Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1526 Branch Stores
"If the Emperor were to ask us to choose between Ryukyu and Japan, we would choose Ryukyu."

Without much hesitation, Ao Zang made his choice. Capital hates risk, and so does he.

Currently, the cooperation between Ryugu and Ryukyu is thriving, which is beneficial to both sides. However, the situation in Japan is completely uncontrollable.

Japan may look small, but it's actually quite large. Its entire territory is roughly the same size as Southern Zhili (present-day Hebei Province), and would certainly be considered a major power in other parts of the world.

Ryugu did not have many administrative institutions. Prior to this, Ryugu had only effectively governed the main island of Ryukyu.

Even today, the population of Naha Island, the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom, is only 50.

This is indeed much more than the population of 15 back then, but it's just a fraction of the population of the Ming Dynasty.

There's no need for any administrative body to govern such a small number of people; the Dragon Palace can simply hire them all, and that's actually the case.

However, this system wouldn't work outside of Ryukyu, because Ryugu couldn't employ everyone like it did with Ryukyu people.

So now, Ryugu faces a crucial decision: whether or not to reform Ryugu in order to strengthen its control over overseas territories.

Capital hates risk, and so does Ao Zang. Because money is a good thing; its circulation can be incredibly powerful, but risk is not.

"So, you don't want Japan anymore?"

"All land under heaven belongs to the emperor, and the Dragon Palace merely acts as the guardian of the heavens. There is no question of 'whether or not' it belongs to us. However, I have a suggestion."

"I also think you should have a suggestion. So, what is your suggestion?"

Zhu Xianxi knew that there was no reason for the Dragon Palace to spit out what it had eaten. Moreover, the imperial court had no intention of making the Dragon Palace actually spit out those parts.

Although the Dragon Palace and the Night Shift Bureau are currently subordinate to Zhu Xianxi and Shang Luo, they both play a similar role—they are perfectly suited for establishing new "extraordinary rule" in the vast lands beyond the royal domain. While these nations established by extraordinary individuals are not as powerful as the Heavenly Court, they can completely suppress all old religions, cultures, regions, kingdoms, etc., rendering all mortal regimes pale in comparison overnight. This is because they are truly no match for the Wild Hunt and the True Dragons; this is the crushing power of the extraordinary.

Moreover, the fact that they promote extraordinary individuals from within their own system provides a natural basis for their superiority over ordinary nations. A prime example is Ryukyu, whose faith is rooted in the Dragon Palace. Even if the Dragon Palace were to emerge from behind its veil and directly rule Ryukyu, there would likely be little to say in Ryukyu.

"Then, Your Majesty, my proposal is—not for me to rule Japan, but for another dragon clan to rule Japan. We hope to transform Japan into a country under another Dragon Palace system. I have heard that Lord Shang Tian's Night Shift Bureau is expanding its territory in Europe, relieving the burden on the court. The Dragon Palace can also share the burden."

“Hmm,” Zhu Xianxi thought for a moment, “Your suggestion is very good. But I’d like to confirm one thing with you—what are your thoughts on the ‘Dragon Palace System’?”

“Your Majesty,” Ao Zang bowed and said, “‘A nation must rely on mountains and rivers,’ a saying also recorded in Zuo Qiuming’s ‘Discourses of the States.’ In ancient times, when a state was established, it was essential to have its own mountains and rivers within its territory for worship. We hope to follow this system and extensively rely on mountains and rivers to establish a new system for the Dragon Palace to rule over mortals.”

"The legal basis for this is very strong. So, how exactly will it be implemented? Are there any principles?"

"Yes. We have several principles—the first being the [Dragon Palace City System]. The Dragon Palace will not establish widespread rule in all regions, but will instead build massive Dragon Palace Cities at the nodes of mountains and ley lines. There will be no clear boundaries between each Dragon Palace City on land; instead, we will control the mortal regimes through a system of tribute and trade. We will not interfere with the way mortals govern themselves, but we will establish a strict system of rule through tribute and markets, and bind mortals through monetary contracts. Specifically, we do not govern the people; we only govern our employees. Employees serve the Dragon Palace City, and the Dragon Palace City is loyal to the Dragon King."

This is essentially a replica of the Ryukyu system. Ryugu sought to govern a vast country in the most cost-effective way possible. Its method of territorial control was not through taxation, but rather through investment and contracts. Ryugu preferred to govern its people by holding assets rather than by levying taxes.

The vast Dragon Palace and its expansive mortal settlements will become symbols of a new era. Based on authorization and contracts, a series of mortal regimes recognized by the Dragon Palace will be established around it. These regimes will not have clear hierarchical relationships, but will instead consist of a vast number of fragmented nations.

Above all, multiple Dragon Palaces were loyal to the Dragon King himself, and each Dragon Palace possessed its own magnificent Crystal Palace. Mortals paid tribute to the Dragon Palaces, the Dragon Palaces paid tribute to the Crystal Palace, and the Crystal Palace paid tribute to the Heavenly Court, thus establishing a complex, interconnected governance system.

But this is nothing new on Earth.

"Actually, you are imitating the mandala system of the Southeast Asian princely states?" Shangluo asked.

"Ah, Lord Shang has a good eye. In fact, it is indeed very similar."

A mandala, or Vajra mandala, is essentially a circle. The mandala system is a series of circles nested within circles, one after another, wrapping around another.

The typical feature of the mandala system is a huge temple city ruled by a divine king, and countless vassal tribes that pay tribute to the temple city with "honeysuckle".

This system aligns with the topography of Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia has vast rainforests, and its entire territory is traditionally considered "malaria-ridden terrain." This malaria-ridden terrain not only affects the Central Plains but also the local population.

The settlements established in Southeast Asia were isolated from each other, like islands in a vast rainforest. Transportation between cities was extremely inconvenient, and the routes were filled with vast uninhabited areas. This made maintaining contact between these isolated islands of civilization an extremely troublesome and unnecessary task—after all, for humans to survive is not actually that difficult, and the establishment of a nation is not always necessary.

For example, the ancient kingdom of Liangzhu faced a similar situation. The Liangzhu kingdom prospered when the environment was harsh, but quickly disintegrated after the ecology recovered, and was finally destroyed by a decisive war.

This situation exists all over the world. Because not all places are like the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, regularly opening PVE dungeons for everyone in their respective basins. If you don't stick together, the Yellow River's waters will sweep you away, flowing to the sea and never returning.

In Southeast Asia, while the living environment was harsh, it was stable. To maintain the existence of their states and expand their power, they chose a PvP scenario, namely launching large-scale and bloody wars of conquest. Many mandala wars on Java and the Indochina Peninsula resulted in heavy casualties. Before the arrival of the imperial court, the natives of Java were able to cause a steady decline in population for hundreds of years, even to the point of civilizational regression through mutual slaughter.

Once these mandalas establish hegemony, they rapidly decline due to the lack of other powers to contend with, thus beginning a recurring cycle centered on the mandala. These mandala states have appeared multiple times throughout history, the most recent being Siam. Siam's predecessor, Ayutthaya, literally means "great city," because a key characteristic of this system was the presence of a large city.

In reality, besides the massive temples, mandala states share another characteristic—in addition to the currently existing Siam, many other historical mandala temple cities have disintegrated in the rainforest. Angkor Wat, for example, was once such a temple city. Like Angkor Wat, many mandala states, once dissolved, will melt away like glaciers under the scorching sun. This is because these states had no inherent reason for existence; they were man-made creations brought together by force, and once their reason for existence is lost, they will quickly crumble.

The rainforests of Southeast Asia are alive. Any place left unattended will be quickly swallowed up. Those once powerful nations have vanished like mirages.

"Speaking of which, which aspect did the Dragon Palace learn? Or did they learn everything?" Zhu Xianxi asked.

"I think the most important point is the last one—like a mirage. Because we will ensure that all regions under the Ryugu system are shrouded in mirage. Specifically, all currency will be made using mirage, which will prevent the Ryugu economic system from affecting the outside world. Money is just a method; it doesn't necessarily need to exist in a physical form. What we want to get from these subjects, in the end, is only time. We hope they will spend their time within the Ryugu system, providing services to Ryugu, including industrial and cultural production. We also believe that such a Ryugu state can be widely established in various places and can directly cover the local mortal forces."

"Well, I agree with the point about expansion. After all, Lanfang did something similar."

In reality, rather than comparing the Dragon Palace to the Mandala system, it's more accurate to say it resembles the Lanfang system. The Lanfang system itself is a modified version of the Mandala system, establishing three "temple cities" in Pontianak, Singapore, and Java—only these cities are constructed not of temples, but of reinforced concrete. The worshipped beings in these cities are not the divine power of gods or Buddhas, but rather strings of numbers that would send chills down anyone's spine. The aroma of cigars is far stronger than that of sandalwood.

“Hey, Ao Zangwang,” Zhu Xianxi looked at him, “you’re pretty cunning. Are you eyeing Lanfang’s inheritance too?”

In fact, Lanfang did face this problem. With the ascension to heaven, all Chinese in Southeast Asia had to return, making the Lanfang system unsustainable. The imperial court was trying to reorganize a system to manage Southeast Asia after the ascension, but a suitable plan had not yet been found.

Now, Dragon Palace has provided a solution.

Does Lanfang know about this?

“Lanfang knows.” Ao Zang looked at Zhu Xianxi. “Lanfang knows. I will try to persuade Zheng Shijie.”

"Hmm." Although Zhu Xianxi hadn't asked, he knew that Ao Zang had a very complicated relationship with the father of the Guo family—the former Marquis of Yanping. Now that he thought about it, their relationship back then might have been for the sake of today.

“Then you can decide,” Zhu Xianxi said. “Lanfang is the private property of Marquis Yanping, so Marquis Yanping can decide for himself. However, the ultimate principle is that the Dragon Palace cannot overstep its bounds.”

"Understood. So this is the final solution I have to offer you—I intend to abdicate."

"Abdicate? Abdicate to whom?"

"After I abdicate, I plan to hand over the throne to Kou, and enfeoff other potential Dragon Palace nations as other Dragon Princes. If the plan is approved, we have initially decided to establish two Dragon Palace Castles in Japan. One has not yet been decided, but the other has been decided to be located in Chiba. At that time, there will be nine Dragon Palace Castles from south to north. These Dragon Palace Castles will strictly guard their own sea borders and will never overstep them."

"Ah," Zhu Xianxi noticed something, "I heard you mention before that your Dragon Palace Castle doesn't have a clear boundary on land, but it does in the sea?"

"Yes, the Dragon Palace's territorial waters will have clear boundaries, but it will try to minimize interference with life on land."

"Shangluo, what's your opinion?"

Zhu Xianxi inquired with Shangluo—and after receiving confirmation from Shangluo, Zhu Xianxi made his final decision:
"The Heavenly Court has agreed. Although you haven't presented the detailed rules yet, we agree in principle to this 'Dragon Palace System' plan. Rivers, lakes, and seas should naturally be managed by the Dragon King, which is perfectly normal. I'm thinking, perhaps we could extend your system, maybe even arrange for the Well Dragon King to be included as well."

"Ah, Your Majesty, there isn't that many dragons that can be filled into a well."

"Then why don't you try harder and have more babies? They're quite useful."

"There are only so many dragons each year, where would you find so many more produced in bulk?"

"Then you can figure it out yourselves. In short, come up with a concrete plan soon, conduct some field experiments, and submit the report to me for review. Do you have any questions?"

"I have a question—is it permissible for the Dragon Palaces to wage war against each other?"

"I do not recommend that you go to war. I would prefer that you establish a peaceful competition mechanism. But if you insist on going to war, then you should do so in accordance with etiquette. It all depends on you—but speaking of which, how much territory do you intend to contract?"

"Is this a choice we can make?"

“Yes,” Zhu Xianxi nodded. “We are also looking for people to manage things on Earth, since it’s not appropriate for the Heavenly Court to interfere so much in the future. I was thinking, could you perhaps take over the entire Pacific Ocean?”

"Huh???" Ao Zang was stunned for a moment. He was afraid he had misheard, because it sounded like he was going to contract some kind of fishpond.

"I'm just asking you if you're going to do it or not. The Pacific Ocean needs to be managed. If you don't take on the contract, I'll find someone else."

"We'll take over! We'll take over the entire Pacific Ocean. The Dragon Palace promises the Emperor that the entire Pacific Ocean will develop prosperously and harmoniously under the Dragon Palace system, without causing any trouble for the Heavenly Court."

"Yes, that's good. You know the key is not to cause trouble, then that's the right approach, absolutely right."

(End of this chapter)