Huyang, Yueshan Lake, Dragon King Stronghold.
It had been some time since the army’s triumphant return, and all the trivial matters had been settled. Now that they were the only ones in Huyang, it was finally time to officially arrange seats.
Warships covered the lake and were lined up in an array. In the direction of the stronghold, large flags fluttered in the wind.
Dong dong dong—
The sound of drums was like thunder. Soon, a sea of people gathered by the riverbank and surrounded a wooden platform on the shore.
On the high platform, there were incense burners, candles, and dozens of bowls of wine.
After everyone calmed down, Zhou Jing and the leaders walked up the stairs and stood in front of the incense table.
Zhou Jing looked around and took in all the faces. Then, he circulated his internal force and spoke loudly, his voice booming like a loudspeaker.
“We’re gathered in Huyang because we are unwilling to rot with the plants. It’s precisely because of this that we want to make a career. Today, we brothers swear to the Heavens that from now on, we should work together, live together, and die together… This world is dark, and it’s filled with corrupt officials and landlords. We should uphold justice on behalf of the heavens!”
“I’m willing to hold the reins for the Chief!”
Everyone responded with a roar. They each picked up an incense stick and placed it on their foreheads to bow. Then, they burned yellow paper and made a blood pact. They drank a lot of strong wine and smashed their bowls.
Immediately after, Zhou Jing began to announce everyone’s seats and positions loudly and reward them based on their contributions.
Guo Haishen was undoubtedly the second-in-command. The third-in-command, Du Yunfeng, the fourth-in-command, Du Ying, the fifth-in-command, Hong Dingxian, the sixth-in-command, Fang Zhen, and so on.
In total, there were a total of 96 leaders in the stronghold. Most of them had joined later, and there were some talents among them that could be used.
After taking their seats, Zhou Jing’s gaze was sharp as he looked around at everyone.
“Brothers, you know my deeds. I once traveled between the villages and counties to get rid of evil and uphold justice on behalf of the heavens. Now that I have a huge foundation, I can occupy Huyang and protect the villages.
After today, I’ll set up an Hall of Grievances. If the poor people in the Huyang area have any grievances, they can tell me. All of you can’t neglect them. If it’s confirmed that there’s no mistake, I’ll seek justice for them… No matter if the target is rich or noble, we will seek revenge!
At the same time, set up a hall for martial lectures and impart martial arts to the people every day. Be it poor or lowly, as long as they want to learn martial arts as a foundation, we will not reject anyone.”
“Chief is honorable!”
As soon as he finished speaking, many men cheered.
Zhou Jing looked at the excited crowd and nodded to himself.
Now, he needed to accumulate food and build a stable area. It was not the time to rebel, so he did not shout the slogan of subverting the Imperial Court, nor did he immediately create a new law that was independent of the Imperial Court.
He was just using ways to seek justice for the people to create a lasting impact among the people.
“If I don’t directly touch the bottom line of the Imperial Court, it will still be considered a bandit problem. They will care about the cost of suppressing the bandits, and with the local soldiers having already been crippled by me. They are no longer a threat. I can develop properly in Huyang for a few years…”
Zhou Jing thought to himself.
The ceremony was quickly completed. Under the witness of many lackeys, the group officially set the rules. Then, they held a banquet in the stronghold for three consecutive days.
…
The news spread everywhere. Not only in Huyang, but soon, everyone knew the rule of the Dragon King Stronghold to seek justice for the people and spread martial arts to the people, causing a commotion.
Some people praised this as a good deed to uphold justice for the people and the heavens, while others cursed Chen Feng as an evildoer that did whatever one wanted and was lawless.
Many people in the Huyang area were overjoyed, while the nobles and officials were in a terrible mood. They were shocked and afraid of the future.
This Chen Feng had f*cking picked up his old profession again!
Can’t you just just happily be your stronghold King!
We’re not in your way. We can give you money and food. Why do you have to make things difficult for us?!
According to this dogsh*t rule, wouldn’t anyone come to take their lives just because they upset them? What kind of logic was this!
They could not stay in Huyang anymore!
For a moment, panic spread among the landlords and nobles. They were all very frightened and quickly sold their assets to find another way out and escape to other lands.
In the past, when Chen Feng’s small group committed crimes, they would at most go out to lie low. However, now that Chen Feng was going to occupy Huyang for a long time, this area had become a dragon’s pool and a tiger’s den in their eyes. They had no intention of returning at all.
They did not expect the government to suppress the bandits at all. The local soldiers of Huyang had all been crippled and could not deal with Chen Feng at all.
On the other side, the Huyang State government was also furious, but there was nothing they could do to Chen Feng.
The Imperial Court did not send an army to suppress the bandits. Other than blindly raging, the only other emotion the officials of the various states felt every day was fear. Every night, when they slept with their concubines, they were afraid that someone would sneak in and cut off their heads, causing them to lose all pleasure in bed.
As for some of the Huyang officials with connections, they secretly worked hard to transfer to other kingdoms as officials there instead.
With such a god of plague by their side, staying here was simply risking their life!
…
Capital, palace, Extreme Purple Hall.
The emperor sat on the dragon throne, and the ministers attended the court meetings.
“… Chen Feng from Huyang is causing trouble and is becoming more and more rampant. Now, there are already tens of thousands of people under him. It’s difficult for the Imperial Court to suppress the bandits. If we don’t restrain him, he will definitely become a huge problem!”
A minister spoke.
The Emperor’s face was as dark as water as he slowly said, “When I left Ning Tian last year, the Crown Prince was in charge of the country. The officials in Huyang had already reported the matter of the bandits. I let the Crown Prince deal with it fully, but after a year, it has actually worsened to this extent?”
Because he had been assassinated by Duan Yunfeng in Ning Tian Prefecture last year, the Emperor had no plans to go out this year and had been staying in the capital.
When Crown Prince Wang Jing heard this, he quickly went forward and bowed to apologize, “Your son knows his mistake.”
The Privy Ambassador, Pang Hong, stepped out to speak. He said, “At that time, Minister Qin offered a plan to drive the tiger away and swallow the wolf, recruiting the bandits of Huyang to deal with Chen Feng. Now, it seems that it’s useless. Instead, he was taught a lesson by Chen Feng. I wonder if Minister Qin still has a good plan?”
Qin Song’s expression did not change as he bowed, “Your Majesty, I was indeed careless to recruit the Huyang bandits.”
The Emperor shook his head and did not blame him. He instead asked,
“This Chen Feng has no regard for the Imperial Court. He’s really detestable. I wonder what plans my beloved ministers have to eliminate this person?”
Pang Hong immediately said solemnly, “Chen Feng opened court on his own and carried the hearts of the people. He has the intention of rebelling. In my opinion, he should be exterminated by the army!”
“A rebellion?” The Emperor frowned.
Although he did not want to spend money on military expenses, if the party was a rebel, he would have to exterminate him even if it cost him a lot.
After all, bandits and rebels were two different concepts. The Imperial Court could not sit back and watch the latter cause trouble without restraint.
At this moment, another minister stepped forward,
“Minister Pang’s words are too much. Although Chen Feng is arrogant and despotic, lawless, he didn’t rise up to rebel, nor did he claim to want to rebel. He’s just gathered a motley of bandits under him. That’s doing what an outlaw does. There’s no need to make a big fuss.”
Seeing this, Qin Song immediately added, “Your Majesty, in my opinion, mobilizing the army is just a waste of money. As long as Chen Feng doesn’t intensify his invasion of the state capital, why don’t we wait for the Heavenly King Stronghold to eliminate the Northern Yan and Eastern Tai bandits before sending them to deal with Chen Feng? At the very least, both sides will suffer heavy losses. It won’t be too late for the Imperial Court to send troops then.”
When the Emperor heard this, he pondered for a while before nodding,
“Minister Qin, what you said makes sense. Let’s do as you say.”
As long as he was not a traitor, his principle was to spend as little money as possible.
Moreover, there had always been pirates in Huyang. It was just that there was a new leader now, so there did not seem to be much difference.
Seeing that his plan had failed again, Pang Hong gritted his teeth and sulked.
With a few words, everyone quickly resolved this problem and talked about other things.
At this moment, one of the officials from the clean officials faction spoke out,
“I want to impeach someone from the Imperial Astronomer Bureau, Divine Firmament Wind Spirit Daoist! This person used the alchemy method to deceive the Saint. Although he’s on duty in the Imperial Astronomer Bureau, he idles around all day. Not only does he interact with hundreds of officials in private, but he also takes in disciples widely to the outside world. He’s a demon with ill intentions. I hope Your Majesty can investigate!”
As soon as he finished speaking, many of the court officials present revealed looks of disdain.
Ever since the Emperor brought back Perfected Master Windwalker, this group of officials had been targeting him. They had chased after him and scolded him for more than half a year, impeaching him every day. It was simply a daily routine and was already a must-have program for every court meeting.
This seemed to have become a trend. If they did not scold Ling Fengzi for confusing the public, they would not be able to show that they were part of the clean officials faction…
“Minister, you’re wrong. The Perfected One’s alchemy method is real and beneficial to the body. I often take it, and my spirit is much stronger than before…”
The Emperor was also sick of hearing this, but he could not flare up. He could only comfort him once and call back the impeachment.
Although Perfected Master Windwalker was always targeted, after taking the other party’s medicinal pills for the past few months, the Emperor had already clearly felt that his body had become better. He could even “stand up” again after a long time. He did not need the medicine from the Imperial Physicians to be able to take in several concubines at night and experience the nightly pleasures.
This made him dote on Perfected Master Windwalker even more… After obtaining such tangible benefits, he would not be swayed by others’ impeachment at all.
…
In a certain plains in Northern Yan…
The Heavenly King Stronghold’s army was stationed here. The tents were continuous, and there was almost no end to them.
Huyang was fighting a lively battle, and so was Northern Yan and Eastern Tai. Ever since they were recruited, Lu Longchuan and the other leaders had led the army to suppress the bandits and deal with the local bandits.
At this moment, it was noon. The camp was burying a pot to cook rice. Lu Longchuan and the other leaders sat by the tent, chatting as they ate. Unknowingly, they started chatting about the situation in Huyang.
“I didn’t expect Chen Feng to actually deal with the three flood dragons so easily. He’s now the overlord of the Southern Green Forest.”
“That’s right. Now, the underworld is even comparing his Dragon King Stronghold to our Heavenly King Stronghold. It’s really not simple.”
The leaders sighed.
They had spent many years to build a foundation like the Heavenly King Stronghold. They did not expect Chen Feng to become a Green Forest magnate in just a year. His position and stronghold was almost on par with them.
Every time they thought of the other party’s rapid rise, everyone felt like they had been slapped on the beach by the waves behind them. They secretly sighed at how old they were.
A leader sighed, “Sigh, after we’ve been recruited, our reputation in the Green Forest is now mixed. We’re no longer the hegemon. The position of the overlord of the Green Forest will probably fall on the Dragon King Stronghold in the future.”
When Lu Longchuan heard this, he comforted them,
“Brothers, don’t be discouraged. We’ve already embarked on the righteous path. In the future, we’ll serve the country. The reputation of the Green Forest is no longer useful to us. We’re no longer people of this level. As long as we calm down the bandits in Northern Yan, we can be rewarded based on our contributions.”
Everyone had varied expressions and nodded silently.
Xiang Tianjie wanted to say something but hesitated. In the end, he did not speak.
The deal of recruitment was to become a blade in the hands of the Imperial Court and risk their lives in exchange for fame and fortune.
The Imperial Court had recruited them to calm down the bandits in the world. However, even if Northern Yan and Eastern Tai were settled, they might still be sent to conquer Huyang.
Thinking of Chen Feng’s shocking deeds, Xiang Tianjie could not help but worry.
Against such a ruthless character, even if they won, how much would they have to pay and how many brothers would die?
For a moment, Xiang Tianjie gradually wavered in his decision in having accepted the recruitment.