As individuals, intelligent life needs goals that can move forward, and as a collection of individuals, countries and organizations need goals that can guide and unite all people to move forward together. And the target that can be the fastest and most easily accepted by everyone is, of course, the enemy.

A powerful foreign enemy can unite all strata of society and can also be used to suppress all voices dissatisfied with the leadership, and mass conscription and the conscription of various logistical service personnel can send large numbers of unemployed people into the army and the military-industrial production system. Wartime supply control allows the government to strengthen control in all aspects, and at the same time, it can also formulate various policies at will in the name of "wartime", such as fully activating the planned economy model to control the output of goods, or persecuting a minority on trumped-up charges of "collaborating with the enemy" and forcibly requisitioning materials to curry favor with the majority to endorse government policies.

Throughout history, the existence of the "enemy" has been an indispensable and convenient tool for countries or organizations.

Whether it is a dictatorship, an autocracy, or a democratic republic, the demand for the "enemy" is the same.

"The occupied territories of the empire are undergoing economic transformation, because the Kingdom of Charlemagne has previously positioned the national economy as a subsidiary support system for **** expansion, and everything serves military purposes, with the result that not only the economy is depressed, but also structurally distorted. Although there was no crisis for the time being, thanks to the relief of Alfheim and the excision of the speculative groups, if a major operation was not carried out on the economic structure, sooner or later it would lead to a large-scale shortage of materials and even a famine. At that time, unless extreme population control measures are taken to eliminate as many 'unnecessary people' as possible, it will be possible to ensure that Charlemagne will not starve to death. ”

This is by no means impossible.

Faced with adversity, people are always forced to make choices.

It is impossible to save everyone, some people must be sacrificed so that most people can be saved.

When faced with such a multiple-choice question, the final choice is always so clear, and in front of the large number or the use of force, the opposition and protest of the minority are not worth mentioning at all, and will soon be suppressed. As for the expectation that the people will come forward to put an end to such atrocities on the basis of justice, justice and morality...... It can only be said that those who have such expectations are too naïve.

If persecution is limited to minorities, the majority will remain silent, if persecution of minorities will bring small benefits, then the majority will agree that the oppression of minorities has its own problems and needs to be remedied unconditionally; With the pain of wartime tax increases, increased incomes and jobs, and the ability to squander goods looted from minorities, the government acted justifiably and too late, and it would have been better if it had done it sooner.

The so-called human nature is such an ugly thing.

Li Lin is very aware of this and is good at taking advantage of it. If the economic transition of the occupied territories does not go well, he will certainly try to divide the population of the occupied territories and implement depopulation measures – to put it bluntly, through organized and planned massacres to reduce the population to a point where the number of survivors and the total amount of goods can be commensurate.

"But if there's a foreign enemy, things are different. ”

Because of the existence of "enemies" and because it is a "wartime" that is different from "peacetime", many means that cannot be used in a normal environment can be carried out in the name of righteousness in "extraordinary times".

For example, maintaining military production that is higher than normal national defense needs and absorbing the unemployed;

For example, the forced restructuring of the labor force will redistribute the labor force engaged in agriculture and industry;

For example, in the name of "military needs", a large number of cheap labor is invested in the construction of infrastructure such as highways and railways in the form of voluntary labor;

In fact, these things can be done now, and under the strong military deterrence of the Empire, there will be no opposition at all. But this poses two problems.

First, today's Holy Gilmanian Empire is not a secret organization hidden in the dark in the past, and some things still have to care about appearance and international perception, and you can't do everything like bandits. Everyone is a civilized person, even if they rob homes and houses, kill people and set fires, they must follow the routine of civilized people. There is no reason to create a reason, to create conditions if there are no conditions, even if you take a bag of laundry detergent and say that it is a weapon of mass destruction found from someone else's house, in order to protect world peace, you have to kill the whole family - ugly is ugly, and it is a reason at best;

Second, the medium- and long-term national policy of the empire is to maintain relatively stable relations with the nations, and accumulate power during this period. At this stage, using other countries as "enemies" is obviously contrary to the national strategy. And ordinary guerrillas, at best, are nothing more than bandit armies under the banner of "liberators", and simply cannot afford to play the burden of playing the "enemy". Those who can act as "enemies of the Empire" must be individuals or groups that can be recognized by the public as having "some kind of power against the Empire". Only in this way can the measures taken by the Empire in the name of foreign enemies appear to be justified.

"The so-called 'enemy' is called an enemy because it has that value, and not everyone is qualified. ”

"Shouldn't I be flattered by this, and thank the emperor for his grace by the way?"

"You can be proud. You are the first person to be designated as an enemy by the Emperor as a non-state representative and a commoner. Well, maybe he was the first to stand up for democracy. ”

"Sounds good...... But let me refuse. ”

"It's so decisive. ”

His voice was still calm, as if he had already spoken of Roland's answer.

No, it didn't seem, he had already predicted that Roland would refuse, and even the rhetoric of further persuasion had been prepared.

"I will not ask you to be attached to the Empire, you are still the 'Free Army' fighting for independence and freedom, the hope of the Charlemagne. It's still business as usual, the only difference is—"

"The struggle for freedom, which had given their lives for freedom, became institutionalized, and the fighters who sacrificed their lives for the democratic republic became the cogs of war that kept the empire's economic cycle running. ”

Roland unceremoniously interrupted Li Lin's speech, and his floating head continued to look back at him with a sneer.

What the empire needs is not so much an "enemy" as an ATM to keep the economy running.

As long as the strife continues, as long as the stage play called "war" continues, the empire can use it as an opportunity to push for a full range of structural reforms, not only economic, political, and military, but more importantly, institutionalized strife that will push the people's minds in the direction they need.

War is not necessarily a bad thing;

As long as the leadership is not fools, war can turn into a good thing;

Rather than accepting a democracy that destroys all day but does nothing, it is reasonable and normal to support a republic that has nothing but one vote, and a life under the domination of the empire, which is not free but has no worries about food and clothing;

"Even the struggle and the conflict are institutionalized, what can people believe? What are they willing to believe? All enthusiasm is extinguished, everyone is numb a little bit, and finally becomes a domestic animal who is content with the status quo, will not resist and will not question - this is your ultimate goal, and this is the real purpose of this transaction. ”

Roland no longer replied in an ironic tone, and his tone was extremely calm, chillingly calm, and sounded almost like gnashing teeth.