Over the course of the following period, rumors about the abrupt internal change in the Zhou Kingdom continued to spread.
The new Emperor of Zhou, in his decree of ascension, besides extolling his ancestors, granting amnesty across the land, and issuing benevolent policies, also included so noteworthy content.
For instance, he emphasized the poverty of the people of Zhou, the harassnt by officials, and the particularly severe problem of land annexation. He stated that his ascension was by his imperial brother’s directive and the result of repeated entreaties from the Prince, civil and military officials, as well as esteed elders among the military and populace.
He would limit the excessive luxury of the Royal Family and Nobles, curb the exploitation of the lower class by the powerful, restrict officials from abusing power, strip Buddhist monks and Daoist priests of their privileges, reform the military, change the governnt troops system to a recruitnt system, expand the military, and enhance military preparedness.
During the military reform process, individuals from Taihao Mountain would offer guidance.
Moreover, the decree harshly reprimanded Yu Country. It was precisely because Yu Country disrespected Haotian and developed the so-called Natural Science, which questioned and defied the natural order (such as doubting that life forms were created by Haotian instead of naturally evolving), that moral corruption spread among the people.
The catastrophe that occurred in Chang’an last year was a punishnt from Haotian.
Therefore, Yu Country must make a series of reparations, such as canceling publications on Natural Science, permitting Priests from Taihao Mountain to take residence in the Academic Palace, and the Emperor himself going to Taihao Mountain to repent to Haotian...
Otherwise, Zhou Kingdom would defend the dignity of Haotian by force.
The issuance of the decree confird Li Ang’s speculation—behind this internal change was indeed the influence of Taihao Mountain. With the internal change, war was inevitable.
Zhou Kingdom employed a governnt troop system, aning soldiers belonged to local Military Mansions, tilled the land and fard in peaceti, and were regularly trained under General Zhe Chong’s leadership. They supplied their own bow and arrow and provisions and were not supported by the state.
In tis of war, they transford into soldiers, led by a different general dispatched by the court, and deployed to a particular location.
The generals who trained and commanded the soldiers were not the sa, which reduced individual generals’ personal authority, prevented regional fragntation, and also conserved manpower and reduced military expenses.
However, the governnt troop system also had nurous problems. Since the soldiers provided their own food and bow and arrow, there was a vast equipnt gap between wealthier soldiers and those from poorer families.
So local officials would deliberately withhold soldiers’ entitlents, such as purchasing the cheapest, lowest-quality bedsheets, to reduce costs and embezzle money for themselves. They would even extort money from the soldiers.
Furthermore, because governnt troops were soldiers in warti and civilians in peaceti, so local powerful figures would have the Military Mansion’s General Zhe Chong change the soldiers’ daily training tasks to "building houses for the nobles" or "guarding the nobles’ properties."
They treated governnt troops like personal servants, commanding them imperiously.
The oppression by these powerful figures and worsening conditions seriously affected soldiers’ enthusiasm for joining the army. This led to persistent recruitnt shortfalls in various Military Mansions, as any moderately well-off family with connections would try to avoid military service or hire soone to serve in their place.
As a result, the combat effectiveness of governnt troops rapidly deteriorated, turning them into gathering places for the old, weak, sick, and disabled.
Such situations had occurred in Yu Country over a century ago. Yu Country’s solution was to strictly prohibit powerful figures from treating governnt troops as servants. They stopped requiring soldiers to supply their own food and bow and arrow, instead providing regular military pay and improving conditions for governnt troops. It took several decades to gradually improve the public perception of the governnt troop system.
Zhou Kingdom had now abolished the governnt troop system and switched to an all-recruitnt army.
This would inevitably cause military costs to surge rapidly, but correspondingly, by recruiting only physically strong, determined young adults, it would also enhance military strength.
And, with the support of the elites of Taihao Mountain, money was not an issue.
The Judgent Court of Taihao Mountain, with its cruel and indifferent manner of handling affairs, would restrain the lower and middle-level officials of Zhou Kingdom, preventing them from engaging in deceitful and dishonest behavior (such as drafting the weak and sick as healthy individuals, oppressing and enslaving soldiers, embezzling military pay, etc.).
Even Li Ang could see this, so the ministers of Yu Country’s Chang’an had no reason not to.
The land, manpower, wealth, and culture of Zhou Kingdom were second only to Yu Country in the entire world.
In three hundred years, the two countries had fought dozens of wars, both large and small. Yu Country won more than it lost, but due to the presence of Taihao Mountain, they had never been able to expand their victories or even annihilate Zhou Kingdom.
There was no way around it; Haotian’s faith almost enveloped every corner and every kingdom of the known world.
From the perpetual day and night cycle of the polar ice plains in the north to the hot climate and the broad oceans of Java in the south, the sound of Haotian’s bells and chis could be heard.
For thousands of years, the Priests of Taihao Mountain had built countless temples all over the world, leading millions to believe in Haotian.
Each year, the money donated by devout believers flowed like a stream into a river towards Taihao Mountain, and this terrifying wealth was then transford into countless talismans, armor, and arrows.
Among the four institutes of Holy Ceremony, Judgent, Torch Language, and Faith Cultivation, the Judgent Court alone had nearly 100,000 Judges—all Cultivators.
And if one included the Demon Hunting Army assisting the Judges in capturing demons, the numbers reached a staggering 1,000,000.
Each mber of the Demon Hunting Army had undergone rigorous training and possessed extre fervor and devotion to Haotian, willing to sacrifice their lives for him.
And their combat skills far surpassed those of ordinary soldiers.
Four hundred years ago, a Demon Cultivator used an astonishing Evil Technique to convert all the subjects of a province in Jing Country into fanatical followers who worshipped him.
Hundreds of thousands of fierce, fearless common people, emanating Demonic Qi, easily broke through the military towns on Jing Country’s borders, plundering armor and swords to arm themselves, and continued marching into the heartland of Jing Country.
And the Cultivators of Jing Country, concerned for the lives of their own common people, hesitated to act.
Under these circumstances, Taihao Mountain dispatched 10,000 soldiers from the Demon Hunting Army.
When the two sides t on the plain, the common people on the side of the Demon Cultivator clamored madly, reciting the Demon Scripture that insulted Haotian, and taunted everything about Taihao Mountain.
The Demon Hunting Army remained deathly silent, their faces expressionless as they drew their long swords.
With just one charge, the Demon Hunting Army shattered their formation of several hundred thousand people with irresistible force. They then dispersed within the heart of the formation, swinging their long swords to slaughter the enemies who rushed at them.
They rooted out the Demon Cultivator hidden among the crowd.
After obtaining information from the Demon Cultivator that "the Evil Technique was irreversible, and the common people could not be saved," the 10,000 mbers of the Demon Hunting Army killed all the remaining people.
The blood on the battlefield rose above their insteps,
and the pungent sll of blood even drifted with the wind to the Imperial City of Jing Country.
And after the fact, the total number of casualties among the Demon Hunting Army was only 110.
Now, even though Taihao Mountain, needing to maintain its broader operations and influence, could not commit the entirety of the Demon Hunting Army to a war with Yu Country,
by deploying just 100,000 or 200,000 troops on the battlefield, they would completely level, even reverse, the disparity in national power between Yu Country and Zhou Kingdom.
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