374: Going south, the specific situation of the three states

Chu Jiang's high-profile departure, with the news spreading among various major forces and even beyond the imperial capital.

Most forces already knew that Chu Jiang would leave the imperial capital and head to the Three Prefectures of Wu, Yue, and Lan.

They just didn't expect him to be so quick; he should have prepared thoroughly. After all, the Three Prefectures are extremely dangerous, and four Inspectors have already died there.

Although it was officially stated that they were killed by demons, everyone with discerning eyes knew that they were dealt with by the powerful figures behind the Three Prefectures.

Some speculated.

This time, Chu Jiang might find it very difficult to leave the Three Prefectures.

The waters of the Three Prefectures are simply too deep.

If Chu Jiang obeys the imperial decree and suppresses with Ironblood, he will inevitably offend the powerful figures of the Three Prefectures, and whether he can survive is unknown.

If he acts perfunctorily, the Chu Emperor will not let him go. Once abandoned by the Chu Emperor, Chu Jiang's situation will also be very bad.

In short, he is in a dilemma.

...

At this moment.

The Minister of Justice's residence.

Minister Liang's face was gloomy. He was deeply involved with the Three Prefectures. He was from Wu Prefecture and had received guidance from his elder, which was why he had risen so high.

Now that Chu Jiang was going to take action against the Three Prefectures, he naturally couldn't stand idly by. A large amount of information was transmitted from the Minister of Justice's residence to the Three Prefectures.

Reporting Chu Jiang's latest movements and his style of doing things, all to make them treat him with caution.

To keep Chu Jiang in the Three Prefectures permanently.

If Chu Jiang wanted to uproot the Three Prefectures, he wouldn't be able to land safely either.

Minister Liang leaned back in the luxurious chair in his study and said coldly:

"Presumably, with his elder's methods, dealing with a greenhorn should not be a problem!"

After all.

In the past, there had been reckless youths who weren't afraid of death, but in the end, they were all crushed on the beach without making any waves.

Chu Jiang will be no different from his predecessors.

However, the intelligence that needed to be given still had to be given, and it could also serve as a warning to the people of the Three Prefectures.

...

Outside the imperial capital.

Twenty li northwest, Chu Jiang led a thousand Demon Suppression Guard, galloping furiously.

They stopped at the entrance of a military camp.

A middle-aged general in armor came before Chu Jiang and cupped his hands, saying:

"This humble general, Principal General Zhao, commander of the Tiger Brave Camp, greets Lord Chu. Three thousand Tiger Brave Army are already assembled and ready to depart as soon as you give the order!"

The Tiger Brave Camp is one of the seven major camps guarding the imperial capital, each soldier is fierce in battle, and their total number is only eight thousand.

Now, three thousand men are being dispatched to follow Chu Jiang south to the Three Prefectures.

If unrest were to break out in the Three Prefectures.

Although Chu Jiang could nominally mobilize the Three Prefectures' armies and even the Demon Suppression Division's forces, he also feared that the Three Prefectures would not obey orders.

"Hmm!"

Chu Jiang nodded.

These three thousand Tiger Brave Army were the reinforcements given to him by the Chu Emperor.

He also knew that with the chaos in the Three Prefectures, his title of Grand Marshal of the Three Prefectures' Expeditionary Army might be in name only.

"Board the ships!"

The three thousand Tiger Brave Army divided into three groups, boarding three medium-sized flying spirit boats, each capable of carrying a thousand people.

After half an incense stick's time.

Whoosh!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A giant boat, spewing clouds and mist, followed by three flying spirit boats, disappeared into the sky within a few breaths.

On the warship, transformed from the purple gold gourd, Chu Jiang stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the sea of clouds.

"My Lord, the chaos in the Three Prefectures is extremely complex. This subordinate has already consulted a large number of archives at the Demon Suppression Division!"

Fu Yunxuan said.

"Tell me!"

"My Lord, Wu Prefecture, Lan Prefecture, and Yue Province are all powerful in overall strength. All Three Prefectures have their own armies and are basically independent, only obeying the orders of the Prefectural Governor!"

"This is slightly different from our Western Seven Provinces!"

In the Western Seven Provinces, no matter which state, the Pacification Envoy held absolute power, and the Prefectural Governor was just a tool.

But these Three Prefectures already showed a subtle trend towards independence.

The Prefectural Governor's power was immense, sometimes even surpassing that of the Demon Suppression Division.

"In the Demon Suppression Division of the Three Prefectures, the Pacification Envoys of Yue Province and Lan Prefecture are both Qiankun Tenth Level, while the Pacification Envoy of Wu Prefecture has Heavenly Ranking level combat power!"

Hearing Fu Yunxuan's words.

Chu Jiang was not surprised. In the Eastern Ten Prefectures, no matter which prefecture, martial arts were more developed than in the west.

To put it bluntly, the Western Seven Provinces were once specially opened territories used as a buffer zone.

Barren and lacking resources, basically no top-tier forces would establish sects there. Neither the Ten Righteous Sects nor the Ten Demonic Sects had any presence in the west.

They were mainly concentrated in the eastern and southern regions.

Some prefectures in the north had similar situations to the west, or even worse. These were all artificially created.

Furthermore, Wu Prefecture, Lan Prefecture, and Yue Province border the Sun Moon Country. Although the two countries are not as intensely hostile as with the barbarians, being mortal enemies, and there hasn't been a large-scale conflict for a thousand years, they still need to guard against a sudden attack from the Sun Moon Country. Although the border is equipped with millions of border troops and Marquis Xuantian, one of the Seven Marquis of the Borderlands, is stationed there.

However, there are also large armies within the Three Prefectures, and the Demon Suppression Division has also reached a scale of over ten thousand people.

Currently, however, these forces seem to be on the verge of spiraling out of control.

Fu Yunxuan continued: "Besides natural disasters, the three major prefectures also suffer from banditry. Ubiquitous mountain bandits collude with demons, engaging in rape, plunder, and all sorts of evil!"

"The Three Prefectures have also dispatched armies to clear them out, but the mountain bandits remain rampant. However, this subordinate estimates that these mountain bandits are the black gloves raised by the people behind the scenes, specifically to do things that those in power find inconvenient. The clear-outs are just for show, a performance!"

Wang Chao, Ma Han, Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, and the other four were also listening intently. They were not very familiar with the situation in the Three Prefectures.

It seemed that these Three Prefectures were a Dragon's Den and Tiger's Lair.

No wonder His Majesty promoted their Lord and granted him a marquisate.

Fu Yunxuan pondered for a moment, then continued:

"Secondly, there are demons, mainly from three forces: one is Qinghu Mountain, a group of fox demons; the second is Bibo Palace, a clan of water demons; the third is Tiangou Cave, a clan of dog demons. These three major demonic forces each occupy a prefecture!"

"Thirdly, there is Wu Ling King of Wu Prefecture, Xiang Daoyan, who is the most prominent figure. He is the current Chu Emperor's imperial uncle, holds a high position, has lived for two thousand years, and his strength is unfathomable."

"More than half of the officials in the Three Prefectures have been promoted by him, and even in the imperial capital, there are people who have received his favor."

"It is no exaggeration to say that in the Three Prefectures, if Wu Ling King raises his arm and calls, it is not impossible for people to follow him in rebellion."

"But what is strange is that Wu Ling King seems to have no connection with these messy affairs in the Three Prefectures. Every time the higher-ups send people to investigate, he is the first to stand up and support."

"One of his concubines was found to be involved with mountain bandits, and he personally killed the concubine. Even her family behind her was completely exterminated!"

"After several investigations, Wu Ling King was always found to be clean, with no other problems besides indulging in pleasure and extensively collecting beautiful women!"

"There are also some unconfirmed rumors that the Three Prefectures have connections with the Sun Moon Country, but these are all hearsay without any evidence!"

With that, Fu Yunxuan handed the compiled information to Chu Jiang.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

Chu Jiang finished reading the information, which included all major events that occurred during the recent inspections, without omission, all recorded.

These Three Prefectures were already in an uncontrollable mess, no wonder everyone changed color at the mention of them; too many forces were involved.

The Demon Suppression Division of the Three Prefectures, the Prefectural Governors of the Three Prefectures, and the armies of the Three Prefectures, frequent natural disasters, as well as banditry, and the three major demonic forces causing trouble.

It even involved the current Chu Emperor's imperial uncle, and unclear foreign connections, it was simply a chaotic mess.

Chu Jiang gathered the intelligence and murmured, "It seems this trip's ultimate goal is to remove Wu Ling King!"

However, for him, naturally, slaying demons first was the righteous path.

"Hmm?"

Chu Jiang looked at the black mirror, which was vibrating with a new message from Cui Judge.