An imperial edict halted Wu Wei's advance in conquering the Great Yan Dynasty and building his power.
Although Wu Wei didn't take the imperial edict seriously at all, the general guarding Lingtian Pass, Marquis Ningbei, was loyal to Emperor Chengping and kept an eye on Wu Wei's every move.
The constraints made Wu Wei very uncomfortable. She could only wait and see to limit Zheng Ya's development. She secretly called Zheng Ya, but received no signal.
What's going on?
Could Zheng Ya really be dead?
Otherwise, how could the phone have no signal?
This infuriated Wu Wei, who urgently dispatched Liu Qingyun to Jiangnan to devise a plan for Jiangnan fishermen to profit from.
Little did anyone know that after Zheng Ya escaped, he immediately shut down the external communication signals of the Sihelou spiritual energy system, faked his death, and went on a carefree journey to Jiangnan.
He transformed into a wealthy and dissolute young master, wearing a silver silk robe, a light blue jade belt, an amber jade pendant hanging from it, and carrying a light gold magic sword on his back, the sword tassel fluttering in the wind along with his long black hair.
He possessed a handsome face, thick eyebrows, and bright eyes, exuding an ethereal and refined air. Wherever he went, mortals would retreat and look up at him from afar.
Along the way, the towns and villages presented a stark contrast between earthly wealth and hellish suffering.
The country roads are littered with the bones of those who have frozen to death, and most people survive by digging for wild vegetables and eating tree roots.
There are three reasons why the villagers are struggling to make a living.
First, the climate in the half-crippled cultivation world is harsh and unpredictable, leading to crop failures.
The Great Li Dynasty imposed seventeen or eighteen kinds of exorbitant taxes and levies.
In addition, local family powers exploited the villagers, so less than half of the grain actually ended up in their hands.
Secondly, bandits and robbers were repeatedly banned but never eradicated.
Even worse, the government harbored bandits and robbers who helped them plunder the people's property and abduct and abuse women.
Officials and bandits are in cahoots, and the people are living in misery.
Third, powerful families compete for fame and profit, and villagers in many areas are exploited and oppressed three or four times.
Wherever Zheng Ya went, he would distribute gold and silver jewelry to help the people. Occasionally, when he couldn't stand the collusion between officials and bandits, he would kill indiscriminately and bestow favors upon the masses.
Every morning when people woke up, they would be greeted with joy upon opening their doors, as valuables were piled up at their entrances.
As more and more people received the aid, they unconsciously expressed their gratitude for the mysterious person's gift and offered him spiritual energy.
During the ten-day trip, Zheng Ya had increased his daily income from around 50,000 to about 100,000.
The income is considerable, but even though it has accumulated to over 1.3 million in Zheng Ya's supernatural world, it hasn't made Zheng Ya happy at all.
Right now, Zheng Ya strolled along the main street of Linjiang City, observing the behavior of the crowds who were keeping their distance. It was as if he were in a shopping street during the twelfth lunar month of a prosperous time, with a sea of people, but he did not see a single person wearing tattered clothes.
Because the poor were prohibited from entering the city, the people living in the towns were either rich or noble, and their kinship ties were long-standing.
"Shasha" Liu Yuanzu and his granddaughter disguised themselves as an ordinary father and daughter, parted the crowd of onlookers, and greeted Zheng Ya with a bow: "Master, the accommodation is set at Linjiang Tower."
"It's just around the corner on the front street. Would you please follow me, Master?"
"Hmm." Zheng Ya followed him straight to the top floor of the Linjiang Tower, to room number one in the Heavenly Palace. Standing on the nearby balcony, she looked down at the shimmering waters of the river below: "How is the situation?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the situation is not optimistic. I wonder what kind of information Your Majesty would like to hear?" Liu Yuan was previously ordered to rob Prince Rong's assets, and despite his best efforts, he only managed to steal the wealth from five major cities and eighteen towns.
Compared to the various factions vying for Prince Rong's merchant guild assets, it's nothing at all.
Even with the Azure Dragon's intervention, seizing assets from the Rong Prince's Chamber of Commerce everywhere, resources only increased by 170-180%.
This was utterly insignificant compared to the vast territory and tens of thousands of towns of the Great Yan Dynasty.
Zheng Ya had anticipated this, and to avoid being targeted, he could only instruct Liu Yuanzu and his grandson to stop, except to unleash the Azure Dragon to wreak havoc on the Rong Prince's Chamber of Commerce's assets: "You can just make a summary."
"Yes, Master. With Prince Rong being imprisoned by the Emperor Emeritus, the business empire he built over more than a decade has basically collapsed."
"Because too many forces participated in seizing the Chamber of Commerce's assets, the entire Chamber of Commerce system of the Great Yan Dynasty was almost destroyed..." Liu Yuan explained, still feeling resentful, that the assets robbed from Prince Rong were not enough.
It seems that it didn't cause much damage to Prince Rong, and there was no sense of satisfaction in avenging him.
Zheng Ya leaned against the mahogany railing of the balcony, enjoying the setting sun and the river breeze, feeling content: "When a wall falls, everyone pushes it down, that's normal."
Is there any organization that could be monitoring and taking advantage of the situation to plunder the Rong Prince's Chamber of Commerce's assets, and where are those assets hidden?
"Master, this old servant hasn't had time to find someone to keep an eye on you..." Liu Yuan bowed and apologized with a bitter face, and Liu Yan'er followed suit and apologized as well.
The grandfather and grandson were focused on taking revenge on Prince Rong and hadn't had time to build up their own faction.
Zheng Ya raised his hand to stop him: "You two, grandfather and grandson, are eager for revenge, there's no need to explain."
The next step is to focus on taking in as many kind-hearted people as possible who are between the ages of twelve and twenty-six.
"Let's move on to the next piece of information."
Recruiting people and building a faction is imperative; otherwise, it will be impossible to compete with powerful families for resources.
Accumulating spiritual energy requires manpower to plan and expand influence.
Liu Yuan, looking ashamed, changed the subject: "Master, right now, the whole city, and probably the whole world, are spreading rumors about two things."
First, Fu Ya didn't die; he slipped away and went south to steal money.
The fact that the Azure Dragon brought calamity to towns and cities across the land is the best proof of this.
After all, Azure Dragon generally does not harm people unless it is surrounded or attacked.
Rumors circulated that the Azure Dragon had already been taken as a mount by the immortal masters of the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect, and that its journey to Jiangnan was aimed at seizing cultivation resources.
Secondly, the God of Wealth descends to earth, scattering wealth throughout the world to help the poor.
Two rumors have inadvertently emerged: that the powerful families are secretly plotting against the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect, killing the rich to help the poor, and intending to rebel.
Seizing resources and winning hearts and minds—achieving both goals simultaneously—their ambition is obvious and self-evident.
The poor spread rumors that a Son of Heaven had descended to earth to save all people, and that he was just waiting for the day he could rise up and overthrow the ruthless Zheng dynasty.
Master, look at this…
What's wrong with that?
It's nothing more than some people secretly sowing discord, using others to do their dirty work, and stirring up trouble for their own gain. Zheng Ya felt that some people were deliberately creating a smokescreen in order to seize more resources.
After all, no one would take the blame. Whoever seized Prince Rong's assets would be investigated by the dynasty's secret agents, exposed, and handed over. It could even become an excuse for Emperor Chengping to eliminate dissidents and support his own people to take the throne.
The competition among various powerful families is fierce, and they all hope that the families they don't want to fight will take the blame, divert attention, and stay out of the fray.
The Azure Dragon and the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect are related to the Spirit Root Repair Liquid, which creates an invincible army, making them the most sought-after and suitable scapegoats.
As they are also targets of contention among various factions, it is reasonable for them to become scapegoats.
Liu Yuan anxiously transmitted his voice: "Master, why are all the forces pointing their swords at you...?"
"Because I possess the ability to overturn everything, in the eyes of powerful forces and the royal family, I am destroyed if I cannot befriend or cooperate with them, so I have become the target of everyone's attacks." Zheng Ya is now focused on accumulating resources for cultivation and is not falling for any tricks.
Despite being targeted and schemed against, Zheng Ya simply stayed out of the public eye and remained silent, and nothing happened to him.
However, gathering resources was not easy, so Zheng Ya decided to recruit people and build his power.
Liu Yuan said worriedly, "Master, this is very bad for your reputation."
The key issue is their utter lack of principles; using such fabricated charges to harass Earl Dai's residence suggests their true intentions are not what they seem!
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