Commercial Nations and Military Nations

The two quickly settled into the rhythm, downing cup after cup of wine. With every clink of their glasses and every gulp, Dai Weisi grew increasingly astonished!

He had originally considered whether he should stop in time if Xu Mochen appeared unable to hold his liquor, as he had already learned through intelligence reports just how formidable the Sun Moon Empire was—the endless array of Soul Guidance Weapons was enough to chill anyone to the bone!

Although he did not know if the court in Star Luo City had received these latest updates, Dai Weisi was certain that once his Imperial Father and the others learned that the Sun Moon Empire possessed such a vast quantity of advanced weaponry, and understood that they had already established a friendly diplomatic agreement with the Heaven Dou Empire, they would inevitably feel deep anxiety and would demand at any cost that he maintain good relations with the Sun Moon Empire!

While the Star Luo Empire's behavior was unconventional and its diplomatic dealings often revealed a wild, untamed aura, this did not mean the Star Luo Empire was brainless. In fact, the reason they dared to act this way in diplomatic dispatches was not only to gain the upper hand in momentum during diplomatic occasions, but also because they relied on their nation's own formidable strength!

If a head-on, one-on-one war were to break out, neither the Heaven Dou Empire nor Martial Soul Hall would be their match! Originally, this meeting over wine and the various tactics to follow were all specifically designed to probe the Sun Moon Empire's strength.

But judging from the latest intelligence, the national power of this mysterious and powerful Sun Moon Empire had far exceeded his country's previous expectations. Should these tactics continue? Would they annoy the Sun Moon Empire and bring a great disaster upon the Star Luo Empire?

Dai Weisi had no confidence in his heart. However, the arrow was already on the string and had to be fired. Although he still felt some hesitation, considering the series of plans that were to follow, he decided to act according to his ability. If Xu Mochen appeared to be reaching his limit, Dai Weisi could timely feign an inability to hold his liquor and concede early! This would also preserve the Sun Moon Empire's face to the greatest extent!

Yet, it was now obvious to Dai Weisi that he had been overthinking. This Imperial Prince from the Sun Moon Empire drank cup after cup as if he were drinking plain water. Even Dai Weisi, who had always boasted of having a bottomless capacity for alcohol, was already flushed, his brain beginning to feel dizzy, while Xu Mochen continued to gulp down the strong spirits with a calm, indifferent expression! Not a hint of drunkenness was revealed!

My god? Is this guy immune to alcohol? Dai Weisi inwardly lamented. Although he could still keep up for a while, seeing Xu Mochen's unchanging expression and considering the other plans he had to execute, Dai Weisi dared not continue the contest.

"Stop, stop, stop! Your Highness has an astonishing capacity for liquor! This Humble One admits defeat!" Stopping Xu Mochen, who seemed to be just getting started and looked ready to lift the entire jar to drink, Dai Weisi felt a twitch in his heart and hurriedly conceded! The surrounding Star Luo Empire diplomatic representatives were also shocked!

They knew Dai Weisi's drinking capacity all too well! He was known as the "Little Prince of the Wine Table"! And yet, he had actually taken the initiative to concede to this Sun Moon Empire Imperial Prince! Seeing the state of the two, it was clear that the First Imperial Prince was not intentionally yielding, but was truly outmatched in capacity! This left the Star Luo Empire representatives gaping, unable to imagine that this Sun Moon Empire Imperial Prince, who looked only about twelve years old, could have such an astonishing capacity for alcohol!

Xu Mochen stopped his drinking, smiled, and cupped his hands toward Dai Weisi: "The First Imperial Prince is too kind! Your Highness's capacity is truly amazing; this Humble One only won by luck."

"No need for modesty; a loss is a loss." Dai Weisi shook his head with a bitter smile, then said: "If I may be so bold, since we are close, calling you 'Your Highness' all the time is too distant. Why don't you just call me Brother Dai?"

Hearing this, Xu Mochen naturally responded with a smile: "Then this Humble One will be impolite; Brother Dai might as well call me Brother Xu." At this moment, the two appeared to be brothers in harmony, looking as if they wished to swear an oath of brotherhood on the spot.

"Brother Xu, I have a question I'd like to ask. I wonder how your cultivation is?" Finally reaching the next stage, Dai Weisi remained all smiles on the surface, while his brain was already spinning rapidly, calculating the next steps.

Xu Mochen also appeared delighted on the surface, but he knew in his heart that the next step was coming. As previously mentioned, there were two major tactics in Star Luo Empire diplomacy: the first was the "meeting over wine" they had just finished, and the second was the bold and unrestrained "meeting over martial arts," which, as the name implied, was a sparring match between soul masters.

According to what Xu Mochen understood, the entire Star Luo Empire possessed a rich martial spirit; in some places, they could even achieve a state of "every citizen is a soldier!" In comparison, the Heaven Dou Empire's literary and commercial atmosphere was much stronger than that of the Star Luo Empire.

This was not only related to different folk cultures but also to the way the two imperial families had risen to power. Although the Heaven Dou Empire's Imperial Family's "Snow Domain Swan" martial soul was not bad, it still lagged significantly behind top-tier martial souls. The family itself had risen through commerce and had established the current Heaven Dou Empire together with a group of sects that were closely linked in business.

Because most of their family members were not high in cultivation, they were instead proficient in the arts of checks and balances and imperial strategy, always able to bring sufficient benefits to various friendly forces. Furthermore, many of the major families that had helped build the empire were focused on cultivation and had no interest in power. Thus, with the support of these founding families, the Heaven Dou Empire's Imperial Family was able to secure the throne.

It could be said that while the Heaven Dou Empire looked like a vast empire on the surface, in reality, it was a commercial alliance established by various interest groups! Because the Imperial Family had led everyone to start the business, and because they were highly skilled, they were jointly elected by all parties as the leader of this commercial alliance.

Since the Heaven Dou Empire was built on commerce and the founding families were all old partners in the business world, the empire greatly encouraged the development of trade. They not only provided various preferential treatments to merchants in terms of benefits but also frequently held large-scale commercial exchange events, and the relevant laws were quite relaxed, which further stimulated the prosperity of the Heaven Dou Empire's commerce and culture.

However, there were significant problems behind all this. Because the Heaven Dou Imperial Family had ascended the throne through election, their control over the local regions was extremely weak!

Moreover, not all the families that had helped build the empire were uninterested in power. In fact, within the entire Heaven Dou Empire, apart from the Heaven Dou City and the three provinces surrounding the capital which were directly controlled by the Imperial Family, all other major provinces were controlled by various large families!

The Heaven Dou Empire only held nominal jurisdiction, the right to station the Royal Guard, and limited powers of supervision and taxation. Even this bit of power existed only with the support of other cultivation families that backed the Imperial Family (such as the Ning family of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect). The city defense forces and specific government affairs in other local provinces were firmly held in the hands of the local families.

The Heaven Dou Empire's two-million-strong army seemed massive, but the Royal Guard accounted for only 800,000, while the remaining 1.2 million were all city defense forces recruited locally! And the vast majority of these city defense forces were also controlled by local families!

Because the city defense forces were effectively under different allegiances, their organization, training models, equipment, and treatment varied greatly. The city defense forces in Heaven Dou City and the three surrounding provinces were undoubtedly the best, equipped with chainmail and lamellar armor, and their pay was decent!

But it was hard to say for other places. City defense forces with better equipment might get leather or scale armor, and more shockingly, some were equipped with only cloth armor or almost no armor at all! Their pay was generally low, and in some places, it was difficult even to feed themselves. The overall combat effectiveness of their city defense forces was evident.

In even more tragic cases, some local families that had once fought alongside the Heaven Dou Imperial Family had even split off and declared independence for various reasons and goals! They even turned around to attack and plunder the Heaven Dou Empire, seizing territory, population, and various resources! One by one, they took the opportunity to grow stronger! This was the origin of the "Four Kings and One Duke"—the five nations that had split from the Heaven Dou Empire!

Although the Heaven Dou Imperial Family had sent troops to suppress rebellions many times, due to their low control over the local regions and the fact that hostile forces like Martial Soul Hall and the Star Luo Empire were fanning the flames behind the scenes, the Heaven Dou Empire almost always returned without success.

The Star Luo Empire was completely different. If the Heaven Dou Empire was a commercial nation, then the Star Luo Empire was undoubtedly a military one! The Dai Family, as the Imperial Family of the Star Luo Empire, was one of the most formidable soul master families in the empire! Coupled with their Martial Soul Fusion Skill with the Zhu family, their status was naturally invincible and unshakable!

The Dai Family itself was a family of generals! Their interest groups were mostly a bunch of martial-minded military nobles! The Dai Family could suppress all rebels through their own formidable strength and iron-fisted methods! Furthermore, generations of the Dai Family were proficient in military strategy and tactics! That was why they could lead their subordinates to sweep across the world and eventually carve out a vast empire!

Because the Dai Family, in alliance with the Zhu family, was the most powerful soul master family in the Star Luo Empire, and because their empire was not earned through agreements or interest-based cooperation like the Heaven Dou Empire, but was fought for with their own lives and those of their subordinates, the Star Luo Empire's foundation was not only much more stable than that of the Heaven Dou Empire, but their control over local regions was also far beyond what the Heaven Dou Empire could compare to!

Furthermore, the Star Luo Imperial Family advocated governing through iron and blood, and the status of the nobles under them was earned through military merit! Due to their strict control over commercial activities, their development in trade was not as good as the Heaven Dou Empire's, but when it came to combat power, it was not something the Heaven Dou Empire—that seemingly massive patchwork monster—could compare to at all!

It was precisely because of this that in every historical clash between the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire, the Heaven Dou Empire lost more than it won, and its territory was constantly being lost. Once, even the Heaven Dou Empire's capital, Heaven Dou City, was captured by the Star Luo Empire! It once forced the Heaven Dou Imperial Family to "hunt in the north" (a nicer way of saying they fled)!

Although the Star Luo Empire eventually withdrew from Heaven Dou City due to the resistance of various forces within the Heaven Dou Empire and the interference of Martial Soul Hall, the Star Luo Empire still squeezed a massive amount of wealth and territory from the Heaven Dou Empire, and the enmity between the two countries reached its peak.