Chapter 926

Wuguo in general, calm and peaceful.

Except for some old Sui dynasty aristocratic clans who, for a time, failed to grasp the situation, when officials under Huang Lang came door-to-door to register their fields, mineral veins, etc., preparing to confiscate these land assets for the state, minor conflicts arose with these officials.

Wu Tie did not deploy the elite forbidden army, the Heavenly Martial Army, nor did he use the Wu family's young men, let alone the giant divine soldiers.

He simply had Zhu Ganglie lead a group of pig-type demon emperors, demon kings, giant demons, major demons, along with countless 'uh-uh, uh-uh', 'hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm' pig tribe minor demons, visiting each of those old Sui aristocratic clans who failed to grasp the situation.

It was obvious that, face to face with Zhu Ganglie, these aristocratic clans could not defeat him and dared not fight him.

Not daring to fight, nor daring to close their doors and turn away guests, they could only let Zhu Ganglie assist the Wuguo officials in mediating disputes… when Zhu Ganglie helped mediate, the big and small pigs he brought would have to eat, drink, defecate, and urinate.

The pig's specialty is eating.

Their intestines and stomachs are extremely large, capable of eating.

Whenever Zhu Ganglie mediated for a day in an aristocratic clan's household, the big and small pigs he brought could eat that clan into bankruptcy!

What a rare opportunity for such gluttonous feasting…… the hundred million pig demons Zhu Ganglie brought were happily gulping and belching, indulging in excessive eating and drinking.

Some even ate until they vomited outright, but after vomiting they continued to stuff their bellies wildly.

They ate rice, noodles, steamed buns, pastries, fruits, preserved fruits, yellow liquor, white liquor, and various fruit wines without the slightest complaint……

After they finished the grain stored in those aristocratic clans' granaries, they ran to the clans' pastures and livestock pens, catching live animals to stew or roast as side dishes.

When the pastures and livestock pens were exhausted, they forced the clans' stewards to produce real gold and silver to purchase supplies.

When the purchased food was also eaten up, the clans' liquid assets and cash on hand were completely devoured, leaving not a single coin; they then forced the clan heads, elders, heirs, legitimate sons, relatives, friends, etc., to borrow money and run up tabs in their own names to fill their bottomless stomachs.

Zhu Ganglie chuckled, allowing his pig offspring to wreak havoc; devouring an established aristocratic house in a day was truly no trouble for these piglets.

Thus, after about a month, when several dozen famous old Sui aristocratic clans had been eaten into selling their estates to repay debts, the Sui dignitaries all became obedient. Officials under Huang Lang came door-to-door to register and confiscate those lands, and they all cooperated willingly.

Zhu Ganglie led a lively, jumping group of piglets, leisurely wandering across the land of Wuguo like a band of ghosts.

Along their way, whenever they encountered any big or small Sui aristocratic clan that had violated rules or laws, they did not shout for battle but simply went on a frenzied feast. Since Zhu Ganglie, the demon sovereign, led them, no one dared refuse his demand to visit.

They became honest, thoroughly honest.

The old Sui dignitaries obediently handed over their fields, pastures, mines, fisheries, and other land assets, retaining only the manors, villas, shops, and restaurants that Wu Tie permitted them to keep.

All the home-born servants, maids, attendants, stewards, guards, etc., in their mansions, were issued contracts per Wu Tie's edict, becoming free citizens.

Local officials then allocated land and housing to these newly emerged free citizens, distributed various production materials, and let them form new villages and towns.

Since there was no need to wage war against the four neighboring states, Wuguo's expenditures across the board suddenly dropped by over ninety percent compared to the Sui dynasty. The Sui treasury inherited by Wuguo was quite ample, with supplies piled high like mountains, so Wu Tie generously supplemented the edict, exempting these newly organized villages and towns from ten years of taxes.

For a time, the hearts of Wuguo's people settled, public opinion surged, countless citizens spontaneously praised Wu Tie's merits, and various petitions from the masses, passed through all levels of government, who knows how many were sent to the Martial Capital.

Wu Tie felt nothing about these mass petitions praising him, but Pei Feng smiled broadly, ordering people to carefully collect and store them, and specially allocated several large warehouses for their preservation.

Wuguo's governance from top to bottom entered the proper track.

Wu Tie had subdued many aristocratic clans on the Three Kingdoms Continent; these clans had long lineages, numerous disciples, and some of their branches numbered tens of thousands of households.

Back on the Three Kingdoms Continent, Wu Tie's Wuguo had no use for so many clans and their countless branches; many talented clan youths could only idle at home, living off the family, waiting to die.

But Wu Tie, by force, overturned the old Sui bureaucratic system, leaving Wuguo's entire governmental apparatus vacant; the clan youths who followed Wu Tie's old Three Kingdoms system all entered service, and even the least capable could manage to become a city lord.

Wu Tie enfeoffed the ministers en masse; the middle-aged youths of his various martial houses and clan branches, as long as their conduct was unblemished, all entered office and became Wuguo officials.

The martial strength of the old Sui populace was formidable, far surpassing the old Three Kingdoms lands; even a constable in a county office was a master of the Divine Realm—even if merely an inferior deity, still a Divine Realm master!

Yet many of Wuguo's clan youths were still only at the Embryonic Storage cultivation level.

Thus these newly appointed Wuguo officials acted cautiously and meticulously, fearing to provoke popular unrest, lest they lose not only their posts but even their lives.

Especially since they had been raised like piglets for so many years, when suddenly given a chance to display great talent, who wouldn't want to stand out and show off before their clansmen?

With their diligent, careful work ethic, Wuguo's various aspects ran smoothly, everything in good order.

Lao Tie and Xiahou Wuming mobilized the large army; the newly organized Wuguo troops marched to all directions, garrisoning city after city. Moreover, the venerable Wu family youths Wu Jin, Wu Yin, Wu Tong, etc., each commanded the elite Heavenly Martial Army to patrol the four quarters, ever ready to crush dissent.

Thus, after the abdication ceremony, all of Wuguo was calm and peaceful, safe and sound, the markets thrived, and everything flourished day by day.

The cities destroyed by the Nine Princes' Rebellion are also being rebuilt; Wuguo is swiftly recovering from that turmoil.

Amid this peaceful and tranquil atmosphere, Wu Tie personally led a large force, at midnight setting up a grand formation that encircled a luxurious manor inside the Martial Capital city, leaving no gap.

Vermilion lacquered main gate, gilt lintel, polished red jade threshold shining with oil and water; before it stood two towering jade qilin, each several zhang tall, exuding a fierce aura, inside countless runic seals, waves of faint red spiritual light visible to the naked eye continually spreading outward.

This lofty gate and mansion exuded a solemn aura, an air of inviolable nobility; placed in the old Sui era, the ordinary folk of Sui Du would not dare walk past this gate… merely the affluent pressure emanating from the two jade qilin before the door was beyond what commoners could bear.

"Yinghe Prince Consort's Residence." Wu Tie murmured, reading the five gilt characters on the great red plaque above the gate, then shook his head: "I feel this residence has bad feng shui; why use such a bright red for the plaque? Blood Light disaster, most inauspicious."

The brothers Mist and Phantom standing beside Wu Tie both twitched the corners of their mouths.

That great red plaque…… they didn't think it was particularly bad, but you, the mighty Martial King, personally leading a great army to surround this manor at the dead of night—no matter how good its feng shui, it becomes utterly ominous and evil.

"Your Majesty's words are golden and jade-like, utterly correct." This manor… is greatly ominous, surely a Blood Light disaster." Changing into a pink long dress, veiled, Ying laughed 'keke', intentionally or not casting flirtatious glances at Wu Tie.

"Watch out, Pei Feng might gouge out your eyes… don't go throwing flirtatious glances around." Wu Tie gave a 'hehe' chuckle, gazing at the Yinghe Prince Consort's Residence before him, murmuring: "The prince consort of Princess Yinghe is actually a reincarnation of the Barbarian God clan?"

"You gods, have you even eroded the reincarnation laws of Mu Dalu to this extent?"

Wu Tie sighed deeply: "If you don't tell us, who could know that right here in the Martial Capital there are one hundred seventy-two incarnations of gods… Then, in this vast Wuguo, among the old Sui aristocratic houses' elite—within the high ranks of the Qinglian, Honglian, and Bai-lian lineages—how many of those seemingly ordinary 'people' are actually you… 'divine spirits'?"

Shaking his head, Wu Tie asked in bewilderment: "Reincarnation—what a profoundly mysterious matter; those gods who have infiltrated humanity through reincarnation, aren't they afraid of some leakage… that would prevent them from ever returning?"

Phantom and Ying remained silent.

Mist chuckled softly: "Your Majesty, only those gods of the lowest status would be sent into reincarnation to carry out this plan. As for us, nobles of noble blood and exalted station, how could we abandon our positions and take such a risk?"

"In the guise of those lowly persons, they might spend their whole lives as mere lowest-rank soldiers, with absolutely no chance of advancement."

"But if they could achieve some merit in this plan, they might receive enough essence of human bloodline as a reward, giving them a chance to change their fate… thus many of them are willing to take the risk and give it a try."

Smiling, Mist said coldly: "Even if they are unwilling, can they oppose a divine edict?"

Wu Tie nodded slowly: "I just don't know how many divine spirits you have sent down."

Mist, Phantom, and Ying simultaneously furrowed their brows, pondered silently, then in unison said: "At least a million in total."

The three exchanged a glance, and Ying spoke first: "Just at the observation outpost, there are hundreds of great and small god clans, each sending at least thousands of the lowest divine spirits into Mu Dalu's reincarnation."

"Even if some of them have bad luck, losing their memories to reincarnation's force or being wholly assimilated by Mu Dalu's will, there are still those who succeed, able to clearly remember their identity, quickly regain their power, and smoothly hide among Mu Dalu's human populace."

Phantom then interjected: "This is a plan devised by a certain god-king of my Wisdom God clan, who, thirty thousand years ago, while inspecting the observation outpost, conceived it… to infiltrate humanity, blend into the upper echelons, and from the foundation undermine all human resistance, turning Mu Dalu entirely into the gods' hunting ground."

"This plan has been carried out for thirty thousand years……" Wu Tie's face twitched: "So, you also don't know exactly how many people there are, or what their specific identities are?"

Miwu gave a light cough: "If we meet face to face, we will definitely be able to recognize them. After all, before entering reincarnation, they were all marked by the Supreme Divine Artifact…… Only we high-ranking divine spirits can instantly recognize their identities."

Wu Tie nodded slowly, looking around at the seal formation that was tight as could be, with nearly a hundred layers inside and out, and waved his hand at the manor gate: "Knock, enter."

The Red Lotus Demon Sovereign and Yellow Spring Corpse Sovereign, who had been standing behind Wu Tie, rushed out simultaneously, each kicking with one foot at the left and right doors of the gate. With a tremendous bang, the gate flew into the manor, and immediately the gatekeeper's reprimand came.

"Bullying people too much, bullying people too much, this is Princess Yinghe's residence; even if they are remnants of the former dynasty…… you are still bullying people too much."

"What the heck?" The Yellow Spring Corpse Sovereign emanated terrifying yin and evil qi from his whole body, strode into the manor, and his roar shook the ground trembling: "Bullying people too much? Hah, is bullying people too much what my ancestors love? I've bullied you, I've oppressed you, I've refused to reason—what can you do about it?"

"Ga, ga-ga, in the Suichao dynasty, your Prince Consort's Manor was also illustrious, but now the Suichao dynasty has collapsed, and now it's Wuguo's world…… Take a look, take a look, do you recognize this token?"

A muffled slap rang out.

"What? You don't recognize it?"

The waist token of the Ninth Pivot Commander of the Heavenly Martial Secret Guard, you don't recognize it?

Speak, you're deliberately saying you don't recognize this token—is it because you won't give your ancestors face?

If you won't give me face, go die…… Hmm, just lie down obediently for me!

The Yellow Spring Corpse Sovereign let out a low growl, and a muffled thud of a body falling came from within the manor.

Wu Tie raised an eyebrow, leading his troops slowly into the Prince Consort's Manor, and saw the Yellow Spring Corpse Sovereign grinning wickedly, his fierce gaze fixed on the burly men lying on the ground with dozens of broken arms and legs.

Seeing Wu Tie enter, the Yellow Spring Corpse Sovereign hastily raised both hands: "My lord, we didn't indiscriminately kill…… Look, they're heavily injured but not dead—just suffering a bit…… Hehe, they don't recognize our pivot commander's token—this is disrespecting the Heavenly Martial Secret Guard!"

The Heavenly Martial Secret Guard was built single-handedly by Consort Pei Feng—disrespecting the Heavenly Martial Secret Guard is disrespecting Consort Pei Feng!

"You say, is that the reasoning?"

Wu Tie glanced askance at the Yellow Spring Corpse Sovereign and said in a deep voice: "Princess Yinghe and the princess's consort, as relatives of the Suichao dynasty, why weren't they sent to the northwestern fief?"

A calm voice came from the shadows: "Your Majesty, Consort Pei Feng believes that, since those princesses of the former Suichao dynasty have married, they no longer have much ties to the Feng Imperial Clan…… Princess Yinghe and her consort, who were formerly renowned for 'benevolence', have therefore been granted extra favor."

Wu Tie laughed: "What Consort Pei Feng said? Then let it be that…… However, her extra favor was bestowed on the wrong target. Who could have imagined that this consort is actually not human?"