During the long period of Han Yin's rule, Yong was no longer as strong as it was during Emperor Yongming's and Han Zhou's era. It had completely retreated from the north, but it still had thirteen prefectures: Tianming, Jingan, Nanxiang, Taining, Shunan, Yonghuai, Hechang, Fuchun, Lanan, Fuming, Yiyang, Zhenyou, and Lingbei.
Compared to Zhuang, which only had three prefectures, it was huge.
If it weren't for Jing and Jing, the natural barrier of Qichang Mountain Range, and the many generations of talented Zhuang lords, Yong would have swallowed Zhuang long ago.
But no matter what the reasons were, Zhuang didn't fall after hundreds of years. Instead, it grew stronger day by day, which was seen by many as proof that Han Yin had lost his edge.
Especially in the year 3919 of the Dao calendar, a war that involved a lot of people ended in a short time at the start of the new year.
People suddenly realized a terrifying fact. Since Zhuang Chengqian founded the country, Zhuang had been suppressed and humiliated, but it had never lost a country war!
Regardless of whether it was the Mo Kingdom, the Yong Kingdom, or the Xu Kingdom that had long been destroyed,
Zhuang Chengqian fought a bloody battle in Qichang Mountain Range and stopped Han Yin's army. Zhuang Gaoxian started two country wars. The first time, he hurt Yong's border army and won many years of peace. The second time, he almost destroyed Yong!
The strength of Zhuang's army was frightening.
After Zhuang Yong's country war, the entire Lingbei Prefecture was occupied by Zhuang.
Yiyang Prefecture was divided by Dragon Sealing Pass. The south side was also under Zhuang's control and was included in Zhuang's Yongchang Prefecture.
Dragon Sealing Pass was about two-thirds of Yiyang Prefecture's south side. Thus, in terms of geography, most of Yiyang Prefecture's territory still belonged to Yong.
But due to the importance of Dragon Sealing Pass, the entire Yiyang Prefecture was within the range of Dragon Sealing Pass.
That was why Yin Ge City had sprung up from the ground to eliminate this geographical disadvantage.
What Jiang Wang was fortunate was that Qingyun Pavilion's base was in Shun 'an Prefecture in the west of Yong and not in Yiyang Prefecture where Zhuang Yong's army was facing off.
If it was in Yiyang Prefecture, he wouldn't even have to think about it and would just give up.
Shun 'an Prefecture was one of the rare places that wasn't affected by the previous country wars. Lan 'an Prefecture to the south was attacked by Zhuang Luo's army but was quickly driven out.
In the south, the vanguard of the Zhuang Country never managed to pass through the Dragon Sealing Pass. In the north, the Red Horse Guards of the Jing Country never managed to break into Jing 'an Prefecture.
The only time the entire Shun 'an Prefecture had been close to war was perhaps when Prime Minister Du Ruhui of the Zhuang State had attacked the Yong border and restrained the military strength of the Yong State's Divine Descendant. He had briefly descended upon the prefectural capital, Ningyuan City, and struck a blow. He hadn't even broken through the Great Defensive Array before hastily leaving.
Therefore, compared to places like Yiyang and Lan 'an, the atmosphere in Shun' an prefecture was obviously much more peaceful.
Walking on the streets of Shun 'an Prefecture's Wenxi County, Jiang Wang could clearly feel Han Xu's control over the entire country.
People could not hide their uneasiness about the changes.
For example, in the Yong Kingdom, where Mohism was the orthodox school of thought, the Confucian academies, Daoist academies, and even the monasteries needed to be demolished or rebuilt. The businesses that had been built around these Confucian academies, Daoist academies, and temples were naturally dealt a devastating blow. However, these people were also from Yong and needed to make a living. This was the fundamental contradiction.
However, everything he saw was proceeding in an orderly manner. People were anxious, but they were not angry, nor were they numb. In this era of change, they had confidence in the court and hope for the future.
"Hope" could lead people to overcome all difficulties. It seemed to require no cost and originated from the spirit, but it just so happened that it required the most effort.
It wasn't hard to imagine how long the new court of Yong, headed by Han Xu, had prepared for this day.
With the support of the Mohist family, this was not impossible. The Mohist family's mechanical techniques were unparalleled in the world. Just the various mechanical creations were enough to make them the wealthiest in the world. With the Mohist family pouring down some resources, it was not difficult to soothe the pain of the changes.
However, what surprised Jiang Wang the most was that the scene of the Mohist family's mechanical beasts swaggering through the streets did not occur. He even used three days to walk through most of the streets of Wenxi County and did not see many members of the Mohist family.
Perhaps the Mohist family still had some misgivings about getting involved in the national system and supporting Han Xu was only a trial. Or perhaps the Mohist family had internal disagreements and did not fully invest. Or perhaps Han Xu's methods were ingenious, using the Mohist school as the national language but not allowing the Mohist family's influence to seep into all walks of life.
In short, the military and political power of Yong was clearly still under Han Xu's sole control.
Yong was Han Xu's Yong and not, as many people had guessed, a "Jucheng" that existed in a different form.
"Jucheng" was steel.
Jucheng was the holy land of the Mohist family. According to legend, it was a truly majestic city made of steel. However, apart from the upper echelons of the Mohist family, no one knew its exact location.
From Jiang Wang's observations, the relationship between the Yong court and the Mohist family was more of a cooperative relationship than a dependent relationship. As for how Han Xu had managed to deal with the obviously much stronger Mohist family, Jiang Wang did not know.
It could be assumed that the soul-stirring details were not enough for outsiders to understand.
During these three days, Jiang Wang did not run around randomly. While he was recuperating and adjusting himself to peak condition, he did his best to gather intelligence and analyze information in preparation for his ultimate goal.
Shun 'an Prefecture was one of the border prefectures of Yong. It was hard to avoid having dragons and snakes mixed together. In addition, Yong was currently in a critical period of political reform, so all sorts of people were active in Yong.
At such a time, Han Xu needed to maintain the stability of the country.
As a result, people like Jiang Wang, who wore masks and wrapped tightly around his body, were not very eye-catching.
Just like the previous few days, he carried a bowl of "Poor Call" to the back street of the inn he was staying in and walked south along the clean street.
He changed into a more ordinary zodiac dragon mask that only covered the upper half of his face, so it did not affect his ability to eat.
"Poor Call" was a unique delicacy of Shun 'an Prefecture in Yong. It was actually a type of fried pasta that was molded into the shape of a small bird. The surface was crispy, and when bitten, it would produce a "chirp chirp chirp" sound similar to that of a living creature.
The locals called it "Poor Call" because it was so delicious that no matter how much it chirped, it could not escape the fate of being eaten.
The appearance was very peculiar, but the taste was very good. Jiang Wang had only been here for a few days, but he was already accustomed to eating a bowl every morning, just like the locals.
Because the size of the dough was not uniform, a bowl of "Poor Call" could only contain twelve to fifteen balls. It was purely dependent on whether the shopkeeper's hand trembled.
Jiang Wang was lucky today, so there were fifteen balls in his bowl. This made him a lot happier, and his footsteps became lighter as he walked on the street.
Unexpected encounters were often not pleasant surprises.
His gaze casually but carefully swept over his surroundings. As usual, he collected as much information as possible, but his gaze was unfocused.
At this moment, the figures of the passersby on the street seemed to blur. The "poor call" that they bit out sounded like it was on the horizon.
Everything was far away.
He only noticed the person walking towards him.
The person who led him to complete his first Inner Sect mission and performed heroically at the Dao Discussion of the Three Cities …
He often told others that he was, but he probably wanted to find more than anyone else —
Zhang Linchuan!
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PS: I want to eat all the delicacies in Chi Xin … Or when I have free time, I can study the recipe and see if I can replicate something similar …
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