Mythical Three Kingdoms

Guo Jia smiled without explaining to Fa Zheng, knowing that Fa Zheng must have had a guess, but he extinguished it. Sometimes, long-lasting friendship between both parties can make one unconsciously overlook the correct judgment, albeit emotional, which is termed as sensibility.

However, Fa Zheng indeed has the capital to be emotional. Not having experienced over twenty years of frustration, friendship is more important to him than power.

Precisely because it comes easily, it is obtained easily, which is why he disdainfully dismisses it. For Fa Zheng now, power is as such, what one can easily obtain with one's wisdom; having friends' care and inquiry is more important.

Lub Su and Liu Ye remain relatively silent. Liu Ye's actions are indeed not appealing, while Lub Su is the good-natured one. Every power will face an internal struggle before the final step descends, albeit the difference lies in the severity of this internal struggle.

Some forces fail because of internal strife at the last moment, while others achieve equilibrium and compromise amid constant internal struggle, no longer bound by lofty ideals but united through mundane interests.

This is an inevitable step for all forces before and after reaching the summit since the act of conquering the world and ruling the world are two completely different situations. The team formed during the conquer often obstructs social progress during the ruling phase.

To put it another way, it's a kind of Tao following the time shift, changing alongside time, as are those who conquered the world together. People's ideals inherently change constantly, ordinary people only see what's ahead, sages can see the future, making it impossible for all to share the same ideal.

It can be said that by the time a force reaches its peak, most people's ideals have already been realized. After the ideals come the mundane and reality, a shackle that ordinary folk can never escape from. Naturally, the heads whose ideals are grander have not yet achieved their goals.

Whether ideals compromise with the mundane or ideals conquer the mundane, it remains uncertain, but a dramatic collision is inevitable, thus internal struggles commence.

Whether for ideals or to preserve existing possessions, a confrontation is unavoidable. Someone must fall, but striking against former comrades, regardless if the idealist faction or realist faction wins, even those with hearts as hard as iron inevitably grow weary.

If the realists are the victors, then there's no need for many words, it will inevitably transform into a profit-centered entity. If the idealists win, their ideals will invariably be tainted with worldly colors, falling from grace to the mundane, leading to introspection within the idealist faction and causing exhaustion among them.

By this time, it's estimated that the idealists won't fight against the group that, upon reflection, realized their mistakes and fell into the mundane. Having eliminated some comrades, aside from a few with nerves of steel, the rest have lost their appetite for conflict.

Thereafter, the collapse of the idealist faction leads to returning to ordinary folk, transforming back into the normal interest-group structure, an almost inevitable scene for all successful forces. Why this hasn't occurred for some is too simple; their upper echelons are still very young, what others see as success is merely the beginning for them.

This is also why Chen Xi decided to reveal the "facts," partly to avoid upcoming disputes and partly to ensure internal purity.

Frankly, if not for every civil official, including Li Youu and Jia Xu, being relatively young and in good health at present, at this point Chen Xi would not be able to stop these people from engaging in struggles even if he opened a world map.

Precisely because of youth, their passion has not yet faded, and there are still ambitions unexhibited. If everyone were in their seventies or eighties, even if a world map was opened, it would have nothing to do with them, the struggle would continue unabated.

As for now, Jia Xu and Li Youu, who can be considered old gentlemen, both are very confident in their longevity, claiming to continue fighting for another thirty years is no joke!

This is a matter of mindset; Li Youu and Jia Xu hardly have the mindset of old gentlemen, both believing they can continue battling for decades, maintaining exceptionally youthful mindsets, consequently mingling with Chen Xi's group without appearing aged, while some others show signs of premature aging at thirty.

[With such a vast realm, I always believed individuals like us should appear two or three per era to fulfill respective duties; more than that and there's no place in the world to accommodate them, turns out we limited ourselves.] Liu Ye thought silently in his heart, with the world being so vast, two or three are far from enough!

[With such a vast world, how can one occupy it? There aren't enough people, the transportation issue is too difficult to solve. Even though Parthia and Kushan are far away, they are roughly within the radiation scope of a unified empire, further away, transportation becomes limited, we must find a way to resolve issues of troop and supply transportation.]

Lub Su's considerations are very practical. For the Han Dynasty, the actual ruling range is not the scope of conquest but is constrained by the time it takes for the army to arrive. Once the army cannot arrive within fifty days, there is no way to handle a rebellion that occurs.

Coupled with the difficulty of transporting supplies, the pressure of supply transportation brought by a fifty-day march may be greater than the trouble caused by conquering that piece of land. This is the most helpless aspect of the Classical Empire, not being unable to defeat others, but being limited by the difficulty of troop movement and supply pressure, having to abandon already conquered lands and withdraw.

Building official roads is indeed key to solving the problem. Having the concept of the world, Lub Su has already started considering constructing two national roads, targeting Parthia and Kushan, but Parthia is easier to discuss, whereas Kushan poses far more complications.

[Jia Wenhe's horse governance now roughly looks somewhat decent, but it would probably take another two to three years to yield results. However, occupying Jizhou now improves things significantly, and once combined with Youzhou, the horse problem is effectively resolved.] Lub Su silently contemplated the future path.

After all, Chen Xi merely conducts planning, meaning he only establishes the framework, while the rest still relies on Lub Su himself to solve. Possessing abundant horses, infantry riding horses can march significantly faster than regular infantry.

That is to say, if the horses are sufficient, the empire's radiation radius can expand by another fold. This is of great value to Lub Su, having seen the vastness of the world, he no longer focuses solely on the territory of the Central Plains.

As a top sage, Lub Su now thinks beyond leaving a mark on the history of the Central Plains but aims to leave a significant trace on the larger stage of the world, and territorial expansion is almost an ingrained instinct for every Central Plains person, irrespective of Scholars, Farmers, Artisans, and Merchants or their station, the fervor for land always flows in the blood of Central Plains people. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)