Wei Yuan read through the imperial edict to suppress the rebellion several times, then let out three hearty laughs and exclaimed repeatedly that Heaven was favoring him.
At present, Western Jin could already be considered half on his side, while the business with the State of Zhao was growing ever larger. Moreover, the King of Zhao was hopelessly addicted to minting currency and reportedly intended to issue a second coin, named the Immovable Coin after the phrase "immovable as a mountain."
With military campaigns unfeasible in neighboring territories, there was no influx of refugees, and thus the largest portion of karmic luck remained out of reach. Meanwhile, the administration in the State of Ji was rotten to the core, ranking as the worst among the nine states—even more wretched than Western Jin. How rotten was the State of Ji, exactly? It was said that a few years ago, even the Cui family of Ji and Zhao had withdrawn from one of its commanderies, abandoning the territory altogether.
Wei Yuan had little interest in actually quelling the rebellion, and even less intention of setting the State of Ji's court straight. History books had long laid it bare: whenever a government deteriorated to such rot, eight or nine times out of ten the root lay with the emperor. While ministers might be divided between loyalists and traitors, their abilities were generally comparable. Treacherous ministers were often quite capable—perhaps vastly more competent than many of their loyal counterparts.
Wei Yuan's shrewd calculation was to march into the State of Ji under the banner of suppressing the rebels, hoist the colors of Qingming, and absorb refugees on a grand scale. On this expedition, he had to seize two or three commanderies at the very least. Wherever his army passed, not a single civilian would be left behind—every last one would be relocated back to Qingming.
As for whether he could seize even more commanderies, that would depend on how well the rebel forces could fight.
Full of high spirits, Wei Yuan opened the map, only to discover that at the southern edge of the parchment, the territory still belonged to the State of Zhao...
Wei Yuan's heart sank. He hurriedly rummaged through his map collection, but his stored maps extended at most twenty thousand li around Qingming. He immediately rushed to the Hall of Merits sub-hall. Upon checking, sure enough, detailed maps of the entire realm were available for exchange, and with his current authorization level, he could access all of them.
Without him even realizing when it had happened, Wei Yuan's authority had become equivalent to that of a hall master, and the sect's entire treasury was open to him. However, the maps were astonishingly expensive; exchanging for the complete set would cost over three thousand heavenly merits!
Fortunately, Wei Yuan currently had more heavenly merits than he could ever spend—and that was without counting the fire demons he had slain in the Desolate Realm, which had not been credited. Otherwise, the sum would likely have surpassed six digits.
Once the exchange was initiated, the Hall of Merits sub-hall sprang into full operation. Bundles of jade paper were teleported across in rapid succession, faster than anyone could gather them.
Wei Yuan instantly had a bad feeling. He flipped open one of the atlases and took a glance, only to find that a single page covered merely the territory of a single county. It was recorded in excruciating detail: not only the elevations and contours of the terrain, but even the flow of earth veins and spiritual qi were documented. The precise location of every small grove on the surface was clearly charted; if it were any more meticulous, it would have marked down every thousand-year-old tree.
Looking at these maps, an odd thought popped into Wei Yuan's head: for any ordinary household, simply owning a few maps like these would probably be a capital crime. Unless one harbored treacherous ambitions, why record things in such exhaustive detail?
The three thousand heavenly merits had yielded more than three hundred thousand maps, which could certainly be considered worth the price.
An ordinary person would have had no practical way to process so many maps, but Wei Yuan possessed the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. He immediately manifested several hundred Dao Foundation warriors to study the maps together, transcribing them sheet by sheet into the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World before stitching them back together.
Gradually, a colossal, outrageously detailed map took shape, encompassing the entire realm of Great Tang and multiple regions of the surrounding non-human tribes. In some directions, it reached more than three hundred thousand li into barbarian territory.
Were it not for this exchange, Wei Yuan would never have imagined that the Palace of Grand Beginning held a complete map of Great Tang's domains. Even the collections in the Tang dynasty's imperial treasury could hardly have surpassed this.
After studying it closely for a while longer, Wei Yuan noticed the clues. These maps had likely been scanned with divine senses by generations of immortals from the Palace of Grand Beginning as they roamed the realm, with blank areas filled in through on-site surveys by Scenery Command True Monarchs. It was a monumental undertaking, though he had no idea why it had been carried out.
From the moment the maps were exchanged to the completion of the unified map of Great Tang, three full days elapsed.
Once the full map was assembled, Wei Yuan established a dedicated hall within the Creation of Heaven and Earth Research Institute. Inside stood the comprehensive map of Great Tang, which could be zoomed in or out at will. Aside from the immortal flora, no mortals from the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World were permitted inside, lest they realize the difference between the mindscape world and the real world.
On the complete map of Great Tang, Wei Yuan finally located the site of the rebellion in the State of Ji. Then, starting from Qingming, he traced his finger southward along the mountains and rivers. The more he traced, the colder his heart grew.
From Qingming to the border between Yongzhou and Jiaozhou—where Liu Heihu's rebellion was underway in the State of Ji—the straight-line distance was a hundred and ninety thousand li. But that was only a straight line.
Because they had to circumvent the borders of the State of Zhao, and because the frontier lands lacked established roads, tracing the actual winding route yielded a total marching distance of three hundred and fifty thousand li.
A march by land was practically out of the question; the only option would be long-distance troop transport via flying vessels. Yet across hundreds of thousands of li, operating flying vessels would incur a ruinous expenditure. The war would be more than half lost before the fighting even began.
Wei Yuan stared at the map for half a day, weighing countless possibilities, but in the end he had no choice but to give up.
He shifted his gaze toward the southwest, intending to forge a breakthrough there by launching an assault on the mountain folk. However, along that advance route, the State of Zhao lay to the left, while the Zhenshan Fief and Song Cui's Mujia Fief lay to the right. He would have to push forward over fifteen thousand li before reaching an expansive theater of operations.
Meanwhile, in the northwest facing the Shamans, Qingming was constructing two more fortresses to guard against potential retaliation from the Ancestral Shaman.
At present, there was no warfare around Qingming, nor any opponents to be found. A vast buffer zone awaited Qingming's gradual expansion.
The surrounding factions had already obtained concrete intelligence and knew that Qingming's limit for expansion was ten thousand li. Consequently, aside from entities unable to move, like the Bishui domain, all the other powers had long since yielded the territory within that perimeter, steadfastly refusing to provide Qingming with any pretext for war.
Back when Wei Yuan was around, people had not treated Qingming like such a ravenous scourge. But ever since he had been banished and Zhang Sheng took the reins, Qingming had abruptly become like a hornet's nest knocked loose, swarming in every direction and picking fights whether an excuse existed or not.
To make matters worse, Qingming's military organization was bizarre, its combat prowess ferocious, and its movements as swift as the wind. The surrounding forces could neither beat them nor outrun them. They were captured, released, and captured again. The Heaven-Battling Gang would capture them, then the Heaven-Extinguishing Gang would capture them, followed by the Heaven-Stealing Gang—an utterly miserable ordeal.
Only after Wei Yuan returned did everyone finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Now, Wei Yuan felt that all he could do was bury his head in construction. However, an army of over a million men was already champing at the bit. It was said that certain young officers in the ranks were secretly conspiring, whispering about tailoring an imperial robe for Wei Yuan or some such scheme.
As the saying went, blessings never come in pairs, while misfortunes never arrive alone. Wei Yuan had enjoyed only a few days of peace before two incidents cropped up in succession—one internal, one external.
The first was that another suspected inner demon had been captured, though this time it was mingled among a dozen-odd mortals. Even the immortal flora could not tell which one was the true demon, and they could only wait for the Creation Immortal Venerable to deal with it.
Whether this was the seventeenth or the eighteenth inner demon, Wei Yuan could hardly remember.
The second incident involved a prisoner named Hule Gao'en, who had suddenly begun raving and howling like a madman, demanding to see Wei Yuan on threat of starving himself to death. This fellow had previously been locked away in complete quiet, causing no trouble, and everyone had nearly forgotten he even existed. With this sudden outburst, the guards finally recalled that he was an expert in the late stage of the dharma idol realm. If he chose to detonate himself, the fallout would be catastrophic, so they hurriedly came to report to Wei Yuan.
The matter of the inner demon was in no rush, and Wei Yuan found himself intrigued by this prisoner. He called up the dossier, only to discover that the records were severely incomplete. It noted merely that the fellow had once clashed with Zhang Sheng back before Zhang Sheng reached the dharma idol realm, and had subsequently been pierced into a pincushion by flying swords. Aside from that, there was virtually nothing—only a single line regarding his identity: nicknamed the Scourge of the North.
Wei Yuan was thoroughly astonished. Back at the northern sect gate, he had divined that his fortune lay with someone named the Scourge of the North. Later on, even after he had dealt the Wise King of the Left a massive blow, he had never laid eyes on this Scourge of the North.
Yet when it came to fortune, what could possibly surpass seizing a grotto-heaven core and capturing the mirage demon clan? Therefore, after that battle, Wei Yuan had not paid much attention to the matter and had hurried back to Qingming.
Who would have guessed that this fellow had run to Qingming of his own accord and been locked up in silence for so many days? Could it be that when he had gone fishing back then, this was the fish he had caught?
Still, upon further reflection, Wei Yuan felt something was amiss. Had he paid such a steep price to cast his line, only to reel in a tiny shrimp? Although nine out of ten fishermen in the world were actually just feeding the fish, Wei Yuan had always believed himself to be an exception.
Thus, Wei Yuan made his way to the dungeon to interrogate the Scourge of the North.
Previously, the Scourge of the North had already confessed every secret realm he had ever explored, every treasure that had passed through his hands, and every special technique he had practiced. After reviewing them, Zhang Sheng had judged them to be nothing special, tossed them aside, and forgotten about the man entirely.
A moment later, the Scourge of the North was brought into the interrogation room and stood before Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan looked him up and down. By the standards of the Liao Clan, the man was somewhat short and had peculiar features.
Wei Yuan spoke first: "You are the Scourge of the North? Why did you ask for me?"
Instead of answering, the Scourge of the North countered, "What is today's date?"
"The seventeenth day of the ninth month in the first year of Hongjing. By the Liao calendar, it is the first day of the fourth month in the Drizzle Season..."
Upon hearing the date, the Scourge of the North's expression changed. "Damn it, I lost track of the days! I intend to trade a secret for my freedom. If this secret proves exceptionally important to you, you must give me additional compensation!"
Wei Yuan had never encountered this style of negotiation before. He replied, "Very well. Let us hear it. What secret?"
The Scourge of the North said, "Swear an oath first!"
Wei Yuan promptly signaled his attendants. "Take him down. Lock him up for a few decades first."
The Scourge of the North was appalled. "You don't want my secret anymore?"
Wei Yuan was in a hurry to root out the inner demon; how could he have the patience for this back-and-forth? He waved his hand in annoyance. "Take him away!"
"Wait!" the Scourge of the North yelled. Staring at Wei Yuan, he asked, "Can I trust you?"
Wei Yuan sneered. "You have no choice."
The Scourge of the North let out a sigh and said slowly, "You are sharp; you know I have no choice. If we delay a few more days, it will truly be too late. My true name is Hule Gao'en, also known as the Blade of Severing Iron. In truth, I am not purely of the Liao Clan..."
"Get to the point," Wei Yuan said impatiently, eager to interrogate the inner demon.
The Scourge of the North smiled wryly and said, "The point is, not far from here, I discovered a secret realm. Inside it lies a concealed passage leading deep into the lands of the mountain folk. The area is brimming with ore deposits. Though it is all mundane metal, the veins are immense, and rare minerals are bound to be found alongside them. Is this secret big enough for you?"
Wei Yuan instantly produced a map and said to Hule Gao'en, "Where is the secret realm, and where is the exit?"
Hule Gao'en pointed to two locations. Wei Yuan's heart leaped!
The mineral deposits were one thing, but more importantly, while the exit was situated within the territory of the mountain folk, it was barely ten thousand li from the border of the State of Ji.
Chapter 955