The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 468 The Weird Great Yan Court

There will be great order after great chaos. The Yan Kingdom invaded the Central Plains with great force, but did not cause great chaos. This was not in line with Murong Fu's expectations. Then the army suppressed the country and started a series of purges. However, the purges were not against the loyal ministers of the Song Dynasty, but against the aristocratic families who had previously attacked the Murong family.

In the face of absolute strength, it was difficult for them to reason with Murong Fu. After all, the Murong family had wanted to reason with them before, but were rejected by them. Now the situation has changed, and it is time for them to repay their debts.

For a time, the entire northern border of the Song Dynasty was filled with cries. The confiscating of property and extermination of clans by the Great Yan State was equivalent to decades of taxes levied by the Song Dynasty. In addition, the State also gained a large amount of land. The Great Yan State did not give these lands to meritorious officials, but nationalized them and leased them directly to the people in the name of the court. At the same time, a census was conducted to crack down on hidden households.

Buddhist temples, as major landowners, were also implicated. However, well-known temples such as Shaolin Temple, Qingliang Temple, and Daxiangguo Temple stood up to express their support, making it impossible for other temples to unite and resist the "tyranny". Even the few rebellious monks were easily suppressed.

Daoist landowners were rare, and even those who did exist were located in the south, unable to influence the Great Yan State. The Murong Trading Company re-emerged, using its name to undertake various imperial engineering projects and organizing civilian workers to build massive structures. Far from wasting national resources, this project enriched the nation and its people, astonishing many.

Before Murong Fu governed Sichuan and Shu, the government took the lead and was fully responsible for the whole process. Now, the government simply takes the lead and the businessmen are fully responsible. The government is only responsible for planning, supervision, and acceptance. All professional matters are handed over to professionals, and the students of Gusu College have also produced a large number of royal businessmen who are specifically responsible for such matters.

Can you imagine that such a major undertaking as the management of the Yellow River can be privately contracted?

Can you imagine that military rations can also be customized and delivered privately?

Can you imagine that an official draws a blueprint and a group of businessmen below compete to bid and take the initiative to undertake the construction of bridges and roads?

Can you imagine a situation where the government sets maximum working hours and minimum wages for the coolies working under it, and sends people to supervise the entire process?

Half of the Shaolin monks moved to Shangjing, the capital of Dayan State. The number of Beggar Gang disciples was insufficient, and more than half of them were no longer beggars. Anyone with some education, who could read and count, had a good job. Half of the senior leaders even had official positions, and the rest had civil positions.

Murong Fu traveled around the northern region of the Song Dynasty, and then visited the former Liao Dynasty and the former Jurchen tribes. He had secret talks with his father Murong Bo and grandfather Sweeping Monk for seven days, and then he returned to Gusu Taihu Lake leisurely.

A very strange situation occurred in the Great Yan Kingdom. The capital was not yet decided, two people proclaimed themselves emperors, two people became saints, and two people were crowned kings.

Murong Bo and Murong Fu proclaimed themselves emperors at the same time. One in the south and one in the north, they were both emperors of the Great Yan Kingdom. Moreover, they were both very eloquent, which really shocked countless people. All the civil and military officials of the entire Great Yan Kingdom were their subjects, and they had to listen to the words of the two emperors.

The two saints were both Buddhist monks who swept the ground and were in charge of the Shangjing Buddhist Academy. This academy, which covered an area of ​​tens of thousands of acres, had nearly a hundred first-class masters, tens of thousands of Buddhist disciples, and three scripture-repositories filled with Buddhist scriptures. Abbot Xuanci resigned from his position as abbot of Shaolin Temple and took charge of a branch of the Buddhist Academy. However, the lay Buddhist Ye Erniang was by his side.

Are you talking about Xu Zhu?

As a Buddhist, he naturally had to stay with the Buddhist saints to receive education. In addition to him, Xiao Yuanshan, the new keeper of the scriptures, was also listening to the lectures under the sweeping monk's seat.

Another saint is Wuyazi of the Taoist sect. He climbed Mount Zhongnan and built a Taoist temple, where he collected Taoist classics. However, he did not run a school, establish a sect, or recruit disciples. He only preached the Tao. All Taoist masters in the world could come here to preach, but it was extremely difficult to join the Taoist temple.

Wuyazi's identity is no secret in Taoism, and the influence of a Taoist grandmaster is still very huge. This Taoist palace completely belongs to the Xiaoyao Sect. Li Qiushui (the scar on her face has been healed by Wuyazi himself) and Tong Piaoyun (whose height has not yet broken through to that of a grandmaster and is still seriously injured) accompany him. Su Xinghe is in charge of odd jobs, and half of the Eight Friends of Hangu have come here to do chores for the odd jobs.

It is not appropriate for the Lower Grade Hall under Li Qiushui to appear, but the women under Lingjiu Palace do not have such requirements. The young palace master Xiao A Zi likes to hang out here the most. The vanity brought by her high status makes her, Murong Fu's concubine, enjoy it very much, and her martial arts also need to deepen her Taoist cultivation to reach a higher level.

Wuyazi's attitude and actions made the Taoists very satisfied, fully embodying the core idea of ​​governing by inaction. He also created a Taoist holy land for them, where they can come at any time to study and improve themselves, as long as you are sincere and have certain qualifications.

The two kings are naturally the King of the Southern Court, Xiao Feng, and the King of Wen, Wang Erlang. Xiao Feng is stationed in Xiangyang to guard against rebellion in the small Southern Song Dynasty court. Wang Erlang has resigned from the post of president of Gusu Academy and is stationed in Bianliang with his wife, Princess Li Qingluo, to maintain this declining city so that things that the Great Yan Kingdom does not want to see will happen.

There are many followers around Cao Yi, the future king. They all know that Cao Yi will be crowned king in the future, but this process requires accumulating merits. The former generals of the Song Dynasty are also willing to serve him, in order to speed up the process of Cao Yi being crowned king and to accumulate merits for themselves. However, the Kingdom of Yan is not the Song Dynasty and is still very fair to military men.

Zhuge Yi was old. After returning to Sichuan, he was granted the title of Duke for his merits. He resigned from his official position and retained his title, determined to guard Sichuan. He also sent his children and grandchildren to Murong Fu to serve him.

After Sichuan and Shu returned to Great Yan, they actively prepared for war against Tubo. Trade with the Dali Kingdom, far from being interrupted, actually intensified. However, Dali, wary of Great Yan and drawn to the promise Duan Yu had received, sent the Prince of Zhen'an to Sichuan and Shu for training. Murong Fu, in turn, generously offered his brother-in-law the position of prefect, along with the assistance of over a dozen students from Gusu College, as a gesture of sincerity.

One year of great chaos, one year of great order. Three years later, the national strength of the Great Yan Kingdom doubled, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the army was strong. The small Southern Song Dynasty court had its sea routes cut off by the seventy-two island masters, and was restricted by the Great Yan Kingdom in its northern and western routes. In order to protect itself, it continued to expand its military strength. The people in the country were living in dire straits, and although it had a large number of troops, they had no combat effectiveness.

The Southern Song court watched Great Yan put its internal affairs in order and reorganize its military, and could only send waves of envoys bearing gifts to Great Yan. Each gift was two gifts, one for Murong Fu and one for Murong Bo. After all, Great Yan had two emperors on the throne. Either of these emperors had the power to send troops and the ability to destroy the Southern Song. They couldn't afford to offend either.

You mean sowing discord?

Haha, they were originally father and son, and the son was stronger than the father. Murong Fu was young and strong, and his willingness to allow Murong Bo to co-proclaim the emperor and rule the Great Yan Kingdom together was the greatest filial piety. Murong Bo was originally a smart man, so naturally he would not have any extra thoughts. Moreover, he had a father above him, who, although old, was more than capable of defeating him, and who was not far away, so he really didn't dare to move.

As the saying goes, grandparents are closer than grandchildren. The old man treats his grandson much better than he treats himself, just as he likes his grandson more than his son.

Sweeping Monk: Am I being nice to him just because he's my grandson? Isn't it because I really can't beat him? The strong demand respect!

Murong Bo: I am also a master-level expert.

Sweeping Monk: We are three generations of grandparents. I am the grandmaster, Fuer is the grandmaster, and you, who are at the bottom, shouldn’t you reflect on yourself?

Murong Bo: ...

Sweeping Monk: Even if we don't talk about the three of us, even your wife, can you beat her? In ten years, you may not even be able to beat Fu'er's wife.

Murong Bo: Father, can we not talk about our daughters-in-law? Your daughter-in-law is not as open-minded as mine. I have many wives and concubines. I can be compared with Emperor Baoding.

It was no exaggeration to say that Murong Fu had many wives and concubines. Since the conquest of Bianliang, countless people had vied to send their daughters to him, including Princess Yinchuan of Western Xia and the eldest princess of the Southern Song Dynasty, the daughter of the former emperor and now a founding viscount.

Countless women were sent by other wealthy families, but none of them were accepted by Murong Fu. Only Princess Yinchuan and the official's eldest daughter were left. One became a concubine and the other became a housekeeper.

However, three years later, after the Great Yan Kingdom had sorted out everything, it first dispatched masters from Lingjiu Palace and Xingxiu Sea to occupy the capital of Western Xia. Then Cao Yi's army approached and easily took the entire Western Xia into its possession. Then it joined forces with the Liao army and marched into Tubo under the leadership of Murong Fu.