Longzang

Chapter 177 Opening a Mansion

The true main force in the Azure Nether Realm is currently training on how to adapt to the sudden increase in combat power and how to cope with the weakness after the instantaneous disappearance of all living beings.

To ensure the training was effective, Wei Yuan would activate the "Instantaneous Sentient Beings" skill several times a day, each session lasting three breaths, as long as he remained within the realm. Fortunately, the activation time was very short, and the range was deliberately minimized, so the energy expenditure was acceptable.

In addition, these eight thousand people are also training on how to use steel-pipe muskets. However, the number of muskets is limited; so far, only a little over a thousand have been made, which is far from enough. The people of Taichu Palace are racking their brains to figure out how to make more muskets.

Wei Yuan had planned to rob two more mines from the Xu family, and that would be enough iron and copper materials for him. However, his plans were interrupted by Xu Xinhui's sudden appearance.

Xu Xinhui's arrival also alerted Wei Yuan, indicating that the Xu family was about to make a big move.

Hanyang Pass.

As soon as the sky cleared, Admiral Xu Zhongxing and his deputy Fan Donghe led the officials of the Admiral's Office, dressed in their finest attire, and surrounded by thousands of soldiers, to wait at the Flying Boat Wharf on the outskirts of the city.

After waiting for a full half hour, several giant flying boats appeared on the horizon. The boats were painted dark blue and decorated with red patterns, which was the symbol of the Western Jin Dynasty.

One by one, the flying boats landed. The first two flying boats were wielded by Imperial Guards in blue armor and red cloaks. They dispersed immediately upon disembarking, guarding the key points of the dock before the two giant ships in the air slowly descended.

Someone had already laid a carpet all the way to the edge of the flying boat.

The cabin door slowly opened, and two high-ranking officials appeared in the doorway. One was a scholar, the other a military man; both possessed extraordinary bearing.

"Please, Lord Yue!"

"Please go first, Lord Chen!"

After some polite back and forth, the two officials finally disembarked from the flying boat and walked forward side by side.

Xu Zhongxing had already led dozens of officials to greet them, bowing and saying, "Greetings, Lord Chen and Lord Yue. Your humble servant has been waiting here for a long time."

The civil official was a thin, elderly man. Seeing Xu Zhongxing's deep bow, he reached out to help him up. Xu Zhongxing readily rose, perfectly embodying the proper etiquette of officialdom. However, as their robes brushed against each other, Xu Zhongxing's eye twitched almost imperceptibly.

The civil official Xu said, "This time, the court has re-established the four prefectures of Ningxi, and Lord Yue and I have established our own government to guard them. Ningxi has been occupied for many years, and today it has returned to the court's jurisdiction. It is in dire need of rebuilding. This time, we will have to rely on General Xu's assistance."

Xu Zhongxing said, "This is my duty, gentlemen. Please give me your instructions."

"First, we must first dispatch 50,000 elite troops from Hanyang Pass to escort the local officials to their posts. This matter is of great importance, and General Xu will also be required to send more elite troops."

Xu Zhongxing's face twitched upon hearing this. His Hanyang Pass only had tens of thousands of elite soldiers, and now more than half of them had been withdrawn. However, he knew better than anyone what kind of territory was outside the pass, so he immediately said, "Lord Chen, rest assured, you can freely choose any of the elite soldiers in the garrison."

The civil official nodded and said, "There is one more matter. The officials from various regions arrived in a hurry, and many of them did not have time to be properly assigned their clerks. We now need to transfer five hundred capable clerks from your office to accompany them to their posts. They will return after the local areas are settled."

This was easy to handle, and Xu Zhongxing readily agreed.

Seeing that he agreed so readily, the civil official nodded slightly and said, "I've heard that things haven't been very peaceful in your garrison recently?"

Xu Zhongxing said with a wry smile, "Two True Persons from the Taichu Palace have come and are causing trouble. I can't do anything about them."

"Which two real people?"

"Burning the Sea and Lanhua".

The elderly civil official raised his long eyebrows slightly and said, "The Azure Sky Palace? That's quite a coincidence."

The general, who had remained silent until now, slightly opened his eyes, a cold glint in them, and said in a deep voice, "Indeed, it is fate. Come, we will go with you to take a look."

Xu Zhongxing immediately led the way.

A moment later, a loud bang resounded throughout Hanyang Pass, and a flame shot into the sky from the garrison headquarters, the fire pillar shooting up dozens of feet high, shaking the entire city!

Amidst the flames, a red streak and a light blue streak shot into the sky, hurtling into the distance before disappearing in an instant.

After the flames subsided, a large portion of the garrison headquarters had been reduced to nothing.

Xu Zhongxing and the two high-ranking officials, one civil and one military, emerged from the fire. Gazing in the direction the two streaks of light had vanished, they said resentfully, "Those two old scoundrels got away so quickly! They got off easy!" The military officer snorted and said, "This was just to let them know that the imperial court is determined to reclaim Ningxi, and that anyone who dares to obstruct it will be dealt with swiftly and decisively!"

The civil official smiled faintly and said, "Lord Xu need not feel regretful. Those two think they can just leave like that? It won't be that easy."

Xu Zhongxing's heart skipped a beat. He lowered his voice and asked, "Has the imperial court made up its mind to take action against them?"

The civil official shook his head. "It's not that bad. As long as they're willing to withdraw from Ningxi, everything will proceed as before. Lord Xu, I'm leaving this to you, but you mustn't tell anyone else."

"Rest assured, Lord Chen, I understand the situation." Xu Zhongxing naturally knew what the civil official meant by those words.

A day later, the west gate of Hanyang Pass was opened wide, and 20,000 troops marched out from inside the pass in columns. They then split into dozens of large and small teams, escorting officials of all ranks to different regions.

Another day later, 30,000 elite troops left the pass and traveled 1,500 li westward. Hanlin Academician Chen Dao read out the imperial edict here, proclaiming it to Heaven and Earth, and then planted the boundary stone [Qingquan], using it as the basis for establishing his government.

Chen Dao assumed the post of governor, and General Yue Jinshan, who was stationed at the northern frontier, was appointed as commander. With the governor and commander in office, the Western Jin Dynasty officially reclaimed Ningxi and re-established the prefecture and county.

Under the governor's command, the prefects of the four prefectures led dozens of officials of all ranks to take up their posts in various places. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of troops continued to march towards Hanyang Pass, including many troops wearing full cotton-padded iron armor, which were obviously border troops transferred from the northern frontier.

The Azure Netherworld.

"Reset the four prefectures of Ningxi?" Wei Yuan, who was inspecting Yong'an City, heard this unexpected news.

A moment later, everyone from Taichu Palace gathered at the main peak to discuss this sudden change.

The Western Jin Dynasty's move was very sudden, and no one had received any prior notice. By the time they found out, Chen Dao had already planted the boundary stone and officially established his government.

Wei Yuan stared at the map, his brows furrowed, and after a moment, he drew a dot on it. As the Lord of Qingming, Wei Yuan would sense if any other boundary stones were activated nearby, thus pinpointing the location of the capital. However, this was an open secret and would soon be known to the world.

According to the map, the newly established prefecture is about 3,500 li away from Qingming. By normal standards, there might be room for another boundary stone in between. However, if Qingming advances to the point where it can cover 10,000 li, it will completely cover the new boundary stone.

In fact, Wei Yuan had no choice when he first established Qingming. Otherwise, in the long run, the location of the boundary stone should have been pushed several thousand miles to the west. That place was eleven thousand miles away from Hanyang Pass, which was just right.

After establishing Qingming, Wei Yuan and the people of Taichu Palace had essentially considered the six thousand miles of shattered territory as their own, and even planned to expand it several thousand miles further in all directions. However, when the Western Jin Dynasty reorganized the four prefectures of Ningxi, it had effectively included Qingming in its plans.

This matter was of great importance, and everyone was unusually serious. Ji Liuli also put away his frivolous attitude and began to think about it seriously.

Zhang Sheng asked, "Such a big thing, didn't you have any warning signs at all?"

Ji Liuli shook his head: "Emperor Tang and the rulers of the nine kingdoms are ordained by Heaven and are not subject to calculation."

This was the first time Zhang Sheng had heard of such a thing, and he asked in confusion, "Emperor Tang is one thing, but how can the rulers of the nine kingdoms also inherit the mandate of heaven? Doesn't this mean that they, like Emperor Tang, are the legitimate successors of heaven and earth?"

"That's why the Nine Kingdoms were able to grow stronger day by day and usurp the throne. The patriarch didn't tell me the specific reasons; it seems to be a very important secret."

Wei Yuan frowned and said, "This matter is too big. We should report it to the palace and see what the True Lord says."

Zhang Sheng and Ji Liuli both nodded.

Wei Yuan added, "We know nothing about this matter yet, so we need to find a way to get at least some information, such as the candidates for governors and prefects, their past experiences, the number of troops to be deployed this time, and so on."

This is also an urgent matter. Everyone has their own channels, so they are all thinking about who to ask for this information.

At this moment, Wei Yuan said again, "However, we can't just sit here and wait to die! We still have a lot of masks left. Please take one each. Today, we need to sweep through all the mines, caravan camps, and villages on the list, and then join forces to take down Quliu Town!"

Cui Yu asked, "What about the Xu family of Ningxi?"

"I will have Xu Jingfeng declare that he is protecting himself and that everyone should stay in the Xu family mansion and not come out. Once we have emptied Quliu Town and moved everyone back, we will return that land to them."

Wei Yuan drew a large circle on the map, covering several hundred miles around Qingming, and said, "In short, I want them to be unable to find a single village or obtain any supplies within this area!"

Cui Yu was somewhat shocked; something about what he was saying seemed off.

(End of this chapter)