Shushan: Extinction

Chapter 254 The front edge
Time flies,

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

The situation has stabilized.

Some previously suppressed news was also released. What shocked Gong Tianwu the most was the bloodbath when Chen Shengzhi was marching on the grassland. Almost wherever he passed, there was a river of blood, and not a single chicken or dog was left alive!

Although Gong Tianwu knew that the purpose was not to kill for the sake of killing, but to hide the whereabouts of the army, it also reminded him of one of Chen Shengzhi's templates.
Killer God Bai Qi!!

In addition, the spies reported that Gulie was also ambitious. After conquering three counties and seven towns in Suli County, he actually showed a gesture of refusing to leave, and at the same time desperately demanded money, food, and all resources from the Kingdom of Khotan.

Obviously, he also saw through the intention of Zhenbei Hou to keep the enemy for his own benefit, so he acted unscrupulously.

Gong Tianwu just smiled at this person's little thoughts and gathered all the core figures under his command to hold a regular meeting to celebrate the success.

As a leader, you must clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments, and at the same time take this opportunity to properly divide the responsibilities of each person.

The person in charge of government affairs must be Cai Yuanchang, but he has his uncle Cui Zicheng supervising him and the pressure from the Marquisate above him. Although this guy has the potential to be a treacherous prime minister, he can't cause any trouble.

Chen Shengzhi is definitely the leader in military affairs, but Hasar is responsible for commanding the Wulou Guard, which is equivalent to controlling the Imperial Guards. Obviously, he will not have any objection.

As for Yang Yun's characteristics, he was suitable to be a general but not a commander. Gong Tianwu was very satisfied to give him a high position and generous salary, and then win over his father.

After all the tasks were assigned, Cai Yuanchang suddenly said:
"My Lord, there is one thing I dare not take charge of."

Gong Tianwu asked curiously:
"You said."

Cai Yuanchang said:

"I heard that both the governor of Suli County and the county officials in Mingzhou are now in a state of panic, trying to find a way to escape the crime."

Gong Tianwu nodded slowly and said:

"This is something that is within reason."

Cai Yuanchang said:

"The key to escaping the crime should be whether they fought with all their strength and how many enemy soldiers they killed, right? So I think we can send someone to hint at these people and ask them if they want their heads."

When Cai Yuanchang said this, Cui Ziyang's eyes immediately lit up and said:

"Great! Great!! This is really great. We have captured quite a few enemy heads, but we can't hand them in in exchange for credit. We might as well sell them!"

Cai Yuanchang smiled and said:

"That's right. And not only those who want to escape punishment can buy it, but also those who want to make meritorious deeds can buy it. We clearly mark the price and we are fair to everyone."

To be honest, Gong Tianwu didn't expect this to happen.

He secretly thought that Cai Yuanchang was indeed a strong man modeled after Cai Jing. Cai Jing was famous for his ability to make money, manage finances and plunder. With this trick, he actually opened up a new way to make money.

Gong Tianwu nodded and said:
"can."

Then he looked at Chen Shengzhi and said:

"How's Luopu doing?"

Chen Sheng’s Way:

“It has been actually controlled by us.”

Gong Tianwu pondered and said:

"Now that we have controlled Luopu, the tripartite situation of Yanzhi River Valley, Luopu, and Sansheng City has taken shape."

"We will need to enter a period of defensive retreat. After all, it is still quite difficult for us to occupy such a large area now."

"We must digest the results of this phase, cultivate and tap more talents, and transform them into corresponding strengths."

"I'm going on a long trip from Luopu, so you all should stay calm."

Cui Ziyang heard this and said anxiously:

"Seventh brother, where are you going?"

Gong Tianwu smiled slightly and said:

"It's about cultivation. I'm going with Master Ming."

After hearing this, the others stopped asking questions and left.

***
Although Luo Pu had just experienced the baptism of blood and fire, Chen Shengzhi obviously controlled the killing to a smaller scope and only erased the previous mark of the Xue family.

Given Luopu's unique location as a land hub, the area has clearly recovered and is full of vitality.

Looking at the bustling crowd on the street, Gong Tianwu nodded with satisfaction, then without disturbing anyone, he quietly got on a carriage and left.

His destination for coming to Luopu this time was Mengjiagou, 130 miles west of here, which was the location of an airport in the cultivation world.

General Gong Tianwu will board the Xuntian Tower ship here to head to Linxia Kingdom, three thousand miles away, not for anything else, just to make up for a great regret in his previous life.

In that life, Gong Tianwu realized that the woman who loved him the most was not the Seventh Sister of the Spider Demon. She might have died for him, but she eventually backed down in the face of family oppression.

The woman who was truly willing to die for him regardless of everything was actually Junior Sister Yang, Yang Qianmin, from the Snow Mountain!

I only helped her a little in my previous life, but she fell deeply in love with me and never left me. In the end, she stepped forward at the critical moment and blocked the fatal blow for me, and I died.

Because of this, I lived seventeen more years.

From that moment on, Gong Tianwu felt that he could not let her down.

Therefore, as soon as Gong Tianwu had gained a foothold in this life, he couldn't wait to renew his previous relationship with her!

At this time, Gong Tianwu's cultivation level was still at the first level of Qi Refining Stage, but at least he had entered the circle of cultivators, and he also had Ming Zhenzi's token, so he had a foothold. Therefore, there was no problem for him to ride on the Xuntian Tower ship.

Although he had seen the Patrol Sky Ship many times, Gong Tianwu was still shocked by this huge creation from the fairy world.

In the distant dock, there are several towering floating ships slowly emitting spiritual light, like prehistoric beasts lurking in the fog.

The hull made of special materials glowed with a cold blue light in the sunset. The magic array and patterns engraved on it flickered with the flow of spiritual power, like countless stars breathing on the iron curtain. The humans walking around on the deck looked like ants. Seeing this Xuntianlou Ship, Gong Tianwu also felt that this thing was also closely related to Emperor Tianyuan. He must have tried to promote the combination of machinery and magic, and Xuntianlou Ship was the highest result of his attempt.

Gong Tianwu was also glad that Emperor Tianyuan did not dig too deep into this matter, thus leaving himself a glimmer of possibility to shake his rule.

When Gong Tianwu went to buy a ticket to board the Xuntianlou ship, he did not encounter any problems and got on the ship smoothly.

However, compared to the past when he took the ship as a "Supreme True Man" of the Blood God Sect, now he was just a casual cultivator and not only had to pay double the spirit stone fare, but he could only take the lowest-grade Flying Fish-class ship.

Gong Tianwu has seen a lot in several lifetimes and has a lot of experience in going out. When he got on the boat, he carried a small bag and was wearing a Taoist robe, which exuded a faint scent of herbs.

In this case, he is young, and others would know as soon as they meet him that he is probably an alchemy boy or something like that. He is probably ordered to purchase low-end drugs, and there is no money to be made from him, so no one would think about him.

After arriving on the ship, Gong Tianwu, who was also experienced, chose the room closest to the engine room.

As long as you are flying here, there will be continuous noise, which makes people very uncomfortable, and the sound is like nails scratching on a blackboard, which is really torture.

However, it is precisely because of this that very few people are willing to stay here for a long time. But the noise is just a mere noise, which is not a big problem for people with strong will.

So, after he entered the cabin, he closed his eyes and rested, automatically filtering out the noise in his mind.

When Gong Tianwu opened his eyes again, he found that the cabin for ten people was empty and he was the only one left.

It was obvious that the other passengers could not stand the noise that was like a devil's sound filling their ears, and would rather go to the deck to catch a breath than to suffer the pain of hearing it here.

For the Xuntian Tower Ship, a journey of several thousand miles was a piece of cake. It only took about half a day to bring Gong Tianwu to the destination.

After getting off the boat, Gong Tianwu immediately performed the most basic "Cloud and Wind Technique". With his Taoist robe's sleeves fluttering, he headed straight to the town nearest to the airport.

After choosing a gorgeously decorated carriage here, he headed straight for the capital, Qianning, three hundred miles away.

***
Compared with Sansheng City, Qianning is extremely prosperous. Its area is at least seven times that of Sansheng City, and its population is more than ten times that of Sansheng City.

Seventy years ago, Qianning was the capital of Kangguo, a large country that ruled over seventeen counties and had a population of nearly ten million.

However, the last king of Kangguo acted perversely, causing the people to live in misery and even offending Shangzhen, which resulted in the country's destruction.

It was eventually replaced by the Zhang Ming Fang family, which is the current State of Su.

In order to quickly stabilize the situation at the time of the founding of the country, after all, there were two countries nearby who were eyeing it covetously and were ready to send troops to take a bite at any time.

More importantly, the Fang family's strength at that time was not strong enough to "sweep the world like the King of Qin, looking at it with such majesty", so they could only use soft tactics and try to recruit the major forces in the country that had not yet surrendered, and win them over with high positions and generous titles.

Among them, the Yang family, which occupied the two states of Mi and Ding, felt that the conditions offered by the Fang family were good, so they agreed to surrender and were named the King of Mi.

Relying on such means, Fang finally recovered and survived the most chaotic and dangerous period at the founding of the country.

However, this also led to a large number of nobles such as kings and dukes in the State of Su, at least two or three hundred of them, which had become a clear trend that was difficult to eliminate.

Fortunately, the Su Kingdom had really good luck. The founding monarch was a man of great talent and strategy, and the successor monarch was also very good at political strategy. In just thirty years, they used various means such as the Enfeoffment Order and the Differentiation System to almost weaken the hidden dangers left over from the founding of the country.

Now, the number of nobles in the entire Qianning is only one tenth of that in its heyday.

Of course, when the nest is overturned, all the eggs will remain intact. The once powerful and powerful Yang, the King of Mi, has now become a fallen phoenix, worse than a chicken.

If we want to describe him more accurately, then even if he is slightly stronger than Zheng Keshuang, the Duke of Haicheng in The Deer and the Cauldron, the strength is not much.

Yang Qianmin was born into such a big family. Although she was called the princess of a royal palace, her life was not good at all. She and her mother were bullied since childhood.

In her memory, when her mother was wronged, she didn't even dare to cry in public. She could only go back to her room and hug her and cry secretly.

When she grew up a little, she started to look pretty, but also had a bit of a cold and arrogant temperament, so she started to have some value for marriage, and the treatment she received also improved.

However, Yang Qianmin was not reconciled to such a fate!
She hated being treated as a plaything and a reproductive tool like her mother, and then spending her life behind high walls, surrounded by women's intrigues and quarrels.

There was a fire burning in her heart. Having never received fatherly love since childhood, she longed for someone to treat her sincerely, to respect and love her.

Then Yang Qianmin will repay with all her love, even if it means burning herself to ashes or breaking into pieces! !
On this day, Yang Qianmin heard shouting and cursing coming from outside while she was still sleeping.

She walked out with a cold face and found that it was that Nanny Lin who came to cause trouble again.

This Nanny Lin relied on her status as a favorite of the princess to behave tyrannically. Last time, she saw her nephew stealing things and selling them, and reported him to the authorities. Since then, he has been causing trouble and bullying his mother.

Early in the morning, Yang Qianmin was awakened by a burst of harsh scolding.

"What a big deal! Even the princess can't invite you?!" Nanny Lin's sharp voice penetrated the thin window paper and pierced into her ears like a knife.

Yang Qianmin suddenly threw back the quilt, stepped barefoot on the cold floor tiles, and rushed out the door in a few steps.

In the yard, her mother lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly, her eyes red, and Aunt Lin was pointing at her nose and scolding:
"The princess asked you to come over last night, and you dared to neglect her? Are you tired of living?!"

"Madame Lin!" Yang Qianmin walked over with a cold face. Her voice was not loud, but it made the old woman pause suddenly.

"Oh, the princess is awake?" Nanny Lin glanced at her and said in a sarcastic tone, "Why, you want to stand up for your mother too?"

Yang Qianmin said loudly:

"My mother was ill yesterday and took medicine and went to bed early. You asked her to go and pay her respects to the princess at midnight. What are you thinking?"

"Oh!" Nanny Lin sneered, "Why are you pretending to be pitiful? Who knows if it's a real illness or a fake one?"

Yang Qianmin stared at her and said word by word:

"I just reported your nephew for his dirty deeds! If you have anything to say, come to me!!!"

Nanny Lin's face changed:
"Hey, stop pretending in front of me. You will be a money-loser after marriage sooner or later. Do you really think you are the master just because you are a princess?"

Yang Qianmin strode forward, her face gloomy and frightening:

"Okay, okay, okay, this is what you said, let's go to the princess today and have it clear!"

Nanny Lin's expression froze. She obviously didn't expect Yang Qianmin to dare to threaten her directly. She gritted her teeth and said viciously:
"You wait!"

After saying that, he turned his sleeves and left.

The mother grabbed Yang Qianmin's hand, her voice trembling: "Min'er, why do you have to provoke her? She is the princess's confidant..."

(End of this chapter)