He was born as a blacksmith, but he dominated the world

Chapter 501 Turmoil
The whereabouts of the first giant's skeleton are unknown.

The only one who might know the truth is Xu Jiandao.

After all, other Taoist sects have almost been destroyed. Even if there are still people like the leader of Xuanhua Sect alive, they may not know the truth.

Only the Xujian Dao is different. Their two great magics can trace the past and peek into the future.

In a sense, its effect is no less than that of boxing in the human world, and even exceeds it to a certain extent.

The boxing world allows Jiang Lin to enter fragments of the long river of history, but he cannot know the past and future that he has never touched. This is its biggest flaw.

Fortunately, the emergence of the skill [Seeing Through Fire] gave Jiang Lin unlimited possibilities.

If it could be upgraded further, it might have abilities comparable to the magics [Xingluo] and [Lan Ke].

But for now, there is no real significance.

After a conversation with Emperor Shun, both of them decided what to do next.

Not long after returning to the blacksmith camp, the imperial edict arrived.

Jiang Lin was granted the title of first-rank Duke of Weiguo and was in charge of the manufacture of Daqian weapons.

Although the duties seem to be of limited power, in fact the power is immense.

Because the imperial edict clearly stated that whenever Duke Jiang needed weapons, the six ministries and forty-eight departments of Daqian, and even the entire country, should fully cooperate.

Anyone who disobeys will be regarded as a traitor and his entire clan will be executed!
With such an imperial decree, Jiang Lin's status was more than just raised to a higher level.

He has surpassed the level of the six ministries and, like the Shang Yu Si, is only responsible to the emperor.

To be precise, his power is greater than Shang Yusi's.

After all, Shang Yu Si will need to give a reasonable explanation afterwards, or His Majesty the Emperor may need to personally order an investigation.

But Jiang Lin didn't need to do that. As long as it was related to weapons, he could act first and report later.

Even if there is no explanation afterwards, no one will say anything.

It has to be said that Emperor Shun was a very courageous emperor.

When he saw the determination shown by Jiang Lin, he gave him the greatest power he could.

Such trust is beyond the reach of ordinary emperors.

That night, a minister submitted a memorial stating that such a title granting was tantamount to a joke.

The manufacture of weapons for border troops can be large or small.

Your Majesty has delegated power to Jiang Lin and appointed him as the first-rank Duke of Weiguo, which is not a big deal, but the imperial power has granted him special permission and is treated as if Your Majesty is present in person. This power is really too great.

What should we do if this person has the intention of treason?

Even if he didn't plot treason, what about enriching himself?
The minister who submitted the memorial was demoted three levels in a row. This was the result.

From then on, no minister submitted any memorials.

Jiang Lin was deeply moved when he learned about this.

When Daqian was first established, many civil officials also advised Ma Ningyan to limit Jiang Lin's power and status.

Ma Ningyan’s approach was very simple, she just killed one as soon as it came.

But even after dozens or hundreds of civil servants were killed, there was still a steady stream of people who came to risk their lives to give advice.

In the end, Ma Ningyan's knife couldn't cut any further.

Fortunately, Jiang Lin left in time, otherwise all the civil servants in the court would have been killed.

Even some military officers may die as a result.

Hundreds of years later, a similar thing is happening today.

Emperor Shun only demoted one of them three levels, and the limelight was put to rest.

It seems as if civil servants have lost their integrity, but in fact it indirectly shows that the power of the contemporary emperor has reached its peak.

His words are truly as good as gold and no one can compare to him.

After all, it was hundreds of years of war, and Daqian killed too many people, making countless foreign dynasties fearful.

Similarly, the ministers in the court were also afraid of the emperor's authority.

They know exactly what to do and what not to do.

But even if it is something that should be done, I won't force it.

This storm ended in a very short time.

Of course, there is another reason. During the morning court session on the second day, Emperor Shun not only issued an edict to demote the minister who gave the advice, but also demoted him to a lower rank.

He also announced that the border troops would be expanded immediately, and the number of troops would not be the previously planned 10 million, but 20 million!
If conditions permit, this number may increase.

When the decree came out, all the civil and military officials in the court were shocked.

The current border troops are seven million in number, and they are supported by the tens of millions of people in Daqian.

Expanding to 10 million does not just increase the population by one third, but also makes it one third more difficult to support the people.

If the number increases to 10 million, the people who used to be able to have food to eat will probably starve.

In addition, the welfare benefits of border troops have always been outrageously high.

With so many people, military spending has more than doubled.

As the number of people increased, they were not only provided with food and silver, but also with weapons, armor, barracks, horses, food, and so on.

Can the national treasury withstand this increase?

The Minister of Revenue had no choice but to step forward. This was a really difficult matter. Even if his head was chopped off, he could not come up with so much silver.

The Minister of Works also stood up and said that the Ministry of Revenue could not come up with the money, and our Ministry of Works could not provide so many people.

In addition, the Ministry of Personnel has also joined in the fun. As the number of border troops increases, how much more military officers will need to be added?

It is not difficult to deal with those below the fourth rank Dusi, but those above Dusi, including the Lieutenant General, Deputy General, and General, are all important generals with real power.

In the past, it would take years of thorough testing before a promotion could be confirmed.

Just like Liao Mingxu, who had been a lieutenant general for many years, this time he went to southern Xinjiang and led the Nanling camp to fight for several years. He crawled out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and the position of general was vacant, so he just happened to fill it.

Otherwise, he would have to serve as a lieutenant general for a few more years before he had another chance.

Now, with 20 million border troops, there is one lieutenant general for every camp of 10,000 people, and one general for every 30 camps.

There would have to be more than a thousand lieutenant generals alone and hundreds of generals.

And what about the Marshal?

There must be at least a dozen first-rank officials of the current dynasty who the Ministry of Personnel is not qualified to review and promote.

How should the Ministry of Personnel deal with this?
There is no time to investigate. If something goes wrong in the future, will His Majesty the Emperor be responsible, or will our Ministry of Personnel take the blame?

The Minister of Personnel could almost imagine the scene of his entire family being beheaded.

So on the surface it seems that he has the least to do with the Ministry of Personnel, but in fact he is the one who opposes it most strongly.

As for the military officers, they did not oppose the expansion of border troops.

They don't care whether there is enough silver, whether there is a shortage of craftsmen, or how to write the promotion files.

The larger the number of border troops, the happier they were.

However, when it comes to the selection of lieutenant general, deputy general, and general, everyone, from the current marshal to the current general, took the initiative to recommend the talents under their command.

One said that a lieutenant general under his command had made great achievements, but his talent was not recognized.

Another one said that one of his generals had the talent of a general, and some others boasted that they had the demeanor of a marshal.

As the military officers were talking, they started arguing.
They started arguing and fighting.

The civil officials quarreled in the hall, and the military officials fought outside the hall.

For a time, the whole court was in chaos.

Emperor Shun did not say a word, just let them quarrel and left quietly.

Only Eunuch Tian was allowed to stay, and he would inform them when the ministers were tired of arguing and fighting.

"His Majesty said, no matter what you think, I just want you to think about expanding the border army by 20 million. If you can't come up with anything at the court tomorrow, you don't have to come."

After saying this, Eunuch Tian also left.

A bunch of civil officials were left looking at each other in bewilderment. In just one day and one night, they were asked to come up with a solution to deal with the expansion of the border army by 20 million?

Isn't this embarrassing?
But you can't take it out. Judging from what the Emperor means, he really wants you to go home and retire.

In comparison, military attachés have it much easier.

Even though many people were beaten black and blue, they laughed out loud afterwards.

They only need to consider who to recommend for the position, including self-recommendation, and they don't have to worry about anything else. It is much easier.

One day and one night is enough time to notify those bastards to come and claim the favor, right?

There are more than 10 million border troops, thousands of lieutenant generals, and hundreds of generals. How can we do this without providing more benefits to our own people?

The military officers, who usually don't like to use their brains, now have their eyes rolling around.

Among all the people, only the Minister of Personnel felt as if his father had died.

After returning home in a daze, he wrote a letter of resignation and submitted it without saying a word.

Whatever, he really can't take this job.

Anyway, I have been a high-ranking official in this life and have enjoyed enough glory. It is better to go home and retire than to end up with my whole family beheaded in the future.

Such a major event made Jiang Lin's being granted the title of Duke of Weiguo and being in charge of the world's weapons manufacturing seem insignificant.

All the civil and military officials in the court were busy with their own affairs, so no one cared about him.

No matter how great the power is, let’s talk about it after we pass this hurdle.

Jiang Lin was granted the title of Duke of Weiguo, and the entire blacksmith camp was so happy that they went crazy.

At this moment, the Foundry Department truly returned to its position as the top department among the forty-eight departments four hundred years ago. Even the Internal Affairs Department and the Shangyu Department were suppressed.

Strictly speaking, the Foundry Department is now a system in its own right.

Emperor Shun said that as long as it was beneficial to the manufacture of weapons, Jiang Lin would have the final say.

Theoretically speaking, Jiang Lin could give the people in the Foundry Department any rank from the first rank to the second rank.

Of course, this is just theory.

With Jiang Lin's personality, he would not do that.

He only promoted everyone by three levels; even Qi the blacksmith got an eighth-rank official position.

From being a master chef, he went straight to being a serious official.

As for my master Zhao Yankui, he was a sixth-rank official, neither big nor small.

The old carpenter Yu Maoming was a fifth-rank official.

Although when I first met Jiang Lin, I could tell that this kid was extraordinary and might be able to rise to prominence and accomplish great things in the future.

But Yu Maoming did not expect that Jiang Lin could achieve such great success.

How could a blacksmith be awarded a fifth-rank official position at will?
I’m afraid even the great blacksmiths of the past couldn’t have such power.

In addition, there are many ninth grades, and there are even more from the ninth grade.

The carnival in the blacksmith camp made other departments envious.

The Blacksmith Camp, which used to be at the bottom of the Forty-Eight Divisions, is now soaring to the top.

Even the Construction Department, which was slightly related to the business, saw its status rise with the tide.

After conferring the title, Jiang Lin gathered everyone together and announced an important event.

"From now on, blacksmiths from all over the country are being recruited to forge weapons for the border troops!"

“There is no limit to the number of people, the more the better!”

Everyone thought that the number of border troops was really only 20 million.

Only Jiang Lin understood that this number was just the beginning, not the end.

The world outside the pit made him very clear about what kind of dangers he would face in the future.

If you want to perfectly control the giant skeleton, these few people are not enough.

What's more, you can have more than just one giant divine body.

If Daqian wants to get out of the pit and survive well, the key is to control more giant divine bodies.

The prerequisite for doing so is that there are enough people to complete the Shocking God Formation.

Twenty million?
Ten times better!
The border troops, who had not yet completed their rest, soon received new orders.

Expansion, endless expansion!
Only 500,000 troops were left on the borders to guard the capital, and they were also responsible for training the newly recruited troops.

The others all spread out and headed towards southern Xinjiang with all their might.

Any dynasty that does not submit will be destroyed.

The six great marshals visited all the powerful clans overnight.

They did not make any extra moves and only told the powerful clans one sentence.

"Your Majesty has ordered that from now on, you are not allowed to act arbitrarily, otherwise the border troops will fight you to the death!"

After leaving these words, the Marshal left.

Those powerful clans were horrified when they heard this. They knew very well that the court was really preparing to do something big.

Although they have not been asked to hand over the giant skeleton yet, is that day far away?
For a time, the powerful clans were in panic.

Some were angry, some were panicked.

They had to get together to discuss countermeasures.

It was obvious that His Majesty the Emperor was going to do something they did not want to see. Suppressing the giant skeleton was indeed the "ancestral precepts" left by the Taoist ancestor.

But a thousand years later, the powerful clans no longer have the same ideas as the Taoists.

Taoism still sticks to its original intention and does what it should do wholeheartedly.

The powerful clans suppressed the giant skeletons more for their own selfish interests.

They don't want such a powerful weapon to appear in the world, and they don't want this thing to bring too much turmoil to the world after it comes out.

It doesn't matter what happens to Daqian or the people, but if we let them fall into chaos or even disappear in the long river of history, that is absolutely unacceptable.

The ancestral precepts in all the powerful clans clearly record the words of their ancestors.

"Alive!"

These two simple words have never changed their meaning, but as time goes by, people's hearts become more complicated.

In order to achieve this, the means adopted have also changed greatly.

However, after gathering together, the powerful clans still could not reach a consensus.

There are radicals who want to fight a decisive battle with the Daqian court and use practical actions to tell the emperor that there are some things that absolutely cannot be done.

There are also conservatives who believe that Daqian’s military power is now at its peak and that risking one’s life in a fight may not necessarily win their favor.

There are also fence-sitters who say they can go and talk to the court.

Just when they gathered to discuss, they received bad news.

Two powerful clans had their homes robbed.

A total of eight ancestors, along with all the Divine Martial Realm masters, were killed completely.

All the treasures of the tribe, including the skeleton of the giant, disappeared without a trace.

This news made the patriarchs of the two powerful clans so angry that they vomited blood on the spot.

When they returned to the tribe and saw the mess and dead bodies everywhere, they could no longer bear it.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, pointed to the sky and cursed, almost going crazy.

No one can withstand such a blow.

Although other powerful clans did not suffer any losses, they still understood the principle of "the lips and the teeth are in danger".

The fact that several clans were attacked in succession indicated that a force was targeting them.

"It must be the imperial court! Only they have such means!" someone said gritting his teeth.

(End of this chapter)