Chapter 744: Qiao Yuan's Decision

"Great King."

That person was trembling all over, their voice shaking and stuttering.

Qiao Yuan gave a cold chuckle and crouched down: "Speak."

"My, my meaning is..."

That person swallowed hard, then suddenly looked up: "Why not let the Nanyang Xie Clan help?"

The Nanyang Xie Clan!

Everyone who heard these words gasped in cold air.

The Nanyang Xie Clan—that was the remnant of the Prosperous Tang!

Everyone knew that the remnant of the Prosperous Tang was the absolute greatest taboo in the Longyan Dynasty!

But.

All these years, as the biggest human trafficker in Longyan, Qiao Yuan's largest export destination happened to be Nanyang, to this very remnant of the Prosperous Tang. Yet, despite this, he had only ever sold slaves there; he had never dared to deal with this remnant of the Prosperous Tang personally. He knew that was an offense punishable by death!

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His sinister gaze fixed on the person who had made the suggestion.

The more he looked, the more violently the person trembled.

He had always tried his best to keep his distance from the Nanyang Xie Clan.

Now, was it truly necessary to utilize this Nanyang Xie Clan?

He knew that was playing with fire.

"Great King."

Qiao Yuan had always known that in Liaodong Commandery, there were many officials being corrupted by the Nanyang Xie Clan. The one before him was naturally one of them. Every year, they took who knew how much grease money from the hands of the Nanyang Xie Clan. They had always been trying to find a Method to make Qiao Yuan get closer and closer to this remnant of the Prosperous Tang.

But Qiao Yuan had always refused.

These two words made Qiao Yuan's sinister gaze finally flicker.

All along, his desire to be enfeoffed as a king was something everyone knew. He just wanted to be the local emperor of Liaodong and didn't want to go anywhere! As for being the Western Regions Commissioner, he didn't care for it at all! He had lived in Liaodong since he was a child; he loved Liaodong and didn't want to leave this place!

This person, finally unable to bear Qiao Yuan's sinister gaze, began to cry: "Great King, the Nanyang Xie Clan has said that as long as you agree, their great army will station themselves in Liaodong, and once they return to Zhongyuan, they will certainly enfeoff you as a true king!"

Enfeoffed as a king!

Not only would they not give him this kingly title, but they would even strip him of his status as the Liaodong Commissioner.

Rumble.

He only needed a kingly title.

But he knew the Longyan Dynasty would not give it to him.

Matters were becoming increasingly urgent.

Throughout the palace, the singing and dancing had all stopped.

Rumble.

The sound of mountain-blasting told him once again that Vice Minister Liu from Longyan was getting closer and closer.

It concerned everyone.

No one dared to say another word.

The atmosphere was deathly silent.

This matter concerned the life and death of Liaodong Commandery.

This was not a matter of mere lip service.

The stakes were immense.

How could Liaodong Commandery not be a complex place? Where there were those close to the remnant of the Prosperous Tang, there were naturally those close to Longyan. Because there were still many officials who had been dispatched by Longyan, and their families were still in Longyan.

Rebellion.

"Ah!"

"This..."

Suddenly.

Qiao Yuan drew the sword at his waist with extreme speed. Before people could react, he acted with decisive swiftness; the sword left its sheath and struck the kneeling officials directly, one head after another falling to the ground.

This truly frightened many people, who looked at the identities of these men with deathly pale faces.

The person who had made the suggestion just now was still alive and well.

"Great King."

One after another, the heads of several officials were simply chopped off by Qiao Yuan.

Rebellion.

And those who died were mostly those close to Longyan.

Qiao Yuan's choice was already very clear.

An army of five hundred thousand!

Five hundred thousand!

A carrier pigeon flew toward the south.

In the lands of Nanyang, the great army was already waiting in full battle gear.

"Long live the Emperor!"

"Long live, long live, long live the Emperor!"

Five hundred thousand armored soldiers, majestic and awe-inspiring; even standing from a high vantage point, Xie Chengqian could not see the end of them.

"Long live the Emperor!"

Xie Chengqian smiled faintly. The armored soldiers before him were all Longyan! Yes, these people were all prisoners and slaves bought from Longyan! But in his Nanyang Empire, they had begun to take root, begun to like this place, begun to get used to this place, and slowly, through his management, they had become his own true people! People who could shed their blood and sacrifice their lives for him!

This is the charisma of Xie Chengqian.

Reviewing troops on the battlefield, the momentum was vast and mighty.

An army of five hundred thousand, high in spirit, their voices shaking the heavens.

Therefore.

For several hundred years, the Longyan Dynasty had almost never noticed.

Ever since the decline of the Flourishing Tang several hundred years ago, his ancestors, pursued by another branch of the Xie Clan, fled to Nanyang, where the Xie Clan used money to organize an army of local natives, and relying on this army, they began their cultivation of Nanyang.

This matter occurred under very secretive circumstances.

Yet Nanyang was a good place, rich in resources and abundant in produce.

The remnants of the Flourishing Tang began to develop here smoothly.

Under the circumstances of the Longyan Dynasty closing its doors to the world, it indeed did not care about other countries.

However.

Second, they launched large-scale smuggling with the southern coastal regions of Longyan. In this aspect, they mainly cooperated with the Scholar-official Group of Longyan.

Third, they supported the Wa nation, so that more fake Wa could appear, allowing more people to come to Nanyang to make a living.

However, they later encountered a problem. That was that the quality of the local native population was low and the population base was insufficient; this could not be changed overnight. As remnants of the Flourishing Tang, they also sought a very fast development speed to strengthen themselves and contend with Longyan. Thus, they thought of some Methods.

First, they spent money to purchase prisoners from the place of exile in Longyan, Liaodong.

The Wa nation was getting a bit restless.

Xie Chengqian dispatched troops and had already forcibly occupied several ports of the Wa nation. The purpose was to wait for this battle in Liaodong.

These policies began to be implemented without restraint after Xie Chengqian ascended the throne, and the strength of the Nanyang Xie Clan also began to multiply.

Recently.

He could not wait to take the true Xie Family of the former Longyan Dynasty and fight his way back to Zhongyuan!

The carrier pigeon finally landed in his hands.

He was somewhat impatient.

He was already forty years old.

"Good!"

"Hahahaha, Your Majesty, this time you must let me go and lead the vanguard!"

"He agreed."

He saw the content in the letter and finally let out a sigh of relief.

Xie Chengqian chuckled.

General Cheng let out an 'oy': "That goes without saying! Old Cheng has been waiting and hoping, wanting to have a good fight with these Longyan generals! I originally thought that I might not have this opportunity in this lifetime and could only leave it to my son, but I never expected this, never expected this!"

At this moment, a bearded, burly man beside him, holding a Giant Axe in his hand, laughed aloud.

"General Cheng is somewhat impatient."

"Haha, General Cheng, do not be anxious. You can lead the vanguard, but you must first promise me that once you reach Liaodong, you must listen to the Military Advisor in everything!"

Xie Chengqian laughed.

Everyone heard this and laughed heartily.

This General Cheng was named Cheng Zhiming! He was a fierce general under Xie Chengqian, with astonishing martial prowess and rarely a defeat in his life; not only him, but his own two sons were also trained by him into dragons and phoenixes among men. A tiger father with tiger sons, this was also something that made people envious within the Nanyang Xie Clan.

This Old Du was the Strategist under Xie Chengqian, Du Liang!

Hearing this, he could not help but laugh: "General Cheng, do not be impulsive in all things; you must know that on the battlefield, strategy is supreme, and planning from behind the scenes is the King's Way."

A man with a feather fan and silk kerchief nearby laughed.

Cheng Zhiming muttered: "I'll listen to him if I have to! But Old Du, let me say this first: once we go, you cannot be a coward, especially that Pei Qianyun fellow—let me have three hundred rounds with him first!"

Xie Chengqian suddenly straightened his expression.

The civil and military officials beside him stood up and bowed in succession.

"Bullshit."

"Enough!"

He shouted angrily.

"Long live Your Majesty!"

Xie Chengqian's gaze, looking toward the northern sea, was filled with determination.

"Brothers, we have cultivated in the land of Nanyang for so many years; it is time to go back and tell those people in Longyan who the true orthodox line is!"

"Fight back to Longyan! Fight back to Zhongyuan!"

The soldiers began to shout loudly.

"Long live Your Majesty!"

"Long live, long live, long, long live Your Majesty!"

"Brothers, let's set off!"

"Set off!"

To the left and right of Xie Chengqian were all the great generals under his banner! Over these years, his reserve of talent was equally gratifying.

He believed that this time was his best opportunity to return to Longyan!

Fight back to Longyan!

Brothers.

One Warship after another sailed over, and soon, the deep blue sea surface turned into a dense, dark mass.

Brothers.

Embark on the journey.

Restore our orthodoxy!