In the mud and stone hall with a simple and crude style, Wang Zhifan held a square white cloth with lines and words drawn in black ink, and beside him was an old man in gray cloth who was the Prime Minister of the country, giving him instructions and explanations.
"Your Majesty, Land of Chaos is extremely vast, and no one has ever explored its boundaries. I, Abundance Kingdom, live in the south of the Pangli Mountains. It covers an area of about three hundred miles and has a population of more than 700,000. It is famous for its lush vegetation... The south is Pottery Kingdom, and its royal family inheritance is Terracotta Effigy Art, with over ten thousand Terracotta Soldiers under his command, is not afraid of death or injury... The one in the southeast is Great Huan Kingdom, famous for his extremely ferocious Divine-Pattern Soldiers that travels thousands of miles a day... Farther away is Great Lü Kingdom, whose Dragon-Rushing Cavalry has destroyed as many countries as he can count on his hands..."
After listening to the old man's talk for a while, Wang Zhifan discovered that the countries in this dungeon world have a characteristic, that is, relatively strong countries will have a unique military unit, such as Terracotta Army in the Pottery Kingdom, Divine-Pattern Soldiers in the Huan Kingdom, Lü Kingdom's Dragon-Rushing Cavalry can be said to be a sign of a powerful country, but this is not the case in the Abundance Kingdom he is currently in. Not only do special arms completely non-exist, but even the normal army is on the verge of collapse because the country can no longer afford military pay.
"My dear, although my Abundance Kingdom is located in a remote place, it has been stable for many years. Why is our national strength so exhausted?"
Feeling that there are huge problems in this country, Wang Zhifan directly asked the Source, hoping to understand the problem.
"Your Majesty... it's a long story. It's not only related to the Xin Clan's manipulation of military affairs and corruption, but also because of the Turmoil Region incident, our Abundance Kingdom's trade routes with our neighbors were cut off, and the revenue from the treasury was greatly reduced..."
The old man spoke with a bit of embarrassment. The general meaning was that Abundance Kingdom is now suffering from internal and external troubles, and it is difficult to maintain the previous situation. Even if external forces do not invade, I am afraid it will be difficult to sustain it.
"Hmm... for the current plan, does the Prime Minister have any good ideas?"
As a player who was born as a civilian, Wang Zhifan didn't know anything about governing a country. Even though this Abundance Kingdom was just a small country by the standards of the real world, he felt a little unable to start.
"Your Majesty, for the current plan, we can only plan it slowly, first to secure the country and then to raise the army to guard against foreign enemies..."
The old man's answer was moderate, without too many details. He just reminded Wang Zhifan to control the situation as soon as possible and develop the economy and military, because the threat from external forces is already foreseeable.
"Take it slowly... But if you want to dominate the world, you only need to seize the day. What Aiqing said is too slow."
After some exchanges, Wang Zhifan confirmed that this trusted minister had a conservative mind and did not have any ambitions after seeing the power he possessed, so he decided to follow his own ideas. Otherwise, he would probably have to spend decades to create this copy, which would be simply unacceptable.
So just when the old prime minister was confused by Wang Zhifan's sudden display of ambition for hegemony, Wang Zhifan said something to him that made him even more shocked:
"My dear, Gu Yu personally led the troops to destroy Tao and Yin. What do you think?"
"Your Majesty! You must not do it! Our Abundance Kingdom troops now number only eight hundred, and our military discipline is extremely disorganized. Attacking other countries is like hitting a stone with an egg!"
The old man was so frightened that he kowtowed to Wang Zhifan and hurriedly tried to dissuade him.
"Well... please take me to the military camp to have a look."
Wang Zhifan knew the importance of the army in the struggle for hegemony, so he did not turn a deaf ear to the old prime minister's words and decided to make plans after on-site inspection.
When the old man heard this request, his expression was tangled for a moment. It wasn't until Wang Zhifan stared at him for several seconds that he nodded in agreement.
So, the two people quickly walked out of the hall, Wang Zhifan summoned Crimson Deer Horse to jump on the horse, and the old man got on the horse that Xin Clan had left in front of the king's palace before, leading the way and taking him to the Abundance Kingdom military camp.
In this process, they must pass through the city where the main hall is located, which is the capital of the Abundance Kingdom. Wang Zhifan took the opportunity to observe the small country he currently nominally owns.
When he left the hall, he discovered that the building was built on a high mountain peak, surrounded by a circle of shorter hillsides. Each hilltop was connected by a mountain road, and the overall appearance was like stars looming over the moon.
Except for the main hall he just came out of, which is a mud-stone structure, most of the other houses that can be seen are made of wood and thatch, which look a bit primitive. Some men and women wearing monotonous cloth or straw clothes are walking on the mountain road. Some carry hoes and other agricultural tools on their shoulders, and some have baskets of goods on their heads, showing a primitive rural ecology.
"As expected of a small country, even other countries are so backward."
Wang Zhifan observed it for a while and then became too lazy to look at it again. He had determined that this basic market was very demanding. It wanted quantity but not quantity, and quality but not quality. The only good thing was that the security seemed pretty good and the surrounding mountains and fields were not bare. You could see some fruit trees and terraced fields. The most basic survival needs were probably self-satisfied.
The commoner old man was skilled in equestrian skills. After about twenty minutes, he led Wang Zhifan to the Abundance Kingdom's military camp, specifically at the foot of the Abundance Kingdom's capital mountain. In front of a row of thatched houses, if there wasn't a soldier wearing a black short coat standing guard outside, and Wooden Badge with the word "camp" hanging on the eaves of the thatched houses, it might have looked more like a cowshed than a military camp.
"The king has arrived! Where is the general!"
When the old man Xiangguo led Wang Zhifan off the horse to the front of the row of bullpens, he quickly shouted angrily inside, hoping to call out someone in charge.
But after he shouted twice, no one came out of the bullpen. Only the soldier in short clothes standing guard outside couldn't help it anymore and reminded him:
"Sir, all the sergeants have gone home this morning due to lack of pay for several months."
"This is unreasonable! Leaving the camp without permission is a serious crime! Why don't we call them back quickly to be punished!"
Before the soldier finished speaking, the old Prime Minister's face turned red with anger. He had known that there was chaos in the Abundance Kingdom military camp, but he didn't expect that these soldiers were so bold that they ran away.
"Don't be impatient, Prime Minister. Soldiers leave camp for good reasons. The fault lies with me."
Wang Zhifan on the side saw this and first comforted the old prime minister who was about to explode with anger. Then he smiled and said to the black-clothed soldier who was left alone here:
"Why didn't you leave with the others? Instead, you guarded the barracks alone?"
"Report to your Majesty, I am an orphan and have nowhere to go but the barracks..."
The young soldier answered quite honestly after hearing this, indicating that it was not that he didn't want to run away, but that he had no place to run, or he hadn't decided where to run yet.
"Well... you will be responsible for taking care of this military camp from now on. I will solve the military pay issue as soon as possible."
Wang Zhifan then reached out and patted the soldier in short clothes on the shoulder, Encouragement said a few words to him, then took a few steps forward to take a brief look at the empty military camp, then turned around and mounted his horse, leaving the place where he knew how bad the actual situation was.
Old Xiangguo was also with him on the way back, but seeing his gloomy face, he was obviously extremely disappointed with this situation and believed that the country he was determined to help was close to hopelessness.
"Prime Minister, the treasury is already empty?"
"Back to your Majesty, the treasury now owes three hundred guan to the people on credit."
"Can taxes be collected to fill the vacancies?"
"The national tax has already been received the next year."
The conversation along the way made Wang Zhifan more and more aware of how empty the Abundance Kingdom treasury was, but he did not feel that this problem was too difficult because he already had some ideas in his mind.
"Xiangguo, do you know where the Xin Clan clan is?"
At this moment, he asked about this enemy who had killed hundreds of people by him. To be more precise, he just wanted to go to the military camp to lead people to deal with this enemy, but the sergeants all ran away and he had to find another way.
"Your Majesty, do you want to eradicate Xin Clan? However, Xin Clan's people are spread all over the country, so we must not underestimate them. It is best to plan and act first..."
This old man actually had similar thoughts to Wang Zhifan, but as a local, he knew how powerful this clan was, so even if he wanted to act rationally, he had to think carefully.
"It doesn't matter, you can find dozens of people for me. Xin Clan will be destroyed today, and the empty treasury can also be solved."
Wang Zhifan couldn't find anyone in the army, so he had no choice but to seek help from this old minister. He believed that this old man could find some useful people in this country. He needed the help of these people to complete some things, otherwise the king would not be able to do everything by himself.
The commoner old prime minister was a little surprised when he suddenly said this, but he was just surprised, because he remembered the bizarre scene at the entrance of the royal palace before, and knew that Wang Zhifan was not talking nonsense, and he must have something to rely on.
So the time after this became tight. After Wang Zhifan discussed and prepared with this veteran, he took the initiative with thunderous momentum and began to divide the wealth among the local tycoons in his own country. Naturally, he would encounter considerable resistance in the process, but all this was in his actual situation. Not only did he quickly solve the financial problems he encountered as a king, but he also allowed those subordinates who were lucky enough to accompany him to eliminate evil forces to understand his power and develop a high degree of awe for him. They began to have a group of fans and built their own initial base.
At the same time, while he was busy leading people to exterminate clans and seize wealth, the players in this dungeon also gradually sorted out their ideas from the initial confusion and began to operate according to their own ideas.
For example, in the Pottery Kingdom in the south of the Abundance Kingdom to which Wang Zhifan belongs, a dozen players are discussing their strategies in a roadside tea shed, intending for everyone to advance and retreat together and choose the best country to help it achieve dominance.
"Everyone, first of all, I have to emphasize that although Punishment Instance has been lifted in this dungeon and it seems to encourage us to compete with each other, this is obviously a trap. We must not fight each other to the death according to the meaning of the dungeon. We must maintain the consistency of our goals. Anyone who disagrees with this is not my brother Huang Pengfei."
At the table in the middle of the tea stall, a young man with a medium build but good temperament glanced around. The equipment he wore looked quite good. At first glance, it was all high-end goods. What he said was taken seriously by other players around him.
"Boss! Don't worry! Whoever dares to go against you will be the first one I won't spare! Let him understand that my reputation as the number one robot in the capital is not in vain!"
A man with all his muscles and fierce eyes then echoed, seemingly a die-hard of that young man.
"Ahem... don't interrupt me, kid."
The young man with luxurious equipment coughed twice and was speechless when he heard what the muscular man said, but he quickly continued:
"Based on the information we just collected, we can know that there are many countries in this dungeon, and there are several that have the potential to dominate. For example, Pottery Kingdom, where we are currently, has recently won a big victory, and in the south Huan Kingdom and Lü Kingdom are also well-known powerful countries, and there are some countries that are far away and also have strong strength... We need to analyze the situation of these countries in the long term and choose the most valuable ones to assist in order to complete this copy."
"Boss, I think it is necessary to analyze intelligence, but you don't need to be too cautious when choosing. You can try more, because this copy does not restrict the auxiliary object you choose and cannot change it."
Suddenly, a thin young man who looked like he was a mage spoke back.
"Theoretically it can be done."
The leading young man listened and nodded to him.
"But during the process of collecting intelligence, we discovered a characteristic of this dungeon world, that is, all countries highly value loyalty. If we defect to one country and then abandon it to work for another country, we are likely to fall into a moral dilemma, which will greatly increase the difficulty for us to join a second force. This will undoubtedly affect our ability to complete the dungeon, so I emphasize that we must choose carefully."
The person then explained.
"I see... Then boss, there is another way to clear the level. I think you must have considered it. So is there any possibility of success?"
The thin mage player raised his hand and touched his chin and asked again.
"It may be possible, but I judge that it will be much more difficult than joining others."
The leading young man with luxurious equipment had a smile on his face.
"For a powerful country, it will definitely be full of challenges to control it based on our ability. If we are not careful, we will get into trouble and increase additional risks. It is indeed much easier to win over a small country, but what is the use of controlling a small country? We do not have much energy to develop it slowly, and we will also face various changes in external forces. It will be very difficult to achieve the goal. Only by first investigating the biggest potential stocks, and taking advantage of the trend to tap its potential and push it to the center of the stage, this method of taking advantage of the situation is the most labor-saving."
While these players were discussing their strategies in the tea shed, thousands of miles away, in the capital of a great country named Huang, a player sat on the throne of the main hall and looked down at the ministers below with a mysterious smile.
"Hahaha... I didn't expect that this time my VIP status would actually make me a king, and a king of a powerful country. How could I lose? How could I lose with my invincible summoned army? This is simply a ridiculous situation!"
It turns out that this is a powerful Summoner player. He also has the identity of VIP Player, but unlike Wang Zhifan who became the king of a weak country, he has a very strong basic base. The victory seems to be certain as soon as the copy starts.