Beichen Sword Sect's Headmaster's Secret Records

Chapter 190 Jiangdu
The Sanyuan Palace is a fairly standard feudal dynasty. The four clans and eight vassals each guard their own positions, and the twenty-eight constellations guard the world.

This system originated from the time of the Immortal Lord, when the royal family princesses and queens guarded the country's borders and the four directions of east, west, south, and north. The Immortal Lord personally led the eight military lords to conquer the eight directions and plundered the living space from the hands of the demons.

In the era of Emperor Wu, the Nine Provinces were established, and the eight vassal states were used to guard the frontiers, and the imperial guards were used to guard the borders. The heart of the Central Plains was renamed Sili Jingji and was directly governed by the Three Yuans.

The four ancient states were gradually extended favors and abolished, with the prime minister and governor acting as the rulers. The princes and dukes became idle positions supported by the royal family, no longer having real military and political power, and only being rich and virtuous kings, old and aged. As for whether to trust and reuse them, or to guard against and confine them, it depends on your relationship with Ziweiyuan.

However, the situation in recent generations is somewhat special. At the end of Emperor Wu's reign, there was the witchcraft disaster, and the case of Crown Prince Li forcing the emperor to abdicate and rebelling, which led to the killing of the father and son of the Immortal Palace and internal strife among the Three Palaces, involving many people.

It also involves the case of party members, and there are evil sects watching covetously, so the disaster has continued to this day, and from time to time, nobles and aristocratic families are confiscated and executed for the crime of being part of the Crown Prince's party.

Due to his involvement in the Crown Prince Li case, Emperor Wu's five sons died, some of them were deposed, some were beheaded, and some committed suicide. Finally, his youngest son succeeded to the throne but died of illness in Ziweiyuan shortly afterwards. He left no offspring, and the direct line was almost cut off.

Therefore, Ziweiyuan selected emperors and marquises from the four major clans and adopted them as the legitimate heirs of the imperial lineage. The current Immortal Emperor was selected from the Southern Clan. So in terms of seniority, the Lord of the Southern Clan is the uncle of the current Immortal Emperor, but the actual situation is hard to say.

Rumor has it that the blood relationship of the Immortal Palace royal family is chaotic. In order to preserve the purity of the emperor's blood as much as possible, awaken the immortal emperor's blood, and avoid the congenital defects of inbreeding, the royal family seems to be practicing some kind of group marriage within the clan and not intermarrying with other powerful families.

Take the Southern Kingdom’s royal family as an example. The princes and princesses of the right age would go to the Northwest and East Kingdoms to “travel and visit” as “exchange students”. After a round of rotation, the children born would undergo strict tests of blood, immortal bones and spiritual roots. Only those with the highest blood purity and the best qualifications could become princes and princesses, and be assigned to concubines for upbringing. Those with lower qualifications would be thrown to palace maids and wet nurses to take care of, and when they grow up, they would also be slaves in the palace, kept for future entertainment.

So in terms of blood relationship, the Lord of the South could actually be the biological father of the current Immortal Emperor, or he could be his uncle, or his grandfather, or he could also be... well, anyway, he's a relative!

Of course, when choosing the emperor, Sanyuan actually considered that the north had been settled, and the next step was to conquer the demon tribe of Li Kingdom, which would require the support of a sect in the south, so he specially chose someone from this sect to succeed to the throne.

Therefore, it can be imagined that the current Immortal Emperor trusts the Southern Kingdom's royal family very much. Not only has he rewarded the Southern Kingdom many times and granted land and money to the Southern Kingdom, even the guards of the Immortal Palace were sent to sweep the southern border and help the Southern Kingdom expand its territory.

However, due to the internal fighting among the three courts for the military power of the Tiger Tally, the army was slow to turn around and could not be assembled. In exchange for the Southern Kingdom bearing the cost of the army, the three courts exempted the corvée and taxes, granted the Southern Kingdom the right to mint its own Shengang coins, and issued a special decree that the royal family monopolized the salt and iron business rights.

As a result, the southern country had light taxes and no levies, and its people were rich and prosperous.

In addition, the hereditary Jiangdu Prefecture in the southern country was originally a land of fish and rice. It had convenient water transportation thanks to the Yunmeng Lake, and the waterways could reach the four countries of Kun, Li, Xun, and Zhen, and directly reach the three enclosures of Sili in the north.

Not only rice is planted, but wheat, rice, fish, shrimp and crab are abundant, and mulberry, hemp, tea and bamboo are also planted in sufficient quantities. The corresponding downstream industries such as shipbuilding, fish processing, textile, tea making, weaving, and pharmaceutical industries are also at a leading level.

This attracted a large number of wealthy businessmen to come and take the main route to the south, transport military rations in exchange for salt permits, become franchised salt merchants, bid heavily, contract military expenses, take advantage of the nearby waterways of the south, transport money and goods for distribution, reap huge commercial monopoly profits, and become prominent wealthy businessmen. Their mansions were extremely luxurious and they competed with each other in terms of splendor.

The Lord of the Southern Kingdom also profited from it and became the overlord behind these wealthy merchants. As a result, he became the richest man in the world. His treasure house and money houses were piled up like mountains. There were more than 40 warehouses built to store the Shengang coins, but they were still unable to hold them all. The ropes used to string the money were all rotten.

"Jiangdu... there are so many people..."

Although Tiedan had been to Lanling before, he knew that the Xiao family was rather frugal and unpretentious. All the good things were hidden under the water, and their wealth was not exposed. The people living in the city were mainly family members, so it actually looked like that.

But Jiangdu Prefecture was a famous capital city, where scholars, farmers, merchants, and businessmen from all over the world gathered. People from all walks of life were attracted by the wealth gathered here. There were cargo ships everywhere, and businessmen everywhere. There were cars and horses, shoulder to shoulder, bustling and crowded everywhere, and there were people everywhere. It was really a prosperous scene.

To be fair, if you want to say that the Lord of the South is a good person, then that is definitely not the case. If you want to say that the prosperity of Jiangdu Prefecture was created by him, then that is also an exaggeration. It can only be said that if you stand on the wind, even a pig can fly...

"Junior Brother Zhou, look at this bracelet. Is it nice?"

After Tiedan's non-stop treatment day and night, Yao Honglei finally came back to life.

At this time, her internal injuries had healed, her complexion had changed greatly, not only her power had recovered, but she had also found the storage jade. After all, she had been on the Immortal Thief List for many years, so she knew the principle of a cunning rabbit having three burrows, and she also had a temporary base in Jiangdu Prefecture.

So after the two arrived in Jiangdu, they first went to Yao Honglei's villa, exchanged the broken Crimson Pearl Locking Fairy Silk for other magic weapons, and changed into a red dress.

Now that she had vented all her pent-up anger, the woman's temper even improved a lot. Her brows and eyes relaxed and she smiled as if in the spring breeze. Even though she covered her face with a veil, her every move revealed the grace of the fairy Jiang Ping, causing the onlookers to cheer.

But she still tightly wrapped Tiedan's clothes in her lining, and did not mention returning them. But since they were Helin Weng's clothes, Tiedan did not care, and still wore Jianzong's old blue robe. When she heard the sound, she came to take a look.
"What's so good about a bracelet? It's just a circle. But the gold one is not good. The ebony one suits you better."

Yao Honglei looked at the ebony bracelet, and her face turned red when she took it in her hand.
"Why, do you think this suits me better?"

Tiedan nodded.

"Yes, it's pitch black. You can wrap the hair around your wrist to avoid attracting the enemy's attention. Then you can turn it into a sword and stab out to kill people."

Yao Honglei was speechless after hearing this.
"... Junior Brother, you always talk like this. How will your Taoist partner respond to you?"

Tiedan shook his head.

"I don't have a Taoist partner."

Yao Hong's eyes brightened with tears, and she smiled with her hands covering her mouth, "How is it possible? Junior brother is handsome and has profound skills, so he must have many confidantes. How could he not have a Taoist partner?"

Tiedan thought about it,
"I have a few beauties and confidants, but I don't have a single confidant."

Well, Zhen Baiyu is not worthy yet. If she cannot survive this catastrophe, then she will not be qualified to be his Taoist partner.

Yao Honglei was so happy that she bought the ebony bracelet and put it on her hand.

"Since you say it's suitable, I believe you."

Tiedan said nothing and let her hold his arm around him. They walked through the crowd like a couple, wandering around the Nanzong Palace in the distance, observing the terrain of the palace.

At this time, the two of them were using the sleight of hand and the Qi-concealing technique. Jiangdu Prefecture was already crowded with people, and the Wang Mansion was even more full of masters and cultivators, so the two of them did not attract attention. So they turned around, not only did they not attract the eyes and ears of the Demon Palace, they even had time to blend in with the crowd, all the way to the riverside to enjoy the scenery, looking at the rivers gathering, the flags and sails connecting the sky, the egrets flying in the sky, and the Demon Palace killing people.

Well, literally beheading.

On a sandbar in the middle of the river, I saw a row of national flags from the southern kingdom, fluttering in the river breeze.

A group of Jindan guards with drawn bows and crossbows stood guard on the dike to prevent any ships from approaching.

At the head of Baisha Beach, the priests of the Six Gates were pinning down and beheading a group of monks who had been tied up, had their spines pierced, had nails driven through their bodies, had their skin peeled off and their tendons pulled out.

"It's noon! Kill!"

"Swipe!"

A flash of cold light appeared, the sword slashed, blood and qi rushed to the sky, and a row of heads fell to the ground. Then a magician came up and chanted a spell, sealed the heads with talismans and put them in a lime box to calm the soul. The bodies turned into pus and blood in a moment, and the broken spell was dispersed with black dog blood, and washed all the way to the river, leaving no trace of them in the world.

Tiedan looked at the cultivators who died in wave after wave, and then looked at Yao Honglei who had no reaction, and guessed that this group of people were probably not her fellow Taoists.

Yao Honglei came over, rubbed Tiedan's arm and said,

"The remnants of the evil cult."

Tiedan is curious.

"You also have a relationship with the Demon Cult?"

Yao Honglei nodded.
“I have cooperated with them several times. After all, my enemy is Luofu Mountain. The only one who dares to fight with the people in the mountain is probably the Demon Cult.

But don't worry, I didn't join them. After all, I am a disciple of Xuanmen. Besides, their saints are on guard against me..."

"Saint..."

Tiedan rolled his eyes and looked at her.
"I heard that in the Demon Sect, the Venerable Dharma Kings are divided into east, west, south, and north. Could it be that there are several Saint Ladies as well?"

Yao Honglei thought that this Junior Brother Zhou was a rookie who had never seen the Demon Sect, so he gave the newbie some advice.

“There is only one true Saint, but she has not yet awakened. Therefore, each branch of the Divine Religion and each Dharma King will raise a few so-called candidate Saints to serve as the reincarnation vessels for the Saint’s rebirth.

The demon cultists in Jiangdu, the southern kingdom, were originally managed by the Wisdom Dharma King, one of the four Dharma Kings. However, a few years ago, the Demon Palace mobilized a large army to cross the border, originally intending to go south to Liguo to eliminate the demons. However, the Three Palaces were fighting for power and never issued the tiger talisman. So the army had nothing to do, so they took advantage of it and destroyed the lair of the Wisdom Dharma King.

At that time, there was a great war, which caused flooding in Yunmeng, submerging thousands of hectares of fertile farmland and killing 100,000 people. The Demon Cult was outnumbered, and the entire family of the King of Wisdom was killed. The cult members also disappeared and went underground. I only heard that there seemed to be a saint woman in charge, but the previous friendship was severed. "

What happened in the past? Well, then this local saint is not Bai Yu...

But the Demon Palace is also outrageous. When he gets cruel, he just pins the King of Wisdom to the ground and kills him. Can you believe it?
Why is he always so awesome in such a weird place...

Yao Honglei shook her head and said,

"In fact, the big case ten years ago shocked the world, especially the exposure of Prince Li's aide Lu Yi, who was actually the clone of the King of Wisdom, and directly triggered the witchcraft disaster. The Jiangdu Lu family was killed that year, so there are not so many remnants of the evil sect.

This is just the Demon Palace's customary practice to exclude dissidents. If the miscellaneous cultivators are unwilling to serve them as dogs, and they do not have the ability to protect themselves like the three major sects, they will only have one way to go, which is death.

Let's go back and plan how to attack the palace."

(End of this chapter)