Put Away Your Divine Techniques Now! Chapter 1124 - 335: The Stairway of Civilization

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Previously on Put Away Your Divine Techniques Now!...
Chen Yan learned that the Earth Worshiping Tribe submitted to the Hunting Tiger Tribe, paying tribute in exchange for protection. However, the Earth Worshiping Tribe used this period to expand their territory, improve their farming techniques with metal tools, and learn metal refining, while the Hunting Tiger Tribe focused on warfare.
The Earth Worshiping Tribe experienced significant development, expanding its territory and burgeoning population. Concurrently, they mastered the use of metals, unlocking this crucial skill point. Eventually, a day arrived when the Hunting Tiger Tribe came to their senses. To their astonishment, the Earth Worshiping Tribe, once subservient, had multiplied their population tenfold and transformed into a formidable power wielding metal weaponry! A tribe with ten times your population, producing grain yields many times greater, and possessing metal weapons comparable to your own. Their only potential drawback might be slightly weaker individual combat strength, but that was the extent of it. Destiny had already been sealed. For two generations, the Earth Worshiping Tribe had been under the dominion of the Hunting Tiger Tribe. Twice, the chiefs of the Earth Worshiping Tribe had journeyed to the Hunting Tiger Tribe's lands, prostrating themselves before their chief and kissing his feet. Annually, they offered their grain harvests and surrendered meat intended for their ancestors. However, the indignity endured over two generations was now being avenged by the Earth Worshiping Tribe through two decisive wars! Their strategy was even more ingenious! Instead of directly confronting the Hunting Tiger Tribe, they first sought out and united with various tribes that had suffered oppression and conquest under the Hunting Tiger Tribe, forging a powerful alliance. This alliance, as meticulously recorded in their historical scrolls, recounted a compelling narrative. The Earth Worshiping Tribe dispatched a highly astute envoy—a figure who would forever be remembered as legendary in their tribal history. This envoy visited the chief of a tribe harboring deep resentment towards the Hunting Tiger Tribe, extending an invitation to join forces against their common enemy. The chief expressed his apprehension, stating, "The warriors of the Hunting Tiger Tribe are exceptionally strong; we cannot defeat them. Typically, it requires three of our warriors to vanquish a single Hunting Tiger warrior." The envoy queried, "If the exchange was one of your warriors for one Hunting Tiger warrior, would you accept such terms?" The chief promptly affirmed, eager for such an advantageous trade. The envoy immediately made his pledge, formalizing an agreement with the chief. Subsequently, he approached another tribe similarly subjugated by the Hunting Tiger Tribe. This tribe's chief harbored the same concerns, and the envoy provided the identical assurance. He journeyed to a total of fourteen tribes, offering each a singular promise: "Lose one warrior, and you gain the elimination of one Hunting Tiger Tribe warrior!!" Following this, all fourteen tribes mobilized their forces! They joined the Earth Worshiping Tribe, performed sacred rituals to honor the heavens, and solidified their alliance. Finally, the unified alliance declared war upon the Hunting Tiger Tribe. In the inaugural conflict, the alliance, despite incurring a greater number of casualties, decisively vanquished the formidable warriors of the Hunting Tiger Tribe. The casualty ratio varied, perhaps three to one, or even four to one. Yet, it was certainly not a fourteen-to-one exchange rate! They severed the heads of all fallen Hunting Tiger Tribe warriors, loaded them onto carts, and delivered them to a tribe situated within the Hunting Tiger Tribe's mining territory. Every tribe participating in the alliance expressed profound satisfaction. This was because they discovered the actual battle loss ratio was significantly lower than the 'one-to-one' ratio the Earth Worshiping Tribe had initially promised! In the second engagement, the alliance, spearheaded by the Earth Worshiping Tribe, obliterated the Hunting Tiger Tribe's settlements, reduced their village to ashes, and annihilated all their male warriors! The chief of the Hunting Tiger Tribe was cast into a mine shaft, his final resting place sealed with heavy stones. The women of the Hunting Tiger Tribe were taken by the Earth Worshiping Tribe, bolstering their numbers and becoming a vital source for future reproduction. The once-proud and dominant Hunting Tiger Tribe ceased to exist. In its wake, the Earth Worshiping Tribe ascended dramatically on the evolutionary ladder of civilization! Within a generation of the Hunting Tiger Tribe's demise, the Earth Worshiping Tribe had morphed into a colossal power. Employing a combination of strategic alliances, outright annexations, or outright warfare, they gradually assimilated numerous neighboring tribes. More often than not, however, they didn't even need to initiate hostilities, as their abundant and stable grain production was sufficient to absorb the populations of surrounding tribes. Refugees and deserters from other tribes seamlessly integrated into their growing populace. Meanwhile, disgruntled tribes that were incapable of defeating the Earth Worshiping Tribe were eventually either annexed or eradicated. A generation later, the Earth Worshiping Tribe commanded the entire river basin where they had flourished and multiplied. From the river's source to its mouth, all the fertile alluvial plains, ideal for cultivation, became the dominion of the Earth Worshiping Tribe. The sheer expanse of the Earth Worshiping Tribe's influence, stretching from east to west, would take ten days to traverse by a swift horse.Furthermore, countless tribes, both large and small, relied on the Earth Worshiping Tribe for their existence. They thrived under the tribe's benevolence and acknowledged the Earth Worshiping Tribe as their supreme ruler. The Earth Worshiping Tribe's era of prosperity endured through sixteen generations of chieftains. Their dominion expanded until it reached the boundaries of what their production capabilities could sustain. Then, civilization quietly embarked on another significant evolution. This transformation occurred because the limits of productivity dictated the greatest extent to which a civilization could exert its authority... areas further away couldn't be managed effectively. Thus, new approaches were initiated. Enfeoffment was established. · When it comes to the system of "enfeoffment," many individuals in the present day misunderstand its nature or hold misconceptions. The common misconception is that a ruler, after conquering and establishing dominion over an entire nation's territory (this being the initial condition), would then point to a region on the map of their kingdom and declare to a subordinate, 'Zhang the Third, this territory is now yours. From this moment on, you are the lord of this land, and your only obligation is to remit a small tribute to me.' Consequently, if modern commoners neglect historical studies, they might find such a system utterly illogical!