Lord Shadow

Chapter 2099: A Glimpse Of A Future Problem

Hideyoshi has always been cunning and he knows how to curry favour.

He knows to show his talent and he knows when to lay low. Luck also plays a part in his ascent

If not, how could a sandal bearer become one of the most powerful men in Japan during one of its most turbulent period?

Even Liu Bei in Three Kingdoms period could not compare to Hideyoshi circumstances. Liu Bei at least have the capital of being a Han dynasty royal descendant

Hideyoshi was a truly peasant man, coming from a poor family.

And the environment itself was abysmal

The social structure of Japan was very rigid at that time. If Hideyoshi had serve any other warlords at that time, he probably would not have reached his position.

And his changing of name did not stop

Nobunaga died and Hideyoshi took over after killing Mitsuhide Akechi. And he was granted the prestigious new imperial clan’s name, Toyotomi by the Emperor and achieve supreme political power and the high court rank of Imperial Regent

Hirate also did the same

In a way he probably saw himself and Hideyoshi as the same. Both are from humble background and both were depside and look down upon.

And both possess the power to subdue the emperor.

And so, he changes his name to Ashikaga Hirate.

For those who reads history of Japan, they probably understand the political implications and what he wanted to convey when he changes his name like that

Azief himself did not know how he claim such a name but there must be some kind of political leverage he had to convene the emperor giving him such name .

Well, when he seize the imperial family and command the righteousness of the just cause in the form of the emperor, it is like the version of Cao Cao holding the emperor to command the princes

He held the legitimacy of Japan. And you could dismiss it as worthless. But you could also not treat it as such. It depends.

The world needed order. Japan needed order. The people of Japan wanted order. Whether they believe in the emperor or not, it was something to unite the people

Japan during the Fall, was disunited. The young people lost hope, the old people die. Reality and image is very different

There is evil and there is good. There is light and darkness all coexisting in the same region

Hirate then made the two most powerful warlords put down their arms and create a government

This alone increase the credibility and legitimacy of Hirate regency and bring trust to the newly formed imperial government.

The fact is that the government brings peace and as long as that social contract is uphold, the people would support it

Hirate himself is not a madman. He did not massacre cities and he did not purge people and kill civilians.

Those who he did kill are people far removed from the common people lives. It is like politicians who fight other politicians and some politicians died.

The common people would only view it as factional strife and while they might feel sad, after a few sake and a few bowl of udon they would forget about it because it did not touch their interest and did not harm their livelihoods.

To the common people, anything is better than wanton slaughter by those warlords.

Hikigaya and Oreki might manage to restrain their soldiers but not all warlords are that benevolent. Cities were razed, and the countless horrors was nothing like Japan society had ever encounter since World War Two.

One must remember during the Fall, most of those soldiers that fought in world war two almost all of them had died.

And after the Fall, most of them had already died in the initial attack by the monsters and the zombies

It has been a few decades since World War Two. And those who were born afterwards in Japan had never experience war

Instead, they were a Lost Generation.

The government squeeze them and then they could no longer bear it and the world changes too fast and they are left behind and year after year, there is only more and more

But one thing is true.

They were at peace.

And when the Fall came, it brought out the best in people and the worst in people. History is always like this when in war

Warlords like Hikigaya and Oreki are rare.

Most of the warlords believe in might makes right.

And when you have such thoughts, every solution is handled with a hammer.

Because you only have one tool, your solution is also only one solution

But Hirate mange to make the two most prominent and powerful warlord at that time to settle their difference, shake hands and join the government.

That brings order.

And that brings Hirate the popularity and influence that is unmatched at that time

The Imperial Government of Japan wins the battle for legitimacy by brokering this peace deal between two most powerful warlord in Japan.

It would be like the Emperor manage to make the forces of Tokugawa and Toyotomi to stop fighting the Battle of Sekigahara.

That is how big it was for the common people.

Because everyone knows.

If those two did not stop fighting, yes, Japan would be unified.

But how many people would die in that battle for unification?

Hirate stop the war and give everyone a breathing room and it is also because of Hirate action that Japan manages to thrive after the Fall.

What Japan needed during that time is not bureaucracy but a firm hand to lead them out of the chaos.

And surprisingly Hirate did that.

Luck, circumstances....all of it fall into place. Hirate then manage to establish contact with other powerful factions all over the world and convince many of them to form the World Government

Now, imagine such a figure coming from the chaos.

And now, it is a time of peace. There is no longer a large war between the factions of the world and the world powers. Most of the world powers conflict is settled in secret wars or in the World Court.

To the common people, other than the occasional invasion from some Otherworlders, it is quite a peaceful world they are living now compared to the time of the occupation of Weronian or the initial chaos and warring period during the initial year of the Fall

It is not hard to imagine how hard for such political power that he had created to diminish

What he achieve was monumental. He brings order and created an organization that then later become a world power.

He is like a founder of a new dynasty. And as such his political power is almost unlimited

In a world where there is realm, there is hierarchy of power. When one reaches Disk Formation, there is nothing to hold them back anymore other than people with higher realm

But people who is a higher realm then a Disk Formation could be counted with one hand

Azief sighed

"this is the problem for the future and not a problem for me right now"

He shakes his head and purge the thought out of his mind. But there must eb a reason why his mind suddenly wavers in and out of this thought

His subconscious mind sometimes acts like a guide. when he is engrossed in some thinking it did not mean that he consciously try to think about certain things

Sometimes his mind knows something he does not. Like a premonition of something. He thinks about Hirate just now

Is there something about Hirate that he should know? But then he shakes his head. This is one of his problem

He could settle the body but not the mind. When the punishment come from the heavens, it is not only the body that needs to be still, the mind also need to be still

The heart demon is just another way to say a demon born from the mind. Thinking is good. But thinking too much sharpens the mind to the point it becomes so brittle.

It exhaust the mind to think about things too much

And overthinking could lead you to make a mistake. So, he calms down his mind and close his Divine Sense for a moment. When he close his Divine Sense in that moment, it is akin of closing one eye for a moment

Then he opens his Divine Sense again and everything is still reflected in his mind.

"these monsters...." He look again and he could not help but think a lot of think.

No, it is not really accurate to say that he is thinking right now

It is more like he is seeing glimpses of the future. Before, it was his mind. Now, it is his eyes.

His eyes do that sometime.

He believes it is because he has the eye of the Great Oracle

Sometimes, even without meaning to, his eyes would see a glimpse into the future.

He had only seen a glimpse but in that one moment he could not help but sighed.

All of this monsters and beast....they themselves would create their own civilization

Just a glimpse. But that glimpse had told him everything he needs to know. And he could not help but sigh

"It also means there would be problem" and he sighed again

..