I have an endless army of warriors, rampaging across the heavens.

Chapter 90: Nothing more than practice makes perfect! [Last day of the month, please vote! First subscription requested, launching tonight at midnight!]

"But you did it anyway, for the sake of the so-called 'imperial decree,' so that the court could continue to exploit the people of Jiujiang even more severely!"

"You're insane!"

“In fact, you don’t care about the common people at all. You only care about those above you and not those below you. Your so-called ‘compassion for the people’ is nothing but hypocrisy, which is just a pretense of benevolence and righteousness on the premise of not conflicting with the emperor’s orders.”

"Han Yinglong!"

"If you were a good person, you should prioritize appeasing my underground society, and you should urge the dog emperor to reduce corvée labor and taxes even unto death, instead of aiding and abetting the tyrant!"

"For the sake of the country, the people can suffer, but it cannot be that only the people suffer while the corrupt officials are fed, while the wealthy and powerful continue to enjoy themselves without contributing a single penny."

"That doesn't make sense."

"The underground will not agree."

Zuo Jing tried to see if he could persuade Han Yinglong.

He proved to be too naive.

"What nonsense!"

"Without corvée labor and taxes, how can we support the war effort on the nine borders?"

"Once the nine borders are breached, the Rong barbarians will advance unimpeded, the land will be shattered, and in the end, it will be the 400 million ordinary people who suffer."

Han Yinglong wouldn't listen to a word he said.

"Right."

“Your family owns 400,000 mu of land in Donghu, and you keep thousands of servants. You are a wealthy and powerful family. Every year, the rent from Huating alone is 1300 shi of rice and nearly 10,000 taels of silver.”

"Your son, Han Fan, owns more than a dozen cloth shops in Shengjing, monopolizing the textile market and selling his products to the two capitals and thirteen provinces. The Han family employs 20,000 skilled weavers, producing a massive amount of cloth every month."

"You only make the people suffer, but why don't we see your extremely wealthy Han family donating money and goods and giving away all your wealth to support the nine border regions?"

Forget it.

There is no use in talking more.

Zuo Jing, too lazy for empty talk, grinned at Han Yinglong: "In a few days, Governor Han should receive the news that your three sons, daughters-in-law, more than ten grandchildren, your wife, concubines, your elderly parents, and your Han family's vast fortune—all of them—"

Zuo Jing mimed a firework burst with his mouth: "...It's flying!"

Han Yinglong glared at him: "Scare tactics! Do you think I would believe your nonsense? You've been arrested for almost a month, how could you possibly know about the things happening in Donghu, thousands of miles away?"

Ah!
Do you think such trivial tricks can disturb his peace of mind?

Han Yinglong remained unmoved.

Zuo Jing laughed, "Your eldest son has a plum blossom birthmark on his buttocks, your second son is a castrated child, your youngest son has three large moles on his chest with nine hairs growing from them, your first wife is completely bald and an old clam like a tiger, and your old mother—"

"enough!"

Han Yinglong's eyes were bloodshot: "You lot! How dare you!"

Zuo Jing shrugged: "What's there to be afraid of? I even burned down your huge Han family estate, with its five alleys, six forts, and one street, 231 courtyards and 2078 rooms. It was truly a grand and prosperous family business. I'm a good person, so I added fuel to the fire, making your Han family even more prosperous and inextinguishable. The ancestral hall was the most spectacular, with flames soaring into the sky. I believe your ancestors, no matter which level of hell they are in, can see this clearly. This is a great gift I gave to your ancestors on behalf of your eldest son. Are you happy?"

"Ahhhh!"

"I kill you!"

Han Yinglong's eyes were wide open, and he looked like a madman!

……

Oh shit!

In just one month, Zuo Jing lost nearly three hundred elite soldiers. Even having Han Yinglong skinned alive wouldn't be enough to satisfy their hatred.

"I want everyone to know that if you dare to oppose me, if you dare to cause me trouble for no reason, I will kidnap your wife and children, steal all your property, dig up your ancestral graves, and burn down your old house!"

Do whatever it takes!

"Let's see if you have more family, more property, more ancestral graves, or more assassins!" Two hundred arrested?

One hundred died in battle?
Losing three hundred elite soldiers in a month?

Zuo Jing spoke with a heavy heart, but in fact, from September 15th to October 15th, he refreshed the ranks of 1705 suicide soldiers in 31 days.

three hundred!

Sprinkle some water!

It's heartbreaking, but Zuo Jing can take the pain.

"But can the imperial court afford to suffer such a loss?"

In the past month, 5,000 of the 20,000 soldiers and officers in Xiayang City have been killed or wounded, along with a number of clerks and officials.

A level-nine assassin led 100 low-level assassins, activating their warrior aura and moving like the wind. They could hit any target they pointed at, and then retreat immediately after hitting them. They fully utilized the essence of tunnel warfare, blitzkrieg, and guerrilla warfare, leaving the government troops completely disoriented.

Is 20,000 soldiers a lot?
Of course there are many!
How skilled are the experts in the Jing'an Division?
Of course it's high!
However, Zuo Jing's assassins kept coming one after another. They were organized and disciplined, but they could not find the high-ranking members of the underground society. Those who were killed or captured were all assassins. The number of assassins was increasing every day, and the new ones far outweighed the losses.

As the saying goes: porcelain should not be mixed with earthenware.

The "death squad" was made of clay pots.

The officers and soldiers are all made of porcelain.

I can't afford to get hurt, I really can't afford to get hurt.

In just one month, the vast city of Xiayang had been reduced to a state of 'anarchy' by Zuo Jing.

The officers and soldiers retreated into their camp.

Clerks rarely leave their offices.

The government of Xiayang City could not issue any decrees, making it impossible to move an inch, let alone collect taxes.

After a short period of lockdown, the people of Xiayang City were able to enjoy a happy life free from the abuse of power by corrupt officials.

Happy running!

……

"That's unreasonable!"

"Lawless!"

Far away in Shengjing, within the imperial palace, Emperor Daye slammed his fist on the dragon throne, shattering it in a fit of rage.

Your Majesty.

The Minister of War, the Minister of Justice, the Left and Right Commanders of the Five Armies, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, the Director of the Embroidered Robe Bureau, the Director of the Imperial City Bureau, the Director of the Peace and Security Bureau, the Director of the Demon Suppression Bureau, and the carefree Marquis of the Dragon Guard Manor, among other eleven high-ranking officials, all arrived.

Emperor Daye threw the urgent report from Jiujiang on the ground: "Look at this! Jiujiang is completely rotten!"

The crowd picked it up and passed it around, growing more and more astonished with each reading. As they read, their astonishment grew, and they continued reading with even greater shock. Finally, Zhang Kefa, the Minister of War, finished reading first and angrily exclaimed, "This is outrageous! This is utterly lawless!"

Yu Minzhong, the Minister of Justice, was the second to finish reading it and couldn't help but feel angry: "Lord Han has the talent to squander wealth and the elegance to be calm and resolute. How could he have expected to suffer such retaliation as the Governor of Jiujiang this time!"

Wang Shicheng, the supervisor of the Jing'an Division, was the third to finish reading. He was furious and volunteered: "I am willing to lead the elite troops of the Jing'an Division to reinforce Jiujiang and garrison Xiayang. I will not rest until all the rebels are killed!"

The Governor-General of Jiujiang acted in accordance with the Emperor's orders and handled official business.

The underground rebels, unaware of the overwhelming power of Heaven, instead turned their anger on Han Yinglong and went so far as to kidnap, murder, set fire to, and rob the Han family in Donghu, committing heinous crimes that are too numerous to count. This is simply appalling!
If all the forces in the world acted as recklessly as underground societies, each clearly serving their own master yet even digging up ancestral graves and ancestral halls, who would dare to fulfill their royal duties?

"This is outrageous!"

"Such unhealthy trends must be stopped!"

Jin Sheng, the Left Commander of the Five Armies Commandery, angrily said, "In my opinion, the Jing'an Division alone is far from enough. The underground society has already gained momentum, and there may be tens of thousands of rebels gathered in Xiayang City. The Jing'an Division cannot kill them all. I request permission to lead 100,000 troops to besiege the city. We will kill the innocent and spare the guilty!"

……

(End of this chapter)