I really became a king.

Chapter 374: Comments from the Sophora japonica Patriarch

That night, Jiang Yi hosted a grand banquet in the royal villa of East Demon Realm Pass to entertain Pang Xuan. Mi Qingqing just sat for a while and then went back to the back hall.

Pang Xuan was extremely humble and had no intention of looking down on Mi Qingqing, his mistress. He kept calling her "Master Mi" and toasted Jiang Yi repeatedly.

Jiang Yi had a good impression of Pang Xuan, the chief steward of the Forbidden Palace, and he accepted all toasts.

When Pang Xuan left the next day, Jiang Yi personally sent him outside the Demon Realm.

With the departure of Pang Xuan, a piece of news quickly spread in the Demon Realm Pass: From now on, Prince Yi Jiang Yi will officially follow the ancestral teachings and garrison the Western Frontier, and will guard the Western Frontier forever for generations.

There is an atmosphere of joy everywhere in the Demon Realm Pass. Although Jiang Yi has been staying in Kongtong Mountain for the past two months, the policies he set have been thoroughly implemented.

Although a bloody purge took place in secret, the Demon Realm was still treated very leniently towards most of the military border residents within the border area.

In addition, Demon Realm Pass has now become a livable Jiangnan outside the Great Wall, and no one needs to bow down for living water anymore, and all this is thanks to Jiang Yi's arrival.

Therefore, after only two months, Jiang Yi established absolute prestige in Western Xinjiang and won the recognition of the entire Western Xinjiang military and border residents.

During these two months, many military border residents who had moved away from Western Xinjiang returned to the Western Xinjiang Demon Realm Pass. Even many military border residents whose ancestors had moved away from this place also moved back.

Because of their military status in Western Xinjiang, although they moved away from Western Xinjiang long ago, their military status was inherited from generation to generation.

Although the Dali Dynasty turned a blind eye to these military households fleeing from the Western Frontier, and even allowed them to leave, it did not provide them with any protection.

These military households from the western frontier, no matter how wealthy they were, were always inferior to others. Even if those in power wanted to, their property could be easily taken away from them.

Over the past two thousand years, there have been too many examples like this. Many military households that migrated from the Western Xinjiang became wealthy tycoons, but just because they offended some powerful people or were targeted by those in power, they ended up with their families broken up and their lives destroyed.

Just as it seemed to have tacitly allowed them to leave Western Xinjiang, the Dali Dynasty also remained silent on this matter.

Therefore, those military households who left the Western Frontier, even if they had been passed down for several generations, still lived in fear and used more than half of their family wealth to bribe those in power in order to find a protective umbrella for their family.

As humble as an ant, this is the life of the military households in Western Xinjiang.

Later, these military households from the Western Frontier began to band together and slowly formed their own gathering places throughout the Dali Dynasty. Although they obtained the most basic survival guarantees, they also confined themselves to a certain circle.

And for those who really hold power, this is just like a paper fence, which they can destroy with a flick of their hand if they want to.

Long before Jiang Yi came to Western Xinjiang, many military households that had relocated had moved back to Western Xinjiang. After all, they were as lowly as slaves outside, and it was even worse than living in Western Xinjiang. After all, this was their ancestral land.

In the two months since Jiang Yi officially took over Western Xinjiang, there has been a wave of return migration.

After seeing Pang Xuan off, Jiang Yi stood on the city wall of East Demon Territory Pass, looking at the wasteland inside the pass where the wind and sand were gradually subsiding. In this endless wasteland, returning military households with their families and carrying large and small bags could be seen everywhere.

"How many military households have returned in the past two months?" Jiang Yi asked.

Ding Ren, who was standing beside him, bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, there should be 300,000 people."

Jiang Yi nodded and said nothing.

"This is just the beginning. Once the news spreads, more and more military households from Western Xinjiang will return." Lin Yizi interjected.

"When the Dali royal family was guarding the area, although the population of Western Xinjiang was declining, it still had at least a few million people. Later, most of them left Western Xinjiang. After so many years of reproduction and development, the population must be at least tens of millions."

Hearing Jiang Yi's words, Lin Yizhi said, "There must be more than that, but I'm afraid we can't get back so many."

Jiang Yi understood what this meant. Not to mention whether the tiny Western Xinjiang could accommodate so many people, the Dali Dynasty would not allow so many military households to return to their ancestral land in Western Xinjiang.

In the eyes of many people, although the Western Frontier Demon Realm Pass has now become a livable place with a suitable climate, it is limited in area and cannot support too many people. Two to three million is already the limit.

At the banquet last night, Pang Xuan let out a hint of something in a very obscure way.

The Dali Dynasty recognized Jiang Yi's identity in the Western Frontier, but the journey was too long to support too many people, and could only provide food rations for three million people each year.

Pang Xuan stopped there and didn't say anything more.

Jiang Yi was not stupid enough to say that he would find a way to raise the extra food for the population, because this was the Dali Dynasty, or more precisely, the red line set by his royal grandfather:
The total population of Western Xinjiang must not be allowed to exceed three million!

In this matter, a group of forces headed by Ye Xinmei must have also added fuel to the flames. With a population of three million, excluding the elderly, children, women and the necessary young and strong laborers, how many troops can be mobilized?

It is quite limited, hundreds of millions is already the limit.

Although hundreds of thousands of troops may seem like a lot, they are only enough to defend the Demon Realm Pass, and Bingfeng cannot even take a single step out of the Demon Realm Pass.

"They are trying to cut off the source of the problem..." Jiang Yi said, and Lin Yizi and Ding Ren beside him did not respond.

They all understood that the Dali Emperor wanted to trap their prince forever in the tiny place of the Western Frontier Demon Realm.

With a population of three million, it is difficult to achieve much in a short period of time in this war-torn area of ​​Western Frontier. The only thing they can do is to take back the Demon Realm Pass.

Unless Western Xinjiang can restore the spirit of bravery and martial arts at the beginning of the dynasty, all military households will mount horses to serve as soldiers in wartime and dismount to serve as civilians in peacetime, but this spirit of bravery and martial arts cannot be restored easily.

Moreover, the Dali Imperial Capital would probably try every means to obstruct it. After all, the reputation of the Western Frontier's [Fierce Wind Cavalry] was too great.

The founding ancestors of Dali fought in many battles and were extremely powerful. After the establishment of the Dali Dynasty, for various reasons, this Liefeng Iron Cavalry was settled in the western border, and even a military registration system was painstakingly set up.

It is to imprison this unruly Fierce Wind Cavalry forever in the Western Frontier Demon Realm Pass.

For this purpose, various policies were even introduced to restrict the Fierce Wind Cavalry. However, even so, at the beginning of the dynasty, the Fierce Wind Cavalry once expanded the territory of the Dali Dynasty to the west by tens of thousands of kilometers.

It was also at that time that the Dali King Flag, which symbolized the glory of the Western Xinjiang military households, formally established its supreme status in Western Xinjiang.

Later, as the royal family stationed in the western border changed generation after generation, the Fierce Wind Cavalry gradually weakened, and was finally driven back to the Demon Realm Pass by the foreign tribes on the border.

After the royal family guarding the western border was completely wiped out, the Dali royal family betrayed their oath of "the royal family guarding the national border" and lost their trust in the world.

The Fierce Wind Cavalry also completely declined, until they finally disappeared into thin air and became a distant legend.

However, the military households and border residents in Western Xinjiang have always retained this former glory in their bones, so many people choose to continue staying here. Even those who have moved away have not forgotten their military household status for generations.

Because they also long to restore the glory of their ancestors one day and restore the iron spirit of the [Fierce Wind Cavalry].

So when Jiang Yi appeared in the Western Frontier with the Dali King Flag, it caused such a sensation, and made countless soldiers and border residents burst into tears. Jiang Yi was able to enter the Demon Realm Pass so smoothly, and the Dali King Flag played an indispensable role.

But at the same time, many people were also watching Jiang Yi silently. In the Western Frontier, the flag of King Dali carried the endless glory of the ancestors of the military households and border residents, and had extraordinary symbolic significance.

The owner of the Dali King Banner must not be an ordinary person. He must be able to shoulder the glory of the Western Frontier's warlords and lead them to recreate the style of their ancestors.

Jiang Yi naturally would not refuse, and he also had the confidence that the Western Frontier would be his base, and the vast grassland outside the Western Demon Realm would surely become his horse ranch.

"Your Highness, do you want to send someone to prepare some food in advance?" Ding Ren asked cautiously.

"No need for that. I'm sure the Imperial Capital of Dali has already begun to control the transportation of grain from various businesses to Western Xinjiang. We can't prepare much in advance, and it will only cause dissatisfaction in the Imperial Capital of Dali, which will not be worth the loss." Jiang Yi shook his head.

"How about getting some from outside the Great Wall?" Jiang Yuan beside him interrupted unwillingly.

Jiang Yi couldn't help but laugh and scolded: "Look at your useless look, don't worry, I won't let you starve."

Jiang Yuan grinned. He was really frightened by the days of hunger and starvation he had lived in the past.

"The current plan is to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing circumstances. The most urgent task is to gain a firm foothold in the Western Frontier." Jiang Yi whispered, then turned around, looked in the direction of the Western Demon Realm Pass, and whispered softly:
"My goal is not inside the pass, but outside the pass!"

Then he remembered something and asked, "Have you confirmed the identity of that person?"

Ding Ren took a step forward and whispered, "I found it. It's in the town under the Eastern Demon Territory."

"Isn't it possible to alert the enemy?"

"No, since his identity was confirmed, I haven't sent anyone to monitor him. I only sent people to guard the roads leading in and out of the town." Ding Ren replied.

Jiang Yi nodded and said, "Let's go and meet this Thousand Faces Man. I won't be able to sleep or eat well until we take over the Western Frontier Corridor."

At the same time, Pang Xuan, who had already gone far away from the Demon Realm Pass, seemed to be exhausted. He bought a carriage like a caravan and got in.

Although the Manghuang Continent values ​​martial arts, many warriors like to ride in a carriage when traveling, so Pang Xuan's behavior did not arouse anyone's suspicion.

When Pang Xuan entered the carriage, he saw an old man with a haggard face sitting inside. His face was covered with dense wrinkles, some of which were even half a finger deep.

Especially the upper eyelids, which droop down from the corners of the eyes, like two bags of flesh hanging.

"I've met my ancestor."

As soon as he entered the carriage, Pang Xuan knelt down and kowtowed respectfully.

"Get up."

The old man with withered wormwood said something softly, and then stopped talking, leaving Pang Xuan waiting there cautiously.

The old man seemed to be asleep, sitting cross-legged without making any movement, and even snoring softly. Pang Xuan waited there motionless, not daring to show any dissatisfaction.

After an unknown amount of time, the drooping eyelids of the old man with Artemisia moved, as if he had woken up.

"Alas, I am old now and feel sleepy all the time. I am afraid I don't have many years left to live..."

Pang Xuan wanted to say something, but the old man with dried wormwood didn't give him a chance and said, "Go back and tell the emperor that we are not sure we can kill any of the four ancestors of Wenzong Mansion."

Pang Xuan was stunned when he heard this. The old man in front of him was the most senior eunuch in the Dali Forbidden Palace, known as the "Sophora japonica ancestor". It was rumored that he had served three generations of emperors, and his cultivation had reached the pinnacle, reaching the limit of human martial arts.

Even Mo Ruhai had to respectfully call the other party "Ancestor".

"That dead man is so strong just after awakening the Great Dao of Wen Zong? Even the ancestor..."

The old man with withered wormwood looked up at Pang Xuan. His eyes were only a slit and looked extremely cloudy. Pang Xuan did not dare to look directly at him and lowered his eyes.

“You don’t understand… The Fourth Ancestor of the Wenzong Mansion came into being at the right time, and it’s not that easy to kill.”

"You might as well go back and tell the emperor that the rise of Emperor Wenzong is unstoppable. Unless you want Western Xinjiang to truly become a holy land for Emperor Wenzong, you should treat the scholars well."

Pang Xuan lowered his head and listened attentively. He finally sensed something was wrong and raised his head carefully and asked, "Grandpa is not going back to the imperial capital?"

The old man with dried wormwood lowered his eyes again and whispered, "I don't have many years left to live. I have spent my whole life in the Forbidden Palace. I want to spend the remaining years wandering around."

Pang Xuan looked embarrassed and said, "I'm afraid the emperor will..."

"Don't worry, the first emperor we served once gave us a warning that we would serve three generations of emperors in our lifetime. Now that we have completed our mission, the emperor won't mind."

Pang Xuan hesitated for a while before making up his mind and asked, "I wonder what the ancestor thinks of Prince Yi?"

Patriarch Huaihua knew that this question was asked on behalf of the Dali Emperor. He was silent for a while before gently shaking his head and saying, "I can't see through it..."

Pang Xuan was a little disappointed. He couldn't go back and report this to the emperor. After all, the old man in front of him from the Forbidden Palace was good at judging people, which was one of the reasons why the emperor sent him here.

"But he is much better than the other princes and grandchildren."

When Pang Xuan heard what Patriarch Huaihua said, his eyelids twitched. If this sentence got out, it would probably cause a big disturbance.

Before Pang Xuan could ask something, he heard the snoring sound from Patriarch Huaihua.

Looking at the Huaihua Patriarch who was obviously in poor spirits, Pang Xuan felt extremely sad. The other party had always treated him like a son or nephew and had been very kind to him. He also always regarded the other party as his closest relative and elder.

I had originally thought of taking care of me and seeing me to my old age after a hundred years, but now I’m afraid there will be no chance anymore.

He gently bent down again and kowtowed respectfully, wiped the corners of his eyes, and then Pang Xuan retreated out of the carriage.

After Pang Xuan left, the carriage turned around and headed towards the Demon Realm Pass. The old man Huaihua, who had his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes and sighed:

"Alas, fool... do you know that the late emperor's comment to our family was not to serve the Three Sovereigns until the end, but to serve the Three Sovereigns and One Emperor..."

"But my family really doesn't have many years left to live... What does this so-called 'one emperor' mean?"

(End of this chapter)