As winter approached, the northern frontier had already welcomed its first heavy snow. It was knee-deep, making movement difficult even for the Liao horses.
Ten thousand li to the southwest, in the domain of the mountain folk, a biting chill was already setting in. The army had long since distributed winter uniforms, and Li Zhi had also managed to procure several thousand dan of cotton to hand out to the domain's residents so they could make winter clothes and bedding.
Winter in the mountain folk's domain was not as cold as in the north, but snow still fell. Three months of the year were winter, cloaking the world in silver, sending all living things into dormancy, and leaving the entire land shrouded in silence.
Meanwhile, Wei Yuan's Qingming lay within the Wu domain, where the weather was humid and hot all year round. The benefit was that crops could be grown in every season; the drawback was that miasmic poison permeated the land. In the past, human armies had marched deep into the Wu domain, only to lose more than half their numbers over a march of merely a thousand li before even reaching the battlefield, with thirty percent succumbing directly to disease.
As Wei Yuan's experience broadened, he realized that Qingming seemed tailor-made for the Wu domain. Jia Wood Life-Mystic specifically countered the Wu domain's toxic qi, and its speed in transforming the heavenly wind and earthly waters was far faster than that of ordinary boundary stones. In only half a year, the earthly poisons would weaken to a point where robust humans could barely subsist, and within a year, they would diminish enough for ordinary folk to endure.
Now, in the core of Qingming, the transformation of heaven and earth had been underway for nearly seven years. The earthly poisons had completely converted into spiritual qi, resulting in a spiritual concentration far exceeding that of other domains.
To take just one comparison, Zhao's Bishui domain had been established for two years, yet clean water could only be found within ten li of its boundary stone—and even that required further detoxification and purification through formations before it was drinkable.
The arable land that the entire Bishui domain could clear amounted to merely a few hundred thousand mu, and its yields were meager, yielding less than a hundred jin per mu. The reason Bishui domain could support two hundred thousand troops and seven hundred thousand civilians was entirely due to grain imported from the outside.
In the winter of the sixth year of Tianqi, Wei Yuan had brought initial order to Qingming, commanding a population of eight million and ten million mu of cultivated land. After nearly a full year of recuperation and growth, his grain reserves were beyond measure—so abundant that fifty million jin had accidentally rotted away in storage.
With the northern frontier about to be frozen under heavy snow, a brief truce had finally arrived, allowing Wei Yuan to pull away from the Northern Mountain Gate. Now, with elite troops and ample provisions, his gaze finally turned to the Five Commanderies, ready to turn his title of Grand Minister of Southern Military Affairs into reality.
Upon returning to Qingming from the Northern Mountain Gate, the first thing Wei Yuan did was visit the Military Affairs Hall in the Immortal City.
Following recent expansions, the Military Affairs Hall now had two additional side halls to the east and two to the west, each housing a different sand table model. The central main hall perpetually displayed the area surrounding Qingming, while the first eastern side hall had now been switched to the topography of the Five Commanderies.
When Wei Yuan walked into the Military Affairs Hall, the cultivators from the Palace of Grand Beginning, having received prior notice, were already assembled.
On the sand table, the five commanderies were marked in different colors. In terms of layout, four commanderies formed a line along the bottom, bordering Zhao, while Xiangrong Commandery lay behind the four. Hanyang Commandery—which included Hanyang Pass—and neighboring Huangping Commandery were two of the Eight Commanderies of Ningxi. Both fell within the Xu family's sphere of influence and were thus marked in dark red. In addition, Xiangrong Commandery was also colored red.
The colors of each commandery represented their level of resistance to Wei Yuan's conscription of soldiers and grain as Grand Minister of Southern Military Affairs. Red indicated complete refusal, an unyielding stance that gave him no face whatsoever, and even prior armed skirmishes.
Previously, Wei Yuan had not sent many men into the Five Commanderies. Cui Yu had only taken a thousand light cavalry and a few hundred young officers fresh out of the military academy to take over commandery defenses. That step had gone relatively smoothly; after all, Zhao's armies were eyeing them like tigers stalking prey. Though the main front was to the east, Zhao had likewise deployed hundreds of thousands of troops across from the Five Commanderies, poised to strike at any moment.
Many of the generals in the Five Commanderies had merely relied on family connections to take up border posts, padding their credentials rather than genuinely intending to defend the frontier. Once Zhao commenced hostilities, half of the border commanders had vanished within the very first month. They pulled strings to get transferred elsewhere; those left behind were simply those who couldn't leave.
Under Jin law, both generals and local magistrates bore the duty of defending their territory; anyone fleeing in the face of battle was executed. If a city fell and its defending general or chief magistrate escaped alive, they were also executed. In short, the officials had to live and die with their land.
Thus, Cui Yu met little resistance when taking over border defense, except that what he took over were mostly empty military redoubts whose personnel did not even reach ten percent of their standard rolls. Once the generals fled, many soldiers had fled as well.
Wei Yuan's gaze fell on the three commanderies marked in red. The two belonging to the Xu family being tough nuts to crack was expected; after all, even the King of Jin could only collect three to four hundred thousand taels of silver a year from them.
The third red territory was Xiangrong Commandery, precisely where Wei Yuan had intended to have Niu Jinbao bite down hard. Wei Yuan tapped the sand table, and all the intelligence on Xiangrong Commandery automatically manifested.
Xiangrong Commandery had a population of nine million. Its registered farmland stood at six million mu, but the actual acreage exceeded twelve million mu. The commandery governor, named Zhuang Zhong, was a disciple of the Left Prime Minister and the second-ranked imperial scholar from thirty years ago. He had achieved the Manifestation realm by age fifty, and his Daoist path originated from a grotto-heaven academy.
The man was exceedingly arrogant, proud, and obstinate.
In Xiangrong Commandery, farmland held under the names of clean-stream capital officials totaled eight million mu, over half the entire commandery. This commandery was the stronghold of the clean-stream faction, where even aristocratic clans had to take a back seat.
The records showed that Niu Jinbao had sent over a hundred people in successive groups to visit more than seventy prominent local households, demanding to survey farmland and requisition grain and military funds.
In the end, more than half had slammed their doors in their faces. Over twenty had erupted into clashes. Five households had directly beaten down and detained every person Niu Jinbao sent; the official documents issued under Wei Yuan's authority as Southern Military Affairs had been torn to shreds on the spot and trampled into the mud.
After brutal beatings, those men had been handed over to the local yamen and remained locked in the dungeons to this day. Niu Jinbao went several times to demand their release, but failed to retrieve a single person and nearly got detained himself. Over forty men were in government custody, their lives currently uncertain.
As for two other prominent households, Niu Jinbao had dispatched two groups totaling twenty men, but after setting out, both teams had vanished without a trace, never to be heard from again.
Reading up to this point, Wei Yuan was just about to divine their fates when a sudden intuition struck him: their souls had already returned, passing into the Gate of the Many Realms.
Wei Yuan froze, a flash of murderous intent crossing his face. "Has Niu Jinbao departed yet?"
A cultivator standing in attendance replied, "He set off this morning. By now, he should have exited the domain."
Wei Yuan returned his gaze to the map, tapped the junction between Xiangrong Commandery and Huangping Commandery, and said, "Two rivers converge here, and the main thoroughfares leading to three commanderies all pass through this point. It looks promising. Xu Yi, lead ten thousand men to set out first and pitch camp here. Going forward, this will be my Southern Military Camp. I will personally lead fifty thousand men and follow shortly."
Xu Yi nodded, then asked, "I'll have to pass through Hanyang and Huangping. If the Xu family sends people to intercept us, what should I do?"
"You may open fire, but if you fire, you must win."
Xu Yi accepted the order.
Wei Yuan then selected a secluded spot three hundred li away from the Southern Military Camp and ordered two elite battalions of the Heaven-Extinguishing Gang to garrison there.
Ten days later, the Qingming army marched out, shaking the commanderies.
Although the force Wei Yuan brought was not massive, their military qi was so formidable it rivaled three hundred thousand heavy cavalry. Anyone along the way with the slightest understanding of military affairs fell dead silent in awe upon seeing them. All the cities across the Xu family's two commanderies shut their four gates tight, watching Wei Yuan's army pass in silence.
By the time Wei Yuan arrived at the Southern Military Camp, Xu Yi had already established a camp large enough to hold a hundred thousand men, complete with over a hundred cannons deployed for defense.
Once Wei Yuan took up residence in the camp, over a hundred Dao Foundation avatars and several Manifestation avatars departed the grounds, flying in all directions to officially begin reaping the Five Commanderies.
In Xiangrong Commandery, in front of a grand manor spanning hundreds of mu backed by mountains and facing water, the hurried thud of hooves suddenly rang out as dozens of heavily armored cavalry galloped toward the manor gates.
The manor's gatekeeper hurried out to meet them, flanked by a dozen or so household servants. The leading general sat tall in the saddle and barked coldly, "I am a guerrilla general of Great Jin, here on urgent business to see your master. Report my arrival at once, or if you delay military affairs, off goes your head!"
The gatekeeper was observant. Seeing these dozens of riders with their towering steeds, burly frames, and murderous auras, he instantly knew they were not to be trifled with, and hastily dispatched someone to notify the steward. Moments later, the steward rushed over, accompanied by a young man.
The young man wore an arrogant sneer and barked the moment he opened his mouth, "A petty guerrilla general dares act so insolent! Do you even know where you are? My master is none other than the commandery governor's second son! And my mistress is the daughter of Vice Minister Liu of the Ministry of Revenue in the capital—"
Just then, the steward took a clear look at the style of the cavalrymen's armor—and especially spotted the fire guns slung behind the warhorses. His face drained of color, and he whispered, "They're men of the Military Commissioner of Dingxi."
The young man had merely been arrogant before, but upon hearing this, he burst out laughing, his face twisting into a sinister snarl. "A short while ago, you dogs sent men over trying to seize money and grain, and they were all rounded up and thrown into the yamen! You dare come again? Men, seize them!"
His shout carried plenty of vigor, yet the hundred-odd servants behind him dithered, not daring to make a move. The young man flew into a rage, but just as he was about to erupt, the general on horseback swung his riding whip, lashing it across the young man's face!
The strike landed with savage force. Half the young man's face turned into a bloody ruin, his mouth split wide open to expose his gums, and an eyeball popped out of its socket.
The riders spurred their horses forward instantly, charging into the estate. In a single sweep, they bowled over all hundred servants. Before these ironclad cavalrymen clad head to toe in heavy armor, ordinary manor guards were no different from chickens. Shouts tore through the estate in an instant; utter chaos erupted as people scattered like beasts and birds in blind terror.
The general grabbed the steward, who was trying to slip away, by the collar and said coldly, "Where does your master live? Take us there!"
Trembling like a sieve from sheer terror, the steward pointed toward the main courtyard, unable to even speak coherently. Just then, a surging aura shot into the sky from within the estate. A burly man rose into the air and bellowed with a thunderous voice, "Where did you bastards come from, daring to run wild in the Zhuang family estate?!"
The man cut a striking figure, his muscles knotted and veins bulging. He released the cultivation of a late Dao Foundation cultivator without reservation, leaving many maidservants and attendants unable to even stand. Behind him rose three more figures, each equally imposing and fierce, all possessing mid Dao Foundation cultivation.
Inside the general's armor, Wei Yuan's avatar didn't even bother to glance at them. He simply waved a hand. The cavalrymen instantly raised their guns and took aim. In a flash, gunshots roared, and over a dozen flying swords riddled the burly man into a sieve on the spot!
The burly man wore a look of utter astonishment before tumbling from the sky. The three brothers behind him were frozen in pure terror. When the riders opened fire just now, they had finally revealed their cultivation—every single one was at the Dao Foundation stage!
Without a second thought, the three brothers turned tail and ran.
The cavalrymen then plunged like tigers into a flock of sheep, sweeping aside all resistance and storming into the main courtyard.
Moments later, the estate's main gates swung wide open as several carriages rolled out, packed with lavishly dressed masters, young lords, mistresses, concubines, and young ladies. Nearly a hundred cavalrymen escorted the carriages, marching straight toward the Southern Military Camp.
After traveling about two li, Wei Yuan ordered ten riders to continue escorting the carriages forward, then turned to the remaining cavalrymen and said, "Everyone, change your clothes quickly. This is our Black Wind Stronghold's very first operation. Make sure to do it cleanly and thoroughly—do not leave a single treasure behind."
The riders roared their agreement, pulling out black garments and black turbans, changing right on horseback.
Wei Yuan then turned to one rider who was slightly plump and looked completely out of place among the others: "Wenwu, think up a few more names for evil cults and bandit gangs. We'll be needing them shortly."
Xu Wenwu blurted out, "Well, of course it has to be the Hehuan—"
Chapter 746