Longzang

Chapter 1131 Crime
Decades later, the Azure Nether Army once again penetrated deep into the Western Jin Dynasty, and it was now a completely unfamiliar army.

The army marched out, their morale upright and as solid as iron. In the distance, amidst the billowing dust on the ground, one could see iron-cast mountains slowly moving.

At the same time, Wei Yuan, in his capacity as King of Wei and Grand Councilor, issued several proclamations listing Lü Changhe's seven major crimes, thus relieving the king's worries and sending troops to punish the rebel.

The declaration shook the world.

In the ancestral home of the Lü family in Ganzhou, amidst the freezing snow, a corner of the land remained warm and spring-like, with a pond as smooth as a mirror. A young man sat by the pond, fishing.

He held only a fishing rod in his hand, without any fishing line, but the rod was bent sharply, as if some big fish was struggling in the depths of the pond. The young-looking Lü Changhe had a little sweat on his forehead, and looked quite strained.

At this moment, several beautiful female cultivators hurried over and stood a few feet away, respectfully saying, "Immortal Ancestor, today's important matters need to be discussed."

Lu Changhe nodded slightly, and immediately a female cultivator reported the revenue of the ten prefectures in Gannan that had just been tallied. The autumn harvest in the north had just ended, and it was the traditional time to tally the year's harvest.

The traditional territory of the Lü family in Ganzhou saw its overall revenue increase by 30% this year compared to previous years. This is a very significant increase, mainly due to the increase in mineral resources. The reason for this is the introduction of Qingming's mining and underground blasting technology, as well as the purchase of a large amount of gunpowder from Qingming.

Initially, Lü Changhe ordered the imitation of gunpowder. With his immortal eyesight, he easily discerned the gunpowder formula, and even saw through the components of the explosives that Qingming had made from fertilizer.

With the formula, manufacturing would be easy—that's what everyone thought, including Lü Changhe. However, after years of imitation, gunpowder production was still less than one-tenth of demand, and the price was more than ten times that of Qingming gunpowder. All the craftsmen couldn't find the reason, and all the spies sent to Qingming were found, not a single one left.

Qingming has only one punishment for spies who try to uncover industrial and technological secrets: execution. Regardless of their identity or the reasons behind their actions, all spies and those who betray information are to be executed, and no amount of pleading will change that.

Under the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Array, spies are already easily exposed. Moreover, Ji Liuli periodically uses the Tianji Grand Array to divine the identities of secret spies, which is the truly deadly aspect.

With Wei Yuan's blessing of human fortune, the Heavenly Secrets Formation reached an extraordinary level, making it impossible for anyone below the Immortal realm to withstand its calculations. Many highly professional spies, who had done absolutely nothing and had no flaws whatsoever, were still captured and died mysteriously.

Therefore, even today, Lü Changhe still hasn't figured out why Qingming gunpowder is produced in such large quantities and at such low prices. He tried to find the answer by fishing, but his fishing rod broke after the first attempt. Lü Changhe immediately realized that the consequences of Qingming were terrifying, and he dared not try again.

Although this year's profits are considerable, the situation is far from encouraging, as the increase is entirely due to Qingming. Now, Qingming has blocked all supply lines, and within half a month, most mines in Ganzhou will have to shut down.

After the female cultivator finished reporting on this year's harvest, another female cultivator stepped forward. However, she hesitated noticeably and was given a hard push by the other female cultivator before she finally reached Lü Changhe.

Lu Changhe frowned slightly and said, "What is it? Speak."

The female cultivator said tremblingly, "Qingming has mobilized a million troops, claiming they are going to attack Ganzhou..."

Lu Changhe was clearly getting impatient and said, "I know that, get to the point!"

The young, beautiful, and well-proportioned female cultivator said, "That person has just issued a proclamation to the world, listing your seven deadly sins, and using this as a pretext to launch an attack and invite the world to join in the war."

Lu Changhe sneered: "Which seven deadly sins?"

The young female cultivator's face was pale, and she couldn't help but tremble slightly, but she had no choice but to say, "First sin: disrespect for the monarch." Lu Changhe merely sneered and said nothing more. The Prince of Jin was his junior, nothing more than a wretched old man clinging to life; how could he be worthy of his respect?

"Second offense: Disregarding the laws of the imperial court; Third offense: Land annexation; Fourth offense: Forcible demolition of private residences... Sixth offense: Abduction of women..."

Lu Changhe initially sneered, but later became surprised. What kind of crimes were these?
These charges could easily be leveled at a county magistrate, or even a local tyrant, but to pin them on a deity, and then to use that as a pretext to mobilize a million-strong army to attack him—isn't that absurd? Who in the world would believe such a proclamation?

Lu Changhe was an immortal with divine senses as fast as lightning. In the blink of an eye, he had already thought of countless things and immediately understood Wei Yuan's intention!
These charges were utterly ridiculous; even a boor could see through them. Wei Yuan was using this method to announce to the world that, in his eyes, Lü Changhe deserved such accusations. What immortal? Just a piece of trash.

Having figured this out, a slight anger rose in Lü Changhe's heart, but that was all. For Wei Yuan to even slightly anger him was already quite formidable.

However, at that moment, the female cultivator uttered the last sentence: "Seven, sexually exploiting the beautiful offspring of the clan..."

With a snap, the fishing rod suddenly broke!

The beautiful female cultivators' expressions changed drastically instantly, and some even turned to flee. But how could they be faster than an immortal? With a flick of his fingernail, Lü Changhe sent the group of female cultivators silently collapsing to the ground, lifeless.

A deep purple flush rose to Lü Changhe's face, then slowly faded. He closed his eyes slightly, and after a few breaths, he opened them again, his expression now calm. He threw the broken fishing rod into the pond, and a new rod appeared in his hand. Then, with a thought, several masked men in black emerged from the shadows and dragged away the corpses of the female cultivators.

A moment later, several female cultivators hurried over, and their appearances were exactly the same as those of the female cultivators who had just been dragged away!
One of the female cultivators stepped forward, visibly hesitant. She was reporting on the defensive deployments at the Ganzhou front.

Lu Changhe listened quietly without reacting. The next few female cultivators finished their reports, and Lu Changhe still didn't respond. The female cultivators, as if granted a pardon, fled as if they had been granted a great pardon.

Inside the Qingming Mountain and River Palace, Wei Yuan was reviewing the war plan.

This time, the military campaign against the Lü family is secondary in terms of conquering cities and seizing territory, and the strategies accompanying the war are numerous, numbering in the hundreds. In the newly occupied territories, the identities of all people will be verified, and all land belonging to the Lü family will be confiscated and taken over by Qingming, and then redistributed evenly to all landless poor people.

All mines and workshops were confiscated and placed under the unified management of Qingming. At the same time, a unified food supply was implemented in the occupied territories, with Qingming supplying grain and distributing rations free of charge to the poorest people, ensuring that everyone in the occupied areas could have enough to eat.

This is Wei Yuan's bottom line. As long as they are not heinous criminals, even if they are idlers, Wei Yuan believes that under Qingming's rule, they should have the right to be well-fed.

Once these measures are implemented, they should instantly win over the hearts and minds of the people. As for the stubborn members of the Lü family, Wei Yuan's solution is simple: execution.

As for the reasons and charges, Wei Yuan would fabricate one if he was in a good mood—resisting the royal army—and if he was in a bad mood, he wouldn't bother with any at all. Looking across the land at that time, who dared to openly accuse Wei Yuan?

Just then, a faint sword aura suddenly landed in front of Wei Yuan. From within the sword aura emerged a palm-sized Zhang Sheng, who coldly said, "What's the meaning of you issuing these childish accusations?!"

Wei Yuan was startled and quickly asked, "You mean the seventh crime?"

No! Except for Article 7.

(End of this chapter)