Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 643 Helping the Marquis Block the Gap!
If you can't do it, then don't do it.

Zhang Hengqu's voice was very calm.

His gaze swept around, and his aura of righteousness shone with gold.

"Just like if the Wall in the North couldn't be defended, would we just give up defending it?"

"For example, if we can't take back the Nine Provinces, should we just not take them back?"

"If we study and cannot become sages, should we not embark on the path to sainthood?"

Zhang Hengqu's voice echoed in the main hall.

He looked at Emperor Yuankang in front of him, bowed, and spoke in a loud voice.

"Your Majesty, I wish to leave the capital and go to the eastern border to establish an academy."

Zhang Hengqu, a grand master of Confucianism and Taoism and the headmaster of the Imperial Academy, is going to open an academy in the eastern border.
Wang Anzhi and the others exchanged glances.

"never mind."

At the head of the table, Emperor Yuankang's voice rang out.

This made everyone breathe a slight sigh of relief.

“Zhang Qingyang also practiced Confucianism and Taoism in Qingtianzhou, so he must have had a strong attachment to Confucianism and Taoism in his heart.”

"Then let me see what Confucianism and Taoism mean to him."

Emperor Yuankang looked out of the main hall, his eyes swirling with light and shadow, as if they were about to materialize.

Zhang Hengqu looked up, a hint of anticipation on his face.

It was Zhang Yuan who prompted him to utter those four words of the sage.

He also wanted to know how Zhang Yuan understood these four sentences.

……

Donghan County.

County town.

On the second floor of a building in the alley outside the prefectural government, Yao Baiyue, the headmaster of Caiwei Academy, dressed in a Confucian robe, looked at the steaming tea in front of him and fell into a slight silence.

In front of him, his disciple Rao Ming, dressed in a gray robe, looked somewhat solemn.

"Teacher, what exactly does Marquis Qingyang want to do?"

"Dozens of Confucian and Taoist officials were captured, and hundreds of Confucian scholars were imprisoned."

"Is he trying to use force to suppress the Confucian scholars in the Eastern Territory?"

In recent days, the number of Confucian and Taoist officials captured by the prefectural government has been increasing.

In the Eastern Territory, besides Donghan County, there were also many Confucian scholars and officials in other counties who were captured by the Black Ice Guard for discussing the matter of Marquis Qingyang.

Rao Ming was very puzzled. Since arriving in the Eastern Territory, Marquis Qingyang had always planned his actions carefully before acting.

Whether dealing with the Jianghu in the Eastern Territory or going alone into Eastern Wei to rescue 100,000 people, he was courageous, resourceful, and responsible.

Moreover, Zhang Yuan was unconventional in his use of people in the Eastern Territory, including Cao Jiada, who rose from humble beginnings, and Li Cheng, who came from the Jianghu (江湖, the martial arts world).

To be honest, Rao Ming admired Zhang Yuan, the Marquis of Qingyang.

This is also what puzzled him most about Zhang Yuan's actions this time.

With the magnanimity of the Marquis of Qingyang, how could he possibly care about the discussions of a few Confucian and Taoist officials?

As for impeachment, given the Emperor's favor with the Marquis of Qingyang and his military achievements in the Eastern Territory, the Emperor of Qin probably wouldn't even issue an edict to reprimand him.

As long as Marquis Qingyang ignores those Confucian scholars and officials, the matter will gradually subside.

"Do you really think Zhang Qingyang is just an ordinary martial artist?" Yao Baiyue pressed her hand on the teacup in front of her, her eyes gleaming.

"I'm afraid he has some other scheme in mind..."

Planning?

Rao Ming was stunned for a moment.

He thought about it carefully, but he couldn't figure out what the Marquis of Qingyang was planning to do.

Below the teahouse, horses gallop through the streets and alleys.

Not far away, dozens of warriors from the Eastern Territory, their blood surging and churning, ran off in high spirits.

Marquis Qingyang recruited 30,000 personal guards, and in recent days, the number of martial artists and scions of noble families gathered in the city has reached hundreds of thousands.

In the direction of the prefectural governor's mansion, the seven-story library is already taking shape.

With dozens of craftsmen working together, the library was built very quickly.

It is said that Marquis Qingyang has ordered all sects in the Eastern Territory to copy a copy of their martial arts manuals and send it to the library. Don't think that the sects are reluctant to part with their manuals; they are scrambling to send them.

Marquis Qingyang said that your sect can access the cultivation manuals on whichever floor the books you sent are located on.

In other words, from now on, the floor on which a sect's books are located in the Donghan County Library will directly determine the sect's foundation and the level of its cultivation techniques.

If sect texts can't even be accessed above the third floor of the library, then probably no one would want to join the sect.

"Tap tap tap——"

The sound of the car moving forward echoed.

A report came from the gate of the prefectural governor's mansion.

“Zhou Chang, the Vice Minister of War, Prefect of Jiujiang Commandery, and Commander of the Eastern Frontier Army, has come to see the Marquis of Qingyang.”

----------------------

Zhou Chang did not meet with Marquis Qingyang, Zhang Yuan.

Marquis Zhang Yuan of Qingyang had led all the captured Confucian and Taoist officials, along with hundreds of Confucian scholars, toward the riverbank at the northern foot of Jiuchuan River.

Accompanying them were not only officials from Donghan County, but also warriors who had been conscripted to become the personal guards of the Marquis of Qingyang.

"Go to the river embankment."

Inside the carriage, Zhou Chang spoke in a deep voice.

The carriage turned and headed out of the city.

Throughout the journey, Zhou Chang closed his eyes, listening to the commotion outside the car window.

"Is the Marquis of Qingyang going to offer a blood sacrifice to the river embankment? It is said that the day before yesterday, a section of the river embankment collapsed due to heavy rain. It was Lord Cao Jiada who jumped into the collapsed section and led people to plug the broken embankment."

Someone spoke in a low voice, a hint of nervousness in their tone.

"Alas, Marquis Qingyang's actions are truly too ruthless. Those civil officials in the Eastern Territory are already quite good; they've managed to establish themselves there..." someone sighed softly, their words filled with helplessness.

"Hehe, this time Marquis Qingyang is definitely going to kill people, to show those civil officials and scholars what the true iron-blooded men of Qin are." The speaker was a young martial artist surrounded by aura of blood and qi.

The young martial artist was accompanied by dozens of robust young men.

Zhou Chang traveled in his carriage, amidst the endless clamor of the conflict between Confucianism and Taoism versus martial arts.

This made a hint of worry appear in his eyes.

"boom--"

A roaring sound came from ahead.

Zhou Chang lifted the carriage curtain and saw the river workers, like ants, running up and down the riverbank.

The turbid waves surged to the sky.

The surging, muddy Yellow River waters have already created a gap dozens of meters long in the newly constructed river channel.

At the breach in the river channel, a figure, radiating golden light, stood with clenched fists as if cast in gold, desperately holding back the surging river water.

"Marquis Qingyang..."

Zhou Chang looked slightly bewildered.

"Follow the Marquis to plug the breach—"

A long roar rang out from the riverbank, and dozens of soldiers in black armor jumped down the embankment and rushed into the breach.

As the energy and light surged together, the innate true essence and energy of these black-clad soldiers merged, transforming into a golden-armored tortoise that sealed the breach.

"Let's block the breach, Lord Marquis!"

Not far from the river, Lu Changwu, dressed in a brocade robe, rushed into the mud and reached Zhang Yuan's side, using his true energy to block the river.

Those scions of noble families who had come with Lu Changwu looked at each other, disregarding their disheveled clothes, and rushed into the river.

"Transporting bricks and stones—"

On the riverbank, Cao Jiada, who was wearing a green official robe, had long since disappeared from sight. At this moment, he roared and rushed into the river with a large sack on his back.

Those warriors who reached the riverbank, along with the soldiers who had come with Zhang Yuan, all went to move bricks and stones and transport them into the river.

Zhou Chang narrowed his eyes, looking at Zhang Yuan standing in the gap in the river channel, took a deep breath, and stepped out of the carriage.

He got out of the car, tied his robe around his waist, walked quickly to the riverbank, used both hands to lift a blue stone, and carried it towards the gap in the river channel.

After taking a few steps, he stopped and looked at Song Huai-ren, the academy secretary of Donghan County School, who was wearing a Confucian robe and standing on the riverbank with his hair and beard somewhat disheveled.

"What are you still doing?"

"Patch the breach!"

(End of this chapter)