Wei Yuan sat upright on the couch with his eyes closed to rest, but his divine sense was inside a small hall within Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, browsing through the intelligence, battle reports, and records compiled from various places.
In Zhike Town to the northeast of Qingming, an imperial envoy was reading an imperial decree aloud. The Dao Foundation warrior kneeling to receive the decree remained expressionless. After hearing the decree to the end, he took out a pouch of immortal silver and slipped it into the envoy's hand. The envoy had originally looked disgruntled at not seeing Wei Yuan in person, but upon weighing the silver, a beaming smile immediately spread across his face, and his displeasure vanished into thin air.
Meanwhile, the contents of the imperial decree appeared simultaneously within Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, laid out before Wei Yuan.
Beneath the main peak, a new town had already been built. Constructed specially for the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning, the small town was filled everywhere with spiritual flowers and trees, wreathed in dense immortal mist. The moment one stepped through the town gate, a long street paved with mica stretched beneath one's feet. Flanking the road stood twelve pairs of carved white jade pillars entwined with emerald vines, from which bloomed spiritual flowers the size of rice bowls. These flowers resembled Xu Henshui's immortal orchids; their petals were as thin as cicada wings, opening and closing day and night to release spiritual qi.
Streets, markets, pavilions, and towers stood packed in neat rows throughout the town. Between the flying eaves and corbel brackets hung curtains of shark silk, tinted by the evening glow as if the rosy clouds of the thirty-three heavens had been tailored into window screens. At dusk each day, the unbroken chime of jade chimes rang out from the center of town; merely listening for a few moments could deepen one's comprehension by several layers. Except for the lack of floating isolated peaks, the scenery was hardly inferior to that of the Palace of Grand Beginning's main mountain.
Further inside stood the Council of Political Affairs. The main hall was currently vacant, flanked by three wing rooms on either side, each bearing a sign outside its door: Agriculture, Spiritual Herbs, Cauldrons, Armaments... The Armaments office was particularly large, taking up two wing rooms and containing many desks. On each desk sat different placards labeled: Armor (Steel), Armor (Nether), Fire Guns, Gunpowder, Ammunition, Cannons, Chariots, Warhorses, and so forth.
Cultivators entered the council one after another, the envelopes of their official documents labeled with categories such as Cannons, Agriculture, and the like. Upon entering, they deposited the documents onto the desks marked with matching tags.
The Dao Foundation warriors seated behind the desks would open and read the letters, placing the read documents into boxes labeled "Reviewed, Awaiting Approval." Every so often, someone would collect the boxes and carry them to another courtyard.
In that courtyard sat several dozen officials—half were Wei Yuan's Dao Foundation warriors, and the other half were human officials of Qingming. The Dao Foundation warriors inspected the incoming documents, retrieved the instructions from Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, and penned down the replies.
The human officials conducted reviews; if they found no issues, the documents were sent down for execution, while those with issues were forwarded to a third courtyard.
That courtyard was much smaller, with far fewer people. Three officials rich in governing experience were stationed there year-round, and the one currently seated in the central hall was none other than Yuan Qingyan.
Back when the Country of Rain attacked, Yuan Qingyan had already resigned from the imperial court to join Qingming, repeatedly taking to the battlefield during the critical mid-stages of the war. Although his divine abilities as a Dharma Idol cultivator were limited, he was a Dharma Idol cultivator after all, and had made his share of contributions.
Because Yuan Qingyan had joined when Qingming was in peril rather than offering superficial congratulations after the Country of Rain was routed, Wei Yuan thought highly of him and assigned him to the newly established Council of Political Affairs, specifically tasking him with handling disputed matters.
Having served as an official for decades and governed regions for some time, Yuan Qingyan handled these administrative affairs with practiced ease.
Under this new system, Wei Yuan rarely needed to appear in person. Instead, Dao Foundation warriors stationed in various locations channeled information into Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, where it was initially screened and processed before being presented to him.
Most of the time, Wei Yuan approved and handled matters within Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, stepping in personally only for momentous affairs.
Now, having read the King of Jin's decree, Wei Yuan exited Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World and headed to the courtyard where Consort Yuan resided. Prince Fu was practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard, stabbing furiously at a straw effigy. The boy jumped in fright at Wei Yuan's arrival, nearly dropping the wooden sword in his hand.
Wei Yuan shook his head slightly. The Jin royal family's heritage was by no means poor, and the Body Casting stage was hardly difficult, so the royal heritage wasn't much worse than the Palace of Grand Beginning's. At this hour, Prince Fu was out stabbing a straw effigy instead of meditating and cultivating—he had surely treated the straw man as Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan didn't call him out on it. Pretending not to see Prince Fu, he walked straight into the main house and saw Consort Yuan sitting alone by the window, reading a popular novel.
"Where is Feng Tingyu?"
Consort Yuan said, "Sister Bao invited her out for a meal."
"Why are the two of them eating together every day?"
Consort Yuan chuckled softly. "Ask yourself!"
Wei Yuan quickly changed the subject. "Business first. The King of Jin sent an imperial decree this morning, summoning you and Prince Chu back to the capital immediately, but making no mention of Prince Fu."
Consort Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "If it didn't mention Prince Fu, then this decree came from the Crown Prince, merely stamped with the King's seal. I've only been away for this short while, and he can no longer issue decrees of his own accord?"
"What happened to the King?"
Consort Yuan sighed softly. "He stays out at the Jingang Zen Monastery outside the city all day, cut off from news. How would I know what happened to him? But not long ago, he mentioned to me that something had gone wrong with an affair, costing him a substantial amount of lifespan. Could it be that his lifespan has run out? Still, that doesn't quite add up."
Wei Yuan said, "If his lifespan were simply ending, the Crown Prince could just wait patiently; there would be no need to seize power with such urgency. Perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye. If all authority has already fallen into the Crown Prince's hands, going back will spell certain doom for you. Why not stay here with me until the situation clears up? The Crown Prince shouldn't be able to touch me. The Xu family stands between the Lu clan and me, and the Lu clan also has to deal with Northern Liao and can barely look after themselves. The only ones who could step forward are the Xu family—and in all the times they've fought me, they have never won. So you don't need to be afraid."
Consort Yuan fell silent, quietly looking out the window.
Sensing that something was amiss in the atmosphere, Wei Yuan asked, "You aren't really planning on going back, are you?"
Consort Yuan sighed. "I know this might make you uncomfortable, but back when I first entered the Jin palace, the King and I were truly deeply affectionate, and over all these years, he has treated me very well indeed. Later on, his burdens grew heavier, his constraints multiplied, and certain things occurred, to the point that his temperament changed drastically. Once the Jingang Zen Monastery appeared, we drifted further and further apart. But in those years, he truly wanted to accomplish great things; he wanted to be an enlightened sovereign. It was just that he was not his own master, and many things were beyond his control. Now his lifespan is near its end, his followers have deserted him, and as his cultivation disperses, even walking is difficult for him. At a time like this, I fear he doesn't even have anyone by his side to talk to. For this final stretch of the road, I intend to accompany him to the end, to see things through."
"But you—"
"Don't worry about me. The Crown Prince won't dare do anything to me either. Don't forget that I have another identity. Royal Father merely doesn't wish to see Jin fall under my control, but that doesn't mean he is willing to watch me be bullied at will. In his eyes, the grand enterprise comes first, and face comes second."
"What if those people come again?"
Consort Yuan said, "We must leave it to fate."
Walking out of Consort Yuan's courtyard, Wei Yuan was in an exceptionally somber mood.
Arriving alongside the King of Jin's decree was a letter requesting the purchase of ten thousand sets of breastplates, explicitly stating that immortal silver would be delivered within three days and requesting that Wei Yuan arrange shipment within five days.
This letter completely abandoned the usual bureaucratic habit of vague phrasing and speaking in half-truths; not only did it clearly specify the payment and delivery dates, but it also stated that the breastplates would be sent to Prince Ying in the north.
Departing so drastically from the norm, the letter immediately struck Wei Yuan as suspicious. Had the war in the north not reached a desperate state, the lords of the Western Jin bureaucracy would never have written with such clarity.
In a foul mood and in need of a distraction, Wei Yuan went to the firing range at the Weaponsmith Workshop. He ordered breastplates fetched from storage and set up at ten zhang, thirty zhang, and fifty zhang. He then had them bombarded in succession with the various generations of fire guns and flying sword guns in Qingming's arsenal.
The test results quickly came in: at fifty zhang, the breastplates could effectively withstand the fire guns, but at thirty zhang, the results were uncertain, with just under half being pierced through. Against the flying sword guns, they held up beyond a hundred zhang, but were punctured within a hundred zhang.
As for the new rotary flying sword cannon, its power was immense, capable of piercing standard breastplates from three hundred zhang away.
After testing the firearms, Wei Yuan had Northern Liao bows and crossbows brought over for testing. The final result showed that Northern Liao's swift arrows had power comparable to fire guns, while their heavy arrows matched flying sword guns—and their range was far greater than that of the fire guns.
With the tests concluded, Wei Yuan pulled up the breastplate blueprints and said, "Produce a new batch of breastplates immediately using ordinary steel. Make them three hao thinner than the original design to ensure our current mainline fire guns can penetrate them at fifty zhang. That's all for the requirements. Step up production; ten thousand sets must be produced within five days."
Beside him, Yu Zhizhuo said, "Ten thousand sets won't be an issue; we can produce five thousand sets of breastplates a day now. But making them thinner actually increases the difficulty a bit. Is that really necessary?"
"The King of Jin has lost power, so we can only believe half of what comes from there. Who knows whether they're buying these breastplates to fight Northern Liao or to turn them against us? That's why I need to make sure that any breastplate sold in this batch can be pierced within fifty zhang by the fire guns of our ordinary soldiers."
Yu Zhizhuo nodded and went off to adjust the material ratios and the settings on the iron-forging machines.
Just then, two more pieces of intelligence were delivered to the Council of Political Affairs. Read by the Dao Foundation warriors, they were as good as read by Wei Yuan.
One was a secret letter from Western Jin, sent by Li Weisheng. The letter revealed that an accident had befallen the King of Jin, leaving him with only three years of lifespan, whereupon the Lu clan had suddenly struck, backing the Crown Prince to seize supreme authority.
Now the King of Jin had been entirely sidelined. All political affairs at court were merely going through the motions, and sometimes they didn't even bother going through the motions—for instance, the court session two days ago had lasted less than half an hour.
Although the Crown Prince occasionally stayed overnight in the palace, he usually deliberated state affairs in his own residence to maintain a veneer of propriety. The letter also mentioned that the war in the north was going badly, but specific reports from the front were strictly suppressed; even high-ranking ministers of Li Weisheng's stature were kept in the dark about what had actually transpired.
At the end of the letter, Li Weisheng urged Wei Yuan to plan early and make thorough preparations. As for what to prepare for, he did not say outright.
A letter like this demonstrated genuine sentiment.
As for Sun Chao'en, his seniority was still shallow and he had not yet climbed into the central court, so he could not be of much help in this matter. Nevertheless, Sun Chao'en likely deserved some credit behind Li Weisheng's decision to write this letter.
Even after reading the letter, Wei Yuan was still puzzled. Reason dictated that with the Palace of Grand Beginning's northern mountain gate guarding the north, the Liao Clan would surely not dare push too deep. This still didn't fully explain the precipitous decline of Western Jin's state fortune.
For now, all Wei Yuan could do was wait for further news and deal with Zhao matters first. The second piece of intelligence was a detailed map of the Bishui domain; the scouts under Cui Yu had finally completed their topographic survey.
Currently, Bishui's inner city was finished and the outer city was eighty percent complete, with nearly ten million taels of immortal silver already poured into it. Wei Yuan felt that it was about time to give the kids a thrashing.
Chapter 669