Chapter 176: Opening the Government Office

The true main force in the Azure Void Realm was currently training how to adapt to the suddenly improved combat power, and how to deal with the weakness after the "Moment of Shacha Shacha Zhongsheng" disappeared.

In order for the training to be effective, Ji Weiwei Yuan would open the "Moment of Shacha Shacha Zhongsheng" several times a day as long as he was in the realm, each lasting for three breaths. Fortunately, the opening time was very short, and the range was deliberately reduced, so the consumption was acceptable.

In addition, these eight thousand people were also training how to use steel pipe muskets. It's just that the number of muskets was limited, and only over a thousand had been built so far, which was not enough at all. The people of the Primordial Palace were racking their brains thinking about how to build more muskets.

Ji Weiwei Yuan had originally planned to snatch two more mines from the Xu family, and then the iron and copper materials snatched would be enough, but it was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Xu Xinhui.

Xu Xinhui's arrival also made Ji Weiwei Yuan alert, it seemed that the Xu family couldn't sit still and was about to have a big move.

Hanyang Pass.

The sky had just cleared, and the Provincial Military Commander Xu Zhongxing and his deputy Fan Donghe led the officials of the Provincial Military Commander's office, dressed in neat attire, and waited at the flying boat wharf by the city with the support of thousands of soldiers.

After waiting for a full half-hour, several giant flying boats appeared in the sky, the hull painted deep cyan, decorated with red patterns, which was the sign of the Western Jin imperial court.

The flying boats landed one by one, and those who came down from the first two flying boats were forbidden troops in cyan armor and red cloaks. As soon as they got off the flying boats, they dispersed and guarded all the key roads of the wharf, before the two giant boats in the air landed slowly.

Someone had already laid the carpet all the way to the flying boat.

The cabin door opened slowly, and the two imperial court high-ranking officials appeared at the door. These two were both civil and military, and both were extraordinary.

"Please, Lord Yue!"

"Still, please, Lord Chen!"

The two high-ranking officials pushed and yielded to each other for a while, before walking down the flying boat together and walking side by side.

Xu Zhongxing had long led dozens of officials to greet them, bowed and said: "See Lord Chen, Lord Yue, the subordinate has been waiting here for a long time."

The civil official was a thin old man, seeing Xu Zhongxing bow deeply, he reached out to support him, Xu Zhongxing took the opportunity to get up, and performed the rules of the officialdom. It's just that when the robes touched, Xu Zhongxing's eyes twitched imperceptibly.

The civil official said slowly: "This time the imperial court reset the four Ningxi Commanderies, and the old man and Lord Yue opened the government office to guard. Ningxi has been fallen for many years, and today it returns to the imperial court's system, which is truly waiting to be rebuilt. This time, I still have to rely on General Xu to help a lot."

Xu Zhongxing said: "This is the subordinate's duty, the two lords can order at will."

"First, we need to draw 50,000 elite soldiers from Hanyang Pass to escort the main officials of various places to their posts. This matter is of great importance, and General Xu will have to dispatch elite soldiers and strong generals." 【176-20

Xu Zhongxing's face twitched upon hearing this; his Hanyang Pass only had a few tens of thousands of elite troops in total, and this would take away more than half at once. However, he naturally knew better than anyone what kind of territory lay outside the pass, so he immediately said: "Lord Chen, rest assured, you may choose any of the elite troops within the Garrison Prefecture as you please."

The civil official nodded and said: "There is one more matter. The local officials arrived in a hurry, and many did not have time to staff their offices. Now, we need to draft five hundred capable officials from you to accompany the various officers to their posts. Once the regions are pacified, they will return."

This was easy to handle, and Xu Zhongxing agreed readily.

Seeing him agree so promptly, the civil official nodded slightly and said: "I heard that your Garrison Prefecture hasn't been very peaceful lately?"

Xu Zhongxing smiled bitterly: "Two True Persons from the Primordial Palace came, causing trouble and acting unreasonably; this subordinate can do nothing about them."

"Which two True Persons?"

"Fenhai and Lanhua."

The elderly civil official's long eyebrows twitched slightly, and he said: "Heavenly Azure Hall? That is truly a coincidence."

The military officer, who had not spoken until now, opened his eyes slightly, a cold light spilling out, and said in a deep voice: "It is indeed a coincidence. Let's go, we will accompany you to take a look."

Xu Zhongxing immediately led the way.

A moment later, a loud boom resonated throughout Hanyang Pass. A pillar of fire shot up from the Garrison Prefecture, spraying dozens of zhang into the air, causing the entire city pass to tremble!

Amidst the firelight, one red and one water-blue radiance shot into the sky, fleeing toward the distance, and vanished in an instant.

After the firelight dissipated, nearly half of the Garrison Prefecture had been reduced to nothing.

Xu Zhongxing and the two high-ranking civil and military officials walked out of the fire. Looking in the direction where the two radiances had fled, they said resentfully: "Those two old thieves ran fast! It was too good for them!" The military officer snorted and said: "This time it was just to let them know that the imperial court's determination to recover Ningxi is set. No matter who dares to obstruct it, we will strike with thunderous means!"

The civil official smiled faintly and said: "Lord Xu need not feel regret; it won't be so easy for those two to just leave like that."

Xu Zhongxing's heart stirred, and he lowered his voice to ask: "Could it be that the imperial court has decided to take action over there?"

The civil official shook his head: "It hasn't come to that yet. As long as they are willing to withdraw from Ningxi, everything will proceed according to the previous arrangements. Lord Xu, I have shared this bottom line with you, but you must not tell anyone else."

"Lord Chen, rest assured, this subordinate understands." Xu Zhongxing naturally understood the meaning behind the civil official's words.

The secret vault itself was not large, only about four feet high. Looking at the large pile of immortal silver on the ground, it seemed most of the vault had been used to store it.

One day later, thirty thousand elite troops marched out of the pass, heading west for fifteen hundred li. Hanlin Academician Chen Dao read the imperial decree here, announcing it to heaven and earth, and then planted the boundary stone 【Clear Spring】 to establish the prefecture.

Chen Dao took office as the Provincial Governor, and Northern Garrison General Yue Jinshan came from the northern frontier to serve as the Provincial Military Commander. With the Governor and Commander in office, it was announced that Western Jin had officially recovered Ningxi and re-established the provinces and counties.

Under the Governor and Commander, the prefects of the four counties led dozens of large and small officials to their respective posts. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of troops were continuously dispatched to Hanyang Pass, among them many units clad in full iron armor with cotton linings, clearly border troops transferred from the northern frontier.

Azure Void Realm.

"Re-establishing the four counties of Ningxi?" Ji Weiwei Yuan, who was patrolling in Yong'an City, heard this unexpected news.

!.

A moment later, everyone from the Primordial Palace gathered at the main peak to discuss this sudden change.

This move by Western Jin was very sudden; no one had received any news beforehand. By the time they knew, Chen Dao had already planted the boundary stone and officially established the prefecture.

Ji Weiwei Yuan stared at the map, his brows tightly locked. A moment later, he drew a point on the map. As the Master of Azure Void, if another boundary stone were activated nearby, Ji Weiwei Yuan would have a perception of it, so he found the location of the prefecture establishment. However, this was an open secret and would soon be known to the world.

Looking at the map, the new prefecture location is about thirty-five hundred li away from Azure Void. By standard boundary stone criteria, there might be room for another boundary stone in between. However, if Azure Void advances to the end, it can cover ten thousand li, at which point it could completely cover the new boundary stone.

In fact, when Ji Weiwei Yuan first established Azure Void, he had no other choice. Otherwise, according to long-term planning, the boundary stone location should have been pushed several thousand li further west; that location, eleven thousand li from Hanyang Pass, would have been just right.

After establishing Azure Void, Ji Weiwei Yuan and the people of the Primordial Palace had actually regarded the six-thousand-li shattered domain as their own, and intended to expand several thousand li in each of the four directions. But Western Jin's re-establishment of the four counties of Ningxi had effectively included Azure Void as well.

This matter was too big, and everyone was uncharacteristically serious. Ji Liuli also put away his cynical attitude and thought earnestly.

Zhang Sheng asked: "With such a big matter, did you have no premonition at all?"

Ji Liuli shook his head: "The Tang Emperor and the masters of the Nine Kingdoms carry the mandate of heaven and are not within the scope of calculation."

This was the first time Zhang Sheng had heard of this, and he asked suspiciously: "The Tang Emperor is one thing, but how can the masters of the Nine Kingdoms also carry the mandate of heaven? Doesn't this mean they are also the orthodox rulers of heaven and earth, just like the Tang Emperor?"

"That is why the Nine Kingdoms have been able to grow stronger day by day and hollow out the Tang imperial house. The specific reasons were not told to me by the Ancestor; it seems to be a very significant secret."

Ji Weiwei Yuan frowned and said: "This matter is too big; we still need to report it to the palace and see what the True Lord says."

Zhang Sheng and Ji Liuli both nodded.

Ji Weiwei Yuan added: "We currently know nothing about this matter, so we must find a way to obtain at least some intelligence, such as the candidates for the Governor and Prefects, their past experiences, how many troops were dispatched for this prefecture establishment, and so on."

This was also a matter of urgency. Everyone had their own channels to varying degrees, so they all pondered who they should ask for this information.

At this time, Ji Weiwei Yuan added: "However, we cannot sit and wait for death! There are still many masks left; please everyone take one. Today, we must first sweep all the mines, caravan camps, and villages on the list, then combine our forces and take down Quliu Town!"

Cui Yu asked: "What about the Xu family of Ningxi?"

"I will have Xu Jingfeng announce that they are playing it safe, and have everyone huddle inside the Xu family mansion and not come out. Once we have emptied Quliu Town and moved all the people back, we will return that land to them."

Ji Weiwei Yuan reached out and drew a large circle on the map around Azure Void for several hundred li, saying: "In short, within this range, I want to make sure they cannot find a single village and cannot requisition a single bit of supplies!"

Cui Yu was somewhat shocked. Why did the tone of these words sound a bit off?

(End of this chapter)