Chapter 1663: A New Era

The capital, ten miles outside Yongding Gate.

Wang Yan personally brought a large group of people here to blow in the cold wind, bask in the sun, and drink canned tea to keep warm.

"Shi Dakai reports victory; he has already captured Guangzhou. Di, Jiang, and others have all surrendered without wasting a single soldier. Pang Qingyun led the vanguard troops to Hong Kong, encountered shelling from foreign warships, set up a hundred cannons, sank a British warship, and captured over two hundred foreigners."

Wang Yan pulled his hands out of his sleeves and poured the water from the tea into a cup, sipping the hot tea.

"Encourage Pang Qingyun, find a residence in the capital suitable for him as a reward, and let him lead his troops to walk around the coast, clearing out the banditry along the way before returning to the capital. Bring Di, Jiang, and the others into the capital, look after their families first, and settle the accounts of those who committed crimes in the past..."

Someone on the side recorded Wang Yan's reply, and then the person who read the letter earlier continued to look at a new one: "Third Master led troops to fight past Shanhai Pass and arrived at Ningqian, recreating the situation of the late Ming Dynasty. Third Master writes to ask for instructions: should he continue to advance?"

"Push to Shengjing, drive them out, and then come to the capital. It's time to enjoy the good life."

"Zhang Zhidong is managing Guizhou and writes to ask..."

"Lord Chen..."

This was Wang Yan's daily work now.

Having taken the capital and driven away the Manchu Qing imperial family, the other places that hadn't been attacked had no determination to resist, so they directly surrendered and accepted rule.

There were no more big battles here, order was initially stabilized, and places that still maintained rule knew that the mountains and rivers had changed hands, so they scrambled to submit memorials through the remaining courier system to welcome the Royal Army.

They had to welcome them; no one would be stupid enough to want to set up their own household, not listening to orders or announcements. Even if they were extremely unwilling, they had to understand this trade-off. Otherwise, the Royal Army would really descend upon them, and they would die miserably.

Adding to this were some matters in the areas he had originally taken, as well as how to govern the new areas; all these problems had to be solved by him.

This was still with the trivial things thrown to Lord Chen; only big matters could reach Wang Yan, otherwise Wang Yan would be even busier.

After all, the world is so big, with hundreds of millions of people; there are too many big and small things in a day, and human energy is limited—how could he take care of everything? Jiajing liberated the cabinet, and while cultivating in the palace, he still had to study how to fish for silver. They split two million, and I split one million; it really wouldn't work if I didn't care...

Moreover, it is now initially settled; many places are nominally ruled, and there are still quite serious problems of displaced people, droughts, famines, and plagues. These mountains and rivers are scarred, all waiting for Wang Yan to repair them.

Fortunately, although the Heavenly King chose to live in comfort and luxury, his mind was still clear; he was a good Heavenly King.

Not long after entering the capital, the Heavenly King sent someone to find Wang Yan's people to express his intention to surrender. After a period of exchanges and consultations, major items were finally finalized, namely, the interests of the Heavenly Kingdom's high-level officials were determined, and the remaining people were not a necessary problem.

After all, the high-level officials of the Heavenly Kingdom were responsible for the middle and high-level officials below them, and behind every person was an interest group. Solving these people above would naturally settle those below, and those below would settle those even further below. So finalizing the matters above was equivalent to solving the main problem.

The remaining ones were mainly some adjustments to de-Heavenly Kingdom-ize. It was necessary to use the institutional power of Wang Yan's side to break the original interest connections of the Heavenly Kingdom; otherwise, this internal group would be a huge drag, and it wouldn't be worth the effort to deal with them.

In fact, the best method was to beat the Heavenly Kingdom into submission, which would make the problem much simpler. Because those who were beaten into surrender had no qualifications to negotiate.

Now, by retaining the strength of the Heavenly Kingdom, these people used this to bargain and each retained a certain amount of strength. Even if they were scattered, it wouldn't affect their connections, and might even help them expand their scope of influence.

At the same time, these people would also have a higher psychological advantage: "I didn't cause you damage by fighting, so that's what I earned for you; there's nothing wrong with me taking a little."

Based on this understanding, the subsequent problems were obviously many.

However, not fighting was of course also very good. The commoners had suffered for so many years and were all looking forward to a stable life. Being able to restore stability a year earlier would affect hundreds of thousands or even millions of lives.

It was also because of this that if they could make peace, they would. As for the problems of the internal Heavenly Kingdom groups, they could be dealt with slowly in the future. After all, he could still live for many years, and time would make them perish...

Wang Yan was just dealing with government affairs here, drinking canned tea.

And on the periphery of the core circle, some people were already sweating, steaming with heat in this cold winter, rising with white mist, looking like earthly immortals.

But they had no joy of ascending.

Because they were the relevant officials responsible for the ten-mile welcome today.

A ten-mile welcome is a rite. It is not waiting for a friend in advance, but the "waiting" for a friend who is preparing to come and see me.

Since it is a ten-mile welcome outside the city, of course, it is best for Wang Yan to wait here. But what is Wang Yan's status? Waiting is waiting, but he cannot wait forever. This requires the relevant personnel in charge to coordinate. With so many people acting together, various situations must be considered. Finally, a result is achieved where Wang Yan arrives here for a while and then waits for the person.

And now with a large group of people here, the longer the time, the more uneasy and nervous the relevant personnel became.

Finally, after more than an hour, a fast horse came over to communicate. So Wang Yan's team began to tidy up their appearance. Not long after, dust rose in the distance, and a huge team slowly walked toward the crowd.

Wang Yan also let people put away the sundries, stood up, and waited for the team to come over with his hands tucked into his sleeves.

Not long after, the two sides finally met, and Wang Yan walked forward enthusiastically to meet them.

"I have long admired the Heavenly King's great name; today I finally get to see you. You are indeed a peerless hero with a handsome and dashing appearance."

The Heavenly King laughed heartily. When he walked over from afar, he was cupping his hands. When he strode to the front, before Wang Yan could act, he first reached out to grab Wang Yan's hand, while his other rough hand squeezed Wang Yan's upper arm hard.

"I have long admired your great name. I knew you were a hero from a young age, but seeing you now makes this old fellow very jealous."

Wang Yan tensed his muscles, letting the Heavenly King grit his teeth and exert force secretly.

"Everyone says the Heavenly King is arrogant and extravagant, having lost his heroic spirit, but the Heavenly King's strength is still quite good. You cannot be called an old fellow; the Heavenly King is in his prime."

"I came to be a happy king; you still won't let me go, wanting me to work for you?" The Heavenly King let go of his hand, his expression looking displeased.

"After we finish talking, I have been dealing with government affairs these past few days. Buddhism, Daoism, the lamas on the plateau, and the foreign devil churches everywhere all have some problems. Speaking of which, these foreign devils are really not afraid of death; they still dare to stay and preach."

"Do you want to kill them?"

"No, we also have to do business with the foreign devils, and the church also has power. Small-scale preaching can be tolerated. If they don't do evil and don't seek death, let them preach. But we cannot let them be unchecked; we must set rules for them. I plan to set up a separate bureau, and I want the Heavenly King to be the director."

Religious affairs—the Heavenly King is a genuine authority. After all, he has swept through a small half of the Divine Land and established a huge system of integration of politics and religion, with rich theoretical foundations and practical experience, a genuine unity of knowledge and action. At the same time, the Heavenly King also has relevant research on Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism; he is a professional talent.

"The task you arranged for me is quite good." The Heavenly King nodded with a smile, considering it accepted.

It was also while the two were chatting that the others on the side also greeted each other, and everyone got to know each other.

At this time, Wang Yan looked at the person who had been following the Heavenly King: "General Li, long time no see, your style is still the same."

Li Cheng smiled bitterly: "Master's style is even better than before."

Thinking back to Li Cheng in those years, he was heroic, attacking southern Anhui and besieging Huoshan. In the end, due to various reasons, he failed to break through the gates of Huoshan, stopped the fighting, and made peace to develop together. As a result, Li Cheng always believed that it wasn't that he couldn't beat Wang Yan, but that it wasn't worth it at the time, which allowed Wang Yan to escape a disaster.

By the time Wang Yan began to influence the situation and control the balance between the Heavenly Kingdom and the Manchu Qing, he knew that was the only time he could have defeated Wang Yan.

However, as contacts increased later, Li Cheng realized that he never had a chance to defeat Wang Yan—not even a little bit. Because by that time, Wang Yan had already built cannons...

At the same time, most importantly, Wang Yan had already anticipated the situation at the time and was very certain that the Heavenly Kingdom would not risk their lives to attack Huoshan.

The opportunity he thought he had never existed.

What a desperate fact that is...

Wang Yan patted him on the shoulder: "No need to smile so bitterly. I haven't taken away your military power. There will be plenty of fighting in the future, and there will be opportunities for you."

"Thank you, Master, for your care."

"It's not my care; it's that you have the ability and can see things clearly; otherwise, I wouldn't dare let you lead troops."

The Heavenly King hummed on the side: "I admire you for daring to let us lead troops. You have the breadth of mind; you are worthy of accomplishing such a big thing."

"Hey, no matter how broad my mind is, it can't compare to the Heavenly King. You stopped the fighting, and the world is at peace. I don't know how many commoners you saved. The commoners are suffering and are all looking forward to living a good life for a few years after the war. I have already had people prepare a banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. It is said to be the best hall in the palace, and the dragon throne is placed there. Let's eat and drink in the hall, drink well, and chat slowly."

"I couldn't ask for more; I have a belly full of words I want to say to you." The Heavenly King laughed.

Immediately, the two rode in the same large carriage, the two teams merged together, and they returned to the city in a grand manner.

Some were in carriages, some were riding horses, and some were on foot. These high-ranking personnel were together, and it was also a chaotic crowd. The team was also sparse, looking no different from a mob...

This time, the Heavenly King came to the capital to settle down, bringing his whole family and some people he was used to using. From now on, it would be extremely difficult to leave the capital.

However, this was also the Heavenly King's subjective wish. Otherwise, the Heavenly Kingdom still retained some strength. Just as some kings of the Heavenly Kingdom said, they could leave. Even if the Heavenly King took the lead, it was estimated that only two or three hundred thousand people would be willing or forced to leave with them. This population loss was nothing; it wasn't death, but going outside to branch out and spread leaves. Wang Yan was willing to open the gates of convenience wide.

The Heavenly King really didn't want to toss and turn anymore; he really wanted to be a stable, happy king and enjoy wealth.

Perhaps it was because the Tianjing Incident made the Heavenly King feel uncomfortable; he really had no passion left...

As for the arrival of Li Cheng and several other core personnel of the Heavenly Kingdom, they came to talk to Wang Yan face-to-face and receive instructions. They wouldn't be able to come down for a while; they were all people holding power, and the merger of the two sides would inevitably take some time. Especially most importantly, the Heavenly Kingdom still had hundreds of thousands of troops, and the reorganization would also require the cooperation of these Heavenly Kingdom generals.

In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Wang Yan and the Heavenly King drank and chatted happily. It was quite harmonious, and neither hid their thoughts; they said whatever they had to say. In this way, both sides had no scruples, and they would be more at ease in the future.

The Heavenly King visited the palace and expressed many feelings before arriving at the Hall of Supreme Harmony to eat.

At this banquet, the Heavenly King got dead drunk, said many heart-to-heart words to Wang Yan, revealed his inner thoughts, and even wept sorrowfully at one point, telling of many years of bitterness and grievances, as if he were completely liberated, and from now on the world was wide...

Wang Yan echoed the Heavenly King. He didn't know if the Heavenly King was really heart-to-heart, but at this point, whether it was or not was no longer important. After all, the Heavenly King's whole family was in the capital, and the two sides had begun to merge; there was no possibility of retreat.

It was already evening after drinking, and the world was pitch black. Wang Yan even climbed onto the roof of the palace hall to look around, only to see some lights in the officials' residences around the palace, and it was dim further out.

Because the moon was bright and the stars were sparse today, one could see outside, as if the eyes were covered with a layer of gray mist, and the world had lost its color.

After blowing in the cold wind for a while, Wang Yan returned to the harem.

After such a period of time, the order in the palace had been re-established, and the original people in the palace had been retained after another review. Of course, the review was actually of little use; there must be many people here who were dark pawns left by others, spying for news or looking for opportunities to assassinate.

But with so many people, there was no other good arrangement, and retaining them was the best solution. These people were destined not to enter the core circle serving Wang Yan's family, but the palace also needed people to work, so there was no problem.

It was already this year; these people were the last batch...

Returning to the back, he saw Liao Xuan and Su Zixuan sitting and eating snacks and talking, while on the ground, a little boy was leaning on a cradle looking at the baby inside.

The child in the cradle was born to Su Zixuan, a girl.

"The Emperor is back; greetings to you." Su Zixuan exaggeratedly squatted and waved her handkerchief, and a small fragrant breeze fanned over.

Wang Yan laughed heartily, letting the maid on the side take off his outer robe, picked up his eldest son on the ground and played with him, just pretending not to hear.

Su Zixuan said unhappily: "I'm talking to you!"

"Is this the attitude you use to talk to the Emperor? It's unseemly!"

Liao Xuan clapped her hands with a smile: "Unseemly!"

Su Zixuan was speechless: "You two are bullying me again because I have no one to rely on..."

Her tone sounded as if she had suffered some great grievance...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who gave rewards, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and silently read the book for their strong support! ===== CHAPTER 1664 =====