Chapter 3037: 999:

"This... this is gold!"Although what Zhou Tian threw out at that time was not the gold coins of that world, as long as it was gold, it was absolutely valuable in any world. If that lord had the courage, he could mint gold coins himself using that gold, and the gold Zhou Tian threw out would be enough for him to buy several larger territories.

Undoubtedly, after Zhou Tian proposed his tax exemption idea, that lord, despite fearing Zhou Tian’s strength, was already planning to fight to the death. But once Zhou Tian tossed out the gold, the lord immediately gave up the thought of a desperate struggle and basically agreed to Zhou Tian’s suggestion in his heart.

There was simply no reason to oppose it; even if Zhou Tian were to ruin his territory, with the gold Zhou Tian gave him, the lord believed he could buy another territory to be its lord. Thus, now that he even had a retreat plan, even if Zhou Tian’s arrangements seemed unreasonable to him, Zhou Tian had the capital to ’play’ like that.

That’s how it was. Once Zhou Tian demonstrated his strong power, making the lord not dare to oppose his orders or even entertain any ideas he shouldn’t have had, Zhou Tian then took out a massive amount of gold as a reward for him. Under such tactics of carrot and stick, although the lord didn’t suffer any harm at the time, the territory he ruled basically became Zhou Tian’s personal domain.

After all, given the situation at that time, after Zhou Tian subdued the lord with his strength and resources, what he said was likely more effective than that lord’s words. Moreover, from Zhou Tian’s series of commands, the majority of the territory’s residents became beneficiaries and chose to believe in Zhou Tian, whether sincerely or not, so Zhou Tian could naturally achieve ’his word is law’ in that territory at that time.

Everything that followed was certainly simple. Zhou Tian had already used his ability to control that territory at the time, so no one would stop him no matter what he wanted to do within the territory. Based on Zhou Tian’s plan, it was believed that if no accidents happened, using the residents of that territory, he should be able to effectively penetrate the abyssal rules into the enemies’ ranks.

In fact, the development of events at that time did not exceed Zhou Tian’s expectations. After Zhou Tian made a series of deployments, he indeed successfully gained public sentiment in the territory. To ordinary civilians, lofty ideals and visions were too distant; as long as someone could provide them with a full meal and allow them to see tangible benefits, they would naturally choose to support that person.

Clearly, they knew very well the kind of life they led before, and the kind of life they lived after Zhou Tian arrived. Because they understood the changes in their living environment, it was impossible for them not to feel grateful to Zhou Tian.

At that time, asking the territory’s residents to die for him was something very few would be willing to do. But if it was only about having those residents believe in him, given what Zhou Tian had done for them, even without making such a demand, it’s estimated that quite a number of civilians would do so.

Moreover, even though Zhou Tian did not use any harsh tactics, the orders he had that lord issue constantly pressured those civilians to compromise. After all, the treatment of believers and non-believers in that territory was extremely disparate. So much so that unless civilians were fanatical believers of another faith, they would inevitably change their faith.

Non-believers or heretics had to pay heavy taxes in that territory, and under such circumstances, many civilians would even struggle to survive. Thus, in a situation where even living was difficult, having those civilians change their faith naturally was not a problem.

So, under the semi-coercive circumstances Zhou Tian created, most of the civilians in that territory became his believers. Once those civilians began to believe in him, there was no resistance when Zhou Tian released the abyssal power cultivation method. Shortly after Zhou Tian released that method, almost all residents of suitable age in that territory chose to cultivate abyssal power.

In reality, the appearance of such a situation at that time was not surprising. Based on what Zhou Tian had done before, ensuring that the territory’s residents had trust in him and didn’t believe everything Zhou Tian said was deceit was certainly not a problem. Given the circumstances at that time, since those residents believed in Zhou Tian and thought the power cultivation method he taught was genuine, after reaching that consensus, Zhou Tian no longer needed to coerce them; the civilians would diligently cultivate on their own.