Longzang

Chapter 311 Famous in the Capital
At Hanyang Pass, the garrison commander Xu Zhongxing stood atop the city wall, gazing into the distance.

At the edge of his vision, a banner broke through the fog, and countless iron cavalrymen marched toward Hanyang Pass, their military might as imposing as a mountain!
Xu Zhongxing's pupils contracted slightly; such military morale was completely beyond his expectations. The garrison at Hanyang Pass numbered 50,000. If it were the original garrison, they might have maintained such morale, but when the prefecture was established, Chen Dao and Yue Jinshan had drawn away many elite troops, and their morale was now far from what it used to be. It would take at least 30,000 to 40,000 men to achieve this level of morale.

There are ways to conceal or exaggerate military morale, and the army in front of us is marching. Although there is a possibility that they are showing off in front of the pass, it basically represents the strength and morale of this army.

Fan Donghe, standing to the side, looked grave. After a moment, he said, "What a ferocious army!"

One of the guerrilla generals said, "Fortunately, we can now be used by the imperial court. With them blocking the west, our lives will be easier."

Fan Donghe chuckled and said, "Easy? Not necessarily. Even if they conceal their wolfish ambitions for a while, they will eventually be exposed."

The troops approached quickly, and even ordinary soldiers could see the large "卫" (Wei) characters on the dark blue flags.

The entire force consisted of cavalry, numbering over three thousand, all clad in blue armor with red decorations. Although it was a normal march, the sound of their hooves was thunderous, exuding a murderous aura!
The troops changed direction not far beyond the pass, not entering the pass but instead bypassing the city. The relevant documents had already been sent to Hanyang Pass, so the generals in Guanzhong knew that this was the army escorting Wei Yuan, the military governor of Dingxi, to the capital to meet the emperor.

Xu Zhongxing suddenly said, "Back then, he traveled west alone, and I didn't even know such a person existed. I never imagined that he would now have a cavalry force no weaker than the Ninth Army, and it hasn't even been a year!"

"Hmph, they might just be a bunch of showpieces. If our elite troops hadn't all been transferred out, we wouldn't be any worse!" a captain said indignantly.

Fan Donghe glared at the man and continued to observe the cavalry. The more he looked, the more he frowned: "Their military aura is a bit strange. How can such a small number of people have such a strong military aura? It's ridiculously strong."

Xu Zhongxing, with his superior eyesight, slowly said, "Because there are many, many Dao foundations inside, perhaps eight hundred, perhaps a thousand. The military aura obscures them, making it a bit difficult to see clearly."

Fan Donghe was startled. "So many?! Where did he find so many Dao Foundations? Did he get all the Dao Foundations in the entire Shattered Domain?"

The cavalry had already bypassed the city gate. Watching the Wei banner recede into the distance, Fan Donghe said, "Raising a tiger is a recipe for disaster! How could the King have appointed him as a military governor? He's truly foolish!"

Xu Zhongxing glared at him fiercely, and Fan Donghe realized he had misspoke. Fortunately, he was surrounded by brothers who had served him for many years, so no one should have reported it to their superiors.

In the cavalry formation, Wei Yuan sat upright on his blue steed, moving slowly forward without feeling any bumps. At this time, the army was linked by military spirit, forming a unified whole. Their speed seemed slow but was actually fast. Being cavalry, they could cover hundreds of miles in an hour.

Wei Yuan could feel that as he got further and further away from the Azure Netherworld Stone, the vast land and rivers gradually fell silent, his Dao power continued to decline, and his whole body gradually weakened.

Sensing something was amiss, Cui Yu, who was standing nearby, asked, "Are you alright?"

"It's alright, I'm just a little weak."

Cui Yu sighed, "If you ask me, you should mobilize the entire army. Why be so low-key? There are many people in Jindu waiting to cause you trouble."

Wei Yuan said, "These soldiers are just right. If there were any more, the Prince of Jin might regret it. He wants to cause me trouble? Heh, that won't be so easy."

Cui Yu said, “There is a traitor within our realm. Now that you have left Qingming, you will become weak, and this matter has already spread to Jindu. Many young people there are thinking of fighting you to make a name for themselves and suppress the influence of our Taichu Palace. I think that this time when I come back, I should clean up the internal situation.”

Wei Yuan shook his head: "There's no need. There are so many people now, and there will be more and more in the future. Some people will inevitably sneak in, and some people will inevitably leave us. Let it be."

Cui Yu turned his head and said, "There's one more thing. This time when you assigned official positions, you didn't leave any positions for your fellow disciples from the Azure Sky Palace, and they're somewhat dissatisfied with that."

Wei Yuan said, "They arrived late and have been idle for a while, basically doing nothing. How can we give them positions? Don't worry about them. There will be many more battles to come. Once they have earned merit, they will naturally have enough positions. What is the situation in the north?"

Cui Yu said, "The Liao people launched a large-scale southward invasion, causing the Western Jin front to collapse. Only by reinstating the Prince of Ying was the situation stabilized. They retreated thousands of miles in one go, freeing up the main force of the Liao people to launch a full-scale attack on the northern mountain gate. Most of the palace's fighting force has been transferred to the north, and I heard that the situation is not optimistic. At this time, the Prince of Jin held an autumn hunt, also hoping to boost morale."

"Autumn Hunt..." Wei Yuan knew that this was the main event of the trip.

Thousands of cavalrymen marched day and night through the city, covering more than 100,000 li in ten months. Along the way, the weather changed from hot and humid to cold and dry. Finally, a huge, dark gray city appeared before Wei Yuan: Yingdu.

Ying, the capital of the Western Jin Dynasty, was initially just a small border town. A thousand years ago, after the Lü clan gained power, they unexpectedly established their capital in Ying, a small town with only ten thousand people at the time.

Ying was located on the edge of the northern grasslands, and at that time the nearest Liao grasslands were only a few hundred miles away. The Liao cavalry could reach the city with a single charge.

For the next century, several generations of Jin kings were always ready for war, driving the Northern Liao army back thousands of miles and laying the foundation for the present-day territory of the Western Jin Dynasty. Subsequent Jin kings varied in their abilities, some incompetent and others diligent. At its furthest, Yingdu was 30,000 li from the border, and at its closest, it was only 2,000 li.

The northern gate of Taichu Palace also stands on the northern grasslands. The relationship between the Western Jin Dynasty and Taichu Palace was sometimes close and sometimes distant, but overall it was still one of mutual support and assistance.

Over the centuries, Ying has transformed from a small town of ten thousand people into a megacity of two million, becoming a renowned city in Tang.

At the west gate of Yingdu, the afternoon sun shone through the windows of the city tower, warming the room. The general of the Imperial Guard on duty leaned back in his chair, his eyelids growing heavy.

Suddenly a bugle sounded, and the general jumped up instinctively. Enemy attack?

A soldier rushed into the city wall and shouted, "General Lin, you have the spirit of a general! You're incredibly fast!"

General Lin grabbed his sword, rushed to the city gate, and looked into the distance. Sure enough, a military aura appeared on the distant horizon, soaring straight into the sky, exuding a murderous intent. General Lin was a veteran of many battles, having only recently been transferred from the northern border due to injury to the capital's imperial guards. With his extensive experience, he immediately recognized that it would likely take 20,000 Liao barbarian cavalry to create such a military aura.

However, although they had just suffered a major defeat and retreated thousands of miles, the front line was still tens of thousands of miles away from the capital. How could the Liao cavalry suddenly appear near the capital?

The military formation moved quite quickly, and the army below finally came into view. General Lin strained his eyes and finally saw the dark blue and red armor, as well as the character "卫" (Wei) on the military flag.

He suddenly remembered something, took out the military register, and quickly searched through it. His tense face finally relaxed, and he cursed at the soldier next to him, "What a fuss! That's the banner of the Military Governor! You blew the horn without even seeing it clearly, scaring me half to death!"

A dignified voice suddenly rang out behind him: "Why is the siren sounding?"

He turned around and saw a dark-skinned general with a square face standing behind him, exuding an imposing aura. He immediately straightened up and said, "Greetings, Right Protector General! General, it should be the troops of the Military Governor. The men below did not see clearly and mistakenly sounded the alarm."

The square-faced general arrived at the city gate, looked at the rolling iron cavalry, his pupils contracted, and he said slowly, "As expected of the border army, they are indeed a fierce and ruthless force!"

General Lin was taken aback and said, "Border troops? They're not on the roster?"

The square-faced general said, "Think about their position, what else could they be but border troops? This Wei Yuan..."

He didn't finish his words.

Moments later, the gates of Jindu City swung open, and thousands of iron cavalry surged into the city. General Lin stood at the city gate, watching the riders gallop past, feeling an intense, almost tangible, killing intent wash over him, making it hard to breathe.

A junior officer nearby quietly stuck out his tongue and said, "My God! How many people must have been killed to have such a murderous aura!"

General Lin said, "Otherwise, how could we have wiped out General Yue's ten thousand iron cavalry?"

"Huh? It's them?" The junior officer was so surprised he couldn't close his mouth.

General Lin nodded and said, "These are all newly surrendered. Don't provoke them unless absolutely necessary."

The junior officer gave a wry smile, "How much guts do I have to provoke these killing gods?"

General Lin was relieved. However, he knew that there were many bold people in the capital.

Wei Yuan handed over the entry documents, and the large cavalry force was led to the military camp. Yingcheng had additional walls outside the main city walls, enclosing several fortified outposts. These outposts were essentially large barbicans, containing military camps. Wei Yuan's large contingent of troops was stationed in these camps, while he himself could take a hundred personal guards to the post station in the capital to await the Prince of Jin's summons.

After a thousand years of development, the capital city has become extremely prosperous. Although the front lines have suffered repeated defeats, banquets are still held everywhere in the city.

Inside a brightly lit mansion, a banquet was in full swing in a pavilion perched halfway over a small lake. Most of the guests were young people, all dressed in fine clothes, clearly of noble birth.

There were three seats at the head of the table, with a young girl in the middle. It was hard to say what was so attractive about her, but the more you looked at her, the more you wanted to look at her. She was Princess Ning of the Zhao Kingdom.

The young man on the left, dressed in robes embroidered with a blue dragon, is the fifteenth son of the current King of Jin. The young nobleman on the right exudes a profound aura, his skin radiating a subtle, precious light, clearly possessing considerable cultivation. Sitting beside the Princess of Zhao, his lineage is undoubtedly extraordinary; he is the heir apparent to King Cheng.

Aside from these two, those who could drink with Princess Ningguo were all of illustrious backgrounds.

There were still a few empty seats at the table when a waiter announced loudly, "General Wang, Right Protector of the Imperial Guards, has arrived!"

A burly man with a square face entered the pavilion. Although he was not wearing armor, his military bearing was very conspicuous. He first bowed to the fifteenth prince, and then took his seat.

Everyone at the table knew each other, and one of the young men said, "General Wang, I heard that today the Western Region barbarians entered the city, frightening the city gate guards into mistakenly sounding the alarm. Are these barbarians really that powerful?"

The square-faced general said, "They are indeed a fierce and powerful army."

One of the young masters snorted and sneered, "No matter how capable this guy is, daring to offend Princess Ningguo, I, this young master, will have to experience the unique skills of the Taichu Palace!"

This young man spoke without restraint, causing the expressions of the people at the table to become somewhat subtle.

The social atmosphere among nobles in various countries is quite open, especially among members of the royal family. Many of them are dissolute, and it is not uncommon for princesses to have seen countless men before they are even twenty years old.

The news that the Zhao Kingdom delegation had been kidnapped by the bandit Zhan Tian Gang and that Princess Ning Kingdom had been humiliated spread faster than a message carried by a flying sword. No one cared that the princess had been humiliated; they simply treated it as if she had been bitten by a dog, or perhaps she had drunk too much and mistakenly chosen an unpleasant guest as her patron.

What everyone was talking about was that the bandits got on and off the carriage in the blink of an eye. The capital was full of influential people; everyone knew the true origins of the Zhan Tian Gang, and naturally, they knew who dared to sneak into the princess's carriage.

In addition, Feng Lin, who lost his official position due to poor protection, insisted in prison that the bandit had indeed done the deed, and that he had heard the sound outside the carriage. As a result, this matter became a laughing stock, and with Wei Yuan being appointed as a military governor, it spread throughout the officialdom of the Western Jin Dynasty.

Before Wei Yuan's iron cavalry even entered the capital, the name "Three Guns" had already spread throughout the royal city.

(End of this chapter)