City-state established.
This place, for Chen Yu, could be called his foothold.
He didn't care how chaotic this area was before; after he took over, there could only be one voice, his voice.
He needed absolute authority over this region.
To achieve this, Chen Yu had to clear out all surrounding obstacles, prioritizing annexation, followed by subordinate integration, to control this region as much as possible.
Even natives needed to be treated differently.
Some camps needed to be completely eradicated, with troops dispatched to suppress them. These camps were usually of a certain scale, making annexation difficult. Direct suppression was more efficient.
Others required a policy of appeasement.
Although Chen Yu's current city-state had a population exceeding fifty thousand, most were laborers, not warriors capable of fighting.
To replenish his forces, Chen Yu could only set his sights on the surrounding villages and tribes.
Daring to establish themselves outside the city meant that their villages or tribes possessed the combat strength to resist bandits.
By absorbing them, Chen Yu could provide jobs for their farmers. As for those who had served as warriors in their villages or tribes, they would be integrated into his army.
This was also why Chen Yu did not allow Shan Gang You Tai to use force for suppression.
Forceful suppression would create strong resistance from the other side. If casualties occurred, it could lead to an irreconcilable conflict. Chen Yu did not wish for bloodshed and was not a bloodthirsty person who would build his throne on countless corpses.
Cooperation and mutual benefit, wouldn't that be a better outcome?
By joining Chen Yu's city-state, they could obtain better jobs and income, and also be freed from the danger of bandit raids.
Simply put, it was resource integration.
Gathering the previously fragmented forces in this region into a stronger new power.
Individually, none of them possessed this capability.
Chen Yu was different.
He had food, money, land, and also possessed superior equipment and formidable strength. These villages and tribes, as long as they were somewhat sensible, knew how to choose.
However, nothing is absolute, and there were bound to be stubborn elements among these forces.
These were all within Chen Yu's expectations.
Therefore, when Kailin mentioned facing obstruction, he was not surprised. From the moment he began planning the integration, he had already considered the possibility of such a situation arising.
"Tell Shan Gang You Tai and the others to withdraw."
A smile played on Chen Yu's lips; he did not take the issue of the stubborn faction to heart.
"Camp Leader, are we just going to let it go?" Kailin asked, confused. "This will be very detrimental to our progress. The villages that have already joined our city-state did so either through coercion or enticement. Now, if we don't deal with the stubborn faction, those who have already joined might be unaffected, but those who haven't might follow suit."
No one would want to leave their homeland unless absolutely necessary.
This was understandable.
"Who says we're letting it go? These villages are all within my grasp. How could I let them escape?" Chen Yu said with a smile.
All this potential labor, how could Chen Yu let them run away?
It was impossible!
Even those who had affiliated with his city-state, Chen Yu was not entirely satisfied. He wanted to absorb all these villages and tribes.
The plane was still chaotic and had not yet merged.
No one knew if the tribes affiliated with him would still be within his jurisdiction after the next planar fusion. If they were lost then,
With the emperor far away, who would care about them?
"Steward Chen."
Suddenly, a survivor from the city-state rushed over, holding a thick stack of paper.
"Good efficiency, Lang Huai." Chen Yu took the paper and nodded slightly. "Are all the characters on this written by you? Your learning ability is quite fast; you've written the cave-dwelling script so fluently."
"I've always had a bit of talent in this area since I was young," Lang Huai said, scratching his head with a grin. Then, his gaze caught sight of Kailin, and he quickly straightened up and greeted her respectfully.
"Ah, City Lord, you are here too."
Kailin nodded slightly, her gaze falling on the stack of paper.
Papermaking was one of the Four Great Inventions passed down from ancient times. Lang Huai was someone Chen Yu had specifically found among the survivors who was familiar with papermaking technology. After providing him with raw materials, he had him start making paper.
Kailin was aware of this; the resources she had approved were all signed by her.
She wasn't surprised by the paper, but by the densely packed characters on it...
"You can go. The quality is good. Rush out more of these during this time, and our City Lord will reward you handsomely," Chen Yu said with a smile.
"Really?" Lang Huai's eyes widened with excitement. Since Chen Yu had spoken, Kailin naturally wouldn't object and also nodded with a smile.
"Thank you, City Lord, thank you, Steward. I'll definitely do a good job!"
Puffing out his chest twice, Lang Huai ran off excitedly again. Chen Yu, holding the stack of paper he had delivered, had a faint smile in his eyes.
Kailin was puzzled and pointed at the paper.
"Camp Leader, what is this?"
"This is our secret weapon to dismantle the stubborn factions, or rather, for effectively absorbing the surrounding villages in the future," Chen Yu said, taking out a copy and handing it to Kailin. "These are the propaganda leaflets I prepared."
Kailin, receiving the leaflet, blinked repeatedly, not quite understanding.
"Have you noticed that anyone who enters our city-state, regardless of their previous attitude towards us, becomes much more strongly attached after living in the city-state for a while?" Chen Yu murmured.
Kailin nodded upon hearing this. She was indeed aware of this.
Whether they were refugees, natives, or outsiders, Kailin, while not knowing every detail, at least had a general understanding of their attitudes towards the city-state.
Just as Chen Yu said—
More than ninety percent of those who lived in the city-state for a few days were willing to treat it as their home.
"Have you ever wondered why?" Chen Yu pressed.
"Our city-state is very different from other city-states, villages, and tribes in the cave-dwelling. Our city-state does not withhold wages; if they are willing, we can settle accounts daily, and their income truly reaches their hands. Moreover, our city-state has no class hegemony; it is free and equal within the city-state, with good public order."
She was indeed someone Chen Yu valued, getting straight to the point.
Chen Yu was quite pleased.
"You are right," Chen Yu nodded with a smile. "This is the advantage of our city-state. Our city-state has broken the conventional state of the cave-dwelling, bringing hope for a better life to the lower classes of the cave-dwelling."
"It allows them to experience the richness of life, no longer feeling like they are working for others as they did before."
"The people of our city-state do not live for others; they live for themselves. Imagine, who wouldn't want to live for themselves?"
"Currently, only the people within our city-state know about this advantage."
"We need to spread this information!"
"I understand." Kailin suddenly realized. "You want the tribesmen of those villages to know all of this, so they will willingly join us. We won't even need to invite them actively; they will come to pledge their allegiance."
"That's right."
Chen Yu grinned, looking down at the propaganda leaflet in his hand.
"I call it cultural invasion!"