Chapter 1159: Get to Work on Infrastructure

After Chen Wuji destroyed the Uyghurs, the war in Dayu South entered an accelerated mode, and the good news from Bai Sha Jun had just arrived a few days ago, and Lingnan also had new news arriving.

Chen Bushi and Yang Yu used only a few days to sweep through the various forces entrenched in Lingnan, using only eight thousand troops, and they divided their forces into four routes.

The four-route army fought only one battle, and all of Lingnan fell into Chen Wuji's hands.

When Chen Wuji first heard this news, he sighed that Chen Bushi and Yang Yu were indeed skilled in warfare, but after opening the memorial and flipping through it, he discovered that this was not due to tactics, but because these two were overly scheming.

These two old foxes had long been eyeing those few small forces, but both sides had reservations: Chen Bushi worried that Yang Yu would take the opportunity to make small moves, while Yang Yu feared that too many actions would provoke Chen Wuji to attack him.

Therefore, before this, both sides exercised great restraint and did nothing openly, employing all kinds of means in secret, engaging in a host of activities such as winning over and inducing defection.

Thus, when they finally mobilized troops, the means previously prepared by Chen Bushi and Yang Yu were activated simultaneously, instantly producing the effect of removing the ladder after someone has climbed onto the roof.

Those few small forces were inherently fragile.

Chen Bushi and Yang Yu had already employed various means early on—how could the war not be swift?

This time, their army arriving at the city walls was not like waging war, but more like a signal.

With Lingnan and Bai Sha Jun pacified, the entire Dayu South now had only the last two commanderies occupied by the Shi Shi clan still struggling desperately.

As for Shendu, it is a neighboring country and cannot yet be counted as part of Dayu's territory.

The territory currently occupied by Chen Wuji already approaches two-thirds of Dayu.

If we disregard military strength and wealth and consider only territory, Chen Wuji is now unquestionably the foremost.

Among the feudal lords and local powers of the entire Dayu, none can stand alongside him for comparison.

Chen Wuji did not pay much attention to the wars of Shendu and the Shi Shi clan; with Dayu South on the verge of unification, he still had many other matters to attend to.

First, large-scale reform.

Due to the lack of grassroots officials, reforms in commanderies like Shangyu would inevitably be far more difficult than those in Nanyue Jun and similar commanderies; after cabinet deliberation, a provisional measure was proposed.

Utilize the local garrison, cooperating with the Inspector's office to carry out the reform.

No one—this is also unavoidable.

Second, expand the navy.

Chen Wuji had accidentally discovered in Songzhou the shipyard secretly built by Yu Ren and a fully equipped small naval flotilla, which was the initial strength of his navy.

Because of this flotilla, Chen Wuji conceived the idea of constructing the Naval Daying in Hezhou.

The original purpose of constructing this Daying was to prepare for southeastern warfare; Chen Wuji had envisioned land and sea advancing in tandem, but who would have thought it would never be deployed.

But now, the navy is an urgent necessity.

He needs to cross the great river and launch a northern expedition into Zhongyuan!

Traveling by land is certainly possible, and currently there are no obstacles.

When the army marches north from Jiannan Commandery, traveling by land would necessarily require borrowing a route through Uyghur territory, but now this is Chen Wuji's own territory, so there is no need to worry about whether they would lend it.

However, the land route is long, requires borrowing a path through Uyghur lands, then detouring northwest, and one must first break through from the northwest before penetrating deep into Zhongyuan.

Based on this, the land route is not the optimal path.

The navy advancing north can directly penetrate Zhongyuan.

……

Early summer.

Chen Wuji withdrew from Jiannan Commandery and took up residence in Jiangxia City of Shangyu Commandery.

This is a water city, with a dense water network surrounding it; even within the city alone, three rivers flow through it, although they are not wide, but they do have names.

Outside Jiangxia City lies a once-prosperous ferry crossing in the middle reaches of the great river.

In times when the world was not yet so chaotic, this place bore the heavy responsibility of north-south transshipment, serving as a major water thoroughfare, extremely prosperous.

Jiangxia City, because of this ferry crossing, steadily surpassed the prefectural seat in prominence, becoming the wealthiest and most densely populated city in Shangyu Commandery at that time.

According to Wei Baoguo, this local native, the present Jiangxia City amounts to less than three-tenths of its former self.

War and the destruction of commerce are almost fatal.

In this era, this is unavoidable.

Not everyone can be like Chen Wuji, possessing the awareness to protect local commercial development; for many local lords, merchants are more like their moneybags, especially those without background.

They favor supporting monopolies and also enjoy befriending merchants with clan connections, engaging in dealings.

As for ordinary merchants with modest means, they are merely those who are drained dry by them.

The upper class being thus, one need not even mention the lower officials and soldiers—layer upon layer of exploitation is the norm.

Merchant caravans basically have to pay bribes at every pass they cross, and even having all their property seized is commonplace.

In such an ecological environment, how dare ordinary merchants dare to engage in commerce lightly?

This ferry crossing in Jiangxia City, due to Chen Wuji's arrival, has become prosperous again.

However, this current prosperity is not greatly related to commerce, but is purely military.

Countless artisans summoned by conscription have already begun work at the ferry crossing.

Here, a large ferry crossing and ship dock will be constructed to prepare hardware for the upcoming northern expedition.

At the same time, Chen Wuji ordered the selection of water-skilled personnel from various armies to supplement the navy, which currently numbers only two thousand. Southern troops are mostly water-skilled; possibly one or two out of every ten soldiers are adept at water, which is not a troublesome matter, and Chen Wuji will not have the worries of Cao the boss from years past.

Regarding infrastructure construction, Chen Wuji is now also quite adept.

Having experience in city construction, building ferry crossings and ship docks is merely a change of direction.

The overall coordination on the macro level is roughly similar.

Moreover, ferry crossings and ship docks are simpler than city construction.

This ship dock will primarily construct large warships in the future; medium and small warships do not require additional construction, and Chen Wuji even has some surplus.

The quantity of various ship types built over such a long time in Hezhou, as well as those captured last year, is extremely large.

……

While Chen Wuji devoted himself to infrastructure construction, the jianghu recently experienced frequent earthquakes.

After Taiyuan Sect set a good example, the southern martial world sects, whether large or small, have recently been harassed by a group of people carrying the order of Prince Zhen Nan to the point of utter misery, leaving them fragmented.

Martial world people, relying on their own strength and the sect as a united force, have been trying in recent years to place themselves above the court to highlight their extraordinary status and gain greater power and influence.

They were actually on the verge of success.

But at this very moment, Chen Wuji, the killing god, arrived.

The martial arts masters from the Prince Zhen Nan's mansion spoke no reason at all and immediately began implementing measures such as conscription and registration to restrict them.

All sects must conscript experts into the army, conscript elite disciples into local offices to serve as clerks.

If they do not comply, without a word, their clans will be exterminated.