Having children earns benefit, start competing for dominance in the world by marrying a wife

Chapter 475 Will Your Majesty Choose the Kingly Way or the Hegemonic Way?_1

When Dongfang Longyue appeared at the Imperial Study Room, it was already stacked with piles of books bearing exquisite designs, causing her to be slightly stunned.

This was the first time she had seen such perfectly bound books, with their paper exceptionally white and the characters remarkably clear.

Upon seeing Dongfang Longyue enter the Imperial Study Room, Lu Chen finally put down the book he was holding.

Dongfang Longyue snapped back to reality and hastily bowed, saying, "This servant pays respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live forever, forever and ever!"

Lu Chen replied with a faint smile, "Longyue, from today onwards, you need not refer to yourself as 'this servant'. Today, you will resign from your position as the Chief Editor of the Eastern Newspaper Agency."

Dongfang Longyue felt a jolt in her heart, but quickly realized Lu Chen must have another task for her, so she promptly said, "As you command, Your Majesty."

Lu Chen continued, "I know you're not one to sit idle, so I didn't plan on having you stay in the Imperial Palace indefinitely. I have a very important mission for you."

Upon hearing this, Dongfang Longyue thought to herself that indeed, His Majesty had an important task for her.

At this moment, Lu Chen glanced at the books on the desk. "The knowledge contained in these books is bestowed from the heavens. I plan to establish the Great Sum Royal Library, and you will be specifically in charge of supervising the craftsmen to print these books. Each volume should be printed in copies of hundreds of thousands. From now on, you will be the Director of the Great Sum Royal Library."

Hearing this, Dongfang Longyue was puzzled. Knowledge bestowed from the heavens?

Lu Chen said further, "The content within these books is very important, and it must not be leaked out for the time being."

"Your consort understands. I will ensure that no one outside will come to know about any book in the library," she replied.

Lu Chen said, "There's no need to be too strict. The library's books are meant for imparting knowledge. They should be made available to others, of course, but only for our own people to learn and use."

After some thought, Lu Chen said, "I will first have some individuals study the knowledge in these books and train them to become teachers. Then, these teachers will go on to instruct more students."

"In the future, only these students will have the privilege of accessing the books of the Great Sum Royal Library."

Dongfang Longyue instantly understood Lu Chen's intention.

With that, Lu Chen called out to a maid, "Go summon Commander Qin."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Talking to Dongfang Longyue once more, Lu Chen said, "I will have Qin Yushan assign some of the Brocade Guard to assist you."

Dongfang Longyue quickly expressed her gratitude, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

At this point, with a nervous heart, Dongfang Longyue asked, "Your Majesty, may I be permitted to read these books?"

She was very curious about this "knowledge bestowed from the heavens." As a person eager to learn, she also wanted to gain some insight from these books.

Lu Chen answered, "Certainly, the books of the Great Sum Royal Library are fully accessible to my wives and children. You are free to read and learn from them if you wish."

Dongfang Longyue thanked him again, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Afterward, Lu Chen discussed matters of the library further with Dongfang Longyue.

Once Qin Yushan arrived, Lu Chen spoke to him about the library as well. It wasn't until midday that Dongfang Longyue and Qin Yushan left the Imperial Study Room.

After lunch and a short rest, Lu Chen met with Zhuge Zhongguang.

Lu Chen wanted to ask Zhuge Zhongguang about their next steps and sought his counsel.

After all, something like unifying the world was unprecedented for Lu Chen and beyond his experience.

When Zhuge Zhongguang arrived at the Imperial Study Room, he bowed to Lu Chen, "Your old subject pays his respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live forever and ever!"

Lu Chen said, "Please rise. Bring a seat."

The maid serving in the Imperial Study Room hurriedly brought a chair, and Zhuge Zhongguang bowed again, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

After Zhuge Zhongguang had taken his seat, Lu Chen spoke directly, "I've summoned the Great Scholar here mainly to seek your counsel on how I should proceed next in a proper manner."

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, Zhuge Zhongguang instantly understood his meaning.

Zhuge Zhongguang then inquired, "This old servant dares to ask Your Majesty, how many Celestials can Your Majesty mobilize at this moment?"

Although Zhuge Zhongguang had heard that there were four Celestials by Lu Chen's side, he still wasn't clear on the actual amount of strength Lu Chen possessed.

Lu Chen thought for a moment before replying, "As for now, there are two Celestials I can directly call upon."

"However, there are a total of five Celestials who stand by my side, and should the need arise, they can also arrive at a moment's notice."

Zhuge Zhongguang said, "With such power at Your Majesty's disposal, you already possess the strength to unify the world."

"But for Your Majesty, the true difficulty lies not in conquering the world but in governing it. Currently, Great Sum's officials are insufficient to manage the entirety of the world on Your Majesty's behalf. Once Your Majesty has eradicated several great dynasties, you will inevitably have to employ the natives of those dynasties to govern the remote regions."

Lu Chen naturally understood this as well, saying, "I am indeed worried about these issues. Once people from other dynasties enter Great Sum's bureaucratic system, then Great Sum's weapons and various types of knowledge will also become known to the people from these great dynasties. Among them, there are no lack of those who feign allegiance to Great Sum. In the future, if they take Great Sum's weapons, they could very well bring enormous losses to Great Sum."

Lu Chen, having read history books, was also aware of the covert deeds performed by the remnants of the Six Kingdoms after Qin Shi Huang had unified them.

He strongly suspected that the remnants of the former dynasty might quietly wreak havoc in secret. With access to Great Sum's weapons, their potential for destruction would be even greater.

Thus, governing the world was indeed a great challenge.

At this point, Zhuge Zhongguang spoke up, "This old servant has a question to ask Your Majesty, may I?"

Lu Chen replied, "Great Scholar, whatever question you have, just ask."

Zhuge Zhongguang asked, "May I inquire if Your Majesty intends to choose the Way of the King or the Way of Hegemony next?"

Upon hearing this question, Lu Chen was momentarily taken aback.

After pondering for a while, he then countered, "What is the difference between the two?"

Zhuge Zhongguang explained, "If Your Majesty chooses the Way of Hegemony, then the destruction of other dynasties would be also the end for their imperial families. Once Your Majesty uses the sword against the royal families of those great dynasties, that sword must continue to be wielded. There will certainly be many remnants who, under the guise of resisting a tyrant, will oppose Great Sum. Your Majesty would then have to keep killing until no one dares resist Great Sum any longer."

"If Your Majesty chooses the Way of the King, you can use a method of deterrence, convincing the royal families of the great dynasties to surrender voluntarily. If the royal families of the great dynasties choose to submit, this can, to a certain extent, alleviate the hatred of their people towards Great Sum. But this approach can also sow the seeds of future trouble, where some members of other dynasties' royal families might harbor treacherous ambitions and attempt to restore their former reigns."

Hearing Zhuge Zhongguang's words, Lu Chen reflected a moment. After Qin Shi Huang had extinguished the Six Kingdoms, he did not kill all the nobles. A great number were relocated to Xianyang, or exiled.

In the end, among those who survived, there were many who harbored thoughts of restoration, which indeed created a substantial problem.

Yet if all of them were killed, it could likely leave the image of a tyrant in the minds of the populace of the great dynasties, and sheer violence was not a sustainable way to rule.

After thinking it over, Lu Chen declared, "I have decided to choose the Way of the King."

In his mind, Lu Chen thought that once the nobles of the great dynasties were placed under house arrest, if they complied, they would be granted some benefits. If they thought of rebellion, then they would be made examples of and be exterminated.

By striking a balance between punishment and reward, he could not only maintain his dignity but also reduce fear among the common people.

Moreover, he was different from Qin Shi Huang; he was already a Pseudo Celestial. He could live longer than Qin Shi Huang did, giving him ample time to deal with those royal nobles.

He could tackle them one by one, gradually.

Lu Chen then inquired, "According to the State Preceptor, which dynasty should be eradicated first?"

Zhuge Zhongguang did not directly answer the question but remarked, "This matter should start with the easy before moving to the difficult. Great Qian is rife with epidemics and at its weakest. It would be the easiest to eliminate them now, but precisely because their epidemic is still rampant, if Great Sum's soldiers were to be infected, it would be a catastrophe for Great Sum."

"Great Jue's strength is modest compared to Great Wu, but to the north of Great Jue, the Barbarian Tribe is eyeing us covetously. There was recent news from the Brocade Guard that a so-called Goddess has unified the entire Barbarian Tribe."

"If Great Jue is to be destroyed, then the Barbarian Tribe to the north must be wiped out as well. The lands in the northwest are vast, and the Barbarian Tribe can escape at any time. Exterminating the Barbarian Tribe will not be easy."