Chapter 180

In a stone house built on the spot using Dao arts, Little Wei Yuan sat opposite Niu Jinbao, frowning as he looked at this fellow who was bent on seeking death.

Although Niu Jinbao's mouth was very tight, Little Wei Yuan repeatedly probed him, seizing upon every detail and pulling out every place where he spoke, and after patiently grinding for half an hour, he still managed to ask quite a few things.

Now Little Wei Yuan was very clear that this fellow was sent by the imperial court to die; as long as he could not hold back and killed him, then Western Jin would have a reason to send troops to attack the domain.

Besides this Niu Jinbao, the Ningxi Commandery Governor Yuan Qingyan was also not a character to be trifled with. This person was a former Censor and had been a famous mad dog in the imperial court back then, biting whoever he saw, with absolutely no friends. The intention behind sending this person to Ningxi to be the Commandery Governor was also very obvious.

The Prince of Jin resetting the four commanderies was aimed at the Qingming Domain; if Qingming were not taken into his pocket, what would be the point of resetting the four commanderies?

Now Little Wei Yuan had a headache; killing this Niu Jinbao would not do, and not killing him would not do either. This person was sent by the Prince of Jin for him to kill; killing him would just happen to fulfill the Prince of Jin's wishes.

Niu Jinbao also revealed in his words that the imperial court's great army was continuously entering Ningxi, and the Prince of Jin had even transferred the Northern Frontier border army, which could be said to be determined to win.

Western Jin bordered Northern Liao the most, and many places had no dangerous terrain to defend, relying entirely on military towns to stockpile troops and mobile defense. Therefore, among the various troops in Western Jin, the Northern Frontier border army elites were ranked first.

Little Wei Yuan pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you want to die?"

Niu Jinbao's eyes widened, and he said, "Who would want to die if they could live well? But now, whether I live or die is not up to me; hurry up and kill me, don't think about anything else."

Little Wei Yuan ignored him and pushed the door to leave. Shortly after, several people rushed in, among them the two female cultivators who had been dragged into the carriage.

Several people blindfolded Niu Jinbao, stuffed his mouth, and then a flurry of punches and kicks followed, beating him until he was dizzy and disoriented. In particular, some punches and kicks were aimed specifically at his lower parts; if it hadn't been for Little Wei Yuan's specific instructions, Niu Jinbao probably wouldn't have had a single part left.

Fortunately, these few fellows were very obedient; after a sound beating, those parts were still about ten percent new.

After the beating, several people stripped Niu Jinbao completely bare. By this time, Niu Jinbao had been beaten to his last breath and was unable to resist. He didn't care about his face anymore, having the posture of "do whatever you want, I'll accompany you."

Several people carried Niu Jinbao out and stuffed him into a box, nailing it shut. Niu Jinbao just assumed he was going to be buried alive, so he hardened his heart and cursed loudly. It was just that his mouth was still blocked, and he could only make some muffled sounds.

Subsequently, the box began to shake, as if it were on a carriage. It shook like this for a whole day, until it almost shook his bones apart, before it finally stopped. Then someone opened the lid, dragged him out, threw him on the ground, cut the ropes, and removed the hood.

Niu Jinbao's vision blurred, and it took a while for him to adapt to the light before him.

It was noon, and all around were rolling hills, with a road passing through the valley. At the mouth of the valley stood a few inns and wine shops, a small village that didn't look large, appearing to have about a few hundred residents.

Niu Jinbao looked around; on the ground lay dozens of similarly stark-naked men, and Lieutenant Liu was among them. These men were all the government soldiers who had escorted Niu Jinbao to take up his post, and at this moment, they were all in the same state as when they were born. Lieutenant Liu was even more miserable, his face bruised and swollen, one eye swollen into a slit.

Niu Jinbao glanced down at his own parts, and seeing they were also ten percent new, he felt some relief in his heart.

Some masked knights dragged the last few government soldiers out of the carriages and threw them on the ground, then said coldly to Niu Jinbao, "You've arrived."

Niu Jinbao looked around and said, "This place is poor and desolate; it's just right for being the burial place of old Niu. But can you tell me what place this is? So that I can entrust a dream to my son later, and let him come to burn a few sticks of incense on my grave."

The group of masked knights remained silent, and only one pointed to the side.

Niu Jinbao looked and saw a large tree with a piece of bark shaved off, on which were written three large characters: Yong'an County.

Niu Jinbao rubbed his eyes; what was written on the tree was indeed Yong'an County. He subconsciously said, "This is Yong'an County? Did I get the place wrong just now?"

Lieutenant Liu said helplessly, "These characters are newly written. Oh, the calligraphy is actually quite good."

The leading knight's tone softened a bit, and he said, "This is Yong'an County."

Niu Jinbao realized and said loudly, "This is not Yong'an County!"

"This is Yong'an County."

"This is not Yong'an County!!" "This is Yong'an County."

Niu Jinbao was about to shout again, when he suddenly understood something and said, "Alright, this is Yong'an County."

The knight said indifferently, "Aren't you here to take up your post in Yong'an County? You've arrived."

Niu Jinbao climbed up, completely unconcerned about being stark naked, and asked, "Then where exactly is this Yong'an County?"

The knight took out a map, pointed to it, and said, "Here."

Lieutenant Liu also leaned over, and upon seeing it, he gasped. On the map, this location was west of the domain, a full five hundred li away from the domain. The main thing was that this location was stuck between the Shaman tribe and the domain; if the Shaman tribe invaded, this would be the first barrier.

The knight added, "There are many horse bandits in this area; it's best if you two don't leave this tree more than a hundred li away, otherwise if you die at the hands of horse bandits, don't blame me for not warning you."

Lieutenant Liu smiled apologetically, "I wonder which horse bandit groups are in this vicinity?"

The masked knight pointed to himself and said, "Having us one group is enough; how many more do you want?"

The masked knights no longer lingered, mounted their horses, and rode away, leaving Niu Jinbao, Lieutenant Liu, and dozens of other naked pigs on the spot.

Niu Jinbao looked around, suddenly came to a place with relatively high terrain nearby, and began to clear the rocks and miscellaneous wood on the ground. Seeing Lieutenant Liu stunned on the spot, Niu Jinbao shouted, "What are you still stunned for, hurry up and come over to work!"

!.

"What work?"

"Open the government office and establish the county!"

Lieutenant Liu was confused; this Niu Jinbao really intended to open the government office in this dangerous place? The danger aside, the key was that this place was not Yong'an at all?

Niu Jinbao glanced at the naked government soldiers and suddenly remembered one thing: "When we came, there were two hundred people, why are there only so few left now?"

He pulled over a few government soldiers and asked carefully, only then did he learn that many government soldiers had joined the knights just now and changed their profession to become horse bandits. These people were the ones whose physique and aptitude were not good enough, and the horse bandits refused to accept them, so they were left behind.

Niu Jinbao was furious, but there was nothing he could do.

At this moment, in the Qingming Domain, Little Wei Yuan spread out the map and said to Cui Yu, who had just returned, "There are three more suitable locations for building counties in the west, just enough to move Anbian, Qiao, and Weining counties there as well. You work hard, and move all three counties in these two days. Those who can become county magistrates are not stupid; they should all be clear about what it means to be sent here to us, and even if they are moved, they can only pretend to be confused while knowing the truth."

Little Wei Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "As for the attendants, handle it according to the procedure this time. Accept those who can be accepted, send those who resist on their way, and leave some manpower for those county magistrates. Just leave half; otherwise, they won't be able to open their counties."

Cui Yu said, "What if these people really build the counties? Wouldn't that block our path to the west?"

Little Wei Yuan rolled his eyes at him and said, "You're still thinking about moving west? It's good enough that we can hold our nest now. Besides, won't the Shaman tribe come?"

Cui Yu understood immediately: "Once the Shaman army arrives, they will be the first barrier."

Little Wei Yuan nodded: "If the Shaman tribe comes again, the offensive will surely be unprecedented, and these four counties won't be able to stop it. It's just that the Prince of Jin wants to use my hand to kill those people, so I just won't kill them, and let them die at the hands of the Shaman tribe."

Little Wei Yuan remembered another thing and said, "When you move these three counties, remember to interrogate for intelligence, the more the better. I want the location and garrison strength of every government office in Western Jin. If you feel you can't ask it out, let Waner go with you."

Cui Yu laughed: "That's fine. If the Prince of Jin continues to act recklessly, maybe we'll move the Commandery Governor for him too!"

Little Wei Yuan said, "After the three counties are moved, let's see Yuan Qingyan's reaction first."

"Oh, right, the elders at home just sent a file on this Yuan fellow. I'll have someone send it over immediately."

(End of chapter)