The challenge in front of the palace turned into a farce, but it didn't have much of an impact. It was just a topic of conversation for some people in the capital.
On the other hand, Li Dai's salary was deducted for half a year.
However, Li Dai didn't care. To him, a steamed bun, a bowl of water, and a rusted sword were enough.
He was a very pure person who lived in his own world, the world of the sword.
As for Xu Baimei, who came in aggressively but left abruptly, not many people cared about him.
Perhaps he was very famous in Great Xia, but this was Dayao.
…
A week later, the imperial court officially announced the details of the wealth tax. Ren Baqian also met with some of the heads of the aristocratic families. Although there were still objections, they were forcefully suppressed.
There were two voices in Dayao. One was the empress, and the other was Ren Baqian.
No one dared to question the former's control over the aboriginals.
Ren Baqian's reputation in the Jing Tribe and the Yun Nation was also very high.
As a result, the forced implementation of the wealth tax was pushed back.
As for whether anyone dared to conceal the data during the tax count, Ren Baqian couldn't be bothered to think about it. In any case, he would deal with whoever he caught. For this reason, he didn't even hesitate to transfer elite troops to increase the investigation and military department of the Ministry of Finance.
At that time, everyone would know that they could do anything as long as they didn't owe the imperial court money.
"Master, the little loli who has been with you the longest every day is here!" The air flashed twice, and a loli with a washboard figure in a cool swimsuit appeared.
"Tell me if there's any news." Ren Baqian didn't even look up.
"You are really … perversely cold!" The loli pouted.
Ren Baqian finally looked up at her thoughtfully and said, "These words aren't convincing at all coming from your mouth. Besides, I haven't heard these words before. Recently, I have a feeling that your intelligence has grown again. "
"Master, you aren't going to slice me up, are you?" The loli shrank back.
"Do you want a body?" Ren Baqian asked back.
"You really want to slice me up!" The loli was shocked.
"Forget it if you don't want it!"
"Yes, of course. You can do it the way you like …" A figure flashed in the air, and it turned into a voluptuous girl wearing glasses.
"Ahem, Er Ha suits you better." Ren Baqian's face darkened, and he subconsciously glanced at the door before turning his head back.
"Forget it, I'll think about it. What news do you have? Tell me."
"Alright, we've found the lair of the Earth Spirits," the iron-bespectacled woman said in a cold voice.
Zixiao Planet was huge. Even from the sky, it took a lot of time to find the location of a race.
Ren Baqian didn't really care that the other party was imitating Xin Zhe, and a look of delight appeared on his face.
"Send me the data."
A map appeared in the air, and a point was marked.
Ren Baqian estimated that it was very far away from the wall between the two worlds, probably in the central and western regions of the outer region.
Last time, the Earth Spirits had walked for nearly two years before reaching their destination.
Of course, the other party was advancing with a large army. If there were only a few experts, they would be able to arrive in two to three months at most.
"Zoom in to see the details."
Following the instructions, the image gradually zoomed in. A large mountain range became larger and larger. Occasionally, a small dot could be seen, but it was an incomparably large ferocious beast.
"The environment is somewhat similar to the Sixty Thousand Mountains. Eh, these mountains … look like a circle." Ren Baqian could tell what was special at a glance. It was as if a pair of large hands had arranged the mountains into a circle, forming a barrier outside.
Due to the layers of mountains, it would be difficult to detect if one was there in person, but one could see it at a glance from the sky.
Inside, there were countless towering peaks that looked like sharp swords.
"Sword Forest Barrier!" Ren Baqian spat out these three words.
That's right, these peaks in the middle were extremely similar to the Sword Forest Barrier outside the Sixty Thousand Mountains.
"Continue!" Ren Baqian suppressed these two questions to the bottom of his heart.
The screen continued to zoom in, and soon, everything became clear. Altars were located on the peaks.
There were many Earth Spirit Tribes around the Sword Peaks.
"How many Earth Spirits are there?"
"There are 22 large settlements, each with a population of 10,000. There are 342 medium-sized settlements, each with a population of 3,000. There are close to 7,000 small settlements, each with a population of 300 to 500. The total number of small settlements is about 400 to 4.5 million. Regardless of gender or age, all of them can fight. There are more than two million combatants, including about 400,000 at the Kismet Heaven level."
"This is a middle-level race!" Ren Baqian sighed softly.
According to the ratio of these foreign races, there were at least 20,000 Cardinal Heaven experts and 1,000 Longevity Heaven experts.
The Earth Spirit had a strange existence that could be ranked among the top of the middle-level races even if their combat power was lower than their peers. The ratio might be even higher.
There were billions of humans, but there were only tens of thousands of Kismet Heaven experts and over 100 Longevity Heaven experts.
Ren Baqian stared at the image for more than two hours before slowly instructing, "Calculate a route from the barrier between the two worlds to the territory of the Earth Spirit and try to avoid those powerful races. I want all the information about the foreign races, especially the wars between them. "Ren Baqian stared at the picture for more than two hours before slowly instructing.
Although he wasn't ready yet, he could plan and calculate the route first.
Ren Baqian then looked at some other pictures and took pictures of all the important cities in the outer regions, including Stainless City.
There was also the distribution of the main races in the outer regions. This was a relatively large project and was expected to take at least a few months to complete.
With these things, he would at least have a certain understanding of the situation of the foreign races. In the future, he wouldn't have to make plans and countermeasures without a goal.
Now, he still had to wait for the progress of the research institute on the Earth Spirit.
As for the relationship between the foreign races, he might be able to make use of it.
…
Before Ren Baqian could lower his head after giving the instructions about the Earth Spirit, he heard a voice.
"Your Highness, the Yun Nation reported that the city commander of Guang 'an was assassinated," a voice outside the door said.
"The city commander was assassinated?" Ren Baqian frowned. The city commander was the lord of a city, and Guang 'an wasn't a small city. It wasn't a small matter for the city commander to be assassinated.
"Come forward and speak. The city commander of Guang 'an is Liu Xiang, right? Is he dead? Was it done by the remnants of the previous dynasty? There are still remnants? "
"This matter has nothing to do with the remnants of the previous dynasty …"
"What happened?" Ren Baqian asked.
He was in charge of the Rearguard Commandery, so he was naturally well-informed. No matter what happened, it would immediately reach him.
"There's a martial artist in Guang 'an called Wu Xian, who is quite famous locally."
"Continue." Ren Baqian thought about it but hadn't heard of this name.
"Wu Xian is 26 years old this year and has the strength of the Earth Embryo State. He is handsome and has a reputation for chivalry, so he is very popular. Many people admire him for his chivalry."
Ren Baqian looked straight ahead and waited for the rest of the story.
He was slightly puzzled.
"Previously, when he went to a restaurant, everyone stood up to respect him. There was a student who treated him as if he didn't exist and talked and was seen by his admirers. After that student left the restaurant, he was stabbed to death in the alley.
The city commander of Guang 'an ordered Wu Xian to move out of Guang' an if this happened again.
After that, the city commander of Guang 'an was assassinated. The person who assassinated the city commander was an admirer of Wu Xian. He felt that the city commander couldn't distinguish right from wrong, so he attacked him halfway. The city commander of Guang 'an was seriously injured, and it was already critical when I received the news. "
"If that Wu Xian really had a chivalrous act and didn't know anything about this, he should be innocent." Ren Baqian shook his head slightly.
Since he wasn't a rebel, this was a small matter that wasn't worth spreading to him.
However, since it was spread to him, there must be more to it.
"According to what I heard, the person who assassinated the city commander of Guang 'an was on good terms with Wu Xian's younger brother and had leaked the information to him. Wu Xian's younger brother, Wu Jun, was never secretive and would tell Wu Xian everything, so he should know about it.
Moreover, Wu Xian was brave and fierce in his early years, and was often seriously injured or disabled in martial arts competitions. Although he had restrained himself in recent years and often repaid kindness with kindness, he was extremely cruel and often hurt people because of small things. "
"So, he knew about it long ago but didn't stop it? Is there any evidence? "
"No, but I dare to swear on my name that everything I said is true."
Ren Baqian closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. "The report from the city commander of Guang 'an must be different from what you said, so you specially reported it to me?"
"Your Highness is wise! The city commander of Guang 'an was attacked, and now it's the Zhishou who is in charge. That Zhishou is old friends with Wu Xian, so he naturally wouldn't report the truth. "
"Liu Xiang is from your Lingshan Sect, right?" Ren Baqian snorted.
"Your Highness is wise! Although Liu Xiang is a disciple of my Lingshan Sect, everything I said is true. There is absolutely no falsehood. "
"If what you said is true …" Ren Baqian's eyes flashed coldly.
In recent years, there had been great changes in Dayao. Information was advanced, and communication was convenient. With the emergence of local newspapers, television, and the Internet, some things that shouldn't exist had also been born.
For example, Wu Xian had admirers. In fact, he was not the only one. Many martial artists had admirers, especially some young martial artists with outstanding looks and strength. Their admirers were transforming into fan groups on Earth.
This wasn't a good sign.
In particular, some people would privately instigate these admirers to do certain things. Although they didn't show their faces, they were doing it for their own benefit. If things went wrong, it would cause trouble.
This was a suitable opportunity, and they would kill the chicken to warn the monkeys. Only when blood flowed all over the ground could the others learn a lesson.
They would know what to do, what not to do, what to touch, and what not to touch.
Since they had this reputation, they had to do things that were in line with it.
This was what it meant to wear the crown and bear the weight.
For example, did Wu Xian really think that he would be fine after removing himself from the picture?
"However, a disciple of your Lingshan Sect was actually attacked and killed by an admirer of a practitioner. Your Lingshan Sect has been in a mess all these years!"
The people below suddenly shivered.
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I will send a message to the elders of the sect to seal off the mountain for three years and carefully discipline the disciples."
He knew that Ren Baqian wasn't referring to the attack on Liu Xiang, but the fact that the Lingshan Sect had disciples everywhere and occupied high positions. The person in front of him was a little unhappy.
Sealing off the mountain for three years was just the beginning. Next, he had to pay attention to the situation of the disciples in the sect.
The Lingshan Sect had been upholding itself all these years, and he had always been impartial. This was why Her Highness had tolerated him until now.
However, if he didn't know what was good for him, he and the entire Lingshan Sect would be in trouble!
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