He was the mighty Son of Heaven who had fought against the sovereign of the Nine Five Sovereigns, snatched back his beloved beauty, and killed the chieftains of the four regions, yet remained unscathed. In the eyes of most people, Ye Xiaotian was definitely a great winner in life. However, Xia Yingying did not belong to most people.
In her eyes, all of the benefits and victories that Ye Xiaotian had obtained were deserved. It was completely justified. Even if he suffered a small loss, it would be unfair. As a result, Ye Xiaotian did not tell her about his punishment, just in case she became indignant and caused some more trouble. The current outcome was already the best outcome for him.
Ye Xiaotian had been demoted to a magistrate. He was demoted from chief magistrate of the Crouching Ox Magistrate to the lowest of the four ranks of magistrates in the Earth province. A magistrate was an official of the lower ninth rank, and it could also be inherited. It was actually a little like a village chief or stronghold lord in a remote mountainous region, except it was a village chief or stronghold lord whose status had been officially recognized.
However, to Ye Xiaotian, the territory and troops he actually controlled remained the same, so it did not matter which official he was called. The Tian family was even an envoy of consolation, so his status was far greater than the magistrate's. When he was weaker than someone else, would he not still be surpassed by someone else?
In a place ruled by a magistrate, fists were everything. As long as his fists were tough enough, even a mere magistrate could stand tall before the various heroes.
Third Lady had to set off for the grasslands after Ye Xiaotian's case was settled. As the true empress of the grasslands, she could not stay in the central plains for too long. In particular, the conflicts between the tribes in the grasslands were even more intense than in the central plains. Her status was nowhere near as stable as the Emperor of the Great Ming's in the empire, so she could not leave the central plains for too long.
Ye Xiaotian and Xia Yingying accompanied her all the way to the pavilion. One of them was in the south, while the other was in the north. Their statuses were special as well. Under normal circumstances, they would never be able to meet again after this separation. This separation was no different from an eternal one. When she thought of that, Yingying could not help but tear up. Although the Third Lady was a heroine among women, her boldness and spirit were not inferior to men, but seeing Yingying's appearance, her eyes could not help but overflow with tears.
While they were reluctantly parting, Qiao Hanwen, Yan Yifei, Dang Tenghui, Yu Wuguo, and the others were also gathered in the hall, summarizing the gains and losses of this battle.
Qiao Hanwen continued with fervor and composure, "The Imperial Censor is the country's eyes and ears, no doubt they are indispensable. But today's Imperial Censor only knows how to sit around and discuss the Dao, forbidden to talk about the Dao; it is of no benefit to the country and the people. It's not a bad thing for them to be able to suppress their arrogance after this setback.
As for the ministers of the Cabinet, they were too mellow, especially the Grand Secretary, who was hesitant, extremely despicable. The Son of Heaven loathes the noisy Imperial Censors and is deliberately siding with them. The Imperial Censors will definitely not take this lying down. In the future, they will regroup, and the Grand Secretary will definitely become the target of public criticism! "
Qiao Hanwen's words could be said to have hit the nail on the head; the onlooker sees everything clearly. His vision was very accurate; it won't be long before the Grand Secretary Shen Shixing will be targeted by the Imperial Censors. From time to time, they will come up with a book to impeach him, making Shen Shixing weary of dealing with them. He deeply felt that if this continued, sooner or later the Imperial Censors would catch hold of his weakness and punish him to death. He might as well retire and return to his hometown.
Dang Tenghui laughed and said, "Those who stick to the old ways, those who do not do their jobs, what's wrong with getting rid of them all? From what I can see, the Son of Heaven is somewhat disheartened because of the struggle between the Cabinet and the Imperial Censor. After this battle, his edge will certainly be somewhat restrained. This is very good! "
The civil officials of the Ming Dynasty worshiped the Neo-Confucianism of 'upholding Heaven's justice, extinguishing human desires' as if it were a deity. Their piety and fanaticism were similar to the European missionaries of the Middle Ages. Apart from the Four Books and Five Classics, they despised all knowledge. Apart from the imperial examinations, they despised all talents.
To the Son of Heaven, their ideal Emperor was only a symbol of political power and a spiritual leader. When the civil officials were locked in a stalemate, the Emperor would occasionally play the role of an arbiter. What they needed was a 'wise ruler' who ruled from afar, ruling without doing anything.
Although they would praise and cherish the memory of Qin Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Song Zu of the Tang Sect, they absolutely did not want their Emperor to become that kind of ruler. They did not like Emperors with great talent and bold vision like Zhu Di. They also did not like Emperor Wuzong of Ming, Zhu Houzhao, who did not follow convention and liked to take risks.
That was why Dang Tenghui said with a smile, "The Emperor is disheartened and his edge will be somewhat restrained." It was not that he was being rebellious, but in his view, this was truly for the good of the Emperor. From now on, the Emperor would be able to rule without doing anything. That was the effect of their good intentions.
Yu Wuguo said, "Ye Xiaotian will be returning to Guizhou in a few days. This time, we have gone to great pains to help him out of his predicament. I hope he will not let us down and that this trip will be of some help to Ye Futai."
The Minister of War, Qiao Hanwen, stroked his beard and thought for a moment. He slowly said, "This old man has changed his mind!"
Qiao Hanwen was clearly the leader of the Eagle Faction. When he said this, everyone immediately looked over. Yu Wuguo said, "I wonder what Elder Qiao thinks?"
Qiao Hanwen said, "Ye Xiaotian dares to resist the might of the Son of Heaven. His untamed nature is evident. This kind of person is not easy to control. If we are not careful, he might stir up a disaster. I'm afraid it will backfire and cause Ye Longtan to fall into a passive position. "
Lin Siyan said thoughtfully, "But if we want him to cooperate with us, we can't keep him in the dark. Does the Minister mean that we should tell him our intentions and obtain his cooperation?"
Qiao Hanwen smiled slightly. "He is a hereditary official. It will be difficult for us to reach a consensus. How can we tell him the truth? However, there is no harm in only telling him half of it! In this way, we might be able to cooperate with each other and not lose control. "
Yan Yifei nodded. "Elder Qiao is right. We might as well reveal the imperial court's intention to deal with Yang Yinglong in Bozhou to him. Anyway, when Ye Longtan is ready, he will also see the imperial court's intention clearly. This person is not someone who is willing to be under others. Now that he has offended most of the local officials and angered the Son of Heaven, there is no one else but us who can help him. I believe he will not refuse. "
Everyone nodded in agreement. Lin Siyan said cheerfully, "I have met Ye Xiaotian several times and we can be considered to be friends. Leave this matter to me."
…
When Ye Xiaotian was furious, the situation in Tongren and Shiqian was also undergoing earth-shattering changes.
After Tian Miaowen punished Ye Xiaotian and intimidated Ye Xiaotian's complicated subordinates, she immediately went to the Yu family village to visit Yu Junting. No one knew what these two cunning women discussed. But after Tian Miaowen left the Yu family village, Yu Junting immediately returned to Tongren Province.
Not long after, the Yu family's troops were quietly dispatched to the vicinity of Tongren City by her. Zhang Yuhan had already fallen out with Ye Xiaotian. Naturally, she had already taken precautions. A sneak attack would not succeed. However, Yu Junting did not use any schemes this time. After she expelled her two rebellious uncles, Yu Po-man and Yu Jiahai, the Yu family had already been unified. She no longer needed to endure everything and rely on her wits to deal with everything.
Yu Junting put on an upright display and launched an attack on the Zhang family head-on. When the two sides fought fiercely, Tian Miaowen's troops left Crouching Bull Mountain and charged to Tongren City with lightning speed, stabbing Zhang Yuhan in the back viciously. The Zhang family was immediately defeated. Zhang Yuhan left the Zhan family castle in defeat and formed a "government-in-exile" in the Zhan family.
The Zhan family, the Cao family, and the restless Yang family were on the main battlefield of Crouching Bull Mountain. Originally, it was impossible for them to mobilize troops to deal with the Zhang family, but it was exactly because it was impossible that her risk was a great success. When the Zhan family and Cao family discovered that Crouching Bull Mountain was empty and wanted to send troops to attack Mercury Mountain, Laoji Valley, and Crouching Bull Ridge, Tian Miaowen had already returned to the capital. The fleeting opportunity was gone.
With that, Ye Xiaotian unified Tongren Province. Apart from the Ye faction, there was no other powerful voice in Tongren that could oppose him. The Zhang family that had ruled over Tongren for close to five hundred years only had a few direct descendants left. They were hiding in the Zhan family, struggling at death's door.
However, although the Cao and Zhan alliance failed to seize the opportunity to attack Ye Xiaotian's nest, they did not come out completely empty-handed. They did not gain an advantage on the main battlefield, but they succeeded in sowing discord.
Shi Qian and the Yang family had been forced by force to submit to Ye Xiaotian. After Ye Xiaotian was escorted to the capital, the old and young of the Yang family began to stir.
The Tian family had already investigated this, and Tian Miaowen had specially sent people to remind Gedore to be careful. However, how could this old master be the opponent of these outsiders when he was scheming? After lowering his guard, the remaining members of the Yang family suddenly launched a sneak attack and heavily injured him. Taking advantage of the fact that Gedore was heavily injured and without a leader, they fled to the Zhan family's fortress.
At this time, Tian Miaowen had just dealt with the Zhang family in Tongren and led the army back, defeating the Cao and Zhan alliance with a great victory. However, due to the long journey, she was exhausted and could not take another step forward to take back the Yang family who had moved west. She could only watch as the Cao and Zhan alliance escorted the entire Yang family back to the Zhan family fortress.
Gedore was sent back to Crouching Bull Mountain to recuperate. Who would guard the Yang family fortress? There were still too few generals under Ye Xiaotian who could take charge of an area. Those who admired his reputation and wanted to join him were still in a wait-and-see state because Ye Xiaotian was still in the capital, and his fate was uncertain. Tian Miaowen was in dire straits, so she could only send the two brothers, Yu Po-man and Yu Jiahai, to guard the Yang family fortress.
Although the Yang family fortress was now an empty city, the terrain here was extremely important. If they could defend this place, the Cao and Zhan alliance would not be able to attack the Mercury Mountain and Old Steed Valley before they took the fortress. Once they launched a counterattack in the future, the Yang family fortress could become the bridgehead for the Crouching Bull Ridge to attack.
Of course, whether it be their strength or morale, none of them allowed the Crouching Bull Mountain to launch a counterattack. Tian Miaowen was doing everything she could to stabilize the interior and create the conditions for a counterattack. All of her preparations were set up for Ye Xiaotian. As long as he returned safely, she could give the order and the situation would rise again.
To stabilize the interior, eliminating the Zhang family was only the first step. They still needed sufficient rations and supplies to support a long war. The Crouching Bull Ridge had just been established, so the tribesmen had all moved out from the mountains. They did not have as much as the tribesmen outside the mountains, so rations and supplies were more important.
The other local officials of Tongren only needed to be obedient. They could not rely on them to send troops or contribute money at all. Fortunately, the Gu God Cult had accumulated a thousand years of wealth and controlled a gold mine, so money was not a problem. They only needed to convert the money into rations, armor, weapons, and medicinal ingredients.
However … sometimes, money could not be spent just because you wanted to. Aside from rations and medicinal ingredients, the things they needed to purchase were all prohibited items from the imperial court. At this time, the tycoon came into play. All the armor, arrows, and weapons needed were purchased from some secret channels at a high price, and then transported back to the Crouching Bull Mountain.
Just like that, the only path in and out of Guizhou, Hulu county, played a great role. Ye Xiaotian's painstaking management of Hulu county was put to use. The current district magistrate of Hulu county, Bai Hong, feared Ye Xiaotian like a tiger, so he definitely did not dare to make things difficult for him. With Li Yuncong, squad leader Zhou, and the others looking after him, and Luo Li Gao Chariot in charge of the transportation, everything went very smoothly. Large amounts of military resources were transported to the Crouching Bull Mountain endlessly. But who knew that after several consecutive successful purchases and shipments, there would suddenly be a major accident.
In the beginning, the tycoon only purchased a small amount. After he became familiar with the operation, he increased his purchasing efforts, purchasing enough military resources to support the soldiers of the Crouching Bull Mountain for two months in one go. Even for the Gu God Cult who possessed a gold mine, this amount of resources was an extremely huge expenditure. However, who would have thought that such a huge amount of military resources would suddenly vanish?
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