Chong Shidao had already hurried back to the imperial court. He had originally claimed illness and returned to his hometown due to his dissatisfaction with Cai Jing and his faction, but in reality, he had always kept the nation in his heart. He initially thought the Emperor had finally seen the light and summoned him back. However, upon his hasty return, he found that the Emperor had not shown his face at all. Not only that, but Cai Jing and his cronies were already finished.
After some inquiries, the former Gao Lian, also known as Gao Yanei, entered their sights. They heard that not only had this Gao Lian arrested Gao Qiu... he was even playing the Emperor in the palm of his hand.
Faced with his hesitation, Fang Zhiyi did not pay it much mind. Little Hei did not quite understand, so he asked, Are they very formidable?
Fang Zhiyi shook his head. I do not know. I really do not know. But in the history I am familiar with... Chong Shidao, Wang Bing, and She Kecun were all genuine, renowned generals who resisted the Jin. At least before Yue Fei appeared, they were incredibly fierce. It is just a pity they were stuck with the weak Song Dynasty that was afraid to fight... Let us hope they are still just as fierce in this world.
I think if you dare to give them military power, they will kill you, right?
You are wrong about that... Based on my judgment, whether it is Chong Shidao, Li Gang, or She Kecun, they are all entirely devoted to serving the country, but they are not necessarily loyal to the monarch... Their hearts are filled with the nation. As for who sits on that throne, they do not care. This is the Northern Song... the Song Dynasty that values scholars and suppresses warriors.
Wang Bing is incredibly brave and only knows how to fight. He is completely clueless about court politics. His thinking is simple: whoever gives him troops and rations, he will work for them.
The only one who might cause trouble is... Before Fang Zhiyi could finish his sentence, the door behind him was pushed open.
Hu Shunzhi walked in, his face full of unyielding righteousness. Hah, to think that Gao Yanei could climb to such a high position today, it is truly unexpected!
Fang Zhiyi shrugged, and Little Hei also realized who he was talking about.
I thought it was the Emperor who summoned me back. I did not expect it to be a piece of work like you...
Fang Zhiyi was not angry. Instead, he grabbed a stack of memorials that the Directorate of Ceremonial had just sent over and threw them over. Hu Shunzhi was startled and scrambled to catch them.
Before you curse me out, take a look at these memorials. Local bandits are occupying the mountains and declaring themselves kings, while the local authorities sit by and do nothing. The campaigns to wipe out Liangshan Marsh have failed repeatedly. Fang La has proclaimed himself king for months now, and the Jin forces in the north are constantly invading. What? Do you want me to read them to you word by word?
Hu Shunzhi frowned as he flipped through the memorials.
You still expect your Emperor to handle this? Have you forgotten how you were driven out of Bianjing?
I...
I what? Is there a block of wood wedged between your ears? I only have one thing to say right now: quell the internal rebellions and destroy the Jin! The entire royal court is in my hands now. If you need money, I will give you money. If you need men, I will give you men! Just give me one word, are you in or out!
Hu Shunzhi's original fury was instantly halved when Fang Zhiyi pointed at his nose and berated him.
Wait, how could a treacherous usurper be so self-righteous?
Yet, he could not find any words to refute what Fang Zhiyi had said.
You, I, you...
You, you, you what? Did I gag you? Give me a straight answer, are you in or not? If you will not do it, there are plenty of others who will! Fang Zhiyi waved his hand.
I am in, I am in! Hu Shunzhi had completely lost his previous imposing manner.
He had actually investigated before coming here. Although the Imperial City Department under Fang Zhiyi acted arrogantly, the officials they arrested all had conclusive evidence of their crimes against them; it was just that their reputation was indeed poor.
As for holding the Emperor hostage... hearing the other party put it this way now, it actually seemed reasonable.
Although he, Hu Shunzhi, hoped to rectify the court discipline and crack down on corruption... ultimately, it was all for the sake of the entire Great Song... Hu Shunzhi stared at Fang Zhiyi, trying to find even a trace of deceit on his face, but ultimately failed.
While he was still conflicted, Chong Shidao walked through the door. The moment he saw Hu Shunzhi, Chong Shidao paused in surprise, then looked toward Fang Zhiyi.
Fang Zhiyi shot him an annoyed glance, casually grabbed a prepared piece of silk cloth next to him, and tossed it over. Chong Shidao caught it, opened it for a look, and stood completely stunned.
Appointing Chong Shidao as the Grand Marshal of the Empire's Armed Forces, with overall command of all national military operations, the authority to deploy Song troops across all regions, and the power to formulate all strategic policies. At the very end was the imperial seal of Emperor Huizong, and a tiger tally lay quietly right in the middle.
Chong Shidao was dumbfounded. Wait, did they really trust him this much?
All the doubts in his heart were now thrown to the back of his mind. Grand Marshal of the Empire's Armed Forces! He had also asked around about this man Gao Lian, and the results he heard had left him suspicious. But looking at it now.
What adopted son of Gao Qiu? What treacherous court official? This was a good man!
Li Gang, who followed closely behind, was also left dizzy by the title Fang Zhiyi threw at him.
Right Executive of the Department of State Affairs and Administrator of the Privy Council. Not only was he responsible for coordinating military logistics, but he could also assist with Chong Shidao's strategic plans?
As the few of them gathered.
I am holding the Emperor hostage? So what? Has the Emperor ever read these memorials sent from the borders? Does he know or not know the suffering of the common people? If he were left in charge, every single one of you would probably have to resign and return home by tomorrow! Fang Zhiyi grew more agitated as he spoke. I arrested bastards like Cai Jing and Gao Qiu, and suppressed those civil officials who only wanted to surrender, and after all that, you point at my nose and curse me? Is that appropriate?
Hu Shunzhi was completely out of objections, and even felt a bit ashamed after being scolded by the furious Fang Zhiyi.
Starting tomorrow, all of you need to get moving!
May I ask... Lord Gao, how do we get moving? Chong Shidao was still clear-headed, after all. He did not know whether the man before him actually coveted the Emperor's throne.
How do we get moving? You expect to lead troops into battle looking like this? Fang Zhiyi was practically a powder keg ready to explode, but it could not be helped; these military generals responded best to this kind of treatment. The Jin are invading the borders, but that can be put on hold for a moment. First, we must resolve our internal threats. To resist foreign aggression, we must first pacify the interior, do you understand?
My Lord, are you saying we will resist the Jin? Li Gang's eyes suddenly lit up.
Damn it, out of everything I said, the only thing you heard was resisting the Jin? How can you resist them when you have not even wiped your own messes clean? Fang Zhiyi roared.
Li Gang shrank his neck back.
Wang Bing will be the Vanguard Commander! He will be under your command, Chong Shidao! I do not care what methods you use, transferring border troops is fine, anything goes. Wipe out Fang La within three months. Is that a problem?
Chong Shidao froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously. Orders received!
Fang Zhiyi's expression suddenly turned cold and dark. Rest assured, the power of my Imperial City Department has already infiltrated every region... Even in Fang La's territory, there will be people to pass information to you. He paused. Also... I would not mind if you conveniently wiped out a few local tyrants who are colluding with the bandits along the way, understand?
Chong Shidao inexplicably shivered. Understood.
And then, She Kecun, Liangshan will be left to you! I will personally hold the line for you!
Huh?
Huh what? Are you looking down on me?
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
