Spring was in full bloom across the State of Ji, and Wei Yuan sent the people within the city out into the countryside to clear and cultivate the fields. At the same time, he constructed several fortifications dozens of li from the county seat to protect those tilling the land.
This was an entirely defensive measure, though Wei Yuan had no idea whether the other side understood that. Lately, rebel forces had been appearing far less frequently, showing up roughly once every ten days and delivering only a thousand or two people each time. Wei Yuan had sent men to speak with them, and they all reported that the surrounding lands had long been stripped bare of inhabitants. Fengyuan Commandery was an even more desolate expanse of scorched earth, stretching for thousands of li without a single spark of life.
Xiangshui and Fengyuan Commanderies were the hardest hit; their commandery seats had been slaughtered to the last soul, and over eighty percent of their county towns and villages had suffered the same fate. According to the incoming rebels, following the unexpected death of the Duke of Long, the grand army of Ji had repeatedly assaulted the rebels' main base, only to be turned back in defeat before the towering, perilous passes. Though the Ji army still possessed formidable numbers, their morale was at rock bottom and their military aura was thoroughly scattered; anyone could see they would not hold out for much longer.
As one side waned, the other waxed. After a period of quiet, Lu Jiande had grown increasingly active again, seemingly preparing for another major move.
Around Wei Yuan's current territory, the only place retaining a substantial population was Hanchuan Commandery, situated to the north-northwest. The commandery was mostly mountainous, its terrain rugged and its resources barren. Even the rebels had been unwilling to march there. For generations, the State of Ji had used it as a place of exile, which inadvertently spared it the ravages of war.
However, several rebel contingents operated along the northwestern border of Ji, and one of them was preparing to enter Hanchuan Commandery. Wei Yuan decided to take the initiative. He dispatched a small force of three thousand men directly across the commandery to garrison Tingliu County on its northwestern border, aiming to block the rebel advance right there.
At the same time, Wei Yuan sent envoys to Hanchuan's commandery seat and subordinate counties, instructing local officials to relocate the population and move everyone capable of traveling down to Xiangshui Commandery.
Wei Yuan invoked his title as Military Commissioner of Xianghan—which the Tang dynasty had not yet formally approved—and dispatched a delegation comprised of several dharma idol cultivators. They went not to negotiate, but to deliver orders. If any local magistrate showed the slightest hesitation or resistance, Wei Yuan's men executed them on the spot under charges of colluding with bandits.
Through such swift and resolute measures, Wei Yuan managed to stir the people in this impoverished, neglected corner of Hanchuan, prompting a steady stream of migrants to leave the mountains and journey toward Xiangshui Commandery.
Wei Yuan established porridge stalls at the mountain passes, ensuring a hot meal awaited all who emerged from the wilderness. Further along, he set up distribution stations in every county to hand out steamed buns and flatbreads, though only the Qingming soldiers guiding the refugees were permitted to draw the rations. By the time the migrants reached these stations, returning to the mountains was out of the question.
Then Wei Yuan dangled an even grander promise, proclaiming that vacant lands awaited them to farm once they reached Xiangshui Commandery. The vast majority of mountain dwellers yearned for fertile soil on the open plains. Having made it this far, virtually no one looked back.
Evacuating the entire commandery would take about two months, during which Wei Yuan's three-thousand-man detachment had to hold off the rebel force seeking to enter Hanchuan.
That rebel army numbered well over a hundred thousand and had intended to lay siege to Tingliu County. Yet before their chaotic ranks could even deploy, they were hammered by heavy cannon fire. A dozen barrages left the entire force completely stunned, forcing them into a retreat that permanently crushed any ambition of besieging the town.
Over more than ten days of fierce combat, the rebels suffered over ten thousand casualties, while the defenders lost several dozen men—all fallen to spells cast by dharma idol or Dao Foundation cultivators.
By then, a battle report from the west had reached Lu Jiande. It claimed that the State of Ji and Wei Yuan had joined forces to deploy over a hundred thousand troops at Tingliu County, where the rebel army fought bloodily for a month, beheading thirty thousand enemies while losing a mere five thousand of their own—an engagement hailed as the Great Hanchuan Victory.
Cunning and experienced, Lu Jiande saw through the report instantly: the enemy was too formidable to break. He ordered his aides to fetch Hanchuan Commandery's local gazetteer and official household registries. Hanchuan held roughly eight hundred thousand households, totaling over three million people. The terrain was harsh and treacherous, virtually devoid of valuable resources; the local earth energy was so impoverished that even medicinal herbs struggled to grow.
Lu Jiande studied the map for a long while and concluded that the region held no military value either. Further west lay the territory of the Mountain Folk. Even without Hanchuan, the western rebel forces marching east would merely have to take a slight detour, and because the main roads were easier to traverse, their pace would be far faster than cutting straight through the rugged commandery.
After careful consideration, Lu Jiande sent a formal reply ordering the western rebels to abandon Hanchuan. Before withdrawing, however, they were to dismantle the three border passes along Hanchuan's western frontier that served as defenses against the Mountain Folk.
Whether Hanchuan fell to the Mountain Folk or remained with Ji thereafter was of no concern to Lu Jiande. It would be best if a horde of Mountain Folk surged through the breach and poured directly into Xiangshui. Besides, Xiangshui and Fengyuan were desolate wastes, making it impossible for the Mountain Folk to forage or supply themselves.
He would leave that headache to Wei Yuan.
Meanwhile, Wei Yuan was also reading through the Hanchuan Commandery Gazetteer. Having spent an entire two hours on it, he finally finished. Putting the volume down, he said to Zhang Sheng, "The way the State of Ji took Hanchuan back then was quite legendary.
"The land was originally unfit for human survival. At the time, a local female chieftain who had been widowed at a young age led her people to carve roads and build bridges through the mountains, clearing fields and propagating their lineage. Along the way, they fought countless battles against the Mountain Folk, taking a full century to gradually secure the entirety of present-day Hanchuan. She then petitioned the King of Ji to swear allegiance, which brought Hanchuan Commandery into being."
Zhang Sheng asked, "If you move everyone out of Hanchuan, won't you be handing the territory back to the Mountain Folk?"
Wei Yuan unfolded a map and pointed to the surrounding terrain. "There are hardly any boundary stones in Hanchuan to begin with, and they aren't linked together. This land is difficult for humans to live in, and even the Mountain Folk struggle to survive here. I intend to dig up all the boundary stones, extend our lines northwest from our secret realm exit, cut off this vast swathe of Mountain Folk from their heartland, and gradually swallow it whole."
Wei Yuan traced a sweeping circle with his finger, encompassing an expanse spanning over forty thousand li across—equivalent to four or five whole Qingmings.
"Quite the ambition," she remarked. "Swallowing this entire swath would be enough to establish a new province."
Wei Yuan nodded. "I've already thought of a name: Yizhou."
"You really don't hold the Tang dynasty in any regard! Your appointment as Military Commissioner of Xianghan hasn't even been granted yet."
Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "No rush. They'll have to grant it sooner or later, and it's even better if they don't."
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Zhang Sheng cautioned. "In this world, the schemes of immortals are what truly matter."
"I know. That's why I must accumulate human fortune. Besides, the vast no-man's-land across Xiangshui and Fengyuan neatly separates us from Ji. My newly claimed territory is taken almost entirely from the Mountain Folk; only the four counties around Guantun were taken from Ji."
Zhang Sheng's thoughts stirred, and the faint manifestation of an elder Daoist flickered above her head. "Since you've still occupied some of Ji's territory, why not submit a memorial to the King of Ji and request an official title and reward?"
Wei Yuan nodded. "Good point! I'll use the same trick on the King of Ji that I used on the King of Zhao—no doubt he'll agree!"
"The trick you used on the King of Zhao?" A sharp edge crept into Zhang Sheng's voice.
"It has nothing to do with the Sixth Princess!" Wei Yuan hastily explained. "I can submit a petition offering submission, declaring that I've accepted pacification by Ji. As long as he gives me the land and the people, I'll give him all the prestige and face he could want. Let the King of Ji win—win big, win completely! That's the art of winning!"
The sword qi in Zhang Sheng's eyes finally receded. "Even so, we must deliver a heavy blow to the King of Ji first. Only then will he understand that without our cooperation, he cannot win."
Wei Yuan nodded. "Indeed, but now isn't the right time. Let the rebels and the King of Ji wear each other down while I gather the people of Hanchuan.
"The census registers record over three million people in Hanchuan. I estimate we can bring out two-point-eight or two-point-nine million.
"The vanguard has only just exited Hanchuan, and I expect the entire relocation will take another two months. While there's still some time, I'll return to Qingming for a bit."
"What are you going back for now? Has that Sixth Princess returned from Zhao?"
"She still has a dozen days left. This time, Princess Ningguo arrived first," Wei Yuan answered honestly.
Zhang Sheng nodded, unexpectedly pressing no further. She simply said, "Go on, then."
A sense of foreboding seized Wei Yuan, and he hurried to explain: "Didn't the teleportation gate just finish construction? I'm taking Cui Yu, Xu Yi, and the others to the Desolate Realm to temper their bodies under the sun. Your killing tribulation is tied to Ji, and you have Senior Bai's sword here, so you can't leave. Once the tribulation passes, the two of us will go together."
"Fine. Go."
A moment later, Wei Yuan departed Guantun County and returned to Qingming via the secret realm path. Yet for some reason, an uneasy feeling lingered in his chest. The calmer Zhang Sheng appeared, the more unsettled he felt.
He couldn't tell whether it was merely his imagination, but Wei Yuan constantly felt that Zhang Sheng paid an unusual amount of attention to the Sixth Princess.
Even so, the grand teleportation array in Qingming connecting to the Desolate Realm was already complete. Thanks to Wei Yuan's authority over the realm, his presence allowed him to regulate the intensity of the Desolate Realm's sunlight, ensuring that body tempering could proceed without inflicting excessive harm upon their flesh. Otherwise, Cui Yu marked the absolute baseline for entering the Desolate Realm; Xu Yi and the others wouldn't be able to last even half a moment.
Blazing further paths of cultivation for the dharma idol cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning was a matter of utmost importance to Wei Yuan. As soon as the appointed hour arrived, he made arrangements for the body-tempering excursion.
Yet the moment he recalled Cui Yu's twelve tanned Liuren heavenly soldiers, and then pictured Xu Yi's fair, delicate complexion, Wei Yuan felt it might be wise to give her advance warning so she could prepare herself—lest she fly into a rage upon being baked dark. The sun of the Desolate Realm was no ordinary sun; its manifestation of Great Dao intent was vastly more potent. To this day, Cui Yu's heavenly soldiers had shown not the slightest sign of returning to their former pale hue.
Chapter 1014