Inside the Grand Council Hall, civil and military officials stood in rank, quietly awaiting the King of Jin's morning court.
As a senior second-rank Military Commissioner, Wei Yuan stood among the military officers, positioned behind only the Right Prime Minister, the Minister of War, and two veteran Military Commissioners, Xu Tongshou and Lü Wenbai.
Among the court officials, there was no lack of youthful-looking faces, but Wei Yuan was the only person truly under forty, and barely two or three were under fifty. Those over a hundred, however, numbered eight or nine. Thus, many officials ranked behind Wei Yuan stole glances at him, mostly because he was simply so young.
"His Holy Majesty arrives!"
Following Liu Quangong's familiar cry, the King of Jin entered the hall and seated himself upon the throne.
Today's morning court held no major crises, consisting mostly of routine governance. After offering a few encouraging words to the three Military Commissioners who had come to the capital for imperial audience, the King of Jin spoke: "Minister Wei!"
Wei Yuan stepped forward from the ranks. The officials knew the main event had arrived.
"Minister Wei crushed the Shamans recently and subsequently repelled several of their continuous assaults. Even though the Shamans deployed numerous Nether Shamans, they were still routed in defeat. Such military exploits have truly bolstered the morale of our Great Jin!"
At once, the expressions of many court officials changed. Repelling the Shamans was not surprising, but from the King of Jin's words, the Shamans had deployed Nether Shamans—and more than one? Did this not mean Wei Yuan also had more than one True Monarch assisting him?
A few high and mighty figures who truly knew what had happened that day wore especially intriguing expressions.
They knew very well that seven True Monarchs had appeared on Wei Yuan's side in that battle, with another on the way. Such strength was nearly on par with half a great clan!
"Such military merits cannot go unrewarded! Now—"
Before the King of Jin could finish speaking, a voice suddenly rang out from outside the hall: "Your Holy Majesty! Great joy! Victory reported from the front!"
Several imperial guards sprinted forward and halted at the threshold of the grand hall. A supervising eunuch received the victory dispatch and presented it before the King of Jin. This was standard practice across the Nine Kingdoms of Great Tang: messengers tasked with relaying major military intelligence were permitted to gallop through the royal palace and proceed unhindered straight to the palace hall steps; no one was allowed to obstruct them.
Taking the report, the King of Jin read it and was instantly overwhelmed with joy, laughing aloud. "Good! Good! Good! Prince Ying's new army has won a great victory! The entire realm ought to celebrate together!"
Liu Quangong then read the full text of the dispatch. In essence, Prince Ying had formed and trained a new army in the northern border. In their very first engagement upon completing formation, they scored a resounding victory: facing twenty thousand Liao Clan nomadic cavalry with twenty thousand infantry, they routed the Liao horsemen and took six thousand heads.
In terms of scale, this was not a massive battle, but its significance was extraordinary. With equal numbers, infantry had confronted cavalry and won, achieving a major victory. The King of Jin was so elated also because the victory belonged to the new army.
Wei Yuan naturally knew the new army was equipped with fire guns, so such a result came as no surprise. Moreover, the dispatch made no mention of the new army's casualties.
Back then, Wei Yuan had used the Xu family youths to utterly defeat Yue Jinshan's world-renowned Northern Border Iron Cavalry. That time, however, it had been thirty thousand against ten thousand.
After the burst of joy, Wei Yuan's conferral of rewards had to continue. The King of Jin paused in thought, and the hall instantly fell dead silent.
Wei Yuan saw right through the situation. Prince Ying's victory had apparently given the King of Jin hope of breaking the stalemate in the north. Most of the substantial rewards intended for Wei Yuan would likely be reduced or even cancelled.
After a moment's contemplation, the King of Jin spoke: "As famous generals of antiquity said: 'The more troops one leads, the better.' The same holds true today. As the saying goes, 'Let the capable bear the burden.' Minister Wei is young and capable, commanding troops like a god. Even the famous generals of antiquity were no better than this; naturally, he should shoulder greater responsibilities. Therefore, We intend to incorporate Ningxi Commandery into the jurisdiction of the Military Commissioner of Dingxi. Do any of you ministers have objections?"
As soon as these words were spoken, some officials displayed subtle signs of astonishment.
Being well-informed, they had naturally known in advance what rewards were planned for Wei Yuan. Yet what surprised them was that even though Prince Ying's victory dispatch had arrived at this exact moment, the King of Jin still maintained the original conferral. Had the King of Jin's attitude toward Wei Yuan changed?
Wei Yuan could hardly be considered a true vassal of Jin; going by his background, he was at most an appeased bandit chief. While backed by the Palace of Grand Beginning, he had thoroughly antagonized the Xu family early on, causing the two backings to cancel each other out. In the end, even the Eunuch Faction had not bothered to recruit him, leaving it to maternal imperial relatives who could barely present themselves on the political stage to make contact.
Who would have thought that in less than two years, Wei Yuan had grown to such stature?
Many court officials were still unaware of Qingming's true state, not knowing that Ningxi Commandery had already been compressed into an arc. Still, although Qingming had expanded to over four hundred li, Ningxi Commandery was vastly larger in total area. Once Ningxi Commandery was annexed, Qingming could expand to twelve hundred li before bumping into other commanderies to the east.
Since the King of Jin maintained the predetermined rewards and the various officials could not divine his thoughts, everyone remained silent, and the matter was settled.
The King of Jin further granted Wei Yuan permission to establish eight garrisons of troops, appoint four Brigade Generals, and establish one General of Chariots and Cavalry to command the four Brigade Generals. However, the General of Chariots and Cavalry had to travel to the capital for an imperial audience and receive the King of Jin's approval before the appointment could be officially confirmed. Moreover, a general of this rank, if not a dharma idol, had to be at least late Dao Foundation and poised for imminent breakthrough to dharma idol.
With that, the morning court concluded. On the path out of the palace, a civil official suddenly approached Wei Yuan and said softly, "Please hold your steps, Lord Wei. The Left Prime Minister wishes to speak with you."
The civil official looked middle-aged and could hardly conceal the distaste and arrogance on his face as he looked at Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan knew he was unpopular with the pure-stream civil officials, so he paid it no heed and waited in the corridor.
The Left Prime Minister approached at an unhurried pace and walked alongside Wei Yuan toward the palace gates. This was Wei Yuan's first time in close contact with this towering figure whose influence dominated court and country.
The Left Prime Minister said slowly, "Lord Wei is young and capable, commanding formidable forces. Your cultivation progress has truly astonished this old man—a dharma idol under twenty is rare in any nation."
"Your Excellency flatters me. It was mere luck."
Caressing his beard, the Left Prime Minister glanced at the gloomy sky and said, "It took this old man a full seventy years to enter court, and another thirty to reach today's position. Yet after serving just a few years, I am already exhausted in body and spirit, and my cultivation has not progressed by a single inch all these years."
Under normal circumstances, Wei Yuan should have offered a few words of flattery. Yet for some reason, having gone through the events of last night and hearing the Left Prime Minister's words now, Wei Yuan suddenly found it rather hollow.
Spending a full century just to stand a little further forward in this court?
Seemingly oblivious to Wei Yuan's thoughts, the Left Prime Minister continued, "Lord Wei, your ultimate destination should lie beyond the imperial court. And before that time comes, all you need to do is nothing at all, and you will naturally emerge as the victor."
By now, the palace gates were in sight. Wei Yuan said, "Thank you for your guidance, Your Excellency."
The Left Prime Minister nodded, exited the palace gates first, and departed in his carriage. Wei Yuan's carriage also pulled up, picked him up, and drove toward the postal relay station.
Along the way, Wei Yuan reflected on every word the Left Prime Minister had spoken, then reviewed the Left Prime Minister's life and conduct in his mind.
The Left Prime Minister was surnamed Lü, with the personal name Zhongpei. Hailing from a collateral branch of the Lu clan, he had grown up in poverty, yet displayed extraordinary talent early on and was later admitted to the Four Sages Academy. At age forty, he attained the dharma idol stage, descended the mountain to enter officialdom, and began as a lowly county commandant. Later, he rose to Brigade General before abandoning the sword for the brush, transferring to vice prefect. Through decades of conscientious devotion, he slowly climbed step by step to the fourth rank, earning the right to enter the grand hall for court council.
Thereafter, his official career sped up slightly, though it remained generally steady and subdued. When the previous leader of the pure-stream faction retired into seclusion, he took up their mantle, plodding steadily forward until he finally became the head of all civil ministers.
Looking solely at this record, he was virtually unassailable—an evergreen tree of politics and an exemplary old fox. Whether in the political arena or on the battlefield, this was the exact kind of opponent Wei Yuan was least willing to face.
The Left Prime Minister had spoken only a few sentences, but each was laden with meaning. First, he pointed out that Wei Yuan had prospects on the immortal path, and the trivialities of the mortal court naturally paled in comparison to attaining immortality. Let alone Unity cultivators, even Prince Ying and Prince Cheng, who had attained Scenery Command, rarely showed their faces in court. Their primary concern was military campaigns; they rarely bothered with daily court governance. Spending a century in the bureaucracy had surely hindered much of the Left Prime Minister's cultivation.
Wei Yuan had also caught the implication of his other remark. Young as he was, Wei Yuan was already senior second rank, with virtually nowhere higher to climb. Given his background, he would never abandon his foundation in Qingming, so even if offered a first-rank post, he might not accept. Therefore, all Wei Yuan needed to do now was watch from the sidelines and comfortably observe the rival factions battle it out.
After several decades, with seasoned troops, abundant grain, and another breakthrough in cultivation, he would naturally become a titan of the court, whom anyone would have to treat with immense deference. That was why the Left Prime Minister said Wei Yuan needed to do nothing at all to emerge naturally as the victor.
The Left Prime Minister's words were not wrong, yet Wei Yuan pondered a layer deeper: for the Left Prime Minister to say such things at this moment, there had to be something happening right now that he did not want Wei Yuan interfering with.
Wei Yuan had never cared much about court politics, but whether he chose to intervene or not, he needed to know what was going on.
Just as the carriage reached the postal relay station, someone suddenly rushed over to report that the troops Wei Yuan had brought had gotten into a fight with someone. Wei Yuan was taken aback upon hearing this. He had brought a full fifteen thousand iron cavalry—how could they have gotten into a brawl with someone? And even if they had, why hadn't they beaten the other party to death yet?
Wei Yuan immediately abandoned the carriage, mounted a horse, and galloped toward the military encampment flanked by dozens of personal cavalry guards.
Chapter 452