Chapter 799 - 48: An Unprecedented Era of Prosperity, Gu Rui’s Demise

The Liao Kingdom ultimately succumbed.

Facing the pressure exerted by Gu Rui, they dared not harbor any thoughts of resistance and adhered to their original promises, providing sufficient compensation.

Of course, the Western Xia was no exception.

—Even though their elite forces had returned to their homeland.

Facing the already prevailing Song Army, their resistance was still quite strenuous, and they could only seek peace.

Ceding territory... paying money and grain...

These were all outcomes they had to endure.

And to this, Gu Rui did not refuse.

All of this was his strategic goal, and now that it seemed impossible to unify the world directly, he naturally would not covet any unparalleled achievements. He ought to accept all of this to create opportunities for future generations.

...

Time passed quickly.

With the end of the great war, the entire world ushered in another period of respite.

However, this respite period was different from the past.

—If, in the past, the world perhaps held some suspense, now almost everyone could see the weakening of the Western Xia and Liao Kingdom, including internally.

The Great Song was too strong.

A series of compensations and territorial and grain concessions had once again elevated the strength of the Great Song to a new level.

This was a strength that everyone in the world could perceive.

And this also triggered another issue, which was that almost all civilians longed to establish themselves in the Great Song.

There was no other way, as both the Western Xia and Liao Kingdom had suffered severe setbacks after this battle.

The most crucial point was that neither country had gained clear benefits.

Additionally, they were inherently weaker than the Great Song.

Under this situation of ebb and flow, all this was destined.

For their own interests.

They could only oppress their own citizens.

Of course, this does not mean that the people within the Western Xia and Liao Kingdom have completely decayed.

It is merely human nature.

Throughout the dynasties, not to mention the original history, even under the current situation where the Gu Clan places great emphasis on governance, it is impossible to completely eliminate the oppression of civilians by vested interest groups.

Not to mention today’s Western Xia and Liao Kingdom.

All of this accelerated the escape of civilians, all wanting to rush to the Great Song to seek a means of livelihood.

In this situation, the Western Xia and Liao Kingdom did not dare ask anything of the Great Song.

They could only impose stricter restrictions on their own people.

And formulate a series of targeted policies.

An era... quietly transitioned.

Even Gu Yi could see that the era of the tripartite rivalry was continuously fading, and the development across Kyushu was advancing towards reunification.

Unfortunately... it seemed Gu Rui would find it difficult to see that day.

.....

Gu Rui’s health indeed worsened progressively.

The years of exertion had exhausted his energy and efforts completely, and he lived in agony almost every day; even the "miracle cure talisman" couldn’t resolve his current plight.

From the perspective of the current situation, he genuinely had the opportunity to unify the world himself.

The Great Song’s strength was indeed formidable now.

And the two countries were relatively weak.

But unfortunately, Gu Rui could not be so selfish.

—Reconnecting with the Western Regions... including reforming a series of newly acquired territories, all required time.

In such circumstances, should there be the slightest mishap in hastily mobilizing troops, the current situation might be utterly destroyed.

And the most critical point was—

Even if he could truly unify the world, countless civilians would undoubtedly suffer unknown death and injury.

The younger version of him might seize this opportunity.

But the current him would not.

Of course, this was not without possibility.

With the current strength of the Great Song, completing all this wouldn’t require much time either, but how much time would Gu Rui have left?

All he could do was leave it to fate.

Time flowed continuously.

For the newly conquered territories, Gu Rui adopted past strategies, simultaneously embracing the local populace, supplementing regional population, and implementing various reforms based on geographic conditions to swiftly integrate these regions into the current economic operations of the Great Song.

One must admit, the current commercial system of the Great Song was indeed highly mature.

Especially with the unimpeded maritime trade.

All of this allowed the goods across the Great Song to form an almost perfect economic cycle.

It is worth mentioning—

The Gu Clan’s accomplishments in the maritime industry had become increasingly formidable, gradually taking root in various overseas regions, and establishing a complete trade system based on established routes, spreading various aspects of the Gu Clan far and wide.

And all of this also fed back remarkably to Kyushu.

Not only constantly stimulating the already mature commercial system of the Great Song but also impacting the populace under the absolute supervision of the Imperial Censorate.

With such a foundation, fostering rapid development in these regions was naturally not an issue.

Gu Rui’s core focus was also on the Western Regions.

—Even with the Gu Clan’s foundation in the Western Regions, reestablishing connections required consideration of various interests.

Including reopening trade routes.

Establishing systems.

Since founding the Great Song, the main commercial models were primarily maritime and canal transportation.

But now, accepting the Western Regions necessitated overturning all this.

This naturally posed a serious issue.

To prevent commercial monopoly and avoid dominance by a single entity, Gu Rui had to leave enough profit margins for the merchants across the world, so as not to affect the overall situation of the Great Song, and all this similarly required continuous adjustment over time.