Dispatching trusted experts to gather refugees and specifically rob the gentry and merchants, seizing their resources to stabilize the refugees…

Emperor Yongxing’s head buzzed, feeling that the understanding he’d cultivated over nearly thirty years had been overturned by this secret memorial, giving rise to an absurd, unreal sensation.

After reading the memorial, his first thought was: Nonsense!

In Emperor Yongxing’s understanding, the gentry, scholar-official class, and prestigious families were crucial components of the court, part of what maintained dynastic rule.

If these classes became enemies, the court’s edicts would be impossible to implement. Throughout history, countless dynasties and emperors have fallen after offending these classes.

Emperor Yongxing was also well-versed in history. His understanding of politics could be summarized in two phrases:

Constant compromise; support some while suppressing others!

In court politics, supporting some while suppressing others meant gaining the support of various factions.

Ruling the country meant supporting the noble families, gentry, aristocracy, and scholar-officials while suppressing the countless common people.

However, one sentence in Second Young Master Xu’s memorial deeply shocked Emperor Yongxing:

“Those who control the land are allies in prosperity but disposable pieces in chaos.”

Around this statement, Second Young Master Xu provided lengthy elaboration. Compared to countless disaster victims, these classes controlling the dynasty’s land resources and wealth were only a tiny fraction of the population.

In times of chaos, sacrificing this small portion to gain the support of the masses would keep imperial power standing firm.

Once the old class was destroyed, new people would naturally enter to replace them.

Emperor Yongxing felt this was still supporting some while suppressing others.

It aligned with his political philosophy.

Most crucially, this wouldn’t be the court’s doing—it would be refugee bandits committing evil, completely unrelated to the royal family and court.

“Xu Xinnian has great talent, worthy of important use!”

Emperor Yongxing sighed in appreciation.

He read the memorial repeatedly, sometimes excited, sometimes worried, sometimes gritting his teeth, shaking his head, hesitating, and struggling for a very long time.

Finally, letting out a long breath, he reached a decision.

“Bring the fire basin!”

Emperor Yongxing commanded.

Zhao Xuanzhen immediately brought the fire basin.

Emperor Yongxing threw the memorial into it. Flames leaped up, licking the paper, burning this memorial that would surely shock both court and country if revealed.

He decided not to adopt this strategy.

More precisely, not to adopt the third strategy.

The reason was simple—the risk was too great.

If this matter leaked, his throne would be lost.

He wasn’t his father, with deep foundations able to steadily suppress the court ministers. He was a new ruler who had ascended less than two months ago.

No, even his father, with such deep authority, wouldn’t dare do this.

Appointing trusted people to do this would essentially mean handing out leverage against himself.

Leverage that could destroy him at any time.

Not just trusted servants—Emperor Yongxing wouldn’t dare give such leverage even to his birth mother or blood sister.

Who could guarantee eternal loyalty from trusted servants?

…

Inside the Pagoda Tower.

Having reached Yu Province and begun piloting the Pagoda Tower toward the Southern Borderlands, Xu Qi’an suddenly felt his heart flutter. He turned to Miao Youfang and said:

“Come help me for a while.”

He was sitting at a small table playing Go against Mu Nanzhi. Black and white stones were locked in a complex battle, the situation constantly changing, neither able to overcome the other yet.

The Pagoda Spirit monk was amazed, never expecting these two to have such transcendent Go skills.

Miao Youfang stopped his fist practice, wiping his face with the towel around his neck, and said reluctantly:

“I don’t know how to play Go!”

Xu Qi’an insisted:

“Nanzhi will teach you. Go isn’t difficult—trust in your wisdom.”

Miao Youfang eagerly came over and sat in Xu Qi’an’s position, then was suddenly shocked looking at the dense arrangement of stones on the board.

Stones nearly covered the board, yet at this stage, no winner had emerged.

One could imagine the Go skills of Xu Qi’an and his wife.

Mu Nanzhi glanced at him and said:

“You play black, I play white.”

Miao Youfang scratched his head: “I don’t know how to play.”

“It’s simple—line up five stones in a row to win,” Mu Nanzhi said.

“What game is this?”

“This is Go,” Mu Nanzhi said with a straight face.

Meanwhile, Xu Qi’an walked to the window and took out the Earth Book fragment, seeing Huaiqing’s message:

[One: Emperor Yongxing didn’t adopt Second Young Master Xu’s strategy. Today he sent someone to tell him: “Your strategy is excellent, but We think it unnecessary. Let it end here, no need to mention it again!”]

Emperor Yongxing lacks courage… Xu Qi’an shook his head in disappointment.

[Two: What? We spent so much effort thinking of this brilliant plan for him, and he won’t use it. Pfft, Emperor Yongxing is just like his father—both useless emperors.]

The female radical grew angry.

[Four: Actually, his choice is understandable. Not everyone has such courage—put yourself in his position and you’ll understand his difficulty. As a new ruler, he naturally prioritizes stability.

[Adopting Second Brother’s strategy has too many uncertainties and too much risk, yet might not thoroughly solve the refugee disaster. But if exposed, he would face backlash from the entire scholar-official class.]

[Seven: His not adopting it doesn’t prevent us from acting ourselves. Though this greatly reduces effectiveness, given the Heaven and Earth Society’s limited manpower.]

The Holy Son offered his opinion.

Oh? Little brother, you’re quite active—forgotten how you died of embarrassment recently? Xu Qi’an’s lips curved upward.

[Two: Xu Qi’an, are there any other strategies for managing refugees?]

Li Miaozhen wanted to ask Huaiqing, but being unfamiliar with her could only use Xu Qi’an as a tool.

What other methods?

The previous strategy was to intensify class conflict, sacrificing one class to preserve the overall situation and imperial power. As for other strategies, only transferring conflict remained. Foreign war would be the best method, but…

Using foreign war to transfer conflict only worked when social conflicts hadn’t completely intensified.

In the Great Feng’s current situation, provoking others and starting an international war—wasn’t that just hastening the dynasty’s fall?

If this method worked, Emperor Chongzhen would have been overjoyed… he complained internally.

[Three: There is one—the court could recruit soldiers, using refugees as cannon fodder against the Yun Province rebels. Of course, Yun Province would likely do the same.]

This was another way to transfer conflict.

The Heaven and Earth Society members fell silent.

When the time came, “seas of blood and mountains of corpses” would perfectly describe the tragedy.

[Three: Let’s focus on what’s before us. Besides Miaozhen, Brother Chu, and Li Lingsu, I can provide another person to gather refugees and establish a mountain stronghold.]

As he sent the message, Xu Qi’an turned to look at Miao Youfang sitting at the Go board.

[Seven: It’s Miao Youfang, right?]

Li Lingsu hit the mark.

[Three: Yes, his level is still lacking, but he’ll enter the Huajin realm within a month at most. By the way, I’ve discovered a shortcut to quickly advance to Huajin—after reaching the Spirit Refining realm, persistently tempering the divine soul, and developing the brain.]

[One: Please explain.]

Huaiqing immediately responded, seeming very interested in the shortcut.

As for the others, only Chu Yuanzhen showed slight interest—the Heaven Sect’s young talents were Dao cultivators, and Master Hengyuan was already Fourth Rank.

Lina remained quiet as usual since she often couldn’t understand the Society’s discussions and they gave her headaches.

[Three: Tempering the divine soul can develop the brain, and through tempering the physical body, one can improve control over it, making it easier to reach Fourth Rank. I’ve already tested this secret on Miao Youfang.]

[Four: Why does this work?]

Chu Yuanzhen was half a martial artist himself.

[Three: Because the body is controlled by the divine soul—the stronger the divine soul, the stronger the control over the body.]

He substituted “brain” with “divine soul” to help the Society members understand.

The divine soul and brain were different—the brain was the divine soul’s vessel. As the divine soul strengthened, the brain would further develop. Those with powerful divine souls generally had strong control over their bodies.

[Two: I see! This reminds me of how after forming the Nascent Soul, I became light as a swallow and felt my physical skills strengthen too. So essentially, my control over my physical body had increased.]

Li Miaozhen had a sudden realization. Often, as ranks increased, various bodily abilities would improve. People took this for granted, rarely investigating the underlying reasons.

Not everyone loved academic study, after all.

[One: Xu Ning’yan, you truly are a genius.]

The Heaven and Earth Society’s meeting ended.

Xu Qi’an put away the Earth Book fragment and returned to the Go board. Miao Youfang’s face was excited as he played with stones rapidly.

He and Mu Nanzhi were locked in an intricate battle of black and white, amazing the Pagoda Spirit monk who never expected their Go skills to be so transcendent.

“So this is Go? Heh, it’s not difficult at all! I thought board games were only for scholars, games that needed profound learning to play.”

Miao Youfang wore an expression of having glimpsed the world’s essence:

“Nothing special!”

Hearing this, Xu Qi’an glanced at the cunningly mischievous princess consort.

My disciple isn’t very clever, to begin with, and you’re deliberately misleading him… he complained internally.

…

Imperial Palace, Dexin Garden.

Huaiqing held a book, standing by the window, gazing at the courtyard scenery.

“Persistently tempering the divine soul can accelerate advancement to Huajin…”

She pondered this information.

Indeed, martial artists only maintained daily visualization when reaching the Qi Condensation realm’s grand perfection. Once successfully advancing to Spirit Refining, they would reduce visualization efforts.

Most time was spent on qi practice and medicinal baths, laying the groundwork for advancing to Bronze Skin Iron Bones.

Upon reaching Bronze Skin Iron Bones, they would focus on tempering the physical body and comprehending Huajin.

Each rank had different focus points—this was everyone’s consensus.

Including Huaiqing herself—after reaching Bronze Skin Iron Bones, she only visualized occasionally, neglecting divine soul tempering.

Yes, she had advanced to Bronze Skin Iron Bones.

That day in the side hall outside the Imperial Study, her ability to handle scalding tea was the best proof.

That was also Huaiqing’s greatest oversight, unconsciously revealing her cultivation level.

Huaiqing returned to her desk, tore off a paper slip, and wrote a series of names.

The first name:

Chen Ying!

She blew the ink dry, folded the note, and left her study.

“Prepare the carriage, I’m returning to the manor briefly.”

After instructing her maid, she walked to the outer courtyard and summoned the guard captain, saying:

“Have the people on this list come to my manor to find me.”

She handed over the note.

…

Yun Province!

In the dungeon of the Regional Military Commissioner’s Office, the air was damp, mixed with faint decay.

Xie Lu stared blankly at the sunlight shooting through the wall’s air holes.

He had been imprisoned in the dungeon for half a year.

As the new Administrative Commissioner of Yun Province, a dignified third-rank official, the court remained silent about his situation.

In half a year, he had transformed from a spirited scholar to a disheveled prisoner.

The dungeon was damp and cold, his hands and feet covered in chilblains. Having gone long without bathing, his body stank, and his skin was slightly festering.

Xie Lu had originally been the Prefect of Zhang Prefecture, managing the Great Feng’s granary with notable achievements and earning a good reputation among both commoners and officials.

After Administrative Commissioner Song Changfu’s execution, he took the post, heading to Yun Province as a replacement.

Xie Lu had expected Yun Province to be a mess and prepared for a protracted battle.

Unexpectedly, things went smoothly after taking office—he encountered neither factional obstruction from subordinates nor suppression from Regional Military Commissioner Yang Chuannan.

Surprised but pleased, his good impression of the loyal Regional Military Commissioner Yang Chuannan grew.

Three months passed this way. One day, Yang Chuannan suddenly invited him to a feast. During the meal, the Regional Military Commissioner bitterly denounced the court’s corruption, the prevalence of corrupt officials, and the people’s suffering.

He told him about the royal bloodline from five hundred years ago, sincerely inviting him to join Hidden Dragon City to overthrow the corrupt royal family, set things right, and welcome back the Great Feng’s legitimate line.

Xie Lu pretended to agree but immediately wrote a secret report to the court after returning home.

But his every move had long been monitored. Before the secret report could be sent, he was thrown into the dungeon.

Armor clinked in the dark corridor as a tall, straight figure stopped outside the bars.

Armored and armed, majestically imposing.

It was Yun Province Regional Military Commissioner Yang Chuannan.