Zong Shen had also considered how to bring native settlements under his control.
Violent conquest was merely a means. A qualified lord had to consider everything.
For example, the aftermath. He could not provoke retaliation or punitive campaigns from the natives, otherwise it would become a hidden danger.
Just like when Oduo Village had been controlled by the Calamity Raven Church, it had quickly drawn the Punitive Expeditionary Force from the great city.
This pattern of striking the small ones and having the bigger ones come for revenge was troublesome as well.
If the Punitive Expeditionary Force led by Kunier had been wiped out back then, even more troops would have arrived soon after, until it escalated into a war involving the great city. If the great city still failed to resolve it, the matter would be reported further up to the kingdom.
Moreover, the nobles who governed the great cities had intricate networks of connections. They were like bones that remained connected even after being broken.
One slight misstep could become the fuse that ignited a large-scale conflict.
For scattered lords, such retaliation was not much of a concern. After acting in teams, they could quickly disperse and blend back into smaller groups.
But for someone like Zong, who had such a large foundation, conquering native settlements required exceptional caution.
Even a tiny village was no exception.
The greater the scale, the more constraints one faced. That was the principle behind it.
Only once the strength of both him and his territory had expanded beyond that of a great city could he attempt to directly use violence to contend against the armed forces of the native factions.
Before then, he needed to remain cautious.
Not because he could not defeat them, but because the implications were too far-reaching.
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