Longzang

Chapter 742 Southern Military Secrets
In the capital of the Western Jin Dynasty, it was late autumn, and the cold wind was bleak. Most of the pedestrians on the street had sad faces and hurried along.

As Wei Yuan walked along the main road leading to the palace gate, officials he encountered all stepped forward to pay their respects. Even high-ranking officials of the second and third ranks, who were sitting in sedan chairs, hurriedly stopped and came forward to greet him. From the officials' fawning attitude alone, it was clear that Wei Yuan's status was no longer what it used to be.

When Wei Yuan first became a military governor, although he was only a second-rank official, other second-rank officials looked down on him. Now, however, those second-rank officials with real power were trying to bow half a head to him, while those with little real power couldn't even reach his shoulder. If Wei Yuan weren't so tall, these officials would have had to endure some hardship in their necks and backs.

It was nearing dusk, and the grand court assembly had already ended before noon. Important matters were usually handled in the Hall of State Affairs in the afternoon. At this moment, the meeting in the Hall of State Affairs should have just concluded, and Wei Yuan saw several officials from the Hall of State Affairs. However, he saw neither the Left Chancellor nor the Right Chancellor.

Wei Yuan knew perfectly well that he was taking the only main road in and out of the palace, and the two prime ministers would inevitably take the same route. They had received news of his arrival in the capital and were intentionally avoiding him.

Wei Yuan had anticipated this. The Left and Right Chancellors, being the two most powerful officials in the court and both belonging to the "pure stream" (a term referring to the upright and honest officials), naturally disapproved of him, a relative of the empress and a close ally of the eunuch faction. However, Wei Yuan had become too powerful, and although he disapproved, he couldn't get rid of him, so he simply avoided seeing them to avoid getting annoyed.

Upon entering the palace, Liu Quangong greeted him, saying, "Lord Wei's sudden arrival caught me off guard, and I was unable to properly welcome him. The Holy King is currently in the Imperial Study; I will take you there now."

"Thank you for your trouble, Eunuch Liu." Wei Yuan handed over a small cloth bag.

Liu Quangong touched the cloth bag and felt that there were several heavy objects inside, but they were also hot to the touch. He couldn't help but ask, "What kind of treasure is this?"

Wei Yuan laughed and said, "Earth Core Flame Jade is a material used by immortals. It's better than Immortal Silver if you use it."

"So it's a divine item! How can our family afford to use it?" Liu Quangong quickly pushed it back.

Wei Yuan said, "This item is excellent for personal use, even if you don't exchange it for anything else. Keeping one in your bed will keep you warm on cold nights. However, prolonged use can easily cause internal heat to rise, so the room cannot be too small, and you will need to take more cooling medicines to counteract it."

Liu Quangong stamped his foot and said, "This...sigh! Then I'm ashamed to accept your help, but there's nothing I can do to help you right now, and I feel guilty!"

As they traveled, Wei Yuan casually asked, "Why has Your Majesty been visiting the Vajra Zen Temple less often lately, instead of the usual place?"

"Recently, the State of Zhao has invaded, and the affairs of state are very busy. Your Majesty cannot go outside the city every day."

Wei Yuan nodded, asked no further questions, and followed Liu Quangong into the imperial study. Inside the study was a chair, where the Prince of Ying was also seated.

Wei Yuan greeted the Prince of Ying, and the Prince of Jin said, "Upon receiving your message, the Prince of Ying insisted on returning to the capital to see you. I felt that since I had to discuss this matter with the Prince of Ying anyway, I summoned him back. You speak first."

Wei Yuan then said, "The Zhao state is ambitious and will certainly not stop after occupying only a hundred miles of land. The fundamental solution is to enrich the country and strengthen the army. As long as our Great Jin has an invincible iron army, the enemy will have no opportunity to take advantage of us."

The King of Jin said, "There are no outsiders here, so there's no need for useless talk. I can't even collect the most basic taxes, how can I talk about enriching the country?"

Wei Yuan was confident about this matter and said, "The Great Jin has vast fertile lands and a large population, ranking among the top three of the nine kingdoms. It is naturally rich, but the question is whether the wealth is concentrated in the people, the country, or the powerful families. The current empty treasury and impoverished people are because most of the wealth has flowed into the pockets of powerful families."

They eat too much and don't pay taxes. The king only taxes the poor; how much silver can he possibly collect? Besides, six or seven out of ten poor people are registered under the names of powerful families; their taxes are collected by those families, not the court.

The King of England said, “Everyone understands the principle, but how do we break this deadlock? Eight or nine out of ten local powerful families and county officials have some connection with aristocratic families. All the bigwigs and cabinet members in the court are one and the same. If we want to levy taxes on aristocratic families, we would have to dismiss all the civil and military officials in the court before we can implement new laws.”

The Prince of Jin calmly said, "Removing them from their posts is useless. If I remove one of their important positions today, someone might poison my bowl tomorrow. Years ago, I wanted to eliminate the corrupt officials, but six of my children alone have died in various accidents! If I cut off their source of income, they might even try to kill me."

The King of England sighed, “The powerful families and the righteous are deeply intertwined, and they are also entangled with the Four Saints Academy and the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land. They have long since grown into towering trees, and their roots have spread to every corner of the country. If all these roots are cut off, I'm afraid the Great Jin Dynasty will be finished.”

Wei Yuan said, "The Great Jin is the son of the Martial Ancestor's scheme, so the throne will never fall into the hands of others."

The King of England coughed lightly, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped himself.

The King of Jin, however, disregarded this and said, "Although the throne still belongs to the Lü family, it doesn't mean that I will be the one sitting on it. It's not impossible that a three-year-old child could be replaced in the future."

At this point in the discussion, Wei Yuan got to the point: "Your Majesty, I am willing to share your burdens! I can provide the Great Jin with a complete set of equipment for the Azure Nether Army. Your Majesty only needs to grant me a few prefectures with tax collection rights and mining rights. I will collect the taxes that Your Majesty is too embarrassed to do yourself. For each prefecture I acquire, I am willing to donate 100,000 sets of armor and weaponry to the Great Jin!"

The Prince of Jin was clearly surprised, but before he could speak, the Prince of Ying's eyes lit up, and he asked, "How many flying swords are there in the armaments?"

"The equipment allocation for this batch of weapons is based on the current equipment configuration of Qingming's army. Since flying swords and spears can only be used by Dao Foundation cultivators, the quantity may be insufficient for the northern border army. If Your Majesty has other needs, I will make up the difference."

Wei Yuan spoke modestly, but the King of Ying knew perfectly well that the total number of Dao Foundation Establishments within the Azure Netherworld had likely exceeded five thousand, and perhaps even more. The number of Dao Foundation Establishments within the military was certainly far greater than that of the border troops, and far surpassed that of the spoiled brats in the Imperial Guard.

The King then asked, "And the muskets? The first or the second generation?"

"Qingming no longer produces first-generation units; all of them are second-generation units."

The so-called second generation refers to gunpowder made using materials such as thunder sand and spirit charcoal. Qingming has experienced many battles, and the firearms in his possession are far more powerful than the versions made by the Jin Kingdom. This is not a secret that can be kept hidden. All the high-ranking officials have long known that Qingming has another gunpowder formula, but they have just been unable to crack it for the time being.

By this point, the King of England was beaming with pride. He stood up abruptly and exclaimed, "Your Majesty, grant his request!"

While the Prince of Jin hesitated, the Prince of Ying continued, "Your Majesty, what is the foundation of the nation? It is not the silver, nor the weapons, but the elite soldiers of the Northern Frontier! As long as they are there, the sky over Great Jin will not fall. The sooner this batch of weapons arrives, the fewer soldiers will die! This is the true foundation of the nation!"

The King of Jin sighed and finally nodded, spreading out the map and picking up a vermilion brush to draw circles. Wei Yuan hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please wait! There are core counties around the ancestral lands of the Xu and Lü families that I do not want."

The Prince of Jin paused, then chuckled and said, "You little rascal, why do you always think of me as a villain?"

The universally acknowledged rule in the Great Tang Dynasty is that the entire prefecture where the ancestral home of a noble family is located belongs to that family. The surrounding prefectures form the core area, where most of the profits accrue to the noble family. Other prefectures are determined on a case-by-case basis. For example, land seized from other races by establishing their own boundary stones, even if far from their ancestral home, is generally considered part of the core area, and the profits will be gradually returned to the noble family after a century.

Of the eight prefectures in Ningxi, three are the core areas of the Xu family, and the Lü family in Ganzhou also has three core prefectures. Even if these core prefectures were offered to Wei Yuan, he would not accept them. Taking them would be tantamount to making an enemy of the immortals and all the aristocratic families.

However, outside the core areas, the powerful families in other prefectures didn't value it as much. Even though they had controlled it for a long time, they weren't against exchanging it if necessary. There was an unspoken agreement among the families: the nine kingdoms were the body, and the families were the flesh and blood. If a piece of flesh and blood grew too rapidly, it might cause the body to die.

Therefore, there are unwritten rules among the various aristocratic families that limit the number of core areas. What Wei Yuan wants still leaves a lot of room for manipulation.

The Prince of Jin paused his vermilion brush in mid-air, pondered for a moment, and said, "I hereby appoint you as the Grand Minister of the Southern Military Council, in charge of all military affairs in the five southwestern prefectures, and with the authority to levy military supplies locally."

Then, with a stroke of the vermilion brush, five prefectures were circled. Two of these prefectures belonged to the eight prefectures of Ningxi, which were considered peripheral forces of the Xu family. The imperial court could collect some silver from them, but not much. Even with two such large prefectures, they could only collect three to four hundred thousand taels of silver annually.

"I may have to kill some people," Wei Yuan said.

The Prince of Jin glared at him and said, "Do we really have to kill him openly?"

Wei Yuan then said, "I understand, but there may be villains who slander us at that time."

The Prince of Jin chuckled: "Have there been too few memorials criticizing you? Well, look, that shelf is full of them!"

The King of England patted Wei Yuan on the shoulder and said, "You must be careful and not act rashly. Those so-called upright officials have no bottom line in their actions. If you touch their interests, they will definitely resort to ruthless means."

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness." Wei Yuan bowed deeply. He still greatly admired the King of England.

"When will the military equipment be delivered?" the Prince of Jin asked.

"We have 50,000 units available immediately, which can be delivered at Hanyang Pass. Then 200,000 units next month, and 250,000 units the month after that."

The Prince of Jin gave Wei Yuan a deep look and said, "That's fast enough."

Wei Yuan hurriedly replied, "This is several years' worth of stock."

The Prince of Jin didn't say much, and the next step was to discuss the details.

Inside the palace gates, in an inconspicuous side room, the Left and Right Chancellors sat, watching the sky darken outside the window. This was usually a resting place for officials who had attended court, but the morning court session had long since ended, so there were hardly any people there. No one would have guessed that the two chancellors hadn't left the palace but were instead sitting here.

At this moment, a servant entered and said, "My lords, Wei Yuan has entered the Imperial Study, where the Prince of Ying is also present. It is said that His Majesty intends to appoint Wei Yuan as the Military Advisor of the South, in charge of the military affairs of five prefectures, with the authority to execute first and report later."

The Right Chancellor's face immediately darkened. The Left Chancellor said slowly, "Your Majesty, you've really gotten your hands on someone else's pot."

The Right Chancellor said, "This is the ancestral system, and it has been done this way for thousands of years. To arbitrarily change the ancestral system is to go against the tide, and I'm afraid... it will lead to the downfall of the country."

The Left Prime Minister calmly replied, "The country will not perish."

The Right Chancellor understood: "That's true."

The Left Prime Minister slowly stood up and said, "Let's go. If we leave the palace now, we won't run into anyone."

The Right Chancellor snorted and said, "It's probably not a good thing that this brat has suddenly become famous."

Late at night, Wei Yuanfang walked out of Chunhua Palace. His body was exhausted, but his mind was clear and transparent, and he was thinking about important military and national affairs.

Taking stock of his powers, Wei Yuan, in addition to overseeing the military affairs of the five southwestern prefectures, also held the power to levy taxes and control mining. He could set up checkpoints at the border to collect transit fees, execute officials below the seventh rank without prior approval, and had the power to appoint officials. In other words, within a county, except for the county magistrate, Wei Yuan had the power to remove or even execute all officials, high and low.

His mind was exceptionally clear at this moment. Every few steps, Wei Yuan would recall an oversight and immediately rectify it. Then, Wei Yuan remembered another important matter, but it was too late, and the Prince of Jin should already be resting. Wei Yuan planned to visit again the following evening, mainly to arrange for the imperial guards from the capital to march south.

The capital city has four garrison divisions, each with 30,000 men. Wei Yuan thought it would be best to transfer three of the divisions, or at least one.

The Imperial Guards were full of spoiled brats who came to gain experience and live a life of idleness. By keeping these people in his hands, Wei Yuan gained control over many of their weaknesses.

Wei Yuan walked and pondered, and in the blink of an eye he arrived at the palace gate. Suddenly his whole body trembled and his pupils shrank!

Outside the palace gate stood a bald woman with blue eyes.

(End of this chapter)