Exiled to the Frontier, He Became the Empire’s Most Powerful Lord - Chapter 14

Three days later, an imperial censor submitted a memorial to Emperor Yuanwu, arguing that a crown prince should be established as soon as possible for the sake of the nation’s foundation.

This was undoubtedly a test by many civil officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and Emperor Yuanwu surprisingly did not lose his temper. He simply said, “Let me think about this matter,” and then adjourned the court.

Tie Xuan’s 300,000-strong Northern army retreated to the Northern Territory as agreed, while Champion Marquis Huo En also hurriedly returned to the Western Territory.

Emperor Yuanwu issued an imperial edict declaring that Tie Xuan’s southward campaign was a ruse to lure the enemy, a well-acted show to deceive the Turks.

Immediately after Tie Xuan returned to the northern border, he won a battle, beheading thousands of Turks and thus smoothing over the matter.

Zhou Lingfeng and his group quickly left Jiangnan and headed straight for Mangcheng without lingering for long.

Although the winter march was arduous, the thought of reaching Mangcheng before the Spring Festival and having a good New Year filled everyone with enthusiasm.

The Great Zhou Dynasty was vast, and the Southern Province was its southernmost part!

However, although the Governor-General of the Southern Province was a high-ranking official, many officials preferred to be a fifth-rank prefect in Jiangnan rather than a third-rank governor-general in the Southern Province.

Because the entire southern province is almost entirely composed of towering mountains and very few plains!

In many places, there is miasma and mosquito bites, making life very difficult.

Mangcheng is a border city, hundreds of miles away from Fuling City, the center of Nan Province.

Zhou Lingfeng naturally didn’t want to take a detour to Funing City. After entering the Southern Province, he would travel straight for three hundred miles along the border road to reach Mangcheng!

However, the area is densely forested with vegetation, making it difficult for both large carts and warhorses to pass.

“Your Highness, we have bought a lot of mugwort and some Chinese medicine along the way, enough for 100,000 people!”

Mo Li asked curiously while massaging his back.

“Don’t underestimate this burden we’ve been carrying all this way; it’s a lifesaver!”

Zhou Lingfeng is a modern person, so he naturally thought things through.

In the jungles of this southern province, besides the miasma, mosquito bites can easily cause malaria, which is deadly in this era.

When mugwort is used in combination with other medicinal herbs, it can not only dispel miasma but also prevent mosquito bites.

When the founding emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty conquered the Southern Province, 50-60% of the 100,000 soldiers he sent died from miasma and malaria. Therefore, the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty have always had a sense of fear towards the Southern Province.

It was as if it were the time to cook, and the soldiers gathered together, discussing miasma and malaria with fear in their eyes.

“Your Highness, the journey ahead may be difficult. The miasma and malaria are a major problem! And we don’t have any military doctors yet!”

Yang Wufeng came over to report, looking worried.

“After dinner, everyone can come and collect their sachets and medicinal herbs!”

Zhou Lingfeng smiled and gave the instructions.

“Is Your Highness constantly acquiring medicinal herbs along the way in order to dispel the miasma and obtain medicinal herbs?”

Yang Wufeng’s spirits lifted immediately.

“Artemisia is a wonderful thing; it’s incredibly effective at dispelling miasma and repelling mosquitoes! I have a prescription here; after you collect the herbs, just put them in a sachet and carry it with you!”

Zhou Lingfeng began to make arrangements.

Yang Wufeng was surprised by His Highness’s extraordinary talent and left excitedly to instruct his commanders to notify the soldiers!

After the recruitment of soldiers was expanded, each of the three battalions had a strength of 1,200 men, and each battalion was headed by a battalion commander and four generals!

Yang Wufeng was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief, commanding all soldiers.

Lu Zhengtian is the commander of the cavalry battalion, and during wartime he is under the command of Yang Wufeng!

As for the position of General, Zhou Lingfeng will definitely hold it concurrently.

The suicide soldiers were also incorporated into the Royal Guard Battalion; from now on, they were no longer considered suicide soldiers!

They can get married and have children, and they can also become officials.

“Actually, you all have your own names, and everyone here is equal to me!”

“Your lives do not belong to your master. I am telling you now, everyone’s life belongs to themselves!”

Zhou Lingfeng summoned these people and threw all their indentures into the fire.

“My lord, please don’t…”

The assassins suddenly ripped open their shirts, exposing their chests, and trembled violently.

“This is not a gift! Not only you, but everyone, you yourselves are the masters of your own lives.”

Zhou Lingfeng continued.

The entire room fell silent instantly, and everyone was deeply moved.

The next moment, thousands of people straightened their backs.

Thousands of roars finally coalesced into a thunderous vow: “We are willing to bring peace to Your Highness!”

Because at this moment, they were truly free, and they became even more loyal.

Soon, after the soldiers received the medicinal herbs and put them into their sachets, they were no longer so afraid!

Upon entering the jungle, they found that it was indeed as Zhou Lingfeng had said, which greatly boosted their confidence and made them even more convinced of Zhou Lingfeng’s abilities.

Along the way, Zhou Lingfeng ordered the trees to be cut down, their roots burned, and the roads leveled.

This naturally took more time!

However, everyone knew that Zhou Lingfeng’s move must have a deeper meaning, so they all worked very hard.

Even the cavalry dismounted and cleared the way. Soldiers from different factions gradually merged together and were marked with the barbarian king’s army.

At this moment, the sense of unity was extremely strong.

“Your Highness, I plan to go to Python City to gather some intelligence first!”

Hong Jiuming came to report that night, and Zhou Lingfeng thought about it and agreed.

After all, cutting down trees for 300 li and leveling the road took a lot of time, and it was already good if they could advance more than ten li a day.

Fortunately, we had enough food, but it would only last for a month at most!

Upon arriving in Python City, they will face a food shortage.

Hong Jiuming is the strongest, and he has already glimpsed the threshold of the third-grade peak realm, just waiting for the right opportunity.

Besides that, Zhou Lingfeng also wanted to wait for someone during this time.

Seven days later, Hong Jiuming returned with a lot of intelligence about Python City.

“Your Highness, the situation in Python City is quite complicated. The Great Zhou Dynasty has not sent an official to serve as the city lord for many years. The current city lord of Python City is Lei Xingmie, the patriarch of the Lei family of Python City.”

“And within Python City, there are two other families, the Zhong family and the Lan family! The city lord is a rotating position for five years for each family.”

Hong Jiuming handed over a file filled with investigation data.

“Barbarians, interesting!”

Zhou Lingfeng looked at the intelligence report in his hand and couldn’t help but smile.

The city of Python has a population of only 200,000, half of whom are barbarians!

The rest were all Zhou people.

These Zhou people were mostly descendants of criminals exiled to the southern provinces, and could only engage in lowly occupations, unable to participate in the imperial examinations.

Beyond Python City lies the continuous Barbarian Mountains, where many barbarian tribes live and reside, hence the name “Barbarian People”.

The Lei, Zhong, and Lan families were also barbarians, but they were barbarians who had become civilized. In terms of appearance and level of civilization, they were no different from the Zhou people.

The three races combined have a population of 100,000, and they hold absolute control over Python City!

On the barbarian mountain, at least a million barbarians lived and thrived.

These barbarians would often come down from the mountains to sell their prey and mountain goods in exchange for food, and overall, Python City maintained a certain peace.

The three major families also acted in a rather methodical way, and they did not bully the poor very often.

It is said that some members of these three families have served as officials in the imperial court, but not in the southern province.

“These barbarians have traversed the mountains since childhood, and their physiques are robust! This is definitely the innate warrior’s divine body! If there were an army of 300,000 barbarians, the number one army in the world would probably not be the Northern Army!”

Zhou Lingfeng made up his mind.

For others, the barbarian mountains and barbarians are places to be avoided at all costs, but for him, they are a blessed land.

Of course, only modern people have such awareness.

The Manshan Mountains are rich in mineral resources, as well as an almost endless supply of trees and plants, and many rare medicinal herbs.

With the barbarian army being such a formidable source of manpower, they would be unstoppable once they seized the opportunity.

Zhou Lingfeng may not have much else, but after transmigrating, he has stored many pharmacopoeias and various secret formulas in his mind, such as an upgraded version of Yunnan Baiyao, which are all skills that a top-notch soldier king must possess.

Because missions often require infiltrating and disguising oneself as various identities, any flaws in one’s professional skills will be immediately discovered.

It is no exaggeration to say that Zhou Lingfeng’s knowledge is comprehensive and powerful.

The Governor’s Mansion of Fu Ning City!

At this moment, a thin old man hesitated for a long time before finally making a decision.

“Someone, prepare 10,000 shi of grain and send it to His Highness the Barbarian King as a small token of my appreciation!”

Governor-General Yang Bufan of Nan Province sighed!

His career path to the central government is over; it would be good enough if he could die peacefully in his position as Governor-General of the Southern Province!

But hearing about His Highness the Barbarian King’s actions since entering the Southern Province these past few days has given him a glimmer of hope.

The fact that thousands of troops marched south from Shengjing without committing any offenses or misdeeds was almost like a myth.

You should know that since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there has never been such a peaceful time for a vassal king to be enfeoffed!

They either acted tyrannically or committed arson, murder, and robbery.

On the contrary, His Highness the Barbarian King did some good deeds, such as punishing evil and helping the starving people, and gained a considerable reputation.

Unfortunately, even a barbarian king who was born into the royal family lost the chance to inherit the throne once he was enfeoffed.

Unless it is…

Yang Bufan shook his head; such an opportunity was naturally slim!

After all, Emperor Yuanwu was in his prime and had many children, while the Great Zhou Dynasty was now at its peak, like oil being poured on a raging fire.

The governor’s grain convoy set off quickly and traveled at breakneck speed!

Zhou Lingfeng, on the other hand, maintained the original speed and slowly created a road that could accommodate two horse-drawn carriages.

“This dirt road based on yellow mud is ultimately not as good as a cement road! Once we establish ourselves in Mangcheng, the first thing we must do is build a cement road.”

“To create wealth, you must first build roads; this is a basic common sense in modern times.”

“And this place will become his base for entering the feudal state, so it will naturally be developed.”

Zhou Lingfeng thought to himself.

Although they were imprisoned in Xian’an Palace, their living conditions were still quite good!

After heading south, we passed through some barren areas where the quality of life and accommodations were simply appalling!

“When a dynasty prospers, the people suffer; when a dynasty falls, the people suffer.”

Although Zhou Lingfeng had experienced countless terrible situations, what he saw and heard now made him understand what true misery was