I am a soldier in the border army

Chapter 662 The Great Harmony! The King Gathers Troops!
Xingping means bringing peace and prosperity to the world.

The reign title, personally chosen by Shangguan Ding for Ji Yin, had a good meaning.

Unfortunately, the meaning is one thing, but most things in this world don't go as planned, or are even the complete opposite.

A palace coup in the dead of night has resulted in Shangguan Ding's death, with his entire clan wiped out.

Not only did his long-cherished wish vanish in an instant, but the entire Shangguan faction was also dragged down with him.

As a result, blood rained down continuously throughout the seventh month of the first year of Xingping, and countless corpses lay strewn about.

After that, the 100,000 Imperial Guards marched east out of the capital, sweeping through the city with unstoppable momentum, and reclaimed countless cities and territories from Huang Tiandao with almost no effort.

This should have been an exciting and wonderful thing.

However, as the detailed account of the battles spread throughout the land, many people couldn't help but frown inwardly.

Without it.

Too much killing!
Perhaps the humiliation of the disastrous defeat at the Ji River was too profound for Gongye Jin, so much so that his hatred for the entire Huangtiandao had seeped into his bones, and he desperately wanted to wash away this humiliation and prove himself anew.

Over the past year, Gongye Jin's methods have been extremely cruel in every city and region he has conquered.

Not only were they subjected to massacres, but there were even frequent rumors of city massacres.

……

Xingping, Xingping.

Alas, in this prosperous year, where is there even a trace of peace?

On the banks of the Ji River.

An elderly man, who had fled eastward with his family to escape the ravages of war, gazed at the magnificent Ji River before him and couldn't help but sigh deeply.

He originally thought that during the Taikang era, the powerful and wealthy ran rampant and often oppressed the local people, and that the world was already bad enough.

He even secretly cursed Emperor Taikang for being incompetent and foolish, thinking he was not fit to be a ruler.

But who could have imagined that with the sudden death of Emperor Taikang, the world would deteriorate to such an extent?
Today, the prefect has raised an army and established his own independent regime.

The next day, another prefecture will attack. The prefect will be no match for them and will soon be destroyed, even losing his life and his entire clan.

Another day, I heard that the governor had decided to pacify the region, raise a large army, and exterminate all the disobedient subjects.

After the war, countless ordinary people died or were injured.

Even powerful cultivators fell like rain.

Just when a sliver of peace had appeared, it was quickly followed by warring states and alliances between the feudal lords against the central government...

chaos!
too messy!
The flags of kings change on the city walls, one after another taking the stage!
They are killing people every single day.

People are dying every single moment.

Even though the old man was quite old, he never expected the world to be in such chaos!
It can be said that in just over a year, the old man witnessed more human tragedies than he had ever seen in his entire life.

Fortunately, he was somewhat wise, and with the blessing of his ancestors, he had a bit more luck.

So he survived.

Although some of the younger generation of the family who had always regarded him as their pillar of support suffered losses, most of them survived.

This can be considered a blessing in misfortune.

"Ancestor, are we really going to Youzhou?"

As the old man gazed intently at the Ji River, a reluctant and questioning voice suddenly came from his younger brother beside him.

no way.

It is common knowledge that Youzhou is harsh, cold, and impoverished.

These descendants have been living in the fertile lands of the Central Plains since they were born.

But now, he has to suddenly give up everything he once had and suffer in the 'wild and uncivilized' land of Youzhou. Naturally, he is unwilling to do so.

The old man countered with a question.

"Otherwise what? Do you have a way to preserve your family's bloodline?"

Upon hearing this, the younger generation immediately responded.

"Now that many heroes are rising up, we can choose one to follow! This will allow us to preserve our families and even... achieve great things!"

When the younger man spoke these words with such passion, how could the old man not know what he was thinking?
They just want to take a risk and make a fortune.

But the old man only glanced at him before uttering two words.

"madness!"

What these younger generations called "heroes" were nothing more than petty warlords in a chaotic world, in his eyes.

They are not much different in essence from the bandits who stormed into a certain county a few days ago.

Even if they can enjoy a few days of glory, they can hardly escape the fate of becoming withered bones in the tomb!
If they listened to this younger generation and their whole family joined those people, that would be true annihilation.

The younger generation, who were being reprimanded so mercilessly by him, were clearly somewhat resentful and indignant.

But the old man was too lazy to even glance at him again, and just quietly looked at the vast Ji River in front of him, secretly troubled.

The vastness of the Ji River was somewhat beyond his expectations.

If it were just the elite members of the clan, it would be fine, but now that the whole family is migrating, there are still many women and children in the procession, so crossing the river is a troublesome matter.

Not only is it time-consuming and laborious, but the strong winds blowing across the river from time to time can cause great losses if one is not careful.

"Go and see if you can find any treasure ships..."

The old man was giving instructions when he suddenly looked up at the distance behind him.

Moments later, a muffled rumble of thunder could be heard from the dust billowing up in the distance.

It's the Iron Cavalry!
The old man was startled and was about to warn his clansmen to be on guard when he was suddenly taken aback.

The cavalry that emerged from the billowing dust were all clad in bright red armor with dragon patterns, a style that anyone with a bit of knowledge could easily recognize.

This iron cavalry is none other than the Imperial Guards of the Capital!

"Where are the refugees from?"

This was the first question these imperial guards asked the old man and his companions as they approached.

Fleeing people?

The group of younger members behind the old man blushed. "We are not fugitives, but a noble family!"

The commander of the Imperial Guards looked at them with amusement and said sarcastically.

"How can a noble family, so proud and noble, appear in such a wretched state?"

Without waiting for their reply, he pointed his riding whip at the Ji River ahead and asked again.

"You want to cross the river?"

The old man waved to stop the group of younger people behind him, and after thinking for a moment, he spoke frankly.

"good."

Upon hearing this, the Imperial Guard commander gave the old man a deep look.

What is the purpose of heading north?

The old man lowered his eyes, pondering how to respond, when he heard the general suddenly speak.

"Fine, I don't want to hear it either."

"As for crossing the river... that won't work."

Upon hearing this, the old man's expression changed.

"Why?"

The Imperial Guard commander glanced at him sideways, seemingly finding him a bit too talkative, and said impatiently.

"This is a military order; anyone who disobeys will be executed. Do you have any objections?"

At this moment, the arrogance and barbarity of the martial artist were on full display.

The younger generation was furious, but after a moment of silence, the old man suddenly nodded and said something.

"it is good."

After the group left the banks of the Ji River under the watchful eyes of the Imperial Guards behind them.

Facing the puzzled looks of the younger generation, the old man finally sighed.

"Youzhou is not peaceful either..."

There's really no need for the old man to waste his breath explaining.

As they were speaking, amidst the rising dust in the distance, crimson banners fluttered, and countless imperial guards clad in bright crimson dragon-patterned armor rapidly approached the banks of the Ji River.

Seeing this, a younger generation member frowned, half puzzled and half shocked.

"How could this be? Didn't the central government just bestow the title of Prince of Yan upon the person from Youzhou?"

First, he was granted the title of king.

By raising a large army again, it is clear that they are trying to force the enemy to submit.

To be honest, they didn't quite understand this operation by the central authority.

However, that's not what they're most concerned about right now.

But...

"Ancestor, what should we do now?"

The Ji River is ahead; once you cross the Ji River, you will reach Jizhou.

Ji Province is now within the sphere of influence of the ruler of You Province.

But now, unfortunately, they can't get through. At this moment, the junior who hadn't wanted to go to Youzhou in the first place saw this and hurriedly said...

"Ancestor, this place is about to descend into chaos! Should we seek refuge for a while?"

Upon hearing this, the old man's already furrowed brows deepened.

But a moment later, he suddenly laughed.

"What else can be done?"

After saying that, amidst everyone's shocked and surprised gazes, he once again turned his gaze towards the direction of the Ji River.

"Cross the river!"

Upon hearing this, the younger generation, who had been resisting going to Youzhou, looked anxious and said something.

But the next moment, that bewildered head flew high into the air.

The old man, who had personally beheaded his own descendant, snorted coldly.

"Keeping you alive, you fool who craves luxury, is a disaster! I'll kill you today to prevent you from harming your entire clan in the future!"

After saying that, he coldly swept his gaze over the rest of the younger generation.

"Which of you has any other opinions?"

With the head of the enemy displayed before us, who would dare to object?
The younger generation remained silent.

But there's still one question I need to ask.

"But... Ancestor, how do we cross the river?"

Upon hearing this, the old man suddenly burst into laughter.

"Look, isn't the ship here?"

As far as the eye could see, several enormous treasure ships were seen breaking through the strong winds and creating huge waves on the Ji River in the distance, slowly sailing towards the riverbank.

……

The elderly family, who had migrated eastward, finally succeeded in crossing the vast Ji River.

Once they boarded one of the giant warships, the tribesmen were not only amazed by the ship's size, but also stunned by the breathtaking scene they had just witnessed.

Two armies confront each other.

One is on land, the other is on water.

Although there was no actual close combat, the chilling atmosphere of that moment still made one feel as if their blood had frozen.

It must be said that he was arrogant and domineering.

Those arrogant and haughty imperial guards included them.

The Zhenliao Army, however, was on an even higher level.

Especially when those thick crossbow bolts were fired directly into the formation of more than 10,000 imperial guards of the capital, their unbridled arrogance was simply unreasonable to the extreme.

Why did you cross the river to the north, old man?

Faced with the question from the general stationed on the treasure ship, the old man hurriedly replied.

"The world is in chaos, I only seek a place to settle down and make a living."

"I have long heard of the stability of Youzhou, so I have brought my whole family here to seek refuge."

The general in charge of pacifying Liaodong gave him a deep look, then simply smiled and said something.

"good."

After saying this, he inquired about their backgrounds and wrote them down for record-keeping, then stopped asking questions.

However, the old man, still harboring doubts, couldn't help but ask a question.

"General, you know nothing of our origins or our purpose, so why are you leading us across the river?"

Upon hearing this, the young general in charge of pacifying Liaodong laughed.

"It was just a small favor, something I did on a whim."

In his words, he completely disregarded the more than 10,000 Imperial Guards on the opposite bank.

Such arrogance can only be described as frivolous.

Seeing this, the old man wanted to offer a word of advice.

The Imperial Guards of the Capital City are now quite powerful and should not be underestimated.

But the general in charge of suppressing Liaodong seemed to have seen through his thoughts and simply waved his hand.

"Don't worry, no one in the world knows those people better than us."

The Six Doors have been working in the capital for over a decade.

The various aspects of the Imperial Guards had been presented to the Zhenliao Army many years ago, and even studied in the military academy.

There's no need to say these things to outsiders.

……

After the treasure ship docked in Jizhou, the elders disembarked.

After handing them over to the officials on shore, they set sail again.

The officials who took them over simply made a record of them and then left them to their own devices.

Such a dismissive gesture left the old man, who had expected a show of respect and courtesy, somewhat disappointed.

After all, although his clan could not be considered a top-tier clan, it still possessed some inherent strengths.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to accomplish such a large-scale migration of an entire clan in such a chaotic world, relying solely on wisdom and luck.

But he soon forgot all about that.

Compared to the desolation and bleakness seen along the way, Jizhou, the original core of the Yellow Heaven Path, is not only relatively empty in a few areas, but most of its counties and prefectures have also shown signs of stability, rather than having suffered much damage.

The old man was shocked to see figures dressed in ochre-yellow Taoist robes still practicing their way through the city.

Upon further inquiry, it was discovered that these yellow-robed Taoists were not Huang Tiandao, but Taiping Daoren.

However, judging from its meaning, it seems to be clearly inseparable from the Yellow Heaven Path.

In addition, he saw monks making offerings and Confucian scholars receiving their first education.

This small city, where Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism coexist without interfering with each other, is truly a remarkable sight.

However, his destination was not this small town, but Youzhou.

To be precise, it is Zhenliao City.

To be more precise, it was that Prince of Yan.

And as he got closer and closer to Youzhou, his purpose became clearer and clearer.

When they finally entered Youzhou, not only he, but also the clansmen and their descendants who traveled with him were all deeply shocked.

"This...is this Youzhou?"

People say that Youzhou is bitterly cold and the land is barren.

But the bustling scene before them at this moment completely shattered their understanding.

While the world was in chaos, this place remained peaceful, like a paradise on earth.

The sights and sights were so striking that even these once proud aristocratic families, who had taken pride in the richness of the Central Plains, felt as if they were country folk suddenly witnessing a scene of extravagance and prosperity.

Some clansmen, who regarded Confucian classics as the ultimate truth, looked at the world before them with hazy eyes and couldn't help but murmur sighs.

"The Great Harmony! The Great Harmony!"

The others, however, sighed inwardly.

"It's a pity about the twentieth one..."

The twentieth one was the person whose ancestor had personally beheaded.

They enjoy prosperity and covet wealth.

If he could see such a scene, he probably wouldn't want to struggle in the already chaotic quagmire of the Central Plains anymore.

At this time, the elders who were the ancestors of these younger generations had no interest in the complex thoughts of these younger clansmen.

At this moment, he looked at the Yan King's mansion located in Zhenliao City, and after a long while, he suddenly sighed.

"The aura of an emperor in Youzhou is not an exaggeration..."

However, this imperial aura should not belong to the Yuan family, which has been officials for generations, but to an anomaly who should not appear in this world.

Just as they were lost in thought, a startled cry suddenly came from the long street.

"Your Majesty... no! It's now the King! The King has gathered his troops!"

"Who are we going to fight this time?"

"Who cares who he is! He's offended our King! He's asking for death!"

"Get rid of him?"

"Fuck him!"

The public outcry was so intense that the old man felt as if it made little difference whether this person was the new emperor in the capital city.

And that is destiny.

Fortune is the will of the people.

People's hearts are the source of fortune.

……

(End of this chapter)