Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1802 - 1795: The Wen Family’s Merits and Faults

Chapter 1802: Chapter 1795: The Wen Family’s Merits and Faults

"I have a question that I’ve always wanted to ask His Majesty, though I’m unsure if it might come off as offensive." After a moment of contemplation, Luo’er looked at Emperor Wu and asked.

"National Teacher, please speak. Opportunities like this are rare, feel free to express without worrying about my feelings," Emperor Wu quickly replied.

"Does His Majesty believe that the Imperial Court would be better controlled by the Wen Family or the Wu Family?"

Luo’er knew this question was highly sensitive, yet couldn’t resist the urge to ask. Nowadays, opportunities like this were rare, and if he didn’t ask now, he might never have the chance again.

"National Teacher, you are..."

"I mean nothing else, just simple curiosity. I came this time for the peace outside the West Heaven, not to interfere in the imperial affairs."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Wu took a deep breath, nodded lightly, and then asked, "National Teacher, do you want to know my true thoughts?"

"At this point, doesn’t His Majesty plan to confide?"

"It might be laughable to the National Teacher, but although I am Emperor Wu, I greatly acknowledge the regency of the Wen Family... During the era of Wu Family’s regency, through all dynasties, the national lifespan was no more than a century. Each time a dynasty changed, it brought devastation and misery..."

"Now our Tiansheng Upper Kingdom, since the founding by the great ancestor, has stood for over two hundred years. At present, our Tiansheng’s realm is prosperous, the four seas are at peace, and the glory of Shengjing is enough to glimpse the richness of Kyushu."

"This is... the brilliance created by the governance of the Wen Family. Were I to oppose the Wen Family, it would be tantamount to abandoning the myriad people..."

"However, the Wen Family is not a group of benevolent gentlemen. To achieve their goals, these scholars can resort to all sorts of dirty tricks."

"They undermine Emperor Wu, monopolize court power, neither uphold the imperial constitution above nor unite Fangzhou below, spreading their ears and eyes across Kyushu, extending their claws and teeth throughout the four seas, siding with allies and attacking those who differ, suppressing heretics. Every time I think of their actions, I am gnashing my teeth in hatred, only hating my own incompetence."

"I have read some historical records about Kyushu..." Luo’er quietly listened, and when Emperor Wu was too agitated to speak, he took the initiative to break the silence.

"Before the Tiansheng dynasty, the power of Emperor Wu was not as high as imagined. It was an era of aristocratic family rule, and frankly, Emperor Wu was merely a part of the aristocratic families."

"Thus, what the current Wen Family Cabinet does is all for the centralization of power. His Majesty’s grievance actually stems from the fact that the centralized power did not fall into your hands but is firmly controlled by the Cabinet."

"I can understand His Majesty’s anger, but, in my humble opinion, overly dispersed power might be the reason for the short national lifespans of previous dynasties. Now, the most direct reason for the Tiansheng dynasty’s continuation for over two hundred years is, of course, the Wen Family Cabinet’s reclamation of decentralized power for centralized management."

"Does the National Teacher also believe that what the Wen Family does is all wise and enlightened?" Emperor Wu asked with some sadness.

"Your Majesty," Luo’er leaned forward earnestly and said, "you are Emperor Wu, master of all people under the heavens. If His Majesty, for personal selfishness, subjects the world to eternal decay, how can His Majesty face the hundreds of millions of subjects in Kyushu?"

"The faults of the Wen Family are hard to articulate, yet the prosperity of Kyushu is all due to the Wen Family. Just for this reason, the Wen Family deserves a positive evaluation."

"Your Majesty is a noble of the Royal Family, only feeling the Wen Family’s aggression, disrespecting the imperial constitution. Yet, has His Majesty considered what kind of life those struggling at the bottom live? What kind of lives those captured Demon Clan people live?"

"If not for the Wen Family, without today’s prosperous age, how would these common people make a living? Shouldn’t the world, being composed of all peoples under the heavens, be acknowledged beyond just the cultivators being considered commoners?"

"His Majesty’s resentment towards the Wen Family’s monopolization of the court is just upper-class hypocrisy, ignoring the hardships of the lower classes."

After a pause, Luo’er slightly softened his tone and continued, "But I know well that His Majesty cherishes the people, which is why such words as opposing the Wen Family is akin to discarding the world are spoken."

Emperor Wu was rendered speechless and saddened by Luo’er’s words.

In fact, Luo’er was also giving Emperor Wu a way out without excessive criticism.

He was well aware that the reason Emperor Wu was so displeased, constantly criticizing the Wen Family, was primarily because the Wen Family had indeed gone too far.

To put it bluntly, the Wen Family truly treated Emperor Wu like a canary, as long as he could breathe, that was enough, and nothing more need be expected.

Since the official administration by the Cabinet at the start of the dynasty until now, the Wen Family has been like a power vacuum cleaner, reclaiming the delegated power from aristocratic families, gradually seizing power from Emperor Wu, ultimately concentrating everything within the Cabinet.

The consequence of concentrated power is that the Wen Family Cabinet can focus its strength to achieve feats unimaginable by other dynasties.

Since the establishment of the Dongsheng Empire, the Wen Family Cabinet has been continuously advancing the construction and improvement of water and agricultural facilities, repairing over two hundred easily breached rivers, and building numerous water utilities for irrigation.

With the efforts of the Wen Family, the arable land of the Dongsheng Empire has quadrupled since the founding, and the population has also doubled.

This is a truly astounding achievement, a critical reason why the Wen Family has garnered support and managed to establish a foothold in the cultivation world.

Beyond civil life, the Wen Family’s military accomplishments are also exceptionally notable.

Perhaps when mentioning the Dongsheng Empire’s military, many will immediately think of the three failed campaigns. Yet, in truth, in both internal and external battles, the Dongsheng Empire’s victories have surpassed its defeats.

In external warfare, the Dongsheng Empire’s expeditionary scale is something other dynasties dared not imagine. Hence, the three defeats are so deeply ingrained because the losses were indeed substantial.

Strategically, the Dongsheng Empire’s greatest military achievement was seizing all the Kunzhou vessels, establishing the East Continent’s unique airborne fleet.

Kunzhou originally came from West Outer Heaven, an airborne vehicle obtained by the Demon Clan through the domestication of the Overturning Beast. The West Outer Heaven was at one time very prosperous because of this.

The people of Kyushu greatly envied this airborne vehicle, launching wars for Kunzhou throughout various dynasties.

Among these, the conflict launched by the Dongsheng Empire was the fiercest and on the largest scale.

This war, occurring in the early Dongsheng Empire against West Outer Heaven, led to a comprehensive defeat of the Demon Clan, forcing them to sign a treaty under duress with the Dongsheng Empire.

According to the treaty, the Dongsheng Empire obtained all of the Demon Clan’s Kunzhou and agreed not to invade West Outer Heaven for a century, pursuing mutual friendship.

The treaty brought two benefits to the Wen Family-led court.

First, it restrained the Wu Family’s forces, who attempted to coerce the court into waging war on West Outer Heaven to obtain the coveted Magic Crystal Mines.

Second, the Wen Family court acquired the long-coveted Kunzhou fleet, a decisive strategic weapon.

This actually shows that the Wen Family court is not weaker than the Wu Family but exceptionally virtuous in martial affairs.

They aspire to dominate in political, military, economic, and civil spheres, to entirely control society—a far more ambitious goal than the Wu Family, who only know cultivation.

Luo’er found it hard to evaluate such a colossal organization; they have their upright side, understanding where their foundations lie, hence they strive to improve civil welfare, solidifying their own base.

Yet, simultaneously, they also carry negative labels common to all organizations. Especially their longing for power is blatant to the point of being terrifying.

The previous dynasties before the Dongsheng Empire couldn’t be called nations, but merely tribal alliances.

Those aristocratic families holding vast resources and cultivators were akin to large tribes.

For these tribes, power was the sole source of authority.

They thought so and acted accordingly.

The so-called states, dynasties, are nothing but patchwork monsters forcibly assembled from greedy tribes, making little difference whether they exist or not.

Such dynasties disintegrate easily at the slightest disturbance, which is the primary reason for the short-lived reigns of the dynasties before the Dongsheng Empire.

It should be said that the Dongsheng Empire under the rule of the Wen Family court is a nation and a dynasty in the true sense.

Of course, the Wen Family people realize that magic naturally exists, and thus power is innate.

They earnestly cultivate their base to stabilize themselves, ultimately launching a final challenge against cultivation forces.

Only by completely defeating cultivators reliant on magic can they monopolize the source of power and redefine the rights to interpret power.