78: Imperial Guards and Imperial Party

Chapter 78 Imperial Guards and Emperors Party

A violent gale struck, causing the dragon robe on Zheng Yi's body to rustle noisily.

Meanwhile, Chen Liancang, standing by his side, unexpectedly caught a hint of an aura that inspired worship emanating from Zheng Yi for a moment.

For some reason, he subconsciously knelt on the ground and lowered his head, saying, "this servant strictly obeys Your Majesty's command!"

"Hahaha..."

Zheng Yi laughed heartily and helped Elder Chen up, saying, "What is Elder Chen doing?"

"You are an Innate Realm expert, you do not need to bow when seeing Us in the future!"

"Although this servant is an Innate Realm expert, this servant is even more Your Majesty's servant. This Realm of mine was also achieved through a lucky Breakthrough after witnessing the descent of Princess Weiyang, naturally owing to Your Majesty's grace."

"this servant's entire life is only for Great Yu and only for Your Majesty!"

"Elder Chen speaks too seriously."

Zheng Yi's eyes lit up brightly, and he suddenly asked, "Elder Chen, how is the Shadow Guard doing nowadays?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, from last year to this year, a total of more than three hundred children between the ages of five and seven have been gathered, including two hundred thirty-two boys and one hundred sixteen girls, making a total of three hundred forty-eight people."

"Now, they are all being taught martial arts and tempering their physiques within the underground palace."

"Among them, the outstanding ones will need at least about five years before they can work for Your Majesty."

"We are not in a rush."

Zheng Yi said, "Elder Chen, We have a new idea here and want to discuss it with Elder Chen."

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"We plan to bring the Shadow Guard to the surface to form a new organization, not purely as death squads doing some unseen things for Us."

Chen Liancang asked curiously, "Your Majesty, death squads are inherently covert and live beneath the shadows. I wonder how Your Majesty intends to handle them?"

Zheng Yi shook his head and said, "You also said that death squads cannot see the light and can only handle matters of assassination or protection."

"We are not short of people under Our command who can do such things."

"What We lack is a group of useful people who are under the sunlight yet possess infinite loyalty to Us, and are willing to dedicate everything for Us and for the entire Great Yu."

"For instance, officials in the imperial court, military generals, wealthy merchants whose wealth rivals nations, scholars well-read in poetry and books, and even some peddlers, commoners, martial heroes, and so on."

Chen Liancang asked curiously, "I wonder what ideas Your Majesty has?"

Zheng Yi murmured, "We want to build an organization, temporarily named 'Imperial Guards', composed entirely of young people who possess ultra-high loyalty to Us and are willing to dedicate everything for Us!"

"Young people are hot-blooded and impulsive, yet they possess extremely strong drive and motivation, willing to shed blood and sacrifice their lives for Our and Great Yu's stability!"

"At that time, these Imperial Guards will be Our most loyal guards!"

"At the same time, We will also establish the 'Emperors Party', absorbing and recruiting everyone who has common goals and is loyal to Us to enter."

"Those who wish to join the Emperors Party must swear an oath under Our party emblem, willing to dedicate everything to Us, and the manifesto and conditions of the Emperors Party must be well set."

"Let those who enter the Emperors Party possess Innate obedience and purposefulness, making them serve the Emperors Party for their entire lives!"

"Regarding the manifesto, conditions, and codes of conduct of the Emperors Party, We will naturally have people set them up."

Everything Zheng Yi said made Chen Liancang feel that although he understood it, he did not quite understand it deeply.

He only felt that a layer of mist was cast over his heart, which he wanted to break through, but due to reasons of experience, vision, and worldview, he could not see through it no matter what.

As expected of Your Majesty.

Only this single sentence could appear in his heart.

"Your Majesty, this servant does not understand these things Your Majesty mentioned very well; Your Majesty only needs to tell this servant how to do it."

"Very simple."

Zheng Yi said with burning eyes, "Aside from teaching martial arts and assassination techniques to the more than three hundred Shadow Guards currently nurtured in the underground palace, people are also invited to teach the Four Books, etiquette, military strategies, and loyalty-to-the-monarch ideology."

"Especially the loyalty-to-the-monarch ideology!"

Zheng Yi said earnestly, "During daily cultivation courses, sleeping, and eating, they must verbally recite thanks for Our heavenly grace; inside the martial arts drill grounds, private schools, and dormitories, there must be Our portrait or an emblem representing Our image."

"We want these more than three hundred children to carve Our shadow into their hearts from childhood, cultivating them like this for five to ten years!"

Do not underestimate these very ordinary habits; once a habit becomes an instinct, it is a shackle for a lifetime.

"This group of people will be the first batch of personnel for the Emperors Party and the Imperial Guards."

"After five to ten years like this, picking the outstanding ones among them allows them to enter the court as officials, take the imperial examinations, or even enter the military as generals!"

"Waiting for this group of people to grow up and slowly come into contact with power, they will become the sharpest knives in Our hands!"

Zheng Yi continued, "Furthermore, search for some young officials and soldiers who are loyal to the monarch and share common interests to join Our Emperors Party. As long as they join the Emperors Party, We will naturally value them and bestow power upon them."

"Young people are hot-blooded and fearless, yet they possess a passionate heart to serve the country."

"Using this frail body to serve the country and the people."

"They want to serve the country? Very simple, they just need to swear allegiance to Us with an oath!"

"Especially the Imperial Guards by Our side, everyone must swear an oath to join the Emperors Party. Those who are unwilling to swear an oath must not approach Our side!"

"Developing slowly like this, the entire Great Yu will be as solid as an iron bucket!"

Chen Liancang drew a sharp breath. Listening to Zheng Yi's description, he could already slowly imagine how lively the imperial court would be a dozen years, no, even three to five years later.

He knelt on the ground with complete conviction, saying loyally, "With Your Majesty's words, this servant only now knows the vastness of this world."

"Your Majesty is truly a Divine Being!"

"this servant receives the decree!"

When Zheng Yi descended from Tianshou Mountain surrounded by a large number of eunuchs and guards, he discovered that a tense and anxious Jinyi Guard was being blocked by the guards.

Upon seeing Zheng Yi, this Jinyi Guard anxiously shouted, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! This subordinate has urgent military intelligence to report here!"

"Your Majesty!"

"Let him come over."

The guards stepped aside, and the Jinyi Guard quickly ran over, respectfully handing over a confidential letter with both hands.

"Your Majesty! A confidential letter from a Pseudo-Yan spy: the heavy snow in Yan has gotten smaller, and the Pseudo Prince Yan has forcibly ordered the two thousand Dragon Cavalry under his command to dispatch and kill their way toward the capital!"

"What?"

Zheng Yi took the confidential letter to check it, reading ten lines at a glance and finishing it very quickly.

As it turned out, the heavy snow in Yan that had lasted for over a month showed signs of diminishing, and the Pseudo Prince Yan Zheng Yuantao took advantage of this opportunity to order the strongest Dragon Cavalry under his command to dispatch.

Disregarding that the heavy snow had not completely melted, they killed straight toward the capital.

His purpose was very simple: to rush into the capital at the fastest speed and capture the imperial palace and important imperial court ministers.

Aside from the Dragon Cavalry, there were also more than one hundred Jianghu experts he had recruited, among which were several First Grade Realm or even Grandmaster Realm Martial Artists.

The leader was Cheng De, who was hailed as the number one military general of Northern Yan!

"Zheng Yuantao, what a treacherous means, what a strong ambition!"

Wasn't he afraid that once the capital fell, the world would be thrown into chaos?

The Imperial Guards guarding the capital had long been utterly corrupt after the Yang Reverse incident, and had been rebuilding over the past two years; however, wanting this group of recruits to deal with twenty thousand elite Dragon Cavalry was simply daydreaming.

Even making them defend the city might be somewhat difficult.

Meanwhile, the loyalist troops from Jizhou, Sizhou, and other places could not reach the capital in a short time.

Zheng Yi immediately mounted his horse and hurried toward the direction of the capital.

"Summon Chen Hongxiu and Zhao Tieshan!"

Half a day later, Zheng Yi's figure appeared on the second floor of White Jade Capital.

Meanwhile, Chen Hongxiu and Zhao Tieshan also rushed back travel-worn from the Shenji Camp garrison.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"The two beloved officials may rise."

Zheng Yi raised his hand and said, "We will make a long story short: Pseudo-Yan has made a move."

"Twenty thousand Dragon Cavalry are hurrying toward the capital by night. Because the heavy snow has not melted, the original three-day journey will likely still require five days to arrive."

"They have made a move? That's great!"

Zhao Tieshan clenched his fists and said, "O—This subordinate has waited for them for a long time; we can finally fight, hahaha!"

"Old Zhao! What nonsense are you talking about? How is Pseudo-Yan making a move considered a good thing?"

Chen Hongxiu rolled her eyes at him, immediately cupping her fists and saying, "Please give your instructions, Your Majesty. We will strictly obey the imperial decree."

"Ah, right, right, right! Your Majesty, please give the order, and this old Zhao will go right now and twist off the Pseudo Prince Yan's head!"

Zheng Yi automatically ignored Zhao Tieshan's words and looked toward Chen Hongxiu.

Between the two of them, Chen Hongxiu was well-read in military books, and her military strategy far surpassed Zhao Tieshan's.

Vaguely, the two of them actually took Chen Hongxiu as the primary leader.

She had already been regarded by Zheng Yi as the first batch of candidates for the Emperors Party.

"We ask you, how are the firearms and gunpowder equipped in the Shenji Camp nowadays?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty."

Chen Hongxiu said without hesitation, "Currently, the Shenji Camp is equipped with a total of two hundred Red Barbarian Cannons, six thousand seven hundred matchlock guns, countless gunpowder, fifty-seven thousand Thunderbolt Mines, and over ten thousand Divine Fire Launchers and Poison Dragon Divine Fire Launchers."

"How is the training of the Shenji Camp soldiers?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty."

This time it was Zhao Tieshan's turn to speak: "The Shenji Camp has expanded to three thousand men, all selected from elite members of the Imperial Guards and able-bodied men among the common folk."

"The daily rations and pay are three times that of ordinary soldiers!"

"They are utterly loyal to Your Majesty, and there are also more than one hundred Martial Artists above the Third Grade Realm."

"Everyone is already familiar with the method of using matchlock guns, capable of firing three iron bullets consecutively with a range reaching over a hundred zhang, and power far surpassing ordinary bows and arrows!"

"Using two guns alternately can fire six iron bullets in a short time."

"They have also long been familiar with the Red Barbarian Cannon. The newest model of the Red Barbarian Cannon newly equipped by the Ministry of Works has a range of a full eight hundred zhang!"

When speaking of this, Zhao Tieshan's eyes were filled with fright and shock.

It seemed that the power of the Red Barbarian Cannon had already conquered these few people.

"There is also the Thunderbolt Mine; ordinary soldiers can throw them about fifteen zhang, while Martial Artists in the army can throw them fifty zhang!"

Hearing this, Zheng Yi still shook his head.

Among the many thermal weapons, the development of the Red Barbarian Cannon satisfied him the most.

Unfortunately, due to the limitations of contemporary technology, the development of firearms could not yet produce flintlock guns.

Furthermore, more advanced items like fulminating mercury could not be developed either.

It seemed he had to increase the budget of the Ministry of Works so they could develop more convenient and stronger firearms as soon as possible!

Zheng Yi said, "Chen Hongxiu, Zhao Tieshan, listen to the order!"

"This subordinate obeys the order!"

Zheng Yi said, "You two lead the Shenji Camp to Tiger Mountain Pass to ambush the Pseudo-Yan Dragon Cavalry. We will order Chen Wannian to back you up."

Zheng Yi said, "In this battle, We want the Pseudo-Yan Dragon Cavalry to be completely wiped out and reduced to flying ashes beneath the cannons."

"Anyone who dares to go against Our decree shall be executed without mercy!"

"Understood!"

The two quickly left to prepare matters for breaking camp and headed toward Tiger Mountain Pass.

Before long, Liu Chengen suddenly walked in and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, people by the Empress Dowager's side sent word that the Empress Dowager is seriously ill and now bedridden, and the imperial physicians cannot figure out what illness it is."

"Oh?"

Zheng Yi's eyes lit up brightly. The Empress Dowager being seriously ill was truly... a double blessing!

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