The Shadow Sea is the only place with a fresh water supply in the entire Eno Oak Desert, and it is also the only place suitable for human habitation.
Since returning to Faerûn, this has been the place where the City of Shadows has stopped and stationed.
Under the nourishment of fresh water and the influence of magic, large areas of lush green pastures and low shrubs grew out of the surrounding land that had been severely desertified. The captured barbarian herdsman slaves were grazing their herds on them, and some areas were even reclaimed.
A large farm.
If they can be given enough time, they might actually be able to build a sizable country around this.
After all, the area of ​​the Enook Desert is so large that it is equivalent to the combined area of ​​Kalimshan and Tethyr.
As long as the problem of severe desertification can be solved, even a small piece of land can support millions of people. Otherwise, two powerful magical civilizations would not have been born one after another.
But unfortunately, Telamante's ambitions ended completely with the end of the War of Shadows.
Now this place has completely become a territory controlled by the Dark Prince Graya, and Haunted City has become a tool to simply contain and intimidate Zhentil Castle so that it cannot expand.
Standing on the edge of the huge oasis formed with the Shadow Sea as the center, Zuo Si bent down and grabbed a handful of yellow quicksand, letting it slip from his fingers. He chuckled and said: "No matter how glorious civilization will decline one day,
No matter how powerful an empire is, it will one day be destroyed. If there were no historical records, who would know that such a barren land once had a creator race - the Istosefifer Empire established by Saluk Wuhu.
And the Netherese civilization that laid the foundation for Faerûn’s modern magic system.”
“Will this happen to the West Coast empire you built?”
asked the incarnation of Ilmat, the god of suffering, in a voice filled with sadness and pity.
Because in his view, every time a civilization or huge empire collapses and is destroyed, it is the civilians at the bottom who ultimately suffer.
In the process, millions of people will die from war, famine and cold.
Especially the elderly, women and children, who are vulnerable groups, are often eliminated in cruel environments.
Perhaps Silvanus, the father of the oak tree, thought this mass death of the population was a good thing, because the decline of civilization meant that the destroyed mountain forests would be restored.
But Ilmat is an extremely kind and compassionate god.
What he hates most is that such a large number of vulnerable groups are dying in misery.
"Maybe, maybe not, depending on how long I can stay interested in this game of domination and management and construction.
After all, for an eternal being like me, the greatest friend is time, and the greatest enemy is also time.
When one day I feel bored or even tired of it, I might completely let it go and let it run towards collapse.
At that time, the empire's efficient bureaucracy would gradually become bloated and riddled with all kinds of corruption;
The impartial judicial system responsible for oversight will also slowly become corrupted by power and money;
The greedy nobles and merchants will also show their hidden fangs and devour everything;
The army that masters state violence will also lose control and continue to fight and conquer more areas with its strong strength.
In the end, the entire empire, like all powerful regimes, will move toward fragmentation, civil war, and self-disintegration due to various internal problems and external pressures.
Sounds pretty despairing, doesn't it?
In fact, all powerful regimes will eventually end up like this, and no one is an exception.
As vested interest groups continue to grow, it becomes more difficult for larger countries to complete self-innovation from within, because the existing resistance and difficulties are beyond imagination.
Unless there is an absolutely invincible power and will to subdue everyone, they will not dare to have even the slightest bit of resistance.
As the emperor, my main responsibility is to do this."
After throwing away the last few grains of sand in his hand, Zuo Si bluntly told the most realistic situation within the West Coast Empire.
Because he knew very well that the ruling machine he established was not much better than the modern countries on earth.
The only difference is that due to the control of magical power, the supreme ruler's intimidation power is directly maximized.
As long as you think about it, nothing in the entire empire can really be hidden from Zuo Si.
However, he did not adopt high-pressure rule that might put everyone in danger, but instead drew a clear red line.
If there is no cross-border, whether it is corruption or murder, it is a normal judicial process. The sentence should be sentenced, and the property should be confiscated.
But if they cross the red line, what awaits them is an iron fist of sanctions that transcends the law.
In particular, businessmen who control the power of capital are not like the multinational consortiums on earth who can spread their wealth across multiple countries and transfer wealth as needed.
Even if a country is devastated and civil strife or war breaks out, it can still run away with the bucket.
Once the merchants of the West Coast Empire leave the huge monopoly platform of the Trade Alliance, they will basically lose their cheap raw material supply channels, transportation channels, sales markets and financial services at the same time. They are no different from criminals sentenced to death.
What's more, if they commit serious crimes, they may be hunted down.
At present, no region in Faerûn is willing to take the huge risk of offending the empire by hosting an illegal businessman.
In fact, in Zuo Si's view, there seems to be an interesting paradox in power.
If a regime wants to increase its administrative efficiency and reduce unnecessary internal friction, the best way is to carry out a high degree of centralization and concentrate power in the hands of a very small number of people or even the most capable person.
History has proven countless times how quickly a country with strong political leaders and strong leaders can develop, and it can even turn a weak country into a strong one in just ten to several decades.
The problem is that concentrating power also carries huge risks.
After all, people can change, and power can also cause terrible erosion to people's thoughts and consciousness.
No one can guarantee whether the originally wise leader will turn into a tyrant who loves success and is extremely extravagant in his later years.
The concentration of power will also bring about another problem, that is, what if the decision-makers make a mistake in judgment and lead the country to a wrong path of no return?
At that time, it will be the entire nation that will pay for these mistakes.
Therefore, it is very necessary for decentralization to restrict decision-makers.
But the problem is that decentralization will lead to endless fights between people from all walks of life with different interests and demands.
If something does not benefit a certain group but does harm, then they will be short-sighted and madly opposed, completely ignoring the huge benefits it may bring at the national level.
This kind of fighting will eventually lead to the tearing of society, with various classes being hostile to each other, and eventually turning into opposition that will make nothing accomplished, seriously slowing down the administrative efficiency of the government.
If you look at the history of the earth and read it carefully, you will find that almost all powerful countries must be highly centralized.
Even under the banner of freedom, the United States has been concentrating power since its founding.
From the beginning, state autonomy did not even have a standing army, and the federal government and the president were just empty frames. It gradually transitioned to having the most powerful military, intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies, tax agencies, etc. in the world.
Among them, the Civil War was the most iconic event in the process of centralization.
With the help of the economic depression after the First World War and the east wind of the Second World War, the highly centralized federal government finally ushered in its peak moment, and it was also the beginning of the entire country moving to the center of the world stage and becoming hegemonic.
Therefore, if you want a strong country, you must be highly centralized. If you want to decentralize power and form a bottom-up supervision mechanism to prevent the emergence of dictators or authoritarian groups, the power of the country will inevitably decline. You can only choose one of the two.
Since power is highly exclusive, there is no so-called middle ground.
No matter how well-balanced the original design is, it will continue to veer in one direction over the course of the struggle.
The process and results of the struggle for hegemony between Athens and Sparta in ancient Europe illustrate the pros and cons of the two power structures very well, as well as the outcomes they will lead to.
Obviously, Zuo Si chose the former without hesitation in this regard, and unabashedly admitted that he was a dictatorial tyrant.
After hearing these words, Ilmat, the God of Suffering, sighed slightly: "No wonder some scholars claim that you are the monarch with the deepest understanding of power in the world.
It seems that in terms of governance, even among the gods, no one can do a better job than you.
I sincerely hope that the West Coast Empire can last longer.
Because under your rule, civilians can truly have life and hope, instead of running around all day for food and clothing to keep out the cold, without even the most basic life safety being guaranteed.
By the way, I just saw you scattering a large number of seeds containing life energy in the Eno Oak Desert. What are you planning to do?"
"Nothing, I'm just making some interesting attempts to turn this desolate land into a place suitable for people to live."
With that said, Zuo Si raised his hand and opened a huge passage connecting the water elemental plane.
Wow!
The surging water immediately surged out through the portal and expanded in all directions at an extremely fast speed, gradually carving out a wide river channel among the sand dunes.
The originally flying gravel was quickly wetted and solidified under the erosion of the water flow, making it extremely spectacular when viewed from a high altitude.
Just when Ilmat was wondering whether he was going to build a river or a new artificial lake, Zuo Si suddenly released a huge amount of life energy, and in just a few seconds, he had already scattered all the water that had been scattered in the desert.
The seeds are connected together.
In an instant, hundreds of thousands, millions, and tens of millions of trees began to rise from the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye, forming a large area of ​​lush and dense forests along both sides of the river.
To be continued...