"Narrow. The breadth of your mind is too narrow."
Seeing the doubts and disapproval on Chu Xiaolian's face, Li Hanguang said calmly, "Have you ever been hungry?"
Chu Xiaolian was taken aback for a moment, and then he shook his head honestly. "Never."
After all, he was the third son of Hong City's Chu family.
Although Hong City's Chu family could not be compared to the Unyielding Sword Celestial Sect, they were a powerful family of cultivators in their region.
The clan owned thousands of acres of Spiritual Paddy Fields and a plethora of other industries.
Even in the Cultivation World, Chu Xiaolian could still be considered a Rich Second Generation!
No matter how miserable of a state he was in, he was still the son of the landlord's home. It was impossible for him to regress to the point where he could not even afford to eat.
Li Hanguang sighed. "Do you know how many nations there are in the Taicang Residence?"
Chu Xiaoliao thought for a moment and said, "The Taicang Residence's power is roughly divided into one Holy Land, seven Celestial Sects, a hundred sects, and a thousand nations."
Li Hanguang nodded. "Yes indeed. The Taicang Residence houses a thousand nations!"
"Every nation has a population ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions, even a billion people. Totaling them up, there are at least a hundred billion people."
Chu Xiaolian was shocked. "Are there so many?"
Just as dragons rarely cared about ants, cultivators rarely cared about ordinary people.
Listening to Li Hanguang's explanation, Chu Xiaolian was slightly bewildered about why his Senior Brother especially looked into these things.
Li Hanguang sighed. "Do you know why we have a thousand nations inside this Residence?"
Why we have a thousand nations inside this Residence?
Chu Xiaolian's face revealed uncertainty. "Because there isn't a nation strong enough to unify all of them?"
...
"In the Taicang Residence, the Holy Land reigns!"
Li Hanguang said calmly, "Any sage the Holy Land of Taicang deploys can sweep across a thousand nations and easily unify the Taicang Mansion.
"Before a cultivator, the mortal world's so-called 'vast host of infantry and cavalry' cannot withstand even a single blow.
"Why do the Taicang Holy Land and seven Celestial Sects choose to stand by and watch a thousand nations exist simultaneously and still allow them to wage war against each other?
"Every year, the number of commoners who die in war is no less than a billion!"
Chu Xiaolian was startled.
He had never thought about these problems.
He bowed to Li Hanguang earnestly. "Please enlighten me, Senior Brother."
Li Hanguang looked at the paddy field in front of him. "Because our infertile land cannot feed the mouths of a billion people."
"Three years ago, when I went down the mountain to train, I investigated the croplands of several nearby nations.
"Civilians in most countries only have one to two acres of land per household and their yield of grains each year is only about 200 to 300 kilograms.
"Even if all these grains belong to the people, it would still be insufficient to feed them."
"Moreover, they cannot finish all the grain. Some must be stored in case of natural disasters such as floods, droughts, locust plagues, and so on.
"If one relies solely on what they grow to appease their hunger, they will not be able to feed an entire family, especially those with many children."
From Li Hanguang's eyes, emitted deep sorrow from the depths of his heart.
He sighed. "I have seen families abandon their newborn babies in the ice and snow because of insufficient food.
"I have also seen some customs in villages where every time an elder reaches a certain age, even if they are healthy, they will still be sent to a crock grave to wait for their death in despair.
"During the years of famine and scarcity, the situation is even more heartbreaking to look at."
"Some feed on Kaolinite that causes their stomach to swell, some munch on poisonous weeds and drink poison just to quench their thirst—some even eat their own children!"
Chu Xiaolian's body trembled violently, "H-how is this possible?! How can they be so inhumane?"
Li Hanguang said calmly, "You have never endured that kind of hunger.
"Under extreme hunger, the evil of human nature will be intensified by hundreds and thousands of times. They will become beasts that cannot be restrained by the shackles of morality!
"Now, let's go back to our previous conjecture.
"If the Taicang Holy Land interferes and unifies the one thousand countries, it may be possible to bring about a short-term peace and avoid billions of war casualties each year.
"However, it will just be a flash in the pan.
"Unlike cultivators, the regular people cannot roam the skies, go on training adventures, and live a life that is full of excitement.
"They will have nothing to do, and their only entertainment at home is to have children.
"In a few decades, the mortal population will experience a spurt of growth. There will be fewer fields per capita and more people will be affected by hunger.
"By then, should a year of famine strike, the people who will starve to death will not just be in the billions.
"It will be in the tens, even hundreds of billions!"
...
Chu Xiaolian gulped in complete astonishment at the massive numbers.
No matter how slow he was or how ignorant he was towards the ordinary people's livelihood, the impact of tens and hundreds and billions of lives was still appalling to him.
He muttered to himself, thinking of this cruel fact, "War is the fastest and most direct way to reduce the population.
"It is also an important way for the regular people to vent their desires. Through war, people can plunder other countries' land and food, and in doing so, release their hatred.
"While men fight at the borders all the year-round, they will be isolated from their wives for a long time, thus avoiding a significant spurt in the number of children.
"Therefore, the so-called war of a thousand nations is essentially population control?"
Li Hanguang nodded, "Junior Brother Chu, you are enlightened at last."
"Is this the true nature of the world?"
Chu Xiaoliao found it difficult to accept. "This is too cruel. Could it be that the sages of the Holy Land are the ones who have been promoting the acts of war over the past tens of thousands of years?"
Chu Xiaolian was starting to doubt his understanding of this world.
It's as if he suddenly discovered one day that his elder family members were actually terrorists who were ruining the world.
That feeling would never be a pleasant one!
Li Hanguang shook his head and said, "Well, I don't think the sages are ones who were promoting war.
"'If this world will separate after long time united, then it will also do the opposite after long time split apart'. I believe that this is the world's destiny and that the war of a thousand nations is the result of natural selection.
"Maybe the Holy Land and Celestial Sects do have hearts of compassion and they wish to solve these problems, but going against the heavens' will is easier said than done?"
Chu Xiaolian was absorbed in thought. "That is true!
"For if the food issue isn't resolved, war and segregation will not stop. They will only cycle endlessly.
"This problem is something that neither the Holy Lord of Taicang or the Righteous Hero Sword Sage could resolve."
Li Hanguang nodded. "There is no right or wrong in war, only standpoints.
"As long as the issues of survival cannot be solved, war will never cease!
"In the end, the so-called 'fate of the world' is the contradiction between land, population, and food."
As if figuring out something, Chu Xiaolian slapped his thigh abruptly.
"Therefore, as long as all civilians can use their own fields to grow enough food for themselves, the problem will be solved?"
Everything suddenly came to the light for Chu Xiaolian. "I am enlightened!
"The Father of Rice Harvest that you mentioned has solved this problem.
"The massive rice yields he cultivated completely solved the problem of food insufficiency?"
Li Hanguang nodded slowly. "In that ancient history, there were billions and trillions of people, but none of them died of starvation.
"War and turmoil were greatly reduced, and people all over the world live in prosperity and contentment.
"If gold was dropped on the road, none picked it up, and doors of houses were not locked at night. The young all received a proper education, the strong all had a field to work in, and the old were well taken care of. This is…
"Perfect harmony!"
Chu Xiaolian was shocked. "Billions and trillions of people, yet no one starved to death. This is simply incredible! Is that world a fairyland?"
...
Li Hanguang looked at Chu Xiaolian with profound eyes and picked up the rice ear. "That's not a fairyland.
"As long as the youth of our generation work together, this shall be our world in the future!"