My lord, spare his life!

Why did the Star Lord lose?

Shen Zhi: "This is a more complicated issue."

"I'm not afraid of anything complicated. I have plenty of time to listen to your explanation." Even if she can't understand it, the system log will record Shen Zhi's words truthfully, allowing her to go back and slowly review and take notes.

Shen Zhi: "..."

He really didn't lie to Zhang Yang.

This matter was indeed complicated to explain, and worried that Zhang Yang's intelligence might not be enough to process this information, Shen Zhi thought it over and decided to use a simpler explanation. He broke off a branch from the persimmon tree in the courtyard and drew a rough star map on the ground.

"In the middle are the Three Enclosures: Ziwei, Tianshi, and Taiwei; in the four directions are the Four Symbols: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise."

"Xie Shu mentioned last night that these are the seven great nations?"

"It is both a land-based nation and a celestial star," Shen Zhi told Zhang Yang. "Look, the mountains and rivers on this continent beneath our feet follow the same direction as the stars in the sky. In the heavens, they are called the Three Enclosures and Four Symbols; on earth, they are the seven great nations. The important cities, passes, or counties within these nations are named after 'Star Lords,' such as Jianxing and Tianbian."

Actually, it started with seven states.

Later, as the fighting continued, it fragmented into seven major kingdoms.

Zhang Yang understood a little.

"So, the Star Lord's defeat was actually due to being beaten?"

"...You could say that's one way to understand it." Shen Zhi didn't have high expectations for Zhang Yang; he just needed to understand a little bit. "Didn't I tell you about that creation myth before? The stars used starlight as their energy and star soil as their bodies to reshape all things. All new things share the same origin as the stars, and in a sense, they are the children of the star lords, but they also inherit the contradictions between the star lords."

Or rather, all things are pawns in the game of the "Star Lord".

Zhang Yang asked, "What will happen if we lose?"

There are wins and losses.

"I don't know what will happen to the real Star Lords, but the 'pawns' of their lineage will suffer. They'll be completely driven off the chessboard of the game, unable to recover, and reduced to mediocrity." Shen Zhi sighed as he said this. "Since you know about the seven great powers, you should also know about the smaller states surrounding them, right?"

"It is said that the small states and vassal states were all separated from the seven major states."

"Do you know why it was split off?"

"A powerful monarch enfeoffs his sons to establish vassal states...isn't that a normal procedure? Is there some other reason behind this?" Zhang Yang thought for a moment, honestly shook his head, and then tentatively asked, "Were those that were separated because they were defeated?"

"Yes, you guessed right."

Zhang Yang: "..."

Shen Zhi scooped up half a ladle of water to quench his thirst and drank it all in one gulp: "A few decades ago, things were better. The seven major powers were all restrained. Any conflicts were resolved through smaller vassal states, and they didn't dare to cause too much trouble. But things are different in recent decades. The fighting is getting fiercer and fiercer."

Small vassal states could only struggle to survive in the cracks.

"Why are you hitting them so hard?"

"I'm not omniscient or omnipotent, how could I know everything? There are all sorts of analyses, saying that the contradictions between countries are deepening and becoming increasingly irreconcilable, and there's another one that has only emerged in recent years. It's said that among the Star Lords, there is only one Ziwei Star Lord."

"Is Ziwei Xingjun (the Purple Star Lord) not included?"

"Yes, there are many speculations that this is the root of the power struggle. The competition among the stars is all about who will take control of Ziwei."

Zhang Yang slapped his thigh and pointed to himself.

"Perhaps, I am the future Ziwei Star."

"...You? What are you daydreaming about?"

Faced with Shen Zhi's undisguised eye-roll, Zhang Yang pursed his lips and decided not to recruit Shen Zhi; it was too disappointing.

Finally, Zhang Yang asked a question.

"Which country is the princess you mentioned from?"

"Fighting Kingdoms"

Dou Kingdom was originally part of the great state of Xuanwu.

The land is located between Ziwei and Xuanwu.

The previous Xuanwu ruler enfeoffed it to his most beloved youngest son, who then established the Dou Kingdom in his fiefdom. The youngest son and his mother were inherently fond of luxury, and they did not change their lifestyle even after arriving in their fiefdom, collecting taxes from the people of their fiefdom for thirty years straight.

After squandering it all, they collected the money back over twenty years.

By this generation, the princess's compatriots, after less than two years on the throne, had already accumulated a tax burden that spanned 120 years. In recent years, natural disasters and man-made calamities had been frequent, with uprisings and rebellions occurring in various places, but all had been bloodily suppressed. This time, it was only because the princess failed to deliver, and coupled with the support of powerful clans on the rebel side, that the rebellion was able to proceed so smoothly. Otherwise, the outcome would have been very uncertain.

"Then, does the Dou Kingdom still exist?"

If Dou Guo were still around, Zhang Yang wouldn't mind using Wang Ji's name to make some money, using the shell company to recruit some people.

Although the old company has a bad reputation, it's better than having no reputation at all. As long as we rebuild the company and manage it well, even the worst reputation can be gradually cleansed. At worst, we can sever ties later.

"The entire capital has been wiped out, what do you think?"

"Isn't the main force of the rebels still here?"

Tianbian County shouldn't be the capital of Dou Kingdom, right?

Shen Zhi countered, "You think it's just a bunch of rebels?"

If it's just one rebel army, it's like a ship with a hole in it. Given Dou Guo's situation, they could probably plug it with some effort, and if that didn't work, they could pay a price to ask Xuanwu Guo for help. After all, they all share the same ancestor a few generations back.

The reason it can't be pressed down is naturally because there are too many holes.

It can't be blocked; it's simply impossible to block it.

Various rebel groups, large and small, divided up the entire Dou Kingdom.

Zhang Yang: "..."

She completely abandoned her attempt to use someone else's name.

It would be better to start from scratch and raise a new banner.

Zhang Yang appeared expressionless, but her almond-shaped eyes gleamed with calculation. Shen Zhi could tell at a glance that her heart was racing: "Why are you asking me about these things, and in such detail?"

Do you know where I can recruit talent?

This is what's giving Zhang Yang a real headache.

Recruiting players is as simple as shouting in the world chat or posting a team recruitment ad; interested players will naturally apply to join. However, this is a side quest for the homestead. It's all NPCs, and the recruitment rules are different.

Zhang Yang tried recruiting Shen Zhi and Xie Shu yesterday.

Shen Zhi's side indicated that Zhang Yang's trust level was insufficient, and that she needed to gain his trust to recruit him into the army. Xie Shu's refusal was very direct; the system log directly indicated that Zhang Yang's [Intelligence] was too low, and the recruitment attempt failed. Xie Shu refused to cooperate with someone with an idiot.

Zhang Yang: "..."

Even someone as composed as Zhang Yang couldn't help but break down.

After thinking about it all night, she was still all alone.

At this rate, when will she be able to reclaim the lost ground?

Shen Zhi: "???"

He suspected there was something wrong with his ears.

"Recruit talent? You? What are you going to do?"

"Reclaim lost territory and restore our land."

Shen Zhi looked at her with a half-smile, her eyes filled with mockery: "You are not the princess. Unless you admit that you are her, what lost territory have you recovered, what land have you returned to you?"

"Why do I have to be the princess of the Dou Kingdom?"

This rhetorical question left Shen Zhi speechless.

"what?"