Dragon Canon

The royal capital, State of Zhao.

Upon arriving at the capital, a confidential report was divided into seven copies and sent to different locations.

One of these reports was delivered directly to a magnificent mansion house. After passing through numerous security checkpoints, it was finally placed on a writing desk and picked up by a hand in impeccable condition.

Seated behind the desk was a man of some years. He was handsome, dignified, and exuded an air of natural nobility. He read the report word by word, his concentration intense.

After finishing, he pondered for a moment before shaking his head. “Thirty thousand infantry versus ten thousand iron cavalry of the Northern Frontier Cavalry, yet it was the latter that was completely routed. If it were me... No, I only know how to lead a cavalry.”

He set down the report and raised his voice. “Someone, saddle a horse! I must head to the palace to see my father!”

Moments later, he stood in the royal study of the palace.

The King of Zhao, still in the prime of his life, was standing before a sand table surrounded by models of infantry and cavalry. On one side of the room stood three princes and a princess; on the other side, several generals.

At that moment, a general frowned and said, “We’ve run through this scenario countless times, but we just couldn’t achieve such results. Even if the soldiers are all equipped with repeated crossbows and are highly trained, once the cavalry closes in, panic is inevitable. And the moment there’s even the slightest disorder, the cavalry will break through the lines, and defeat is unavoidable.”

A prince with short beard spoke up, “If we incorporate my Brave Cloud Guards into the infantry, we might stand a chance. But I have only trained five thousand Brave Cloud Guards.”

Another prince, the youngest one, retorted, “Eldest brother, you’ve been training your Brave Cloud Guards for three full years, while they’ve only established their domain for a little over three months.”

The King of Zhao, who had remained silent until then, spoke up. ‘It seems Qingming isn’t using conventional methods. We won’t figure anything out by guessing here; it’s best to go and see for ourselves. Perhaps the old fools of the Palace of Absolute Beginning were secretly meddling with things and stockpiled some sort of devastating weapons there. Chonghu, I leave this matter to you.”

A general in the room immediately replied, “As you command.”

The King of Zhao looked at the somewhat disheveled sand table and said slowly, “Whether you’ve used heretical arts or immortal artifacts, they can’t have employed overly extreme measures right under Lü Ming[1]’s nose. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that Qingming factually possesses the combat strength to annihilate ten thousand elite cavalry in a head-on clash. Incidentally, Anguo has sent me a letter proposing a strategy. I believe it’s worth a try.”

“What is this brilliant strategy, Your Majesty?” The generals and princes were all curious.

Before she married into Western Jin and became the First Consort, Li Ruyi held the title of the Anguo Princess. Although her influence had grown increasingly prominent in recent years—to the point where she had sidelined the Queen of Western Jin so completely that the entire state had forgotten that they even had a queen, those who had known her in the State of Zhao still addressed her as the Anguo Princess out of habit.[2].

The King of Zhao declared, “Appoint Wei Yuan as Military Commissioner of Ningxi. He is authorized to establish his own seat and appoint officials.”

Everyone was caught by surprise, but the more they thought about it, the more incredible the decision seemed to be.

The First Prince said, “Lü Ming will certainly not allow this to happen, but what if he is truly senile and chooses to look the other way?”

The King of Zhao made a sweeping gesture with his hand, and the sand table instantly transformed into a map of the western regions. He then traced a line across it—connecting the State of Zhao and Qingming—before saying, “If he becomes a Military Commissioner of Zhao, then it’s only natural that Zhao would want to connect their borders with Qingming, right? We will first head west, then north, carving a path through the Shamans’ lands. That way, Western Jin’s western routes will fall completely into our hands!”

The Third Prince, who had remained silent until then, spoke with dignified composure, “Eldest Brother, Lü Ming cannot be so foolish as to overlook this, but since we have already offered our bestowal, his cannot be much lower than ours. However, the seat of Ningxi has already been established; if he were to set the bestowal too high, the officials below will grow discontent. Therefore, we need only deliver the imperial edict of bestowal to Wei Yuan before he does. We can then sit back and watch as Western Jin descends into internal strife.”

A general with an air of scholarly refinement remarked, “In my estimation, the Crown Prince’s faction may have been suppressing Qingming all along—and by extension, the Palace of Absolute Beginning—which is why they had launched their attack. However, they never anticipated that they would suffer such a crushing defeat and ensnared themselves in a bind instead. To eliminate Qingming now would likely require mobilizing a massive army of at least three hundred thousand, and sever their ties with the Palace of Absolute Beginning completely. I do not believe they will go to such extremes. By leveraging the King of Jin’s bestowal, the Anguo Princess might be able to seize the opportunity to eliminate the Crown Prince’s supporters, thereby killing several birds with one stone.”

The King of Zhao made his decision. “Dispatch an envoy to the western regions to convey my decree at once!”

Seat of Ningxi, Anzhao Commandery.

Chen Dao and Yue Jinshan sat facing each other. Chen Dao handed over a sealed letter and said, “His Majesty intends to issue an edict reducing your salary by three years, demoting you by two ranks, and retaining you in your current post on probation.”

Yue Jinshan showed no change in expression and replied, “I had mobilized the troops without authorization out of foolishness and willfulness. Such a lenient punishment is already an extraordinary act of mercy.”

Chen Dao took a sip of tea and said slowly, “Tell me the truth, Old Yue—can Qingming actually be broken?”

A sharp gleam flashed in Yue Jinshan’s eyes as he replied, “Their spear formation has a major flaw—it cannot turn easily. As long as we flank them with cavalry on both wings, victory will not be difficult. I suffered such a crushing defeat only because I was overconfident that day and insisted on a head-on assault. Give me an army of two hundred thousand and mobilize all the elite troops under my command from the northern frontier, and Qingming will be broken within a month.”

Chen Dao slowly nodded. “It’s more or less as I expected.”

He rose to his feet and began pacing back and forth, choosing his words carefully. “At first, I thought Qingming was just a minor nuisance. But after this battle, I’ve realized they’ve become a grave threat to Great Jin! If we don’t eliminate them now, disaster is sure to follow!”

“But....”

Chen Dao raised his hand to silence Yue Jinshan and continued, “I know you want to say that we should all unite against the Shamans and that there’s no need to turn on one another. But while resisting the Shamans is important, under whose banner we resist them is equally important. If we nurture a threat now, in twenty or thirty years, the one holding the line here could very well be the new State of Wei or the Palace of Absolute Beginning. Regardless of your personal feelings, Old Yue, we are ministers of Western Jin, are we not?”

Yue Jinshan couldn’t say anything for a time.

Chen Dao waved his hand forcefully and said, “Let’s join forces one more time, you and I! I’ll persuade the high officials in the court and the members of the Council of State and secure the funds, provisions, and troops you need. You don’t need to worry about the Palace of Absolute Beginning either; the Four Sages Academies and the Sword Palace can both step in to keep them in check. Your only task is to wipe out Qingming—and ideally, slay Wei Yuan as well. If this youth is not eliminated, I am sure it is only a matter of time before he becomes a grave threat to Great Jin!”

“... Isn’t that going a bit too far? Wei Yuan is currently nothing more than a minor Dao Foundation stage cultivator. Even if he were to become a True Lord in the future, the sects and states already have their countermeasures. Why go to such lengths?”

Chen Dao let out a sigh and answered, “As you’re aware, my whole life is dedicated to the study of divination and fortune. Restlessness has been plaguing me as of late, so I’ve been calculating constantly. A few days ago, I noticed a sudden shift in the ambient fortunes, as if some extraordinary treasure had appeared in the world. On a whim, I performed various divinations. Although I detected no trace of that treasure, I inadvertently caught a glimpse of the heavenly mysteries.”

He paused for a moment, then spoke slowly and deliberately. “Wei Yuan’s fortune is dark with a tinge of blood, and it clashes with the fortune of our Great Jin. In other words, he is either a harbinger of disaster or a rebel! It’s just that until now, his destiny was heavily obscured, making it impossible to divine. Thinking back, the Palace of Absolute Beginning likely hadn’t sent him to the west for ordinary training; they truly harbored ill intent.”

Yue Jinshan could only sigh. If Wei Yuan’s fortune really was as Chen Dao claimed, then he could not be spared—regardless of whether he had committed harmful acts to Western Jin.

Chen Dao was not one to speak lightly. Since he spoke with such certainty, he must be absolutely confident. Even if the Palace of Absolute Beginning had intervened to obscure Wei Yuan’s fortune, Chen Dao still had a very good chance of persuading the nobles and the King of Jin.

Just then, an attendant arrived outside the study and announced, “My lord, a secret edict just arrived from the capital!”

Chen Dao took the edict, opened it, and blanched all of a sudden. A moment later, he let out a long sigh and handed the edict to Yue Jinshan with a bitter expression.

This was a secret edict declared by the King of Jin and drafted by the Council of State. It carried the same legal weight as a formal royal decree. The edict ordered Chen Dao to mobilize elite troops and fierce generals, disguised as bandits, to intercept the secret Zhao delegation that was about to arrive in the western regions. Under no circumstances was the edict appointing Wei Yuan as the Military Commissioner of Ningxi was to be delivered into Wei Yuan’s hands!

After reading the secret edict, Yue Jinshan instantly envisioned the various consequences that would follow, and could do nothing but sigh.

Meanwhile, Wei Yuan had already inspected the area around Willow Ash Town and, while he was at it, had taken a detour around the outskirts of Anzhao as well. The garrison troops of the commandery hadn’t fled at the first sign of trouble like those in Ningxi, but they did swallow their pride and retreat three whole li after seeing the hundreds of masked horse bandits.

Wei Yuan did not try to test Chen Dao and Yue Jinshan’s limits. After gauging the response of the Anzhao garrison, he returned by the same route, passed through the deserted town that was Willow Ash Town, and knocked once more on the door of the commandery administrator’s office.

This time, the commandery administrator truly was absent.

According to the gatekeeper, the man had left the city several days ago to survey the local customs and people of the commandery. He had not brought any attendants with him, and he had not yet returned.

Yuan Qingyan was an Avatar. Wei Yuan had no chance of catching him in the vast wilderness. It didn’t really matter anyway. After he had passed by the office twice without entering, Yuan Qingyan’s reputation was likely ruined.

After putting on a show of force, Wei Yuan returned to Qingming and exchanged for another batch of historical texts. Then, while referring to the maps and sand tables, he began researching how the human race had determined territorial ownership after expanding their borders.

At the moment, the Great Tang was still the undisputed ruler of the realm, the sovereign of all under heaven, and the sole Son of Heaven.

All land under heaven, regardless of whether they were occupied by the human race, theoretically belonged to the Son of Heaven of Great Tang. This applied not only to the Nine States but also the Four Immortal Sects.

Secondly, regarding the territorial expansion of the Nine States, the territory belonged to whoever owned the realm stone. After the realm lord had served as a commandery administrator for a hundred years, the realm would be transferred to the respective feudal state. In rare cases, it might be handed over to the House of Tang, becoming a direct territory of the Great Tang.

However, at this time, the feudal lords were powerful while the Son of Heaven was weak. Among the Nine States, the Great Tang’s direct territories ranked in the bottom three and just barely avoided the last place.

Most of the newly acquired territories of the human race ultimately belonged to the various feudal states. From this, one could see the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances between the feudal states and the sects: the states primarily governed the common folk and controlled the frontiers, while the sects were responsible for nurturing high cultivators. They also relied on the states for the recruitment of their own disciples.

The final option was the sects’ mountain gates—directly administered territories belonging to the sects themselves. These were true extraterritorial zones not subject to the authority of the Nine States, though they nominally acknowledged the Emperor of Tang as their sovereign.

For instance, the Palace of Absolute Beginning possessed three such mountain gates. The northern mountain gate, situated in the northern regions of Yun Province and Gan Province, was the smallest, yet its territory still spanned over 6,000 li in radius. Among the Four Immortal Sects, the Exquisite Blossom Pure Land only possessed one mountain gate, yet it spanned over 10,000 li in radius. One could almost call it a Buddha-realm on earth where no royal decree held sway.

Wei Yuan was studying all this because he had reached the juncture where he had to contemplate about Qingming’s future and which path it would ultimately take.

1. Lü Ming was briefly mentioned by Pei Tinghai in Chapter 97 but his identity wasn’t mentioned. ☜

2. Meaning the Princess of National Security. I couldn’t just translate it as it is because of the stated reasons. Fortunately there was a Xiang Marquis to set a precedent so it doesn’t look too awkward. ☜