Afterward, Xu Mochen handled many other matters of state, both large and small, with the assembled ministers. It had to be said that although the Sun Moon Empire had vast territory and a large population, boasting more than 8.6 million square kilometers of land and around 150 million people, it still lagged behind the Dragon Kingdom of Blue Star in later generations. Even so, it remained a mighty empire.
Judging from his memories and the ministers' memorials, the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Guidance Technology was currently only on a par with Europe's late Renaissance. The production of core components for high-level Soul Tools was monopolized by Soul Masters, and manufacturing methods remained at the level of handcrafting.
According to the original novel stored in the Smart Brain, although the Sun Moon Empire's technology was considerably more advanced than that of the Douluo Continent, it remained sorely lacking compared with the entire continent in terms of innate advantages such as territory, population, resources, the number of Soul Masters, and the quality of their Martial Souls. For example, on the Douluo Continent, only Martial Souls like dragons, phoenixes, the Clear Sky Hammer, and the Seven Kill Sword could be considered top-tier. Ordinary Martial Souls such as tigers, lions, knives, and swords could at best be considered high-level.
But in the Sun Moon Empire, even someone with a Martial Soul like a tiger was exceedingly rare. The top-tier Martial Souls of the Douluo Continent were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns in the Sun Moon Empire, while divine Martial Souls like the Angel and the Sea God existed only in its legends.
Although, according to the original novel, the Sun Moon Empire had not yet connected with the Douluo Continent during the timeline of Douluo Continent I, a novel was still just a novel. No one could say for sure whether some unforeseen change might occur. Better safe than sorry. What if the Douluo Continent really found its way here and launched a war against his country? Could his country truly hold them off? After all, according to the original story, more than seven thousand years later, despite having technology far more advanced than it did now, the Sun Moon Empire still lost to the three nations of the Douluo Continent.
Considering the tortoise-like pace of technological development in the Douluo World, Xu Mochen, a research prodigy from Blue Star, thought that if the opportunity arose, he could first study how the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tools worked, then find a way to refine them according to Earth's technological progression. He could chart a path for technological development that better suited the Martial Soul world, helping the Sun Moon Empire complete its technological revolution more quickly. That way, even if a threat from the Douluo Continent did arise, they would be ready to face it calmly.
Of course, it was too early to worry about the threat of the Douluo Continent. For now, besides using certain means to strengthen his power and prestige so he could stabilize the country more quickly, he also needed to build a network of allies and a team of his own. Only then could he face the least resistance when implementing a series of reforms in the future.
This was both difficult and simple. Had he been on Blue Star, it would have been an uphill battle for Xu Mochen, who had devoted nearly all his time to research. After all, Blue Star's people were far beyond the people of the Douluo World in intelligence. When it came to schemes, any village chief from Blue Star could have the civil and military officials of the Douluo World eating out of his hand.
At least, judging from both the original novel and the ministers' memorials, these people weren't as dim-witted as the characters in the original story, but they were still nowhere near a match for the people of Blue Star.
The ministers below had no idea that Xu Mochen was privately mocking them. Instead, they were astonished by the intelligence of the young Crown Prince before them. Many problems that seemed impossible to solve in their eyes were resolved with ease once they reached him. For example, the Minister of Construction had raised the problem of the Sun Moon River: years of silt accumulating on the riverbed had gradually raised it, leading to frequent floods during the rainy season.
After learning the details, Xu Mochen rejected the methods many ministers had proposed—simply "cutting channels to divert the floodwaters" or "building dikes to plug the breaches." Instead, he constructively suggested narrowing the river in certain coastal stretches, using the tremendous force of the current to scour silt from the riverbed, building sturdy floodgates and dikes along both banks, then channeling the water out to sea to control the flooding. This was the famous Water-Binding Sand-Flushing Method of Blue Star.
Of course, on other matters, this six-year-old Crown Prince had his own opinions as well. In his view, though the Sun Moon Empire's industry and commerce were growing rapidly, they still had all sorts of problems. For instance, the state allowed the major commercial groups to freely unite and monopolize industries, disrupting market forces and fair competition while driving up prices. Many merchants also evaded taxes on a serious scale, using all kinds of methods to dodge and resist the Finance Ministry officials' audits of their assets.
Xu Mochen also proposed many solutions to these problems. Ideas that seemed perfectly commonplace to people from Blue Star left the ministers astounded. Even Xu Yuanding, Kong Dehan, and Ye Xingyun—the empire's three pillars—couldn't help being amazed by the young Crown Prince's wisdom. They had begun to take this future emperor seriously.
After the morning court session ended, Xu Mochen began making arrangements for a secret burial ceremony for the cheap father of this life, whom he had yet to meet. At the same time, he started preparing for the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony that afternoon. Unlike the people of the Douluo Continent, whose Martial Soul Awakening was overseen by Spirit Hall, the Sun Moon Empire's ceremonies had always been handled directly by the imperial court. The great families took part as well, but only in supporting roles; the royal family still held the reins.
Since the funeral had to be kept secret, and his cheap father had been obsessed with cultivation and power, he had married only three women, including Xu Mochen's own cheap mother, the Empress of the Sun Moon Empire. All three had died before his father passed away, and Xu Mochen had no other siblings. As a result, only a small number of people attended the funeral: high-ranking members of the imperial family, senior government officials, and nobles. Among them were the Sun Moon Empire's three pillars, cabinet ministers, the heads of the other eight great families, and a group of powerful core military commanders.
Although they were keeping things low-key and simple, the proper ceremonies still had to be observed. Yet Xu Mochen was more interested in the empire's powerful nobles than in the funeral itself. The most powerful and prestigious forces in the Sun Moon Empire were the Ten Great Families. First among them was the Xu Family, representing the royal family. Its current head was naturally Xu Mochen, the Crown Prince and Hidden Emperor. Of course, many family affairs now likely needed to be handled by Prince Yanyang, Xu Yuanding, who was also his own granduncle.
The Kong Family, kin to the royal family, was headed by the Silver Moon Prince, Kong Dehan, who was also Xu Mochen's granduncle. The current Prime Minister of the Sun Moon Empire, Grand Duke Star Ye Xingyun, needed no introduction. He was the head of the Ye Family, one of the Ten Great Families. The family had deep roots in the military and government, and had produced quite a few prime ministers. The other seven families were the Hongchen Family, Shangguan Family, Xia Family, Wang Family, Su Family, Ma Family, and Lan Family.
Although he hadn't heard of all these surnames, several of them were worth paying attention to. According to the information stored in the Smart Brain about Douluo Continent II, these families would all produce many talented figures in the future Sun Moon Empire.
After exchanging polite greetings and condolences with the Sun Moon Empire's powerful nobles, the funeral drew to a close as the solemn music stopped. Next came Xu Mochen's Martial Soul Awakening ceremony. The empire's powerful nobles were all watching closely. Although they had heard that the Crown Prince was exceptionally wise and shrewd, this was, after all, a world where Soul Masters reigned supreme. The Xu Family's ancestors had indeed relied on their wisdom and hard work to establish the family as the Sun Moon Empire's royal house, but just as important was the Xu Family's inheritance of the empire's most powerful Martial Souls.
The imperial family of the Sun Moon Empire had not inherited just one kind of Martial Soul, but three: the Blazing Sun Martial Soul, the Silver Moon Martial Soul, and the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon Martial Soul. All three were extraordinarily powerful. If Xu Mochen awakened any one of them, his position would surely become even more secure.
The Martial Soul Awakening ceremony was held on the open ground before the Council Hall in the imperial palace. A high platform had already been erected there. On either side, rows of Kui Ox Drums rumbled beneath the drummers' pounding hands, while musicians in splendid attire blew their horns at full force. The deafening sound echoed through the heavens.
Everyone standing below was among the most powerful people in the Sun Moon Empire. The one presiding over Xu Mochen's Martial Soul Awakening ceremony was none other than the head of the Kong Family, the Silver Moon Prince, Kong Dehan. Below, Xu Mochen wore his Crown Prince's robes. Amid the thunderous sounds around him, his small figure walked up to the Awakening platform with steady, resolute steps, under the gaze of the crowd.
"Your Highness, please step into the center of the Awakening Stone Array." At Kong Dehan's booming command, Xu Mochen walked to the center of the Awakening Stone Array, as straight as a pine. With a casual sweep of Kong Dehan's hand, a gleaming silver crescent moon slowly appeared behind him. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red! As the nine glowing Soul Rings appeared, they released a surging tide of Soul Power.
Though Kong Dehan carefully kept this aura from descending upon anyone else, the power he let slip unconsciously and that terrifying Soul Ring configuration were enough to make everyone present draw a silent breath. Even Xu Mochen's eyes flashed with surprise.
"Red! Could this be the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring mentioned in Douluo Continent?" From his predecessor's memories, Xu Mochen knew that his granduncle was not only the most senior member of the imperial family, but also the strongest person in the Sun Moon Empire. He was a Level 9 Soul Engineer!
But Xu Mochen hadn't expected that this white-haired, weather-beaten old man before him would possess one of the treasures hailed in the novel as one of the Soul Master world's greatest—the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring! By common reasoning, that meant his granduncle was likely not only a Super Douluo of at least level 95, but might also possess a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone!
At Kong Dehan's command, strands of Soul Power landed with pinpoint accuracy on every Awakening Stone in the array. Beams of energy shot from the stones and flew into Xu Mochen's body. He suddenly felt every pore on his body open, and the surging energy awakened something deep within him that had long lain dormant. A dazzling light then blazed from his body.
At that moment, everyone around him stared wide-eyed at the figure wrapped in light atop the platform, so intently that they seemed ready to rush forward for a closer look.
As the dazzling light gradually faded, the indistinct figure within it slowly came into view. When the light had vanished completely, everyone finally noticed the striking change in the figure's appearance.
"What kind of Martial Soul did the Crown Prince awaken? It doesn't seem to be one of the three ancestral Martial Souls of the Sun Moon Empire's royal family." Everyone below stared blankly at Xu Mochen atop the platform, their faces filled with surprise and confusion.
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