Chapter 256: Just asking around, who is Lu Yuan

Lu Yuan traveled south along the southeast coastline of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Along the way, Lu Yuan sat on the airplane, holding a small notebook, looking left and right at the ground below.

Seeing construction everywhere, Lu Yuan felt a deep sense of accomplishment.

Although Lu Yuan lacks patriotic spirit, seeing the Great Zhou Dynasty thrive because of him still makes him feel proud and satisfied.

For now, the Great Zhou Dynasty is developing in a very good direction.

Speaking of which, for a state like the Great Zhou Dynasty, the hardest thing before was fearing that distant cities far from the capital would deceive superiors and hide things from below.

With the emperor far away, a county magistrate could directly hold the power of life and death over ordinary people.

"Parent-officials," they say—what does that mean? It's just the county magistrate.

Long ago, when the Great Zhou Dynasty had no trains, its people, as long as there were no natural or man-made disasters, could spend their whole lives on just a small plot of land.

Even if the central government is capable, if orders aren't carried out from top to bottom, serious problems will arise.

Furthermore, because information previously was not flowing smoothly.

Or some people simply did nothing.

By the time the central government found out, the local situation was already horrendous.

Take ancient Earth as an example.

Basically, it means minor work every three months, major work every year.

Take the so-called Kang-Qian Prosperous Era, for example—this supposed golden age saw several large-scale rebellions and uprisings.

Why?

Isn't it because the common people were crushed by corrupt local officials and had nowhere to seek redress?

Like after the Jiaqing era, there were basically uprisings every year.

But now it's different—with trains, people's range of activity has expanded.

This information also began to circulate.

So even though the Great Zhou Dynasty's territory is vast, the central government's control over localities is now much stronger than before.

Anyway, nowadays the Great Zhou Dynasty has trains everywhere.

If you can't make a living locally, just take the train to the capital, wave a banner and cause a scene—the imperial court will immediately send people to investigate.

Especially since Qingbei Daxue has recently been researching electromagnetic waves; who knows, Lu Yuan might bring something back from the Linglan Sword Sect this time.

The Great Zhou Dynasty now has radios and radio stations.

Later on, they might even build base stations and set up telephone service.

Of course, these things will eventually be done.

Let's not talk about anything else—just saying, getting an airplane to work actually requires first solving this.

After all, not everyone can fly an airplane as easily as Lu Yuan does.

For ordinary people, flying a plane requires coordination with the control tower and various departments.

This time, after returning from the Linglan Sword Sect, Lu Yuan plans to do it himself even if Qingbei Daxue can't manage it.

But if the people at Qingbei Daxue can develop it on their own, without needing Lu Yuan, that would be best.

This, too, was Lu Yuan's original intention when he founded Qingbei Daxue.

To lie flat.

Moreover, with radios and broadcast stations now available, the central government's control over the localities becomes even easier and more relaxed.

Everything is thriving and prospering.

Lu Yuan flew his airplane along the Great Zhou Dynasty's coastline, noting down anything interesting in his small notebook.

It's an aviation log—later it can be taken back as reference for future pilots.

Who knows, it might turn out to be another kind of Magellan's diary.

All in all, what he's seen and gained along the way has left Lu Yuan quite satisfied.

Everywhere shows a prosperous scene.

The rest of the journey turned out simple—Gu Qingwan packed lots of food for Lu Yuan, who ate some when hungry on the plane.

If he finds sitting on the plane boring, Lu Yuan will land on a small island, stay awhile, and light a fire.

If he wants to eat something, he simply dives into the sea and catches it himself.

He grills the catch straight away, no need for brine or shrimp oil—it's fresh and authentic.

Lu Yuan spent over a week visiting all those cities along the Great Zhou Dynasty's coastline.

In some places, Lu Yuan would get off the plane to conduct on‑site inspections.

He'd just ask around to see if there were any corrupt officials or local bullies.

Having visited so many places, it would be unrealistic to claim none of them had any problems.

He did pull out a few offenders, though they weren't particularly serious; Lu Yuan noted every problem in his little notebook.

After returning from the Linglan Sword Sect, he'll round up those people.

After another three days, Lu Yuan inspected that region beneath the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Here, Lu Yuan didn't linger long.

Mainly, there wasn't much to see.

As for the dynasty ruling this area, Lu Yuan's comment amounts to two words.

Barbarian.

Uncivilized.

Nothing worth seeing—after a quick glance at the stockades, Lu Yuan just left.

He didn't leave any trace in those places.

Moreover, this place is still quite chaotic, with some areas still fighting.

Among them, there is a dynasty that is quite fierce, the Cross-South Dynasty.

It's really strong; the dynasties it attacks are screaming.

It seems to have already destroyed two dynasties.

Of course, this sounds impressive, but actually, the dynasty here can't even be called a dynasty.

The scale of this dynasty here is just the size of a few counties of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Lu Yuan's evaluation is that it's a brawl between villages.

However……

This is far off, far off……

Lu Yuan, on the other hand, came up with an idea.

You say……

This Cross-South Dynasty…… if it somehow unified this region……

Then…… this region…… would it have to give rise to a dynasty?

Even if it's not a dynasty, it would have to be a high-level dynasty, right?

You know, the land in this region is extremely fertile; compared to the Gilded Dynasty, the geographical position here is far superior.

The key is having a large area of arable land; this is a rainforest region.

The combined area of all dynasties in this region is less than one-tenth of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

However, the arable area is at least one-third of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The arable area is truly enormous.

If a high-level dynasty were to appear here……

For the Great Zhou Dynasty……

It's somewhat not a good thing.

Especially, Lu Yuan sees that the Cross-South Dynasty is so fierce, destroying two dynasties in a row within half a year.

One cannot guarantee that after the Cross-South Dynasty unifies this subcontinent, it won't pose a threat to the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Now the Great Zhou Dynasty, under its own leadership, is rapidly developing technology.

But it's not that only the Great Zhou Dynasty will be able to use this in the future.

People are smart; people are capable of learning.

Especially, if the Cross-South Dynasty achieves unification and borders the Great Zhou Dynasty, it will definitely be able to learn something.

After all, the border regions of the Great Zhou Dynasty and this place have peoples who interact with each other.

Even to say, perhaps a village, its north side belongs to the Great Zhou Dynasty, its south side to this subcontinent's dynasty.

Then at that time……

This Cross-South Dynasty is far more troublesome than the Gilded Dynasty.

Let these people rise here……

To the Great Zhou Dynasty……

It really is a hassle.

The so-called intention to harm must not exist, while the intention to guard must not be absent.

Now, as a leader, Lu Yuan must always have some foresight.

Anyway, from a historical perspective, having a powerful neighbor around one's own country is never a good thing.

Lu Yuan at this moment sits on the airplane, looking at the map while chewing on dry rations.

After pondering for a while.

Lu Yuan turned the airplane's nose and headed straight back.

Go back!

Go take a look at this subcontinent!

Lu Yuan piloted the airplane, retracing the previous route; it was now around three in the afternoon.

This place truly has artillery fire filling the sky.

Bang bang.

Lu Yuan is still seeing a battlefield for the first time here.

The old-style cannons of the Ming-Qing period, which one can only see in TV dramas, are booming as they fire shells.

Lu Yuan is feeling out the situation below, preparing to find a place to land.

Lu Yuan is looking down; it's obvious the people below are also looking at Lu Yuan.

Someone, upon seeing Lu Yuan, even knelt down and worshipped, thinking they had seen an immortal.

After all, in the eyes of mortals, whoever can fly is an immortal.

Of course, actually speaking, Lu Yuan truly is an immortal; after all, if Golden Core isn't an immortal, then what is?

Lu Yuan didn't linger at the central battlefield, flew forward a bit, and found a stockade far from the battlefield.

At this moment, the soldiers of the Cross-South Dynasty are sharpening their knives, preparing to besiege a stockade.

Lu Yuan, upon seeing it from afar, immediately stored the airplane in his space ring; his whole body, from this height of a hundred meters, fell straight down.

Let alone, this thing is really stimulating, like bungee jumping.

As he was about to land, Lu Yuan's speed slowed, and he finally landed steadily.

In the next second, in the blink of an eye, Lu Yuan appeared on the gate tower of the stockade.

At this moment, the soldiers on the gate tower holding bows, shields, and spears, upon the sudden appearance of Lu Yuan, instantly panicked.

Everyone immediately turned to face Lu Yuan, not knowing who this person was.

And Lu Yuan didn't speak to these people either.

Instead, he looked toward the Jiao Nan Dynasty soldiers outside the stronghold and immediately said loudly:

"I am an Earl of the Great Zhou Dynasty, my name is Lu Yuan."

"I have a matter I'd like to trouble you all with!"

After Lu Yuan finished speaking, the people below looked at each other.

Then, one of the leading generals, who seemed to be of the same rank as his third uncle, looked like a vanguard general.

Immediately, this person frowned, looked at Lu Yuan, and shouted loudly:

"I don't care who you are, nor what tricks you're playing; give you half an hour to walk out of the stronghold on your own, otherwise, you will be killed without mercy!"

Lu Yuan showed little expression; instead, he gazed at the Jiao Nan Dynasty soldiers below, raised his eyebrows, and said:

"I have something I lost in this city; I hope the Jiao Nan Dynasty will give me face, and give the Great Zhou Dynasty face."

"Stop attacking this stronghold; let me find the item first, then you can resume fighting."

After Lu Yuan finished speaking, the Jiao Nan Dynasty soldiers below and the leading general, after a moment of stunned silence, burst into loud laughter.

After laughing for a while, these people started cursing and swearing.

Their words began to get unpleasant.

They merely thought Lu Yuan was putting on an act, or something like that.

Or they said Lu Yuan had no face at all, even more outrageously claiming that the Great Zhou Dynasty had no face either.

Listening to these remarks,

Lu Yuan was very satisfied.

Then Lu Yuan put on an expression like Kong Yiji's, feeling both indignant and helpless as he looked at those people below and said:

"How can you baselessly accuse an innocent person… no… you actually don't even respect the Great Zhou Dynasty!!"

Lu Yuan looked like a scholar confronted by soldiers, unable to explain his reasoning.

And seeing Lu Yuan like that, the people below laughed even harder.

Immediately, the mockery and ridicule grew louder.

Then Lu Yuan put on an expression of exasperation and defeat, and loudly said:

"Fine, this is what you said."

"So I'll leave?"

The general below, looking at Lu Yuan, sneered and laughed loudly:

"You'd better leave quickly; if you can't escape, I'll capture you later and be the first to sacrifice you to the banner!"

Lu Yuan blinked his eyes, then said:

"Fine, let's go."

The next second, Lu Yuan took out his own airplane from his space ring and hovered in midair.

Afterwards, amidst everyone's bewildered stares, he leapt up.

Lu Yuan, sitting on the airplane, wasn't in a hurry to leave.

First, start the propeller, wait for its speed to reach its peak.

Opening the hatch, Lu Yuan, seated in his seat, still held half a roasted sweet potato in his hand.

Having eaten halfway, the airplane's propeller speed rose.

Lu Yuan tossed the half roasted sweet potato in his hand down, throwing it into that village.

Afterwards, he clapped his hands, looked at the two groups of people who were dumbfounded, heads raised, staring at him.

From the moment Lu Yuan produced the airplane, those two groups fell silent, staring in astonishment at the twin-wing propeller plane hovering in midair.

At this moment, Lu Yuan looked down at the dumbfounded general and adopted an extremely aggrieved expression as he said:

"Just leave then!"

Afterwards, Lu Yuan closed the airplane's hatch, then leapt up like pulling a scallion from dry ground, and flew away.

Leaving the two dumbfounded groups behind, they watched the silhouette of Lu Yuan's airplane in the sky.

What... what on earth is this guy doing??

What the heck is that??

How can it still fly??

Huh??

At this moment, Lu Yuan, sitting in the airplane, had his legs crossed, left hand holding a roasted potato, right hand holding a steel pen.

On his lap lay a small notebook.

At this moment, Lu Yuan's expression was leisurely and content, unlike before, when he had been affected and pretentious.

Lu Yuan took big bites of the potato, making satisfied sounds; this potato had been personally roasted by his second wife, and it was truly delicious~.

On the other hand, Lu Yuan lowered his head, holding the steel pen as he wrote in his small notebook.

"October 13th, clear weather.

The Nanjiang Dynasty provoked the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Furthermore, they seized an item lost by the Great Zhou Dynasty here; although it isn't worth much, the Nanjiang Dynasty's disrespectful attitude truly runs counter to friendly relations between the two states...

Having written this far, Lu Yuan stopped, realizing he really wasn't good at writing this kind of fault-finding... no, he wasn't good at writing such diplomatic phrasing.

Hmm...

Such matters should be left to be written by the cabinet members when he returns.

When the cabinet people write these things, they are truly professional—there's not a single flaw to be found.

After thinking it over, Lu Yuan directly stuffed this half a potato in his hand into his mouth.

Then he tore off this page of the little notebook, kneaded it in his hand, and incidentally wiped the oil off his hands.

Then he threw it out the plane's small window.

Afterwards, Lu Yuan picked up the pen again.

「October 13th, clear weather.

The Jiao Nan Dynasty snatched half a sweet potato from the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Exterminated！」

After writing, Lu Yuan looked at it, hmm, very satisfied.

Then he put away the notebook, took out the map, and started to see where to go next.

Everyone also saw what just happened.

It was the Jiao Nan Dynasty that first picked a fight.

Lu Yuan was so honest just now, being angered until his stomach started to hurt.

If my second wife finds out about this, won't she be heartbroken?

So, Lu Yuan is truly innocent.

These people too, don't bother to find out who Lu Yuan's second wife is?!

You dare provoke me?

Exterminated!

Thanks to book friend 20230111 elder brother for the 200 book coin reward, thank you very much~

Thanks to book friend 20220's 100 book coin reward, thank you very much~





(End of chapter)