The Demon Lords

Chapter 514 28 Territory!_2

"The idea is, even though the Situ Family has established their own kingdom and declared themselves emperor, they don't seem to have any intention of starting a war with the Yan people."

Xiong Lie let out a dry laugh, picked up his bowl of wine and took a sip, sneering, "In other words, the Situ Family has chickened out."

Zhou Zhengwen interjected, "The problem lies there. The Situ Family can chicken out, can retreat, can avoid direct conflict with the Yan people for now, but what about us?"

All those present fell silent. Indeed, the sudden invasion of the Three Jin by the Yan people had instilled panic in these local powers, throwing them into a state of utter disarray. Even though Shengle City was poverty-stricken, it was the commoners who suffered the most, while they all continued to feast extravagantly.

Therefore, they instinctively wanted to hold onto their current positions and maintain the current situation in Shengle City. Their panic towards the Yan invasion then led them to promptly side with the Situ Family once they learned of the establishment of Dacheng. They took control of Shengle City and sent representatives to the Situ Family.

The Situ Family reacted quickly, promptly issuing an Imperial Edict sealed with the royal seal of the Emperor of Dacheng. Everyone present was bestowed a military rank and an official position.

Then, all was quiet from the Situ family.

By the time the Yan invaders reached the capital city of Jin State and killed Yu Huacheng, the Situ Family continued to sit on the sidelines and watch. Many local tyrants and great clans then realized,

Something was wrong!

They were celebrating here, assuming that the Situ Family's army would storm in any time, that the fate of the Three Jin was yet to be decided, and there was still room for struggle and contest!

But in reality, it was as if they had been teased and coaxed to climb over the wall, only to discover that they had been toyed with!

How on earth were they supposed to deal with this situation?

"We actually only have two choices. One is to migrate to the Situ Family's territory," Zhou Zhengwen said.

"What would we be worth if we left Shengle City?" Ning Cuicui immediately protested.

Here, they were the local powers, but if they left, they would simply be a large group of refugees.

Zhou Zhengwen nodded his head and then said, "The second choice is for us to take the initiative to send someone over to Yan State to get a sense of the situation. We can lower our stance, push the blame onto a smaller household to give the Yan people an explanation, then let the Yan people send a city governor here as a token gesture. That way, the Yan people would save face, and we would get what we want, creating a win-win situation. After all, no matter the circumstances—whether it was when the previous lord was in power, when the Situ Family arrived, or even if the Yan people arrive—they have to rely on us to manage Shengle City."

"Mr. Zhou makes a good point, a very good point. However, we will have to observe the bearing of the Yan people. If everyone takes a peaceful approach and the Yan people don't plan to get seriously involved, then what's the harm in giving Yan face?" Tufa Chengji said.

"Maybe Yan will just let us be, who knows," Xiong Lie chimed in. Then he laughed again, saying, "This is a real comedy. Initially, you all gathered to advocate rebellion against Yan and to side with the Situ Family. Now, you are all here claiming that the Situ Family is unreliable and that the Yan people may be coming. I must say, can't you all be a bit more ambitious?"

Tufa Chengji snorted and retorted, "You're not afraid because if the Yan Army really comes, you can take your people and the merchant team and hide in the mountains. What about us?"

Xiong Lie nonchalantly wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth and said, "You speak as if our holy tribe is naturally fond of dwelling in the mountains. Eight hundred years ago, this place was our territory! However, you don't need to worry. Don't think that taking refuge in the mountains is unbearable. You'll get used to it over time."

The Barbarians called themselves Barbarians because, in their view, the word "Barbarian" itself carried a kind of affirmation of their overwhelming power.

But the wild people would not call themselves wild people; instead, they referred to themselves as the holy tribe, even though they knew that across the East and even the West, everyone called them wild people.

After mocking Tufa Chengji for a while, Xiong Lie rose from his seat and declared, "You all can continue discussing; I'll take my leave now."

He had an escape route, and he was confident. The wild people had a trading post in Shengle City with hundreds of armed men. Other factions would be reluctant to provoke him casually because everyone wanted to make money. Offending him was equivalent to offending all the wild people settlements in the nearby mountains. How could they continue to do business then?

Xiong Lie, after leaving the tavern, returned directly to his trading post. Many mountain goods were piled up inside, along with many cages housing demonic beasts. These beasts were not particularly dangerous; in later generations, they would be considered like pet dogs and cats.

As Xiong Lie entered the backyard, he saw a young man playing with his favorite green eagle.

This was also a type of demonic beast, with green feathers, said to be the incarnation of the legendary "green bird," tamable and possessing human-like intelligence.

This green eagle was of exceptional quality, the apple of Xiong Lie's eye. Ordinary people weren't even allowed to touch it, but this young man was carelessly fiddling with it using a bamboo stick.

Yet Xiong Lie didn't show the slightest bit of anger. Instead, he voluntarily knelt down on one knee, saying, "Lord Zheng, this servant has returned."

Zheng Fan turned around, looked at Xiong Lie kneeling on the ground, and said, "How many times have I told you? Don't be so formal. We're all on the same side."

"Rituals should not be abandoned!"

"Heh, well, you should at least wait until I've actually taken Shengle City before you perform this ritual so seriously. Right now, you should let me put on an act of being courteous to subordinates; we could even make a blood oath. You've jumped the gun on me; that's not good."

"..." Xiong Lie.

At this moment, Mr. Bei walked out from behind Zheng Fan, looked at Xiong Lie, and asked, "What's the attitude of those families?"

"In response to Mr. Bei, those families are now very afraid of you Yan people and are preparing to send someone to your side to surrender. But from the sounds of it, they want a Yan official to come and rule in name, while the real administrators would still be themselves."

Hearing this, Mr. Bei nodded and said, "That's to be expected."

Asking beneficiaries to give up their own benefits is too difficult and unrealistic.

They're dreaming, Zheng Fan dropped the bamboo stick on the ground, picked up the teacup next to him, took a sip, and continued, "Only children make choices. I want both face and substance."

The blind man immediately offered a very perfunctory compliment.

"My lord speaks the truth!"

At this point, Xiong Lie said, "Lord Zheng, Mr. Bei, the letter from the Sixth Prince arrived this morning."

"What did he say in the letter?" Zheng Fan asked.

No one would know how big a business Ji Chengjue had initially created. Even if the Yan Emperor issued an Imperial Edict demanding that all superficial businesses be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue, influence wasn't something that could be discarded so easily.

For instance, this Xiong Lie was originally a wild people slave. He was sold into Yan State and taken under Ji Chengjue's wing. After some grooming, Ji Chengjue had him sent back to Jin State, specifically to Shengle City. There, he made contact with several wild people settlements in the nearby mountain range and built ties within Shengle City. Over the years, he has risen to become a very influential figure there.

Previously, when Zheng Fan was appointed as the city governor of Shengle, Ji Chengjue had mentioned Xiong Lie in a letter, stating that he could be useful.

But there was a prerequisite to using him securely: you had to have enough military power to intimidate him. Only on this premise would he willingly repay the favor.

This time, Zheng Fan had over two thousand regular troops stationed in the outskirts of Shengle City, along with more than two thousand Jin State pseudo-soldiers.

Honestly speaking, without considering losses, this force could be sufficient to launch an attack on the city. The various major merchants and some local prominent families in Shengle City could gather several thousand troops. However, in their fragmented state, how could they possibly defend the city?

Still, it would be best not to attack the city if it could be avoided. Seeing that he was on the verge of a turnaround, Zheng Fan didn't want to incur too many losses before the dawn of hope.

"Lord Zheng, my master mentioned two things in the letter. One, he told this servant to listen well to Lord Zheng and follow your orders."

"And the other one?"

"My master said to thank Lord Zheng for the several carts of corn flour sent to Yanjing a month or so ago. My master says he has been eating cornbread for a month."

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PS: The surname 'Tufa' did exist in ancient times, don't laugh.

Thanks to Liu Xiaodao is the Coolest for becoming the 79th ally of "Demon Lord's Advent," and thanks to Mo Ran Xingye for the generous donation.