Now that the Yun Nation had been completely occupied, even though there were still some rebels and mice lurking in the shadows, the overall situation had stabilized with the a.s.sistance of the warlords.

Zi Donglai had indeed done a good job.

Of course, all of this was in exchange for a large number of lives.

From the very beginning, he had used brutal means and killed many people. He battled the warlords, officials, and sects. In the early stage, one would smell a strong stench of blood whenever he walked past a city. Toward the end, fewer people resisted and the Yun Nation very quickly came to its end, especially after the warlords surrendered.

In the period after that, there were still people who wanted to resist after the nation had fallen. In the face of tremendous strength, they were powerless even when they had the intention.

After killing a few batches of rebels, those who wanted to resist grew fewer.

Besides, the empress had been remotely controlling the situation at the Protectorate of the Northeast, so the aboriginals did not perpetually plunder like how they usually did. Although there were still some offenses committed against the civilians, the impact wasn't too great. As long as they remained well-behaved and did not do anything dangerous, they would not have to worry about someone rus.h.i.+ng into their houses with a blade.

In fact, they rarely saw the aboriginals.

The cities were still managed by the people of the Yun Nation, but under the supervision of the aboriginals.

Many cities and warlords did not even change. There were simply an additional 500 tall and strong aboriginal soldiers in every city, which the nation had branded as violent. However, this hadn't affected the civilians much at all.

Only those holding high positions were truly affected by this occupation.

As long as the commoners could survive, there weren't many who dared to fight these aboriginals that were much larger and stronger than they were.

Although there were still some ambitious people, after weighing the differences between the aboriginals and themselves, they could only secretly make some small moves behind the aboriginals' backs. There were still spies deployed by the warlords and those highly skilled Rearguard Commandery soldiers lurking around. Once these ambitious people exposed themselves ever so slightly, they would be devastated.

In this way, the aboriginals occupied the entire Yun Nation surprisingly smoothly.

Today, with the exception of a small number of people who had died, most of the people in the nation knew their place.

The ambitious warriors who still lurked around had to carefully conceal themselves from the search of dozens of aboriginals teams.

Apart from things happening in the Yun Nation, there were many changes in Dayao as well.

The first was the cement road that connected them to the Yun Nation. With the efforts of hundreds of thousands of captives, more than 500 kilometers of road had been built. The increased number of captives had made the progress of the project much faster than antic.i.p.ated. It was expected to be complete after another one and a half years.

Speaking of this matter, both the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue were all smiles. As soon as this road was complete, the speed of transportation should be more than doubled at the least. It would then be more convenient to manage the Yun Nation and also transport materials.

In addition, over the past few months, Dayao was no longer lacking salt due to the continuous supply of resources from the Yun Nation. There were now many spoils of war, such as cloth, available on the market.

Apart from that, there were lots of iron wares on the market as well, which were all produced from Mount Damo. After fulfilling the military's needs, they finally began to invest in the private sector, causing the price of iron on the market to drop a lot.

Next, high-yield crops such as potatoes and pumpkins had already been promoted throughout all of Dayao. These crops, which could be harvested after just about three months, had already made their way to the dining tables of the ordinary people. This greatly reduced the pressure regarding food in Dayao, and reserves were even starting to pile up.

Although these food reserves only consisted of potatoes and pumpkins, whose energy levels were far lower than meats, the volume was huge. One mu of land could yield several thousand kilograms of these crops, the prices were cheap, and the quant.i.ty was large.

Besides, one would also get sick of eating meat every day.

At present, having potato or pumpkin stew was great as well. These dishes were delicious and were not as greasy as eating meat.

…

There had been many changes over the past year in all aspects. Even if it was just a brief report, the empress spent a lot of time listening to all the updates while beaming with joy.

Overall, everything was on the right track.

Nothing could make her happier than seeing her people living good lives.

Since she was in a good mood, she praised the officials, which was a rare sight.

"I saw my brother when I went back this time," the empress said casually after commending the people.

Everyone was stunned when they heard this, not knowing what she was driving at when she mentioned Qi Ziting. They looked at each other and didn't know how to respond.

"He's doing fine. I invited him back to Lan City, but he refused," she added.

Everyone was even more afraid to speak after hearing this.

"You don't have to be so cautious. My brother has found a new goal now." The empress smiled. She looked across the hall, taking a short glance at Zhe Kouhai.

He was the Junior Elder who had always believed that Qi Ziting was more suited to ascend the throne. However, he had been well-behaved lately.

Even though the empress didn't really like him, she had always kept him in the imperial court because of his capabilities. However, after seeing her elder brother this time, she had come to accept many things and no longer bore any grudges against the Junior Elder.

"My brother is very interested in those foreign races from the depths of the Sixty Thousand Mountains. He's pursuing their whereabouts."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately perked up, looked at her, and wanted to hear about the situation with the foreign races.

When the empress ordered Xi Wanya to be transferred over, she briefly spoke about this topic. However, the officials didn't know the specifics of the situation, and they all waited anxiously for her to explain.

"I didn't expect there to be so many foreign races in the depths of the Sixty Thousand Mountains. I didn't expect that we actually ascended the mountains from the other side. At the same time, we can finally surmise where the late emperor went."

Everyone was perturbed after hearing this.

"Your Majesty, what did you discover in the mountains this time?"

The empress looked at the crowd and grinned a little. She enjoyed seeing the alarmed expressions on their faces.

Before she and Ren Baqian returned, they had already discussed this.

It was no longer the era when humans were being chased away. Even though the current strength of humans was weaker than before, they had already found another way out.

Sooner or later, they would still have to return to the other side of the Sixty Thousand Mountains to see what it looked like exactly.

Both Ren Baqian and the empress were very curious about this region of land.

She told everyone this piece of news so that they could antic.i.p.ate what the future would hold. This would let all of them come up with their own ideas and efforts that would contribute to the development of Dayao. It was also to let them know that whatever they did in the future, as long as it was beneficial for Dayao's development, there would be less resistance.

At the same time, she established the Protectorate of the Aboriginals. She would also require the support of the court officials to allow those aboriginal experts to explore and possibly expand into the depths of the Sixty Thousand Mountains in the future.

Apart from that, there was another important point, which was the relations.h.i.+p between the aboriginals and the other nations.

This would make it easier for the members of the imperial court to accept people from other nations.

If a leader treated his subjects like limbs, they would treat him like the heart. If a leader treated his subjects like dogs and horses, they would treat him like compatriots. If a leader treated his subjects like dirt, they would treat him like an enemy.

The way that the imperial court treated another "ethnic group" would be the same treatment that they would receive in return.

Ren Baqian hoped to subdue the commoners apart from the aboriginals. After all, in terms of science and technology, the population was a very important factor.

…

After that, the empress talked about their encounter with the herdsmen and those foreigners as well as the information that Ren Baqian had obtained from them. Everyone in the hall was stunned. The entire imperial court was no longer noisy like how it usually was. Everyone was speechless with their jaws on the floor.

In ancient times, humans were chased here by thousands of other races? Was this a place of exile? The humans from ancient times were pressured to sign a contract with the foreign races?

The aboriginals and the people from the other nations belonged to the same human race? The aboriginals were protectors that guarded against the foreign races on the other side of the Sixty Thousand Mountains?

As time pa.s.sed, this history, along with the pact that was made, got lost. When the human race multiplied, civilizations and nations were rebuilt with the protectors becoming the so-called barbarians?

The hundreds of millions of people spread over the four nations of today were the products of the remaining tens of thousands of people from back then?

After listening to this, everyone felt as if they were listening to a story. If it wasn't the empress who was saying these things, they really wouldn't believe that this was true.

It was just too bizarre…

Qin Chuan couldn't help but squint and ask, "Are you speaking the truth, Your Majesty?"

The next second, the empress's body flashed as he flew out of the hall.

When she returned to her seat and looked at the crowd, her face turned gloomy. Then, she asked, "Do you think that I'm telling a story?"

Everyone looked down and replied, "How would I dare!"

However, the empress's words were packed with too much information, making everyone feel overwhelmed. This was also the case for Qin Chuan, who had gotten kicked out of the hall.

It wasn't doubt, but the news was really too shocking.