Douluo Jueshi: Who let him join Shrek!

"His Majesty's condition seems to be deteriorating lately."

"Yes, I heard from people in the palace that His Majesty killed another palace maid yesterday."

"What else?"

"They almost attacked the Empress! If Master Kong hadn't been there, the Empress might have..."

"what?!"

"If His Majesty can even lay a hand on the Empress, then what about us?"

"Who says otherwise? Going to court every day is like hanging yourself; who knows when His Majesty might suddenly go mad and order a few people to be executed."

"A sin!"

Outside the palace, ministers preparing for court murmured amongst themselves, their faces filled with solemnity and fear.

Their emperor's condition has indeed been getting worse lately. He's quick to behead people, and he almost killed the empress, let alone the ministers.

During this period, apart from a few fearless old men who dared to speak frankly and offer advice, no one else dared to confront Xu Tianran head-on, because that would be no different from courting death.

Listening to the conversations of their colleagues, several highly respected senior officials closed their eyes.

Since Xu Tianran ascended the throne, most of the decrees he issued have only increased the burden on the people.

At first it was fine, but recently Xu Tianran's condition has gradually deteriorated, and the decrees he issues have become increasingly outrageous.

Not only are taxes doubled, but they're also collected several times a year!

Various wasteful and labor-intensive mining operations in the northern region have been hampered by a blizzard, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people!
But Xu Tianran didn't care about any of that; all he cared about was war! Only the unification of the continent!

"Your Excellencies, court is about to begin."

The ministers waiting outside the palace were roused, took a deep breath, and filed into the palace.

Xu Tianran was already seated on the dragon throne. On the surface, he seemed perfectly normal, and everyone could even see a slight smile on his lips, indicating that he was in a very good mood.

Seeing this, the ministers all breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems the risks of attending court today will be lower.

"Your Majesty, I humbly request that you reduce the taxes!"

As the meeting began, an elderly man with graying temples stepped forward and spoke loudly.

Upon hearing this, the ministers, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, immediately became anxious again, and at the same time couldn't help but mutter complaints in their hearts.

What's that old man doing?!

His Majesty seems to be in a good mood, and you're going to provoke him now? Aren't you just asking for death?
Sure enough, the smile on Xu Tianran's lips disappeared, and his face became expressionless.

"Reduce taxes? It seems Elder Zhang is even more compassionate towards the people than I am. Truly a pillar of the empire."

These words sounded like a compliment, but the atmosphere in the hall had become extremely tense!

"More compassionate to the people than the emperor"—what's the difference between that and accusing someone of a crime punishable by confiscation of their property and extermination of their entire family?
Old Zhang naturally understood the understatement in the compliment, but he still forced himself to continue, "Your Majesty, in recent years you have been constantly increasing taxes, and the people have begun to complain. If this continues, the people will suffer greatly!"

Xu Tianran nodded and said, "Yes, if this continues, the people will suffer terribly. But now the national treasury is empty and the empire needs money everywhere, so we can only let the people suffer."

After saying that, he looked at Old Zhang and changed the subject.

"Since Elder Zhang is so considerate of the people, why don't you help them share the burden? I remember you have some assets under your name. Why don't you contribute them all? That way, the people's burden will be lighter."

These words shocked the entire court!

This is an attempt to confiscate their property!

"His Majesty!"

"Alright, no need for further words. Guards, let's erect a monument in his honor. Old Zhang is so righteous and willing to hand over his entire fortune to the national treasury to alleviate the burden on the people."

Xu Tianran glanced at the ministers below and asked in a very casual tone, "So, who else wants to help alleviate the pressure on the people?"

Speechless.

The entire court was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Your Majesty, hundreds of laborers mining rare metal veins in the northern region have frozen to death in recent days due to the blizzard. Should we suspend mining?"

Another senior official stepped forward and spoke.

The issue of taxes is not the most serious at the moment. After all, as the richest country on the Douluo Continent, even if the Sun Moon Empire levies more taxes, it will not cause ordinary people to go hungry. At most, it will only lower their quality of life.

But the mining of rare metal veins in the north has already killed hundreds of people!

This is not wartime. During wartime, it's normal for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people to die.

But there's no war yet! Hundreds of people have died or been injured just from mining rare metal veins; that's a huge deal!
Upon hearing this, Xu Tianran frowned.

"Didn't I say I would send more cold-weather supplies over there? How come so many people are still freezing to death?"

The old minister said helplessly, "Your Majesty, even a Soul King-level Soul Master wouldn't survive a head-on collision with the blizzards in the northern region. Even if the cold-weather supplies are distributed, they won't be enough to withstand the blizzards! Moreover..."

The words hadn't been finished, but everyone already knew what they meant.

Any supplies that go through multiple procedures are destined to be withheld.

This has almost become an unspoken rule.

"Your Majesty, I humbly request that you suspend the mining of rare metal veins in the northern region until after the blizzards have passed next year..."

"no!"

Xu Tianran rejected the proposal outright.

Mining next year?
His soul masters are working overtime to produce military soul tools, and the Sun Moon Empire's rare metal reserves are being depleted.

If mining stops, what will he use to wage war once his stockpile of rare metals is depleted?

"Rare metal mining is a matter of national importance! Even if there is a blizzard, we must overcome it! Not only that, we must send more people. Under no circumstances should the supply of rare metals be reduced! Also, we must send people to mine rare metal veins in the Northwest and Northeast regions. The current supply of rare metals is already insufficient."

Xu Tianran said in a deep voice.

The consumption of rare metals has been too high recently, and mining in the northern region alone is no longer enough. It is necessary to develop several other large rare metal mining areas.

He doesn't have time!
One month later, Ye Yulin will lead 10,000 elite Soul Master troops to land on the east coast of the Douling Empire, and the war will begin!
At that time, he will have to arm the army with a massive number of military soul-guided devices.

Only in this way can we effectively suppress Tianhun and Xingluo in a short period of time.

"But Your Majesty." "No buts, I know what I'm doing."

Xu Tianran said firmly.

Next, some ministers also reported news, mostly good news.

Hearing this, Xu Tianran finally smiled again.

Shrek Academy, Poseidon Island.

"The Sun Moon Empire is indeed about to make a big move."

Jiang Ming received the information transmitted back from Mingdu by his clone and muttered to himself.

Large-scale mining of rare metals, without exporting them, means they can only be used domestically.

Such a large quantity of rare metal could only be used for war!

Surely Xu Tianran isn't planning to use these rare metals to renovate the entire Ming capital.

"Your human wars are truly complex."

Snow Empress, who had transformed into a foot-long sprite and sat on Jiang Ming's shoulder, spoke softly.

"When I established my authority in the far north, all I had to do was defeat the chieftains of those powerful clans one by one."

The war among spirit beasts is primitive and simple; all it takes is a fight.

Jiang Ming smiled and said, "Actually, I also prefer things to be simpler. But wars between humans are just like that."

As he spoke, Jiang Ming took out a map of the continent from his storage soul tool and used his soul power to make it float in the air.

"Xue'er, if the Sun Moon Empire were to start a war, where do you think it would strike first?"

Xue Di glanced at the map, pondered for a few seconds, and said, "If it were the Sun Moon Empire before, we could attack anywhere, but now that you have destroyed the Holy Spirit Sect, the Sun Moon Empire has a gap in Soul Master combat power. I think we should attack the Star Luo Empire. After all, the Heavenly Soul Empire has the Body Sect now, so it doesn't lack Soul Master powerhouses."

Upon hearing Xue Di's analysis, Jiang Ming shook his head and said, "Your analysis makes some sense, but it's not enough."

"In terms of overall national strength, the Star Luo Empire is stronger than the Heavenly Soul Empire. If a real conflict were to break out, the possibility of the Sun Moon Empire being the first to attack the Star Luo Empire would be very low."

Xue Di's mindset hadn't changed. Wars between human nations were different from those between spirit beasts. While powerful spirit masters were indeed important, the most crucial factor was the overall national strength!

After all, even after so many years of development, the number of Soul Masters on Douluo Continent is much greater than before, but compared to the entire population of the continent, they are still a minority.

The number of Soul Masters in the military is relatively small.

In terms of the number of Soul Masters, the Heavenly Soul Empire, with the addition of the Body Sect, is stronger than the Star Luo Empire. However, in terms of overall national strength, the overall strength of Soul Masters, and the overall strength of the army, the Star Luo Empire is stronger.

Ten thousand years ago, the Star Luo Empire was stronger than the Heaven Dou Empire. Not to mention, the current Heaven Soul Empire was split off from the Heaven Dou Empire.

"Will the Sun Moon Empire attack the Heavenly Soul Empire?"

Xue Di turned her head to look at Jiang Ming's profile.

Jiang Ming shook his head again and said, "The Heavenly Soul Empire is indeed weaker than the Star Luo Empire, but it is not to be trifled with. Moreover, once a war breaks out in the Heavenly Soul Empire, the Star Luo Empire will definitely join in. The two empires have already established a war alliance. Once the war starts, even if the Sun Moon Empire is the strongest, Heavenly Soul and Star Luo can drag the Sun Moon Empire into the quagmire of war, and it will not be effective in the short term."

Since the Sun Moon Empire showed signs of waging war, the Star Luo and Heavenly Soul Empires formulated a joint plan.

After all, their two empires were directly adjacent to the Sun and Moon Empire.

"Which country is the Sun Moon Empire going to attack? It can't be the Fighting Spirit Empire, can it? But the Fighting Spirit Empire and the Sun Moon Empire aren't even adjacent. Do you think they can fly over there?"

Xue Di said with a puzzled look.

Jiang Ming pointed and gazed at the vast sea beyond the map.

"Flying is not an option. Even with a flying soul tool, it's impossible to cross the defenses of the Heavenly Soul and Star Luo Empires. However, crossing by sea should be no problem."

Xue Di looked at Jiang Ming using his soul power to draw a route through the sea on the map, and was somewhat surprised.

"At sea? The sea spirit beasts in the deep sea are not to be trifled with."

Jiang Ming nodded and said, "Indeed, sea spirit beasts in the deep sea are not easy to deal with, but the Sun Moon Empire itself has very advanced navigation technology. If we add some soul tools specifically designed to target sea spirit beasts, then this approach is feasible. However, I'm just guessing. If Xu Tianran really does this, then the Douling Empire might be in danger."

Jiang Ming had some understanding of the strength of the three original empires of Douluo Continent.

If Xu Tianran were to send his elite troops to launch a surprise attack on the Douling Empire, or even directly use level-nine fixed-position soul-guided cannons to carry out a devastating blow to several important cities of the Douling Empire, then the Douling Empire would basically be finished!
"However, even if the Sun Moon Empire does this, and even if it conquers the Douling Empire, it will still fall short of unifying the continent. You must know that the Heavenly Soul Empire has been eyeing the Douling Empire for a long time. Back then, the Heavenly Dou Empire was divided in two; perhaps now is the opportunity for them to reunite?"

As he spoke, Jiang Ming stood up and stretched.

"I don't really want to get involved in these things. I've already given the warnings I needed to. Now, I just need to keep an eye on Xu Tianran. Once Xu Tianran is killed, the war launched by the Sun Moon Empire will come to nothing."

A war to unify the entire continent cannot be accomplished without a powerful and capable ruler.

Once Xu Tianran is killed by him, there will be almost no chance for the entire Sun Moon Empire to continue Xu Tianran's unification cause.

Even if it were possible, it would require a bloody power transition.

"Well, if there's anyone who might take over Xu Tianran's place in the war, it's probably only her. But it doesn't matter, since she'll be targeted by Xu Tianran soon anyway."

A faint smile appeared on Jiang Ming's lips.

He turned and glanced at the lakeside cottage behind him, then sighed softly.

"Xue'er, I miss Sister Lexuan and the others a little."

Although they had only been apart for a short time, he had already begun to miss Zhang Lexuan and the others.

Xue Di rolled her eyes at Jiang Ming, placed her smooth little feet on his shoulders, and pulled his ear, saying irritably, "What, is it that I can't satisfy you?"

Jiang Ming snapped out of his daze, blinked, and quickly said, "Of course not, I just simply miss them a little."

Xue Di chuckled.

"Just missing you? Our souls are intertwined; I know exactly what you're thinking."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ming couldn't help but cough; he had completely forgotten about that.

"Ahem, well, I do have some other thoughts, after all, I'm a young man full of vigor."

Xue Di released her grip on Jiang Ming's ear and patted his head.

After a few seconds, the Snow Empress suddenly said, "How about I use ice and snow to condense a temporary physical body?"

Jiang Ming: "(End of this chapter)"