It doesn't matter what the lord is.

Because the soldiers fled so quickly, Li Zhi didn't even know what to do next. Some of the defeated soldiers had already fled to the city desperately, but the army of Yuxi City was following closely behind. If the city gates were closed, all of his own troops would be blocked outside. If they were not closed, the army of Yuxi City would probably take advantage of the situation and attack the city.

That’s 100,000 people…

It hurts to think about the wealth that he had accumulated for who knows how long, and then throw it away so casually. But the army of Yuxi City is following closely behind his own army, if he doesn't make a bold move now...

Li Zhi hesitated for a moment, and the last chance was completely gone. The general of Yuxi City led his troops forward, killed Li Zhi's army, cut off the suspension rope of the long bridge, and marched straight into the city. Li Zhi opened his mouth, and felt that everything in front of him was like a nightmare. He didn't know what to say. The people around him dragged him to escape to other cities, but the soldiers who stayed to defend the city chose to mutiny directly when they saw that the situation was hopeless, blocking Li Zhi's escape route.

After hiding in the east of the city for a while, Li Zhi was captured by the army of Yuxi City and taken back to Yuxi City in shackles.

Fang Shisan calmly counted the losses and found that the total casualties in Yuxi City were less than a hundred.

She asked the soldiers if they needed a rest, and everyone responded in the negative.

So the army of tens of thousands of people almost did not stop. After taking over Li Zhi's territory, they began to clear out the next Prince Yunyang. She had no preference, nor would she care whether the enemy had tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people. She would simply attack whoever was closer, and at the same time, let those who were far away be prepared to be attacked. If the enemy was willing to come out and fight her, she would fight in an open place. If the enemy chose to be a coward, Fang Shisan would choose to attack violently.

Anyway, with the Shenji Battalion, her siege equipment was far more advanced than that of ordinary armies. In addition, due to the excessive taxation, the people under the rule of the Yunyang princes were miserable, and the effectiveness of the city defense array was greatly weakened. In this kind of firearms that could be compared to large-scale magic bombing, it was difficult for them to defend. After a few rounds, there would often be chaos on the city wall.

At this time, everyone realized that there was no deep meaning behind the army of Yuxi City's choice to split up, it was simply for efficiency. Ten or twenty thousand people could fight against an army of more than 100,000, so there was no need to gather 50,000 people together. They were like cold machines: attack the city, take away the city lord and all the nobles on the list of the Anbu, appease the people and the surrendered army, and then go to the next place.

While the huge Yunyang had not yet fully reacted, nearly one-third of the territory in the west was directly assigned to Yuxi City. On the day the city was captured, people came to issue various decrees to guide the people to resume production and distribute a large amount of food and grass for disaster relief. Some of the Yunyang prince's troops fled and turned into bandits. Yuxi City also sent people to track them down very considerately, and most of the bandits were completely wiped out as soon as possible. For those with a larger scale, Yuxi City would transfer back a division of troops to deal with them. It would rather take down fewer cities and give priority to dealing with these annoying flies.

The next day, except for He Yue who stayed in Yuxi City to manage the overall situation, all the high-level officials of Yuxi City were dispatched to inspect various cities. On the one hand, this gave confidence to the people who had just joined Yuxi City, and on the other hand, it also made them understand the development strategy of Yuxi City - not to snatch the cake from them, but to make a bigger cake so that everyone can eat enough.

At the same time, Yuxi City started the second phase of the conscription plan to further eliminate the unstable factors in the territory and take the initiative in their own hands. Shaoyu Camp was dismantled to various places, and a large number of slogans were printed on the walls from rural areas to cities, and the thousands of words expressed the same meaning.

——The world has suffered from Yunyang for a long time. From today on, brothers are completely liberated.

43. Win the hearts of the people

During this period, Reed was undoubtedly the most tired one among everyone.

Fang Shisan had no way to defend so many cities one by one. She could only station troops at the border to keep the troops of other princes out of the newly enclosed territory. The stability of the rear depended largely on the degree of trust of the people in these cities in Yuxi City. As long as they could put their minds at ease and live a good life, everything would be fine.

Yuxi City currently does not need them to bear military expenses, nor does it need them to enlist in the army. These two points alone make the people of Yunyang, who have been oppressed for a long time, grateful. But this alone is not enough. From past experience, cities that have newly joined Yuxi City often find it difficult to truly stabilize for a while, because Yuxi City’s policies, systems, social customs and cultural systems are incompatible with other regions, and newcomers often worry that the rulers will suddenly change their minds. After all, no matter how good the words are now, if the policy changes in the future, their hard-earned foundation may be lost again.

It is normal for people who are used to hard times to feel anxious about gains and losses when they suddenly become rich. This emotion can be alleviated over time, but Yuxi City cannot wait that long, because the level of people's sense of belonging directly determines the strength of the territory's protection, which is an important matter that affects the situation on the front line every moment.

So Reid would personally visit every new city he joined and do a few things himself.

First, the execution. The nobles who were usually tyrannical and bullying the people were already on the blacklist of Yuxi City. Once the city was breached, the Anbu organization went to arrest them without a second thought and detained them all in the prison. When Lid arrived, he would list the unforgivable crimes of these nobles and redress the grievances in Yunyang Territory. Most of the nobles who usually did whatever they wanted were now beheaded. The heads of people were rolling and blood was flowing like a river in the vegetable market. The people's hearts were slowly gathered together amid cries and cheers.

Second, distribute the land. This is similar to what Li De did when he first arrived in Yuxi City. Ensure that everyone has land to cultivate and harvest, and they will naturally have enough happiness and sense of belonging. The poorest people can also receive additional welfare subsidies to ensure that they can support until the next autumn harvest.

Third, the speech. It is not enough to just supervise the execution and divide the land. Lide will tell them about the hardships that Yuxi City has experienced since its establishment, their current situation, and the bright future in the plan. It does not matter whether the people can understand or believe it. What is important is that Lide must fully demonstrate his leadership qualities and make the people believe that the city lord they follow is not useless except for fishing.

After all, for most of the poor and cold people, it is useless to listen to plans and policies. They only care about whether their boss is reliable and worth following.

Lid must prove himself and win the favor of the people in order to raise the protection of the territory to a higher level in the shortest possible time and minimize the casualties on Fang Shisan's side. Now beating other princes is as easy as a father beating his son, but what about facing the orthodox border army in the future? Or taking Yunyang and facing the army of other territories?

War is cruel, so you must make all the preparations you can before the war.

After finishing a speech under the scorching sun, Reed returned to his room and threw himself into the bathtub to take a comfortable cold shower. Alaiya stood behind him and helped him scrub his back. Reed casually scooped up a handful of water, watching the water leaking through his fingers, and said to Alaiya:

"What should I do, Alayya? I'm so tired that I don't want to move—"

Alayya answered while helping Reed wash off the foam on his back:

"If you feel tired, take a good rest today."

Lid raised his head and thought for a moment, then sighed and said:

"Forget it. We agreed to go to the next city tonight for a dinner party. There are still many things to deal with, and we can't escape. Alaiya, don't you think I'm asking for trouble? If we had known earlier, we wouldn't have come to Yuxi City. It would have been great if we eloped to a faraway place. Anyway, the money we have is enough for us to squander for many years."

This was not the first time Reed had complained to Alayya.

Alayya chuckled and replied:

"In that case, the young master must be worried about something else now. And now the young master has saved many people, just like the young master once saved me. I think... it's good."

Lid looked at the ceiling, and naturally leaned back in Alaiya's arms. Although it was a little uncomfortable, he was used to it. In fact, he knew very well that no matter what choice he made in the past, he could not be truly happy now. Because this world does not allow him to live carefree, and in comparison, his current life is actually very good. So he just complained a few words to create this atmosphere to increase his intimacy with Alaiya.

The golden hair fell on Reed's cheek. He raised his hand, gently brushed Alayya's cheek with his fingertips, and said with a smile:

"I have you. In the blink of an eye, you have already reached the eighth level, and will soon reach the ninth level, and then you can rush to the tenth level in one go. By then, you will be the leader of the Eternal Heaven Kingdom, and you will beat up anyone who disobeys you. I will follow you and eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks. We can go wherever we want."

Thinking of this, Lid suddenly found that his happiness had settled down. He had just turned eighteen, and Alaya was not yet eighteen. If she continued to grow at this rate, Alaya might become the youngest great swordsman in the history of the Eternal Heaven Kingdom. Although there were various coincidences, it was also inseparable from Alaya's own talent and hard work. Lid said with deep emotion:

"But your realm is improving really fast, much faster than I imagined."

Alayya smiled and replied:

"Yes. It's all thanks to the young master."

Reed felt guilty.

After thinking carefully, he realized that he had been there every time Alayya made a breakthrough, and that he had indeed contributed a lot. Lid secretly observed Alayya's expression, then nodded solemnly and replied:

"Well... well... I will also work hard to help you improve your realm in the future."

Alayya continued to help Lid wash his body, and then helped Lid get up and change clothes. Midsummer had already arrived, and just this level of exercise alone, Alayya's face was already covered with a layer of fine sweat. Lid pulled her to sit down and helped her to put her long hair behind her, so that Alayya could be cooler when the wind blew.

Alayya stared blankly into the distance.

At night, Lid gathered around the bonfire and talked to the people about the fluctuations in prices and taxes in previous years. He learned a lot about Yunyang's dark history from them. At this time, a letter was delivered to him at full speed. Lid opened it casually, glanced at it, smiled bitterly, threw the letter into the bonfire, and murmured to the moonlight:

"How can you tolerate this... There are really people who like this, right?"

No one could understand what he was saying at that time.

Four days later, the news was made public, and all the young masters of Yunyang were shocked.

Kalpas, the commander of the eastern border army of Yunyang, swore allegiance to the acting lord Li Yi and requested orders to conquer Yuxi City.

44. Yunyang’s Border Army

To be honest, Kalpas's joining Li Yi was something that no one in Yunyang had expected.

Including Li Yi himself.

His first reaction was that there was definitely something wrong with Karpas. There was no love or hatred without reason in the world, and the hatred between him and Karpas was not something that could be put aside just like that. So when the situation was tense before, he only tried to persuade the southern border troops to join his camp, and never had any hope for Karpas in the east.

Unexpectedly, he did not send an envoy to contact Kalpas, but Kalpas came to him on his own initiative.

When the news arrived, Li Yi was sitting in the lord's mansion, living a bored life. Although Lingyun City was still prosperous, many territories temporarily stopped trading with Yunyang during the war, and Li Yi hadn't gotten anything new for a long time. The documents on the table were piled up like a mountain. He would look through them in the first few days after he succeeded to the throne, but seeing that most of them were bad news, he was too lazy to read them after getting angry a few times.

"The Eastern Frontier Army is willing to join us... bullshit, don't I know what kind of tone they are? I've pushed them and told them to stay there honestly. If they dare to act rashly, I'll revoke their military power."

Li Yi waved his hand and sent away the messenger who came to deliver the letter.

But just as the messenger left, the general of the northern frontier army, Asilante, stepped over the threshold and walked in. This man was now helping Li Yi defend the city. Li Yi did not dare to be disrespectful anymore, and quickly sat up straight, coughed twice in a pretentious manner, and asked:

"What happened?"

Asilante is about 45 years old this year. Because of his martial arts training, he looks younger. His half-white hair is tied into a small braid at the back of his head, and his eyes are very sharp. When he saw Li Yi, he clasped his fists and said:

"Sir, I heard that the Eastern Frontier Army intends to attack Yuxi City. I think this is a good opportunity."

Li Yi was silent for a while in embarrassment, and then answered stubbornly:

“They are unreliable.”

Asilante shook his head and said:

"It's no longer about whether they are reliable or not. I have already sent someone to ask Takis of the southern border army. Although I haven't received a clear answer, from the information reported by the people I sent, Takis's current attitude is more inclined towards Yuxi City. To put it bluntly... unless the lord personally orders, Takis is likely to side with Yuxi City."

Li Yi frowned slightly.

The word "Lord" from Asilante's mouth was obviously not referring to him, but to his father who was still in a coma.

Although the northern border troops agreed that Li Yi would temporarily take the position of Yunyang Lord and issue orders, no one, including Asilante, would call him "Lord" in private. When Li Yi thought of this, he felt like there was a thorn in his heart, but at present Asilante was the only military leader he could rely on, so even if Li Yi felt uncomfortable, he could only endure it silently.

Acilante continued:

"If it weren't for Yuxi City, I wouldn't have persuaded you to cooperate with the Eastern Border Army. I don't know what's wrong between you and Kalpas, but we really have no other choice at the moment. Judging from the current situation, if we still passively defend, even if we drag down your other brothers, those people from Yuxi City will eventually take advantage."

Li Yi snorted and said disdainfully:

"Fifty thousand people... Fifty thousand people want to take Yunyang? If we give him another 100,000, would he dare to attack the capital? There's no need to make such a fuss, Kalpas. I know my fourth brother better than you do. He is just a playboy with no ambitions. He won't last for many days."

Asilante wanted to say something, but Li Yi shook his head, sighed, and continued:

"He was lucky enough to capture me, and he could have extorted more from my father. But what happened? A newcomer from my envoy group just scared him and he let me go. My fourth brother is actually very timid. If he were really allowed to manage such a large area, he wouldn't be able to sleep well."

Asilante didn't know much about Lid. He spent most of his time in the north fighting against the Zhaochen Territory, and he paid less attention to some things in Yunyang. Seeing Li Yi say this, he didn't refute, but he still felt vaguely that something was wrong, and couldn't help but say another sentence:

"But recently, many Yunyang masters have been defeated by him..."

Li Yi snorted coldly and said:

"That's why I said that my brothers are a bunch of rubbish. They have an army several times larger than their opponents', but they were beaten so badly. What else can they be but rubbish? Haven't you defeated their army many times with fewer troops? No matter how strong the army of Yuxi City is, can it be stronger than your border troops? Then you guys should just give up. An army that has been trained for so long can't beat a bunch of new soldiers. All the previous battles were fought in vain."

After Li Yi finished speaking, he felt that the words were a bit harsh, so he quickly changed the subject:

"Besides, even if my fourth brother conquers a few cities, he won't be able to defend them. He was removed from the Yunyang family tree by my father a long time ago, and now he is just an outsider. Don't think he is having fun now. When he can't fight anymore, there will be chaos in the rear. Can the people of Yunyang watch an outsider riding on their heads? He can't support so many people. By the time a few uprisings, his little strength will be quickly consumed."

Asilante frowned, was silent for a while, and said:

"In this case, I think it would be better to let the Eastern Frontier Army go. The first is to test the fighting power of the Yuxi City Army, and the second is to make them collapse faster. It is a war period now, and it is not easy for our people to infiltrate the cities they control. We don't know what the situation is there. Let Kalpas go and fight, so that we can feel at ease."

Li Yi said coldly:

"What if Kalpas joins Yuxi City? Maybe they have already reached an agreement!"

Asilante shook his head and said firmly:

"Sir, our Yunyang border troops, including the southern border troops Takis, have their own faults, but at least they are all loyal to Yunyang. Takis still regards Lid as the flesh and blood of the Yunyang lord, so he is still observing who is more worthy of loyalty. I chose you and stood on the side of Yunyang orthodoxy. As for Kalpas, to put it more extreme, he is absolutely loyal to the lord. If the lord kicks Lid out, then Kalpas will regard Yuxi City's eastern expedition as an invasion by foreign enemies."

Asilante looked at Li Yi, took a deep breath, and said:

"If you are still worried, you can order Kalpas to attack other Yunyang princes first. Instead of going through Lingyun City, you can open a road from the southern region to attack Yuxi City. Also, if Kalpas really reaches a cooperation with Yuxi City, then whether we allow him to attack Yuxi City... is there any meaning?"

Li Yi was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand irritably, signaling Asilante to deal with the matter.

He sat down on a chair, looking at the document requesting disaster relief on the table. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He casually made a big red cross on it and threw it aside.

45. Die for justice today

The city gate caught fire and affected the pond fish.

When gods fight, little devils suffer.

If the incident of Yuxi City had not happened, the princes of Yunyang might have been able to enjoy the joy of commanding thousands of troops for a while longer. But after the entry of Yuxi City broke the deadlock in Yunyang, the princes of Yunyang were actually heading towards extinction at a faster speed. Yuxi City wanted to fight them, Liyi and the northern border army also wanted to fight them, and now the eastern border army also wanted to fight them. Even if the weaker side tried their best to recruit soldiers to fill the scene, it would inevitably become the dust of history.

Up to now, the three divisions of Yuxi City have hardly encountered any decent opponents. It would be great if they could win all the way, but Fang Shisan also longed for a real war. Only bloodshed could bring about a real qualitative change in the army. So when he heard the news that the border troops from the east of Yunyang were marching towards Yuxi City, Fang Shisan immediately gathered all the forces he could mobilize, leaving only a part of the people to defend the city.

Because Kalpas must kill through the defense line set up by Prince Yunyang before he can come to Fang Shisan, Fang Shisan does not have to worry about someone coming in to disrupt the battle between the two sides. Or even if someone disrupts the battle, it doesn't matter. During this period of time, Yuxi City has successively incorporated several remnant troops and trained them. It is enough to ensure the stability of the defense line, and then use the main force to fight against the Yunyang border army.

If there were no extra variables, a battle of this scale would be enough to affect the ownership of the Yunyang territory.

Lid was not worried that Fang Shisan would lose, as he was born not to believe in individual heroism. Yuxi City now had a more efficient system, more advanced technology, more stable people's livelihood, better generals, more courageous soldiers, more powerful formations, and plenty of time to deploy defenses in advance, without any shortcomings. Rather than fighting desperately when forced into a desperate situation and pinning his hopes on a temporary explosion or a miracle from heaven, he preferred the current situation where he was sure of victory.

Lide was a little annoyed because he had already learned about the feud between Liyi and Kalpas from Pingzi in advance. He had been sending envoys to negotiate with Yunyang's Eastern Frontier Army, hoping to win over Kalpas. It's not that he valued Kalpas, but Yunyang's Frontier Army had fought several battles and had considerable combat effectiveness. If he could bring them under his command, there would be less trouble in the future.

But Kalpas had not given Yuxicheng a clear answer, and Lide had a vague feeling in his heart that something was not right. At that time, he thought that Kalpas had a high probability of having a Yunyang prince he wanted to assist. According to Lide's understanding, he had a very good relationship with Li Ren, the eighth prince of Yunyang who was the first to rebel against Li Yi. He did not expect that he would stand back on the side of Yunyang prince at the last moment.

In this way, none of the Yunyang princes had the possibility of counterattacking and ascending to the top, and the so-called hundreds of thousands of troops would collapse in a blink of an eye. Many of Yuxi City's plans lost their value because of Kalpas's sudden betrayal, but it didn't matter. Once the snowball started rolling, it would not stop because of someone's desperate attempt.

If Kalpas wants to fight, then so be it.

This time, Lide brought Bai Huang to the front line to watch the battle. In his words, this was also one of the team-building projects of Yuxi City, to increase everyone's sense of belonging. Although Bai Huang was the daughter of the Lord of Yunhai, she had also suffered together during the start-up period of Yuxi City, and was an absolute family member. Back then, she sold her jewelry to support the construction of Yuxi City, so Lide still owed her a favor.

As long as Bai Huang herself doesn't want to go back, Reed will treat her as a friend, and she will naturally become the chief of police in the future.

"Things in Yunyang will be settled by this autumn at the latest. This is probably the most painful summer for the people of Yunyang. After we get through this summer, everything will be fine... By the way, is there any situation in Yunhai recently?"

At the end of the conversation, Reed asked a question seemingly unintentionally.

Bai Huang smiled and said:

"It's better than I thought. My eldest brother has been meditating on martial arts at the beach recently. Although my second brother is not the Crown Prince of Yunhai now, he is already doing some of the work of a Crown Prince. Although my father is still seriously ill, he is still holding on tenaciously. Yunhai will not be in chaos for a while."

Bai Huang lifted her hair that fell to her shoulders and said:

"Compared to these, you should worry about your own affairs first. Even if Yuxi City takes over Yunyang, the days ahead will not be easy. Your family will be big and powerful in the future. If there is any crisis again, I will not be able to save you even if I sell everything I have."

Bai Huang walked to Lid's side, put his hands on his head and rubbed them without hesitation, and continued:

"Hmph, I don't know how you grew up. You still needed my protection when you were in the capital, but now you are fighting for the position of lord. I won't take advantage of you. You don't need to worry about Yunhai's affairs. Just take care of your own land and don't let the next Tianyue Mountain appear in Yunyang Territory. Otherwise, don't blame me for coming to you to settle the score!"

Lid was pressed down by Bai Huang, and said in great pain:

"Yes, yes, yes...don't worry."