Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

"Fan Li?" Upon hearing this name, the assistant commanders couldn't help but lower their heads in thought. After thinking it over, they didn't have a deep impression of this person and had never even heard of him. However, they had heard of the resistance army, which was just a low-level militia organization.

The resistance was too weak, as weak as ants, and nobody even gave them a second glance.

Why would high-ranking figures pay attention to the existence of an ant? This ant may jump around a bit more, but no matter how much it jumps around, it is still an ant. It thinks that the big commotion it makes with all its might can attract the attention of the big shots.

However, the big shots are like supreme gods standing above the clouds, unable to see the ants below. Even if they do see them, they will ignore them indifferently, or they will look at them a few more times with the mentality of watching clowns and amuse themselves, or they will find it too troublesome to reach out and kill them.

Therefore, the entire Sword Tower leadership had no impression of Fan Li, and they had never truly taken the resistance army seriously.

Zhou Qingfeng's sudden mention of Fan Li and the resistance army has indeed left the assistant commanders somewhat bewildered. They don't quite understand it, and when it comes to things they don't understand, and as long as it doesn't infringe on their own interests, the assistant commanders usually exercise caution in their words and actions to avoid saying the wrong thing and giving others something to criticize.

No one interrupted Zhou Qingfeng, allowing him to continue his eloquent speech.

“I have had a preliminary discussion with Fan Li. He has only one request: to re-establish Yumi City. After the re-establishment of Yumi City, Fan Li will submit to our Sword Tower and become our vassal. In this way, our Sword Tower can rightfully rule the unclaimed land.”

"The local people will not have any resistance to the rule of the Sword Tower, thus greatly reducing the chance of local rebellion. If everything goes smoothly, it is expected that the unclaimed lands can be gradually and steadily annexed and digested in about eight years, and then the sword will be aimed at the Four Seas City."

The assistant commander frowned and said, "Assistant Commander Zhou, wait a moment, I have something to say."

Zhou Qingfeng bowed slightly, not letting personal likes or dislikes affect his official duties, and then clasped his hands and said, "Please give me your guidance, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Sun-Shooting Army."

The assistant commander of the Sun-Shooting Army bluntly pointed out the problem: "I just did some mental calculations. If we follow your logic, it means that over the next eight years, we will have to gradually provide Fan Li with a total of 20 billion coins worth of supplies."

"If Fan Li succeeds in restoring Yumi City but breaks the vassalage treaty and refuses to submit to our Sword Tower, or even leads the people under his rule to rebel against our rule, then what should we do? I don't want Sword Tower to spend 20 billion yuan only to raise a wolf cub."

“Cai Guozhong is easy to control, but Fan Li is not so easy to control. He is of the Fan family bloodline and naturally has legitimacy. Righteousness and legitimacy are all on him. He has a strong army. If he really becomes powerful, how can he be manipulated by our Sword Tower?”

The words of the Assistant Commander of the Sun-Shooting Army hit the nail on the head. Indeed, Fan Li's greatest advantage is his righteousness and his title, but his greatest disadvantage is also his righteousness and his title. Is Fan Li really willing to become a vassal of the Lord of Sword Tower? Probably not.

After all, all the city lords in the world were granted titles by the royal family. Strictly speaking, they were all feudal lords appointed by the royal family. From feudal lords to feudal subjects, their status and identity were completely downgraded by more than one level. From now on, Fan Li would have to acknowledge the Sword Tower City Lord as his lord.

When he was weak, Fan Li might have been able to make unlimited compromises and concessions to restore Yumi City. However, people's hearts are prone to change, and time is the best catalyst for change. No one can guarantee that when Fan Li actually takes that position, he will abide by the secret treaty he signed.

If Fan Li really wanted to break the secret treaty, he could nitpick and find fault with every word. Keeping the contract would be difficult, but breaking it would be very easy. What use are magic contracts, blood contracts, soul contracts, life contracts, or heavenly contracts? Who among the people present believed that these bullshit contracts could work? As long as a contract can be signed, there is a way to break it.

No one will believe a contract that can be broken, at least not these people.

However, Jianta cannot publicly accuse Fan Li of breaching the contract, nor can it justifiably launch a military campaign against him.

Because this is a secret treaty, it cannot be discussed openly; otherwise, it wouldn't be a secret treaty.

What if Fan Li turns his back on us? How should the Sword Tower respond? Should they launch a military campaign against him? That would be exactly what they want.

The other four hegemons of the empire were overjoyed. The Python Sparrow royal family might even come and kick them while they were down, secretly giving them money, people, equipment, and supplies, so that Fan Li could lead his troops to wear down the Sword Tower for hundreds or thousands of years, and eventually kill the Sword Tower in this quagmire of war.

Once the Sword Tower shows any signs of decline or collapse, the surrounding city lords will pounce on it like mad dogs, taking the opportunity to bite off a piece of its flesh. Even with its millennia of accumulated strength, the Sword Tower really can't withstand it.

Unless the Sword Tower can have a legitimate and justifiable cause, and guarantee that other major powers will not intervene or interfere.

Small forces don't need to think so much; they can just act on a whim. But large forces must think much more, and the more they think, the better. They must consider the big picture and the direction of the situation from the perspective of the entire world.

Otherwise, a single misstep could cause our overall strength to regress by thousands of years, which is no exaggeration.

That being said, the assistant commander who shot down the sun was indeed finding fault, and his faults were well-founded and not just nonsense.

Zhou Qingfeng had anticipated this and had already prepared his response, so he smiled confidently and said, "The Assistant Commander of the Sun-Shooting Army has keen insight and rich experience. He truly deserves to be the pillar of our Sword Tower. He pointed out the problem at a glance. I admire you, Si Lang."

Upon hearing this, the assistant commander coughed twice, his goodwill towards the sun increasing by 1+1+1+1...

It's just that Zhou Qingfeng is too shrewd and always treats these senior figures with utmost respect, making it difficult for the three assistant commanders of Sun, Moon and Star to truly dislike him. To be honest, the three assistant commanders of Sun, Moon and Star have a very good impression of Zhou Qingfeng, and even admire him greatly.

Despite the fact that these old guys, including the Sun-Shooting Assistant Commander, repeatedly made things difficult for Zhou Qingfeng, found fault with him, suppressed him, and tried to curb his growth, they never really targeted him personally. Even if it were Mao Erlang or Ma Dalang, they would have received the same treatment.

The three elders of the Sun, Moon, and Stars were targeting the entire younger generation. Unfortunately, Zhou Qingfeng was just one of them. Even more unfortunately, Zhou Qingfeng's rise to power was too rapid, and his influence expanded too quickly. If Zhou Qingfeng took all the spoils, then the clan members represented by the elders would have nothing left. To put it bluntly, it was a power struggle, a difference in stance, and had nothing to do with personal likes or dislikes.

"Si Lang, I've heard too many nice words in my life. Just tell me how to solve this problem." The assistant commander of the Sun-Shooting Army pretended to be indifferent, but in reality, he was also very annoyed. He clearly liked this kid, but he still tried to suppress him. It was really inhuman work.

Well, as long as this kid's explanation is plausible, I won't make things difficult for him. I'll just turn a blind eye.