Chapter 172: All Under Heaven United?

"Murong Kuo, School Captain of the West Garden Forbidden Army, guilty of corruption and perverting the law, sentenced to imprisonment."

"Ma Buyuan, Deputy Commander of the East Garden Forbidden Army, murdered a concubine, handed over to the Ministry of Justice for public trial and punishment."

"Martial Arts Instructor, former Commander-in-Chief of the South Garden Forbidden Army Liu Buchan abused power for personal gain, seized two thousand mu of good farmland, and ordered others to silence witnesses; to be immediately arrested and sent to the Sky Prison."

"North Garden Forbidden Army……"

Over the past several months.

Within the Central Forbidden Army, the East, West, South, North, and Middle Five Garden Forbidden Armies successively erupted with major cases, dozens of mid-to-high-ranking officers handed over to the authorities for trial and punishment.

And following that, many soldiers, confidants, and others closely connected to these officers were likewise investigated and exposed, either purged from the Forbidden Army ranks or tried and convicted.

On the surface.

All these criminal officers and soldiers got their just deserts.

However.

If a person with ulterior motives were to analyze them comprehensively, they would certainly see that almost all those purged from the Forbidden Army were agents of the various aristocratic clans within the Forbidden Army.

Among them, more than half were simply direct scions of aristocratic clans.

And the fact that these people could hold high positions in the army was itself one of the concrete manifestations of the era of aristocratic clans.

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun; although the Great Zhou Dynasty had no such blunt formulation, most elites could still vaguely grasp this principle.

In fact.

If placed in previous eras, which Forbidden Army Commander would dare rectify the army like this? They would likely die an unnatural death the very next day.

However.

This generation's Forbidden Army Commander is none other than the current Zhou King His Majesty.

Riding the divine might of having pacified the treacherous minister Sima Clan and annihilated the Jie Tribe of the North Border, he undoubtedly deterred the many forces within the dynasty for a time, and also won over the hearts of most commoners and soldiers.

Only such an existence could exercise punishment on such a large scale within the Forbidden Army.

Otherwise, if he were like the Zhou Kings of ancient history, he would very likely have been "dissolved in water or fire" within a few days.

And even someone as strong as Gu Xuan, these past days, still encountered remonstrations from many court officials.

Some said "Talent is hard to come by, better to handle leniently."

Some said "Punishment does not reach high officials."

Still others said "Such-and-such General is a scion of a certain great clan of the south; arresting him could easily trigger instability in the south."

And so on, things of that sort.

This was naturally the backlash of the various forces.

It just so happened that every single case had solid evidence, and the officers involved had clear-cut crimes.

And under Gu Xuan's deliberate publicizing, it even sparked public outrage among the commoners.

Therefore.

Even though the various aristocratic clans were extremely dissatisfied, they ultimately still found it difficult to change the outcome.

And it wasn't that there was no frenzied counterattack.

One day, while Gu Xuan was on his way from the Forbidden Army barracks back to the Wang Gong, he encountered an assassination attempt by several death warriors; Gu Xuan single-handedly captured one, suspected to belong to the family of the former South Garden Forbidden Army Commander-in-Chief Liu Buchan, and the matter was thoroughly liquidated afterward.

The madness of these people caused Gu Xuan's personal guards, those Feather Forest Orphans, to be extremely shaken, feeling abnormal anger.

But.

All of this was within Gu Xuan's expectations, without too much surprise.

He deeply knew, this was only just a beginning.

Because what he had to deal with was a terrifying, unprecedented interest group that had developed and grown over thousands of years of accumulated malpractices in the dynasty!

Even someone as strong as him, wanting to resolve this problem, had to face it cautiously and plan gradually, and it was by no means easily accomplished.

……

Fortunately, effort does not betray the dedicated.

After these days of rectification and cleanup, facing a certain intense backlash and even counter-bite.

Like boiling a frog in warm water, Gu Xuan still, in broad strokes, purged the dark agents of the various aristocratic clans from the Forbidden Army System, and instead promoted large batches of Cold Gate Disciples and Feather Forest Orphans.

And not only that.

Because the Central Forbidden Army was near the capital region, among the many soldiers there were no few "bing you zi" born in the Capital.

Although these people were not accomplices of the reactionary forces, they also generally would absolutely not participate in the ranks opposing them, and sometimes might even spoil things.

Therefore.

Gu Xuan consciously selected these "bing you zi" from the East, West, South, North, and Middle Five Garden Forbidden Armies, and specially assigned them to the Middle Garden Forbidden Army.

By this point, anyone with discernment could already see that the current Zhou King His Majesty was bound to thoroughly rectify the armed forces and forge a brand new Forbidden Army System.

Only.

Although this point could be seen, there was no force that could truly stop it.

Because this Zhou King His Majesty Gu Xuan, after all, still possessed immense prestige, far beyond what those mediocre Zhou Kings of former years could compare to.

And no one knew what Gu Xuan's ultimate purpose in doing this was.

Otherwise, these forces would spare no effort to join forces and stop him, even conspiring to assassinate him.

Just like that, after a considerable amount of effort, Gu Xuan ultimately forged the East, West, South, and North Four Garden Elite Forbidden Armies, almost the vast majority being Feather Forest Orphans and Cold Gate Disciples of bitter origins, a full approaching thirty thousand men.

This could almost be said to be an independent kingdom of Gu Xuan's.

As for the Middle Garden Forbidden Army, it was isolated far away by Gu Xuan, basically equivalent to idling away their time, although perhaps that was precisely the dream of those "bing you zi."

And only at this moment could Gu Xuan truly, formally begin his own actions.

……

Unknown from when it began.

Among the elite Forbidden Army of the four gardens — east, west, south, and north — a "Open Passage Society" quietly began to spread.

The so-called "Open Passage Society" derives its meaning from "Great Unity World."

The ideology it encompasses is precisely to resist the various darkness and cruelty of the current Great Zhou Dynasty, including numerous injustices, oppression, and even bullying, until a fair and just Great Unity World is established.

Some say this ideology originates from the Core Advisory Group within the martial establishment.

Others say it comes from several Middle-Rank Officers within the Forbidden Army.

There are even those who secretly whisper in private that it actually comes from the current de facto supreme commander of the Forbidden Army — that is, His Majesty the Zhou King — though no one dares spread this claim; it merely exists within the small circle of a few people.

But regardless, His Majesty the Zhou King seems completely unaware of this phenomenon, merely devoting the vast majority of his energy to army training, combat power enhancement, and the like.

And what is special is.

Because the Forbidden Army System has practically become Gu Xuan's independent little kingdom, the outside world — especially the Court Officials — only gradually perceived this trend spreading in the Forbidden Army after many days.

This discovery was no small matter; it instantly triggered a huge uproar throughout Court and Public!

What is a "Great Unity World"?

What are the various injustices, oppression, and even bullying of the current Great Zhou Dynasty?

These soldier-rogues and orphans in the Forbidden Army — could it be they want to turn the world upside down?!

The Aristocratic Agents of the various clans and aristocratic families in court — that is, the many Court Officials — and even the Concubines in the Wang Gong, all successively submitted large-scale remonstrances in the Chao Tang and Wang Gong.

There were even radicals who proposed conducting a thorough Great Cleansing within the Forbidden Army; otherwise it would "Shake the Foundation of the State"!

For a time, the entire Court and Public boiled over, like a hornet's nest that had been poked.

But Gu Xuan also has supporters, represented by young Cold-gate Officials; though few in number, they are quite united.

These Cold-gate Officials proposed that the matter be extensively discussed in the official gazette.

(Chapter End)