130: Riots in Beijing

Chapter 129: Capital Riots

zhengyong Seventh Year, November 2nd.

After more than two months of preparation, the Shangwu Division was finally established under the imperial decree of Emperor Zhengyong.

Unlike usual, the Shangwu Division did not belong to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War; instead, personnel from the Ministry of War were dispatched to restructure the Hall of Offerings into the Shangwu Division.

Its establishment fell under the Grand Governor's Office, controlled by Xu Mujun.

Established on the same day was also the 'Martial Artist Guild'.

It was headed by Zhao Su Ling, an Innate Realm powerhouse and Old Ancestor of the Taiyi Sect, who served as its first president.

Yes, Zhao Su Ling had also broken through the Bottleneck, becoming an Innate Realm powerhouse!

He had already stepped down as the Sect Master of the Taiyi Sect, turning into an Elder of the Taiyi Sect with a transcendent status.

In other words, under Zheng Yi's command alone, there were already six Innate Realm powerhouses!

Zhao Su Ling served as the president of the Martial Artist Guild, with White Long Eagle, a Grandmaster Realm powerhouse, as the vice president, while also inviting two other Grandmaster Realm Martial Artists to serve as vice presidents.

Under his command were seven deacons, all of whom were renowned and prestigious martial arts grandmasters or martial hall masters within the capital.

Their task was to manage conflicts or disputes between formal Martial Artists.

There were even corresponding bounties for Martial Artists to earn silver taels.

At the same time, the Martial Artist Guild also served an assessment function, determining the strength of Martial Artists so as to grant different treatments and rewards.

"The emperor, complying with the mandate of heaven, decrees:"

"The realm of Great Yu belongs to the common people. I resist foreign tribes in the north and suppress refugees in the interior, solely so that the common people can live and work in peace, and the elderly have something to rely on."

"Therefore, I hereby promulgate the 'Martial Prohibition Decree'!"

"The decree stipulates that all Martial Artists of Great Yu must strictly obey the Martial Prohibition Decree; otherwise, they shall be regarded as rebels, and any public official has the right to investigate!"

"Article One of the Martial Prohibition Decree: Any Martial Artist must go to the Shangwu Division or Martial Artist Guild established in various places in the capital to register within March; those who fail to register within the time limit are not allowed to stay in the capital."

"Article Two of the Martial Prohibition Decree: Any Martial Artist entering the capital, except for registered Martial Artists, shall not wear weapons such as sabers and swords, otherwise they shall be regarded as rebels, and government soldiers have the right to capture them."

"Article Three of the Martial Prohibition Decree: Anyone who wants to establish a martial hall or Sect needs to go to the Shangwu Division for registration and assessment, and can only create a martial hall or Sect after obtaining a certificate."

"Article Four of the Martial Prohibition Decree: Those registered as formal Martial Artists can go to the Shangwu Division every month to collect their corresponding stipends."

"Article Five of the Martial Prohibition Decree: Formal Martial Artists can obtain corresponding military posts when joining the army according to their martial arts cultivation."

"Article Six of the Martial Prohibition Decree: ..."

All in all, there were more than a dozen clauses, enough for anyone to understand the commands recorded in the policy of the Martial Prohibition Decree.

When the contents of this imperial decree were posted on numerous bulletin boards in the capital and sent to the whole country through the newspapers of the Propaganda Division, the entire country was discussing this matter.

Especially the capital!

Here was the place where the Martial Prohibition Decree was first and most heavily enforced.

"The Martial Prohibition Decree! Great Yu is going to ban us Martial Artists!"

"Are you blind? Didn't you see that there are still stipends to take after registering as a formal Martial Artist? Free silver, might as well take it!"

"Exactly! And if you don't want to register, you just need not to wear sabers and swords."

"I am a Martial Artist! How could I not carry a saber or sword? This capital... is not worth staying in!"

"Hiss... Martial Artist Guild? What is this for?"

"It is said to handle issues between Martial Artists, but it is limited to formal Martial Artists."

"There are even bounties targeted at Martial Artists inside the Martial Artist Guild? Martial Artists can rely on these bounties to kill bandits or protect certain big figures to make money?"

"Isn't this just an escort agency?"

"What on earth is Your Majesty thinking?"

"Cannot carry sabers and swords? This is simply bullying people too much!"

"Let's go! The capital is not a place for people like us to stay."

"Hehehe, want to ban people like us? Do you really think our Martial Forest folks are made of clay?"

"Gather manpower and pull off a big job tonight!"

"After finishing it, I'll take you all to the south to live in style!"

"Hahaha..."

"To establish a martial hall, one must become a formal Martial Artist, and also go to the Martial Artist Guild and Shangwu Division for assessment to obtain an opening certificate?"

"This is also a good thing. This old man won't have to challenge eighteen martial halls in a row..."

The release of the Martial Prohibition Decree did not cause a very large reaction for the entire Great Yu.

After all, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away; when the Martial Prohibition Decree spreads to other places, it will take a long time.

However, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, inside the capital, monstrous waves were stirred up.

There was a group of Martial Artists who held a welcoming and supportive attitude towards the implementation of the Martial Prohibition Decree.

They were mainly Sects that subjugated to the Great Yu Dynasty and Martial Artists making a living in the capital.

They came from common backgrounds, and practicing martial arts was originally just to make a living.

And now, as long as they joined the Shangwu Division and became formal Martial Artists, they would have a fixed stipend to collect every month.

For them, this was undoubtedly an extra income.

However, another large portion of Martial Artists held an antagonistic and disgusted attitude towards the Martial Prohibition Decree.

Most of these Martial Artists were those who had traveled from afar and wanted to make a living in the capital.

There was also a portion consisting of local underworld Gangs, highway robbers of the capital, and even some Jianghu people who had experienced many battles in the Jianghu and deeply detested the imperial court.

On the surface, they could not contend against the imperial court's Martial Prohibition Decree, so they secretly agreed to either leave the capital together or plan to pull off a big one before leaving!

Xihua Gate.

This place was an office location of the Shangwu Division after the issuance of the Martial Prohibition Decree.

Zhao Xiaolou was lining up here with his Senior Brothers, waiting for the monitoring of the Shangwu Division.

He came from a poor background, and his family spent a lot of effort to send him into the White Crane Martial Hall to practice martial arts.

Although his talent was not high, he was very capable of enduring hardships.

For ten years, he worked diligently and cultivated bitterly without stopping, finally elevating the Eagle Claw Skill to the realm of a Grade Three Martial Artist.

He could split gold and shatter stone, enough to be called an expert in his own right.

However, with his honest Heart-Nature, he was always willing to stay in the White Crane Martial Hall, teaching newly entered Junior Brothers every day or sparring with other Senior Brothers.

His biggest wish was still to wait until the Senior Sister practiced martial arts every day and secretly take a glance at her.

Unfortunately, ever since the Senior Sister was conscripted into the imperial palace as a concubine three years ago, he hadn't seen much of the Senior Sister.

Even so, he was unwilling to leave the White Crane Martial Hall, just waiting foolishly like this.

"Xiaolou! Xiaolou! What are you foolishly looking at? It's almost your turn!"

"Oh, oh, Senior Brother, I'm coming."

Senior Brother White Flying Tiger was calling him, so he quickly ran up and, under the direction of the Shangwu Division personnel, began to display his martial arts.

Soon, he got an evaluation of "Lower Grade Three" and was assigned a bronze token.

"Xiaolou, you must hold this token well; this is your proof of identity."

"Starting next month, you can come to the Shangwu Division every month to collect a stipend of twenty taels of silver!"

"Twenty taels!"

Zhao Xiaolou said in surprise, "So much, what do you want me to do, Senior Brother?"

"No need!"

White Flying Tiger waved his hand grandly and said, "This is money given by my brother-in-law, might as well take it!"

"Hahaha~"

"Senior Brother, you dare to call Your Majesty brother-in-law, aren't you afraid of His Majesty finding out?"

"What is there to be afraid of? Last time at the family banquet in the White Jade Capital, it's not like I didn't call him that!"

"White Jade Capital! Senior Brother, hurry up and tell us if the White Jade Capital is really in the sky, just like a fairyland?"

"I heard people say that the White Jade Capital is full of immortal daughters!"

White Flying Tiger said proudly, "My emperor brother-in-law's White Jade Capital is naturally a fairyland; even if it's not, it's pretty close!"

"That place is really tall, at least thirty or forty zhang high!"

"And there were many palace maids dancing for us. Tsk tsk tsk, those really were fairies, each prettier than the last!"

The other fellow apprentices became anxious again: "Senior Brother, tell us more, tell us more, just how pretty were they?"

"Prettier than the top belle of the Yichun Tower!"

"Wow~!"

Zhao Xiaolou quickly squeezed in front of White Flying Tiger and asked, "Senior Brother, Senior Brother, did you see the Senior Sister?"

"Feihe?"

White Flying Tiger glanced at Zhao Xiaolou and said earnestly, "Xiaolou, Feihe is the Son of Heaven's woman, the emperor's concubine, you should stop thinking about it!"

"Right, my sister Feihe is no longer Noble Lady He now, but Imperial Concubine He!"

"When addressing her in the future, you must pay attention!"

"Understood, Senior Brother~"

"Quick! Next one!"

"Clatter~!"

"Bang!"

"Ah... murder!"

Suddenly, a commotion came from outside, faintly accompanied by the exclamation sounds of quite a few people.

Everyone ran out to take a look, only to see several people equipped with sabers and swords fighting on the roof, livelily overturning quite a few vendors, and several passersby had injuries on their bodies, obviously accidentally wounded.

"Feng Wuji! Twelve years ago you killed my whole family, I didn't expect me to survive, did you."

A young man roared, "I bitterly cultivated martial arts for twelve years, just to kill you today!"

"Want to kill me? You, a wet-behind-the-ears brat, are not qualified enough! Brothers, kill him!"

"Prepare to die!"

"Hand over your life!"

Several people fought together again, the lights of sabers and shadows of swords flashing, causing countless people to exclaim endlessly.

White Flying Tiger frowned and said, "Feng Wuji? The head of the Thirteen Heroes of Nanshan, I didn't expect him to actually commit the deeds of wiping out someone's entire family."

"And this kid, where did this reckless youth come from, actually daring to seek revenge within the territory of the capital..."

Sure enough, before long, a team of soldiers ran over.

"What people, how dare you fight with weapons in the capital, quickly surrender and be captured!"

"Court running dogs?"

On top of the tall building, the sword-wielding youth's martial arts cultivation was clearly higher, and three people had already been injured under his sword.

Not only was he not afraid of the Five-City Patrol Commandery downstairs, but instead he drew his sword to confront them.

On the other hand, Feng Wuji leaped down and saluted with cupped fists, saying, "My lords, it's not that we are fighting with weapons, but that kid has been chasing and killing us, and we have no choice but to resist."

"Cut the crap, take them all down!"

Several government soldiers rushed up. The corners of Feng Wuji's mouth twitched, and his subordinates wanted to make a move but were stopped by him.

Instead, the young swordsman on the tall building, seeing Feng Wuji captured, had a flash of hatred in his eyes, leaped down, and directly killed towards Feng Wuji.

The long sword in his hand slashed horizontally, actually not taking the Five-City Patrol Commandery seriously at all.

"Audacious!"

With an explosive shout, a figure rushed out from the crowd, striking with both palms. Immediately, a very strong Aura surged, enveloping the youth's entire body within it.

"This Aura... Grandmaster Realm Martial Artist, how is that possible!"

With an exclamation, the young swordsman hurriedly withdrew to block, but unfortunately, although his reaction was fast, his Internal Energy was far inferior to the newcomer.

The long sword in his hand was also snapped by this person using the hard-training method of the Eagle Claw, and a claw slapped onto his body, immediately making him feel the tendons and bones shatter at the injured spot, with severe injuries.

"Clang!"

"Clang clang!"

A long saber was held horizontally, immediately placed on this youth's neck.

Only until this moment did the youth dare not move rashly.

"Who on earth are you, actually daring to block my revenge? Aren't you afraid..."

"Afraid?"

The newcomer laughed in reverse and said, "This place is at the feet of heaven and earth, no matter how big your background is, can it be bigger than Your Majesty?"

"Take him down, send him into the Heavenly Prison!"

"Yes!"

A team of men escorted this group of people away, while the leading captain came before this person and respectfully said, "Thank you very much for your great assistance, Lord White."

"No problem."

The newcomer was precisely White Long Eagle. He solemnly said, "This place is an important place of the Shangwu Division and the Martial Artist Guild, how can these Jianghu people be allowed to run amok here?"

"Patrol this place heavily, and be sure to ensure the normal implementation of the Martial Prohibition Decree."

"Understood!"

At the same time, throughout the capital, similar scenes were happening in many places.

Grandmaster Realm Martial Artists from the Shadow Guard, imperial guards, military, and others made their moves to suppress the turmoil in the entire capital caused by the Martial Prohibition Decree.

And right at this moment, a gloomy-eyed hawk-eyed old man was staring fixedly in the direction of the imperial palace.

"The Martial Prohibition Decree? What does this Great Yu Emperor view us Martial Artists as?"

"Hehehe... Ever since this old man broke through, no one has tested their blade against me yet. How about heading to the imperial palace tonight to take a look?"

"Xu Mujun... Everyone in the world thinks you are the number one Innate of Great Yu. I wonder if you can withstand a strike from this old man?!"

Seeking monthly votes~

Seeking monthly votes~

Seeking monthly votes~

Seeking monthly votes~

Seeking monthly votes~