novelraw Chapter 88 : Troops March West from the Prefecture
Chapter 88 : Troops March West from the Prefecture
Chapter 88: Troops March West from the Prefecture
After collecting Fan Kang’s heroic spirit, Jiang Zhaoming and Yue Fei made a trip to Canglong Pass.
Unfortunately, the souls of the soldiers who had fallen in battle at Canglong Pass had long since dissipated.
Jiang Zhaoming sighed softly, while Yue Fei, standing beside him, offered comfort.
“These souls dispersing is not Your Majesty’s fault. On the contrary, the fact that Your Majesty can spare future Anxi soldiers from the torment of their souls being scattered—that is already the greatest blessing under heaven.”
Jiang Zhaoming did not answer, but his thoughts ran deep.
Since he could summon famous generals from the history of his past life, did that mean that the heavenly palaces and the underworld from myth truly existed?
And if they did, could he one day summon those magnificent divine beings as well?
Time quietly slipped away. After “Mountain-Opening and Cloud-Gathering,” the lives of the people of Anxi had become even better.
It was time for Jiang Zhaoming to get to serious work.
Shaosheng Year 411, late summer.
The remnants of summer’s heat had yet to fade, but the air had already begun to carry a faint trace of early autumn’s dryness.
That dryness seemed to foretell some restless unease.
The tranquility of Anxi Prefecture shattered in that instant.
At the northernmost end of Beiting County, the Yili Army stood still as an eternal rock, silently anchored along the long defensive line, unmoving.
Their stillness was so that their other brothers could move without concern.
Deep in the eastern heartland of the Prefecture, four long-accumulated torrents of might finally broke free of restraint.
The Bandit-Subduing Army, Queshe Army, Black-Armored Army, and Guan Ning Iron Cavalry—these four sharpest fangs forged by Anxi Prefecture—suddenly bared their cold gleaming teeth.
Iron hooves shattered the earth, rolling up clouds of dust that blotted the sun; banners tore through the heavens, snapping in the roaring wind.
The four armies, like four torrents of steel wrapped in soaring murderous intent, advanced westward with unwavering purpose.
Their surging killing intent stirred the clouds and winds, as if even the sweltering air had turned to frost.
The news fell like thunder from the ninth heaven, exploding across the vast skies of Anxi Prefecture.
Towns and villages across the eastern Prefecture were instantly swept up in feverish excitement and joy.
“They’ve set out! His Majesty has finally sent the troops!”
“Look at those banners—that’s Anxi’s most elite army!”
“The days of those rebels in the west are over!”
Tea houses and taverns, streets and alleys—everywhere resounded with the roar of voices.
On each face bloomed long-suppressed excitement and pride.
Not long ago, the rousing victory beneath Canglong Pass and the crushing defeat of the Great Jin army had burned itself deep into every Anxi citizen’s heart.
It had been like a bolt of lightning piercing the gloom, illuminating the long-silent military might of Anxi.
Since then, an uncontrollable wave of discussion had spread among the people like wildfire.
With Anxi Prefecture’s army now so powerful, should they not set their sights upon the distant, long-divided western lands of the Prefecture?
After all, the eastern Prefecture had already been reborn—its poverty and weakness swept away, its governance smooth, its people united, its armies strong.
Was this not the will of heaven, the perfect chance to wash away old shame and reclaim the ancestral lands?
Now, upon hearing that their ruler—the brilliant and resolute Jiang Zhaoming—had finally drawn the king’s sword against the rebels entrenched in the west, that long-buried blood and belonging in every Anxi heart erupted like a long-dormant volcano.
People spoke with excitement, painting with words the grand vision of a unified Anxi unfolding before their eyes.
The air itself seemed to pulse with a festive fervor.
Yet, in sharp contrast to the jubilation of the east, the west of the Prefecture was filled with spreading fear and chill.
Some western forces had never intended to provoke Great Zhou, preferring instead to maintain the status quo between both sides.
But because a few factions had provoked Jiang Zhaoming, now all forces in the west were doomed to face his wrath together.
According to history, the thirteen western counties of the Prefecture had originally been formed from the annexation of four small Western Region kingdoms by Great Zhou.
Those four kingdoms had been Jingjue, Yutian, Shule, and Qiemo.
Of them, Jingjue lay to the far west, holding six counties—half the western lands.
Next came Yutian, to the south, with three counties, occupying a quarter of the region.
The remaining quarter was divided between Shule and Qiemo, each claiming two counties.
After the previous Prince of Anxi died unexpectedly, the western Prefecture declared independence.
The royal clans of Jingjue and Yutian, through their great strength and cunning, swiftly reclaimed their old lands and restored their nations.
Shule and Qiemo, however, were weaker, and with Great Liao’s interference, they gained nothing from the rebellion.
Their internal factions were divided, and so their four counties split into four separate powers.
These four minor powers, weakest of all, bordered closest to the east.
In recent years, it was precisely these small states that had often harassed the Anxi garrisons.
For the restored kings of Jingjue and Yutian, however, what they most desired was stability.
They only wished to hold onto their reclaimed kingdoms and had no wish to provoke Anxi Prefecture, which stood under the Great Zhou banner.
But regrettably, those four splintered, flea-like little states had continually eyed the east.
And now, having dared to stir Jiang Zhaoming’s tiger’s whiskers during Great Zhou’s struggle against Great Jin—they had brought ruin upon themselves.
Had Great Jin crushed Great Zhou utterly, perhaps nothing would have come of it.
But Great Zhou had recovered.
And the victory at Canglong Pass—they had all heard of it.
The general Yue Fei, who had slain two Golden Body Realm enemies, was known as Jiang Zhaoming’s foremost commander.
If he were to lead troops west, none of the western powers wished to face him.
But the die was cast. Their opportunistic raids had finally ignited the furious blaze of the Prince of Anxi’s wrath.
Now, the entire western Prefecture—whether willing or not—was forced to face this cataclysm together.
In the easternmost lands of the west, near Qiemo, several independent factions heard that the Anxi armies were marching westward—and their courage shattered.
Before the battle of Canglong Pass, they had launched several raids, even fought a few skirmishes.
But after that great victory, they had withdrawn all forces immediately—abandoning even their camps along the Death Sand Sea route.
They prayed that Jiang Zhaoming, drunk in triumph, might forget everything that had happened here.
For a while—in February and March—it seemed possible.
Rumor said the Prince of Anxi was preoccupied with “Mountain-Opening and Cloud-Gathering,” as if he had indeed forgotten their previous offenses.
Just when they thought the matter was behind them, the Anxi army had finally come.
Those four little states—none possessing even a single Golden Body Realm expert—what could they possibly use to face Yue Fei, a powerhouse at the late Golden Body Realm?
Terrified, they clutched at their last straw, placing all hope upon the two great powers deep within the west—Jingjue and Yutian.
Letters of desperate pleading, some nearly tearful, flew like snowflakes to the Jingjue royal palace and the Yutian royal court.
They begged earnestly that the two mighty nations might, for the sake of “shared lips and teeth,” send troops eastward to aid them—
to help withstand the oncoming flood of annihilation.
The fate of the entire western Prefecture now hung upon the single thought of the King of Jingjue and the King of Yutian.