Beginning of Cultivation -
Chapter 88: Human Kingdom
Chapter 88: Human Kingdom
Currently, except for Xia Ni, everyone else is cultivating. They are no longer continuing the construction of the capital city.
After all, they were just waiting for people to gather, and now that everyone is here, there is no reason to continue that work. They are cultivators, not construction workers.
.....
At this moment, Xia Ni was facing the officials. Although he couldn’t see, he could at least determine the direction of the sound. He asked:
"Report the current situation of the people in the capital to me. Additionally, if there are detailed statistics from other places, inform me as well."
An official responsible for the statistics spoke up:
"Your Majesty, currently the entire kingdom is still unstable, so it is difficult to gather statistics from everywhere. However, regarding the population in the capital..."
He hesitated, seemingly reluctant to reveal the truth.
Xia Ni noticed the sudden pause in the official’s voice, as if he was hesitating. Although he couldn’t see the official’s expression, he understood that the number must be quite significant.
"Go ahead, just tell me how many people have died?"
The official no longer hesitated after hearing this. He took a deep breath and said:
"Your Majesty, it is estimated that over two million people have died in the capital."
Xia Ni nodded, he thought:
"Not even one-tenth? Much lower than I guessed. It seems they have eradicated the monsters quickly."
"Why did you pause earlier? Two million people is not that large of a number." Xia Ni said.
The officials were shocked to hear Xia Ni’s calm voice. Over two million people, yet it felt like he was talking about just two individuals.
One official couldn’t help but ask:
"Your Majesty, why are more than two million people considered a small number?"
He couldn’t stand Xia Ni’s indifferent attitude towards the death of over two million people. In his memory, Xia Ni was not supposed to be a bad emperor.
Hearing this question, Xia Ni shook his head, feeling that the questioner was too childish. He said:
"We are the highest leaders of humanity. Therefore, we must be the most rational and also the most emotionless when working. We cannot let emotions overshadow our reason when making decisions.
Two million people is a large number under normal circumstances, but you should consider the current situation. Humanity was facing the threat of total annihilation. Not to mention the entire kingdom, two million people is less than one-tenth of the population of the capital. Facing the danger of extinction yet losing less than one-tenth is actually a very positive outcome."
Everyone was silent for a moment until another official spoke up:
"I understand that logically, it makes sense. But we are human, and we still have emotions."
Xia Ni sighed upon hearing this and felt compelled to continue explaining:
"Haiz... You must remember that the kingdom has over 1.3 billion people, and you, the ones standing here, have a responsibility to the entire kingdom. It’s obviously impossible to care for everyone, so you should help as many as you can. If you have done your utmost to help but still can’t save them, no one can blame you.
As one of the highest leaders, you must bear the pressure of this responsibility. When you’re not working, you can be ordinary people, but when working, you must absolutely become individuals unaffected by emotions, with nothing in your heart except maintaining the kingdom’s rules. If those rules are too foolish, you can suggest amending them. I don’t forbid that.
If you can’t bear this responsibility, you can resign. There will be more suitable people to replace you.
I understand you love the people and are heartbroken over their deaths. But do you know how many people die every day? People die every second. If you grieve for them, how long will you grieve? Death is a part of nature, it’s not your concern. Your job is to ensure that the living have the best life possible."
Hearing this, everyone fell silent. They pondered for a moment and realized he was not wrong. Every second that passes, someone dies, just because they don’t witness it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
If they worried about those who had died, there would be no time to accomplish anything else. An official who seemed to have grasped the essence of life spoke:
"The deceased are the past. Whether we remember them or forget them, it won’t bring them back. Whether they were great figures in history revered for millennia or nameless individuals who died forgotten. Both are no different, both have become the past. We should live for a better future, not spend time commemorating the past. Our time is limited, and it would be foolish to waste it on things that cannot be changed. Let the past be past, we must use the remaining time to create the future we desire."
Xia Ni felt extremely satisfied upon hearing this and thought:
"Finally, they understand. Very good. If they can let go of the past, perhaps they can accept my abdication as well. However, finding a successor will take time. Society is still unstable, and I don’t know where to find a suitable candidate. My friends are powerful, but making them emperors would be problematic. Chu Wu has led before, but his expertise is in warfare, and we’re not at war with any kingdom now. Haiz, I’ll have to gradually find a suitable candidate myself."
"It’s good that you understand this. Now, I will discuss my abdication." Xia Ni said.
At this moment, several officials wanted to immediately dissuade him, but Xia Ni continued:
"Don’t rush, I’m not doing anything foolish. For now, I will remain emperor until a suitable replacement is found. As you can see, I am blind now, making it very difficult to continue working. Now, I will tell you my plan for selecting a new emperor. Listen carefully and discuss whether it is feasible."
The officials responded in unison:
"Please, Your Majesty, detail this plan."
Xia Ni nodded and said:
"First, I need to redefine the concept of the emperor. The emperor I am referring to is not the master of the world but merely a person responsible for leading the people. This emperor can only serve for a term of twelve years. If they are still capable, they can serve another twelve years.
As for the method of selecting the emperor, I have this idea. We will establish the Evaluate Council, an organization to find candidates for the emperor’s position and evaluate the current emperor’s performance. If the emperor is not performing well, the council can immediately depose him and replace him with a more suitable candidate.
The selection of the emperor will take place once a year. We will create exams to assess the leadership abilities of the applicants. We will make a public ranking list so that people can see who their potential future leaders are.
When an emperor’s term ends, if he has performed better than the person ranked first on the list, he can serve another term. If he chooses not to continue, we will appoint the person ranked first.
Similarly, if an emperor is deposed for poor performance, the current first-ranked candidate will become the new emperor.
I must be honest, there are many capable people in the world. If we can appoint the best person as emperor, the results will be much better."
The officials were now deeply contemplating. This plan was not unfeasible. After a while of discussion, one official asked:
"Your Majesty, who will be the members of the Evaluate Council?"
"The members of the Evaluate Council will initially be retired high-ranking officials. We need people with high experience in leading the kingdom to assess the emperor’s performance. Later, I might lower the retirement age for high-ranking officials so they can serve in the Evaluate Council." Xia Ni replied.
Seeing no apparent issues with this, they all said in unison:
"We have no objections."
Xia Ni nodded but suddenly thought of something else and said:
"What do you think about changing the name of the kingdom?"
His words puzzled everyone. One official asked:
"Your Majesty, why do you want to do that?"
"I have my reasons. For hundreds of years, this dynasty has always been ruled by the Xia family. But the future will be different. With the new system for selecting emperors, anyone could become the emperor. I should change the name of the dynasty to be more fitting." Xia Ni explained.
Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. It was true, in the future, there would no longer be a Xia dynasty. One official asked:
"So, what name do you have in mind?"
"I have decided to rename the dynasty to the Human Kingdom. A kingdom of humanity, so such a name is appropriate." Xia Ni announced.
The officials found this name quite fitting and reflective of the human spirit. They said:
"It’s a good name, but when do you plan to change the dynasty’s name?"
"Currently, everything is still quite chaotic, so it’s not the right time. Later, when the time is right, I will announce it to everyone." Xia Ni said.
Afterwards, they discussed some more matters before everyone departed.
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