Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 646 Would you gentlemen be willing to have your names, birth dates and times engraved on the Mountain and River Stele?
Zhou Chang, the Vice Minister of War, wrote a letter to apologize for abandoning Fengtian County years ago.

The soldiers who defended Fengtian County to the death back then, led by Commander Yu Lin, were not only innocent, but also meritorious.

Their decade-long unsung achievements deserve to be remembered.

Zhou Chang's apology would disqualify him from becoming the Minister of War.

However, he is now in charge of the logistics of the Eastern Frontier Camp. Once the new army of the Eastern Frontier Camp is trained, no one in the Great Qin court will be qualified to compete with him for the position of Minister of War.

It wasn't just Zhou Chang who submitted a memorial; dozens of Confucian officials and hundreds of Confucian scholars from Donghan County also submitted memorials to the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue.

According to them, the resettlement of foreign people who submit to Qin should be carried out in accordance with the regulations set forth by Marquis Qingyang.

Those who are not citizens of Qin need to have sufficient merit to become citizens of Qin.

The Qin army protects the people of Qin.

Not just anyone is qualified to become a citizen of Qin.

This seemingly simple, even somewhat selfish attitude, actually has the underlying logic that forms the foundation of the Qin Dynasty.

Countless Qin warriors fought to the death, not to protect empty rhetoric, but to uphold the most basic and simple convictions.

Protecting the Qin Dynasty means protecting its people. The people of the Qin Dynasty are you, me, and our descendants.

Outsiders who want to become Qin people need to put in enough effort.

……

River Works Camp.

The campfire crackled and sparked under the night sky. Zhang Yuan tossed the mutton bone he had finished gnawing into the fire, and amidst the crackling sound of burning fat, he suddenly spoke: "Chen Wu, tomorrow the new army camp will raise the 'Nine Rivers Flag'."

The young captain, who was wiping his goose-feather saber, suddenly looked up and saw the flickering firelight reflected in his lord's eyes: "Anyone who can carry the flag and run thirty miles will be awarded the first level of the 'Mountains and Rivers Move' martial art that I have mastered."

These words were like a boulder thrown into a pool, and the entire camp suddenly erupted in commotion.

The river workers, their backs bare and bronzed, crowded around the long table, their rough hands slapping the ceramic bowls on it, making them bounce around: "My lord, can we river workers give it a try?"

"Carrying a flag is nothing! Last year, during a torrential downpour, I carried three bags of rice and flour and swam across the Jiuchuan River!"

Amid the commotion, Zhang Yuan tapped the corner of the table with his finger.

The seemingly effortless movement caused the long spears on the weapon racks three hundred feet away in the training ground to hum in unison.

He slowly stood up after everyone fell silent.

"The selection of the new army is not based on background, but there are three ironclad rules—" The Dragon Sparrow Blade suddenly drew three inches from its sheath, its blade energy carving a deep furrow in the mud: "First, never kneel before immortals or demons; second, never bully women and children; and third, never survive the battle when your comrades are on the front lines!"

Three days later.

Yunming Prefecture.

Half a million applicants surged like a black tide.

Nine massive bronze pillars stand in the center of the training ground.

Each pillar is topped with a crystallized copy of the "Mountains and Rivers in Motion" boxing technique personally inscribed by Zhang Yuan, and amidst the flowing light, it even reveals the phantoms of a serpent swallowing the sky and a dragon and elephant suppressing the prison.

"First challenge, carry the flag!" The voice of Wen Liu, the Black Knight commander, resounded through the amplified array.

Eight thousand black-armored warriors simultaneously lifted their veils, revealing three hundred dark battle flags embroidered with the course of the Nine Rivers.

Each flagpole is made of cast iron and weighs over a thousand pounds.

"I, Lu, am willing to serve as your banner, Lord Marquis—"

Lu Changwu leaped up and was the first to jump onto the command platform.

His expression changed drastically the moment he reached out and grabbed the flagpole.

The massive banner, weighing a thousand pounds, billowed and swirled, seemingly stirring the power of mountains and rivers, causing his kneecaps to creak under the immense pressure.

"This is the true meaning of 'mountains and rivers as bones' in the Mountain Fist style!"

Liang Qiyuan, who was standing not far away, had his pupils contract.

He clearly saw the flowing light and shadow of the river veins on the flag, which were exactly the same as the defensive formation diagram of the Mountain Sect.

"Roar--"

With a long roar, Lu Changwu hoisted the banner onto his shoulder.

His figure was as imposing as a mountain. He took ten steps from the command platform before steadily hoisting the large flag onto his shoulder, and then strode out of the camp.

"I am willing to come to the flag!" A burly man in a black robe stepped forward impatiently from below the stage.

One by one, figures stepped forward, and all three hundred banners were carried by cultivators.

Some people collapsed after taking three steps, while others gritted their teeth and took ten.

...At midnight that night, among the hundreds of thousands of warriors, only 100,000 who had carried the flags through the checkpoint collapsed outside the barracks.

It should be noted that most of those who dared to volunteer as guards of the Marquis of Qingyang were at the late stage of the Acquired Realm or even higher.

But out of so many cultivators, only 100,000 passed the test.

Without even a fraction of the innate potential, it's impossible to pass the first hurdle.

At this moment, the cultivators who passed the test had dark golden patterns appear on their bare backs, which were actually mountain and river array diagrams that had sunk into their flesh and blood.

"Is this the 'Mountains and Rivers Moving Inheritance' that Lord Marquis spoke of?" The middle-aged man standing behind Liang Qiyuan asked in a low voice.

He is an elder in charge of the Duan Yue Sect, one of the four major sects of the Mountain Sect. This time, he brought dozens of Duan Yue Sect disciples to answer the call of the Qingyang Marquis's personal guards.

Most of these disciples of the Duan Yue Sect had already passed the first test set by the Marquis of Qingyang.

"The Qingyang Marquis's legacy... these guys will fight tooth and nail." Liang Qiyuan shook his head slightly and whispered.

The Mountain Sect sent two thousand elite disciples this time, all in order to obtain the inheritance of the Marquis of Qingyang.

In the martial arts world of the Eastern Frontier, countless martial artists share this ambition.

At dawn the next day.

Before the bugle sounded, Zhang Yuan was already standing on the training ground's martial arts platform.

Floating behind him was the "Complete Essentials of Martial Arts" he had taken from the Asking Pavilion. The pages moved on their own without wind, revealing the phantom of the bloody battle at Yinma Plain.

"The second test is a matter of life and death."

The Dragon Sparrow Blade slashed down from the sky, and eighty-one fist intents tore through the void, dragging the entire training ground into an illusion.

On the training ground, the bodies of the 100,000 summoned martial artists trembled.

Before everyone's eyes appeared the scene of the Eastern Wei altar, where 100,000 people chained together were wailing in the demonic flames.

"Charge!" Zhang Yuan's voice boomed like thunder.

The burly man in black robes standing in front suddenly turned bloodshot. He recognized the woman holding the baby in the illusion as his wife, who had died under the iron cavalry of the Eastern Wei five years ago.

"kill--"

A roaring sound rang out.

In the training ground, warriors roared and charged forward bravely.

A surge of energy and blood rose up.

Witness life and death.

As the first warrior roared and crashed into the demonic cultivator's illusion, nine star-gazing platforms suddenly rose from beneath the training ground.

The observatory was shrouded in layers of blood-red light, and everyone's blood energy surged with the vibrations of the surrounding space.

Each surge of Qi and blood can stimulate the condensation of true Qi and blood essence in the dantian.

Even if he doesn't ultimately become the personal guard of the Marquis of Qingyang, the mere refinement of his qi and blood essence alone would save him the effort of three months of cultivation.

Seven days later, when the 50,000 martial artists emerged from the illusion, they were no longer surrounded by ordinary innate qi, but by illusory images of mountains and rivers mixed with blood-red baleful energy.

Lu Changwu's folding fan transformed into a meteorite iron spear, the tip of which was actually the inner demon of the Lu family patriarch that he had personally slain in the illusion.

At this time, Marquis Qingyang Zhang Yuan had already returned to the Donghan County government.

Fifty thousand warriors followed the black cavalry silently until they reached the outskirts of the Donghan County Prefectural Governor's Mansion.

The Wen Dao Pavilion in the Prefectural Governor's Mansion has been completed.

Golden array patterns enveloped the seven-story pavilion, and streaks of shimmering light flashed through the void.

This Daowen Pavilion gathers the essence of martial arts in the Eastern Jianghu.

"The third trial: Severing cause and effect." Zhang Yuan's voice rang out from the top of the Asking Pavilion.

The bronze bells on the seven eaves rang in unison, revealing rows of blood-red stone tablets.

"Would you gentlemen be willing to have your names, birth dates, and times engraved on the Mountain and River Stele?"

The Mountain and River Stele is a stele made of bricks and stones from the Great Wall in the northern border region.

For the warriors of the Qin Dynasty, it was an immense honor to have their names inscribed on the bricks of the Great Wall in the north.

Among the crowd, martial artists looked up one by one.

Even those who came from humble backgrounds in the martial arts world knew that this meant linking their life and soul to the fate of the nation.

Do they have the qualifications?
(End of this chapter)