The Holy Emperor of Ming

Chapter 253: Conquering the World is Hard, Ruling the World is Even Harder

The old man in black shook his head heavily, frowning even more, and said earnestly: "Your Majesty, do you know how many people need to die in order to unify the world?"

"Of course I know that many people will die, but how can a man be merciful?
Moreover, only when the world is unified can it be better." Zhu Houzhao said with disdain.

"Yes, unification does seem to be better for the world. For this, even if some people die, it is worth it." The old man in black nodded, and the next moment, he changed his words: "However, conquering the world is difficult, and ruling the world is even more difficult.

Your Majesty, after unifying the world, how will you govern this vast mountain and river?

It stretches for tens of thousands of miles from east to west and is separated by the sea.

The distance from north to south is also about 20,000 miles.

How are you going to govern such a vast territory with a population of nearly 200 million?"

Zhang Sanfeng frowned, looked at the old man in black thoughtfully, then looked at Zhu Houzhao, and felt a little more curious.

Zhu Houzhao was more interested after hearing this. He thought about it seriously and said domineeringly, "Of course, we should appoint virtuous officials to govern the various places, and let the generals lead the army to guard the place and do a good job of supervision.

Then, we in the Ming Dynasty have enough strong masters, so even though the area is large, with the speed of the masters, we can reach the destination in a few days at most.

How can it not be governed? "

Zhang Sanfeng nodded secretly. Although it was rather general and seemingly empty, it contained countless difficulties.

But it is indeed the general path.

but····
He glanced at Zhu Houzhao and frowned.

"Your Majesty is right. If Your Majesty remains true to his original aspiration, it is indeed possible to form effective governance.

However, this requires the Ming Dynasty central court to always maintain the power to suppress everything.

Especially the core Ming emperor, who must have the power to rule all of this." The old man in black nodded in agreement, then changed the subject.

"Of course I will always stick to my original intention, and I will definitely be able to rule." Zhu Houzhao said proudly and confidently.

"As long as your majesty is here, I will believe it too.

But what if you, Your Majesty, are gone?"

The old man in black shook his head and looked at Zhu Houzhao deeply. Zhu Houzhao seemed to realize something and was startled.

Zhang Sanfeng sighed secretly, this is the biggest problem.

The more powerful the empire, the better the emperor it needs; otherwise it will collapse and cause a greater disaster.

But the emperor has the shortest lifespan.

He knew that the old man in black was trying to mislead Zhu Houzhao, but he had no intention of interrupting him.

Because the fact is there.

Also, for many things, Zhu Houzhao could only experience, face and think about them on his own.

Zhu Houzhao was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the one who made the final decision.

Moreover, he also wanted to hear Zhu Houzhao's thoughts.

His support for the Ming Dynasty court and Zhu Houzhao was by no means blind. It is impossible for him to support them even though he knew it was wrong.

For example, the issue of unification, in fact, he had not thought much about it before, because the Ming Dynasty had not yet reached that stage, and the current problem of the Ming Dynasty was the most important.

He tends not to support it if those issues are not resolved.

Of course, even if Zhu Houzhao couldn't say anything now or what he said was not to his liking, he would not be too disappointed.

After all, he is still too young. Any powerful leader needs to grow step by step. Maybe Zhu Houzhao will come up with a solution in the future?
He couldn't think of any good solutions himself, but he was willing to believe that others could come up with one.

Especially a peerless sage like Zhu Houzhao, who is unprecedented in history.

That’s right, in Zhang Sanfeng’s eyes, Zhu Houzhao was already the best saintly king to the people.

This is also the biggest reason why he is willing to respond to calls and take action against strong enemies many times.

He knew that the senior Wuji was the same.

Otherwise, although Zhu Houzhao and the imperial court were becoming increasingly powerful, it was not enough to scare them and make them willing to take action for them.

Seeing Zhu Houzhao thinking seriously, the voice of the old man in black rang out again, saying solemnly: "Your Majesty, the emperor has inherited the fate of a country since ancient times, and has been in the realm of heaven and man, and cannot increase his life span.

Your Majesty, you are a human, not a god, and you will die anyway.

What will become of the Ming Dynasty after you die?"

“If you truly unify the world, the Ming Dynasty at that time will be incomparably glorious, surpassing all dynasties in the past thousands of years.

But such a Ming Dynasty is destined to submit to you and belong only to you.

Once you die, it's instant collapse."

After saying this in one breath, the old man in black sighed helplessly, looked at Zhu Houzhao, and continued: "Don't tell your majesty that you will reach the level of heaven and increase your lifespan.

Since the emergence of the human race, not even the ancient gods have been able to break through to the level above celestial beings.

Those gods and immortals are also only at the level of heavenly beings.

This is not something that can be accomplished by human efforts, but something that cannot be tolerated by heaven and earth.

Just like whales are not allowed to appear in these small rivers and streams.

This is the law of heaven and earth.

Your Majesty, you are indeed the most amazing martial arts genius in thousands of years, but compared to the laws of heaven and earth, no matter who you are, you seem too insignificant.

How can you guarantee that you will be able to break through? Even if you break through to a realm above heaven and man, will you be able to extend the emperor's life?"

Zhu Houzhao was not convinced. He opened his mouth and wanted to say that he would definitely be able to make a breakthrough, but he swallowed the last sentence back.

He frowned and continued to think.

“Your Majesty, don’t talk about looking for something that can make you live forever.” The old man in black smiled slightly and continued, “Yes, there are indeed some magical things in this world that can prolong people’s lifespan.

But none of them can extend the emperor's life, because no matter how magical the spiritual objects are, they cannot withstand the power of national destiny gathered from hundreds of millions of people.

This is the emperor's fate."

"In the end, the only option left is to be the successor." The old man in black looked at Zhu Houzhao more seriously and said slowly: "Your Majesty, can your successor have your strength and ideas for governing the country?
I heard that you said frankly that if there is an extremely outstanding person in the royal family of the future Ming Dynasty, he may even serve as the emperor of the future Ming Dynasty.

Oh, that's impossible.

Let’s not talk about whether you will change your mind in the future?
If you can really unify the world, then by then, no one other than your son will be able to inherit the throne, no matter how outstanding he is.

Even if he succeeds, will he choose an outstanding member of the royal family instead of his own son to inherit the throne like you did?"

Even if Your Majesty finds an extremely outstanding son among your sons, what about your grandson?

Can we guarantee that there will always be successors capable of ruling the glorious Ming Dynasty?
impossible. "

"Your Majesty, the path of unifying the world is wrong, because even if it is unified, what can it do?
It will soon fall apart again, and the unification that was achieved at great cost will once again turn into a situation of fragmentation and warlord chaos.

Then, it will still be the people who suffer.

Your Majesty, you said it yourself that the most important thing for the Ming Dynasty is the people.

Do you want to let them live in a chaotic world where warlords fight for power?

It is better to be a dog in peace than a man in chaos. "

The heavy voice slowly fell, Zhang Sanfeng remained silent, but he was still on high alert, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Zhu Houzhao opened his mouth several times, wanting to refute, but found that what he said seemed to make sense.

He took a deep breath, calmed down, and thought carefully.

What the old guy said makes sense, but is it really right?
He thought about it bit by bit, his expression sometimes excited, sometimes distressed, sometimes hesitant, and sometimes determined.

As time passed, Zhang Sanfeng and the old man in black remained quiet and undisturbed Zhu Houzhao, allowing him to think on his own.

After a long while, Zhu Houzhao seemed to have figured out the last point. He looked up and excitedly glared at the old man in black, and said confidently, "I have figured it out."

The old man in black looked back calmly. He didn't think Zhu Houzhao had any good solution.

Zhang Sanfeng was slightly looking forward to it.

"Old man, what you said does make some sense, but I want to tell you that I will definitely unify the world, and no one can stop me." Zhu Houzhao said in a decisive and powerful tone.

Without waiting for the black-robed old man to respond, he continued confidently, "Since you said that no one except me can suppress the unified Ming Dynasty, then I will always be fine.

If the realm above the heavens cannot extend my lifespan, then there must be a realm above that which can extend my lifespan."

The old man in black shook his head, showing obvious distrust.

Zhu Houzhao did not need his trust, and said with a domineering and confident look: "I believe I can definitely do it.

Even if I really die one day and the Ming Dynasty falls apart, it doesn’t matter.”

The old man in black and Zhang Sanfeng looked at him in surprise.

"I forgot who said it, but the world and the country are progressing.

I also believe this. For example, a long time ago, the common people were slaves, and only the nobles could practice martial arts, study, and become officials.

Today, anyone in the Ming Dynasty can learn martial arts, study, and become an official.

In the past, the country used inconvenient and expensive bamboo slips, but now ordinary people can also use paper.

These all represent that the world, the people, and everything else are progressing.”

Facing the gazes of the two men, Zhu Houzhao seemed to be full of vigor and vitality, becoming more and more confident and determined.

"I will unify the world. I will implement the policies of Jin and more policies that benefit the people throughout the world. I will make the lives of the people better and better and abolish many practices that oppress the people.

As long as people's lives improve and policies that oppress them are abolished, this is progress.

Once they have made progress, anyone who wants them to regress will inevitably face backlash from the people and people of justice.

It doesn’t matter if I really die or the Ming Dynasty falls apart.

As long as progress exists, no, as long as it happens, it will be worth it even if it leads to war and temporarily rolls back progress.

Because once it happens, sooner or later someone will make progress back.

This is the progress that will definitely happen in the world."

The firm words, like a morning bell, rang in the ears of the old man in black and Zhang Sanfeng.

The two of them thought about these words quickly.

This is an angle they didn't discover.

Suddenly, the two people who were ranked among the top in the world in terms of martial arts realm thought of something.

Heaven!

(Chapter 1.)
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(End of this chapter)