Put Away Your Divine Techniques Now!

Chapter 1127 - 336: Empty as Can Be (Part 2)

But during this period, the collision of different cultures also gave birth to sparks of brilliance similar to the Hundred Schools of Thought.

Different systems emerged, shone gloriously for a time, and then were defeated and replaced when more excellent systems appeared.

Superior cultures and better systems could make small nations powerful, then annex large nations and become new hegemons.

Old, decaying systems would cause great nations to weaken, becoming fodder for other countries, devoured after being divided.

During this period, various brilliant cultures erupted in concentration.

Just as in the era of the Hundred Schools of Thought, numerous philosophies were born.

Similarly, a vast number of classic works and literary documents emerged—these required Chen Yan to spend considerable time reading.

He lingered over these documents of that era, reading for over a year!

Yet, these cultural philosophies laid the framework and cornerstone for the development of this "unknown race" civilization.

The subsequent development of this civilization largely did not escape the scope of these philosophies from that era, only updating and revising them based on their foundation.

In this era of Hundred Schools of Thought combined with wars for dominance, it took over a thousand years before a grand emperor like Ying Zheng emerged, initiating a unified situation, lasting even longer!

With this scenario, as the emergence of centralized authority appeared, various different cultures and systems began to fuse.

Whether forcibly by external powers or naturally, the result was always the same.

That great emperor who initiated unification also became a "millennia emperor"-like figure in this "unknown race" civilization history, leaving a notable name in history.

However, due to certain reasons, this pioneering emperor employed more skillful means and became somewhat longer-lived.

His heirs were equally wise, ensuring his dynasty didn’t perish like the Qin dynasty in the second generation.

After the millennia emperor’s death, fortunately, his next two generations of heirs were outstanding emperors, at least above the qualifying line.

They effectively inherited the strategies of the founding emperor, effectively curbed rebounds from various opposing forces, and continued to vigorously promote the fusion of various cultures and systems.

Finally, after three generations of emperors, this country became a fully unified dynasty, consistent and unified in terms of territory, system, culture, and other aspects.

The dynasty became prosperous, evolving from the earliest feudal system to a mainly centralized system, with distant regions remaining somewhat feudal due to their remoteness preventing direct effective governance.

Then, history entered another interesting, inevitable cycle.

Just as the saying goes: the affairs of the world, long divided must unite, long united must divide!

The first unified dynasty, from its inception, continued through thirty-six emperors.

It ultimately collapsed dramatically after nine hundred and eighty years, the kingdom perished.

The reasons included the system gradually becoming outdated and corrupt, the rentier class occupying high positions but unwilling to update and repair the increasingly outdated system due to their self-interest.

Land consolidation, resource monopoly, the dynasty decaying from top to bottom, with the lower levels increasingly desperate...

Then, riots occurred, small flames turned into big fires, burning down the original system.

During the process, the original ruling class seized the fruits and turned such dynastic replacement into a mere change in form without changing the substance.

It was just breaking the original allocation, resetting to the starting point, and reallocating again.

The old rentier class was overthrown, some were eliminated, the rest combined with the new rentier class to redistribute the resources.

What interested Chen Yan was the emergence of the concept of clans.

Then, it became a familiar situation to Chen Yan as he knew from history, clans monopolized education and civilization to secure discourse power, presence, and status—because this way, they monopolized one of the most important things: the channel for advancement!

Chen Yan saw that familiar situation of "fleeting emperors, enduring clans".

The struggles between clans were usually bloodless but deeper and more brutal.

Unlike wars between countries which involve bloodshed.

But by monopolizing education, by possessing various philosophies, they fought for the discourse power and legitimacy of rule!

Moreover, the influence was more profound.

After the first unified dynasty fell, after more than a decade of chaos, the second one quickly emerged.

The second dynasty didn’t last as long, collapsing dramatically after over four hundred years.

But this time it succumbed to rebellions or invasions from other civilizations on the periphery.

The evolution of civilization is uneven, some peoples became mainstream, while others remained in near primitive barbaric states for various special reasons.

In some remote areas of that world, there were still barbaric peoples similar to nomadic civilizations.

When the central dynasty fell into decline, these folks would occasionally suddenly assert their presence.

Like...illness and the immune system.

Sometimes, when the central dynasty updated its internal systems, resolved some inherent shortcomings, and revived, it would defeat external viruses, conquering the barbaric peoples.