Chapter 761 - Strangers from Hometown Meet in a Foreign Place
Chapter 761 of "Red Heart Patrols the Sky" starts the action: During the long reign of Han Yin, Yong Country no longer possessed the strength it... Find out what happens!
During the long reign of Han Yin, Yong Country no longer possessed the strength it had during the era of Emperor Han Zhou and had completely withdrawn from the Northern Territory, yet it still held thirteen prefectures, namely Tianming, Jingâan, Nanxiang, Taining, Shunan, Yonghuai, Hechang, Fuchun, Lanâan, Fuming, Yiyang, Zhenyou, and Lingbei.Compared to Zhuang Country, which only had three provinces, it truly could be described as enormous.
If it were not for the containment by Jingguo and Jinguo, as well as the natural barrier of the Qi Chang Mountain Range, and the fact that successive leaders of Zhuang Country were all formidable, Yong Country would have swallowed Zhuang Country whole long ago.
But regardless of the many reasons, hundreds of years had passed, and not only did Zhuang Country not fall into ruin, but it actually grew stronger by the day, which many saw as clear evidence of the waning of Han Yinâs sharpness.
Especially in the year 3919 of the Dao Calendar, when the new year began, a far-reaching war came to a swift end in a very short time.
People were suddenly faced with a terrifying fact: ever since Zhuang Chenggan founded the nation, Zhuang Country might have been oppressed and humiliated, but it had never truly lost a national war!
This was true whether it was against Mo Country, against Yong Country, or even against Xu Country, which had already been vanquished.
Zhuang Chenggan fought bloody battles in the Qi Chang Mountain Range, holding off Han Yinâs military might without question.
Zhuang Gaoxian fought in two national warsâduring the first, he wounded the Yong Country Border Military, securing peace along the border for many years, and in the second, he nearly brought Yong Country to its knees!
The military strength of Zhuang Country was so formidable that it was alarming.
After the war between Zhuang and Yong Countries, the entire prefecture of Lingbei was occupied by Zhuang Country.
Yiyang Prefecture was divided by Suolong Gate, with the south falling under Zhuang Countryâs control, and together it was included in the Yongchang Province of Zhuang Country.
Located about two-thirds of the way down in the southern part of Yiyang Prefecture, Suolong Gate meant that, geographically, most of the land still belonged to Yong Country.
However, because of the significance of Suolong Gate, all of Yiyang Prefecture lay within the commanding view of the gate, leaving no place untouched.
Thatâs why Yin Ge City literally sprang up from the ground, eliminating this geographical disadvantage.
Fortunately for Jiang Wang, the Sectâs residence of Green Cloud Pavilion was located in the western prefecture of Shunan of Yong Country, rather than in Yiyang Prefecture, where Zhuang and Yong armies were in a standoff.
If it had been in Yiyang Prefecture, he would have abandoned it outright, not bothering to consider any other course of action under the crushing presence of a large army.
Shunan Prefecture was, in the previous national war, one of the rare places that remained undisturbed.
To its south, Lanâan Prefecture did experience intrusion by the Zhuang-Luo alliance forces, but they were quickly expelled.
Zhuang Countryâs military advances never made it past Suolong Gate to the south, and the Red Horse Guards of Jingguo couldnât penetrate into Jingâan Prefecture to the north.
The only moment Shunan Prefecture came close to the war might have been when Zhuang Countryâs Prime Minister, Du Ruhui, briefly visited the capital of Ningyuan Town to harass Yong Territory and divert Yong Countryâs God-Comes Power Level.
He struck a punch, didnât manage to break the city guarding formation, and hastily left.
Therefore, compared to places like Yiyang and Lanâan, the atmosphere in Shunan Prefecture was considerably more peaceful and harmonious.
Walking along the main street of Wenxi County in Shunan Prefecture, Jiang Wang could clearly feel the control that Han Xu, the ruler and his ministers, held over the entire nation.
The unrest from people about the changes was hard to conceal.
For instance, Yong Country now considered Moâs teachings as the orthodox way.
Confucian academies, Taoist temples, and even monasteries within the territory all needed to be demolished or transformed.
Naturally, industries that had built up around these Confucian and Taoist institutions and monasteries took a devastating hit.
But these people were also citizens of Yong Country, and they too needed to make a living, which was at the crux of a fundamental contradiction.
Yet everything one saw with their eyes was being carried out in an orderly fashion.
People were anxious, but not resentful or numb.
Amidst the transformative era, they had confidence in the Court and hope for the future.
âHopeâ could lead people through all kinds of hardships; it seemed to come at no cost, springing merely from the spirit, but in reality, it demanded the greatest of efforts.
It wasnât difficult to imagine how long the new Yong court, led by Han Xu, had prepared for this day.
With the support of the Mo Family, it wasnât impossible.
The unmatched Moâs Mechanical Art just in various mechanical inventions was enough to make them the richest in the world.
It wasnât difficult for the Mo Family to pour some resources into easing the pains of change.
But what surprised Jiang Wang the most was that the scene of Moâs mechanical beasts blatantly parading through the city, which he had imagined, did not occur.
Even after spending three days traversing most of the neighborhoods in Wenxi County, he had scarcely seen any disciples of the Mo Gate.
Perhaps the Mo Family still had reservations about getting involved in the state system, supporting Han Xu was only a trial, or maybe there were internal disagreements within the Mo Family that prevented their full involvement.
Or, perhaps Han Xu and his ministers were astutely using Moâs teachings as the state doctrine, without letting the Mo Familyâs influence permeate every industry and sector.
In short, the military and political power of Yong Country is still clearly under the firm control of Han Xu.
Yong Country belongs to Han Xu, notâ as many have speculatedâsimply becoming another form of existence known as âJu City.â
âJuâ stands for steel.
Ju City is the sacred place of Mo Gate, allegedly a true steel stronghold.
But apart from the higher-ups of Mo Gate, nobody else knows its precise location to this day.
From Jiang Wangâs observations, it appeared that the relationship between the court of Yong and Mo Gate was more of a cooperation than a dependence.
As for how Han Xu managed this with Mo Gate, which was clearly much stronger, Jiang Wang could not discern.
The thrills involved were perhaps not for outsiders to fully recount.
Over the past three days, Jiang Wang hadnât been wandering aimlessly, he had been recuperating, adjusting himself to peak condition, while collecting as much intelligence and analyzing information as possible, preparing for his ultimate goal.
Shunan Prefecture is one of Yong Countryâs border prefectures, where dragons and snakes mingle, especially since Yong Country is in a critical period of government reform, with characters from all walks of life active within Yong Country.
During such times, subjects like Han Xu needed to maintain national stability more than ever.
And someone like Jiang Wang, wearing a mask and wrapped up tightly, did not attract much attention.
Like the previous few days, he got a bowl of âPoor Cryâ from the innâs back street where he stayed and walked south along the clean street.
He had switched to a more common zodiac dragon mask that only covered the upper half of his face, so it didnât interfere with eating.
âPoor Cryâ is a unique culinary delight in the Shunan Prefecture of Yong Country, which is actually a kind of deep-fried pastry, shaped into tiny bird-like forms.
With a crispy skin, when bitten, they emit a âcheep cheep cheepâ sound similar to that of living creatures.
The locals call it âPoor Cryâ because itâs so delicious that no matter how it âcries out,â it canât escape being eaten.
Itâs an odd sight but tastes very good.
Jiang Wang had only been here for a few days, but he was already accustomed, like the locals, to having a bowl every morning.
Since the sizes vary, a bowl of âPoor Cryâ typically contains between twelve to fifteen pieces, purely depending on whether the shop ownerâs hands are shaking or not.
Jiang Wang was lucky today; his bowl contained fifteen pieces.
This cheered him up quite a bit, and he walked along the street with a lighter stride.
Unexpected encounters are often not pleasant surprises.
His gaze was casual yet meticulous as it swept over the surroundings, collecting information as usual, but then his eyes fixed on someone.
In that moment, the figures of the passersby on the street seemed to blur, and the âcheep cheep cheepâ of the âPoor Cryâ he was biting into sounded as if it came from the edge of the sky.
Everything felt distant.
He only noticed the person approaching him.
The one who had helped him complete his first inner sect mission, who had shown bravery on the Three-City DiscourseâŚ
He often told others that he was the one he might want to find even more than the person himself didâ
Zhang Linchuan!
ps: I want to try all the delicious foods described in the Red HeartâŚ
or maybe when I have some free time, Iâll research the recipes and see if I can recreate something similarâŚ