Chapter 550

So-called "pillars of the state" meant little to Sui Xiong as a reputation, but he very much agreed with the Rune God's view.

A nation's foundations were nothing more than military affairs and civil administration. Put more bluntly, they were money and blades.

Money was a separate matter. Blades meant a nation's military development. An army needed people, weapons, and armor.

Where did weapons and armor come from? Most lords acquired them through purchases. Those in slightly better circumstances bought steel and forged their own weapons and armor. Only the truly powerful could begin with raw materials and carry out the entire process themselves.

For those whose armaments came from purchases, never mind how much money they had to spend—even if they had enough money, they might not be able to buy enough equipment within a short time. Even if they bought it, quality was always a concern. And even if the quality was fine, equipment wore out in use; repairs and replacements were troublesome in the end.

Therefore, only powers capable of producing their own armaments had the right to speak of things like "contending for the realm" and "vying for supremacy over the Central Plains." The same was true in this world.

For example, the Gold Coin Federation had not originally been a nation at all, but a collection of large and small fiefs established separately by dozens of merchants and nobles. They attacked one another and fought without end, waging war for more than a century.

During that century of turmoil, the few major powers that ultimately rose to prominence all possessed their own smelting and forging workshops, with the ability to steadily produce armaments.

It was precisely by relying on that productivity that they were able to crush, one by one, the old rivals who had