"What!"
Hearing those words, Wang Chong was astonished. He had obtained that treasure map from Iron Cloak Li, and it had been around for at least several hundred years. Tracing it back, it could even be traced back to the era of Daye in the Sui Dynasty. Since then, countless cultivators had tried to find the whereabouts of the world's number one cultivation technique, but to no avail. Most of them were just groundless rumors.
Thus, it was rumored that the technique had been completely lost.
Wang Chong didn't expect his master and the Chief Of Wushang to make progress so quickly. Even though they couldn't be sure whether the treasure was really hidden or not, it was worth a try.
— — It had been a long time since news of a suspected location had surfaced in the pugilistic world. Just this fact alone was enough to inspire one's spirits.
The voice of his master, The Evil Emperor, continued.
"This time, I was planning to travel together with the old village chief of Wushang, but this incident is a good thing. You should leave the capital and come with us!"
Even if this incident hadn't happened to Wang Chong's cultivation technique, he would still have faced the risk of his cultivation going berserk in the future. It was just a matter of bringing it forward.
Wang Chong stood there in a daze. These words were completely out of his expectations.
"What's wrong? You're still unwilling to leave at this point? Even if you're not here, this empire won't fall. Just what in the world is there for you to be so reluctant to leave? "
Seeing that Wang Chong wasn't saying a word, the Evil Emperor got a little angry.
"Sigh!"
Wang Chong didn't say anything, but he sighed deeply in his heart. How could he not understand his master's painstaking efforts? But how could he leave at a time like this? If not for his reincarnation, he might have accepted his master's words. Even without him, the Tang dynasty could still exist. But Wang Chong knew that this wasn't the case.
"Master, I understand your painstaking efforts! But … can you let me reconsider this matter? "
As Wang Chong spoke, he bent down and bowed respectfully.
Looking at the sincere Wang Chong before him, the Evil Emperor felt that he had nowhere to vent his anger. This child had an open mind. This was what made him proud, but at the same time, it was what made him feel helpless.
"Alright! If you don't want to go, I can't force you. However, you can't drag this on for too long. The dangers of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art are not as simple as you think! "
The Evil Emperor leaped up onto the top of the wall. Xiu, almost at the same time, a letter flew out from his sleeve like a sharp sword and shot toward Wang Chong. Wang Chong subconsciously reached out and caught it. He looked down and saw that it was densely packed with his master's mantra and incantation to suppress the rampaging Gang Qi in his body and delay the danger of qi deviation.
"Master …"
A warm feeling welled up in Wang Chong's heart. A gentle breeze blew on the city wall, but his master had already disappeared.
… …
Time slowly passed. Wang Chong spent every day in his residence overseeing the overall situation. On one hand, he was constantly dispatching soldiers to keep an eye on Ouzan, the Eastern and Western Turks, Arabia, and Goguryeo, guarding against any attack. On the other hand, he was constantly supervising the construction of the hybrid rice and warehouses.
On the southeastern coast, countless shipbuilding clans were wantonly constructing ships on such a large scale that even the Imperial Court noticed them. But just like the previous dynasties, the Tang Dynasty did not place much importance on the navy. Moreover, as long as Wang Chong did not act on land, the other important officials of the court, including Li Junxian and the Confucian Sect, paid little attention to what Wang Chong was doing on the sea.
In Sindhu, the mining machines that Zhang Shouzhi had constructed had long ago been put to use, and a steady stream of Hyderabad ore was being excavated. At the same time, Wang Chong had ordered his men to construct fortifications on the Hyderabad Mountains to guard against the Arab threat. If Khorasan was breached, the Arab soldiers could advance into Sindhu at any time, directly threatening Wang Chong's mining operations in the Hyderabad Mountains.
There was probably no one in the world who did not know of such a rare ore. Even the Tang Dynasty Imperial Court wanted to meddle, much less the Arabs.
The only thing worth rejoicing over was that Sindhu was rife with malevolent miasma and unbridled plague. Moreover, the Hyderabad Mountains were covered in jagged rocks, making them easy to defend but difficult to attack. For the time being, the Arabs had not decided to attack the Hyderabad Mountains. In addition, Wang Chong had written a letter to Gao Xianzhi in the distant Western Regions, ordering him to lead the Anxi Protectorate army to intimidate the Arabs so that they would not dare to act rashly.
Every day that Wang Chong spent mining was another day harvesting ore, and he was racing against time. But Wang Chong was well aware that this sort of happiness would not last for long.
At the same time, wave after wave of Sindhi were crossing the border into the Tang Dynasty, where they were transported to the promised land. All of this was carried out in secret, and even if they did notice, no one would care. But Wang Chong knew that these Sindhi, who were being transported with the hybrid rice, were the future hope of the entire continent.
"How is the recruitment of soldiers going?"
Everything in the study had returned to normal, and Wang Chong was seated on a sandalwood chair as he asked this question.
"Your Highness, everything is progressing. We have already recruited many Khorasani, people of the Western Regions, and the elites of our Tang Dynasty at the triangular gap. However, Su Hanshan sent a message not too long ago, saying that the army at the triangular gap should not exceed one hundred thousand, and that they should be dispersed to bases in Greater and Lesser Balur. Otherwise, the Imperial Court might become suspicious and dissatisfied."
Su Shixuan bowed as he spoke.
Wang Chong said nothing, only silently nodded.
Su Hanshan truly had a keen sense for such matters. Not only was he extremely talented in the art of war, he was also extremely sensitive to the affairs of the Imperial Court. The triangular gap was extremely close to Qixi, and although it was not part of the Tang Dynasty's territory, it was still bordering it. Stationing twenty thousand soldiers there was enough to attract the attention of the Imperial Court, and the more soldiers there were, the more uneasy the Imperial Court would become. And once the number of soldiers exceeded one hundred thousand, even if the triangular gap was a 'lawless land', the Imperial Court would not be able to tolerate it and would definitely find a way to make trouble for him.
Su Hanshan had grasped this situation perfectly. He had scattered the soldiers on the steppe, sending more than half of them to the two bases in Greater and Lesser Balur, and then taking turns to train them. This would not only preserve the Imperial Court's face, but it would also allow him to amass as many soldiers as he could to deal with any future mishaps.
At the same time, he could work with the Anxi Protectorate army to intimidate the Arabs in the western region of Khorasan.
"In addition, we are also working with the great clans to continue recruiting soldiers. All the soldiers that have been disbanded by the Imperial Court, the prefectural armies, the Imperial Army, the mercenaries, and even the martial artists of the sects are all being recruited. In addition, we have dispatched a large number of people to search for martial artists with talent. "
Xue Qianjun did not know what Wang Chong was thinking, and he bowed as he spoke.
The room instantly fell silent. Wang Chong remained seated, a pensive look on his face. Ever since that incident, his mind had become much more open. There was no longer any way to salvage the situation in the Imperial Court, and the Confucian Sect's control over the Imperial Court was already a fact. All Wang Chong could do was use his own methods to amass soldiers.
This way, even if Li Junxian and the Confucian Sect turned the Tang Dynasty upside down, he would be able to clean up the mess at any time, stabilize the empire, and return peace to the people of this land. And to achieve this goal, the one hundred thousand soldiers at the triangular gap were far from enough.
Wang Chong had privately calculated that if he wanted to ensure that the Tang Dynasty would not slip up, he would need to prepare at least five hundred thousand elite soldiers. In the Tang Dynasty, this was tantamount to rebellion, and the slightest mistake could result in execution. But Wang Chong no longer cared. Since the Imperial Court's path was impossible, he would use his own methods to defend the Central Plains, defend the Tang Dynasty.
As for personal honor and loss, just as the three venerable seniors had said, even if the entire world cursed him and viewed him as a murderous demon king, it was nothing to be worried about.
The Central Plains could not raise soldiers, and the triangular gap was the best place to raise soldiers. As for the other places, such as Mengshe Zhao, Ouzan, and the Eastern and Western Turks, they all had masters.
"The Central Plains can't raise soldiers, so we can only think of ways on the sea. But how can a place that can raise five hundred thousand soldiers be easy?"
Wang Chong slowly raised his head and muttered to himself, but Wang Chong quickly came back to his senses.
"Su Shixuan, bring that map over!"
A few moments later, a six-foot long and four-foot wide map appeared in front of Wang Chong and unfurled itself on the table.
This map was a new world map that Wang Chong had created based on Ouzan's map of the continent, combined with the scouts that Wang Chong had dispatched, and many other military maps. This map included almost all the known regions, and even the reefs where the Meteoric Metal was located were clearly marked on it. It was truly unique.
Wang Chong's eyes slowly scanned the regions on the map, and around him, Su Shixuan, Xu Keyi, Xue Qianjun, and the others followed Wang Chong in scanning the map.
Easier said than done, finding a suitable place to train soldiers was easier said than done. Wang Chong's eyes slowly scanned the map, from the lower left corner to the upper right corner, finally settling on an island on the sea. At that moment, even Su Shixuan and Xu Keyi could clearly sense Wang Chong's eyes brighten.
"This is the place!"
At this moment, a voice rang out in Wang Chong's mind.
The Ten Islands of Dong Ying!
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