You get Lu Bu as your starting character.

Chapter 239 Your Majesty, News from the Southern Frontier

Outside Dongyan Pass.

The Eastern Barbarian army camp.

Flames soared into the sky, and the fighting raged on.

After Zhao Yun killed the King of Dongyi and several of Dongyi's generals with a single spear thrust, he led his White Horse Cavalry to continue charging into the Dongyi army.

With the death of the King of Dongyi, the Dongyi army immediately fell into chaos.

With the Eastern Wilderness Marquis and Dian Wei in front and Zhao Yun behind, the Eastern Yi army collapsed within minutes.

The entire Dongyi camp was thrown into complete chaos in an instant.

……

Half a day later.

The sounds of fighting in the Dongyi camp ceased, and the fire gradually died down.

The entire Dongyi camp returned to calm.

Marquis Donghuang, covered in blood, looked at the corpses scattered on the ground with a hearty smile on his face.

The King of Dongyi died.

The Eastern Yi army was also defeated by them.

So, there's no doubt that they'll wipe out the Eastern Yi next.

Marquis Donghuang never imagined that he, Marquis Donghuang, would one day be able to wipe out the Dongyi barbarians beyond the pass.

Just thinking about it makes the Marquis of Donghuang feel invigorated.

Dian Wei and Zhao Yun, however, showed no significant change in expression as they looked at the corpses scattered on the ground.

In the eyes of such outstanding individuals, defeating a mere alien race is nothing to be celebrated.

"General Zhao, the great victory over the Eastern Yi army this time was truly thanks to General Zhao leading the White Horse Cavalry in a surprise attack from the rear of the Eastern Yi army."

"Otherwise, defeating the Eastern Yi army would not be so easy."

Marquis Donghuang looked at Zhao Yun and said with a smile.

indeed.

If it weren't for Zhao Yun leading the White Horse Cavalry in a surprise attack from behind on the Eastern Yi army camp, causing chaos throughout the camp...

Defeating the Dongyi army will not be so easy for them.

After all, the Eastern Barbarians had mobilized their entire army to attack Dongyan Pass this time.

Although the Dongyi army has suffered considerable losses in its attacks on Dongyan Pass these past few days, its forces are still several times larger than theirs.

Even with such a large force as the Dongyi army, it would have taken considerable effort to defeat them had the Dongyi camp not fallen into chaos.

"You flatter me, Your Excellency. This was all arranged by His Majesty."

"Now that the King of Dongyi is dead and the Dongyi army has been defeated and fled, we should quickly send troops to sweep away all the Dongyi tribes and annihilate them."

Zhao Yun looked at the Marquis of Donghuang and said.

Marquis Donghuang nodded; "General Zhao is right. We should take advantage of our current great victory and immediately send troops to march into Dongyi."

"We cannot give the Eastern Barbarians any time to react," said the Marquis of Donghuang.

Subsequently, the Marquis of Donghuang, Zhao Yun, and Dian Wei led their army straight to Dongyi.

……

royal palace.

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Zhou Chen buried himself in reviewing the memorials.

At this moment, a palace eunuch entered.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Xiao is requesting an audience outside the palace."

The eunuchs and guards entered and reported.

"Let him in."

Zhou Chen said something without looking up.

The eunuchs and guards bowed and withdrew.

moment.

Xiao He then entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

"I have met His Majesty."

Xiao He entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation and bowed respectfully to Zhou Chen on the dragon throne.

"No gifts!"

Zhou Chen looked up at Xiao He; "How are things going with your discussions regarding the arrangements after the war between the Western Rong and the Northern Di?"

Although the Great Zhou army destroyed the Western Rong and Northern Di, the aftermath of this great war was no less difficult than dealing with the Western Rong and Northern Di.

"Your Majesty, that is precisely why I have come."

"This is the result of discussions between me and several ministers from the Six Ministries, and it also includes matters concerning the establishment of government offices and the handling of prisoners."

"Your Majesty, please review this."

Xiao He took out a memorial from his sleeve and bowed.

Upon seeing this, the palace eunuchs immediately stepped forward, took the memorial from Xiao He's hand, and presented it to Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen took the memorial from the hands of the eunuchs and guards.

I opened it and started reading.

This was the specific arrangement for the land outside the pass that Xiao He and his colleagues had discussed.

After Zhou Chen finished reading Xiao He's memorial, he looked up at Xiao He and said, "Xiao He, change the name of the Northern Barbarians to the Northern Capital Prefecture, and proceed according to the result of your discussion."

"Later, the Southern Barbarians and the Eastern Barbarians also followed this method."

"You should select suitable officials as soon as possible and send them to take up their posts in Beidu Prefecture and Xidu Prefecture."

Zhou Chen said to Xiao He.

Zhou Chen had no objection to the establishment of prefectures outside the pass, with one prefecture each for the Western Rong and the Northern Di.

In any case, the Northern Di and Western Rong had been destroyed, and the lands inhabited by the Northern Di and Western Rong had been incorporated into the territory of his Great Zhou.

It is only natural to set up a separate prefecture, as this would facilitate governance and administration.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Xiao He bowed and said.

Afterwards, Xiao He reported some matters of the court to Zhou Chen and then left the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Not long after Xiao He left, Cao Zhengchun rushed into the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

"His Majesty."

"King Kao Shan defeated the Nanman army in the Flowing Sand Forest outside the South Gate Pass, and the Nanman King was killed by Lü Bu."

"This is news from the southern border; please take a look, Your Majesty."

Cao Zhengchun delivered the message directly to Zhou Chen.

"Oh!"

Zhou Chen's spirits lifted, and he immediately took the message from the southern border from Cao Zhengchun's hand.

Glanced.

Although it was short, the content brought a smile to Zhou Chen's lips.

"With the death of the barbarian king and the defeat of the southern barbarian army, the outcome for the southern barbarians was not unexpected."

Zhou Chen put down the message in his hand and said with a smile.

Now that the Northern Di and Western Rong have been destroyed, it's only a matter of time before the Southern Man are also destroyed.

Of the four foreign tribes, only the Dongyi remained.

Zhou Chen glanced at Cao Zhengchun and asked, "Any news from the Eastern Wilderness?"

Cao Zhengchun shook his head; "Your Majesty, there has been no news from the Eastern Wilderness yet."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chen said nothing more.

In Zhou Chen's view, if there are no major surprises on the Dongyi side, the outcome of the battle against Dongyi is not in doubt.

With the four foreign tribes eliminated, the Great Zhou's external enemies have been temporarily wiped out.

……

Lingnan.

Government office.

Xun Yu looked at the number of lands measured and tallied in his hand, his eyes flickering slightly.

Previously, although the Song family outwardly agreed to cooperate with Xun Yu in measuring and surveying their land, they secretly used many tricks to trip them up.

Xun Yu, relying on his own abilities, has completed the surveying and statistics of more than 80% of the land in the entire Lingnan Prefecture over the past few days. However, about 20% is still missing from the survey.

Besides the Song family's clandestine efforts, other powerful families also sabotaged these unmeasured and unaccounted-for lands behind the scenes.

These people aren't uncooperative; they're just two-faced and manipulative.

This gave Xun Yu a bit of a headache.

Cao Shaoqin, standing nearby, glanced at Xun Yu and said, "Minister Xun, in my opinion, we should take direct action and let the Song family experience the methods of my Eastern Depot."

"Only then can they know how high the sky is and how thick the earth is."

Cao Shaoqin said in a feminine tone.

Do the Song family, one of the four great clans, really think they can rest easy and that no one will dare to touch them?

Cao Shaoqin was not afraid.

While others might be wary of powerful families like the Song family, Cao Shaoqin had no such concerns.

If it weren't for the fact that the land surveying and statistics were primarily handled by Xun Yu's Ministry of Revenue, with the Eastern Depot playing a secondary role in assisting Xun Yu...

Xun Yu did not nod in agreement.

Perhaps Cao Shaoqin would have already taken action against the Song family.

Hearing Cao Shaoqin's words, Xun Yu looked at Cao Shaoqin and smiled slightly; "Chief Supervisor Cao, this game must have rules."

"Since the Song family has agreed to cooperate with the court in measuring and surveying the land, if we take action against the Song family, it would make the court look bad."

"The Song family is no ordinary family. It's not worth making a big fuss about the Song family over this little thing."

Xun Yu was not a soft-hearted person.

If the Song family does not cooperate with the court, Xun Yu will take action against them without hesitation.

But now, the Song family is cooperating with the imperial court, only using some underhanded tactics.

If they were to launch a major attack on the Song family over something so trivial, it would be unacceptable.

That would not only make the court look bad, but also show that Xun Yu was incompetent and unable to deal with the Song family's underhanded tactics.

This could affect Xun Yu's prestige in the court as the Minister of Revenue.

"Minister Xun, but we don't have the extra time to get entangled with the Song family here."

Cao Shaoqin had already witnessed Xun Yu's abilities in the past few days.

They had no problem dealing with the Song family's various methods, but the problem was that they didn't have much time to get entangled with the Song family here.

Xun Yu put down the land survey data in his hand and nodded; "Yes! We don't have much time to get entangled with the Song family. There are other places of land waiting for us to survey and count!"

"The Song family is retaliating against those Song family members they took down before the Eastern Depot; they don't want us to have an easy time."

"However, now that the imperial court is exterminating the foreign tribes outside the pass, powerful families like the Song family should have already received the news."

"If they're smart, they should know what to do next."

Xun Yu's eyes flickered inexplicably.

"Chief Supervisor Cao, pack up, it's time for us to leave."

Xun Yu glanced at Cao Shaoqin and said.

what?
leave?

Cao Shaoqin was clearly taken aback, thinking he had misheard.

"Minister Xun, the land in Lingnan Prefecture hasn't even been surveyed and counted yet, and we're already leaving like this? Aren't we going to survey and count the other lands?"

Cao Shaoqin frowned as he looked at Xun Yu, somewhat puzzled by Xun Yu's meaning.

Xun Yu put away the measured and compiled data in his hand, stood up, and said, "The rest can be left to the officials of the Ministry of Revenue. We can go to the next place now."

Xun Yu said, without explaining much.

Upon hearing this, Cao Shaoqin's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he immediately understood Xun Yu's meaning.

Now that the imperial court has annihilated the foreign tribes beyond the Great Wall, it carries the momentum of a great victory and has a considerable deterrent effect on these powerful families.

If these powerful and wealthy families were smart enough, they wouldn't dare to cause any more trouble, unless they wanted to die.

……

Song family.

Inside the council chamber.

The head of the Song family sat in the main seat.

The heads of each branch of the Song family were seated below.

The Song family patriarch glanced at everyone present and said, "You should all already know the news that the imperial court sent troops to the border to annihilate the Western Rong and Northern Di, so I won't say more."

"I have gathered you all here today because I have another message to share."

"The imperial court secretly transferred the Six Guards of the Northern Camp of Luoyang to the Southern Frontier and the Eastern Wilderness respectively."

"News has just arrived that the Prince of Kaoshan, along with his Divine Martial Guards, defeated the Southern Barbarian army in the Flowing Sand Forest outside the pass, and the Barbarian King was killed by Lü Bu."

"The Dongyi were defeated outside Dongyan Pass by Xiaoqi of the Wuzhi family, who led the Shenwu Guard. The Dongyi king was killed by Zhao Yun, and Xiaoqi of the Wuzhi family has already led a large army to attack the Dongyi."

"I don't need to say more, you should all know what this means?"

The Song family patriarch looked at the heads of the various branches below him, his voice revealing neither anger nor irritation.

But his tone was exceptionally cautious.

what?
The imperial court also defeated the armies of the Southern Barbarians and the Eastern Barbarians, killing the kings of the Southern Barbarians and the Eastern Barbarians.

Upon hearing this, the heads of each branch of the Song family present were all taken aback.

They never expected that after the imperial court destroyed the Western Rong and Northern Di, it would so quickly defeat the armies of the Southern Man and Eastern Yi, and even kill the Man king and the Eastern Yi king.

This truly surprised them.

So, when the imperial court sent troops to deal with the Western Rong and Northern Di, it probably already had a plan in place, and even the Southern Man and Eastern Yi were taken into account.

Otherwise, the imperial court could not have so quickly defeated the armies of the Southern Barbarians and Eastern Barbarians, and even killed the Barbarian King and the Eastern Barbarian King, after just destroying the Western Rong and Northern Di.

The barbarian king and the Dongyi king died.

The Southern Barbarian army and the Eastern Barbarian army were defeated.

The fate of the Southern Barbarians and the Eastern Barbarians was thus predictable.

"In that case, the destruction of the Southern Barbarians and the Eastern Barbarians is already a foregone conclusion."

"First the Western Rong and the Northern Di, and now the Southern Man and the Western Rong are coming next. All the foreign tribes from all directions have been wiped out by the imperial court. That emperor in the palace is no ordinary man!"

One of the people in charge said with a serious expression.

"Yes! For many years, the Great Zhou has wanted to exterminate the foreign tribes beyond the Great Wall, but it has never succeeded."

"I never imagined that His Majesty in the palace would actually achieve this. It's truly unbelievable!"

Another person in charge also sighed.

What the Great Zhou had wanted to do for many years but had not been able to accomplish, Zhou Chen had now done.

This was indeed somewhat unexpected for everyone.

"The four foreign tribes have been wiped out by the imperial court, so what the court will do next will probably be related to the surveying and accounting of land."

"We're in trouble."

"That's right. Although we don't yet know the true purpose of the person in the palace who is surveying and counting the land of the world, it probably isn't a good thing."

"If that person in the palace really wants to take over the land, then we'll be in big trouble."

The other people in charge spoke one after another, their faces grave.

They knew better than anyone that the imperial court's surveying and census of the land across the country must have some ulterior motive.

Now that the imperial court has annihilated the foreign tribes in all directions, its strength is no longer what it used to be. If it really wants to take over the land, then the first to suffer will be these aristocratic families.

Listening to everyone's words, the Song family patriarch said in a deep voice, "Regardless of the purpose of the imperial court's land survey and statistics, from now on, our Song family will cooperate with the Ministry of Revenue in surveying and statistics of the land in Lingnan, and will not do anything else."

"The imperial court has annihilated the foreign tribes in all directions and is now riding a wave of great victory; things are no longer what they used to be."

"If we continue to make those underhanded moves, we'll anger the lady in the palace."

"When that person in the palace gets angry, it won't do our Song family any good."

The head of the Song family reminded the heads of the various branches of the Song family present.

To prevent the leaders of these branches from losing their minds and bringing disaster upon the Song family.

Upon hearing the words of the Song family patriarch, the heads of the various branches of the Song family, though unwilling to allow the imperial court to measure and count their land, were still deeply moved.

But they knew the Song family patriarch was right; the current imperial court was no longer what it used to be.

Even the foreign tribes from all directions were wiped out by the imperial court, which shows the strength of the imperial court.

If they really anger that person in the palace, given that person's style of doing things, the Song family will probably not fare well.

Just like the seven great families, the Yuan family of Runan and the Zheng family of Rongyang, they were wiped out by that person in the palace.

Therefore, the heads of each branch of the Song family silently nodded at the words of the Song family patriarch and said nothing more.

(End of this chapter)