In the days that followed, the snow fell heavier and heavier, and the war between the eastern states and the East came to a temporary halt.
On the East Sea, the sea was frosty and thick with ice, making it impossible for warships to move forward, and they had to rely on manpower to carry supplies to the shores of the East Sea.
At the same time, the Japanese took advantage of this rare opportunity to occupy the unoccupied land around the battlefield and began to establish their roots in Eastern China.
The next time the war opens, the Japanese will push the battlefield forward and further encroach on Eastern Zhou.
This island nation that has come from the East is not there to grab a game and leave, they truly want to put down roots in the great land of the Central Plains and invade its frontiers.
Four miles out from the Yanhuang Ridge in Eastern China, the mountains were closed by heavy snow, and a purple lightning shot into the mountains and into a certain hidden valley.
This valley was no different from any other mountainous place, all covered in snow, but here, there were people who were not found in any other realm.
The figure with black hair and white clothes was sitting on the snow, with a snow-white sword in front of him, vaguely echoing the snowy ground and the flying snow.
“Cang Tian.”
As soon as Lin Zixiao entered the valley, he subconsciously collected his aura and brought a hint of respect in his words.
“Yang Tian, you’ve come.”
Qing Yu opened his eyes, his body’s true qi still running, adapting to this new body.
During this period of time, Qing Yu’s avatar, Ren Piaomiao, returned to the True Martial Sect for a trip, uniting his two bodies and returning to Eastern Zhou in another body.
This body was the body of Silver Festive Zhu Wu.
With a new body, it took a little time to break in, so Qing Yu simply stayed in seclusion in the valley, not dealing with the Jiang family.
“The Jiang family’s current situation, how is it?” Qing Yu asked.
“Indeed, as you expected, the Jiang family and Da Qian have quietly made contact.” Lin Zixiao replied with certainty.
Qing Yu’s incarnation of Ren Piaomiao and Lin Zixiao had helped the Jiang family, relieved the advances of the East, repelled Tianzhao and Yue Yimei, and became the guests of the Jiang family.
In a sense, they even had the same enemies as the Jiang family. Jiang Muyun is both a traitor to the Jiang family and a traitor in the Nine Heavens, and both sides are hostile to the Eastern Empire to which she belongs.
But this does not mean that the Jiang family will move forward and retreat with the Nine Heavens, nor does it necessarily mean that they will even help each other. This is especially true, given that the human emperor’s spiritual awareness is now out in the world.
The eighth generation Human Emperor Lie Shan was an old ancestor of the Jiang family.
In terms of relationship, the Jiang family was still closer to the Great Qian. Its itself is still part of the Great Qian now.
“Then you don’t need to stay at Yanhuang Ridge next, come back to Northern Zhou with me.” Qing Yu said.
“No more helping the Jiang family defend Eastern Zhou?”
“They don’t need our help anymore.” Qing Yu stood up and said.
With the battle at the southern border over, Great Qian was already able to free up its hands. Although strong men still needed to be sent to confront Hou Qian, it was still no problem to keep the Jiang family.
Staying in Eastern Zhou was no longer meaningful, and would even be lent by the Jiang family to become a sword in their fight against Eastern Ying. The reason why the Jiang family had quietly approached Great Qian was probably to play on the idea of using the Nine Heavens.
“Go back to Northern Zhou. Next, it’s going to be uneventful over in Northern Zhou as well.”
As he said this, there seemed to be a storm brewing in Qing Yu’s eyes.
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Northern Zhou Dynasty, Imperial Palace, Hall of the Nurtured Heart.
Zhuge Longjue bowed and saluted, “I, Zhuge Longjue, pay my respects to Your Majesty.”
“This is not a court meeting, so there is no need for you to be so polite,” the Zhou emperor ordered his entourage as he read through his memo, “Give me a seat.”
The little eunuch at the side heard the words and wordlessly retreated, bringing a eunuch chair from the side hall for Zhuge Long Su to sit in.
“Master Taiji has braved the snow to come to see me on this New Year’s Day, so I suppose there is something important.”
Emperor Zhou said as he continued to read through his memo without raising his head.
“Your Majesty, I do have an important matter,” Zhuge Longxu said, sitting upright, “This year’s snowfall is rare in its scale, and I have never seen such a heavy snowfall in all my years in our dynasty.
It has been snowing for several days and has become a snowstorm, with avalanches hitting towns in the mountains and wilderness, resulting in many casualties.”
“I am aware of this and have asked General Xu Tiecheng to go to the disaster. The Ministry of Accounts is also preparing for the relief work, and the Ministry of Works has sent people to repair the homes of the people, and the Qintian Supervisor has also sent officials to a*sist.” Emperor Zhou replied.
There was snow in the North every year, but this year’s snow was not comparable to previous years. Even the south could accumulate a foot and a half of snow, not to mention the north.
Therefore, the Emperor of Zhou had sent his people to prepare for the disaster in time to provide relief and a*sistance.
“Your Majesty is far-sighted.” Zhuge Long Su praised.
“Don’t flatter me, I don’t have time to listen to flattery now.”
Emperor Zhou lifted his head and patted the piles of folders in his left hand, “Look, these are all the expedited folders sent by the governors and prefects of the three states, there is no time to spare at the beginning of the year.
Especially in Mengzhou, the plan to renovate Mengzhou has been temporarily suspended due to the heavy snowfall, so it’s really annoying.”
The people of the gra*slands are nomadic and basically live in tents. This is because they breed sheep and horses and live by water and gra*s, but also because of the environmental factors of the gra*sland itself.
Therefore, the transformation of the gra*sland is not only about building Chinese houses, but also about transforming the environment to make it suitable for the Chinese people to live in.
What Emperor Zhou wanted was for the gra*slands to be a*similated into the Middle Kingdom, not for the people who went to Mengzhou to become another nomadic people.
But how difficult it is to transform the environment, even for a martial art like Zhouliu’s Six Void Kung Fu that changes the sky and the earth, it requires a lot of calculation and manpower to do so. The slightest mismatch could degrade the environment and turn it into the great Western desert next door.
This is why the Gra*sland Transformation Project is the most involved in the national power of Northern Zhou and the most worrying for the Zhou Emperor.
Of course, there was another reason why he was so concerned, apart from the governance of the country. Let’s not talk about the benefits of dominating the well-being of the people and grasping the state, let’s talk about the transformation of the land of Mengzhou.
This incarnation of Emperor Zhou is mainly competing with the humane will for the control of the dragon veins. But to fight with the humane will by one’s own will alone is not a long-term solution after all.
Qing Yu also gets tired and needs rest. Although he does not sleep for years, it is because his own recovery exceeds his consumption.
A battle with the humane will, on the other hand, cannot be a battle of consumption. Qing Yu’s will alone could not compete with the humane will that had been coiled in the earth for ten thousand years.
If he fought with strength, he could still win, but if he fought with consumption, he would definitely lose.
Therefore, apart from suppressing the dragon vein with the body of the Zhou Emperor, he also needs to fight the humane will and gather the dragon vein into himself.
The transformation of Mengzhou is an important part of the means of gathering it in. Transforming the environment of Mengzhou and imprinting the Dragon Vein with its own seal, so that it is completely free from the possibility of being controlled by the will of humanity, is the truth of the Mengzhou plan.
In short, it is a step by step process to transform the Northern Zhou Dragonline into its own shape.
“Tai Shi, you have been running around my dynasty for a few days, you should be doing more than just these things that are on the surface, right?” Emperor Zhou asked with a smile.
What he knew was that Zhuge Longxu had been running around for the past few days, personally scouting out the disaster situation everywhere. Relying on his Tong Shen realm strength, he had managed to stroll around Northern Zhou in a few days, and now he was here, definitely not for these known matters.
“Your Majesty is wise.”
Zhuge Tai Shi, who was skilled in the art of speech, clapped on another sentence before continuing, “I have recently travelled around the region and found that all the state capitals are in good order and bent on fighting the disaster. Many people from the Daoist sect are also giving porridge in various places, seemingly to show compa*sion.”
“Seemingly? So, there is an ulterior motive.” Emperor Zhou finally raised some interest.
Ever since Qing Yu had unified the Daoist sect, the various sects of the Daoist sect had also gradually shifted towards Northern Zhou. Many more Daoists had finally emerged from this northern frontier, and the entire kingdom was vaguely trending towards an above-ground Daoist kingdom.
This is naturally due to the status of Qing Yu in Northern Zhou.
The great families knew that Qing Yu, the Daoist, was so important in the Northern Zhou that he could be said to be above all others, so they worked hard to bring in Daoists to study the principles of Daoism and governance.
This was the way it was done at the top, and the officials below naturally followed suit. In this way, Daoism became popular in the Northern Zhou, and it was a rival to Confucianism.
The emperor knew this well and did not interfere. It was not a good thing for one school to be dominant after all, and the only way to balance the empire was to let Daoism and Confucianism stand apart.
Now, Zhuge Longxu, a great figure of Confucianism, is implicitly accusing the Daoists of harbouring evil intentions by giving congee.
“Tai Shi, you should know what you are talking about, right?” Emperor Zhou asked with interest as he put down his memo.
This kind of testimony, if one is not careful, is the end of the disaster itself, with Zhuge Long Su’s wisdom, if not sure, should not be so.
He is the president of the Shanhe Academy and represents the Confucian school in every word and deed, so he should not do anything rash.
“I know,” Zhuge Longxu said as he rose, “it is a good deed for the Taoists to give congee. However, while giving congee, these Taoists did not forget to spread their faith and make the victims believe in the so-called Heavenly Father Qinglian to save them from suffering, following the teachings.
With this honey in one hand and doctrine in the other, they have already lured many of the victims into the religion, and now nearly ten thousand of them have become faithful followers, and the potential victims, even more, are countless.”
Believing in the Green Lotus Heavenly Father for the Salvation of Suffering, the congregation has gathered into a religion. This is no longer just giving porridge, but preaching.
And anyone who preaches at a time of great calamity has an ulterior motive. It would not be too much to say that they were harbouring evil intentions.
It is not a bright act to take advantage of the unsettled state of mind of the people after a disaster to lead them to faith. And, if you look at the history books, you will find that this pattern of religion, when it became established, generally led to a rebellion against the dynasty.
Famous examples include the Tao of Peace and the White Lotus Sect.
“This is really interesting,” Emperor Zhou could not help but laugh a little, “the time for the Daoist purge has not yet pa*sed, and so soon there are people who do not know how to live.”
He did not suspect Zhuge Longxu of lying, because this kind of thing was just too good to ask for proof. As long as one sent someone to check carefully, one would basically know whether that Qinglian Heavenly Sovereign for the Salvation of Suffering existed.
Even more so, with some unconventional means, perhaps even the person behind the curtain could be quickly dug out.
