Chapter 155: The Man Delayed by the Ji Sisters

As the Minister of Justice, Pang Jin was not very familiar with military affairs.

However, being able to enter the imperial court, he had many channels for information and was well-traveled, so he certainly had some understanding of his own country.

The emperors of the past few generations could not be said to have worked diligently to govern, but they had not let the May Tian Ce Dynasty go downhill either.

As a prosperous kingdom on the continent, even with internal troubles and external threats, its strength was still there.

To strike at the Northern Wang Ting, they were only mobilizing the garrison from the north; the armies in other regions had not yet moved.

Yet the Northern Wang Ting was already exerting its entire national strength to resist, which was enough to show the power of the May Tian Ce Dynasty.

Pang Jin still remembered that there was an important reason for attacking the Northern Wang Ting: the northern garrison was too large, providing sufficient troops for battle.

Pang Jin felt that as a subject, he needed to guess the Emperor's intentions correctly, so he stepped out to support the Prime Minister Zhao Wenyuan's statement.

Many other officials also stepped out to echo this, indicating that a strike was certainly possible, but they should secure the funds first.

After Li Chen approved their opinions, this morning court session was officially concluded.

In fact, Li Chen's thoughts were not as complicated as they imagined.

According to his way of thinking, the various surrounding powers were certainly waiting for the May Tian Ce Dynasty's north to enter a stalemate—that is, for the main force of the Northern Army to penetrate deep into the interior of the Snow Eagle Wang Ting.

This way, even if fighting broke out all around, the main force would be unable to maneuver.

Therefore, as long as they found a way to quickly resolve the Snow Eagle Wang Ting, the main force could be freed up to strike wherever they pleased.

This would resolve the problem at its root.

Li Chen's strategy for the game was to find a way to stay one step ahead, exceeding the imagination of others.

If what he could think of, others could also think of, then how could he possibly win?

Li Chen also knew that it would not be easy to defeat the Snow Eagle Wang Ting in the short term, but this was the key to winning by surprise.

However, before that, he certainly had to resolve the remnants of the previous dynasty and the Purple Firmament Heavenly Palace.

After the court was dismissed, Li Chen remembered one thing.

Yesterday, he had originally intended to check on Lin Yue'e's cultivation progress and her preparations for taking office in Shanghe City, but he had encountered the Princess of Zhennan. She was truly too alluring, so Li Chen had been busy all night and had not found the time to go see her.

He estimated that at this time of day, the Ji sisters should have already woken up, making Li Chen's calmed heart feel somewhat restless again.

In any case, the Ji family mansion was also in the same area as Lin Yue'e; should he go see them first?

Especially the Princess of Zhennan—that kind of charm was truly fascinating.

After pondering for a moment, Li Chen still felt that this time, upon leaving the palace, he must go see Lin Yue'e first, otherwise, once he entered the Ji family, he might not be able to get out.

At the Imperial Capital Government Office, the news that Lin Yue'e was to take the post of Lin Chengjian of Shanghe City had already spread.

This was a position of real local power, so there were quite a few people coming to offer congratulations.

Especially those who came from Shanghe City to the capital to do business; they all wanted to seek Lin Yue'e's protection.

Everyone knew Lin Yue'e's character; if they were just coming to congratulate her, she was indeed easy to talk to, but if they tried to offer bribes, being reprimanded was a minor matter, but being thrown in jail would be troublesome.

In the capital, after the experience of arresting the second generation of nobles and the remnants of the Second Prince's faction, Lin Yue'e's reputation had risen once again.

It was currently working hours, and Lin Yue'e was organizing case files in her office.

Just at this moment, a sound of footsteps came from behind her.

This time, Lin Yue'e reacted very quickly; she turned directly and kowtowed, saying, "Your humble servant Lin Yue'e, pays respects to Your Majesty."

"Rise." Li Chen was also somewhat surprised. She had been focused on organizing files just now; how had she discovered his arrival?

Seeming to perceive Li Chen's confusion, Lin Yue'e explained that she had refined the inner core of the ancient demonic beast, the Ink-Scaled Ghost Snake, which Li Chen had given her, and had gained some special abilities.

One must know that the vision of snakes is not very good, so their sense of smell and thermal sensing are very strong.

Lin Yue'e had used these abilities to detect Li Chen's arrival.

After all, she was someone Li Chen had taught personally, so she was relatively familiar with him.

As for practicing, Lin Yue'e had not fallen behind at all; every day after finishing her work, she would cultivate.

This was also a habit of graduates from the Combat Academy.

It was estimated that after taking office in Shanghe City, she would be able to break through to the Six Realms Realm.

Li Chen was also relatively satisfied with her progress, but just talking about it wouldn't do; Li Chen would also personally inspect it.

This made Lin Yue'e feel very moved. She felt that Li Chen's mental state was not good, and he must be working day and night on official business, yet he could still find time in his busy schedule to care for her—this was simply an supreme honor.

The debt of gratitude she already couldn't repay had grown by a few more points.

"When you go to Shanghe City, do you have any preparations or the like?"

Although Li Chen had not been Emperor for long, his time in the officialdom was certainly better than Lin Yue'e's, and he was indeed qualified to explain some experience to her.

According to the normal routine, this was divided into two methods.

The first method: Lin Yue'e returns alone.

Just like many inspectors and censors in the capital, they were all dispatched by the May Tian Ce Dynasty's highest supervisory agency.

They were responsible for inspecting the economy, military, and public sentiment of the jurisdiction, reporting directly to the Emperor, and rewarding or punishing local officials.

If one wanted to see the true situation of a place, hiding one's identity to go there was never wrong.

The second method: Lin Yue'e goes with great fanfare.

That would be officially taking office with a large contingent, accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Revenue.

Local officials would also come out of the city to welcome her. The position of Lin Chengjian was very high, not to mention that Lin Yue'e was someone who enjoyed such great imperial favor.

Which local official would dare not give Lin Yue'e face? They might even put on some ceremonies to welcome her.

With such great momentum, Lin Yue'e might not be able to see the true situation of the place upon arrival.

"Your Majesty, what do you think I should do?"

Lin Yue'e simply asked Li Chen directly, wanting to hear what opinions Li Chen had.

"I think you should go with great fanfare, see who doesn't give you face, and then deal with them."

According to Li Chen's way of speaking, it was not to play the pig to eat the tiger.

This was the same principle as his suggestion last time for Lady Youlan to directly display the strength of the Sage Realm.

Playing the pig to eat the tiger was very satisfying and could lead to face-slapping.

But Li Chen felt that it was very troublesome. If Lin Yue'e went to Shanghe City secretly, she would certainly be able to discover some illegal activities, and it might even involve the disciples of those officials in Shanghe City, or the officials themselves.

If Lin Yue'e saw it, she couldn't just ignore it, right?

And those officials had backers behind them. The saying goes, "Heaven is high and the Emperor is far away." Shanghe City was not the capital; it hid all kinds of local tyrants.

Therefore, as soon as Lin Yue'e went down, she would have a conflict with the local officials.

The local officials would develop an aversion to Lin Yue'e, feeling that Lin Yue'e was deliberately suppressing them to establish her authority, and they would follow her orders in public but oppose them in private.

In fact, according to Lin Yue'e's authority and ability, dealing with those officials was not a big problem; she even dared to deal with officials in the capital, let alone local ones—it just required a certain amount of time.

Of course, Li Chen was not asking her to wallow in the mire with them; Li Chen had a better way of playing with cards on the table.

This depended on one's own strength and background.

Li Chen told Lin Yue'e to go down with great fanfare and clearly state what she was going to do, telling everyone not to violate the law, clarifying matters first.

That was to establish the image of someone strict in law enforcement.

Then the local officials would know what Lin Yue'e's purpose was.

The vast majority of officials would certainly cooperate, and even those who had small tricks would restrain themselves and not go out of their way to provoke Lin Yue'e.

Because officials all knew that a new official brings three fires; who would be willing to openly cause trouble?

At this time, Lin Yue'e would then strictly investigate, and whoever she caught, she would deal with directly.

Even if this person had a background, their background would not help them; they would only think the person had a problem—the new Lin Chengjian had already said she would investigate strictly, and you still dare to cause trouble?

Other officials would also not think that Lin Yue'e was deliberately looking for trouble.

In this way, Lin Yue'e's work would proceed relatively smoothly, and she would be able to gain a certain reputation locally, not only among the populace but also among her colleagues.

Perhaps Li Chen's thoughts were different from others; what he wanted was to be able to suppress the whole scene himself and let his subordinates work earnestly.

I don't care who is in a clique with whom; as long as you listen to me and act as my dog, then that's all there is to it.

Instead of being an Emperor and having nothing to do but engage in internal strife with subordinates—isn't that just looking for trouble when you're idle?

Therefore, he told this philosophy to Lin Yue'e, hoping that Lin Yue'e would be able to put it to use.

It must be said that Lin Yue'e had actually thought about taking office in disguise at the beginning, but after Li Chen said this, she felt it made a lot of sense.

Rather than falling out with the local officials at that time, it was better to make things clear, just tell them that I am the Emperor's confidant, you all must listen to me, otherwise I will deal with you.

What she needed to do was just to be able to keep the residents of one area stable, not to fight wits and courage with her colleagues.

Next, Li Chen asked her if she had brought any manpower. After all, even if she was born in Shanghe City and grew up there, it would be very troublesome to start from scratch after returning.

Moreover, whether the people locally configured would listen was one thing, and whether their ability was up to par was hard to say.

On this point, Lin Yue'e had indeed considered it; she had gathered some good friends, that is, people she knew in the Combat Academy. Those people had strong abilities and strength, and most importantly, they listened to her.

As long as she went to Shanghe City to take office, she would immediately arrange her own people in various positions; in this way, she would be able to quickly grasp the power she governed. It was better than going alone and working hard.

Li Chen was very gratified that Lin Yue'e could think of this.

Different positions have different methods; management must learn to use people, rather than doing everything alone and personally.

It was not that one couldn't do things personally, but human energy is limited.

Lin Yue'e had just become management, and many things needed to be adapted to.

Before leaving the capital, Lin Yue'e had one more thing to tell Li Chen.

When she first started preparing for her new post, the first person she thought of was the jailer Zhou Ye in the prison.

Lin Yue'e knew Zhou Ye's information and abilities clearly; if she could dig him out, he would certainly become a great help to her.

In Lin Yue'e's view, Zhou Ye was wasting his talent in the prison; give him a certain official position, and he would certainly be able to achieve results.

But Zhou is still the same as always; he doesn't really like to struggle with his colleagues, and he is content just being a jailer and managing the prisoners.

His personality was a bit "staying out of trouble"; do his work well, slack off at work, take some bonuses, and not like to cause trouble.

!

Zhou Ye's refusal of Lin Yue'e's request was also within her expectations; she just felt it was a pity for such talent.

So Lin Yue'e told Li Chen about Zhou Ye's matter.

"Your Majesty, his abilities in all aspects are several times stronger than mine; back then, he was even the top of our Combat Academy—this is a unique achievement."

Hearing Lin Yue'e recommend him so highly, Li Chen also wanted to see this subordinate.

Zhou Ye never expected that Lin Yue'e would sell him out just like that.

In the prison, Zhou Ye was slacking off at work.

He just liked this kind of dark place that couldn't see the light; clock in every day, work wasn't very busy, it was wonderful.

But just at this moment, a person appeared in front of Zhou Ye.

He immediately knelt down to pay respects to Li Chen.

Judging from his fluid movements, his skills were certainly not bad.

Zhou Ye had seen Li Chen a few times, so he certainly recognized Li Chen.

This was the big boss of the May Tian Ce Dynasty.

And he was just a small jailer; basically, they had no connection.

Zhou Ye thought Li Chen was here to see some prisoner, but Li Chen sat in front of him and started asking him some things, which gave him a bad premonition.

"Where are you from?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, your humble servant is from Mocang City."

Mocang City was a city on the western border of the May Tian Ce Dynasty.

Zhou Ye grew up in that place and was a person of mixed heritage; it was said he even had a certain Sassanian Dynasty lineage.

This was just Li Chen's initial impression of him.

What specific abilities Zhou Ye had, Li Chen had not yet understood.

But Li Chen had his own set of methods.

"Oh? Since you grew up on the western border, tell me about your understanding of the Sassanian Dynasty, in detail."

Li Chen asked casually, wanting to hear this kid's opinion.

If someone else asked, Zhou Ye certainly wouldn't answer.

But the person in front of him was the current Emperor, a powerful Sage Realm expert; Zhou Ye certainly dared not disobey.

After pondering for a while, Zhou Ye replied: "Replying to Your Majesty, when your humble servant was training in the past, I did indeed go to the Sassanian Dynasty. The Sassanian Dynasty is a country that values cavalry even more than the Northern Wang Ting, and its core is heavy cavalry."

According to Zhou Ye, the Sassanian Dynasty's heavy cavalry belonged to the top tier on the continent. The reason they could support so many heavy cavalry was also because the Sassanian Dynasty's trade was particularly developed.

Among the heavy cavalry, there were some special units, such as the Elephant Spirit Colt Cavalry, Earth Dragon Cavalry, etc.; these were all mounts possessing the bloodline of ancient demonic beasts.

The Sassanian Dynasty had the custom of raising these demonic beasts. After their thousands of years of domestication, these demonic beasts already possessed the ability to fight side-by-side with humans, and their loyalty was extremely high.

The combat power of demonic beasts was powerful; this was obvious. In frontal confrontations, their impact was powerful.

Zhou Ye also clearly explained the disadvantage of demonic beast cavalry: their numbers were scarce, and once there were losses, it was difficult to replenish them.

Besides this, if cultivators in the Sassanian Dynasty wanted to get ahead, most needed to rely on the four great families.

They were: the Sassan family, the Karl family, the Farah family, and the Nasser family.

These four great families controlled more than 80% of the Sassanian Dynasty's resources, among which the Sassan family was the most powerful.

According to Zhou Ye's understanding, the Sassanian Dynasty was originally a wild land where demonic beasts ran rampant; there were many rainforests there, where demonic beasts could better multiply.

It was the strong rise of the Sassan family that drove away and fenced in the demonic beasts, created cities, and built a massive power.

After thousands of years of development, it had its current scale.

In the past, the Sassanian Dynasty's wars were also constant, and they relied on the powerful impact of heavy cavalry to win.

Zhou Ye continued to recall that if one were to speak of the Sassanian Dynasty's most elite unit, it belonged to the Savaran Guard, equivalent to the May Tian Ce Dynasty's Imperial Guard.

The Savaran Guard was also an army directly under the Emperor, but one point was different: the commander of the Savaran Guard had the highest command authority of the army level.

That is to say, the commander of the Savaran Guard could mobilize any unit; of course, this authority could not be higher than the Emperor's.

The reason for this authority was also because of the special nature of the Sassanian Dynasty's interior.

The Sassanian Dynasty's army was not all controlled by the royal family.

According to Zhou Ye, some ordinary families in the Sassanian Dynasty also raised demonic beasts; after these demonic beasts were domesticated, they could also help people work.

There were also disadvantages, that is, demonic beasts all had wildness after all; once they went mad, they would cause injury incidents.

The larger the demonic beast, the more rations it needed.

Next, Zhou Ye introduced some Sassanian Dynasty cultivators he had seen before.

Li Chen could be considered to have gained some understanding of the Sassanian Dynasty. From the conversation, he could also judge that Zhou Ye was a person who paid great attention to details; even if he didn't deliberately observe, he could grasp important information.

This was related to his personality; Zhou Ye didn't like being involved in trouble, so understanding more could avoid trouble.

Li Chen continued to ask: "Compared to our dynasty, how is the Sassanian Dynasty?"

Zhou Ye replied proudly: "That certainly cannot compare to our dynasty. Our dynasty has vast territory, outstanding people and divine land, and is the country with the most Sage Realm experts in the world."

The overall strength of the May Tian Ce Dynasty's cultivators was undoubtedly the top existence in the world; in front of cultivators, demonic beasts were all heavenly treasures.

Unlike other countries, where demonic beasts often caused chaos and they needed to send troops to exterminate them.

To put it bluntly, as long as large demonic beasts dared to show their faces, they might not even be enough to go around.

The known Sage Realm experts in the May Tian Ce Dynasty were not few, not to mention the existence of some hermits.

In terms of the strength and number of cultivators, the May Tian Ce Dynasty was certainly in a league of its own.

When Zhou Ye said this, he also took the opportunity to flatter Li Chen.

This was a sincere flattery; Zhou Ye was working in the capital, and the stronger the person at the top, the more at ease he naturally felt.

Zhou Ye had long heard of the prestige of the Supreme Being; even he had been defeated by the Emperor, so the Emperor's strength could be imagined.

This also further made Zhou Ye feel that joining the imperial court was the correct choice.

And from various information channels, he could also judge that Li Chen wanted to deal with sect forces.

Fortunately, upon coming to the capital, he only thought about getting on the payroll and didn't go to join a sect like those people.

Otherwise, fighting outside every day, he wouldn't even know how he died.

However, having said that, the cruel competition of sect forces could forge so many top-tier cultivators.

Most sect disciples might not be as good as the Combat Academy, but the top few were all stepping on the corpses of countless people to get up.

Zhou Ye didn't say these things out loud, he just understood them in his heart.

He also didn't know why Li Chen would ask him, but he answered truthfully.

"Someone recommended you to me, but I think you should just do your own work well. I hope that one day I can see you in the imperial court."

After speaking, Li Chen left the prison.

This made Zhou Ye feel very surprised.

Because when Li Chen said the first half, he had a bad feeling, because he knew it was mostly Lin Yue'e's recommendation. Lin Yue'e was a close minister by the Emperor's side, and the Emperor would also summon her, even coming here to see her.

According to the normal process, he thought Li Chen's second half would be to transfer him to work in some department, which would be the beginning of his new identity.

While feeling troubled, there was also a feeling that "gold will always shine," just like a thousand-mile horse and Bo Le.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 156 =====