You became an emperor by letting me AFK.

Even the attitude of the southern countries behind it.

Therefore, Lü Bo and Song Xuyun, who have strong official backgrounds, will not appear in public, but will provide support in secret.

That's better.

On the one hand, they accumulate merit, and on the other hand, powerful figures behind the scenes give them a boost, allowing them to gain both fame and fortune.

The downside is, of course, being targeted by those who oppose the Heavenly Dao Sect, but then again, who doesn't have a few enemies? Making enemies is never the important thing; what matters is how powerful the person you pledge your loyalty to is. As long as they're strong enough, that's all that matters.

The Great Qian Dynasty is clearly strong enough.

The priests' leader, Feng Tianyin, was exceptionally benevolent and righteous.

Moreover, our partners have offered considerable concessions and benefits over the years, so it's time to reciprocate. Since it's a mutually beneficial partnership, what's there to hesitate about now?

The group looked at each other, thought carefully, and then reached a conclusion, beginning to discuss it:

"Our Haiyan Chamber of Commerce will be responsible for making the contact and setting up the venue. As for the location, we'll leave that to the City Lord."

"Do not worry."

“Choose an auspicious day and hold it in the name of celebrating the Heavenly Way.”

"The key is to contact people in other city-states as much as possible, and ideally, to incite another great migration. That would create chaos, and in chaos, there would be an opportunity to exploit."

"As far as I know, some city-states are very wary of the Heavenly Dao Sect."

"It wasn't entirely their own idea; it was Qingzhou in the south that was on guard and constantly trying to exclude them."

"Indeed, we have different beliefs."

Qingzhou seems to worship a sea deity more, which differs from the Heavenly Dao Sect, leading to doctrinal conflicts. Furthermore, the two sides have been openly and covertly vying for control of the Great Plains, a relationship rife with hostility.

It also took advantage of some city-states' wariness of the Great Qian.

After all, Feng Tianyin has attacked the city-state more than once, and she never pretends to.

The battle record is verifiable.

Therefore, even the slightest instigation in Qingzhou would be met with opposition or hostility, and the missionary conference was clearly a provocation, so they might take action. Conversely, could we ensure the support of the Great Qian Dynasty?

"President Jiang, I heard your daughter passed the imperial examination with flying colors? Is there any news about the temple?"

"It's just passing the assessment to enter Xia Yi Academy for training. At most, you can listen to the High Priest's lectures. It's not a formal appointment yet."

He beamed with pride when talking about his family.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Bai passed the Great Qian Examination with ease.

How clever!

Everyone knows how difficult the exams personally set by the High Priest are; countless people were eliminated, and those who passed were all exceptionally intelligent and talented. This is the first and most crucial step to becoming a scribe.

Even if you stay in the college without a position, you can still receive allowances and benefits and live a worry-free life.

Not to mention the hidden resources like connections, so everyone looked at Jiang Jing with disbelief at his modesty. "You really don't know?" Sure enough, he coughed carefully at the end and said:

"His Majesty attaches great importance to the missionary conference."

That's enough. Given the style of the temple's higher-ups, they were probably deliberately letting slip information through this channel.

Let's do it.

It's not like we're asking them to rob and plunder; it's just a publicity stunt.

After setting aside their concerns, everyone quickly began to discuss the matter. Everything should be done in a high-profile manner, in accordance with the standards of the pre-celebration ceremony.

----

Soon the news spread, and people heard that the wealthy businessman Jiang Jing had decided to hold a "missionary conference" to invite celebrities from all directions. Sure enough, it received a positive response and people flocked to it.

Among them were many famous merchants from various city-states.

They accumulated a great deal of wealth through business over the years, which was inseparable from the support of the Qianlong Emperor.

Both sides share common interests.

Therefore, the response was the most enthusiastic, with people and money contributing in a very lively manner.

Money is never reliable; power is eternal, and in the Great Qian Dynasty, the most powerful force will undoubtedly be religion. If you don't choose a side and find protection in time, you'll be fleeced no matter how much money you have.

It's not about provoking city-states, but about pledging allegiance to the Great Qian.

Moreover, they were not acting alone; a considerable number of large landowners also joined in their support.

Because of Daqian's advanced series of agricultural technologies, which are remarkable.

Feng Tianyin has always valued land reclamation and has been relatively conciliatory towards the city-states that have pledged allegiance, as long as they pay their taxes honestly. Therefore, they have an incentive to encourage their city-states to submit to the Great Qian Dynasty, to show their loyalty early and receive better terms.

Learn from history.

The Southern Plains rebelled back then but were severely punished and then placed under direct rule. In contrast, the city-states that surrendered from the beginning still have the right to be subjugated.

If that's the case, why not join?

The city-states in the southern region began to diverge, gradually splitting into two opposing camps: the "supporters" and the "opponents."

However, they are not organized into city-states; rather, they are a complex mixture of interdependence. Each city-state's stance is ambiguous because they themselves are unclear about their own situation.

How to do?

What Daqian wanted was to maintain this sense of unease. Neither Feng Tianyin nor He Wan thought it would be difficult to conquer them directly, but they did not expect that their first move would lead to a collision that would draw out a large number of enemy countermeasures, resulting in a complete mess.

That would be unseemly in the eyes of Heaven, and would be a dereliction of duty.

Planning is essential before making a decision, so it's necessary to probe the other party's attitude. And as it turns out, the southern city-states made their choices hastily:

Meeting.

The contents of the meeting were not a secret to the Daqian side at all; the meeting minutes were all on the table in the Nanyuan City Lord's Mansion.

Sitting in the main seat, Cheng Feng carefully flipped through the pages: "...All of it is pointless arguing?"

He didn't believe that the other side's back-and-forth arguments hadn't reached a conclusion. They were just blaming each other for not managing the believers, advocating surrender to the Great Qian, seeking aid from Qingzhou, or taking self-defense measures... Some city lords even changed their opinions on the spot, their left and right brains fighting each other.

What results can we expect from that discussion?

Song Jingyun stated bluntly: "Not every administrative machine is as efficient as a temple."

"That's true."

"It may eventually evolve into a confrontation between city-states. Apart from Nanqiu supporting us, the most opposed to us is Wangjiang. It controls the waterways to the further south, is rich in resources, and is huge in size. It is the faith of Pianqingzhou."

"Moreover, the area starting from Wangjiang is hilly, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack, which gave them confidence."

"It could escalate into war."

Both Song Jingyun and Cheng Feng shared a similar assessment: the swift and decisive actions and long-term preparations above were likely intended to provoke the enemy into military action. Otherwise, they wouldn't have reinforced their troops in the Southern Plains recently; it was a preemptive measure.

The actions of those important figures in the temple are traceable and not entirely unpredictable, but they often arrive with overwhelming force that is difficult to resist.

"Report!"

"A clash has broken out between the Wangjiang city defense forces and Nanqiu!"

------

Nanqiu City-State.

Upon receiving news of the conflict, Lü Bo frowned, but then quickly relaxed.

"My old friend just can't hold his temper. At his age, he still can't cultivate his character and actually went straight for a knife. Seeing blood is bad luck."

"Immediately dispatch troops to provide support and hold off the army in Wangjiang."

Yes, sir.

He felt a mixture of joy and worry. He was pleased that half of the goal the Great Qian Dynasty had been trying to achieve had been accomplished, with a city-state finally clearly opposing it, at least identifying a tangible enemy. His worry stemmed from the prospect of his homeland becoming a battlefield and the surrounding areas becoming unsettled.

To put it bluntly, the Great Qian Dynasty could have used Nanqiu as the front line of the war.

But then again.

Could it be that Nanyuan has been doing poorly these past few years? On the contrary, they've offered quite a few benefits to win people's hearts.

Lu Bo stopped daydreaming and focused on directing the operation, at least for now, only in the war in Nanqiu.

Whether to expand or not is not a decision he can make.

Simultaneously.

Further south on the riverbank of Nanqiu, a large number of believers attending the conference were surrounded by soldiers from the Wangjiang city-state. The soldiers were fully armed, their weapons gleaming coldly, exuding a murderous aura, and their intentions were clearly hostile.

In fact, some believers have already died at their hands.

These people were also impatient; they shouted at the soldiers even though they were facing them. It just goes to show that there are always bold people out there, and they got what they wanted.

"A damn bunch of lunatics."

The leading officer touched his helmet, where there was a dent from a stone. The angry believer had attacked him earlier, only to be killed by his personal guards; the two had then engaged in a chaotic brawl.

Having armored weapons against unarmored opponents is an absolute annihilation, not to mention factors such as training level and weapons.

In short, the situation was so one-sided that he accidentally killed someone.

Oops.

Even a lowly soldier like him knew that there were too many entanglements behind this, making it difficult to extricate himself, so he might as well be ruthless—

The officer glared at the other man with a fierce look in his eyes. His adjutant quickly grabbed his hand and said, "Have you forgotten what Lord Lin Jian, the city lord, instructed? You can drive them away or even use violence, but you cannot wage war, much less escalate the conflict."

"Lord Lin Jian is right."

After taking a deep breath, he ultimately decided against killing her and gave up.

However, they couldn't escape the gossip of the surrounding believers. The pilgrim group looked fearful, but even more so, angry. It seemed to have the opposite effect; instead of intimidating them, it had made them even more united?

The Heavenly Dao Sect is indeed troublesome; the trouble that the city lord predicted is gradually expanding.

Forget it.

People still have a sense of awe towards Lin Jian.

That official was exceptionally skilled in martial arts, decisive in his actions, and had repeatedly quelled barbarian tribes and their clans. He was known as the "River Python," and the people on both sides of the river were completely subdued. Even though he maintained a relatively good relationship with Qingzhou, the latter dared not issue orders to him at will.

"Let's not worry about what's going on above us, forget it."

"However, I heard that the Great Qian Dynasty has been increasing its troop strength recently, led by the Great Khan Erbala."