Douluo Continent: This Tang San is different

Chapter 256 Conversation with Bibi Dong (Continued)

Ghost Douluo, Chrysanthemum Douluo, Demon Bear Douluo, Ghost Leopard Douluo, and Ling Yuan—the five of them felt their scalps tingle upon hearing this.

Gods...

Is this something they could possibly know?

Bibi Dong's expression was uncertain, but what Tang San said was true. Unless he ascended to godhood according to the rules, the divine realm would definitely send someone down.

The Asura God, the enforcer of the divine realm, is also mentioned in the Rakshasa God's legacy. He is a god-king with extremely powerful strength. A first-level god would be instantly killed if he were serious.

Moreover, according to the rules, after becoming a god, one cannot interfere with the affairs of the lower realm on a large scale. Therefore, she must launch a plan to unify the continent before becoming a god.

But if we follow Tang San's suggestion, the Spirit Hall must first prepare all the basics, but how long will that take?

Bibi Dong had also learned about the founding histories of the two great empires. The Tian Dou Empire was established through the efforts of six generations, while the Xing Luo Empire was established through five generations. Even if we calculate based on fifty years per generation, it would still take two hundred and fifty to three hundred years.

If the Spirit Hall were to learn from this, it would have to change the core governing philosophy within the Spirit Hall and imitate the two great empires, which would take at least a hundred years.

A century... She is only two tests away from becoming the Rakshasa God: replenishing the Soul-Devouring Spider King's soul rings and inheriting its divine position.

Even if it is postponed, according to the very end of the time required for the divine examination, it will only take twenty years.

Even if one were to completely imitate the management methods of the two great empires over twenty years, it would be a pipe dream, let alone adapt it to one's own characteristics.

How long will this take?

"The issue of deities can be put aside for now, and the management issues after unification can also be postponed. The biggest problem facing the Spirit Hall right now is that, apart from Spirit City at the foot of the mountain, the Spirit Hall doesn't have any cities that truly belong to it." Tang San returned to reality, "Most of the population belongs to the two great empires. Even if the Spirit Hall helps those people awaken their spirits, they will consider themselves as people of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo, not people of the Spirit Hall."

"The so-called will of the people is actually that simple."

"With the awakening of a martial soul, most people do not have innate soul power and cannot become soul masters. Therefore, given the current environment, they need to consider making a living rather than cultivating to become stronger."

"In this respect, although the two great empires set relatively high taxes, leaving ordinary farmers in a state of not starving but not having enough to eat, the high-ranking officials and nobles were very good at propaganda, so most common people were more willing to trust the two great empires."

"After all, although everyone hopes to awaken a martial soul that can be cultivated, ordinary people also understand that the chance of their ancestral martial souls generating soul power is almost zero. This, to some extent, reduces their gratitude to the Spirit Hall for helping them awaken their martial souls."

"Moreover, it has become common knowledge that the Spirit Hall helps them awaken their spirits free of charge every year."

Tang San's words were a wake-up call for Bibi Dong.

Is this why ordinary people don't side with the Spirit Hall?

They have expectations of becoming Soul Masters, but they know that their descendants are unlikely to have innate Soul Power. Therefore, the gratitude for awakening their Martial Soul is not so important. They are more concerned about life and even survival.

The so-called common sense... is because the Spirit Hall helps them awaken their spirits free of charge every year, which has created a sense of dependence in them. Therefore, most ordinary people feel that it is only natural for the Spirit Hall to help them awaken their spirits.

Things that are taken for granted do not require gratitude.

Suddenly, Bibi Dong felt that she had figured out the key to it all. In fact, in her conversation with Tang San, she saw Tang San's profound understanding of human nature.

Things given away for free are not valued.

"So, in the future, the Spirit Hall will need ordinary people to pay money to help eligible children awaken their spirits?" Bibi Dong understood this point, but hesitated about whether to carry it out.

Putting aside the bigger picture, Bibi Dong felt that if this were the case, it would inevitably lead to a change in the people's faith in the Spirit Hall, which would align with her idea of ​​destroying the Spirit Hall's Angel lineage.

But if that old man in the ancestral hall finds out, he'll definitely get restless and jump out to stop it.

"For now, things remain the same."

Tang San lowered his eyes. "A sudden change would be difficult for anyone on the continent to adapt to. Moreover, the economic base determines the superstructure, and currently, the continent's economic base is based on agriculture, which is not suitable for immediate change. However, we can add a rule:"

Every year, there are bound to be children who miss their chance to awaken their martial spirit, or some children who are six years old and can't wait for the Spirit Hall personnel to arrive, and want to awaken their martial spirit ahead of time—these children can have their elders take them to the local Spirit Hall in their small town, pay the corresponding fee, and ask the Spirit Hall personnel to help them awaken their martial spirit.

"This is a more suitable approach, which can appropriately increase the Spirit Hall's revenue."

"As I've traveled, I've discovered that in some smaller cities, the Spirit Hall's internal Spirit Masters charge exorbitant prices for awakening Spirits for people in their spare time, ranging from fifty copper Spirit Coins to a hundred gold Spirit Coins... This damages the Spirit Hall's reputation. If His Holiness the Pope were to set a price and have it communicated throughout the continent via the Mother-Child Spirit Guidance Photography Sphere, then even if the branch hall masters remain the same, the people would be able to discern whether it's due to the personal actions of the local branch hall master or the entire Spirit Hall sucking their hard-earned money."

The Mother-Child Soul Guiding Photography Sphere has such a unique use!

Bibi Dong was startled, suddenly realizing that Tang San had long considered various internal problems of the Spirit Hall in order to join it, and already had a general plan to solve them.

"What does it mean that the economic base determines the superstructure?" After a moment of thought, Bibi Dong asked about the meaning of this somewhat incomprehensible sentence.

"What does Your Holiness think it means?" Tang San asked in return.

"All I can understand is that governing a country requires money, and a lot of money, is that what you mean?" Bibi Dong hesitated for a moment before finally expressing her opinion.

"It's a very simple idea, and it can't be said to be wrong." Tang San felt that Bibi Dong still had some political acumen, but she might be a bit stubborn and self-willed under the influence of the Spirit Hall's "might makes right" mentality.

But I am capable of standing up to them, and they should listen to some of my suggestions.

"The so-called economic base refers to the sum total of production relations determined by the productive forces at a certain stage of development within a society, or rather, a country," Tang San explained. "The so-called productive forces can be understood as the ability of farmers to cultivate land and grow food, as well as the ability to produce various clothes, furniture, tools, weapons, and other items that can be traded."

"Production relations refer to who owns these produced goods, how they are exchanged, and how they are distributed, etc."

"The superstructure is simply divided into two parts: politics and ideology."

"Politics, needless to say, refers to the management methods derived from the so-called economic base, such as the military and the judiciary, which are organizations or institutions that protect and ensure the stable development of the economic base."

"To give a simple example, imagine a group of people growing food that they can eat, sell, and live a good life. But another group of people want to come and steal it. To ensure that the group can continue to live a good life, some people need to be separated to form an army to fight off the enemy. Then, in order to grow more and better food, some people need to be separated to manage the others and research better ways to grow food."

Immediately, Bibi Dong and the others were astonished by her beauty.

They never imagined that the essence of governing a country was as simple as "growing food".

But once they were enlightened, after some thought, they realized that it really was true.

"However, in this process, some people wanted to gain without effort, so nobles emerged." Tang San sighed. "Why are nobles noble? Perhaps it's because their ancestors worked hard, but their descendants lack the corresponding talent. Do they truly deserve the same treatment as their ancestors?"

"The Spirit Hall is essentially no different from the sects on the continent. The strong are respected. It's fine as a sect, but as a country that governs the continent, the most basic thing it must do is this: the capable rise and the mediocre fall."

"This is a different concept from the idea that the strong are respected. After all, the older generation of Soul Masters are quite arrogant. Unless they are interested, they will not study things that are not related to improving their cultivation."

"The 'ability' I refer to as 'capable' is not physical strength, but rather skills in various fields such as domestic affairs, military affairs, agriculture, and industry."

"If you can't do that, even if the Spirit Hall achieves unification, it will immediately descend into chaos as long as you're not around."

"after all--"

"People are selfish; they only care about the size of the issue."

Bibi Dong was silent for a moment, then asked, "What does 'ideological' mean?"

"That's rather abstract, like laws, morality, art, and beliefs," Tang San replied. "Essentially, it's also about maintaining the economic foundation, but it's not as tangible as the military or organizations. It's more abstract, and whether or not you follow it depends entirely on your personal beliefs."

"But laws and morality are indispensable; they can unite people's hearts, gather their spirits, and make everyone of one mind."

Bibi Dong slowly rose from the papal chair, walked to Tang San, waved away the five people, and her eyes were full of admiration for Tang San: "I thought you only had outstanding talent in the path of Soul Master, but I never expected that you would also have such unique insights into the rule of the empire."

"It's just theoretical talk," Tang San said honestly. "How to actually do it is up to His Holiness the Pope to experiment with. I know absolutely nothing about politics, so don't count on me."

For a moment, Bibi Dong was speechless, and could only say, "You're really honest. What if I really asked you to take care of it?"

"So, does this Spirit Hall belong to you, or to me?"

(End of this chapter)