"The treacherous fiends of the Heaven-Piercing Sect deserve to die. If we count Ye Province, which has been completely occupied by the Devil Race, as well as most of Martial Prefecture, Blessing Province, and Silver Province, which are still being seized, the Heaven-Piercing Empire now covers nearly half the area of a Protectorate. Its population consists of more than 12 billion Great Xia citizens who were carried off from those provinces..."
"More than 12 billion?" Even Zhang Tie was startled by that figure. He knew there were many Great Xia citizens trapped in the Devil Race's occupied territories across the three provinces, but he had never imagined there would be so many. The number was terrifying.
"This is already the result of Great Xia doing its utmost over the last half year to evacuate the people of Martial Prefecture, Blessing Province, and Silver Province. Naturally, you deserve some credit as well!" Zuo Qiu Mingyue looked at Zhang Tie, approval in his eyes. "Using the profits from Torch Oil to get Great Xia's powerful clans and noble houses to invest their strength and speed up the evacuation of civilians from the war zone—though it is a merchant's method, it has worked well. Many times, driving people with righteousness is inferior to enticing them with profit. The imperial court could have ordered Great Xia's great clans and aristocratic families to do this, but their enthusiasm would likely never have been this great!"
"You overpraise me, Grand Marshal. I merely did what I could!" Faced with praise from Great Xia's god of war, Zhang Tie was not the least bit proud, remaining utterly sincere. "Back on the Weiyi Subcontinent, I saw with my own eyes the misery of countless Commoners living under Devil Race rule. Most lived lives worse than death, each one