Wealth Moves the Human Heart
Taiheng's Cultural and Entertainment Industry can be described in one sentence.
A group of people on the ground looked up at several gods in the sky.
Because of the widespread use of mobile phones, everyone can publish their own works online, mainly novels, poems, and songs.
After all, this is something that can be made by one person with just a table, a piece of paper, and a pen.
As for the songs, that requires a recording studio.
As for movies and animation, it goes without saying. While the former can be filmed with a mobile phone, it still requires some professional skills. As for the latter, Taiheng doesn't even have the concept of animation.
As for poetry, songs, and novels, Taiheng's development has spanned such a long period that most of the good poems and lyrics have already been written. The minds of later generations are filled with the poems and lyrics of their predecessors, making innovation extremely difficult.
The last famous poet of Taiheng today would be Yang Ning, who would be 30 years old if he were still alive.
However, Taiheng's novel writing has fared relatively well, because this genre was previously considered lowbrow, until the widespread use of mobile phones led some people to discover that writing novels could actually make money.
Taiheng Calendar, which means there are a lot of topics to write about; you could even write a lot of biographies just about its people.
Moreover, some biographies of geniuses and prodigies seem no different from wish-fulfillment novels.
This has resulted in a large number of true masters in the field of fiction.
Novels, due to their excessive word count, stylistic limitations, and the high illiteracy rate in Taiheng, have always faced challenges in dissemination, unlike music and film which are more direct and accessible.
In the music world, Taiheng has sects that specialize in the study of musical scales, but these sects produce very few original works; they mostly study musical scores passed down from their ancestors.
It wasn't until Yuanxi burst onto the scene and secured its place in the music industry that many people belatedly realized the importance of creating original music.
Although they awakened late, their extremely high level of skill caused them to become gods as soon as they entered. Even the classic Earth songs that Yang Ning brought were not very effective here.
After all, you're just singing ordinary songs, while other people's music can directly evoke emotions, promote spiritual practice, and calm the mind. How can you compete with that?
Fortunately, the Great Xia Dynasty has now been established.
If quality isn't good enough, make up for it with quantity!
The number of music, movies, and TV series on Earth is in the hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions.
So, with countless parallel worlds, how many films and novels would there be?
After watching movies, reading novels, and watching anime about the Great Xia Dynasty, you will naturally become curious about it. After learning more about it, and comparing it with your own sect or country, you will naturally develop a sense of goodwill and even admiration.
Further development of long-distance livestock farming led to the birth of countless Xia Chui (a type of livestock breeder).
Of course, Yang Ning had also witnessed how public intellectuals had fallen from grace, so he wouldn't blindly praise or belittle his livestock, as that would only breed resentment.
You don't need to say much. Simply showcasing the urban landscape and the people of Great Xia is enough to subtly criticize your own country.
While the Great Xia was busy building its nation and enhancing its National Luck, the Taiheng was not idle either.
Qu Heng pondered and observed for more than half a year, and finally confirmed that the rebel armies in Eastern Victory, Western Splendor, and Northern Plains must be suppressed.
After all, if one Great Xia is this unruly, what would happen if there were three more?
As for why we were able to observe for six months!
Hmm, that means the Aristocratic Clan in these three regions haven't been wiped out yet!
Although Qu Heng is the head of Taiheng Sect, he is also the head of the Qu Family. With other sect leaders seeking their own interests after taking office, it is difficult for Qu Heng to develop a mindset of "I am for Taiheng" and he will only think that "Taiheng is for me"!
The reasoning is quite simple: his position as sect leader was obtained with the full support and resources of the Qu Family. Now that he has become the sect leader, he naturally has to repay the Lineage, right?
Of course, even if the powerful Aristocratic Clan in these three places are all supporters of Taiheng and send their children to Taiheng to study every year, so what? It is Taiheng that is growing stronger, not my Qu Family.
If the rebels kill you, won't your territory and resources be left empty?
Once my Taiheng Army suppresses the rebels, won't these territories belong to our Qu Family?
"Why didn't I think of this move before!" Qu Heng shook his head, but it's not too late to realize it now.
He then reviewed the current military strength of Taiheng.
After fighting in the Ming Dynasty for a long time, Qu Heng also felt that fighting with scattered and disorganized troops was not a good idea. However, he could not command the sons Aristocratic Clan noble families. The formal disciple were all princes and heirs, so how could they be made to serve as common soldiers?
Then, while browsing videos recently, he unexpectedly discovered that Taiheng also had an army!
This army, led by people at the third or fourth level of Qi Refining, was so low-level that Qu Heng didn't even pay attention to them.
And no one ever reported the existence of these troops to him!
"Those damn aristocratic Aristocratic Clan!" Qu Heng slammed his fist on the table. The reason he hadn't received the report was naturally because these troops all had owners, so they didn't want him to know!
But these armies are using Taiheng's resources!
Taiheng's resources are my resources!
Asshole!
Qu Heng was astonished to discover that Taiheng had more than 60 demon-suppressing armies scattered in various places, such as the Haiyun Army. Each army had at least 200,000 people and as many as one million people, totaling as many as 30 million!
In addition, there are border troops guarding the border. Before Zhang Jiao invented military formations, these troops were used by aristocratic Aristocratic Clan to amass wealth and embezzle funds, since even an army of 100,000 could not stop a Qi Refining First Level cultivator from passing through.
Of course, things aren't much different now. People aren't all there, they can't get out of bed, and they're not getting enough to eat. How can they train troops?
But the compilation is real and tangible!
The border between the Taiheng Sect and the Northern Myriad Saints Alliance, along with the Northern Barbarians, is 36,000 kilometers long. The border with the Jinxiang Sect is 6,400 kilometers long, and the border with the South Sea Tan Family is 6,100 kilometers long, totaling 48,500 kilometers. On average, there is a sentry post every 3 kilometers, with 4,000 troops stationed there. That's 65 million people!
What? You're saying 3 kilometers doesn't need 4,000 people?
Yes, that's right. There were probably only 40 old, weak, sick and disabled people on guard duty. After all, the Ming Dynasty had a border of 12,000 kilometers, but when rebel armies rose up all over the Ming Dynasty, border troops were never seen.
However, the files and documents do indeed show 4,000 slots, and the monthly material expenditures are also handled based on 4,000 people.
"Damn these aristocratic Aristocratic Clan!" Qu Heng's mouth watered at the sight of the enormous expenditure on supplies. 65 million! Even if they only ate and didn't cultivate, that was still an extremely large number!
But it all ended up in the Bing Family's pockets!
It's not even been a year or two!
The Bing Family has been rising to power for 80,000 years, which means they've been making money for 80,000 years!
After doing this calculation, Qu Heng's eyes turned red!
"The Bing Family, by the way, it seems Bing Wuji is locked in the inner realm and hasn't come out yet?" Qu Heng frowned. He was only at the fifth level of the Spiritual Law Realm, while Bing Wuji was Supreme Elder with the sixth level of the Spiritual Law Realm.
If Bing Wuji were still alive, he would probably beat Qu Heng so badly that his intestines would be knocked out if he heard that Qu Heng dared to make a move against the Bing Family.
But now that Bing Wuji is gone, who else in the Bing Family can fight?
It seems there are no more. The highest-ranking cultivator left is only at the third level of the Spiritual Law Realm!
"How about we do it?" Qu Heng pondered, after all, taking down an Aristocratic Clan seemed to be more profitable than fighting a rebel army.
Although the rebel army made a lot of money robbing Aristocratic Clan, these Aristocratic Clan living outside the capital were like wealthy people living in third- or fourth-tier cities—could they compare to those living in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou?
One is a county magistrate, the other is Heshen; is it even necessary to think about which one to target?
"No, I can't withstand Bing Wuji's pressure alone." We can't enter or leave the inner realm now, but who knows how long this situation will last? What if we finish fighting today and Bing Wuji comes out tomorrow?
We need at least one person who can fight against Bing Wuji!
"Zhao Wudi?" Qu Heng shook his head. Zhao Wudi could fight against Bing Wuji, but he was too strong. If they cooperated with Zhao Wudi, they would be lucky to get a 90/10 chance.
Chen Xiangyi? He might be able to defeat Bing Wuji, but he might not be able to. If he falls just short, Qu Heng might be sold out!
So
"Xiao Lei and Meng Yu seem to be getting quite close lately!"
Both of them are newcomers to the sixth level of the Spiritual Law Realm. They certainly can't defeat Bing Wuji in a one-on-one fight, but if they join forces, the outcome is hard to say.
This 50/50 situation is exactly what Qu Heng needs.
"Even if we split the profits 60/40 with them, my Qu Family can still get 30%. With the Bing Family's resources, if I work hard, I might be able to climb up the ranks!"
Although the space is fluctuating violently now, space is static, but people are dynamic. Can he go to cultivate outside the Tai Heng Star System?
As long as he can cultivate to the sixth level of the Spiritual Law Realm, even if he can't defeat Bing Wuji, he can still escape.
Cultivators have many trump cards, especially those supported by an Aristocratic Clan family head. Within the same realm, it's not so easy for one side to kill the other.
"Hmm, we need to come up with a plausible reason, like, 'Let me keep it for you for a while?'"