Chapter 670

Back when Ji Weiwei Yuan first took office as the Military Governor of Western Jin, he went to the capital for an audience. At the hunting assembly, he played the slacker in every way possible, yet was unexpectedly and firmly nailed to the first-place position, forced to shoulder the national fortune of Western Jin. Moreover, the quantity was so vast that it far exceeded Ji Weiwei Yuan's expectations.

For the past two years, the war situation in the north of Western Jin had been unfavorable, but Ji Weiwei Yuan dealt a crushing defeat to the Shaman tribe in the Western Regions, causing the national fortune to rise instead of fall. Now that the Azure Void had been recuperating for over half a year, its strength had grown increasingly robust, and the firmament of the earthly paradise had gradually become higher, clearer, and brighter.

As a result, at this very moment, the sky suddenly began to fester, with residual light like blood. Judging by this Qi fortune, the national fortune of Western Jin had returned to the state it was in when Ji Weiwei Yuan first took office as Military Governor.

The variables of national fortune are extremely numerous, complex, and unpredictable. Even if the Prince of Jin, the imperial court, and Ji Weiwei Yuan were added together, they would account for no more than thirty percent of the entire Western Jin national fortune.

The Shaman Imperial of Northern Liao exerts the greatest influence on the national fortune, while the rest is dispersed among the Lu and Xu families, as well as the various aristocratic families that have business dealings within Western Jin.

No sooner had the Western Jin national fortune run into trouble than Zhao Guo came to establish a new domain right against the Azure Void, with clear signs of moving troops against the Jin state.

Not long ago, the King of Zhao had been continuously moving troops against the Ji state, fighting on and off for several years and seizing the territory of two commanderies. Now, it is highly likely he will take advantage of Western Jin's weakness to loot a burning house.

A thick sense of crisis rose in Ji Weiwei Yuan's heart, and he felt he had to do something quickly. Having enjoyed the benefits, now was the time to fulfill his obligations.

The national fortune of Western Jin has transformed into the firmament of the earthly paradise, which is an important link in the perfection of the earthly paradise world. If something goes wrong with this link, there is no telling how much longer Ji Weiwei Yuan's cultivation path will be delayed.

At this time, Li Zhi arrived at the Azure Void. Counting it up, the two had not seen each other for some time. Ji Weiwei Yuan arranged a banquet in the Guest-Welcoming Town, and after three rounds of drinks, Ji Weiwei Yuan asked about Li Zhi's recent situation.

Li Zhi had previously supported the Azure Void with all his might, successively committing over one hundred thousand troops, with nearly half lost. Within the Zhenshan territory, there were complaints everywhere, and quite a few people had directly reported him to the King of Zhao and the King of Qi. But Li Zhi suppressed all opposing voices and still fully supported the Azure Void.

When the Kingdom of Rain was finally defeated, Li Zhi also reaped tremendous prestige, and the previous doubts instantly turned into one-sided praise. Because the Duke of Hui'en had produced such a unicorn son, he took in three more concubines, preparing to make further efforts to vigorously strengthen the Li family.

Prestige is extremely important for Li Zhi, who specializes in the study of the Human King. The victory in this great war brought his cultivation to complete fulfillment, and he returned to the Four Sages Academy to prepare for his Dharma Form.

The Four Sages Academy also supported Li Zhi with all its might, cutting back significantly on the resources for several other cultivation seeds, and all the ancient true meanings that could only be used once were used on Li Zhi.

In the end, Li Zhi fused his sword and tripod into one furnace, cultivating the Dharma Form: Old Site of Xuanling.

In the past, a Human Emperor built the Xuanyuan Terrace to offer sacrifices to heaven. Later, this place fell into the hands of foreign tribes, and the sacrificial terrace was destroyed. After another thousand years of war, the human race recaptured the sacrificial terrace. When the Great Tang Founding Emperor successfully established the nation, he sealed off these ruins and did not rebuild them, using this to inspire future generations not to forget the hardships of their ancestors.

The wonder of this Dharma Form lies in the fact that what Li Zhi cultivated was not the Xuanyuan Sacrificial Terrace, but the old site after it had been destroyed by foreign tribes.

It was only after the Four Sages Academy took out a strand of Human Emperor Qi fortune sealed for a thousand years and bestowed it upon Li Zhi that the Dharma Form underwent a transformation and ascended to a higher level.

In this Dharma Form terrace, there is a broken ancient tripod, a precious sword is stuck by the side of the terrace, and the surroundings are filled with blood-stained military flags.

When fighting against foreign tribes, this Dharma Form can significantly enhance military Qi, making the army high-spirited and determined to fight to the death without retreating. When fighting against the human race, if the opponent lacks restraining Qi fortune treasures, the military Qi will be significantly suppressed. When in the territory, this Dharma Form can enhance the characteristics of boundary stones and weaken the possibility of natural and man-made disasters within the territory.

Ji Weiwei Yuan also deeply envied Li Zhi's Dharma Form; it was simply the perfect Dharma Form for being an emperor.

Li Zhi, however, smiled bitterly and said, "I won't hide it from you, the Academy's founder sealed my Dharma Form. What is usually displayed is just one sword and one tripod; the old site of the sacrificial terrace and the blood-colored banners are all hidden. Otherwise, once this Dharma Form appeared, I'm afraid the Emperor of Great Tang would not be able to sleep. I'm just telling you this; don't let anyone else know."

Ji Weiwei Yuan knew this was a major matter and solemnly agreed. But thinking about it, it made sense; if any emperor knew that such a person had appeared within his kingdom—a born rebel embryo—he would definitely try every possible way to kill him.

After the great war with the Kingdom of Rain, Ji Weiwei Yuan successively delivered one hundred thousand sets of breastplates to Li Zhi, allowing the Zhenshan Army to fully re-equip, significantly increasing their combat power. Coupled with Li Zhi's own tremendous prestige, the generals finally realized the huge benefits of participating in the war.

However, Ji Weiwei Yuan had originally said he would train another one hundred thousand infantry for Li Zhi, but after Li Zhi cultivated his Dharma Form, he felt that his own direct troops should be trained by himself to be more at ease. The Azure Void's style of fighting was too erratic and not necessarily the right path, so this matter was dropped.

The two talked about old times for a while, and then Ji Weiwei Yuan entered the main topic, speaking about Li Chengfeng establishing a new domain with the intention of blockading the Azure Void and cutting off the connection between the Azure Void and the Zhenshan territory.

Li Zhi did not immediately express his opinion but asked, "My virtuous brother must have a well-thought-out plan. If there is anything you need from your elder brother, just say it."

Ji Weiwei Yuan said, "In this matter, I want to seize the initiative and first occupy the mouths of the people of the world. So I would like to ask Brother Li to help find some great scholars who do not fear the powerful, publish more articles, and properly scold the King of Zhao! I will definitely provide enough for the writing fees!"

By this time, the two had eaten almost enough, so Li Zhi had the wine and food cleared away, brought paper and pen, wrote down more than thirty names in one breath, then crossed out five or six, and only then smiled:

"You've asked the right person for my Four Sages Academy's specialty. In the world today, scholars take pride in their integrity and take honor in scolding emperors and powerful nobles. There are too many who don't fear trouble. The ones I crossed out are those whose fame isn't quite up to par."

Ji Weiwei Yuan took a look and saw that the name Cai Shizhi was also on the list, and asked in surprise, "Is this Mr. Cai also willing to speak for me?"

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Times change. It is a fact that you used civilians to fill the lines before, and it is also a fact that the King of Zhao is now disregarding righteousness and wants to send troops to take advantage. Speaking for you at this time can also highlight his broad-mindedness of judging the matter rather than the person. I'll find two more who are familiar with him to beat the drums on the side, and this matter will be done. Of course, the writing fees still cannot be less; I'll just say they are from me."

Ji Weiwei Yuan sighed, "You scholars really have a lot of... bad water... and methods."

Li Zhi and Ji Weiwei Yuan went through the list one by one. Ji Weiwei Yuan's matter was clear-cut, so it was relatively easy to handle; the Four Sages Academy is the holy land of literature in the world, and if Li Zhi comes forward personally, for more than half of the twenty-some great scholars, just giving more writing fees will suffice.

The remaining seven or eight either have strange habits, are unruly and hard to tame, or have had grudges with other great scholars, the kind who must write the opposite if someone else writes an article.

But having strange habits doesn't matter, as long as they have hobbies.

Ji Weiwei Yuan and Li Zhi prescribed the right medicine for the illness, and in the blink of an eye, they found a way. In the end, only two were left. These two were clean-handed, full of integrity, usually had no friends, and conquered the world purely with their articles and talent.

Ji Weiwei Yuan and Li Zhi thought for a long time but couldn't think of a good way. Ji Weiwei Yuan stared at their files for a long time and suddenly asked, "Do they have any descendants?"

"They definitely do."

Ji Weiwei Yuan then said, "Tell them that if this matter is accomplished, I will promote one of their untalented descendants to the Dao Foundation!"

Li Zhi slapped the table in admiration.

After agreeing on this matter, Li Zhi headed straight for the Four Sages Academy.

Three days later, great scholars began to publish articles one after another, bitterly criticizing the King of Zhao for disregarding the righteousness of the human race and sending troops to seize profit while the Azure Void was weak. If everyone in the world were like this, then who would be willing to resist foreign tribes, and who would be willing to bleed and sweat for the human race?

Cai Shizhi's article was the most radical, and the core of the whole piece was: A villain without virtue is in power, and his country will not last long.

The Great Hall of Zhao.

The King of Zhao grabbed a stack of jade paper on the desk and threw it hard in front of the ministers, shouting angrily, "I have been the King of Zhao for decades. Some have scolded me for being warlike, and some have scolded me for not being considerate of the people's livelihood, but I have never been scolded as a villain without virtue!!"

"And so many people are writing articles to scold me at the same time; what exactly is going on? Did I send a single soldier or a single pawn to attack the Azure Void? On the contrary, that Ji Weiwei Yuan is unreasonable and killed my Zhao soldiers first! Why are these people scolding me, and not one of them says a word about Ji Weiwei Yuan?!"

"Such a big thing, and you actually have no news at all! What use do I have for you!"

The King of Zhao roared like thunder, and the ministers were as silent as cicadas in winter, all not daring to speak.

On one hand, Ji Weiwei Yuan sent people to the Jin state, wanting to figure out what major events had happened recently, and on the other hand, he prepared his army for war.

After taking ten thousand or so half-baked, unevenly skilled cavalry and shaking them in front of Li Chengfeng, Ji Weiwei Yuan estimated that Li Chengfeng was confident about winning, but definitely had no bottom line regarding the number of his own troops. As such, his choice should be to increase troops rather than run away.

Coupled with the fact that he had just mobilized the world's pure-stream great scholars to spray the King of Zhao, as long as the King of Zhao had a bit of temper, he would not let Li Chengfeng withdraw his troops.

The great war was on the verge of breaking out, and Ji Weiwei Yuan still had some things to hurry up and handle.

So he issued an order, and cargo trucks set off from various places in the Azure Void, turning into dozens of small convoys, picking up supplies at designated locations, and then merging along the way. The small convoys turned into medium convoys, and the medium convoys turned into large convoys. By the time they left Qingming, they had already turned into a huge merchant fleet of more than five hundred trucks.

Ji Weiwei Yuan, on the other hand, took a step ahead and flew toward the Zhao state.

Zhao State, Yuyang Commandery.

The Pacification Commissioner Cui Shutong had just finished lunch and was sitting in the study sipping tea when his heart suddenly moved, and he said, "An honored guest has arrived; why not appear and meet?"

An ethereal voice sounded in the air: "It is not very convenient at the moment; I ask the Pacification Commissioner to first dismiss those around you."

Cui Shutong then said, "You all go down; without my order, no one is allowed to enter this courtyard."

The servants and guards waiting outside all retreated from the courtyard.

At this time, Ji Weiwei Yuan appeared; he was already sitting in the guest seat.

Cui Shutong's pupils shrank slightly, and he said, "Lord Wei's cultivation is becoming more and more superb. It seems there is hope for ascending to immortality in the future."

"Ascending to immortality is a matter for the future; at the moment, secular matters are more important."

"What important matter is there? Lord might as well speak in detail," Cui Shutong asked.

Although the two had met differently, they had already dealt with each other countless times, and the material transactions they handled were getting larger and larger. It could be said that more than half of the immortal silver in Cui Shutong's pocket now came from Ji Weiwei Yuan.

Ji Weiwei Yuan said straightforwardly, "Now that the dispute between Jin and Zhao is imminent, I am worried that the King of Zhao is very likely to ban the trade between you and me."

Cui Shutong did not cover it up either and said, "Indeed. I estimate that the decree is already on the way and will arrive in these two days."

Ji Weiwei Yuan then said, "My merchant fleet is also already on the way and will arrive at the border tomorrow noon."

Cui Shutong's eyelids jumped: "How much cargo?"

"Five hundred trucks; the cargo is breastplates and brocade."

Cui Shutong's eyelids jumped, and he said, "The great war is imminent, and you are still selling breastplates?"

Ji Weiwei Yuan smiled slightly and said, "Only then is it convincing."

"Good, what do you want?"

"The old way, people."

Cui Shutong gritted his teeth and said, "Five counties on the periphery, totaling seven hundred thousand people; take them all!"

A smile rose on Ji Weiwei Yuan's face, and he said, "Doing business with Lord Cui is just refreshing!"

(End of chapter)