"The essence of power is violence.
But smart rulers should not use it unscrupulously as a conventional weapon.
Instead, we must use people's fear of it to establish law, rules and order.
Through subtle influence, the ruled can accept all this and regard it as a normal state.
Kalingshan has maintained slavery for thousands of years, and Sel, who is completely controlled by the red robe mage, are very good examples.
Smarter rulers can also use public opinion and propaganda to confuse right and wrong, distort people's perceptions, and make them subjectively believe that today's dictatorship is the best and most perfect.
This not only allows vested interest groups to support the tyrant's rule, but also allows those groups who are exploited and oppressed to also support it, even with a degree of fanaticism that far exceeds the former.
Of course, there is a premise for all this, which is to significantly improve the living standards of civilians.
At least they must live a better life than any other country around them, enjoy both material and spiritual satisfaction, and the entire country must maintain a strong enough military strength.
As a result, during the comparison process, ordinary people will inevitably develop a sense of superiority, happiness, and contempt for surrounding relatively backward countries and regions.
At that time, as long as you make good use of this public psychology, you can easily control their thoughts and behaviors.
My dear friend, true tyrants and tyranny never rely solely on spreading violence, death and fear to force others to obey.
You have to give the people under your rule pride, honor, and self-confidence, so that they feel that they are living in a great country and have a wise monarch who is always right.
Dealing with the economically and politically dominant oligarchs of Ascatra is only the first step.
The most critical thing next is how to integrate the Calimshan, Tethyr, Amn and West Heartland regions.
After completing the integration of the southern region, I will officially march to the north, using the trade alliance as a link to force those independent towns and noble lords to choose to surrender in the face of huge interests.
I believe that after experiencing unprecedented economic prosperity and a wealthy and convenient life, no one will be willing to return to the poor and primitive state before.
I will use practical actions to prove to you that real competition is never limited to military aspects.
In many cases, economic means can often be more concealed than the threat of force, greatly reducing the resistance of ordinary people.
It even deliberately leads and intensifies the contradiction between the civilians and the ruling class in the target area, making them believe that the deterioration of their quality of life is caused by the greed and stupidity of the latter.
Eventually, I can get the angry people to stand up and overthrow the existing rulers without any effort, and then voluntarily become part of the empire through collective voting."
Zuo Si did not hide anything and explained his ideas and plans openly.
However, these words were not entirely addressed to Fuzor Chambery, but also to Bane, the god of tyranny who was planning to make major changes behind the scenes.
Because he needs the other church to expand on his own territory, and even become a symbol of the legitimacy of his rule, in order to check and balance the forces of the chaotic and good camps.
Especially the Northland, which is fragmented and has never been unified by any individual or force, is often threatened by monsters, pirates, extreme druid sects, evil organizations and Luskan during the reign of the Arcane Brotherhood.
For a period of time, there was strong xenophobia and a general spirit of resistance.
They stubbornly believe that all external forces have the ultimate goal of enslaving themselves, so they are often extremely vigilant against any expansion and annexation.
This is why there has never been a country in this region in modern times, and at most it is a loose rule with city-states as the center and radiating outwards.
It's not that no one has thought about unification, but those who do so are either quickly defeated by the army assembled by the Lords Alliance, or are destroyed by the Harper Alliance, and can only continue to maintain the status quo.
In fact, if you look at the history of the west coast of Faerun, you will know that this land is divided into two parts with Baldur's Gate as the dividing line.
Among them, the southern region was split from the Sharn Empire, so it inherited the culture and ideas of the former, and gradually formed three national-level regimes: Amn, Tethyr and Kalimshan.
Although the areas around Baldur's Gate and West Heartland seem to be fragmented now, they formed two unified countries in history.
Therefore, local residents do not reject reunification, and even look forward to the day when a "strong man will descend from heaven" and establish a strong kingdom again.
But the north is different. This is a very special place.
In order to complete the integration of this vast area, the first thing to do is to change people's backward and ignorant thinking.
The best way to change minds in Faerûn is to use religion and gods.
In this regard, Zuo Si has a complete plan.
He first used the power of the goddess of wealth, Woking, to build a trade alliance, and first let the residents of the North form a de facto economic dependence.
As the saying goes, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality.
When ordinary people's lives begin to become affluent, they will naturally no longer be willing to live in the poverty-stricken and fearful days of the past.
Zuo Si can take advantage of this to force those independent towns to hand over their diplomatic, financial, administrative and military powers bit by bit, and let professional bureaucrats sent by the Trade Federation take over, ultimately completing a one-stop process of seizing power.
The second step is to let Bann Church take root in various towns.
While promoting the various benefits that being a subject of a powerful empire can bring;
While making a comparison, the chaos, division, killing and death in the Northland for hundreds or even thousands of years were all attributed to the Lords Alliance and the Harper Alliance, making the civilians begin to dislike and even hate them.
After all, Zuo Si has many successful cases and experiences to learn from when it comes to inciting opposition, intensifying social conflicts, and wielding the big stick of economic sanctions.
He believed that with the intelligence and knowledge of the northern lords, he was afraid that the opponent would have collapsed before even a third of the combo was used.
Fuzuo Er Qianberry nodded thoughtfully: "Okay, I think I understand what you mean.
Rest assured, Great Bane appreciates your ambition and means, and I will also deploy manpower to speed up the penetration of the Northland to ensure that your expansion can receive sufficient support.
But I think before that, we should clearly define our powers and spheres of influence.
What do you think?"
"I have no objection."
Zuo Si shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
In the next few minutes, the two began to "fully exchange views" on the leadership of the church.
Obviously, from the perspective of Fu Zouer Chambery, he definitely wants to continue to hold the position of the top leader of the sect and become the master of all Bane temples and church organizations on the entire west coast as a voter.
But how could Zuo Si allow an ambitious outsider to have such a powerful influence on his own territory?
After a final exchange of words, they finally reached an agreement that both sides could barely accept.
The content is to divide the West Coast into several regions.
Among them, the churches in the towns near the Northland were personally appointed by Fuzoul Chamberry, but from now on the south of Wan Ting River must be controlled by Zuo Si himself.
In other words, the church of Bane, the god of tyranny, in Faerûn has once again split from the original two sects into three sects.
Among them, the part led by Aigason Nasere has been mixed with the Dragon Worship Cult of Sammaster. Its main purpose is to find tyrants and support them to gain power, create disputes, and establish a terrifying tyranny.
;
This section led by Fuzor Chambery is more inclined to integrate politics and religion, and becomes a tyrant by himself. With Zhentil Keep and the Zhentarim as the core, it continues to expand to the surrounding areas until it establishes a ruthless and cruel dark empire.
As for the last one, they will naturally be the "moderate faction" led by Zuo Si in the future.
The idea is that tyrants and tyranny should not just stay on the surface, but should serve the rule and be closely integrated with the rule itself, making people believe that centralization and dictatorship are the best systems.
Judging from the current situation, Ben obviously feels that Zuo Si is taking the right path.
Because when tyranny and rule are combined, his influence and the number of believers in the country are bound to expand significantly.
After demarcating the sphere of influence, a satisfied smile suddenly appeared on Fuzor Chamberry's face, and he said straightforwardly: "After cooperating with you to complete this scene, I will immediately start to launch the Unification Moon after returning to Zhentil Castle.
The war of the sea.
I hope we can join forces again and attack from both sides, one from the south and the other from the north.
Take the former elven kingdom of Cormanthor and even the valley into your pocket, and let it bathe in the glory of Bane."
"Let's talk about it then.
Nowadays, Cormanthor has been infiltrated and controlled by the dark elves from the Underdark. Coupled with other local intelligent biological communities, the situation can be said to be very delicate.
There is also the huge and complicated magical mystery lock of Myth Drannor. It is not easy to occupy it.
What's more, the valley still lives with the souls of Elminster, Storm Silverhand and Sheeren.
I don’t want to have too fierce a conflict with them.”
Zuo Si shook his head noncommittally, obviously not very optimistic about this plan.
Of course, if the tyrant of the Moon Sea insists on doing this, he will not stop it.
"That's such a shame."
Fuzuoer Chamberry clearly noticed that Zuo Si was completely uninterested in this proposal and decisively ended the topic.
Just when he raised the cursed javelin in his hand and planned to kill the golden dragon that had fallen from the sky and was seriously injured and was falling into shock and coma, Zuo Si suddenly interrupted: "Wait! Are you trying to kill him?
To be continued...