The World Online

Chapter 1284 – State of the Union Address

When Java was destroyed, a System Notification sounded out in the minds of every Java player.

“System Notification: Java has been destroyed, please choose a dynasty to surrender to!”

After Gaia removed the trial lands punishment, players of countries that were wiped out could choose a dynasty to live under; they would not be forcefully teleported and revived.

Any dynasty around the world, as long as they were willing to accept the player, Gaia would teleport the player over.

Out of the 20 million players, they naturally had a variety of choices.

There were some who chose the Darkness empire, seeing it as a place to take revenge. Furthermore, the Darkness empire had just won a battle in the Pacific and chased away the Great Xia Pacific Squadron, catching a lot of attention.

The Darkness empire had a huge market toward the Java players.

There were also some who chose the Dawson Dynasty; these people were prepared to leave the sad grounds of Asia.

Meanwhile, some who chose the Great Xia Emperor dynasty, choosing to remain.

Surprisingly, more than half of the Java players chose the last option. Especially the casual and work occupation players, who did not want to leave their homeland.

70% and above of the casual players chose to stay.

Next would be those who had investments in Java; these people were not willing to give up on their hard work. The Great Xia law system made it clear that the Imperial Court could not touch private assets.

Anyways, it was not like Great Xia had only Java, so they did not feel as bad in their hearts. The current Great Xia spanned Asia, Europe, Africa, America, and Europe.

Living under Great Xia was a good choice.

The presence of the Federation had greatly reduced the country ideals. Ouyang Shuo’s generation was taught since a young age that the country and the Federation were two sides of the same coin.

Eastern and western civilizations were even merging with one another and going neck and neck.

If not, there would not be a super organization like Silver Hand.

Only when the same world established different game zones based on old country maps did such concepts slowly return.

However, since it had not been that long, the concept built up was like a sandcastle that would easily collapse.

The Great Xia that Ouyang Shuo led was trying to build such a concept for the players and natives in its borders – Great Xia.

A global empire, an empire with eastern civilization at its core.

The main force leaving Java consisted of combat occupation players. To these people, their equipment was all their assets, so they came and left like the wind.

Of course, some combat occupation players chose to stay.

There were some people intending to sow chaos internally.

How to manage these players efficiently became the toughest problem for Great Xia in managing Java. In Ouyang Shuo’s words, “Easy to take down, hard to manage.”

After conquering the two islands of Java, Great Xia did not set up a new province and instead merged the two into the Heluo Province to manage.

With that, the Heluo Province would have Johor, Singapore, Brunei, and Java, becoming the biggest province in the Empire, even longer than the Beiyuan Province.

The Heluo Province ruling city was moved from Putrajaya to Jakarta.

Heluo Provincial Governor Hu Zongxian made Ouyang Shuo feel slightly more at ease. This governor was a skilled person and was greatly trusted by Ouyang Shuo. Moreover, he was a person able to improve with the times.

…

1st month, 21st day, Honolulu.

While the war of Java had ended, the Battle of Hawaii continued to be tough.

In recent days, the Darkness Army had finally received cannon help. While shooting at the enemy cannon formation, they sent out slaves to disturb the enemy.

Cao Gui was really calm, ordering the troops to fend off wave after wave of enemy troops.

Looking at the current situation, they would not be able to decide the victor before the Chinese New Year. The entire battle slowly turned into a battle of attrition that tested the determination of both sides.

…

22nd day, Imperial Capital.

The prosperous imperial capital was already filled with the New Year spirit. Lanterns were everywhere, and they were totally unaffected by the war. After a year of construction, the new city region was brimming with life, and there were many people on the streets.

Many factories rose up from the ground, giving out the aura of a new era.

The rumbling of machines were like a beating heart, supporting the forward progress of the Empire.

Along with the Empire’s industrialization speeding up, as well as it fully opening up to the players, more and more players found a home in the Empire and walked toward their new jobs.

They were like new blood, adding life to the Empire.

Emperor palace, 1st meeting room.

Ouyang Shuo sat amongst them. On the left side of the meeting table sat the civil servants including the six Cabinet elders, four ministers, and four governor-generals.

On the right sat the generals, including the seven warzone commanders, Navy Headquarters commander Zheng He, Pacific Squadron Fleet Admiral Shi Lang, and Indian Ocean Squadron Fleet Admiral Yanhuo Yaonie.

These 24 officials were the central pillar of the Empire.

It was not hard to see that out of the five navy squadrons, due to their differing roles, the Pacific and Indian Ocean squadrons stood out and had an even higher place than the Emperor Squadron.

This was a case of the times creating heroes.

However, Shi Lang’s expression was still really solemn. He was probably still worried about the Pacific Ocean situation.

As the recorder, Secret Document Pavilion Advisor Tsing Yi did not even have the right to sit around the table. She could only sit at a corner behind the civil servants.

This was the highest-level meeting of the Empire, being held only once a year. Outsiders might think that such a meeting would be really solemn and everyone would be really careful.

However, the reality was a complete opposite.

Ouyang Shuo had made it clear at the start that not only could they talk freely and debate with one another, but they could even voice their views regarding him.

“In the 7th year of Gaia, toward the outside, the Empire unified China, occupied East Africa, and unified Nanjiang; internally, we sped up industrialization and a new batch of products appeared in the world. Our economy is increasing rapidly, and income broke the 100 million mark. All our achievements are exceptional. However, in the road to the top, if we do not improve, we will fall behind. In the next year, how the Empire proceeds forward to create better results will depend on the plans all of you have made.”

After the simple introduction, Ouyang Shuo headed straight to the point, “Zifang, you may begin.”

Zhang Liang sat at the third seat on the left, only behind Jiang Shang and Kouzhun. When he heard that, he took out a stack of documents and handed one to each person present.

Ouyang Shuo took a look and saw the title of divine martial four year state of the union address return. This was the hard work of the Administrative Mentor Court, and the first document targeted their global strategy.

Zhang Liang sat down once more and started to introduce this document.

“In the past year, the global situation has slowly stabilized. Apart from Africa, out of the 18 dynasties, only Great Zhou was destroyed. 17 now remain.

“Silver Hand and Azure Badge are holding themselves back and putting their efforts into internal policies, storing up energy for the next explosion of power.

“Along with the game entering the later stages, time is of the essence. Moreover, there is the Darkness empire that has appeared to stir the waters. The Administrative Mentor Court feels that the 8th year of Gaia will be extremely chaotic with many conflict and wars.

“The global landscape will welcome a shuffling of cards.”

Hearing those words, the faces of the civil servants were really solemn, while the generals could not hide the excitement on their faces.

“Is there a chance that the two camps will work together to restrict us?”

Zhang Liang replied, “There is such a possibility. However, I feel that compared to them joining hands, there is a higher chance of them fighting amongst themselves.”

“Why so?”

Zhang Liang said calmly, “First, the Empire does not have any weaknesses. Along with the eight warzones being set up and Nanjiang being unified, we are airtight in terms of local defenses.

“If the two camps want to attack us, they can only choose the navy route.”

“As for the land route, only India, Persia, and Romanov can go against us. The South Asia, West Asia, and North Asia warzones are easy to defend and tough to attack, so it is difficult them to have a breakthrough from those places.”

“Furthermore, India is still facing internal conflict, and they have no energy to participate. Persia and our Empire are separated by the remaining House of Ogedai troops, and they cannot go all in.”

“Romanov Empire’s Siberia region makes logistical support a huge problem. Even if they plan to, they cannot send too many troops.”

Listening to that, the civil servants heaved a sigh of relief. However, the generals were unhappy.

Zhang Liang did not care and continued, “From the navy route, there are the Pacific and Indian Ocean routes. There’s no need to mention the Indian Ocean. As long as we control the Gulf of Aden, Maldives, and Malacca Straits, the European and American dynasties would not dare to send troops. Even if they dare, they would not be able to reach our mainland.”

“The only thing that can be considered is the Pacific Ocean. Along with the rise of the Darkness empire, our control of the Pacific Ocean has been greatly reduced, giving the American dynasties a chance.”

When Shi Lang heard that, he almost raised his head.

“Luckily, the Empire’s east ocean region has Yingzhou, Yizhou, and Qiongzhou; these natural barriers. Our ocean defenses are also well done, so if the Dawson Empire does not go crazy, they will not dare to send troops.”

Ouyang Shuo asked, “What about the Darkness empire?”

“They are an uncertainty. However, from the battle report from Cao Gui, their army is weak. At most, they will disturb the ocean region. They will not fight on land.” Zhang Liang said truthfully.

Ouyang Shuo thought back to the pirate problems in Chinese history. Coincidentally, they were the Japanese in the Darkness empire.

Would the Darkness empire be another group of pirates?

Thinking about that, Ouyang Shuo’s desire to remodel the Pacific Squadron grew even more rushed. Even then, he did not show it. Instead, he calmed down to listen to Zhang Liang speak.

In truth, the state of the union address aimed to help settle the Empire’s strategy.