Longzang

Chapter 672 Zhizhengyuan

Wei Yuan sat upright on the couch, closing his eyes to rest, while his consciousness was in a small hall amidst the hustle and bustle of the world, browsing through intelligence, battle reports, and data gathered from various places.

In the northeastern town of Zhike in Qingming, an imperial envoy was reading an imperial edict. The Dao Foundation warrior kneeling to receive the edict remained expressionless. After listening to the edict, he took out a packet of immortal silver and handed it to the envoy. The envoy, who had been unhappy because he hadn't seen Wei Yuan, immediately beamed with joy upon weighing the silver, his displeasure vanishing completely.

At the same time, the imperial edict appeared amidst the everyday life of ordinary people, presented to Wei Yuan.

Beneath the main peak, a new town has been built. This small town was specifically constructed for the cultivators of the Taichu Palace, filled with spiritual flowers and trees, and shrouded in celestial mist. Upon entering the city gate, one finds a long street paved with mica, flanked by twelve pairs of white jade pillars with dragon-like patterns. The pillars are entwined with emerald-like vines, upon which bloom spiritual flowers the size of bowls. These flowers resemble Xu Henshui's immortal orchids, their petals as thin as cicada wings, releasing spiritual energy day and night with each opening and closing.

The town's streets and buildings stand side by side, with silk curtains hanging between the flying eaves and brackets. Dyed by the evening glow, it's as if the clouds of the Thirty-Three Heavens have been cut into window screens. Every evening, the continuous sound of jade chimes echoes from the town's center; just listening to it for a few moments can lead to significant spiritual advancement. Except for the absence of a floating peak, the scenery is almost as beautiful as the original Mount Taichu Palace.

Further in, in the center of the city stood the Zhizheng Academy. The main hall was currently empty, with three side rooms on each side, each with a sign hanging at its entrance: Agriculture, Herbs, Alchemy, Military Equipment...

The military equipment section was particularly large, occupying two side rooms, which contained several tables and desks with different labels on them, namely armor (steel), armor (underworld), muskets, gunpowder, ammunition, cannons, chariots, warhorses, and so on.

One by one, the monks entered the Council of State Affairs, each carrying an envelope with a document labeled with its category, such as artillery or agricultural matters. Upon entering, the monks placed the documents on the desks bearing the same labels.

The Daoji warrior sitting behind the table would open and read the letter, then place it into a box awaiting approval. Every so often, someone would come and collect the box, moving it to another small courtyard.

Dozens of officials sat in the courtyard, half of them Dao Foundation Warriors from Wei Yuan and the other half human officials from Qing Ming. The Dao Foundation Warriors reviewed the delivered official documents, found the replies in the mortal realm, and then wrote them down.

Human officials would then review the applications. If they found no problems, the applications would be sent down for processing; if there were problems, they would be sent to the third courtyard.

That courtyard was much smaller and had far fewer people. Three officials with extensive political experience were stationed there year-round, and the one sitting in the main hall now was none other than Yuan Qingyan.

As early as when the Rain Kingdom attacked, Yuan Qingyan had already resigned from his official post and joined the Azure Netherworld, and repeatedly went to the battlefield during the critical middle stages of the war. Although his Dharma Aspect abilities were limited, he was still a Dharma Aspect cultivator and made some contributions.

Yuan Qingyan joined Qingming during a time of crisis, not as an added bonus after the defeat of the Rain Kingdom. Wei Yuan thus held him in high regard and placed him in the newly established Council of State Affairs, specifically responsible for handling controversial agendas.

Yuan Qingyan had served as an official for decades and had been in charge of a region for some time, so he was very familiar with handling these political affairs.

Under this new system, Wei Yuan no longer needs to show his face. Instead, the Dao Foundation Warriors scattered in various places will gather information into the Human World, where it will be initially screened and processed before being delivered to him.

Wei Yuan spends most of his time approving documents amidst everyday life, only personally appearing on major matters.

After reading the decree from the Prince of Jin, Wei Yuan withdrew from the mundane world and went to the small courtyard where Consort Yuan resided. Prince Fu was practicing his sword in the courtyard, fiercely stabbing at a straw figure. When he saw Wei Yuan appear, he was startled and almost dropped his wooden sword.

Wei Yuan shook his head slightly. The royal lineage of the Jin Kingdom was not bad either, and the Body Forging stage was not difficult, so the royal lineage was not much different from that of the Taichu Palace. At this time, instead of meditating and cultivating, Prince Fu ran out to practice swordsmanship, which must mean he was mistaking the straw man for himself.

Wei Yuan didn't say anything, pretending not to have seen Prince Fu, and went straight into the main room, where he saw Consort Yuan sitting alone by the window, reading a storybook.

"What about the wind and rain?"

Consort Yuan said, "Sister Bao invited her to dinner."

"Why do those two eat together every day?"

Consort Yuan chuckled and said, "I'm asking you!"

Wei Yuan quickly said, "Let's get down to business first. This morning, the Prince of Jin sent an imperial edict summoning you and the Prince of Chu back to the capital immediately, but he didn't mention the Prince of Fu."

Consort Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "If the Prince of Fu wasn't mentioned, then this decree must have been issued by the Crown Prince, only it was stamped with the King's seal. I've only been out for a short time, and he's already unable to issue decrees according to his own will?"

"What has happened to Your Majesty?"

Consort Yuan sighed softly and said, "He stays at the Vajra Zen Temple outside the city all day long, cut off from news. How would I know what happened to him? But he mentioned to me not long ago that something had happened and he had lost a lot of his lifespan. Could it be that he has reached the end of his lifespan? But that still doesn't seem right."

Wei Yuan said, "If your lifespan has ended, the Crown Prince should just wait patiently. There's no need to be so eager to seize power. Perhaps there's more to it than meets the eye. If the power has already fallen into the Crown Prince's hands, then your return will surely be fraught with danger."

"You might as well stay here with me and wait until things clear up. The Crown Prince shouldn't be able to do anything to me. The Lü family is separated from me by the Xu family, and they're busy dealing with the Northern Liao, so they're too preoccupied to help themselves. Therefore, the only one who can step forward is the Xu family. The Xu family has fought me so many times and has never won. So you don't need to be afraid."

Consort Yuan remained silent, gazing quietly out the window.

Wei Yuan sensed something was off and asked, "You're not really going back, are you?" Consort Yuan sighed and said, "I know you might be upset, but when I first arrived at the Jin Palace, I was very much in love with the King, and he has treated me very well over the years. Later, he faced increasing pressure and more constraints, and some things happened that even caused his personality to change drastically. After the Vajra Zen Temple appeared, we gradually drifted apart."

But in those years, he did indeed want to achieve something, to be a wise ruler. However, he was not in control of his own destiny, and many things were beyond his control.

Now that his lifespan is nearing its end, and he's abandoned by everyone, his cultivation will dissipate, making even movement difficult. At that point, he'll probably have no one left to talk to. I intend to accompany him on this final journey, so that it will be a proper ending.”

"but you……"

"Don't worry about me, the Crown Prince wouldn't dare to do anything to me. Don't forget I have another identity. My father just doesn't want to see the Jin Kingdom under my control, but that doesn't mean he wants to see me bullied by others. In my father's eyes, the great cause comes first, and face comes second."

What if those people come again?

Consort Yuan said, "Let's leave it to fate."

As Wei Yuan walked out of the Yuanfei's courtyard, he felt exceptionally gloomy.

Along with the Prince of Jin's decree came a letter requesting the purchase of 10,000 sets of breastplates, stating that the silver would be delivered within three days and requesting Wei Yuan to arrange delivery within five days.

This letter broke with the previous practice of vague wording in official documents, leaving much unsaid. It not only clearly stated the payment and delivery time, but also specified that the breastplate would be sent to the King of England in the North.

Wei Yuan immediately sensed something was amiss with this letter, given its unusual nature. If it weren't for the urgency of the war in the north, the officials of the Western Jin Dynasty would never have written it so explicitly.

Wei Yuan was in a bad mood and needed something to relieve it, so he went to the firing range of the weapon forging workshop and ordered his men to bring out the breastplates stored in the warehouse, which were then placed at positions of ten, thirty, and fifty feet. He then bombarded them in turn with various types of muskets and flying swords equipped by the Qingming arsenal.

The test results came back quickly. The breastplate was effective against muskets at a range of fifty feet, but its effectiveness was less certain at thirty feet, with about half of it being pierced by muskets. The flying sword spear, on the other hand, could withstand attacks from a range of one hundred feet, but would be pierced within one hundred feet.

The new rotary flying sword cannon is extremely powerful, capable of piercing ordinary breastplates from 300 feet away.

After testing the muskets, Wei Yuan ordered people to bring the Northern Liao bows and crossbows for testing. The final result was that the Northern Liao swift arrows were as powerful as muskets, and the heavy arrows were as powerful as flying swords, while their range was much greater than that of muskets.

After the test, Wei Yuan pulled up the breastplate design drawings and said, "Immediately produce a new batch of breastplates made of ordinary steel, three millimeters thinner than the original design, to ensure that our current mainstream firearms can penetrate them at a distance of fifty feet. Alright, that's all the requirements. Speed ​​up production; produce ten thousand sets within five days."

Yu Zhizhuo, standing nearby, said, "Ten thousand sets is no problem; we can produce five thousand sets of breastplates every day now. Making them thinner actually increases the difficulty. Is it really necessary?"

“With the Prince of Jin out of power, we can only believe half of what he says. Who knows if they’re buying breastplates to fight the Northern Liao or to fight us? So I need to make sure that these breastplates can be penetrated by our ordinary soldiers’ muskets within fifty zhang.”

Yu Zhizhuo nodded and went to adjust the parameters of the batching and forging machine.

At this time, two more pieces of the latest intelligence were sent to the Zhizheng Yuan. Daoji Wushi had read them, which was equivalent to Wei Yuan having read them.

A secret letter was sent from the Western Jin Dynasty by Li Weisheng. The letter revealed that the Prince of Jin had an accident and only had three years left to live. Then, the Lü family suddenly launched an attack, supporting the crown prince and seizing power.

The Prince of Jin has now been completely sidelined. All political affairs in the court are merely formalities, and sometimes even that is not done. For example, the court meeting the other day lasted less than half an hour.

Although the Crown Prince occasionally spent the night at the palace, he usually conducted business in his own residence, maintaining a semblance of decorum. The letter also mentioned the unfavorable situation in the north, but specific information about the battle was strictly controlled, and even high-ranking officials like Li Weisheng were unaware of what had happened.

The letter concluded by advising Wei Yuan to make plans and preparations as soon as possible. However, Li Weisheng did not specify what those preparations entailed.

This letter shows a lot of affection.

As for Sun Chaoen, he is still relatively inexperienced and has not yet climbed into the imperial court, so he cannot be of much help in this matter. However, Sun Chaoen must have played a part in Li Weisheng's ability to write this letter.

After reading the letter, Wei Yuan still had some doubts. Logically speaking, with the Taichu Palace's northern gate in the north, the Liao people should not have dared to venture too deep. This still couldn't explain the decline of the Western Jin Dynasty.

At this point, all Wei Yuan could do was wait for news and deal with the affairs of Zhao. Another intelligence report arrived: a detailed map of the Biyue region. Cui Yu's spies had finally completed their terrain survey.

Now that the inner city of Biyue is complete and the outer city is 80% finished, nearly ten million taels of silver have already been poured in. Wei Yuan felt it was time to give the kids a good beating.

(End of this chapter)