Only three seconds? He's already the Lord of All Realms, so it doesn't matter.

Night falls, half a month after the army set out on its expedition, in the capital city of Chang'an.

Wang Mang, the current Grand Tutor of the new state, is currently handling the affairs of the counties surrounding Chang'an.

The progress of the reform in the major counties under its jurisdiction, such as Ducheng, Bacheng, Xinfeng, and Wannian, has been mixed.

The people in the city naturally supported the new system, but the landlords and powerful families only supported the reform of the system and outwardly complied with the confiscation of property.

Ultimately, reform requires enormous human and material resources. If these landlords, once they achieve their goals, fail to benefit the people, the progress will be extremely slow.

For example, the universities within the capital city.

The ministers envisioned a future where primary schools would be opened throughout the country, providing a path to learning for people who wanted to study but were illiterate.

However, such large-scale construction of public schools, charging students only basic meal fees, would soon become unsustainable if the current national treasury were to be relied upon alone.

Furthermore, there are the various post stations within the capital city.

The amount of firewood consumed daily just for the city's residents to drink boiled water was astronomical; back when Chang'an was still an isolated city, it was only able to survive thanks to the surplus grain of the powerful and wealthy families within the city...

That's why it's said that confiscating the property of landlords was the most crucial part of the reform.

Wang Mang was extremely busy with this during this period. The Immortal Venerable not only took most of the army with him on his expedition, but also brought dozens of civil officials with him.

With a shortage of manpower, he had to take care of almost everything in the city, big and small.

The current situation in the capital has forced Wang Mang to temporarily halt his actions and refrain from completely exterminating the landlords and powerful clans.

He left the lands of the powerful and forced them to rehire freed slaves as laborers to cultivate the fields; he also increased various taxes to keep the treasury running and prevent it from running out of funds.

Compared to Wang Mang's original plan, which was eager for quick success, this was already considered a great act of mercy.

After Wang Mang finished reviewing the last document on his desk, it was already late at night. He left Weiyang Palace alone and returned to his own palace to rest.

I had just undressed and settled down to sleep when I heard someone urgently calling from outside the door:

"Imperial Advisor! Something terrible has happened!"

Wang Mang reluctantly got up, straightened his clothes, and pushed open the door to ask the anxious eunuch outside:

"What's the matter that you're so panicked?"

The elderly man, well into his seventies, looked sleepy, his eyelids, lined with deep wrinkles, barely able to lift.

"Imperial Preceptor, Xuanping Gate is on fire!"

What? Wang Mang was shocked by this sudden news, and his initial triumph instantly turned to reality.

"Who set the fire? Where are the city's defenders?"

He hurriedly followed the eunuch back to Weiyang Palace, and learned the general situation along the way—

Just moments ago, Xuanping Gate, the most important gate in Chang'an City, suddenly caught fire. The arsonist is currently unknown.

Meanwhile, the city gate guards were completely unaware of the matter until the sky was ablaze with fire, at which point they belatedly realized what was happening.

Wang Mang stood on the platform in Weiyang Palace, his sharp eyes fixed on the general guarding Xuanping Gate.

"Fire breaks out everywhere, and you can't even find the arsonist!"

He suppressed his anger and, after dispatching nearby troops to extinguish the fire, began to analyze the sudden incident with his ministers.

"Grand Preceptor, since even the city gate guards didn't notice, it must have been done by someone inside."

Wang Mang agreed with what the imperial censor said, and then said to the general guarding the city:

"Investigate immediately. If they cannot atone for their mistakes, they will be severely punished!"

The officials in the palace all received their orders and dispersed to deal with this emergency, while Wang Mang, escorted by several officials, arrived at the site of the fire in the city.

By this time, the fire in front of Xuanping Gate had been almost extinguished, and many curious onlookers had gathered, including many people from all over the country who had come to visit the capital.

Looking at the capital's gates, where the walls had been blackened by fire and the plaques were destroyed, Wang Mang was speechless for a moment.

One of the people beside him, thinking that the Grand Preceptor was worried that the Immortal Venerable and his troops had only been gone a short time before this incident occurred in the city, said:

"The Imperial Preceptor need not worry. The burning of Xuanping Gate is not serious and can be repaired within two days."

Wang Mang nodded, but then he saw someone rushing towards him urgently, reporting:

"Imperial Advisor! Something terrible has happened!"

Wang Mang, along with his courtiers, all looked ashen-faced. He asked, somewhat weakly:

"What's the matter this time?"

The soldier who came to report was so frightened that his legs went weak, and he blurted out, "Yes, it's the landlords and powerful families from the surrounding counties who have started a rebellion in Du City!"

This news was even more explosive than the previous one, and all the ministers stared at the soldier in disbelief.

You mean those landlords and powerful clans joined forces and started an uprising in Ducheng?

After a long pause, the group still couldn't believe what they had heard.

How dare a group of landlords, stripped of their slaves and servants, rebel near the capital, which still had 100,000 troops?

"How is that possible?"

The ministers and Wang Mang reacted in unison, but the facts were clear: it couldn't possibly be that this lowly soldier was being mischievous and causing trouble by speaking recklessly in front of them.

So Wang Mang returned to Weiyang Palace once more, and the officials in the capital sighed, "Tonight will not be peaceful..."

After the court officials learned the details, they discovered that the landlords had used the lives of their farmhands as hostages to coerce Wang Mang into restoring the old system.

Seeing this, the officials and soldiers in the surrounding counties dared not act rashly and had no choice but to report the matter to higher authorities.

"..."

Inside the Weiyang Palace, everyone was at a loss in the face of this unexpected event.

If those landlords were foolish enough to rebel alone, it would be fine to kill them. But since they have hostages, dealing with them is indeed much more difficult.

"Imperial Preceptor, I believe we should report this matter to the Immortal Venerable and the King at the front lines, and let them decide together."

The Immortal Venerable has the power to transmit sound over a thousand miles. He only needs to send an army to report this matter to Tianshui City. In any case, those landlords can only hold out against them in Du City now.

"Um."

Wang Mang tacitly approved the proposal and immediately dispatched an army to report the matter, disregarding any sense of face or the Immortal's reprimand.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. The landlords who raised an army in Ducheng had already occupied the local county government and used hostages to force the capital's garrison to retreat outside the city.

The mastermind behind this rebellion, seated at the head of the table, was none other than Wang Yijun, a notorious dissolute young master from the royal family and nobility of Chang'an.

"Gentlemen, now that we have occupied Du City, we can advance or retreat as we wish."

If the capital does not respond, we can take our families and retreat to Jiangnan to develop our careers.

"By spreading rumors of Wang Mang's tyranny, the fragmentation of the empire will surely make life more comfortable than before."

Wang Yijun, sitting there, spoke eloquently, and the people below couldn't help but recount some amusing anecdotes from the past, about Wang Yijun coming to them privately to discuss a potential alliance—

"You are a member of the royal family of the capital, and you come here today to persuade us to unite in rebellion. Don't you find that ridiculous?"

This dissolute young man strolled to the front of the crowd and began to speak in a leisurely manner:

"Have none of you heard of me, Wang Yijun?"

Everyone nodded. "We know, he's a notorious playboy, skilled in everything from eating and drinking to gambling and whoring."

"Yes, before the reforms in the capital, I lived a carefree life."

But what about now? They are living in unbearable misery, no different from ordinary people!

He spoke with great conviction, which led to:

"Therefore, I invite you all to join me in rebellion. As long as you offer your household servants as hostages, we can silence the officials in the capital."

After the performance ended, the audience burst into laughter, while Ye Xuan, far away in Tianshui City, also learned about the fire in the capital.