You became an emperor by letting me AFK.

"No need, I feel like I should rest now."

He looked at his colleagues beside him and saw that Song Qingyun and Cheng Feng looked regretful. The two had rushed over to offer their condolences, but unexpectedly received a diagnosis that was incurable.

This renowned "Great Khan" is about to fall, and a giant of an era is about to collapse.

Regrettably.

The two younger men looked at this man who was rightfully the first lord, the strongest Khan, and now the great general. They had suggested more than once that he seek treatment from the high priest, but he refused.

"There's no need for that. I think this ending is perfect. It must be because my bravery was appreciated by Heaven."

"My mind is made up. Don't try to persuade me anymore. Let me die on the battlefield."

The two hesitated for a moment, but ultimately accepted Erbala's decision. No one could force him, and perhaps it was true; dying victorious was indeed a better ending than dying old and sick in one's bed.

"Would my death give you a reason to send troops?"

“Yes,” Cheng Feng replied immediately. “I can mobilize the army; His Majesty has authorized me to suppress the heretics.”

“I will organize a funeral that you deserve.” Song Jingyun nodded.

"It's up to you all now."

After saying this, Erbala let out a long sigh, lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and peacefully fell into a deep sleep.

The Southern Plains city-state did not conceal Erbala's death.

They even held a grand funeral and a lavish mourning ceremony, spreading the news far and wide so that everyone would know that this lord had fought to the very last moment and died victorious.

Cheng Feng decisively used this as a pretext to send troops, and a fully armed funeral procession toured the southern city-states.

This is the Daqian Army.

Unlike the previous city-state-based armies, this time he personally led a regular army from the Great Qian Dynasty. The mighty army traversed the city-states, attracting crowds of onlookers wherever they went.

They were dressed in mourning clothes and exuded a murderous aura.

Any provocation could lead to bloodshed; the air was thick with tension.

Strictly speaking, Cheng Feng took the risk on his own initiative, along with Song Jingyun, but as it turned out, everything went smoothly.

Instead of being disturbed, the restless pagan city-states were calmed down, and one city-state even expressed its submission, forcing them, who were originally hesitant about the method of surrender, to make a decisive decision.

Mediocre talent.

He could only mock it, but as long as the goal was achieved, that was enough.

To date, the Great Qian Dynasty has gained control over 3 out of 5 heretical city-states. Combined with the already larger number of believer city-states, the population has exceeded 60, making it a very lucrative undertaking.

The impromptu decision of the Southern Plains city-state aligned with the strategy, achieving a level of efficiency that neither the local nor the central authorities could have anticipated.

We definitely needed to take drastic measures.

From the perspective of the hostile city-states, if the generals of Daqian and the Daqian army were to attack, they would be doomed.

"If Erbala is this powerful, what if Shen Xingyao from back then came back to fight another battle? Let's just forget about it."

"I don't want to fight guys who even devour their own clans alive."

"Have you heard? The Great Qian Army is also part of the subspace contamination, just more rational."

"real or fake?"

"Would I lie to you? Just cast your bet already."

"If we calculate the timeline, the Heavenly Dao should be descending soon. It's this summer, less than three months away. If we delay any longer and attract that person's attention, then we'll be doomed."

"The High Priestess definitely wants a quick victory; who knows what she might do if we delay."

"It's time to make a decision."

The city-states in the southern region certainly understood that the temple's higher-ups were securing the tributes for the Heavenly Ritual, and wouldn't it be better to offer up a vast map of territorial expansion?

Logically speaking, the party in a more urgent situation should be at a relative disadvantage in negotiations.

However, the difference in size was too great, and besides, the Great Qian Dynasty was backed by unfathomable Heavenly Dao, which could not be provoked. After much thought, delaying tactics were pointless, so it was best to simply take the risk and join them.

As a result, the city-states that Cheng Feng led his army to pass through immediately welcomed him, and those city-states that had only agreed on paper opened their gates wide.

The matter was settled by issuing a proclamation.

The news quickly reached the capital of Xiayi.

Upon reading the letter, Feng Tianyin hesitated for a moment, but spoke first of condolence:

"We have lost a brave colleague. His Excellency Erbala fought valiantly for the Great Qian Dynasty, and history will forever remember his heroic deeds."

Upon hearing this, everyone rose to their feet in mourning.

The brief ceremony ends here; a state funeral will follow once the body is brought back.

The most pressing matter is dealing with the issue of the new city-state's allegiance; after all, a decision cannot be made with just a letter. In any case, the information held by the temple is neither timely nor comprehensive enough, so a cautious decision must be made.

The southern part of the Great Plains is mountainous and far from the emperor's reach, making it difficult to control.

While they expressed submission, they also needed concrete means of control, namely, by using the pretext of guarding against infidel city-states:

garrison.

This approach is somewhat simplistic and crude, but it can control the situation to the greatest extent possible and prevent repeated occurrences of guerrilla warfare, rebel forces, or infiltration operations.

Feng Tianyin immediately signed the order: "Keep the Southern Plains City-State garrison, and send additional troops to it."

A single transfer order has far-reaching implications.

The scribes present all understood that this meant the complete capture of the southern city-states.

If the northern and southern regions are occupied, it means that the Southern Blessed Plain has completely fallen into the hands of the Great Qian Dynasty.

The city-states, along with their camps and villages, had a combined population of one million.

When detailed statistics are compiled, the figure will be no less than one-third, equivalent to the new population accounting for one-third of the total population of Daqian. This data is both encouraging and alarming, indicating that the proportion of people who fully identify with Daqian culture is being diluted.

"It will take time to digest such a large number of people."

He Huang muttered a question to himself, and then immediately offered a solution: "Slavery is more suitable."

Her suggestion was unanimously approved by everyone.

The Great Qian Dynasty has not yet abandoned slavery, because it is indeed effective; this method is used to violently assimilate barbarian camps and other areas. Of course, it cannot be used entirely on city-states; it certainly involves promising benefits to city-state nobles to "voluntarily create slaves" and then sell them.

That's right.

As long as the purchase price is high enough, those guys have plenty of ways to turn normal people into slaves. They don't even need Da Qian to teach them; they'll definitely use their initiative to accomplish it.

"Let some prisoners of war, war criminals, and those who do not cooperate serve as slaves."

Feng Tianyin's single word determined the fate of hundreds of thousands of people.

This method can effectively eliminate any forces that do not recognize the rule of the Great Qian Dynasty.

“That’s right, those who dare to brandish weapons against the Great Qian should pay the price,” Gegentana said viciously.

After all, Erbala was a friend of many years. How could he die at the hands of the enemy like this? Admittedly, she accepted this death and was proud of it, but she couldn't help but be furious and had to take revenge.

Otherwise, where would the church's reputation be?

"Who should be enslaved? Who should be redeemed? Gengantana, judge in the name of Heaven."

Yes, sir.

Not only is there a plan for the follow-up measures, but there is also a person in charge.

On the surface, they claimed to act in the name of Heaven, but in reality, they left all the decisions to the church and even appointed the high priest they had a feud with. It was easy to imagine that this would stir up a huge storm.

The high priest is probably angry.

After all, the war was originally expected to end much sooner, but it has dragged on until now, even delaying some of the offerings to be prepared for the Heavenly Dao Festival. This person is probably hiding a thunderous rage...

I don't know.

Feng Tianyin was just annoyed that she wasn't quick enough and that Xia He had seen it again.

It's not easy to come here, but to see Daqian in such a bloody battle is really embarrassing. And if she can't resolve it quickly, doesn't that mean she's not mature enough? What's infuriating is that the leader happened to be there when things weren't done well.

Creators don't put pressure on themselves, but they put pressure on themselves.

"We need to pacify the southern city-states as soon as possible. We can leave those staunch heretics alone for now. The priority is to consolidate our territory."

"Set up temples for them, send priests, and prepare for the once-a-decade festival."

"It's time to shift our focus back to the Heavenly Ritual."

Feng Tianyin's serious voice prompted everyone to respond quickly.

It's a real shame that the Heavenly Ritual has been affected this time, but it's also a good opportunity to spread faith and ensure that the new city-state will be convinced.

-------

On the eve of the festival.

This grand event, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Enlightenment, differed from previous ones, still retaining an atmosphere of war.

After all, the decisive battle of the "Wangjiang Annihilation Battle" had just taken place in the Southern Blessed Plains in the spring, which brought all the city-states to submission. However, it was impossible to resolve the situation overnight, and the Daqian leadership could not completely trust the security there.

Moreover, all these methods of governance require implementers.

Therefore, when Erbala Khan's remains returned to Xiayi for a state funeral, Daqian took advantage of this momentum and marched south.

Large numbers of troops were deployed thousands of miles away.

They will be responsible for stationing troops, clearing out bandits, thieves, and other forces that take advantage of the chaos during this period, and most importantly, ensuring the temple's control over the new territory, otherwise no one will feel at ease.

Today is not what it used to be.

Many of the areas previously occupied by the Great Qian Dynasty were underdeveloped or undeveloped lands.

However, the southern part of the Great Plains is different.

The city-states had already developed to a considerable size and could not be easily assimilated, even if both sides shared the same writing system and the same beliefs.

Many differences stemming from regional and traditional factors still require adjustment.

Feng Tianyin's reason for first sending the army with drastic measures was because she considered that the Great Qian Dynasty was not yet an "empire," so she had to use simple methods first. In her view, the so-called "empire" was not only about size, but also had another important indicator:

Experience in cross-regional governance involving multiple ethnic groups and cultures.

He has extremely high attainments in sociology.