Longzang

Chapter 979 Strategic Maneuvering
Ting County is located on the northeastern edge of Xiangshui Commandery, almost bordering another commandery just outside the county seat. This small county town has not yet suffered from war, but at this moment, the town is crowded with all the officials of the commandery, from the prefect to the guerrilla commanders, and it has suffered greatly from man-made disaster.

The prefect and his officials have taken refuge here, so it cannot be considered an abandonment of the territory. But if the rebels really attack, then they will have no choice but to flee.

At this moment, the prefect and a group of officials and deputy generals were gathered around a map, staring intently at Guantun County. The map clearly marked that Guantun County had already been occupied by the military governor of Da Tang Qingyang.

The prefect turned and asked, "Have you sensed the boundary stone?"

An old cultivator opened his hazy eyes and said, "I've sensed it. The boundary stone of Guantun County hasn't been moved. The boundary stones of the surrounding counties and cities have all been removed. There are now eight boundary stones in Guantun County. Apart from Guantun and Ting County, there is only one boundary stone that hasn't been moved."

The prefect's face was grim: "Of the twenty counties in this prefecture, only twelve boundary stones remain. Eight of them have been destroyed?"

The officials were all ashen-faced. The crime of removing the boundary stone was more serious than losing territory. To not only remove the boundary stone but also destroy it was utterly unforgivable; execution wouldn't be enough, the entire clan must be exterminated.

The deputy general suddenly asked, "Why are there so many boundary stones in Guantun County?"

Another person exclaimed, "Oh no! That person is going to run away with the boundary stone!"

"What Qingyang Jiedushi? He's clearly here to steal our boundary stones!"

“Prefect, you are the nephew-in-law of Grand Secretary Xu. This official from the Great Tang has come to our Ji Kingdom’s territory to rob us. We can’t just let him get away!”

The prefect's expression shifted between light and dark. After a moment, he made a decision and said, "Send someone to Guantun County and make that so-called Qingyang Jiedushi withdraw from this prefecture's territory and return all nineteen boundary stones! Otherwise, I will submit a memorial to the emperor, accusing him of treason!"

The officials all realized that the number of boundary stones requested by the prefect was incorrect, and they all kept silent.

……

Upon receiving the rebuke from the prefect's messenger, Wei Yuan was first surprised, then looked carefully at the Confucian scholar messenger standing upright below, and then at the messenger in his hand, and asked doubtfully, "A liar?"

The person on the left and right replied, "The clothes don't look like it, but the work is done properly."

Wei Yuan frowned and said, "The distance from the city gate to the main hall of this military governor's office is not short. Can't you see the city? With so many elite troops and fierce generals, can't we intimidate this guy?"

The scholar, who had been standing there with his neck stiff, said, "I am here on the orders of the Prefect. Even if you have thousands of troops, what do I have to fear! If you dare to touch me today, the imperial army will come one day and wipe you all out! I will make sure you die without a burial place!"

Wei Yuan shook the letter in his hand and said to those around him, "I only received eight boundary stones, but this guy says I have nineteen! Heh, he's trying to balance the accounts on my end, what a character! Hmm? Not only is he trying to balance the accounts, but he also wants to make two more for himself?"

Both sides let out two "hehe" sounds, as if to indicate they were laughing themselves to death.

Wei Yuan glanced at the Confucian scholar again and said, "This Ji State is really strange. No matter what kind of scraps or odds they are, as long as they have even the slightest connection with the government, they immediately start jumping around, acting arrogantly, and wishing they could trample on everyone they know. To be honest, I've never seen a mad dog this crazy."

They looked at each other, knowing that the governor was right, but not knowing how to respond.

The Confucian scholar was trembling with rage, pointing at Wei Yuan and saying, "How dare you! Do you know who I am?"

In front of him, Wei Yuan tore the prefect's letter in half and said, "This gentleman seems to want to be remembered in history, so let's not grant his wish. Take him away and behead him, and kill all those who came with him. It's a tradition for two armies to kill each other's envoys during a battle. But remember to handle it cleanly, without leaving a trace. We absolutely cannot let the historians find this gentleman's name."

The soldiers below immediately grabbed the scholar and lifted him down like a chick.

The scholar had initially been shouting and threatening, but seeing himself being dragged further and further away, he became frightened and desperately begged for mercy. When Wei Yuan ignored him, he turned to threaten the soldiers, repeatedly saying, "Do you know who I am?"

Wei Yuan tore the letter to shreds in a few swift movements. A young deputy general whom Qingming had personally trained said, "Lord, wait! This letter is irrefutable evidence, enough to prove that the prefect is incompetent and insubordinate. It's enough to behead him!"

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "Why bother with a mere prefect? ​​Besides, people need evidence when they're alive."

The young deputy general pondered the matter carefully, seemingly lost in thought. Wei Yuan then said, "Go and see which rebel army came to deliver people today. Then tell them that there is still a boundary stone in Ting County, and ask them to send it over."

The deputy general was filled with admiration for Wei Yuan and left in a hurry.

Wei Yuan returned to his study in the back hall and began to submit a memorial to Tang Shi, requesting an award.

The memorial begins by describing how, upon arriving in the State of Ji, he decisively defeated the rebel army, recovered thousands of miles of lost territory, and beheaded 300,000. He then praises Emperor Jing as a wise ruler unparalleled in history, and concludes by requesting a title, offering to be appointed as the garrison commander of Xianghan.

After completing the memorial, Wei Yuan ordered a map of the Ji Kingdom to be delivered. He circled Xiangshui Commandery, and, not satisfied, also circled the nearby Hansi Commandery, thus completing the name "Xianghan." As for the closer Fengyuan Commandery, Wei Yuan ignored it. Wei Yuan attached the map to the memorial, ordered three copies to be made, and then dispatched three Dharma Aspect cultivators, each taking a different route, to the Tang Palace to present the memorial.

After learning of this, the generals whispered amongst themselves. Everyone in the world knew that the Tang Dynasty was now merely a figurehead; even if Emperor Tang issued a decree by name, no one would bother to obey. Therefore, the generals didn't quite understand why the Realm Lord was so persistent.

After sending out the memorial, Wei Yuan separated a wisp of his divine sense to continue reading storybooks amidst the everyday life of ordinary people.

A recently published story by an ordinary person is quite interesting. It's called "The Fierce Warrior of Xiliang," and it tells the tale of a fat, dark-skinned bandit who rose to power in Xiliang. This bandit is crude and uncultured, but he's a formidable fighter, and he leads a band of fierce and ruthless brothers. Later, when the emperor falls into misfortune, he issues an edict summoning righteous men from all over the land to the capital to defend him. The fat, dark-skinned bandit takes advantage of the chaos to enter the capital, defeats various warlords, and spends every night in the palace.

Wei Yuan read this part with great interest, repeatedly comparing it with historical records, which deepened his understanding of the importance of righteousness and legitimacy. The latter half of the book describes how someone, in order to flatter him, presented him with the most beautiful woman in the land at the time, followed by various entanglements, love, and hatred between the beauty and the beast.

Wei Yuan was initially very interested, but once he saw the description of the ordinary village girl, he lost interest and went back to the beginning.

At this moment, Wei Yuan specially separated several strands of his divine sense to search through historical records, looking for all the parts about righteousness and legitimacy, and then sorted them out to carefully analyze the causes and consequences.

Meanwhile, Wei Yuan's other hundred divine senses were constantly examining the research on the Six Wonders Immortal Lord by the mortal world. He himself was also repeatedly pondering what kind of scheme the Six Wonders Immortal Lord had set up.

Clearly, this situation is related to population and boundary stones, with eliminating mortals and removing the boundary stones being key components. However, for the Six Wonders Immortal Lord, killing people doesn't seem to be necessary; relocating mortals out of his territory can achieve the same effect, and removing the boundary stones is sufficient. The Six Wonders Immortal Lord doesn't seem to need the boundary stones at all.

In retrospect, the bigger reason Liu Miao destroyed the boundary stone was probably because he was afraid it would be replanted in its original territory.

At this moment, Wei Yuan suddenly had a thought: If that's the case, then cooperating with Liu Miao might not be impossible? Liu Miao could go and eliminate the borders of the Ji Kingdom, while he could take over the mortals and boundary stones from behind, and then expand into the current mountain people's territory.

However, Wei Yuan immediately dismissed the idea. Based solely on Liu Miao's current actions, Wei Yuan would never cooperate with him. This was a fundamental conflict of principles, not something that could be changed by personal interests.

……

April of the second year of the Hongjing era.

The Prince of Tang was reviewing memorials, while Emperor Jing sat at a side table, flipping through the reviewed memorials and mechanically marking them with a vermilion brush after each reading.

In name, a memorial only becomes effective after the regent approves it and Emperor Jing approves it again. But everyone knows that Emperor Jing is just going through the motions.

The young Emperor Jing mechanically and blankly looked at the memorials, mechanically and blankly writing down their names. But when he saw one memorial, he paused for a rare moment.

The young emperor still remembered this military governor of Qingyang. Although he was supposed to be in the northwest, he had traveled thousands of miles to the southwestern state of Ji to fight a war, and even wanted to carve out a piece of Ji's territory for himself as a reward. In the young emperor's eyes, this was not just overstepping his bounds, but downright absurd.

How can troops be mobilized when separated by hundreds of thousands of miles? Where will the food come from? Where will the reinforcements come from?

In the eyes of the young emperor, who considered himself well-versed in military strategy and only slightly inferior to the famous generals of the past, this memorial was full of flaws and not worth refuting. He clearly thought the emperor and the court officials were fools.

People like Wei Yuan, despite receiving rewards from the Great Tang, would also hold additional official positions in the nine kingdoms. For example, Wei Yuan was simultaneously the Dingxi Jiedushi (military governor) of the Western Jin Dynasty. Generally speaking, only official positions granted by the nine kingdoms had real significance.

Therefore, in the past, the Great Tang Dynasty usually dealt with similar petitions that made unreasonable demands for rewards by simply leaving them aside without replying or rejecting them. But this time was different; the Regent actually agreed!

The young emperor felt a chill run down his spine, his eyes darkening as he secretly began to speculate about the relationship between Wei Yuan and the Regent.

At this moment, a court official coughed, and the young emperor realized that he had lingered on the memorial for too long. So he picked up his brush, wrote "Approved," stamped it with his seal, and handed it to the court official.

In June of the second year of the Hongjing era, Wei Yuan received an imperial edict from Emperor Jing, officially assuming the post of Garrison Commander of Xianghan.

Wei Yuan was quite surprised to receive the imperial edict. His memorial actually contained a hidden threat, an imitation of ancient writings, which he believed high-ranking officials in the court would understand. Wei Yuan knew the court would most likely approve it, but he didn't expect it to be approved so quickly. This time difference was quite intriguing.

After a moment's thought, Wei Yuan glimpsed the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and the chaotic situation in the State of Ji.

However, such a quick approval made Wei Yuan's Dao heart clear, so he went to capture another inner demon.

At this time, it had been just one month since the governor of Xiangshui County disappeared.

This news, when seen by those with a keen eye, instilled fear in them. For months, many officials in the State of Ji had discovered that anyone who opposed this Lord Wei was likely to die a gruesome death.

(End of this chapter)