People are divided into groups.
As social creatures that live in groups, humans always inevitably belong to a certain group.
The most primitive group is a "family" unit tied by blood ties. It is the same as any living creature with the habit of living in groups. It is an innate instinct and a close-knit small group maintained by kinship relationships.
When humans developed civilization and social structures emerged, more concepts of "groups" emerged accordingly:
The concept of “nation” based on common language, culture, and customs;
The concept of “religion” based on shared beliefs and taboos;
and the concept of “nation” that combines the above two and expands them.
When society develops stably and peacefully, the concept of this "group" will be very broad - they are all believers of the same religion; they are all people of the same country; they are all the same nation.
But when disaster strikes and social unrest occurs, the large "group" will split again and be cut into countless small groups.
The "country" is once again divided into small groups divided into "regions" or "villages" - if materials and care capabilities are limited, it is better to stay warm among a group of fellow villagers; and religious people cannot protect themselves in difficult times. Sometimes, it often only provides shelter to believers.
Giving priority to taking care of one's own people is an instinct, and it is also a correct decision that can better ensure one's own survival.
Admittedly it sounds a bit cold-blooded and a bit "uncivilized".
But at a time when civilization itself is in turmoil, giving so-called human warmth must be carefully considered.
Good people also need to hold swords. The good intentions of people who are unable to protect themselves will only bring disaster to themselves. This kind of thing has not been uncommon since ancient times.
Fires were raging, and even though he was a wise man, Henry could not have expected that all the incidents in Minamata would develop so quickly and suddenly.
It only took a day for the news to spread about what happened in Taizhou. Even if it did cause a certain degree of panic, it was definitely not to the extent that the ruling class was unable to suppress it.
Under the strong inherent class concept developed over thousands of years, the Japanese people are very obedient. The fear of the aristocracy will make the Minamata clan quell those rumors and rumors with a little action - not to explain, but to control the spread of rumors in the form of strict control.
Due to the knowledge gap between civilians and nobles, many civilians may not be able to understand the content even if nobles explain that the incident in Taizhou will not affect their daily lives. But they don’t really have to explain at all—at least not yet.
Because problems in Taizhou will not affect Minamata's food supply, this is undoubtedly a fact. Therefore, the controllers of Minamata only need to suppress the rumors, maintain stability and ensure that those who jump up and down to stir up trouble are silenced, or further control the businessmen who take the opportunity to speculate on prices. After three to five days, people will realize that food and other things can be supplied normally without much impact, and this panic will naturally dissipate.
——This is the reason why Henry and the Aoda family did not leave Minamata immediately after seeing the big purchase during the day. They all believed that the Chinese people in Minamata were completely controllable, and at that time it was just purchasing and there was no evolution. tend to riot. It's just that the development of this matter is too abnormal.
But overnight, the situation reached a point of no return.
"Obviously someone is behind it." Our Mr. Sage immediately reacted. Although the news that reached the inn was vague and had a lot of embellishing and needed to be filtered, they were able to learn the general development of the situation.
Some people add fuel to the fire at every key node, causing the chaotic situation to get out of hand in an instant.
"A rebel from the domain?" Narumi wondered. As an excellent soldier, his thinking was quite sharp. Narumi's view was well-founded from a military perspective: combined with the loss of contact in Taizhou, Xinjing, as a military center, Reinforcements will definitely be sent. As a fishing port, Minamata is also an important transportation hub for Zhangzhou to the south. If chaos is caused in Minamata, it can hinder the arrival of reinforcements and isolate Zhangzhou, thereby further expanding the advantage of the north.
His view is very reasonable. From the perspective of pure military operations, it is a conclusion that goes beyond the common thinking of small patterns and human warriors and can only be reached by those with strategic thinking. But Henry shook his head - the sage looked deeper and further.
"The feudal kings want to rise to the top. They don't want to destroy the existing social system and class order of the Moon Country. They just want to replace themselves as the ruler of Xinjing." Such straightforward words might have been written half a year ago. It would anger the Qingtian family samurai because of disrespect, and it would cause conflicts even if others heard it now, but Henry said it directly.
"It is a bad start for civilians to murder Chinese people. Even the rebels in the north will not be happy to see this situation."
"Although once a war is fully launched, the scope of destruction will always exceed the expectations of both warring parties." Henry shrugged. His words were plain but to the point. As a noble class of the Moon Country, the warriors of the Qingtian family naturally understood As soon as they heard the seriousness of the inferior overcoming the superior, they understood the truth of the sage's words.
There are a lot of things that need to be thoroughly discussed here:
It’s not that Xinjing didn’t know that the northern vassal had the intention to plot rebellion – in fact, if Xinjing fully trusted the vassal, then the line of defense in Taizhou and the large number of martial arts disciples deployed by Ziyun would not exist – but they didn’t know the scale.
Many people regard war as a black-and-white concept. Once a war begins, it is a full-scale war with no room for maneuver, but this is not the case.
Frictions between Xinjing and the vassal territory occurred from time to time, just like the two bordering kingdoms or territories on the west coast of Rigal: small groups of troops fought on the border, annexing some border land or plundering some things. Sometimes the vassal just wants a piece of rich land on the border and sends troops to attack, and Xinjing fights back - is this a war? Yes, but it is not an irreversible kind.
The two sides can sit at the negotiation table in the future to discuss issues such as the return of territory or compensation, because war is never the end in itself, it is just a means to achieve an end. If the purpose can be met by other means, then peace will naturally come.
Therefore, Xinjing knew what the feudal territory had planned - because the feudal territory has always been like this. What Xinjing doesn't know is that there are already many prominent figures in the prefectures directly under its jurisdiction, and many Chinese forces have also colluded with the vassal territory.
——They thought this was just another border conflict, but they didn't know that what the vassal was doing was to completely overthrow the rule of Xinjing and establish a new emperor.
This is the importance of the certificate of surrender in the hands of a group of people.
But even if the vassal territory was ready for such a full-scale war, they only wanted to launch a "war between nobles and nobles, between nobles."
They have no intention of completely involving the civilian class in the battle - there may be some "collateral damage" in the war, but forcing civilians to take up arms and join the battle is definitely not the purpose of any force in Xinjing or the domain.
In the ideal of the feudal rebels, all the civilians had to do was sit on the well and watch, waiting for their group of nobles to overthrow the nobles of Xinjing and replace them with a new ruler.
Therefore, it is unlikely that the chaos in Minamata and the genocide that occurred that night were caused by the rebels in the domain.
Because this touches upon the vassal's own inverse scale, they are the Chinese people of the Moon Country after all, and they have their own pride and perseverance.
——There is something else behind this.
Things related to the inner world, ghouls and black magic, the application of the domain is like a child playing with fire - the sage felt that this group of people was touching something that even he himself had experienced since his first experience when he was still in the domain. Things that are unclear.
"Excellent job" was his earliest comment.
Rough, simple, and chaotic, it's like using brute force to open the door without being able to open the lock.
Like an ape who picked up a gleaming sword and swung it around without even knowing it would hurt him.
——Then if he didn't "accidentally" pick up the sword as he suspected early on, he happened to "know the secret".
But "someone" deliberately told it?
The darkness that even he couldn't see finally began to emerge. But even if you know this, even if the disturbing eternal darkness here is ready to move in the intertwining of people's hearts; even if those who think they are holding the iron chain to control the beast have not yet realized that what they are holding in their hands is just a thin thread with no binding force. Threads, and when all this collapses, it may bring disasters beyond what anyone in power can imagine or resist.
Even though he transcended the surface, he was able to catch a glimpse of the ancient, eternal enemy that he had met several times in the past.
But he had no one to tell him.
Noticing her teacher's silence, the Luoan girl tugged on the corner of his clothes and looked up at him with the same sparkling eyes as before.
And Henry reached out and deliberately messed up her hair, which was his way of fooling her.
It's not time for her to bear all this.
Chaos has arrived, and the Qingtian family, as warriors of the feudal territory, and his party are in Minamata, where blood and fire are rampant tonight. It is an isolated island - they do not belong to the nobles here nor do they belong to the residents here.
And the sage is not just another isolated island among the crowd.
He connected many hearts, but he was an island.
During the long journey, he had many experiences and many encounters. He changed many people's lives and wills, connected many things, set things in order, and put many things on the right track.
But this.
It doesn’t always bring satisfaction.
To know the many means also to bear the many;
The more capable you are, the more you have to consider whether your influence will hinder the development of future generations.
Loneliness is a shackles that the omniscient and omnipotent cannot remove - and even he can only focus on the present.
Chaos had arrived, and even the innkeeper came back in a hurry to pack his things and prepare to leave.
They also have to go on the road, and the next journey will be more difficult. They form a small "group" and everyone outside this group should be treated with caution. For Kazuto, it was a huge mess, but for those who were adventurers, this was a day that felt familiar to them.
Only by going out can you see your position clearly; only by encountering chaos can you distinguish what is the bottom line that should be adhered to and what is redundant and useless burden.
Turn everything into your own spiritual food and move forward without retreating.
He is the adventurer of Rigal.
