Longzang

Chapter 305 Future

The capital of the State of Zhao.

After a secret report arrived in the capital, it was split into seven parts and sent to different places.

One of the secret reports was delivered directly into a magnificent mansion. After passing through numerous checkpoints, it was finally placed on a desk and picked up by a remarkably well-maintained hand.

Seated behind the desk was a slightly older man, with a dignified appearance and an air of nobility. He read the secret report word by word, appearing extremely focused.

After reading the secret report, he pondered for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "With 30,000 infantrymen facing 10,000 iron cavalry, the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry was completely annihilated. If it were me... no, I would only lead cavalry."

He put down the secret report, raised his voice, and said, "Men, prepare the horses, I want to go to the palace to see my father!"

A moment later, he stood in the royal study of the palace.

The still-young King of Zhao set up a sand table, surrounded by models representing infantry and cavalry. Three princes and a princess stood on one side of the study, while several generals stood on the other.

At this moment, a general frowned and said, "We have simulated this battle countless times, but we still cannot achieve such results. Even if the soldiers are equipped with repeating crossbows and are well-trained, they will definitely panic once the cavalry gets close. If they panic even slightly, the cavalry will charge into the formation, and a rout will be inevitable."

A prince with a short beard said, "If my Xiaoyun Captains were added to the infantry, we might be able to put up a fight. But I have only trained five thousand Xiaoyun Captains."

Another young prince said, "Brother, your Xiaoyun Lieutenant has been training for three whole years, while others have only been establishing their domains for a little over three months."

King Zhao, who had been silent all along, said, "It seems that Qingming is not using the usual methods. We can't guess anything here. It would be best to go and see for ourselves. Perhaps those old bastards from Taichu Palace are just making a fuss and secretly piling up some powerful weapons over there. Chonghu, I'm leaving this matter to you."

A general inside the room immediately replied, "As you command."

Looking at the somewhat messy sand table, King Zhao said slowly, "Whether they used evil magic or celestial artifacts, they couldn't use excessive methods under Lü Ming's nose. So it's a fact that Qingming now has the combat power to annihilate 10,000 elite cavalry in a direct confrontation. Just then, Anguo wrote a letter and she suggested a plan that I think is worth a try."

"Your Majesty, what brilliant plan is this?" The generals and princes were all very curious.

Before her marriage to the Western Jin Dynasty, Li Ruyi was known as Princess Anguo. Although she has become increasingly prominent in recent years, overshadowing the Empress to the point that the Western Jin people only know her as Consort Yuan and are unaware of the existence of an Empress, in the Zhao Kingdom, those who knew her from back then still habitually refer to her as Princess Anguo.

King Zhao said, "I hereby appoint Wei Yuan as the military governor of Ningxi, and allow him to establish his own government and appoint his own officials."

Everyone was shocked, but the more they thought about it, the more they felt its lingering charm.

The eldest prince said, "Lu Ming will certainly not allow this to happen, but what if he is really muddle-headed and doesn't care?"

King Zhao gestured with his hand, and the sand table instantly transformed into a map of the Western Regions. He then drew a line on it, connecting the Zhao Kingdom and Qingming, and said, "Since you are the military governor of my Zhao Kingdom, of course you must reconnect this land. We will first head west, then north, and open a road through the territory of the Wu tribe. In this way, the western route out of the Western Jin will be entirely in the hands of my Great Zhao!"

The Third Prince, who had remained silent until now, spoke with an air of composure: “Brother, Lü Ming isn’t that incompetent. But since we’ve already bestowed our rewards, he can’t give us much less than us. However, Ningxi Prefecture has been established, and if the rewards are too high, the officials below will be dissatisfied. As long as we deliver the decree of rewards to Wei Yuan before he does, we can sit back and watch the Western Jin Dynasty descend into chaos.”

A scholarly-looking general said, "In my opinion, the Crown Prince's faction may have been suppressing Qingming in order to undermine Taichu Palace, which led to their attack. However, they didn't expect such a crushing defeat, and now they're in a difficult situation. To take down Qingming now would probably require an army of 300,000, and it would also mean a complete falling out with Taichu Palace, so I think it's impossible. With the Prince of Jin's reward, Princess Anguo might be able to take the opportunity to cut off the Crown Prince's supporters, achieving multiple goals at once."

"Issue my decree: send envoys to the Western Regions, to depart immediately!" King Zhao made the decision.

Anzhao County, Ningxi Prefecture.

Chen Dao sat facing Yue Jinshan and handed him a secret letter, saying, "His Majesty is preparing to issue an edict to reduce your salary for three years, demote you by two ranks, and retain you in your original position for probation."

Yue Jinshan showed no change in expression and said, "I was stubborn and confused for a moment, and acted rashly by deploying troops. This punishment is already an extraordinary act of leniency."

Chen Dao took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Old Yue, I want to hear the truth: can Qingming break through?"

Yue Jinshan's eyes flashed with a sharp light as he said, "Their spear formation has a major flaw: it's difficult to turn around. As long as we use our iron cavalry to flank them from both sides, victory won't be difficult. It's just that I was too overconfident that day and only attacked head-on, which led to the disastrous defeat. If you give me 200,000 troops and mobilize all the elite troops under my command from the northern border, I can break through Qingming in a month."

Chen Dao nodded slowly and said, "Just as I expected."

He rose and paced back and forth, carefully choosing his words, saying, "Originally, I thought Qingming was just a minor ailment, but after this battle, I realized they have become a deep-seated threat to our Great Jin! If we don't eliminate them now, they will surely cause future disasters!" "But..."

Chen Dao raised his hand to stop Yue Jinshan, saying, "I know you want to say that we should all fight the Wu tribe together and there's no need to kill each other. But resisting the Wu tribe is important, and so is whose name we use to resist them. If we raise a tiger now, twenty or thirty years from now, it might be the State of Wei or the Taichu Palace that will be resisting the Wu tribe here. Old Yue, we are, after all, subjects of the Western Jin!"

Yue Jinshan was speechless for a moment.

Chen Dao waved his hand forcefully and said, "Let's work together one more time! I'll go and persuade the high-ranking officials in the court and the ministers of the Council of State to get you enough money, food, and troops. Don't worry about the Taichu Palace either; the Four Saints Academy and the Sword Palace can both help restrain it. What you need to do is wipe out Qingming, and it would be best if you could kill Wei Yuan. If this boy isn't eliminated, he will definitely become a major threat to the Great Jin!"

"Isn't this... going a bit too far? Wei Yuan is currently only a minor cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage. Even if he becomes a True Monarch in the future, his sect and our various nations will each find their own way to accommodate him. Why go to such lengths?"

Chen Dao sighed and said, "I have devoted my life to studying divination and fortune, and I have been restless these days, so I have been constantly making calculations. Some time ago, the fortune of heaven and earth suddenly changed, as if an extraordinary treasure appeared in the world. On a whim, I made many divinations. Although I did not find any trace of that treasure, I inadvertently glimpsed a bit of heavenly secrets."

He paused for a moment, then said, word by word, "Wei Yuan's fortune is dark and blood-red, clashing with the national fortune of our Great Jin. He is either a jinx or a traitor! It's just that his fortune was heavily concealed before, making it impossible to calculate. Now that I think about it, the Tai Chu Palace's decision to send him west was not just for ordinary training, but was truly malicious."

Yue Jinshan could only sigh. If Wei Yuan's fate was truly like this, then he could not be allowed to live, regardless of whether he did anything detrimental to the Western Jin Dynasty.

Chen Dao is not one to speak lightly, so his certainty in saying this means he is extremely confident. Even if the Taichu Palace has obscured Wei Yuan's secrets, Chen Dao still has a great chance of persuading the officials and the Prince of Jin.

Just then, a servant came to the study and said, "My lord, a secret decree from the capital!"

Chen Dao took the secret edict, opened it, and his expression suddenly changed drastically! After a moment, he sighed deeply, his face bitter, and handed the secret edict to Yue Jinshan.

This was a secret edict dictated by the Prince of Jin and drafted by the Council of State, and it had the same legal effect as an official edict. The secret edict instructed Chen Dao to select elite troops and generals, disguise them as bandits, and intercept the secret mission from the Zhao Kingdom that was about to arrive in the Western Regions. Under no circumstances should the edict appointing Wei Yuan as the military governor of Ningxi be delivered to Wei Yuan!

After reading the secret edict, Yue Jinshan instantly deduced all the subsequent changes and could only sigh.

By this time, Wei Yuan had already inspected the area around Quliu Town and also took a stroll around the edge of Anzhao County. Unlike Ningxi County, the garrison of Anzhao County did not flee at the first sign of trouble, but they still swallowed their anger and retreated in the face of the hundreds of masked knights who acted like bandits.

Wei Yuan did not challenge Chen Dao and Yue Jinshan's bottom line. He tested the Anzhao County garrison's response, then returned the way he came. He passed through the deserted Quliu Town and knocked on the door of the garrison's mansion again.

This time, the prefect is truly not here.

According to the gatekeeper, the prefect went out of the city a few days ago to survey the local customs and conditions without any attendants, and has not yet returned.

Yuan Qingyan was, after all, a Dharma Aspect cultivator, and Wei Yuan couldn't possibly catch him in the vast wilderness. So, he passed by the prefectural governor's mansion twice without entering. After doing this twice, Yuan Qingyan's reputation was probably ruined.

After intimidating the outside world, Wei Yuan returned to the realm, exchanged for another batch of history books, and then, referring to the map and sand table, began to study how the human race determined the ownership of territories after expanding their territory.

At this time, Tang still held great righteousness, being the ruler of all under heaven and the only Son of Heaven.

The land under heaven, regardless of whether it is occupied by humans or not, theoretically belongs to the Great Tang Emperor. This applies not only to the nine kingdoms but also to the four great immortal sects.

Secondly, the nine kingdoms expanded their territories, and whoever owned the boundary stone owned that territory. After the boundary lord served as the governor for a hundred years, the territory would be transferred to the various vassal states. In very rare cases, it was transferred to the Tang Dynasty and became the direct territory of the Great Tang.

At this time, however, the feudal lords were strong while the emperor was weak. The territory directly under the Tang emperor was among the bottom three of the nine kingdoms, barely not at the very bottom.

Most of the newly added territories of the human race eventually belong to the various vassal states. This shows the separation and balance between the vassal states and the sects. The vassal states are mainly responsible for governing the mortal world and controlling the borders, while the sects are responsible for cultivating high-level cultivators, and their disciples are sourced from the vassal states.

The last way out was the mountain gates of each sect. These were the direct territories of the sects, truly outside their jurisdiction, not under the control of the nine kingdoms, and only nominally serving Emperor Tang as their master.

For example, Taichu Palace has three mountain gates. The northern mountain gate, located in the northern part of Yunzhou and Ganzhou, is the smallest, but it still covers an area of ​​more than 6,000 li. Among the immortal sects, although the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land only has one mountain gate, the Treasure Flower Pure Land covers an area of ​​more than 10,000 li, and can almost be called a Buddhist kingdom on earth. No royal decree can be passed in the Pure Land.

At this moment, Wei Yuan also had to start thinking about Qingming's future and which path he should take.

(End of this chapter)