Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

"Yes, that is Zhongyuan City, one of the ten major cities of the Great Red Kingdom."

Su Yangyan nodded and said.

"It looks much bigger than Uehara Castle!"

"Indeed, Shangyuan City is just one of the many subordinate cities of Zhongyuan City. Its area is less than one-tenth of that of Zhongyuan City, and its population is less than one-eighth of that of Zhongyuan City. Naturally, it cannot be compared with Zhongyuan City!"

"That was before. Now that it's my city, I naturally have plenty of ways to make it surpass Zhongyuan City!"

Mo Yuming gazed into the distance, raised his head, and spoke with great pride.

"General Su, send men to Jian'an City and Wushuang City later to summon Huang An, Jia Shan, General Jiang, Steward Zhang, General Liu, Steward Liu, General Qi, and others to Shangyuan City. I have something to discuss with them!"

"Yes! Young Master."

Su Yangyan immediately instructed the guards around him to handle the matter.

"General Su, is that winding mountain road ahead the Shili Slope leading to Zhongyuan City?"

Mo Yuming pointed to a mountain road about four or five miles away from Shangyuan City, which wound its way down the hillside, and asked.

"Yes, that is one of the main post roads leading to Zhongyuan City."

Because this is where the Monster Mountain Range meets the inland area, the terrain is steep, with the slopes dropping more than a hundred feet in this area.

People had no choice but to build a winding mountain road that followed the contours of the mountain. This rugged mountain road was more than ten miles long, so people called it Shilipo (Ten-Mile Slope).

Beyond this ten-mile slope lies the vast Central Plains! The checkpoint at the foot of the mountain was set up by the garrison of the Central Plains City.

Why isn't there a checkpoint at Uehara Castle?

"Perhaps it's because Shangyuan City originally belonged to Zhongyuan City, so they didn't dare to check people coming from Zhongyuan City!"

"Tomorrow, arrange for craftsmen to build the checkpoint, check and register visitors from Zhongyuan City, and stamp the travel documents with the city's seal!"

At this moment, Mo Yuming already had a clear plan in mind.

He wanted to build Shangyuan City into a strong fortress, not only to achieve military success, but also to bring prosperity to the economy and culture.

Establishing a checkpoint was a crucial step in his control of Uehara City.

By checking and registering visitors to Zhongyuan City, he can better understand the situation outside and strengthen the management of the city.

The travel document stamped with the seal of Uehara Castle was a symbol of his power and authority to the outside world.

"no problem!"

The next morning, after Mo Yuming got up and washed, he arrived at the council hall of the city government office. Some of the people who had been summoned were already gathered in the hall.

Upon seeing Mo Yuming emerge, they all bowed to him.

After gesturing for everyone to be seated, Mo Yuming didn't waste any words and addressed the crowd directly:

"After days of life-and-death struggle, thanks to everyone's concerted efforts and selfless dedication, we have finally won a place to live."

Although we achieved a great victory, many brave warriors sacrificed their lives in the process. Let us first observe a quarter of an hour of silence for them, and pray that their souls may find peace!

After speaking, Mo Yuming took the lead in standing up, lowered his head, squinted his eyes, and placed his hands in front of his chest to stand in silent mourning.

Seeing this, the others quickly followed Mo Yuming's example and began to mourn in silence.

Fifteen minutes later, Mo Yuming signaled everyone to stop the ceremony and sit down to begin the meeting.

"Although we have temporarily gained a foothold, this small place is not safe."

If we do not find a way to become stronger as soon as possible, we will surely be devoured by the enemies who are eyeing us covetously from all sides.

As the saying goes, conquering a city is easy, but defending it is difficult. Therefore, we should be even more vigilant and prepared for potential dangers in times of peace in order to survive!

Mo Yuming paused for a moment, then continued:

"Based on my observations over the past few years, the former Marquisate government was like a pile of loose sand, completely without any rules. Officials of all ranks were corrupt, disregarded the law, and embezzled public funds to enrich themselves!"

They completely disregard the lives of ordinary people.

The local tyrants and bullies ran rampant, preying on the common people! The town was like a gathering place for a group of primitive and barbaric people, where the law of the jungle prevailed and there was no humanity whatsoever.

Those commoners with no background and low social standing became lambs to be slaughtered at will.

The atmosphere in the council hall was heavy. Everyone listened to Mo Yuming's words with mixed feelings.

They knew that changing this situation would not be easy.

But they also understood that only under Mo Yuming's leadership could they possibly create a new world.

Mo Yuming looked at everyone, full of vigor and determination in his eyes.

He knew the road ahead was full of challenges, but he was confident he could lead everyone to victory.

Although those commoners without cultivation seem insignificant in front of powerful martial artists, they are just like us, with flesh and blood, their own joys and sorrows, their own loves and hates, and their own pursuits and aspirations!

Who among you dares to say that there isn't someone in your family or relatives who is of average ability and needs protection?

Because of their limited abilities, they need to put in more effort to achieve something.

They are a group of people living at the very bottom of society, and it is their hard work from dawn till dusk that supports the prosperity of society.

It provides us with enough food, fine clothes and accessories, and tall buildings to live in.

However, because of their low cultivation level, they often suffer bullying but can only swallow their anger and be slaughtered by others.

Now that this land has been liberated by us, everyone living on this land is our brother or sister, our father or sister.

In order to protect them from bullying and oppression, we have the right and the obligation to safeguard their safety!

Only when the people living on this land can live a stable life and wholeheartedly manage their lives will they feel a sense of belonging to this place.

Only when people unite in friendship and cooperate with each other can we attract more people to live and work in peace and contentment here. Only in this way can we quickly become strong and avoid being devoured by enemies…

"I have been the city lord for decades and have always wanted to make Luoxia City strong, but I have never been able to find a way. I have always believed that only by becoming strong can I control the area and compete with others!"

But they forgot that the most important thing for a city lord is to manage his city and ensure the well-being of his people...

After hearing this, Su Yangyan couldn't help but reflect on his own actions.

"That's because our Tianxuan Continent has always revered strength above all else; the stronger you are, the more power you wield!"

Whoever possesses superior skills will reign supreme! But that is merely narrow-minded individualism, ultimately like a rootless duckweed that cannot last.

Moreover, individual strength is ultimately limited. The rise of a country or sect may indeed be due to the strength of a certain ancestor or leader, but its continued development and growth depend on the concerted efforts of the entire family or sect.

While individual strength should not be underestimated, the overall strength of a team or a nation is far more formidable! Therefore, only when we are strong as a whole can we remain invincible.

Mo Yuming casually took out a wooden stick, held it in his hand, held both ends of the stick horizontally in front of him, and said:

"Anyone sitting here can easily break this small stick, but when ten, a hundred, or a thousand of these small sticks are tightly bound together, who among you dares to say that you can easily break them?"

It may take decades or even centuries for one person to become powerful, but it may only take a few years or even less for tens of thousands of people as weak as this stick to unite and form a powerful fighting force..."