power. Both its economy and military had to grow stronger. Given the kingdom's current state, if they wanted to become stronger, they had to reform.

Reform could not be carried out casually. It had to take into account the actual circumstances and the nation's conditions. He could not handle such matters himself. He could offer some ideas based on memories from his previous life, but reform had to be handled by Di Yuan or Di Yang.

Strengthening the military meant carrying out military reforms, such as forging an Army of Tigers and Wolves like the Qin Army from his previous life, or the Tang Army.

On the Douluo Continent, if one was not a Soul Master, it was extremely difficult for an ordinary person to rise in life. This world was controlled by nobles, so becoming a Soul Master was nearly the only path available to commoners.

But not just anyone could become a Soul Master, especially ordinary people without family backing.

Nobles could recruit commoner Soul Masters, but they would not awaken martial souls for ordinary people. In their eyes, commoners would always be commoners. For them to become Soul Masters was basically a dream.

Junior Soul Master Academies all had work-study student slots. These were prepared for those who had just awakened their martial souls, came from poor backgrounds, and could not afford tuition. He had specifically looked into it, and there were not many work-study students in the kingdom's junior Soul Master Academies.

That was because most people could not become Soul Masters. If one Soul Master appeared among a hundred people, that was already considered good.

Every year, Spirit Hall sent people to the villages below to help awaken martial souls. Yet among the children of suitable age in dozens of villages, the number who could become Soul Masters could be counted on one hand. When luck was good, they might encounter a few. When luck was poor, they could pass through more than ten villages without finding even one.

There were many such villages throughout the kingdom. Forget commoners—even some people born into noble families could not become Soul Masters. Of course, those were only a minority.

Innate Soul Power practically determined a Soul Master's future from the moment they awakened. Without soul power, there was no future, unless one encountered an extraordinary opportunity.

That was the cruelty of this world.

Yet the commoners whom others looked down upon contained boundless power in Di Hong's eyes.

As a transmigrator, he knew that the power of the people was great, and that united people were invincible. He believed those words still applied on the Douluo Continent, because although Soul Masters were powerful, they were not powerful to such an absurd extent.

After all, even Tang San's Hidden Weapons could severely injure Qian Renxue after she had Become a God.

Unite the commoners, recruit and train soul masters, implement reforms, recruit craftsmen to forge military equipment, and reform the army to make it strong.

Naturally, all of this required money—a great deal of money. His plan also included encouraging agriculture and commerce, advancing agriculture, industry, and trade together. Only thriving commerce could bring in more tax revenue, and the Silves Kingdom's geographical location was perfectly suited for it.

Though surrounded on all sides, it lay along vital trade routes.

Developed agriculture could also provide more grain, while encouraging industry could produce better tools and equipment.

Then there was public security. As the kingdom's capital, Silvis City's security had somehow always been handled by Spirit Hall. Every day, Spirit Hall was the one arresting people and sending them to prison, while the kingdom's City Defense Army might as well have been sitting around doing nothing. In his view, this was absolutely unacceptable. The capital's security had to be the kingdom's responsibility.

Not just the capital, but the entire kingdom.

Only a safe and stable environment could attract more people.

There was also the need to cultivate military and administrative talent and increase investment in the Soul Master Academy.

Infiltration was simple—it meant exactly what it said. However, it required building a powerful Intelligence Organization. Di Hong was not skilled at establishing such an organization, so this could only be handled by Di Yuan and the others.

The purpose of this Intelligence Organization was to infiltrate the Two Great Empires.