Hyper-Dimensional Player

Chapter 800 67: Debauched Tyrant? Passive Governance? The Annam Campaign! (Part 3)

"Do you need someone to accompany you to sleep tonight?"

Lu Qiongxi now seemed like the chief steward of the palace. Duncan was willing to delegate power, and she managed everything both inside and outside the palace impeccably, with daily arrangements never repeating.

Duncan's expression gradually became serious. He shook his head slowly and said, "We'll talk about it later."

"Gather the experts in the palace to the side hall."

"I have some instructions."

It's time to get down to business.

Given the current national strength of the South Han, they had no capacity to invade places like the Southern Tang. Hundreds of thousands of people were eager for food; how could they deploy troops at this moment?

However, they couldn't remain idle; they could start by dealing with small enemies to develop their strength.

Upon hearing this, Lu Qiongxi's expression became solemn. Under Duncan's command, she was tasked with controlling the eunuchs throughout the South Han, selecting those with potential to teach martial arts. They had amassed over a hundred experts, with some arranged separately as another force apart from the Ming Cult.

"Yes." Lu Qiongxi signaled her two sisters to wait in the side hall, then quickly departed.

Only she could grasp a hint of Duncan's schemes.

In the current South Han, public opinion somewhat resembled the change of an emperor who cared for the people but still indulged in debauchery and neglected state affairs. As for Lu Qiongxi, rumors about her were rampant, with some mischievous people claiming she was skilled in bedroom arts, enchanting three emperors to the point of having their souls turned upside down, jokingly calling her a senior official across three dynasties.

She bore all the infamy herself.

But this burden was hers to bear because she belonged to the demonic sect, and she was very clear about her position. She was merely a pawn in His Majesty's hand, and whatever role he wanted her to play, she would play it well.

She had even gathered a group of beauties, quietly spreading whispers in the martial world, with the entire hedonistic branch of the demonic sect being absorbed by His Majesty.

Another debauched and tyrannical emperor, but fortunately, he could get some real work done, although he never attended state affairs.

Even though the imperial examination system was reinstated, people like Li Fengji faced awkward situations within the literati class due to having been castrated, representing both eunuchs and court eunuchs, embodying the tradition of the Southern Han's heavy reliance on palace eunuchs.

Everything appeared as if there was just another emperor on the throne.

Duncan sought not reputation, but a period of developmental time.

Not long after,

dozens of pale, beardless eunuch experts gathered on one side of the side hall. Most had three-star marks, with some four-star marked attendants, but none had yet reached the Innate Realm.

The South Han had over ten thousand eunuchs, many of them literate and not even fully utilized.

Among them, there would inevitably emerge one or two experts of the caliber of a certain unrivaled Oriental master.

Duncan sat on the dragon throne, surrounded by several attendants and palace maidens, all chosen by Lu Qiongxi. He continued Liu Chang's policy of relying heavily on palace maidens, with nearly the entire inner palace being under Lu Qiongxi's faction, though they had no power to govern.

Those who disobeyed were dead.

If Lu Qiongxi couldn't do her job well, naturally, there were other palace maidens eager to take her place; competition among the demonic sect's seductive women was fierce.

With many teachings in Duncan's grasp, nurturing them was not difficult.

"I wish to quell the rebellious forces in Jiaozhi, and I leave the full power to you. Can you accomplish it?"

Duncan looked down at Li Fengji, kneeling before him. He was indeed a talent, having been a top scholar and learned martial arts faster than others.

A surge of rapture filled his heart.

It had come.

Finally, it was here!

The opportunity to be enshrined in the annals of history had arrived.

Li Fengji immediately raised his head, eyes resolute. "If I can draw six thousand elite soldiers, and still cannot capture Jiaozhi, I shall present my head to Your Majesty."

He knew the formidable strength of the Red Army's elite troops.

Duncan slowly shook his head. "I can give you at most two thousand men, and you can also recruit local militia."

"Additionally, I'll prepare some experts for you."

Experts?

How expert?

Li Fengji looked puzzled. Duncan clapped his hands, and a Chan Daoist with a zombie-like face appeared, the aura of demonic boding filling the air, sending chills down one's spine.

The living could be used, the dead could be used, and even the living dead could be used.

Duncan did not pick and choose in his affairs; as long as they were useful, that was enough.

A demonic sect expert from the Dao Entrance Realm.

The Chan Daoist entered, ignoring all others present, and knelt respectfully before Duncan, saying, "Your Majesty."

Duncan said casually, "Against the southern wizards, can you handle it?"

Chan Daoist sneered dismissively, "Just a minor trick, I can break it with a flick of the wrist."

That day, the Southern Border Wizard's flying head technique amused his zombie-like face into a smile.

That will do.

Duncan looked down calmly at Li Fengji before him and said, "I'll give you half a year."

"Quickly go make your preparations."

He needed to stay in Guangzhou, pacify Jiaozhi, and this was precisely the test to see if Li Fengji had the makings of a chief assistant.

In the year 939, after defeating the Southern Han army, Wu Quan declared himself king and established the Wu Dynasty, marking the first time Jiaozhi broke away from the control of the Central Plains dynasties. This move signaled the transition from China's prefecture to a local separatist regime in the Jiaozhi region.

Such a change is quite distressing.

This is because the people of Jiaozhi began to evolve their self-identity from the 'Huaxia lineage' of the Qin and Han periods to 'foreign nations' after the Five Dynasties.

In the original history, the Song Dynasty did not recover Jiaozhi. Instead, Zhao Kuangyin acknowledged its status as a vassal state, appointing it as the Prince of Jiaozhi County. It wasn't until the Ming Dynasty that it was briefly re-established under control. Throughout the Song Dynasty's history, the Central Plains lost bits of land here and there, and little by little, it was almost all gone.

Jiaozhi is also known as Jiaozhou, and during the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed to Annam Protectorate.

Wu Quan became independent after defeating the Southern Han army.

This piece of land, Duncan is determined to seize. However, any movement regarding Jiaozhi now will affect everything, so he can only rely on his subordinates.

Everything that was taken from me, spit it all back out!

Duncan wouldn't say he intends to take the entire Southeast Asia, but losing even Jiaozhou would be an embarrassment to the King of Kings, not to mention Vietnam is quite a productive grain region.

What the ancestors left cannot be lost; if Zhao Kuangyin didn't want it, he is determined to take it.

The night deepened.

Only after finalizing the strategy to conquer Jiaozhi did Duncan send Li Fengji and the others away.

Next to him, Lu Qiongxi glanced at his expression, seeing he was still interested, and she immediately understood, gently clapping her hands. Soon, palace servants brought Lady Li and Beauty Li over.

The show goes on, and the dance continues.

Continue the music, continue the dance.

By the time others learned of the news, the Annam Protectorate was likely already pacified, with Vietnam's strategic grain supply secured. Next year, they could move to conquer the Southern Tang, and after extinguishing the Southern Tang, they would face the great army of the Northern Song.

Duncan seemed to hear a noise. He looked up and saw two elegant and charming figures.

Lu Qiongxi has truly put me through a lot!

Pretending to be an ineffectual ruler is his true expertise.

Ever since the fall of the Southern Han, Duncan's reputation has been poor. Ignoring politics, heavily relying on eunuchs and palace maidens, indulging in beauty, slaughtering aristocratic clans, seizing the wealth of scholars, employing harsh methods, and executing families, collecting demonic remnants, his reputation increasingly worsened. Yet, the lives of the Southern Han people improved by the day.

From the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms until now, the land of Guangdong and Guangxi, which suffered severe damages, was recovering at an incredible speed.

No one knows when.

Some basic martial arts practices from the Jianghu began to spread among the people, especially in places like Foshan, where a folk tradition of practicing martial arts quietly formed.

As for the military, most of the Southern Han troops were mere decorations, except for one highly specialized elite force.

Because all of them were martial artists practicing both martial arts and military tactics.

Only after eating enough can you have the strength to practice martial arts.

Farming, farming.

Duncan gave a signal; Lu Qiongxi with refined elegance, went forward to strip off a palace dress and personally instructed the palace servants to remove his armor. Even as a feckless ruler, one must maintain a good physique, and this set of martial arts must still be diligently practiced.

Fan Huzi suddenly died on the twenty-seventh day.

Although Duncan still did not attend court, he brought people to the future port area of Guangzhou. The Southern Han navy was still quite strong, only that the money had been appropriated by Liu Chang.

Controlling Guangzhou, the Southern Han—once the world's largest port during the Tang Dynasty—had hundreds of tower ships, with main battleships being "Mengchong ships" (light warships) and "Haigu ships" (armored).

The naval strength could suppress surrounding small countries (such as Champa and Luoyue).

It is unknown when, but his reputation seemed to have shifted a bit. His behavior of not attending court and completely delegating power led some to praise him as 'ruling by doing nothing,' akin to the emergence of a Saint.

It's truly 'great Confucians arguing on my behalf.'

There's always been a phenomenon in this world, which is that truly capable talents often wish for minimal interference from above. As long as they're granted authority, they're willing to stake their lives and careers as guarantees.

Fortunately, this era has quite a few such individuals, some even capable of conquering a piece of Min Kingdom land with just a militia of fifteen hundred.

Central Plains truly is not lacking in talent, only lacking opportunities for these talents to showcase their abilities.

.........