Longzang

Chapter 301 Starting from Strength and Status

In the study of the prefectural governor's mansion, Yuan Qingyan looked at an official document, his hands gradually trembling. Then he slammed his palm heavily on the table, smashing the rosewood desk into pieces on the floor.

"Wei Yuan, you little scoundrel, you've gone too far!" Yuan Qingyan gritted his teeth until sparks flew. He rushed out of the study and headed straight for the yamen office in the front courtyard, shouting, "Summon all officers and soldiers! I want to see them within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn!"

A moment later, all the generals and officers of the prefecture arrived in the reception room, with the General Xu still leading the way.

Yuan Qingyan circulated the official document in his hand among the generals and officers, saying, "Wei Yuan colluded with the traitors and actually kidnapped my family in the capital! This is an irreconcilable enmity! Now, everyone, immediately muster your troops and form the vanguard to attack the border. I will now depart for the prefectural city to request Governor Chen and Commander Yue to send troops. The main army will arrive shortly! General Xu will command this battle. I urge you all to avenge me!"

After reading the official document, General Xu said, "With the current military strength of the prefecture, it is probably difficult to take over the border. We need to redeploy the troops scattered in various military camps. In addition, reinforcements are crucial. Without Commander Yue's northern border troops, we probably can't do it on our own."

"The army will arrive in the blink of an eye!" Yuan Qingyan said, then stood up, walked out of the room, and disappeared in an instant. He left as soon as he said he would, without lingering for even a moment.

General Xu sat for a while before standing up and saying, "Let's muster the troops!"

A captain whispered, "Just a mask, it's hard to say it's the Zhan Tian Gang, right? Besides, why would the Zhan Tian Gang go to the capital?"

General Xu snorted and said, "There are so many families of officials stationed in the capital, why tie up Lord Yuan's family instead of this one or that, and even put on masks? Isn't it just so we won't know that it was the Zhan Tian Gang who did it?"

The captain gasped, "To be able to kidnap people in the capital, they must have incredible power! This gang of thieves has grown too powerful; they absolutely cannot be allowed to live!"

General Xu glanced at him, a half-smile on his face, and said, "Do you think he wouldn't know we're coming to attack? He should have been ready and waiting for us by now."

"So what should we do? Fight or not?"

General Xu said calmly, "Of course we have to fight! How can we know how to deal with them in the future if we don't test their mettle ourselves? General Yue probably thinks the same way."

Anzhao County, the prefectural city.

Chen Dao sat at the head of the table, flanked by officials of all ranks from the government office. Sun Chaoen and Li Weisheng had also come from their posts. All the officials, high and low, possessed cultivation, and their long journey was completed in half a day.

Yuan Qingyan sat among the civil officials, ranking after Li Weisheng but before another prefect. The prefect of Anzhao Prefecture was Chen Dao, who also served as the prefect.

Chen Dao said slowly, “The bandits are rampant, and Grand Secretary Li of the Hanlin Academy is furious. He wrote a letter specifically asking us to rectify the local area and suppress the bandits. What are your opinions? Please share them.”

Yuan Qingyan stood up abruptly and said sternly, "Wives and concubines can be remarried, and children can be born! The villains are delusional to think they can threaten me with my wife! As everyone knows, the Zhan Tian Gang's stronghold is in the Qingming Realm. Now is the time to gather our army, strike at their heart with thunderous force, and wipe out the villains to give me justice!"

Sun Chaoen stood up and said, "Lord Chen, I wonder if this matter has been reported to the Emperor?"

Chen Dao said, "Not yet. Grand Secretary Li wrote to me, which can be considered a private request."

Sun Chaoen's question was laced with hidden meaning. The officials, all seasoned veterans, immediately understood that this matter hadn't yet reached the point of being reported to the Emperor. However, mobilizing a large army was a serious matter; without the King's decree, mobilizing an army without authorization was tantamount to rebellion.

The morale of the officials immediately plummeted. They hadn't had much affection for Yuan Qingyan to begin with, and their feelings just now were merely a sense of shared sorrow.

Sun Chaoen added, "Although the Zhantian Gang is extremely rampant, so far there is no direct evidence to prove that they come from the Qingming Realm."

Yuan Qingyan was furious: "This is an obvious fact. Anyone who isn't blind can see it clearly!"

Sun Chaoen lowered his head and said unhurriedly, "What I want to say is that apart from a few masks that can be found anywhere, we have no physical evidence. And so far, not a single member of the Zhantian Gang has been caught."

The officials were all taken aback. The reason they hadn't caught a single thief was because the Zhan Tian Gang was invincible; they were the ones who caught people, never the ones who were caught!

Yuan Qingyan's eyebrows shot up as he rebuked, "Sun Chaoen! You're boosting the morale of the traitors and undermining the prestige of the imperial court. What are your true intentions? Could it be that you're also an accomplice of the Zhan Tian Gang?"

Sun Chaoen quickly waved his hand: "This humble official is of lowly status and has only said a few extra words. I cannot bear such a serious crime as being an accomplice to thieves. Since Lord Yuan is not pleased, then this humble official will keep quiet."

Li Weisheng snorted and slowly said, "Lord Yuan, you have quite the airs of an official! Such a serious crime as being an accomplice to a thief can be decided so easily. It's a real waste of your talent that you're not in charge of the Ministry of Justice."

Yuan Qingyan was surprised that Li Weisheng would speak up for Sun Chaoen, and so rudely at that. Li Weisheng was different from Sun Chaoen; he had the powerful Left Prime Minister protecting him, and his foundation was very solid.

Yuan Qingyan's face turned ashen, and he sat down without speaking. After he sat down, Li Weisheng, however, was not about to give up, and continued, "Bandits are rampant within my jurisdiction, causing chaos and unrest. Of the various bandit groups, the Zhan Tian Gang is the most difficult to deal with. Because of this, none of you gentlemen have submitted a memorial impeaching me. I have always wondered where such a formidable band of bandits came from; they couldn't have fallen from the sky, could they? After hearing Lord Yuan's words today, I understand that they actually came from another region. It seems Lord Yuan knew about this all along."

The officials all wore different expressions, seemingly lost in thought. Of those present, only one had nothing better to do than submit a memorial impeaching Li Weisheng.

Li Weisheng's words also contained a hidden meaning: why would bandits ignore the grass near their den and run off to Bianning County, thousands of miles away, to cause trouble? And then Yuan Qingyan governs a peaceful and tranquil region, while Li Weisheng is the one who is rampant with bandits within his territory?

An official secretly wondered if the kidnapping was due to a dispute over the distribution of spoils.
Chen Dao coughed and said in a deep voice, "Regardless of the relationship between the Zhan Tian Gang and the Realm, the Realm is currently a lawless country, that is a fact. I have already discussed this with Commander Yue, and we must at least make him understand the principle that all land under heaven belongs to the king."

With the decision made, the officials dispersed.

Chen Dao slowly returned to his study, accompanied by a young scholar. This man was Chen Dao's student and advisor, who had come all the way from within the Western Jin Dynasty to serve his teacher, and also to gain experience.

On his way back to his study, with no one around, the young scholar said indignantly, "That Sun Chaoen is really clueless. You already said that Grand Secretary Li wrote you a letter, and he still has to jump out and say something."

Chen Dao sighed, “You’re still too young. That Sun Chaoen is a formidable character, not as simple as you think. Today’s matter can be approached from either side. Going left is obvious, there’s enough groundwork laid, but going right is not. If I want to go left, I can simply ignore Sun Chaoen. If I want to go right, then among all these officials, only he has given me a way out.”

The young scholar thought about it carefully and then suddenly realized what was going on.

"It's a pity he has no connections whatsoever." Chen Dao shook his head and went into the study.

Within the realm, Wei Yuan watched as a row of youths donned newly forged plate armor. Their movements were still somewhat clumsy, but fortunately, many cultivators provided guidance, and the plate armor was easy to put on; soon they were all fully dressed. The thousands of young men and women before Wei Yuan instantly transformed into an elite force clad in heavy armor.

Then the monks gave them steel pipe guns. However, none of the guns were loaded with gunpowder bullets.

A moment later, the boys were divided into dozens of teams, each with a hundred people, and the monks explained to them how to use the steel pipe gun and its principles.

A faint rumble echoed in the distance—the sound of gunfire coming from the newly established shooting range. The boys were divided into four groups: one group clearing land for farming, another donning armor for training, another practicing martial arts and shooting, and yet another cultivating their bodies.

With the seeds sent by Xu Su, Wei Yuan cultivated another 20,000 mu of land. However, after some thought, he decided to use all the new land to grow grain. Although there was no shortage of food in the realm, his past experience of almost having to eat the corpses of the Wu tribe made Wei Yuan feel that the more grain the better. He wouldn't feel that there was enough grain until it was so plentiful that he needed to brew wine.

Wei Yuan was particularly eager to train these teenagers, putting their equipment and shooting skills on the agenda much earlier than he had previously decided.

At this moment, Cui Yu hurried over and said, "The equipment for the family members has been provided. They've been relatively well-behaved during the training period. I've even hung up and whipped a few of them who were using foul language. However, the bows you gave them are for Foundation Establishment cultivators. They'll run out of strength after firing them only three times at most."

Wei Yuan said, "That's for them. With the blessing of Momentary Beings and Heavenly Madmen, there won't be any problem using them. Didn't the old lady say that we should take care of them a little and not let too many people die? Letting them be archers is perfect, so they can shoot at the enemy."

Cui Yu said, "Archers don't wear red armor; it's too conspicuous!"

Wei Yuan chuckled and said, "We need to let them know they are archers, otherwise what are we going to do if they don't shoot at us?"

Cui Yu had thought about this issue before, but after calculating the casualty rate in the shootout, he felt it was completely acceptable, so he stopped talking about it.

But looking at the boys training so enthusiastically, he frowned and said, "Isn't this training a bit too early? They haven't even had much training yet, and they're already going to the battlefield?"

Wei Yuan said, "It's not early at all. The great battle is coming soon. If they didn't need to sleep and rest, I would make them train for twelve hours a day."

Upon hearing about war, Cui Yu's spirits lifted, and he asked, "Another major war? With whom?"

Wei Yuan said, "This time, we are very likely to face Yue Jinshan's northern border army and clash his famous Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry. At that time, these young people will be the best candidates to deal with the Iron Cavalry."

"A war with the Western Jin? Isn't that a bit too soon?"

Wei Yuan shook his head: "For the Western Jin, we are currently like a thorn in their side, a fishbone stuck in their throat. As long as the Wu tribe doesn't make a move, they will want to make trouble for us. It's not a matter of whether we want to fight or not. Only after a battle can we sit down and talk, and only then can we know how to talk."

Cui Yu took a deep breath: "I'm going to have to face Yue Jinshan. Looks like I'll have to go back and give those brats in the clan a good talking-to!"

Wei Yuan smiled slightly and said, "Go ahead. After this battle is over, we can start by discussing our strength and status with them."

(End of this chapter)