Conferred God: Got cramped at the beginning

Chapter 1083 Emperor Wenchang, the Emperor and Ministers of the Tang Dynasty

"No, no, no, we shouldn't go see Li Jing first."

"I should go see Emperor Wenchang first." Just as he was thinking of asking someone for directions, Nezha's thoughts changed again.

—The Taoist temple of Emperor Wenchang is also located in this city of Chang'an.

Of course, as a very important deity in the human world, although he was born not long ago, his temples have long been found all over the world.

As Nezha, he could easily stir up the thoughts of the Wenchang Emperor by simply stepping into any temple and offering a few prayers.

However, Nezha naturally has his own temperament. In the Heavenly Ladder, a celestial being would not easily set foot in the temple of another deity.

Therefore, the best way for Nezha to see Emperor Wenchang is to come directly to Chang'an City and visit Emperor Wenchang's temple.

The Taoist temple of Emperor Wenchang is not difficult to find.

The largest examination hall in Chang'an was the site of the Taoist temple of Emperor Wenchang.

With just a slight glance, Nezha could see the source of the divine light.

Between the divine lights, the human realm was divided in two.

On the left is the examination hall itself.

On the right is a temple dedicated to Wenchang Dijun—the most popular temple in Chang'an.

Between the temples, soldiers and thugs maintaining order came and went in an endless stream.

"Oh dear, whose child is this, so young yet already worshipping the God of Literature?"

Among the many worshippers paying homage to the Wenchang Emperor, Nezha, who appeared as a child and was all alone, stood out remarkably.

As soon as he approached the temple, patrolling soldiers noticed his presence.

As the soldier spoke, he moved closer to Nezha.

At the same time, it also casts a warning glance at those around them.

There were some scoundrels who set their sights on Nezha as soon as he entered Chang'an.

"Kid, where are your parents?" After shooing away the hooligans with his eyes, the soldier asked Nezha.

Nezha remained silent, only glancing at the soldier before stepping straight into the examination hall.

The gates of the examination hall were locked and only opened during the imperial examinations.

But after taking one step, his figure disappeared directly between the gates and walls of the examination hall.

The guards, witnessing all this, couldn't help but rub their eyes.

The next instant, the temple keeper of the Wenchang Emperor Temple came out of the temple, made a gesture to the soldier, and then the soldier hurriedly left.

Although the temple keeper could not recognize Nezha's identity, as the temple keeper of the Wenchang Emperor, he could clearly perceive the 'divine light' on Nezha's body.

That was a great deity who was in no way inferior to Emperor Wenchang.

The sudden arrival of such a powerful figure in Chang'an was something the temple keeper naturally wanted the 'masters' of the city to know.

The news was reported up the chain of command, layer by layer.

The news was quickly sent to the Imperial Observatory.

After making his calculations, Yuan Tiangang, the director of the Imperial Observatory, hurriedly went to the palace.

……

Even the temple priests knew of Nezha's arrival, and Wenchang Dijun, the master of this place, was naturally no exception.

As soon as Nezha stepped into the Taoist temple of Emperor Wenchang, before he even announced his name, the maidservant beside Emperor Wenchang had already come to Nezha's side.

This is a spirit that Emperor Wenchang directly conjured from that ink pool.

"Little Immortal Ink Pond pays respects to the Great God of the Three Altars and Seas."

"Please wait here for a moment, Your Majesty. I will go and inform His Majesty immediately."

As the Ink Pool Spirit spoke, it led Nezha directly to the hall where Emperor Wenchang was entertaining guests.

A moment later, Emperor Wenchang, dressed in majestic court attire, slowly arrived.

“The Great God of the Three Altars and Seas is truly a rare guest.”

"But I wonder why the Great God of the Three Altars and Seas has suddenly come to my Wenchang Hall?" said the Wenchang Emperor.

As a proper and powerful deity of the emperor level, he also has his own palace in the Heavenly Court.

However, he knew that he came from beyond the realm and was not well-liked by the gods of Heaven.

Moreover, as a god of humanity, his foundation lies in the human realm, not in the heavenly court.

Therefore, this Wenchang Emperor simply stayed in the mortal world for a long time, staying in his own Taoist temple, peacefully pondering the mysteries of the mortal world, pondering the mysteries of the human way in Pantian, and comparing the differences between the human race in Pantian and Nantian.

Aside from that, he didn't want to care about anything else, nor was he bothered to care.

In short, for this Wenchang Emperor, being able to stay peacefully in the mortal realm, without interacting with other deities in Heaven, and without having to get involved in this calamity, can be described as a rather 'happy' experience.

At this moment, upon seeing the Three Altars Sea Gathering Gods arriving at his door, the Wenchang Emperor instinctively sensed an aura of trouble.

"Greetings, Emperor Wenchang." Looking at Emperor Wenchang, whose imposing presence did not conceal his disdain, Nezha stepped forward and bowed, then went straight to the point.

"Your Majesty is a god of humanity, but I wonder if Your Majesty has noticed the changes in the Southern Continent?"

"What does the matter of the Southern Continent have to do with humanity?" Emperor Wenchang said with a smile, then calmed his mind to sense it.

In an instant, the already forced smile on his face vanished.

"Humanity has crossed the vast ocean and spread to the Southern Continent. Such a momentous matter should be discussed with the Human Emperor by the Great God of the Three Altars and Seas. Why has he come to me?" Emperor Wenchang said solemnly.

"Humans are divided into civil and military categories. I, the Emperor Wenchang, am a god of literature and a person who maintains the status quo. As for the opening up of the Southern Continent, I am truly powerless."

Without the slightest hesitation, Emperor Wenchang came up with an excuse to refuse—even though Nezha had not yet explained his purpose.

"Your Majesty is indeed wise," Nezha said in a deep voice, completely ignoring Wenchang Dijun's attempts to refuse.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. The human race has spread to the Southern Continent and established a foothold there. It is inevitable that they will clash with the demon race."

"If we consider the pioneering nature of humanity, then with the spread of conflict, the situation may collapse beyond repair."

"In such a situation, it is precisely the presence of a ruler like Your Majesty who can safeguard the status quo. With a spirit of maintaining the status quo and being prudent, Your Majesty can guide the spread of humanity there and restrain it, so as to prevent humans and demons from colliding and causing the heavens and the earth to collapse."

"This is something only Your Majesty can do!" Nezha said solemnly, his face taut.

"This..." Emperor Wenchang hesitated.

Honestly, he really didn't want to go to the Southern Continent to join in the fun.

After all, he had already gotten what he wanted in this massacre.

However... just as Nezha said, if the spread of humanity in the Southern Continent were to collide with the demon race, the situation would be catastrophic and irreversible, and his plans would be completely thwarted.

This is not a good thing for him either. Moreover, from another perspective, humanity is profound, and under that endless cover, it is extremely difficult to touch the essence of the Way.

However, if we start from Jambudvipa (the southern continent), the situation will be completely different.

In the Southern Continent, the human realm was slowly growing, moving in accordance with the order of the Phoenix Qi Demon Kingdom.

Within the Phoenix Kingdom, the manifestation of order will ultimately influence the course of human affairs, leading to a certain bias.

This experience of protecting and even guiding humanity at such close range is extremely rare for Emperor Wenchang, who wants to explore the secrets of humanity.

Once you miss it, it's hard to find a second chance.

Just as he was hesitating, Emperor Wenchang suddenly remembered something.

"But I don't know why the Three Altars Sea Assembly Great God came to me regarding the matter of the Southern Continent?" Emperor Wenchang asked, speaking frankly.

“When His Majesty attained enlightenment, Third Brother surveyed the situation of heaven and earth from the Lingxiao Palace. At that time, Third Brother said that there might be a sudden change in the Southern Continent.”

“When I passed through the Dragon Court of the Huai River, I learned of the changes in the Southern Continent. I was suddenly moved and remembered my third brother’s words, so I came here to pay my respects to Your Majesty.”

Nezha made no attempt to conceal anything.

"Is this in accordance with the will of Heaven?"

"Did he foresee the changes in the Southern Continent during that Lingxiao Palace ceremony?" Emperor Wenchang was startled, but then quickly came to his senses and acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"That's right, that's right."

"In the Phoenix Kingdom, the ruler Zaoge is a former subordinate of the Lord of the Clouds."

"And Yun Zhongjun is the embodiment of Heaven, the national god of Chu, whose mythology connects humans and demons."

"Moreover, he was originally the most outstanding chess player in the world."

"It's perfectly normal that he paid attention to the Phoenix Qi Demon Kingdom, could foresee the changes in the Phoenix Qi Demon Kingdom during this calamity, and made his move in advance."

Emperor Wenchang nodded, a rare occurrence for him.

Then he said to Nezha:
"Very well, since it was Chengtian who made the move before the calamity, then I will do as he said and make a trip to Fengqi Kingdom in the Southern Continent."

"Perfect timing, I also want to see what those old friends look like now." Emperor Wenchang said, and immediately began preparations.

……

While Nezha was communicating with Emperor Wenchang, news about Nezha had already been sent to the palace.

In Chang'an, Li Jing, who was known for his caution, disregarded his usual prudence and set off directly, entering the palace before the emperor's summons.

Completely unconcerned, he revealed that he had made connections with spies and informants within the palace.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Li Jing was led by a eunuch into the study.

"The Duke of Wei has arrived." In the study, Li Shimin looked at the hurried Li Jing and couldn't help but chuckle.

His attitude towards Li Jing was also extremely complicated.

—As a unique founding emperor, Li Shimin was also a master strategist.

It was precisely because of this that he realized just how terrifying Li Jing's military prowess truly was.

Among all the famous generals throughout history, the most noteworthy is undoubtedly Han Xin, the "God of War".

Han Xin commanded troops, the more the better—but all generals and commanders have a limit to the number of troops they can control.

Once that limit is exceeded, it becomes difficult to control the army effectively, military orders become chaotic and even conflict with each other, causing the army's strength to decrease rather than increase.

Han Xin, however, seems to have no such limit.

—During the Chu-Han Contention, the Han army was completely outmaneuvered by Han Xin, and the Chu army was also affected by him. Yet, even so, no one saw Han Xin's limits.

In contrast to Han Xin's limitless ability to 'deploy troops', Li Jing's limitless ability lies in another direction.

Throughout history, the scope of the battlefield that generals and commanders could control was always limited.

Amidst the interference of various messages and the changing weather and terrain, the same battle unfolds in different locations, revealing a completely different situation.

Most generals and commanders can only control the changes in the battle situation in front of them.

Those who are slightly stronger can control the situation in a prefecture.

Those who are even stronger can calculate the changes in an entire province clearly and grasp every detail—this is already the most elite among famous generals.

Even Li Shimin himself couldn't do that.

And what about Li Jing...?

The battlefield he controlled was far more than just one state.
That means having the entire human world, and the battlefields spanning the nine provinces of the human world, in the palm of one's hand.

Even on a battlefield that swept across the entire land of Kyushu, Li Jing's limits remained undiscovered.

This demonstrates just how terrifying their control over the battlefield was.

To put it bluntly, Li Jing and Han Xin are the only two figures in human history since the Qin Dynasty who, after losing all the hearts and minds of the people, were able to turn the tide and unify the world by virtue of their military prowess.

Even now, with the world unified and all hearts at peace, the name of Tang has already taken root in the hearts of all the people.

However, if Li Jing were to raise an army, he would still be able to easily overthrow the Li Tang dynasty by relying on his control of the battlefield.

This is the terror of Li Jing.

Li Shimin even suspected that if everyone died and they went to the battlefield in the far north, he, the human emperor, might be placed under the command of Li Jing, the commander.

Li Jing's abilities in military campaigns were so terrifying, so outrageous.

This is why, even though Li Jing himself had no intention of rebelling, Li Shimin, along with the civil and military officials in the court, were extremely wary of him.

—It's not about whether you trust someone or not.

Rather, it was because, as the human emperor and a person responsible for the human race, Li Shimin could never, under any circumstances, place the future of countless people in the thoughts of one person.

Admittedly, Li Jing himself was loyal.

But who knows how Li Jing's thoughts might change?

Who knows if he will be influenced by other people?
This is precisely why the relationship between the ruler and his subject can be described as quite peculiar.

"Your Majesty, save me!" Seeing the teasing look on Li Shimin's face, Li Jing immediately bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty, the Great God of the Three Altars and Seas has entered Chang'an."

“He must have come as a subject!” Li Jing said.

As Li Jing spoke, Li Shimin's expression grew increasingly complicated.

This is why he always harbored suspicions towards Li Jing.

Li Jing was too cautious, to the point of believing everything he heard.

(End of this chapter)