Book 11 Chapter 10 - Besieged City

After the war against the south officially began, an imperial order divided Jadefall City through Mountain Sun Path, splitting it into two.

The half Heaven’s Lens Lake was in was officially called Jadewater Province, while the other half was called Heavenfall Province.

This type of establishing of province, in the eyes of most of Yunqin’s people, was done on guard against a second Wenren Cangyue appearing, someone with too much authority having the power equivalent to several provincial territories.

However, the people of this world who truly had great authority felt like they still underestimated Grand Secretary Wen and Yunqin Emperor’s ability to toy with authority.

Since that Provincial Supervisor who represented Huang Family of the nine senators was previously transferred into Jadefall City, even though he became Jadewater Province’s Provincial Supervisor, his true authority was cut in half again. This showed that Huang Family was now even further from Yunqin’s stage.

To the empire’s easternmost border, while Lin Xi and Zhantai Qiantang were talking about Jadefall City’s matters, the grass in Jadefall City already began to grow crazily.

This was the season where Jadefall CIty’s grass was the most tender and most fertile, the period where livestock grew the fastest.

Under the surrounding of a pig pen made from a simple wooden railing and dried branches, a group of herdsmen surrounded a horse shed. This horse shed which was surrounded by hay suddenly released a wave of enthusiastic cheers.

A colt whose entire body was covered in traces of blood stood up while staggering.

This was only an ordinary instance of delivery, but this was the first time a new little life was born after this pasture was officially established and horses were tamed and raised here. This naturally possessed greater meaning for this pasture.

A young man who had just completed this delivery with two experienced older herdsmen used the sleeves of his clothes to wipe off the sweat on his face.

The face of this youngster who was smiling from happiness was dark, but the fishy smell on his body seemed to have already disappeared, now replaced with a bit of a horse excrement smell.

He was East Port Town Fish Market’s cultivator Xu Sheng.

There was another black-armored young Yunqin officer who was also watching this first delivery. When he saw the sweat and the dazzling smile on Xu Sheng’s face, he was also a bit moved, but he still shook his head in a bit of disbelief.

This young Yunqin officer was named Qin Yewei. After noticing that Xu Sheng was a cultivator, he paid Xu Sheng many visits in sincerity, wishing for him to join the military for further development.

After all, cultivators were still the most scarce resource in the entire empire. In the eyes of most people, when a cultivator joined their ranks, it would naturally become easier to obtain dazzling glory.

However, Xu Sheng refused the military’s sincere invitation. Even though little by little, Qin Yewei and Xu Sheng became friends, even though he has also displayed great abilities in establishing farmland and pastures, the more this was the case, the more Qin Yewei couldn’t understand… A cultivator like Xu Sheng who had such talent, could it be that he really was willing to bury his face in Jadefall City’s mud and horse excrement, moreover seemingly completely willing to do so, fully enjoying this type of life?

While everyone was wiping away their sweat, Xu Sheng who turned around saw the black-armored young official and he also saw the confusion in this young military officer’s eyes. However, he only smiled towards this young official, within him was a type of pride the other party didn’t know about.

He couldn’t tell his inner thoughts to this young official, nor could he speak about the true reason for his pride.

It was because he couldn’t tell this young official that Lin Xi was the true master of Auspicious Virtue.

Even though in Jadefall City’s great battle, everyone lost to Wenren Cangyue, due to Lin Xi’s blade being the one that cut down Qin Qinghuang, as well as how he triumphed in every battle within Dragon Snake Border Army and Great Desolate Swamp’s contributions, his reputation already spread vast and wide due to Yunqin Emperor’s rage. Lin Xi’s name was extremely brilliant in Yunqin’s military, his previous contributions also already won him the respect and adoration of many soldiers.

Xu Sheng also couldn’t tell Qin Yewei that the reason why Auspicious Virtue was able to smoothly establish such shocking amounts of farmland, establish this type of pasture, wasn’t because of his abilities. He only loyally carried out what he was told, the greater plans were already passed on to him by Lin Xi when he left East Port Town.

Yunqin Empire had an astonishing amount of territory, it had flourishing great cities with populations over a million. However, this world’s population and degree of clearing wild areas for cultivation naturally couldn’t compare to Lin Xi’s previous world. That was why in the end, Yunqin Empire was still vast, but sparsely populated.

Jadefall City was divided in half, two provinces were established. Most people in Yunqin’s royal court were able to surmise that there would definitely be a few years of taxes exempt to advise people to migrate over, cultivate and raise livestock.

However, Yunqin Empire didn’t lack land, what they lacked was only people.

Apart from some frontier people moving over from the borders, normal peasant households and herdsmen wouldn’t give up the lives they were familiar with, the places they lived in all their lives to enter this completely unfamiliar, seemingly not that auspicious place to settle down.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

That was why everyone knew that even after the provinces were established, despite there being a series of preferential treatment, for quite some time, Jadewater and Heavenfall Provinces’ people would still be pitifully few. They still had to rely on Yunqin sending criminals here to slowly increase the population.

That was why that Huang Family Provincial Supervisor, would always be situated in an unfounded state for quite some time, he would slowly disappear and fade together with Huang Family.

However, Lin Xi had Xu Sheng adopt an employee system. There were first homes built along Jadewater Province’s roads, forming township, and then these homes were freely offered to Auspicious Virtue’s employees… the peasant households and herdsmen would first sign an agreement with Auspicious Virtue to become their employees. Regardless of whether the harvest was good or bad, Auspicious Virtue’s salary would never decrease.

The employees of merchant companies in this world were practically all lifelong. Meanwhile, for ordinary poverty-stricken Yunqin families, becoming the employee of a large merchant company was always a type of rare opportunity.

Many peasant households wouldn’t have confidence and courage in entering Jadefall City and clearing wild land for cultivation. Even if Jadefall City’s water source and plant life were abundant, its soil extremely fertile, they would rather become Auspicious Virtue’s employees, help Auspicious Virtue work. It was because in their eyes, a reliable company master would still take responsibility over them even if the business here wasn’t that great, they could still arrange for them to do other things for Auspicious Virtue.

It was precisely because of the plan Lin Xi previously passed onto him that once Jadewater Province’s five year tax exemption, as well as additional rewards associated with land reclamation and livestock husbandry were officially declared, Xu Sheng already brought a shocking amount of Auspicious Virtue employees into Jadewater Province. Their speed of action shook the entire Jadewater Provincial Supervisor Manor that had just been built not long ago.

Bringing in a large amount of population was the greatest substantive support for this Provincial Supervisor Manor. That was why regardless in whether it was in the choice of land or matters of road repairing, Jadewater Province gave Auspicious Virtue the greatest support, even ensuring the safety of this grazing land that had only been established recently. Jadewater Province’s military quietly carried out a spring hunt, clearing away all of the surrounding wild wolves.

Since Xu Sheng understood clearly that he was only helping Young Sir Lin do things, moreover even though Jadefall City’s battle ended, the Young Sir Lin him and all of Breath River’s civilians revered was seriously injured, unable to rise back up, completely disappearing from Yunqin, yet he similarly knew that Young Sir Lin wasn’t in low spirits, that he already began his war of vengeance through the things he was doing.

He greatly revered Young Sir Lin’s moral character and trusted Young Sir Lin’s ability. His status as a cultivator was brought by Young Sir Lin, so right now, these days surrounded by dirt and horse excrement were like syrup for him, moreover an extremely meaningful type of work.

He was sure that the future Young Sir Lin would definitely return to the eyes of Yunqin’s people with a stance that shocked all of Yunqin. Meanwhile, because he followed Young Sir Lin, when he would truly carry out a great undertaking, he would also obtain true glory.

…

Central Continent Imperial City.

A Central Continent Guard passed on a Crimson Dragon Scorched Tail level military report into the defense study. Then, with the most respectful stance, he quickly withdrew from this room.

In the dazzling defense study, there was only the golden dragon robed Yunqin Emperor and Yunqin Grand Secretary Wen Xuanshu, these two people.

These were the Emperor with the greatest authority in the world, as well as the subject that had the greatest authority.

Even if it was facing the military intelligence of the highest level, Yunqin’s Emperor still retained unmatched prestige, reading through all of the contents in a manner that wasn’t too fast or too slow.

Hu

However, after reading through this military intelligence, this monarch who had endured for more than ten years, now finally able to fully display his own fierceness, could no longer hide the feverish and rapt joy in his eyes, fiercely taking a breath, tossing this military report onto the long golden table beside him.

“This one’s great army of two hundred thousand has already surrounded Wenren Cangyue’s seventy thousand main army, besieged Moon Seizing City!”

“Breaking through Moon Seizing City is now only a matter of time.”

After fiercely saying this sentence, Yunqin Emperor turned around to look at Wen Xuanshu, slowly saying this.

“Congratulations, Your Highness.” Wen Xuanshu bowed, expressing his congratulations with a sincere voice.

“Even if we don’t use Green Luan Academy’s people, fully separating Green Luan Academy from this southern war, isn’t my great self still going to win?” A hint of coldness appeared on Yunqin Emperor’s face. “Jiang Family’s people recently used up so much strength to extort confessions from some of Wenren Cangyue’s old subordinates, just what exactly do they want to learn from these individuals?”

“Military equipment.”

Wen Xuanshu lowered his head slightly, simply and directly saying, “Wenren Cangyue could not bring the large amounts of military equipment accumulated in Jadefall City with him, so Jiang Family wishes to dig up the locations where these military equipment are buried.”

Yunqin Emperor nodded, the corners of his mouth producing a bit of a cold smile of mockery, only saying, “This Xu Family youngster is indeed a bit interesting.”

While saying these words under a sneer of mockery, Yunqin Emperor who was extremely elated from the victorious news of the southern battlefield suddenly thought of someone’s name. He couldn’t help but want to mention that name he loathed. However, when he thought about how that person was Green Luan Academy’s bottom line, he frowned in disgust, closing his mouth, not saying anymore.

…

Within the distant Great Mang Dynasty.

A densely packed two hundred thousand membered Yunqin great army, in this massive city that similarly had endless ravens and vultures flying above, was crowded to the point where even water couldn’t trickle through.

The dazzling white reflective light of blades and the black Yunqin great army made this world seem cold to the extreme.

This was the final silence before the great battle.

Neither side took the initiative to start an attack yet. Both inside and outside the city, large scale military equipment were being prepared.

In a certain corner of the black Yunqin army, a Yunqin troop were putting together stakes for building archery towers.

Under the cooperation of over ten people, a sharpened giant stake was sent deeply into the earth, into this land that had already experienced endless slaughter.

The instant the wooden stake entered the ground, the heavy and cold expressions of these Yunqin soldiers were all filled with a strange emotion.

When this wooden stake entered the earth, quite a bit of liquid gushed out. However, this liquid wasn’t black mud, but rather dark red blood.

These Yunqin soldiers all understood clearly that soon afterwards, this already blood-soaked land would have even more blood seep in.