Chapter 326

Lai City is located in the hinterland of Western Jin and has always been known for its prosperity. If Lai City is like this, then there is no need to look at other cities. Thus, Wei Yuan did not linger any longer and quickened the pace of his march. Traveling several thousand li a day, he arrived at Hanyang Pass after more than ten days.

Compared to when he arrived, Wei Yuan chose to pass through the city on his return journey, and the garrison commander, Xu Zhongxing, turned a blind eye to this. Wei Yuan did not send any calling cards either; the two sides just brushed past each other like this, avoiding a meeting.

Although Wei Yuan was enfeoffed as a Military Governor, the Xu family's ancestor and the Grand Void Gate's Immortal Lord were still battling beyond the heavens, so it was naturally impossible for the Xu family to change their attitude toward the Grand Void Gate. As an official in Western Jin, Xu Zhongxing had to give the imperial court some face, so he chose to avoid a meeting, but he no longer strictly sealed the pass as he had in the past, forbidding any merchant caravans from heading west.

In fact, the act of sealing the pass no longer had much effect; since the trade route through Zhao Guo was opened, some merchant caravans were already planning to bypass Zhao Guo. Blocking the Zhao Guo trade route was originally the duty of Yuan Qingyan, the Prefect of Ningxi, but it was a pity that all the checkpoints he had set up were swept away, and there were no generals willing to take on the task of setting up new ones.

Hanyang Pass was much livelier than when Wei Yuan first arrived; there were at least tens of thousands more refugees in the city.

When Wei Yuan left the pass, he saw large groups of refugees on both sides of the road, queuing up and waiting for the garrison soldiers to let them through. The soldiers seemed long accustomed to this and knew that the refugees had nothing on them besides filth, so they did not make things difficult for them; they would just pat them down to see if any sharp weapons or other things were hidden, and then let them pass directly.

The efficiency of letting people through was surprisingly high; a few thousand people could enter the Western Regions in a day. It was not that more could not be let through, but many refugees could no longer walk once they reached this point and needed to rest in the pass, beg for some food, or sell their labor to earn some dry rations before they could continue on this path of no return heading west.

After leaving Hanyang Pass, Wei Yuan gave an order: "Go and ask those refugees why they have come to the Western Regions."

Several cavalrymen rode off and returned a moment later, saying: "They heard that the Western Regions here are quite peaceful, so they want to come and find a piece of ownerless land to farm, or join the army; in any case, they were about to be unable to survive back in their original hometowns."

Wei Yuan ordered the main force of cavalry to return to the domain first, while he himself kept only a few dozen riders and headed to Bianning Prefecture to see Sun Chaoen.

Returning to the Western Regions, Wei Yuan's strength was fully restored, and he no longer needed guards.

At this time, the Prefect Li Weisheng had long since left his post, and all affairs in the prefecture were being managed by the Vice Prefect Sun Chaoen. According to custom, Sun Chaoen might be able to wait for an imperial edict confirming his promotion.

Therefore, upon seeing Sun Chaoen, Wei Yuan offered congratulations: "I wish Magistrate Sun a swift promotion! To be promoted twice in less than a year is quite rare."

Sun Chaoen, however, shook his head and said: "That is not necessarily the case."

Wei Yuan then asked: "Why is that? Li Weisheng has been transferred; shouldn't you be the one to fill the vacancy?"

"The position of Prefect is a real post, and it is the most critical step in an official career; it is truly governing a region. With Magistrate Li's background, he still had to run to this wasteland of Ningxi to walk a lap and fill this vacancy, so one can imagine. I have only just been promoted to Vice Prefect not long ago; even if Magistrate Li speaks a few words for me, I am afraid I cannot become the Prefect. Besides, I have yet to attain the Dharma Form realm; after all, I lack some bargaining chips."

Wei Yuan asked: "Since the position of Prefect is so sought after, why is there no one coming to replace Yuan Qingyan?"

Sun Chaoen laughed: "That prefecture of his has only a strip left, not even any people, and it is under the shroud of your domain. Who would come to seek this discomfort?"

Wei Yuan tapped the tabletop lightly, pondered for a moment, and said: "When Li Weisheng was willing to come and be the Prefect, he certainly did not expect the Qingming Society to rise so quickly. If he had known this earlier, he would mostly likely not have come to wade into this muddy water. Now that he has left, if someone has their eye on this Prefect position, they must believe that I have already submitted to the imperial court and that with me blocking the Shaman tribe in the west, this place is a peaceful domain."

"That must be the case."

"So, as long as we turn this position into a hot potato, won't that be enough?"

Sun Chaoen said: "I have thought about this matter too, but there is no good way for the time being. If one speaks of rampant bandits, everyone knows that the Maofei Zhan Tian Gang is your people; this trick is no longer easy to use. You can't really kidnap the Prefect, can you?"

Wei Yuan pondered, and suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him. He said: "There is another trick: refugee unrest! Returning along the way, I saw many refugees along the route. Those who can walk here are all strong and sturdy people, and they have no way back. Just in Hanyang Pass alone, I am afraid there are at least tens of thousands of people at this moment. If we distribute porridge and provide relief in Bianning Prefecture, we can attract large numbers of refugees."

Sun Chaoen frowned and said: "This plan is good, but there is almost no surplus grain in the prefecture now. Although I can guarantee opening the granaries, it won't last long. If we gather so many refugees without grain, unrest will inevitably occur! In this upheaval, there will be no small number of deaths. I cannot kill so many people just for a fifth-rank position of my own, can I?"

Wei Yuan smiled slightly and said: "You have no grain, but I do! You recruit these refugees first, let them live here for a period of time, and after you finish your business, I will take in everyone. If you really cannot fill this vacancy this time, then when the new Prefect arrives, we will have to prepare a refugee riot as a welcoming gift for him. As long as it is our people who start it, we can control the chaos in our own hands, and there won't be many casualties."

Sun Chaoen pondered for a moment before asking: "How many refugees can you take in?"

"As many as there are, I will take them all."

Sun Chaoen's expression turned firm, and he said: "This can also be considered giving the refugees a way to survive; let's arrange it according to what you said!"

When leaving the Prefect's office, Wei Yuan took a turn around the city. The prefectural city was already quite lively; although everything was waiting to be rebuilt, sheds were built everywhere, many shops had already opened in several specially designated commercial areas, and several large mansions were being built at the same time in prime locations along the river.

Wei Yuan asked about the owners of the houses, and as expected, the Xu and Lu families were the most numerous. Returning to the domain, Wei Yuan felt a surge of spirit and felt the joy and excitement of Qingming. As soon as he stepped into the domain, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky; the raindrops were rich with wisps of spiritual energy, and the growth rate of all spiritual plants accelerated a little more.

Rain also began to fall in the ten thousand li of mountains and rivers, but the rain came from the sky, carrying a thick scent of decay and ruin; however, the spiritual plants sprouting in the Dao Foundation seemed to like this kind of rain, becoming even more spiritual.

The virtual and the real mapped onto each other; for a moment, it was unclear whether the real was born from the virtual or the virtual was transformed from the real.

In short, after having the national fortune of Western Jin, Wei Yuan's cultivation speed increased slightly again, accelerating by more than twenty percent.

After returning, the first thing Wei Yuan did was go to the Merit Hall; this time he was prepared to exchange for a batch of classics related to national fortune.

Just as he arrived at the gate of the Merit Hall, he saw the little Junior Sister from the Shuiyue Hall, Fei Yutong, coming in a hurry, and then she handed a list to the monk guarding the gate of the Merit Hall.

The monk took the list, registered it in the book, and after calculating, said: "You can come to exchange it in four days; this is the earliest batch."

"Many thanks, Senior Brother." Fei Yutong bowed and left in a hurry.

The two monks guarding the Merit Hall came from the Tianqing Hall and the Shuiyue Hall respectively, and both were acquaintances. Wei Yuan walked over and asked: "What are you recording?"

The two monks stood up and said: "This is Uncle-Master Zhang's instruction: if any monks of the Grand Void Gate lineage have merit that needs to be exchanged, they should first be registered in the book, and then exchanged together after enough for a whole batch is gathered."

!.

As soon as Wei Yuan heard this, he understood; this was indeed a good method, as it could fully utilize the fruits of the cassia tree.

Although the grade of the sub-hall as a magic treasure had improved after Wei Yuan's massive sacrifices, the number of monks in the Grand Void Gate was also increasing. Furthermore, after several major battles, no one lacked merit in their hands, so the demand for exchanges rose accordingly.

Seeing that Wei Yuan wanted to enter the Merit Hall, the two monks hurriedly postponed everyone's exchange by one place. Seeing this, Wei Yuan said: "No need to change it; I am using sacrifices and do not need to occupy the current quota."

Wei Yuan looked again at the things everyone wanted to exchange for, and unexpectedly discovered that the most numerous were not elixirs, but various classics. Wei Yuan couldn't help but laugh, wondering if this had been led astray by his own habit of exchanging for a pile of books whenever he had nothing to do.

However, the various classics of the Grand Void Gate were practical, large in quantity, and cheap; Wei Yuan felt that the merit spent was quite worthwhile.

How to exchange was everyone's own business, and Wei Yuan did not interfere; he went straight into the Merit Hall, skillfully sacrificed the Underworld Soil, and then exchanged for a batch of classics about national fortune, as well as several arrays for refining national fortune.

After the exchange was completed, the Merit Hall suddenly had some slight changes, and a piece of information was transmitted over; it had actually increased the value of Underworld Soil exchanges. He didn't know what had happened, but the Grand Void Gate now seemed to be in urgent need of Underworld Soil.

Wei Yuan noted this matter down, prepared to ask about it after the Senior Sister returned from the palace. If the palace indeed had a large demand, Wei Yuan was prepared to contribute a batch.

After returning to his residence, Wei Yuan checked the development of the domain during this period. At this time, all matters were on the right track, and the overall situation was not much different from when Wei Yuan left. It was just because Wei Yuan went to the capital to meet the Emperor, so the promotion to Dao Foundation for this batch of Cui family disciples was all postponed; thus, they had been doing hard labor in the domain for a month, calling it polishing their foundations.

The Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers from the Tianqing Hall and the Shuiyue Hall had all integrated into the domain and found their own jobs; this was indeed good news. Wei Yuan had originally felt a natural closeness to his own sect; if it hadn't been for Ren Suxing jumping out and pointing fingers as soon as he arrived, Wei Yuan would not have left them out in the cold.

Wei Yuan took the classics and returned to his residence, began to read carefully, and occasionally rested to think about the current situation of the entire Western Jin. The conversation with Wang Duan echoed in Wei Yuan's mind from time to time.

Xiaoyu, Behind Bao Yun, and Cui Yu, who had first rushed to the Grand Void Gate, were all core disciples of the Seven Families and Thirteen Houses. Among the sixteen noble young ladies that Cui Yu had brought to the domain, Wang Yu and Xu Yi's positions were getting higher and higher, and the others had also gradually occupied important middle-level positions.

Although Wei Yuan did not care about background and only looked at ability, and those who could stand out in successive bloody battles were all outstanding people, this could not change the reality that the noble family disciples were gradually gaining comprehensive control of power. The present of Lai City might not necessarily not be the future of the domain.

How could one collect taxes from the high-ranking noble families?

As his thinking deepened, Wei Yuan also began to reflect on the reality of the domain, and then he suddenly discovered that Qingming currently had no taxes at all; all output was collected and then redistributed.

Thinking that he had just been criticizing the administration of Lai City, Wei Yuan felt very guilty and hurriedly recited a few times in his heart: an expedient measure, an expedient measure.

(End of chapter)