Chapter 711: The Imperial Edict from Chang'an, the Newly Appointed Governor of Xiazhou

Two days later, Tongwan City, the Inspector's Office rear hall.

Having removed the plain mourning garments, Chen Yan changed into a set of dark‑patterned blue everyday robes; though the battlefield's killing aura was lessened, a deep, unfathomable composure was added.

He sat upright on the main seat, idly fidgeting with the tea lid in his hand, producing a crisp clacking sound.

Seated below him were the absolute core of Xiazhou's civil and military and his confidants: Zhangshi Zhang Wenqian, Wang Zheng, and Commander-in-Chief Gu Yuci.

"Chen Zhuguo, this is the latest treasury register submitted by each county of Xiazhou; please review it," Zhang Wenqian stood and respectfully handed a thick ledger to Chen Yan's desk.

He cleared his throat, his tone tinged with unmistakable excitement: "After this battle, Xiazhou not only avoided total defeat, but actually netted a staggering fortune!"

"Oh?" Chen Yan raised an eyebrow, "Tell me."

"When the Qi army commander Ku Di Gan retreated, he abandoned everything to speed up—essentially discarding helmets and armor. Not only did he leave behind the twenty heavy catapults and fifty war wagons they had painstakingly brought, but also dumped a full one hundred fifty thousand shi of Provisions!" Zhang Wenqian's eyes brightened as he spoke, "Moreover, the Rouran fled in haste, leaving over four thousand warhorses, and even a good amount of premium steppe hides and gold‑silver vessels!"

Gu Yuci couldn't help but grin, "Indeed, Chen Zhuguo, that Ku Di Gan boasts of being a famed general, yet this time he truly met a disgraceful retreat!"

Chen Yan, however, showed little joy.

He flipped through the thick ledger, then with a "Pa!" snapped it shut, his deep gaze turning to Zhang Wenqian.

"But this is merely treating the surface," Chen Yan's knuckles lightly tapped the table, "Old Zhang, you are also a scholar; you should know, what is the root of the great chaos?"

Zhang Wenqian was momentarily startled, then his expression hardened as he tentatively answered, "It's... the land?"

"Correct, the land!"

Chen Yan sprang to his feet, walked to a massive Xiazhou fengshui map, and heavily circled a spot with his finger: "War has shattered countless ordinary families, but it has also torn apart the entrenched local aristocratic clans and powerful landlords!"

Chen Yan's gaze turned aggressively: "I, the Duke, have investigated the secret reports. When the Qi army breached Xiazhou's outskirts, those lofty landlords fled faster than anyone. Some families perished in the flames, their lines extinguished; others fled deep into Guanzhong, even losing their Land Deeds. Now within Xiazhou lie vast tracts of unowned fertile fields!"

Hearing the words "unowned fertile fields," Zhang Wenqian felt a sudden thud in his heart, vaguely guessing Chen Yan's intent, and cold sweat instantly broke out.

Sure enough, Chen Yan turned, his voice cold and domineering: "Relay the Duke's decree! Re‑survey Xiazhou's lands! Any fields whose original owners cannot produce a Land Deed, or whose owners are absent, shall be seized into the government's possession!"

"Then, allocate these lands to the families of fallen heroes! To the disabled veterans who retired from injury! The remainder shall be distributed per capita to the Liuren who helped repair the city defenses and tomb complexes!"

This was essentially a heavyweight bomb dropped on ancient society!

Zhang Wenqian was terrified, sprang to his feet, and repeatedly clasped his hands: "Chen Zhuguo! Think twice! This… this… this will offend every great clan family of Xiazhou and the northern lands! Those fleeing landlords may be absent, but they have connections in court. If the war ends and they return to claim land while we have given it to the people, they will surely submit a joint petition accusing you of usurping private property and leading troops to plunder!"

"Accuse the Duke?"

Chen Yan let out a cold laugh, his chuckle brimming with contemptuous arrogance.

He slowly approached Zhang Wenqian, patting his shoulder: "Old Zhang, your courage is still too small."

"Remember, in this chaotic age, all laws and ancient rites are nonsense! Only the sword is truth!" Chen Yan suddenly clenched his fist, his eyes fierce like a wolf, "Those great families daily drain the people's blood, and flee faster than dogs when the nation is in peril. Now peace returns, and they want to pick peaches? It's their grand illusion!"

"Go ahead and distribute the land! If anyone dares cause trouble or block it, let the Mingjing Department knock on their doors! I want to see whether their Confucian rhetoric is tougher, or my embroidered‑clad envoy's embroidered spring sword!"

"Well said, Chen Zhuguo!"

The previously silent veteran Wang Zheng suddenly slapped his thigh, his beard trembling with excitement.

Seeing the civil and military heavyweights voice their stance, Zhang Wenqian swallowed, then clenched his teeth, a fierce glint in his eyes: "Very well! I accept the order! Since Chen Zhuguo fears nothing, I will stake my life alongside you!"

Just as the court in the rear hall finalized this earth‑shaking policy that could reshape the Northern Border, an embroidered‑clad envoy of the Mingjing Department hurried into the hall, dropping to a single knee, his voice urgent: "Report, Chen Zhuguo! The Chang'an envoy has arrived! He is already outside the Inspector's Office gate!"

"Oh?" Chen Yan raised an eyebrow, a subtle, meaningful smile curling his mouth.

Counting the days, the battle report of his great victory had long reached Chang'an, along with the honors for Grand Administrator Yuwen Hu and the appointment of the new Xiazhou Inspector, which should have arrived as well.

"Change clothes, and accompany the Duke to receive the edict!"

After a incense stick burned, the main hall of the Inspector's Office was set. The incense table was ready, and Chen Yan donned the Duke of Wei's Purple Robe Gold Belt, leading Xiazhou's civil and military to greet.

The one delivering the edict was not a low‑ranking eunuch, but an inner court attendant.

With a nearly sycophantic smile plastered on his face, he took two quick steps forward, bowed, and said, "The servant has seen Chen Zhuguo!"

Such an honor made Zhang Wenqian, Gu Yuci and the others in the rear watch with hidden alarm.

Chen Yan was not courteous either, merely offering a slight bow: "Your Excellency, after your long journey, please read the edict."

"Yes!"

The attendant cleared his throat, unfurled the bright yellow Brocade Imperial Edict, and read aloud at a high voice: "The Great Zhou Emperor commands: lift the siege on the two southern Xiazhou prefectures, drive back the Qi invaders, repel the Rouran threat. Safeguard our Great Zhou Northern Region, a feat of unprecedented merit…"

The preceding several hundred words were all flowery praise.

Then came a series of standard rewards: five thousand taels of gold, ten thousand taels of silver, a thousand bolts of Shu brocade, imperial bestowal of precious swords and armor, and so on.

These gifts, though generous, elicited no ripple among the assembled officials, for everyone knew that for someone of Chen Yan's stature, such gold and silver were merely ornamental.

The climax comes at the end.

The attendant paused briefly, inhaled, and his voice suddenly rose eight notes, booming across the spacious main hall: "Now I present: the Chief Commander with Credentials, the Commander‑in‑Chief of Xia, Ling, Sui, Yin, Salt and the other seven prefectures' military affairs, the Governor of Xiazhou, and the Inspector of Xiazhou!"

"You shall command the military insignia, pacify and guard the border vassals, oversee the arms of the seven prefectures, and secure the crucial points of the Northern Frontier!"