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Chapter 264: Chapter 261 The Court
Star King.
Jiang Tianji listened to Wang Yizhi and others mention this name, remaining silent.
If it hadn’t been for Emperor Tianji forcibly entering the Imperial Family, causing one in ten of the imperial lineage to survive, it wouldn’t have been his turn, Jiang Tianji, to ascend to the throne with the support of Imperial Advisor Tai Yuan.
Compared to Jiang Tianji himself, Star King Jiang Chongshan, as an Imperial Grandson, had an even more legitimate claim.
By the time Jiang Chongshan came into the picture, Jiang Tianji had already seized control of Qiantian. Even though he was of noble birth, he was swiftly sent to Tiannan, far away from the political center of the Imperial Capital.
The reason was that Daqian had just started to recover a bit of its Primordial Energy...
Or, one might say, Daqian couldn’t withstand any further turmoil after finally stabilizing.
Moreover, Emperor Jiang Tianji was indeed doing well, so everyone decided to simply send Jiang Chongshan away, as if he had never appeared.
But...
Not everyone could truly turn a blind eye to Jiang Chongshan.
This factor that threatened the unity of Daqian was guarded against by everyone.
Especially since none of Jiang Tianji’s children were of any substantial use.
So...
Even if Jiang Tianji himself had no prejudice against the Star King, and even intended not to let him live too meagerly, the bestowment of the title of Jiangzhou Governor to him was the limit.
No!
The proposal of Wang Yizhi right now was, in fact, a backlash of appointing the Star King as Jiangzhou Governor.
Indeed, Wang Yizhi’s words were unanimously supported by Zhang Hanhai and Long Tuyuan.
"A nation’s powerful artifacts should not be entrusted to others; since this War Spiritual Artifact known as ’sharp sword’ has shown such prowess in combating Demons, it should be reclaimed for state use."
"If Your Majesty can reclaim this item, by utilizing the imperial resources, we will surely be able to produce a large number of ’Sword Heavy Cannons’ more and faster, all for the sake of expelling Demons and restoring the states. That Lord of Star State, Gu Jinlai, would also have accomplished a great feat, not in vain Your Majesty’s profound trust."
Zhang Hanhai and Long Tuyuan spoke at the same time.
"To forcefully reclaim it for the nation is not advisable."
Jiang Tianji said, "The Governor of Star State has just won a significant victory against Demons within Yuntian City of Yellow State, having vanquished a hundred thousand Demons in a single battle, and even slain the Champsosaurus King that had ravaged Tianhe for years. It’s one thing not to reward such achievements, but to forcefully reclaim the War Spiritual Artifact that Heavenly Monarch Gu had invested so much effort and blood into researching and developing—how would it look to other powers? Would it not discourage all aspiring men in the world?"
"Your Majesty is wise. When we reclaim the manufacturing technique for the ’sharp sword,’ we naturally should offer compensation to silence the gossip of the masses."
Wang Yizhi agreed.
"Then, once Lingxiao City loses the ’Sword Heavy Cannons,’ how will they withstand the northward incursion of the Mu State Demons?"
Jiang Tianji frowned slightly.
He had brought this matter up for discussion simply as a means to negotiate a lower price for the Sword Heavy Cannons, but the three ministers were now targeting Star King Jiang Chongshan.
To be precise, they were targeting both Jiang Chongshan and Gu Jinlai.
They regarded Gu Jinlai as Jiang Chongshan’s confidant and feared his growing power would threaten Daqian’s stability.
And this was not what he desired.
For a moment, Emperor Daqian took a deep breath, "The cautionary lessons of the Four Great Mu States to the east, south, west, and north are right before our eyes. Without the ’sharp sword,’ Star State is surely in peril; surely we cannot simply cede Star State again."
"The method is simple. The Mu State Demons moved north precisely because the Governor of Star State, Gu Jinlai, raised the Heavenly Master Torch which attracted the Demons. We just need to invite Gu Jinlai and the numerous Heavenly Masters, Great Heavenly Masters, and Heavenly Monarchs of Lingxiao City to the Imperial Capital, and the Demons will naturally retreat, resolving the Star State crisis effortlessly."
Zhang Hanhai said.
"Shall we then ignore the Demons of Mu State? Allow them to infest Mu State and stand idly by?"
"There are priorities and urgencies in all matters. Compared to Mu State, reclaiming Sun State is of utmost importance. Besides, in recent years Tiannan has not faced significant upheaval, and with the extermination of the Tianhe Demons by Lingxiao City, local forces there are more capable of ensuring the stability of Tiannan."
"Since Scholar Zhang is so confident..."
Jiang Tianji glanced at Zhang Hanhai, speaking indifferently, "Then Scholar Zhang should take a trip to Mu State and ensure that the Mu State Demons cease their mischief, how about that?"
Zhang Hanhai knew that Jiang Tianji was expressing dissatisfaction with his stance, but he did not yield at all. Instead, he took the opportunity to say, "As long as Your Majesty grants me the power to oversee all states in Tiannan, your servant will do everything in his power to ensure order in Mu State."
"Power to oversee all states?"
Jiang Tianji sneered, "Governor Gu of Star State could fend off the Tianhe Demons with the power of a single state. I confer upon you the governorship of the Eastern, Southern, Western, and Northern Mu States to control the Demons with the combined forces of four states."
After saying this, he didn’t give Zhang Hanhai a chance to respond, "As a Cabinet scholar, Scholar Zhang’s capabilities won’t be outdone by that Governor of Star State who has been in office for less than a year, right?"
Seeing Jiang Tianji’s pointed words, Scholar Long Tuyuan hurriedly tried to smooth things over, "It’s difficult to cook a meal without rice. The Four Mu States have been wholly overrun by Demons; naturally, their available forces cannot compare to those of Star State. Moreover, even at their peak, could the population of the Four Mu States ever rival that of Star State? And Central State itself cannot spare sufficient forces to go to Mu State..."
"If Scholar Zhang alone is not enough, why not invite Scholar Long to go together?"
Jiang Tianji responded with a retort.
Long Tuyuan opened his mouth.
Thinking of the unbridled ferocity of the Mu State Demons, he found himself at a loss for words after a moment.
"It seems that Your Majesty feels it’s not yet appropriate to reclaim the manufacturing technique of the ’Sword Heavy Cannon.’ We can only purchase it from Lingxiao City, but ten portions of Immortal Essence Gold... Lingxiao City is asking too high a price." 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝙗.𝒄𝒐𝒎
At this point, Wang Yizhi spoke up again, steering the conversation away from targeting Star King Jiang Chongshan and his related forces, and back onto the subject of the ’Sword Heavy Cannons,’ thereby making a concession.
"Lingxiao City has made great contributions. Central State should indeed reward them. If we now force the manufacturing technique of the ’Sword Heavy Cannons’ into state possession, who would dare to serve the country from now on? If this pushes Lingxiao City to become antagonistic towards the Imperial Capital, who among you will lead troops to suppress Lingxiao City? Or perhaps, who believes they are stronger than the Tianhe Crocodile Dragon King?"
Jiang Tianji’s gaze, oppressive and daunting, swept over the three men.
Upon hearing Jiang Tianji mention the "Crocodile Dragon King," the Demon King, Wang Yizhi and the others exchanged glances.
In fact, they were somewhat skeptical about whether the weapon that Gu Jinlai possessed, capable of killing the "Crocodile Dragon King," came from the Aries Star Palace or...
Was given by Emperor Qian!
The reward from the Aries Star Palace seemed excessively valuable.
However, if it was given by Emperor Qian, they couldn’t figure out the reason behind it.
Don’t they realize, making the Star King too strong will lead many to harbor inappropriate ambitions, potentially shaking the foundation of Daqian Country?
"Your Majesty speaks the truth, let’s then negotiate a fair trade with Lingxiao City," Wang Yizhi said.
Wang Yizhi continued, "Ten portions of Immortal Essence Gold... that’s too high a starting price. I think, at most, we can offer the price for three portions of Immortal Essence Gold..."
He directly reduced the price to thirty percent of the normal value.
"Reducing ten portions to three, Lingxiao City might not agree to it."
Jiang Tianji persisted a little longer.
Yet, Wang Yizhi and the others were determined not to let Lingxiao City use the Immortal Essence Gold to further develop their power and steadfastly stuck to their bottom line.
They had people estimate the price of the "Sword" Heavy Cannons.
The cost, due to the use of various Extraordinary Materials, was not too high, at most worth one portion of Immortal Essence Gold.
But to expedite the process, the Heavenly Masters and Great Heavenly Masters’ Nourishing Essence Pills never stopped being consumed.
Fifty or sixty Heavenly Masters and Great Heavenly Masters, in the span of one month, the cost of the Nourishing Essence Pills could be described as astronomical.
Add to that the labor costs of the Heavenly Masters themselves...
Three portions of Immortal Essence Gold was already the limit for the "Sword" Heavy Cannons.
Perhaps there might still be a slight profit for Lingxiao City, but despite the arrival of the "Sword" Heavy Cannons in the Imperial Capital, the Heavenly Masters there would always find ways to reverse engineer the method of their creation.
In the end, the profits Lingxiao City made would be far less than the development costs invested in the Sword Heavy Cannons.
...
Yuntian City.
Gu Jinlai looked at the thirty portions of Immortal Essence Gold sent by Yu Jin.
Recalling the recent message from Lingxiao City that the Cold Moon Sect, Netherworld Sect, and Purgatory Sect had also sent some Immortal Essence Gold as congratulatory gifts, by now...
His shortfall of Immortal Essence Gold had been reduced to a hundred.
"I understand Elder Yu Jin’s intention," Gu Jinlai said, waving his hand. Gu Chaoyang quickly took away the Immortal Essence Gold, "Although we are more than willing to continue helping the Yellow Sky Sect eradicate demons, to prevent other demons from hiding and stirring trouble in Yellow State, since the Yellow Sky Sect itself is capable of handling the Tianhe Demons, we should not step in to take over their responsibilities, after all, the situation at the Cold Moon Sect is getting more severe."
"Exactly, exactly, Governor Gu speaks the truth. Compared to Tianhe, Mu State is the real priority. Should anything go awry, allowing the Mu State Demons to sweep north, Tiannan will no longer have an inch of clean land. And since Governor Gu has crushed the Tianhe Demons, the Mu State Demons will naturally pose no threat. Right now, the citizens of Mu State are looking forward to Governor Gu’s rescue," Yu Jin hastily said.
"I will order a retreat, and within at most half a month, we will return to Star State," Gu Jinlai promised.
Yu Jin, standing by, kept complimenting humbly, with a respectful attitude, speaking all kinds of kind words.
"I heard you’ve also brought me a gift," Gu Jinlai moved forward, "I’d like to take a look."
"It’s all due to the ignorance of our Yellow Sky Sect disciples, committing acts that violate righteous principles. But Governor Gu can rest assured. To ensure the friendly relationship between us, we have already expelled that individual from the Yellow Sky Sect. From now on, their life and death are at Governor Gu’s mercy, and it has nothing to do with our Yellow Sky Sect anymore," Yu Jin quickly said.
Gu Jinlai nodded and soon arrived at the backyard.
In the backyard, Fang Yichen and Xie Xiaowan were being guarded by Gu Luochen and Gu Yunxin, among others.
They looked towards the two...
Especially towards Xie Xiaowan, with a look full of malice.
At this moment, Fang Yichen seemed to have realized his fate. Seeing Gu Jinlai appear, his complexion turned pale, and his mouth opened and closed, wanting to appear defiant, but also fearing that his words would provoke Gu Jinlai, leading to torture worse than death. In the end, he mumbled, unable to utter a word.
In contrast, Xie Xiaowan, upon seeing Gu Jinlai enter the courtyard, had a complex expression.
"Looking at you, it seems you haven’t made much progress over the years," said Gu Jinlai.
"It’s just the difference between the victor and the defeated. Now that it has come to this, kill or cut as you see fit," Xie Xiaowan said coldly.
"What a brave stance you have there," Gu Jinlai chuckled lightly, "If you were so brave, then why didn’t you resist to the end when I took you as my disciple back then?"
