Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Gaia 7th year, 3rd month, 20th day, Li Jing led the Bear legion corps to attack Tibet.
Only at this point did the Tibet Dynasty, which had been sitting on the fence, anxiously send envoys over to the Great Xia imperial capital to discuss about Great Xia becoming their suzerain state.
Unfortunately, it was all too late.
Since Great Xia had struck out, there was no way they were going to stay their hand. … Great Zhou Dynasty, Handan City.
Although the toughest winter had passed and the spring days had arrived, outside the Great Zhou palace, a thick black cloud floated around with a really suppressive feeling.
This was a sign that the dynasty was going to collapse.
In the past winter, Di Chen did not even hold a single court meeting. The memorials submitted and distributed were basically all handled and decided by Juedai Fenghua, which was why the Imperial Court situation did not escalate into chaos.
Facing such great pressure, Di Chen finally collapsed.
Within the imperial garden, the spring sun shone brightly.
Di Chen sat within the pavilion. He had a moustache and a beard and was totally drunk as he mocked himself, “Wow, Great Xia is finally attacking. Today it’s Tibet, tomorrow, it will be us.”
“As long as the four country alliance still exists, there will still be hope.” Juedai Fenghua consoled him.
“Four country alliance?”
Di Chen looked like he was drunk, but in actuality, he was really awake. His eyes were filled with sarcasm, “We are like frogs in an oil pot, just waiting to be boiled by people.”
Juedai Fenghua sighed and asked uncertainly, “If we really cannot, let’s submit to Great Xia. Didn’t Xiong Ba and Zhan Lang do it already? We might be able to survive by doing that.”
Di Chen stared angrily and hollered, “Surrender to the old fox? No way!”
“At most, we will fight to the death.”
With Di Chen’s pride and the pride of the Di family, they would not accept surrender as an option.
“Then let’s prepare for battle!”
Within Juedai Fenghua’s tone was an indescribable sense of loneliness and helplessness. … In the blink of an eye, the 4th month arrived.
The spring season atmosphere was becoming thicker and thicker. In the mid plains, signs of the busy spring sowing were everywhere. Be it the Africa war far away or the Tibet war at the border, it did not have much of an effect on the mid plains.
But on the 4th month, 5th day, a shocking incident happened in Great Xia.
That afternoon, 13 disciples from a Wulin sect in Minnan Province known as Little Knife Guild used the motto of ‘robbing the rich and giving to the poor’ to rob a Zhu surnamed merchant’s rich family.
Of the 15 people in the family, including a three year old girl, all of them died.
The moment the news spread out, the wilderness was in an uproar.
This was the first time since Great Xia established the country that underworld people had gone against the law and challenged the Great Xia law system.
When Ouyang Shuo got the report, he was totally infuriated. He ordered Minnan Provincial Governor Xiong Ba to personally investigate and sit over this case and capture all relevant people to trial them.
“Within a week, if the Minnan office cannot crack the case, the Internal Affairs Court will step in.”
Although he had been at the job for less than half a year, to have such a huge case occur under his rule made him lose a lot of face. He personally submitted a memorial that said, “If I cannot solve it within five days, I’ll personally quit.”
For this, Xiong Ba even used the Minnan Garrison Division along with 300 elite bailiffs to directly charge at the sect base of Little Knife Guild to capture the people.
If they dared to resist, Xiong Ba naturally would not hesitate to storm down on them.
In front of an Imperial Court force, a small-sized guild like the Little Knife Guild was not a problem. This case was just a select group of disciples going down the wrong path.
To prevent the entire guild from being wiped out, the Little Knife Guild sent out 200 disciples to cooperate and capture the culprits. In just three days, they were all captured.
Paying for blood with blood was normal.
After the Minnan Provincial Governor office handled the matter, it directly sentenced the 13 of them to death. It also blamed Little Knife Guild for their poor teachings.
Based on the law, the Little Knife Guild’s license was removed, and they disappeared from the underworld.
By the middle of the 4th month, the dust finally settled. After executing the criminals, Minnan Provincial Governor Xiong Ba personally headed to the Zhu manor to pay respects to the fallen souls.
Although the matter had passed, aftermaths continued from it.
Great Xia admired martial arts and had numerous dojos and sects. It was okay if they followed the law, but if they got greedy, it would cause a great threat to the law and order system.
Hence, after this huge incident exploded, Ouyang Shuo realized that he needed to create an organization at the Imperial Court level to monitor Shaolin so that this layer of power did not cross the line.
This was obviously not an easy matter.
Any martial artists or expert of the underworld lived their lives with an unrestrained manner.
In history, members of this organization were termed by the Shaolin people as the eagles of the Imperial Court.
If Ouyang Shuo was a chivalrous expert, he would wish for the Imperial Court to interfere in the underworld. However, as they belonged to different camps, their ideas were naturally different. Ouyang Shuo would not allow such an unrestrained power under his rule.
Monitoring was much needed.
This case was a huge chance to shut the mouths of the members of the underworld.
Ouyang Shuo was always swift and decisive. Since he had made up his mind, he would not hesitate. He immediately ordered the creation of the Martial Management Division to manage Wulin.
Similar to the Shanhai Guards, the Martial Management Division would take orders directly from Ouyang Shuo. Although it was a division level organization, and the head would not be past 5th grade, it was a really powerful position.
Especially to Wulin people, who saw it as a dream post.
In the end, once the Martial Management Division got up and running, the head would be no different from a Wulin sect leader. His position in the underworld would be unparalleled and he would stand at the absolute top.
The head would be Ouyang Shuo’s spokesperson in the underworld.
Hence, once the news of the Imperial Court establishing the division broke out, many people were interested in it. Even the heads of some super sects volunteered.
Obviously, Ouyang Shuo was clear that the division was a sharp sword. If ran well, it could effectively manage the underworld. However, in the wrong hands, it could turn around to bite them.
If things went badly, they might develop an ambitious player.
Hence, the division must be given to a capable and reliable person.
If Song Jia had not quit and backed off to behind the curtains, she would be the most suitable choice. Ouyang Shuo could only take the second-best option – his little aunt.
However, she was currently a Legion General of the Imperial Palace Guards, which was an equally important post.
Especially since it was newly established. She was still learning under Tang He about how to fight wars and the art of war. It was a crucial moment, and she could not get away.
Due to that, Ouyang Shuo thought of a middle ground, which was Dongli Sword Sect leader Lin Yue, who would temporarily manage the Martial Management Division to tide over this hard time.
