Chapter 79 – Simple Conquest

Things in Dongyi City were still complicated and sensitive, and to suddenly become a citizen of the Qing Kingdom was not something that everyone could accept. Merchants are indeed good for profit, bitches are really ruthless, but even the people in the merchant houses and green houses are still hard to change over immediately. This is not the same as doing business, do not do raw, that is in order to slaughter guests a sum, and the power to control their own life and death, it is best to put in the hands of acquaintances. This is not the same as the green house to receive guests, a little bit of lips ten thousand people taste? The girls are actually looking forward to the end of their lives in their hearts.

Especially those vassal states controlled by Dongyi City, there has long been a trend of unrest. Neighboring Yanjing’s Song is better, because this small country’s noble officials have long been accustomed to the might of Yanjing’s army, and simply can’t generate any will to resist. While some other small countries that did not border with Nanqing, once they thought that they would soon lose their nominal power and luxury and become a dispensable hostage of Nanqing’s Kyoto, they naturally began to do some things in secret.

These small vassal states were not very powerful, so the means they chose were more obscure. Secretly stirring up undercurrents in the folklore and peppering the emotions of the Eastern Barbarians’ subjects, in just half a month, the protests around had already become more intense and frequent than they had been in previous days.

All of this was expected by Fan Xian, wanting to peacefully accept the city of Dongyi would not have been a trivial matter that could be accomplished overnight, this was the biggest single big event that had occurred under the sky in the past twenty years.

The eight departments of the Supervisory Yuan had already prepared a large number of civil officials in advance, and entered Dongyi City in batches, cooperating with the Sword Lodge and the City Lord’s Mansion, launching wave after wave of propaganda attacks. Together with all around the countries between the spies as well as bought spies to help, but also the Dongyi City side of the trend, about peace, about non-war, about co-prosperity and so on propaganda, sensationally unfolded.

But to suppress the protests around the country and prevent them from turning into uncontrollable civil mutinies, Dongyi City itself needed to take action. Fan Xian did not want the state machinery of Qing to drive into Dongyi City prematurely, if once blood was spilled, the hatred in the hearts of the people of Dongyi deepened, and the situation would instead become uncontrollable.

Already there are three ways of the righteous army was suppressed down, of course these righteous army is only more than a hundred wailing mountains and forests of the thieves and bandits only. The twelve sons of the Sword Lodge, ten of them were sent by Fan Xian to the mountains and forests of these small countries, responsible for suppressing and explaining. As for how effective they were, Fan Xian was still waiting for feedback.

Because of the uncertainty of the situation, coupled with the natural rebelliousness of the Eastern Barbarians’ subjects, certain merchant houses in the city with incredible strength had also begun to become a bit unsettled. Faced with this trend, Fan Xian very directly teamed up with Li Bohua, the second disciple of the Sword Lodge, and used the dual pressure of the Taiping Money Bank and the inner treasury to directly deter all the merchants from dissenting.

At the same time, Fan Xian and his mission jointly sent seventeen urgent memorials to Kyoto, asking His Majesty the Emperor for instructions on related matters, while he inquired in his secret message whether it was possible to drop down a level regarding the arrangements for the protégés of the vassal states, so as not to force those princes to jump over the wall in desperation, and to do horrible things in their desperation.

Conquer a piece of territory, not in the paper sign a word can be accomplished things, the key is to conquer this piece of territory on the people’s heart and will, and this will need a few years, or even decades, hundreds of years of time.

Fan Xian was not in a hurry, but he was worried that His Majesty would be in too much of a hurry. As far as he was concerned, being able to satisfy His Majesty the Emperor and at the same time make it acceptable to the people of Dongyi City without having the iron horsemen of the Qing Empire come all the way from Yanjing to kill and destroy them was his aim. It was like a tightrope on which he walked, with both sides dangling in the air, so careful.

Conquest, need propaganda campaign, need to buy people’s hearts, need to give Dongyi people a persuasive excuse, need to Fan Xian sleepless to raise all matters, need to Qing Guo power minister, the identity of the master of the sword hut, in the city of Dongyi non-stop meet with all the big jia and those who hold the real power of the local bigwigs, to give each other a letter of approval, so that the other side to rest assured.

This was a very tiring thing to do, and Fan Xian’s handsome face finally had some of its beauty spoiled by dark circles under his eyes, and his face went white with exhaustion. But every time he thought that he was saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, the implication that he could edge closer to the thrill of martyrdom would wake him up again.

Conquest in addition to everything above, in fact, the most needed is still a strong and irresistible force, only with a strong force as the basis, the people of Dongyi City will be passive forced to be humiliated to accept the annexation by Qing.

So when the situation in Dongyi City calmed down a bit, the iron cavalry of Southern Qing began to approach the direction of Dongyi City, like black clouds destroying mountains, unstoppable.

This was also His Majesty the Emperor’s bottom line. If the Kingdom of Qing did not station troops in Dong Yi City, what kind of conquest was that?

The time had already reached a fierce summer, and the blazing sun shone wildly in the sky, turning all the feelings of Dong Yi City’s miserable little daughter-in-law into non-stop gasping agony, and chasing away all the cloudy and rainy weather that had come after the departure of that great master of Dong Yi City, and there was only a glow.

The Northern Qi envoy had long since left. What was strange to many was that although the people of Northern Qi were obviously extremely shocked and angry about the annexation of Dong Yi City by the Southern Qing, they did not set out to do anything about it, but simply watched quietly as it happened, as if the people of Northern Qi had already resigned themselves to their fate.

The hundreds of people standing outside of Dongyi City on this day, aside from the members of the Southern Qing Mission and the officials of the Dongyi City Lord’s Office, were Fan Xian and the disciples of the Sword Lodge who had rushed back from all over the world.

Fan Xian slightly bowed his head as he stood on top of the rolling yellow official road, subconsciously moving his feet constantly, his appearance not very majestic, and he didn’t want to put on a majestic appearance, because he could clearly feel that all the Dongyi people waiting outside of the city at this time had particularly ugly and pale faces, with a particular kind of forcefully-suppressed anger.

At this time of the year, of course Fan Xian would not deliberately make a solemn appearance to irritate them.

The ground gradually trembled, and the body of Yun Zhilan, who stood beside Fan Xian, also gradually trembled. This former Head Disciple of the Sword Lodge, now the Lord of Dongyi City, could no longer control the eerie nothingness in his heart and trembled.

The faces of the officials of the Dongyi City Lord’s Office were all extremely ugly, and the faces of the disciples of the Sword Lodge were also a little pale, just as the louder and louder sound of trembling revealed their true emotions.

At the end of the official road, there was a hidden rumble of thunder, causing the earth to shake, and the small gravel in the yellow soil on the ground was shaken and rolled.

A cavalry appeared in sight, followed by two, three, ten, a hundred, a thousand …… densely packed cavalry, vastly pressing over from the west in the direction of Dongyi City, a stern and magnificent aura, right from that side directly enveloped all the people on the outskirts of the city.

The Qing army had come.

The black pressurized cavalry, just like this, slowly approached Dong Yi City. They represented the mighty military power of the Qing Kingdom, the irreversible and powerful will of His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Kingdom, and conquest.

The Qing army stationed in Dongyi City totaled 10,000 men, drawn from the five border armies within a month, hastily formed into an army, but not in the slightest bit disorganized, because these Qing armies that were about to represent the Kingdom of Qing to be stationed in the four wildernesses of Dongyi City for a long time were all veteran soldiers of the Western Conquest Army of the previous year, and were amazingly powerful in battle under the leadership of the Grand Imperial Prince.

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and looked at the Qing army that was getting closer and closer with an imposing aura, and with a slight mocking smile, he straightened out his clothes and took slow steps to meet them. At this moment, he couldn’t help but think of the war of words he fought with His Majesty the Emperor in the zhang. Four Gu Jian’s dying explanation had cost himself a lot of words to convince the Emperor’s old man, but of course His Majesty was also clear that if he wanted the people of Dong Yi City to accept it willingly, the Grand Imperial Prince and Fan Xian were indeed two good choices.

The number of Black Riders was too small, so the only choice was the Grand Prince’s Western Expeditionary Army, but Fan Xian was absolutely convinced that amongst this garrison, the generals who truly belonged to the Western Expeditionary Army did not make up the majority, while the Grand Prince had only come to Dongyi City to make his presence known, and would have to go back in the end, and there was no way that His Majesty the Emperor would allow his oldest son to be permanently based in Dongyi.

Thinking of that His Imperial Majesty who was far away from Kyoto, but remotely controlling the affairs of Eastern Yi, Fan Xian’s mood was complicated.

To Fan Xian’s surprise, His Imperial Majesty was not angered by the fact that he had taken over the Sword Lodge without requesting an imperial decree, but instead seemed to know what Fan Xian was worried about, and used an expedited document to send him an imperial approval, which was the same as what had been written in the box back then, and still contained only two words.

“Anzhi.”

Emperor Qing was appeasing Fan Xian’s heart, and Fan Xian couldn’t help but feel a little perplexed when he thought about it, the emperor’s old man’s trust in himself was really moving him a little. The problem was that he knew how cold and ruthless the Emperor’s son would be once he turned his back on him, and he didn’t even dare to be touched.

The wind and dust gradually rose, not servant, into a dragon, from the official road straight rolled the big city, the speed of the Qing cavalry gradually accelerated. Fan Xian couldn’t help but narrow his eyes and cover his mouth and nose, wondering who ordered this pressure and deterrence, wondering if it would cause the people of Dong Yi City to resist.

He gruffly looked back, but found that to his own surprise, apart from those strong men from the Sword Lodge who had a touch of hidden anger on their faces, the rest of the officials from the City Lord’s Mansion, as well as the princes and dukes of the vassal states who had come to see them, were fearful and pale, and didn’t seem to be able to muster up any intention of resistance at all.

The 10,000 cavalrymen stepped on the dust and arrived with an amazing sound, which actually scared most of the people in Dongyi City out of their will to resist.

Watching this scene, Fan Xian couldn’t help but sigh in his heart, Dongyi City’s bloodline is indeed too little, although this hand of the Grand Prince is rude and impolite, it is the other side’s key point, I don’t know if His Majesty the Emperor has a message before the trip.

However, Dongyi city has less blood, for Fan Xian, is a good thing, he has never had the luxury of hoping that the Northern Qi people will be like the Dongyi people so surrendered without a fight. It was all good to shed less blood.

Horses’ hooves were like thunder, and in a few moments, they arrived at the outskirts of Dong Yi City. Ten thousand cavalrymen were dressed in dark light armor, emitting a blinding light under the sunlight, and the shaking smoke and dust gradually fell, revealing the true appearance of these Qing troops. The densely packed cavalrymen just surrounded the outskirts of Dong Yi City.

Quiet, a silence, even the warhorses that twisted their heads seemed to be shocked by the military discipline of the Qing army, not daring to plow their hooves, not daring to spray their breath.

Ten thousand pairs of cold gazes watched the people of Dong Yi City who came to greet them.

The officials and powerful merchants of Dongyi City looked at this scene with fear and trembling, looking at the strict discipline of the Qing army, the killing aura, the excellent equipment, and the confidence and dominance that came out from the inside, everyone couldn’t help but think that if Lord Sword Saint hadn’t sent down the last decree of folding his arms and descending to the Qing before he left, and these Qing troops had launched an attack on Dongyi City, I don’t know if Dongyi City would have been able to withstand for a few days or …… a few minutes?

Ta Ta Ta Ta, a burst of lonesome hoofbeats broke the tranquility in front of the city gates, the front line of the Qing army cavalry was divided, and out of it marched their commander-in-chief, as well as the elaborate to the extreme, gorgeous honor guards beside the commander-in-chief.

The ceremonial honor guard of the Son of Heaven of the Kingdom of Qing, along with the army of the Kingdom of Qing, arrived outside of the city of Dongyi.

The Commander-in-Chief, the Grand Imperial Palace, was beside the Son of Heaven’s honor guard, wearing a silver-colored light armor, with a sword on his waist and a lance at his side, and a blood-red cloak tied behind him, hunting in the yellow dust and sea breeze.

The Grand Prince lightly led the reins of his horse, arching the Son of Heaven’s honor to the front of the crowd, calmly and with complicated eyes looking at all the people at the gates of Dongyi City.

There was a soundless silence.

Yun Zhilan closed his eyes, silent for a long time, struggling for a long time, gradually wet at the curtains of his eyes, and then slowly knelt down towards the ceremonial chariot of the Son of Heaven beside that warhorse.

The lord of Dongyi City knelt, all the officials followed suit, and the princes and dukes of the vassal states also knelt, densely kneeling, showing their submission to the South Qing army, to the Son of Heaven of South Qing.

The disciples of the Sword Lodge did not kneel, although they knew that this was a helpless decision made by the Master Teacher on his deathbed, although they knew that Eldest Brother had broken the Lodge, and for the sake of the people of the East Barbaric City, they could only kneel down in front of these Qing armies, however, they were not the officials of the East Barbaric City, they were free agents, or more accurately speaking, they were Jianghu people.

Jianghu people had the code of conduct of Jianghu people, they did not have any bonds, so they stared at the Qing cavalry that had a frightening aura and roamed the mountains and the official roads without a trace of fear in their eyes, instead, they were born with infinite anger and wariness.

A large portion of the world’s ninth grade powerhouses were here, they weren’t afraid of anything.

The Grand Prince sat on his horse, indifferently glancing at these stubborn and unwilling to bow down disciples of the Sword Lodge, and was about to open his mouth to say something, but then he heard a familiar, clear, yet somewhat tired and somewhat indifferent voice coming from the slanting side.

“Sword Lodge disciples at your service.” Fan Xian closed his eyes slightly and said, “Go back to the city to help the City Lord’s Mansion maintain law and order.”

This reason was ridiculous, Fan Xian sighed in his heart, knowing that he had made a mistake, he should not have let the disciples of the Sword Lodge come here in the first place, these people were all masters among masters, all of them were people whose arrogance was hard to subdue, especially like Li Bohua, Thirteen Lang, these formidable characters, who were either the head of the world’s number one money changer, or the most likely to be promoted into the Great Master’s strongest, how could they possibly be under the power of the authority of a nation to How could they bow down under the authority of a country.

The bloodthirsty nature of Dongyi City is indeed not much, if there are ten points, at least nine points are left in the hearts of the disciples of the Sword Lodge.

Hearing the master’s words, the sword hut disciples dare not disobey, know in their hearts that Lord Fan is giving himself a step down, after a moment of stalemate, Li Bohua finally older and more serious, after a long time of silence, let out a long sigh, two lines of hot tears flow down silently, and led the disciples grimly toward the city, making way for the road into the city.

Wang Thirteen Lang did not leave with them, nor did he kneel, he just stood indifferently beside Fan Xian, looking at the raging cavalry of Qing, as if there was no one in his eyes at all.

The Grand Prince glanced at Fan Xian with deep meaning in his eyes, and then Eunuch Dai beside him unfolded the imperial decree in his hand and read it softly to the officials and merchants of Dongyi City who were kneeling before the ceremonial battle.

“I have heard that sir has gone, and my heart mourns, and I have heard that sir is noble and righteous, and that he puts the people first, and I have respect for him. ……”

Fan Xian was on the side of the official road, quietly listening to this most important imperial decree, and realized that this imperial decree was not as usual in previous years, as much as it was in the style of the system, but it was really in the tone of His Majesty the Emperor, and there was no falsehood in the words of heartfelt mourning and respect. As for what the people of Dongyi City would think of Emperor Qing, who had killed the Four Gu Swords, that was another matter.

The imperial decree was very long, recounting Emperor Qing’s greetings to the people of Dongyi City, as well as the importance of unifying the world for the people, every word sincere.

In the end, His Majesty recognized Yun Zhilan’s appointment as the Lord of Dongyi City, ordering him to come to the capital at a certain time to receive his title.

Kneeling at the front, Yun Zhilan heard this decree and wasn’t really surprised, although his position as the city lord was negotiated, but to be appointed, he had to be personally enthroned by Emperor Qing.

He got up somewhat grimly, received the decree with both hands, and made another bow.

The ceremonies continued. This was an incomparably complicated and immensely important ceremony, one about conquering and being conquered.

The Grand Prince dismounted and approached Fan Xian, looking at him for a long time before saying, “You did not do well earlier.”

Fan Xian knew that this close elder brother was referring to the matter of his letting the Sword Lodge disciples leave, and after a moment of silence, he responded, “I’m already so tired that I don’t know what else to do.”

“But the attitude of the Sword Lodge disciples should still be shown.” The Grand Prince looked at him gently, and after a moment of silence, said extremely seriously, “However, you have already done well enough …… I think that in the entire world, there is no one who can do better than you in this matter.”

Fan Xian smiled faintly and did not pick up on this, but simply said, “The attitude of the disciples of the Sword Lodge will be displayed for His Majesty to see.”

He lowered his head and said to Wang XIII Lang beside him, “XIII Lang, you are responsible for setting up the ceremony for the entry of the army.”

Wang XIII Lang, who had been silent all this time, raised his head in a huff and didn’t ask why, but just looked at Fan Xian quietly, meaning simply – why me?

“Because you are a simple man.” Fan Xian gave him a reason he couldn’t refuse, “One thing I’ve learned from you is that if you’re simple, the world will be simple for you.”

Under the Grand Prince’s slightly puzzled gaze, Fan Xian patted Wang XIII and said, “I think you also want this matter to be simple.”

Wang Xi, the Thirteenth Apprentice of the Sword Lodge, stood before the group of cavalrymen, and could not help but remember, with the same helplessness, the same headache, that bright afternoon many years ago when the girl Sang Wen had taken him to pick out a girl.

He realized then that from that afternoon, Fan Xian had decided to tie his life to his. On this point, the simple Wang XIII Lang simply accepted it after thinking about it.