Chapter 161 - 94: The Approaching Storm, Surging Undercurrents

Chapter 161: Chapter 94: The Approaching Storm, Surging Undercurrents

That night.

Pingzhang Commandery, Governor’s Mansion.

Pingzhang Commandery’s Prefect, Tang Yu, paced back and forth in the main hall. His brows were tightly furrowed, and every word in the document in his hands pierced his heart. "How could something like this happen right after I took office?!"

The report filled him with indignation. He simply threw all the pages out, his eyes bloodshot. FLUTTER. The documents scattered all over the floor. Tang Yu sat down on his chair, hesitated for a moment, and picked up a brush to start writing a plan.

Under the rule of the Great Zhou, a Prefect possessed absolute power over a commandery. Unlike a county town, where the County Magistrate was still checked by the County Captain, in a commandery, the County Captain role was usually concurrently held by the Captain of the local military camp. It was merely an honorary title; they did not participate in government affairs and were positioned beneath the Prefect. Therefore, the Prefect was a combination of the Commandery Governor and the County Captain. Regardless of civil or military matters, he shouldered them all alone. He held supreme power within the commandery and could be considered a scaled-down version of a State Governor.

Of the twenty-one states under the Great Zhou’s rule, only Six States had State Governors, while the rest were governed by Inspectors. Hence, the power of a Prefect was truly extraordinary. During chaotic times of fighting for supremacy, a Prefect even had the potential to become one of the local Dukes.

This Governor Tang of Pingzhang Commandery had quite an impressive background. He was a descendant of the Great Yu’s Grand General Yu, the last pillar of Great Yu, the Mountain-Opening King. Because the Mountain-Opening King was a die-hard loyalist of Great Yu and ultimately refused to surrender, he was slashed by the Divine Martial Emperor. The Tang Family’s Direct Lineages were completely wiped out, and the Tang Family subsequently declined.

However, the Tang Family’s collateral branches submitted to the Great Zhou. They operated in the Capital City for a full six to seven hundred years, slowly climbing their way up within the Court and earning some prestige. As a descendant of the Tang Family, he entered the Court as a Langguan and mingled in the Capital City for over a decade. He finally secured an opportunity to be transferred to the provinces and arrived in Pingzhang Commandery five months ago to serve as the Prefect.

But he never expected it in a million years. He hadn’t even been here for half a year, yet the Great Righteous King was coming to Bozhou! In other commandery administrations, the Prefects were mostly Acupoint Opening Martial Artists. Although most of them had only opened one or two acupoints, they were still stronger than him, a Peak of Outer Gang who hadn’t opened a single one! Therefore, Tang Yu felt immense pressure.

As it never rained but poured, just as he had followed the State’s orders to transfer most of his army to Yanting Commandery—actively preparing for war to welcome the Great Righteous King Zhang Bengong’s veteran camp soldiers—he received news from Yanting Commandery. Zhang Bengong’s Envoy had gone to Black Mountain and conferred upon the Black Mountain Thieves’ leader, Lu Hao—who was also at the Peak of Outer Gang—the title of ’Prince’, appointing him as the ’Great Righteous Pillar General’. The Black Mountain Thieves were all given rewards, with the only condition being that they lead their troops down the mountain to block the rear when the Great Righteous Army attacked Bozhou.

And the rear of Yanting Commandery was precisely Pingzhang Commandery! At this moment, he had no soldiers left in his hands. Those Black Mountain Thieves could descend the mountain at any time. What should he do?!

Tang Yu felt extremely irritated. If he were to lead troops to Black Mountain County to suppress the bandits... he didn’t quite have the courage. He had heard that Lu Hao was an escaped slave from the Northern Demon Court and had ties with the Demon Fiends on Black Mountain. There were likely the equivalent of two to three Peak of Outer Gang experts up there, so he didn’t dare to make a move at all. Moreover, it was said that remnants of Southern Chu were also active in that area, and among those remnants, there was no shortage of masters.

He had finally managed to become an official here, and he didn’t want to lose his life. "I can’t go up the mountain to suppress the bandits. I can only block them and prevent them from affecting the battle in Yanting Commandery." Exhaling a breath, Tang Yu eloquently wrote a letter requesting reinforcements from the State. Setting it aside, he casually began reading the detailed reports from the various counties stacked nearby.

Soon, Governor Tang spotted a detailed report from the County Captain of Black Mountain County. Thinking about the background of the Black Mountain County’s County Captain, Governor Tang tore open the report to read it.

"The four counties of Black Mountain, Zhiyuan, Rongyuan, and Pingyun border Black Mountain. The bandit menace in Black Mountain is deeply rooted, and the local Gentry suffer greatly from it. The entire Yan Clan of the Gentry was exterminated. Black Mountain Guard’s Captain Zheng Jun went into the mountains and eradicated over five hundred bandits, but his strength fell short of completely wiping out the Black Mountain bandit menace. Therefore..."

Cai Xun’s report was very straightforward. It could be summarized in a single sentence: The Black Mountain Guard wanted to recruit two more squads, and they hoped the commandery could integrate the County Soldiers of the four counties—Black Mountain, Zhiyuan, Rongyuan, and Pingyun—so everyone could unite to defend against the Black Mountain bandit menace.

Upon seeing this report, Governor Tang became uncertain and alarmed. He recognized the name Zheng Jun. A Qi Storage Martial Artist who slashed the severely injured Northern Demon Court spy, Meng Xian—his methods were truly outstanding. However, the situation in Black Mountain County was a bit off. Governor Tang knew perfectly well about the Cai Family sending their descendants down to the provinces, and something seemed amiss. If he were to follow the contents of this report now, wouldn’t he be giving the Cai Family an opportunity to encroach upon the County Soldiers of the other three counties as well?

After pondering for a long time, Governor Tang took a deep breath and immediately wrote his response in vermilion ink: "Approved. The Black Mountain Guard, Zhiyuan Guard, Rongyuan Guard, and Pingyun Guard are to form the Black Mountain Stronghold. The Black Mountain Stronghold shall expand its forces by two companies, forming a full Squad."

"Damn it, what does it matter to me if the Cai Family is scheming big?" he thought. "If I wait for the Black Mountain Thieves to descend the mountain and catch Yanting Commandery off guard, my own head will roll!

"Six companies make up a Squad. I’ll directly form a Squad and send it over, assigning a Squad Commander to keep an eye on Black Mountain. Even if they descend the mountain, a Squad of fully one thousand eight hundred troops will surely be of some use, right?"

"As for the candidate for Squad Commander..." Governor Tang hesitated slightly. It was absolutely impossible to move the County Captains of these four counties. Other than them, it seemed there were no available Outer Gang Martial Artists who could go over and serve as the Squad Commander.

Just as Governor Tang was hesitating, a staff member knocked gently on the door.

"Come in." Governor Tang nodded, gesturing for the other party to enter.

As soon as the staff member entered, he took out several reports and said, "Prefect, this is a report from the Garrison Command. They sent a copy to us, and I think you need to know about this matter."

"What is it?" Governor Tang asked, despite feeling a faint ache in his head.

"Black Mountain County’s Captain Zheng Jun, at Noon today, on the Shengdong River in Shengdong Village of Black Mountain County, slashed the Vast Sea Sect’s Outer Gang Martial Artist, True Man Yuan Yi. According to the verification by the Black Mountain County Garrison Command’s Commander Gu Chengqi, only two streams of True Qi remained at the scene. There was no third stream of True Qi present.

"This Captain Zheng of the Black Mountain Guard," the staff member continued, "has once again, with a Qi Storage cultivation, slashed an Outer Gang expert. And this time, this Outer Gang expert was in a normal state, not severely injured."

Hearing his staff member’s words, Governor Tang looked rather surprised. "If that’s the case, allocate some silver to him and have him make a trip to the commandery!"

At this moment, Governor Tang had a candidate in mind for the Squad Commander of this newly established force meant to guard against the Black Mountain Thieves.

Having Outer Gang combat strength was enough. It was just a pity that he was only at Qi Storage. A Squad Commander could only be held by an Outer Gang Martial Artist; after all, within the great army, a Squad Commander also held the title of a Deputy General.

But this wasn’t a big deal. An acting Squad Commander would do just fine, wouldn’t it?