Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 891 - 735 Raise My Royal Banner

Chapter 891: Chapter 735 Raise My Royal Banner

In Beijing, after Li Xuan personally saw Yuan Taiwei off from the Fen Yang Prince Mansion, he turned around and instructed Dugu Biluo, "Notify the Ministries of Revenue and Works to print an additional thirty million silver yuan within one month. Consider it a personal loan from me, with a monthly interest of eight percent! No, seven percent will suffice."

As far as Li Xuan knew, the Ministry of Works had a substantial surplus in their coin minting machines.

The Ministry of Revenue also had up to tens of millions of taels of silver, enough to mint this batch of silver yuan.

"Eh?" Lord Huang was surprised. "Don’t you have money yourself? Why not lend it to her directly?"

Li Xuan thought of course it wouldn’t work. For a whole year and as much as thirty million taels, who knew if he would need the money in the future?

Considering his current spending rate, it was better to keep the silver in his own hands.

Borrowing thirty million taels from the Ministries of Revenue and Works and then turning it over for a pure profit of over ten million taels of silver in a year.

Yuan Taiwei’s involvement was in high-level trade, and her mere thirty million wouldn’t impact the market or cause inflation of the new currency.

This was a transaction from which Yuan Taiwei, the Court, and Li Xuan all could benefit. Li Xuan couldn’t help but silently praise his own business acumen.

Next, Li Xuan diverted his attention towards a token in his hand that resembled a short sword.

Even with Li Xuan’s shrewdness, a few ripples couldn’t help but appear in his eyes.

This Immortal Slashing Order had finally come into his possession. Li Xuan had been scheming for this item for a while but had not found the right opportunity.

Asking outright would only backfire.

He let out a long sigh, "Lady Lv, how do I use this?"

"It’s simple," replied Lv Qiluo, materializing beside Li Xuan. "You just need to hold it and then fully attune it with the Haotian Seal. The ’Zhushen Order’ and ’Immortal Slashing Order’ from Jinque Palace are actually made from fragments of the Haotian Seal. Together, they form the divine treasure ’Haotian Seal’ that was used by the three generations of Heavenly Court to suppress the Thirty-Six Heaven and the four extremes of the universe.

However, the key to activating the Zhoutian Stars Array lies in the array pattern that is keyed to it, which is unrelated to the Rule of Extreme Heaven within the ’Haotian Seal.’ You could have a skilled craftsman replicate it."

Thus, even if Li Xuan returned the Immortal Slashing Order to Yuan Taiwei after a year, he could still use some of the functions of the Zhoutian Stars Array.

If Li Xuan wanted to replicate the Immortal Slashing Order, then he would have to seek out Mr. and Mrs. Yue.

Also, for the second ’Solar Furnace,’ he needed their help as well.

However, since Mr. and Mrs. Yue had been severely overcharged by him before, they had quite a grudge against him.

Li Xuan never expected to seek their help again so soon.

Li Xuan foresaw that this time would definitely cost him dearly—

But Lv Qiluo’s next words made up his mind, "Aren’t you short of money? You should know that apart from calculation, the Zhoutian Stars Array has another function—it can be used to refine ’Zhoutian Star Iron,’ the cheapest material for immortal soldiers since the Pre-Qin Dynasty. It was also one of the biggest sources of income for the three generations of Heavenly Court. It could easily earn you twenty to thirty million taels of patterned silver a year."

Li Xuan was delighted, thinking to himself, why not endure for a moment?

In the future, as long as he controlled this material, whatever Mr. and Mrs. Yue took from him would eventually come back.

※※※※

On his way to Xuanfu, Li Xuan simply sat on the Earth Dragon, fully immersed in learning how to utilize the ’Zhoutian Stars Array.’

It was quite simple. Holding the two items in his hands, he felt a close connection between himself and the stars of Zhoutian.

The countless ’Zhoutian Star Banners,’ each too vast to measure in millions of zhang and unknowable in distance, were spread out like a chessboard, vast like a sea of smoke, scattered throughout the Void.

When Li Xuan’s mind reached out, these Zhoutian Star Banners began to operate in unison, weaving the power of the stars together much like a large computer starting up.

Although the Zhoutian Stars Array was said to consist of 365 large Zhoutian star banners and 14,800 small Zhoutian star banners, the actual number was far less, just over ten thousand.

Li Xuan guessed that the lack of maintenance had led to the damage of some of the banners.

A look of astonishment appeared in Li Xuan’s eyes, which he quickly controlled.

However, the ’principle’ in his mind shook violently, displaying a golden-red color, and it actually began to resonate with the Rule of Extreme Heaven.

From the ’Zhoutian Stars Array,’ Li Xuan glimpsed a significant secret about this world, but aside from aiding in his cultivation of the Rule of Extreme Heaven, it didn’t concern him for now.

The method to use the ’Zhoutian Stars Array’ was simple. With a single thought, Li Xuan transmitted his idea.

Given the high intelligence of the Zhoutian Stars Array, as soon as Li Xuan thought of perfecting the "Nuclear Fusion Furnace" technique, the Array cast down an unseen light of stars.

Li Xuan waited for a moment, as if the Array was receiving data, and then the ’Zhoutian Star Banners’ began to operate at high speed, weaving more and more threads of star power in the boundless Void.

The final results of the calculation would take some time. Meanwhile, Li Xuan began to explore other uses for the Zhoutian Stars Array.

He discovered there were five levels of access to the Array. His current level was the third.

This meant he could only utilize the Array for some calculations and simple tasks, such as refining the ’Zhoutian Star Iron,’ as mentioned by Lv Qiluo.

As for the fourth and fifth levels, they were granted by Haotian to ’Marshals’ and ’Divine Generals’ below him, allowing them to use some of the Array’s tremendous power.

However, Li Xuan would need to gain higher-level access before he could authorize others.

Just as Li Xuan had almost grasped the intricate pathways of the ancient celestial formation, he and the five thousand men of his personal guard had already reached Xuanfu.

This personal guard was an all-cavalry unit, selected from the best riders in the ranks, all with the cultivation of at least the fourth house level, and each was equipped with a breastplate.

The purpose of their formation by Li Xuan was, on one hand, to combat the Mongo forces; as the commander, he needed a direct and mobile force by his side.

Especially on those vast grasslands, such a mobile cavalry unit was particularly important.

On the other hand, it was to prepare for his own ’Heaven Emperor’ ambitions, aiming to undermine the Great Jin Dynasty’s Court.

When they were first formed, there had been much uproar in the Court . Many officials were concerned that Li Xuan would use this as an excuse to take control of even more military power in the Capital City.

However, as the Dadudu of the five armies, General Zhenji, County Prince Fenyang, and the Great General Zhenbei, he was entitled to his own royal army, and the establishment of the personal guard was entirely proper.

After the currency reform in the new year, the Court’s finances were abundant, and in just a few months, this personal guard had been initially formed.

Li Xuan did not linger in Xuanfu. After inspecting the numerous granaries there, as well as the military supplies warehouses, Li Xuan and his personal guard set out the next morning for Zhangjiakou.

Along the way, one could see the smoke of cooking fires billowing from the military forts on either side of the road, while outside, numerous bamboo poles were erected with strips of ’black cloth’ hanging on them.

The smoke was because these military forts were busy on a large scale preparing fried flour, hardtack, dry rice and so on; while the ’black cloth’ outdoors was not actually black cloth, but ’kelp,’ which, after being soaked in salt, could be eaten raw or used to make soup.

Although this campaign took place beyond the Great Wall, these military forts were not idle. All the women and children were mobilized to make simple and portable military rations.

Following Li Xuan’s military orders, large amounts of salted fish would also be sent from Shandong, which could serve as meat and supplement the soldiers’ salt intake.

And by the time Li Xuan arrived at Zhangjiakou, Yu Jie, the Shaofu who had been waiting for a long time as ’Guanjunrongshi’ to supervise the battle from the army, was already there.

This Minister of War was standing on the walls of Zhangjiakou, looking with folded hands at the endless streams of the Jin Army, troop after troop emerging from this Great Wall pass.

Looking farther into the distance, one could see thousands of horses galloping, an ocean of helmets and armor, and military flags that looked like a forest.

When Li Xuan leapt onto the ramparts, Yu Jie turned his head slightly, casting an unsatisfied glance at Li Xuan.

"County Prince, you’ve arrived nearly two days late. Are you aware of the crime of missing an appointed military schedule?"

According to their schedule, the main army was to start the campaign beyond the wall on the third day of June.

Yet Li Xuan, the commander, did not arrive at Zhangjiakou until the morning of the fifth of June, two days later.

Li Xuan, feeling in the wrong, could only respond with a wry smile, "On the eve of the campaign, chaos erupted in the Court, with loud protests. On the first day of June alone, there were hundreds of memorials impeaching both you and me, and there were even dozens of Hanlin Scholars besieging Grand Secretary Chen Xun, speaking out of line. I had no choice but to stay in the Capital City for a few more days to deal with it."

At this time, the officials in the Capital City were infuriated by Li Xuan’s campaign beyond the wall to subjugate the Meng Wu, mixed with anxiety and fear.

In mid-May, when Yu Hongchang appointed Li Xuan as ’Great General Zhenbei,’ most ministers and officials thought that the Court would continue its defensive stance.

But as time entered late May, more and more people perceived the real intent behind Yu Jie and Li Xuan’s activities through clues, and so the Court and the officials were up in arms.

By the end of May, many officials and nobles in the Court were making every effort to hinder this northern campaign.

However, at that time, with both Yu Jie and Li Xuan of the Jin military determined and with the strong support of Princess Jianguo, their efforts were unfruitful.

Unable to oppose these individuals, they turned their pressure onto the other regent ministers.

Li Xuan could somewhat understand the concerns of these people,

because since Emperor Taizong’s third eastern campaign, the results had never been good.

Emperor Taizong had launched five northern campaigns during his lifetime, each mobilizing over a million troops. Only the first and second campaigns were successful; the first defeated the Datan, and the second vanquished the Shiwei.

The subsequent three campaigns, despite employing countless troops and financial resources, had as their greatest achievement only a few thousand enemy beheadings, followed by the appeasement and subsequent rebellion of the Meng Wu tribes along the way.

It was these three northern campaigns that led to the financial distress of the Great Jin Dynasty, and the collapse of the credibility of baochao of Jin, making it necessary to give up Jiaozhi.

In the end, Emperor Taizong himself fell ill and died on the way during his fifth campaign.

Then came the Zhengtong Emperor’s campaign beyond the wall, which turned into a retreat from Maoer Village to Tumu Fort. Nearly eight hundred thousand Jin troops were lost, and an emperor was captured.

So the Court’s fear and skepticism about Li Xuan’s northern campaign were actually quite reasonable.

Those uninformed people naturally worried that the Court’s advantageous situation could be ruined by Li Xuan’s rash military actions.

Upon hearing this, Shaofu Yu Jie’s expression eased slightly, "That bunch of ignorants in the Court are not fit to plan! Would Yu have agreed to the campaign if he were not more than eighty percent sure of success?"

Months before, Yu Jie had also been a firm conservative.

Since the early Jingtai period, there had been several proposals for military action beyond the wall to avenge past humiliations, all of which Yu Jie had strongly suppressed.

This was because Yu Jie was keenly aware of the Jin Army’s surplus of defense but lack of offense—it wasn’t yet strong enough to contend with the Meng Wu beyond the wall.

Li Xuan just smiled faintly and turned to look back at the many guards behind him, "Raise my prince’s flag!"

When the ’County Prince Fenyang Li’ banner was erected on the ramparts of Zhangjiakou, nearly seven hundred thousand Jin Army soldiers nearby let out a roar like thunder, resounding through the air.

Those who saw the prince’s banner were filled with high morale, and their spirits lifted.