You, a tyrannical ruler, roam the heavens; you cannot understand my joy.

Several days later, in the back hall of the Nantong Prefectural Governor's Mansion.

"Will this really work?"

Shen Luoyan looked at the map on the table and pondered inwardly.

Zhang Zhongjian's plan is too audacious...

They actually wanted to force the six great families to rebel while the Sui Dynasty was attacking, so that Nantong could take the opportunity to attack Jurong County?

Isn't this a situation where the front lines are engulfed in war, and the rear is also unstable?

"Report!"

At this moment, a yamen runner rushed in, cupped his hands, and reported: "Your Excellency, Prefect Lu has returned and requests your presence in the main hall for a meeting."

He's back?

Shen Luoyan quickly rolled up the map and hurriedly ran towards the main hall.

……

A short while later, in the main hall.

Lu Zuo sat in the main seat, dressed in a black casual robe, his expression calm, showing no signs of fatigue from days of travel.

Xie Guyan, Jiang Che, and Gu Tingyun stood solemnly on the left side below, their expressions heavy.

Shen Luoyan strode into the hall, curtsied, and said, "This humble official, Shen Luoyan, greets Your Excellency the Prefect."

"Prefect Shen, there's no need for such formalities."

Lu Zuo slightly raised his hand, his gaze falling on her: "Sit."

"I summoned you here in haste to hear about the current situation in Nantong. In this chaotic situation, a solid foundation is the most important thing."

"Thank you, sir."

Shen Luoyan sat down on the right side below, composed herself, took out a booklet from her sleeve, and reported in a clear and organized manner: "Reporting to Your Excellency, the progress of matters in Nantong has far exceeded my expectations."

Firstly, grain production.

"This year, the weather has been favorable, and the new farming tools and methods promoted by the adults have proven effective, resulting in a bumper harvest."

"Preliminary calculations show that the annual grain revenue has exceeded 13 million shi (a unit of dry measure), which is several times higher than in previous years. The granaries are full, far exceeding the initial estimate."

With a hint of barely perceptible excitement in her voice, she continued, "Secondly, the people will be at peace."

"According to your previous plan, we have accepted and resettled more than 100,000 households who have moved from Nanxu and even Jiankang. They have all been properly resettled and given land and seeds."

"The people had to have their own land, so their enthusiasm for land reclamation was extremely high, and the people's hearts gradually stabilized."

Thirdly, military preparedness.

"Among the newly relocated people, we have discovered many promising martial arts talents, all of whom have been incorporated into the new army and are training alongside the existing soldiers. Their progress is rapid."

"Fourthly, in recent months, martial arts practitioners from all over the country have flocked to Nantong to serve the country after hearing about the new policies."

"Upon verification, there are currently no fewer than 20,000 cultivators within Nantong who have reached the Great Perfection of the Acquired Realm!"

"There are also several hundred martial artists at the Innate Realm."

"Even a month ago, a rogue cultivator at the Three Elements Unity Realm came to join us."

"Fifth, since the start of the war, more than 8,000 new soldiers have successfully broken through to the Great Accomplishment stage and have become combat-ready troops."

"Now, Nantong can readily mobilize nearly 50,000 of Tianjin University's elite troops!"

Including the nine thousand new troops that are on their way from Dongyang, they now have more than fifty thousand troops at their disposal...

Lu Zuo hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What's the situation in Jurong County?"

"grown ups."

Shen Luoyan cupped her hands and said, "I've been wondering about this matter lately."

"Although the six great families are disloyal to our Southern Chen and secretly collude with the Sui Dynasty, they have remained inactive until now, clearly waiting for a better price. But now..."

"His Majesty's swift and decisive crackdown on their representatives in the capital is tantamount to a blatant declaration to those powerful families that the court will no longer tolerate their duplicity and is about to take action against them!"

"This is like stirring up a hornet's nest, or even... forcing a tiger to jump over the wall!"

"In that case, how could the powerful local magnates like the Lu family of Wu Commandery sit idly by and wait for their doom?"

"To protect themselves, they will inevitably abandon all pretense of civility and rebel!"

"At that time, they will no longer haggle with the Sui Dynasty over any conditions; they will simply surrender without hesitation, pouring out their family's private troops, money, and provisions in order to gain a foothold in the new dynasty!"

"My lord, this means the Sui army will gain hundreds of thousands of soldiers and mountains of grain!"

"This, this really... will it work?"

Lu Zuo waved his hand: "You don't need to worry about these things, just do things according to the original plan."

Zhang Zhongjian's core plan can be summed up in four words: "No destruction, no construction!"

This coincides with Lu Zuo's thoughts.

To put it bluntly, the Southern Chen dynasty was rotten to the core, inside and out!

The six powerful families were deeply entrenched and too powerful to be controlled. Their betrayal of the Southern Chen Dynasty was a foregone conclusion. They were simply waiting for the right opportunity to gain more rights from the Sui Dynasty.

Instead of getting entangled with them, I should just burst this festering sore!

It would be perfect if the whole clan surrendered to the Sui!

They brought their private soldiers and their ill-gotten gains to serve as vanguard soldiers for the Sui army, filling that blood and flesh mill!

That foundation must be guarded against being weak!

As long as Zhang Zhongjian holds the line at the front, I can use the troops from Dongyang and Nantong to subdue Wu County, Jurong and other territories.

in this way……

Even if the front line doesn't hold out for as long as originally planned, we can still conquer the territory south of Jiankang and have a large development base!

By then, the new army will have acquired some fighting strength and can continue to delay the Sui army.

There are high-yield crops, Qin-era advanced technology, people, and grain in the rear; let's delay for another year or so...

With a million-strong army of martial artists trained after birth, they would be able to pacify the world!

Sometimes Lu Zuozhen really suspected that Zhang Zhongjian had planned from the beginning to sell Nanxu, Jiankang, and "Chen Shubao," thus...

To support himself, a "leftist" from the Central Plains, to become emperor?

At this moment, Shen Luoyan's voice interrupted his thoughts: "Reporting to Your Excellency, recently there have been frequent shipments of grain and fodder from Jurong County, but there has been no sign of a large-scale troop movement."

Lu Zuo nodded: "Then let's wait a little longer."

"It is estimated that the new army from Dongyang will arrive in Nantong around the same time."

……

Jurong County, Gu Family Hall.

The atmosphere inside the hall was somber, with the fragrance of sandalwood wafting through the air.

Gu Hongshen sat on the highest seat in a rosewood armchair, his face ashen.

On either side of the lower seat sat several core members of the clan who held power, all of them with grim expressions.

"Bang!"

Gu Hongshen slammed his hand on the coffee table, causing the fine porcelain cups to bounce and spill tea everywhere.

"Chengye... he really died such a pointless death in Jiankang?"

"That tyrannical ruler has purged the representatives in the capital; next, the executioner's blade will fall on us, his clansmen who remained in the provinces!"

An elder of the clan, named Gu Yongnian, with white hair and beard, spoke up: "The court's actions have revealed its true intentions, and we have no way out."

The middle-aged man sitting at the lower seat, with a sharp and wiry face, was Gu Hongshen's younger brother, Gu Hongyi. He gritted his teeth and said, "Brother, Yang Guang's secret letter has arrived, ordering us to do two things."

"First, gather the elite of the clan, carry provisions, and quickly join forces with the main force of the Sui army."

"Secondly, let us take advantage of the potential weakness of our forces in Dongyang and Nantong to launch an attack and seize both places, cutting off Zhang Zhongjian's retreat!"

These words immediately sparked a murmur of discussion in the hall.

"Attack Dongyang and Nantong?"

A hot-blooded young man, Gu Mingxuan, suddenly stood up: "Uncle, this is a golden opportunity!"

"Perfect timing to avenge my cousin Chengye!"

"With my family's private army of 150,000, what do I have to fear from those two places?"

"Foolish!"

Gu Yongnian scolded, "Mingxuan, do you even know what kind of places Dongyang and Nantong are?"

"Lu Zuo has been operating there for a long time; his influence is deeply entrenched!"

"Their army possesses a variety of incredibly sharp mechanical weapons, whose power is astonishing, and we are absolutely no match for them!"

Gu Hongyi nodded and said, "Third Uncle is absolutely right."

"Nantong now has well-trained troops and ample supplies, with tens of thousands of cultivators who have achieved the Great Acquired Realm, and even more experts who have reached the Innate Realm or the Three Elements Unity Realm."

"If we launch a full-scale attack on both places, even if we win, it will be a pyrrhic victory!"

"Is the foundation my Gu family has built up over hundreds of years to be exhausted in this battle?"

"Furthermore, if my Gu family's power is greatly diminished, what say will we have in front of the Sui court in the future?"

"It's nothing more than working for someone else's benefit, being manipulated at will!"

Gu Yongnian nodded in agreement: "Hongyi is right."

"Preserving strength is the fundamental principle."

"If my family wants to establish itself in the new dynasty, we must have soldiers, provisions, and men!"

"The less power we lose, the greater the benefits we can gain in the future."

Gu Hongshen closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then approved of Gu Yongnian and Gu Hongyi's strategy, nodding and saying, "Immediately inventory the clan's granaries and allocate one-third of them..."

"No, half of the stored grain!"

"I, Hongyi, will personally lead ten thousand elite troops and skilled warriors from my clan to escort the grain supplies and join forces with the main Sui army, thus demonstrating my sincerity in serving the Gu family!"

"The rest of the clansmen must remain in Jurong and are not to be moved without authorization!"

"And we must not provoke Dongyang or Nantong!"

This is the biggest drawback of powerful clans: they only consider their own family's interests.

If the six great families were to mobilize their entire forces from their ancestral homes, sparing no expense to incite chaos in the counties south of Jiankang...

That would really cause Lu Zuo some trouble.

However, they wanted to gain benefits in the Sui Dynasty but did not want to expend too much effort, which in turn gave Lu Zuo an opportunity!

……

For the next ten days or so, the strongholds of the six great families were all being used to mobilize troops and supplies to join forces with the Sui army.

Meanwhile, the Sui army quickened its march and headed straight for Jiankang.

Zhang Zhongjian followed the original plan, deploying defenses in the capital while ordering the Shenwu Battalion and numerous skilled warriors to harass the Sui army from behind enemy lines, delaying their advance.

As for Jiankang City, it was a scene of bloodshed, with spies being killed every day.

Even among the Imperial Guards and the Five Cities Garrison, many people connected to the Six Great Families were assassinated by experts from the Yin Gui Sect.

Chaos at the front, even greater chaos at the rear!

Even some counties that did not belong to the six major clans began to harbor disloyal intentions.

In some places, people simply stopped obeying the imperial court's orders and adopted an attitude of self-governance, waiting for the Sui Dynasty to conquer Jiankang before surrendering.

It's fair to say that the entire Southern Chen Dynasty was in complete chaos!

However, there are four places that are peaceful: Dongyang, Nantong, Lingnan, and Nanhai County.

No matter how much commotion there is outside, Dongyang and Nantong continue to develop rapidly.

Lu Zuo continued to travel between different worlds, constantly bringing back resources.

Now that food is no longer scarce, he focuses on transporting tons of medicinal herbs back home!

The new soldiers from Nantong and Dongyang would take an extremely luxurious medicinal bath almost every few days!

……

At this moment, in Lingnan, at the residence of the Song Dynasty's powerful clan.

As dusk settled and a light drizzle fell, the vast Songfa Manor was shrouded in a hazy mist.

Inside the rain-viewing pavilion, Song Que stood leaning against the railing, dressed in a green robe, his figure as upright as a solitary peak. His gaze pierced through the rain curtain, looking northward, and he remained silent for a long time.

His face, with its sharp features and undiminished handsomeness, was unusually tinged with a deep and unyielding melancholy.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded from behind, steady and rhythmic.

Song Que's younger brother, Song Zhi, slowly walked into the pavilion and stood beside him, both looking north and letting out a soft sigh.

"Big brother."

"The entire Chen Kingdom is in complete chaos, Jiankang..."

"I'm afraid we can't hold out."

Song Que did not turn around, but simply said, "Chen Shubao's perverse actions and self-destructive policies have led to his downfall."

The Song dynasty's clans had guarded Lingnan for generations, their hearts set on the Han dynasty, and they were incompatible with the Sui dynasty, whose northern nomadic influences were growing.

No matter how unbearable the Southern Chen dynasty was, it was still the legitimate dynasty of the Han dynasty, and a banner for them to maintain the Han dynasty's traditions in the south.

But now...

What has this tyrannical ruler done?

Song Zhi gave a bitter smile: "Who could have imagined that such a vast Southern Chen dynasty would collapse so quickly?"

"The six major families have become disloyal and have all defected to the north."

"His Majesty... again."

"Ugh."

He sighed deeply, filled with disappointment and helplessness at Chen Shubao's incompetence.

"It's not that it collapsed quickly," Song Que slowly shook his head, his gaze profound, "it's that its roots were already rotten to the core."

"The ruler is incompetent and the ministers are treacherous, causing disunity between the ruler and his subjects."

"Even without the Sui army's southward advance, this empire was bound to collapse sooner or later."

"I just didn't expect it to be this...awful."

He paused, then continued, "Throughout my life, I, Song Que, have dedicated myself to restoring the Han dynasty and hoping for a strong Han dynasty that can drive out the northern barbarians and restore the Central Plains."

"Now it seems that the Southern Chen dynasty is ultimately unable to live up to this expectation."

Song Zhi paused for a moment, then analyzed, "Brother, although the Sui dynasty had the blood of the Guanzhong barbarians, it had undergone several generations of Sinicization, and Yang Jian also advocated Han laws. The country had unified the north and was at its peak."

"Their southward advance is now unstoppable."

"Our Song clan dominates Lingnan. Although we are not afraid of the Sui army, if we go against the tide and confront the new dynasty that is about to unify the world, it may not be a blessing for our family."

"The blood of the soldiers of Lingnan should not be shed for a palace that is about to collapse."

"However, if we were to submit to the Sui Dynasty now, what would become of our Han Chinese traditions and the integrity of Lingnan..."

Before Song Zhi could finish speaking, a steward in blue robes hurried over from the distance through the rain, clutching a sealed copper pipe tightly in his hand.

He rushed outside the pavilion, not even bothering to wipe the rain from his face, and bent down to raise the copper pipe high:

"My lord, an urgent secret letter has arrived from Jiankang!"

Song Que raised his eyebrows slightly. Was this a secret letter from Jiankang at this time?

He turned around, reached for the copper tube, applied force with his fingertips, and the mechanism clicked open, revealing a piece of paper.

Song Que unfolded the letter and quickly scanned it.

Immediately...

Those deep, cold eyes suddenly sharpened!

"Prepare the horses!"

"I want to go to Nantong!"

The letter contained only one thing: Song Que's goddess... Fan Qinghui, had been arrested by the emperor!

Upon seeing this news, all talk of the Han unification, the Lingnan foundation, and the general trend of the world...

At this moment, everything else becomes insignificant!

All that remained in his mind was that pure white figure, those clear and serene eyes that had haunted his dreams!

Save her!

We must rescue her at all costs!

This sycophant knew very well that only Lu Zuo, the governor of Dongyang, could save his goddess!

……

Seven days later, somewhere in Nantong.

Song Que had been traveling for seven days without sleep.

He was covered in dust, his blue robe splattered with mud, his hair stuck to his forehead with sweat and dirt, and his usually calm and deep eyes were now bloodshot.

suddenly!

"Whoa!"

Song Que suddenly tightened the reins, the horse neighed loudly, reared up, and almost threw him off its back.

Once his horse had stabilized, his gaze was fixed on the front, his pupils contracted sharply, and his face was filled with astonishment and disbelief.

Ahead lay a vast, open threshing ground.

But the scale of this threshing ground far exceeded anything he had ever seen in his life!

The hard soil was compacted and leveled like a mirror, stretching for nearly a hundred acres at a glance!

At this moment, the threshing floor is piled high with grains as big as mountains and as big as the sea!

The golden grains were piled into huge cones, shimmering with a breathtakingly abundant light in the setting sun.

A rough estimate suggests that, based on what we can see right now, there are probably no less than 100,000 shi (a unit of dry measure)!

Countless farmers are busy around these grain mountains.

They were not using traditional flails or millstones, but rather a sophisticated wooden and iron implement he had never seen before.

In addition, there were huge fan-shaped machines that roared and blew strong winds to blow impurities from the grain far away, and there were also strange rollers that crushed the grain piles, making them far more efficient than manpower.

There are also many unidentifiable tools that work efficiently in the hands of those farmers.

Although these farmers were simply dressed, they all had rosy complexions, were in good spirits, moved nimbly, and their work chants were full of energy, showing no signs of the malnutrition or apathy of ordinary farmers.

At the edge of the threshing ground, thousands of brand-new sacks were neatly stacked, along with dozens of well-made, uniformly sized four-wheeled carts.

Some people who looked like minor officials were quickly registering items in booklets and directing the loading of the trucks.

Further away, some simply dressed teenagers were reading aloud from books.

There were also some teenagers practicing martial arts in the open space. Observing their methods of circulating qi, it turned out to be an extremely advanced martial art.

"Is this Nantong?"

Song Que murmured to himself, his heart churning with turbulent emotions.

He had heard that Lu Zuo was doing very well in Nantong and Dongyang, but he had never seen it with his own eyes, and he never expected it to be like this.

That Lu Zuo...

How could they have built such a successful business?

This scene had a tremendous impact on Song Que!

He originally thought that Nantong and Dongyang were just strongholds where Lu Zuo and others held military power.

Looking at it now...

Big mistake!

This is clearly a terrifying potential, with a completely different system, and possibly even the embryonic form of a new order!

Song Que vaguely felt that no matter how chaotic the Southern Chen Dynasty was, as long as Jiankang could hold out for more than half a year, and as long as Dongyang and Nantong could be stabilized...

As for the overall situation, it's truly impossible to predict!

"etc!"

He suddenly remembered something: "Could this chaos in Southern Chen be exactly what His Majesty wanted?"

Forget it.

Regardless of all that, rescuing Qinghui is the most important thing!

……

Nantong City, Prefectural Governor's Office.

what?

When Lu Zuo saw Song Que again, he stood there dumbfounded.

He never expected that after being provoked by him, this kid would still be so infatuated with Fan Qinghui.

They still treat her like a goddess!

I'm willing to give anything for her!

Not a buddy...

You're still not awake?

Do you know that being a simp will only lead to nothing in the end?

"Cough cough..."

Lu Zuo coughed lightly and looked at Song Que in front of him, saying, "It is not impossible for me to plead with His Majesty on his behalf."

"but……"

"Young Master Song, the country is in turmoil and in danger. You must do your part for the country."