The master and disciple exchanged a glance, and amidst their shock, both showed a sense of relief.
"Go to Chongshan Town and seek an audience with the Marquis. Ask him if he has any plans for our Hengdao Sect!" Ji Zhen’s complexion cald, and he spoke casually.
Ji Hai bowed slightly, "I understand, Master. I’ll pack up and leave today!"
"Hmm, take your junior sister with you! She has so connections with the Yang family’s mistress. If possible, let her visit Star Moon Island!" Ji Zhen said.
"Understood!"
Ji Hai replied and quickly left the tea room.
...
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter; every bird finds its forest.
For the Da Rong Court, the situation is only going to get worse, with no chance of reconciliation.
From the mont Jian Chengfeng fled Sanshan Valley, Pandora’s box was opened.
With Sanshan Valley and Cui Xia Valley dissolving consecutively, the Capital City is bound to enter a state of collapse.
The Da Rong Court is not too fragile; it’s the people’s hearts that have turned away.
The decay of the Da Rong Court is not a matter of days or months but has been ongoing for over twenty years.
Emperor Chengping was a patcher, spending thirty-five years repairing and anding the decrepit and corrupted Da Rong to keep it afloat.
However, Emperor Yanping was a captain wielding an axe, playing balance and division, chopping here and cleaving there, thinking he could control everything, yet he was persistently swinging his axe at the dragon bone.
The conflicts within the court intensified, causing both civil and military officials to be incapable of handling state affairs, either actively or passively drawn into the strife.
Civil officials ignored governance, military officers could not train or lead troops, and nobles could only band together for self-preservation or distance themselves from the court.
Duke Ning, Zhou Mao, retired; Marquis Changping, Liang Chu, went into seclusion; Marquis Jianchang, Zhang Luan, traveled and never returned; Marquis Nanyang, Lu Baishu, also retreated to the mountains; and Yang Zhenshan, the Marquis Jing’an, directly took the Yang family overseas.
When Emperor Jianxing, Chen Zhaojun, took over the captain’s role, he found the ship was already sinking.
A crumbling building cannot be supported by a lone beam.
He wanted to repair the holes in the ship’s bottom but found it impossible; there wasn’t a hole, there was no bottom left.
The governance was corrupt, and people’s hearts were lost.
The Imperial Comrce Bureau beca a feast for corrupt officials and treacherous rchants’ eyes.
The Martial Arts Temple turned into a tool for worldly forces to exploit for personal gain.
Even the Martial Arts Pavilion had beco a channel for the noble group to seek officials.
Was Yang Zhenshan wrong?
The Imperial Comrce Bureau, Martial Arts Temple, and Martial Arts Pavilion were all his proposals to create new governnt offices, yet now they have beco the root causes of the court’s collapse.
No, what does this have to do with Yang Zhenshan?
The Imperial Comrce Bureau, Martial Arts Temple, and Martial Arts Pavilion were all proposed by Yang Zhenshan, but his intentions were good, and his policies were correct.
The issue lies with those executing the policies, not with the policymaker, Yang Zhenshan.
In Yang Zhenshan’s hands, the Martial Arts Pavilion was a Holy Land for countless genius martial artists.
In Zhang Luan’s hands, the Martial Arts Temple suppressed all worldly forces from raising their heads.
When Luo Shang and Ji Yang were in the Imperial Comrce Bureau, it was the court’s purse, providing tens of millions of silver coins annually.
But the problem arose when Yang Zhenshan was forced to leave by Emperor Yanping, Zhang Luan had to give up the Martial Arts Temple, and Luo Shang and Ji Yang were turned into outcasts within the Imperial Comrce Bureau.
After Emperor Jianxing ascended the throne, not only did he fail to restore the situation, but made it worse.
Instead of reforming the Imperial Comrce Bureau, he executed short-sighted policies, confiscating all imperial rchants, leading to a temporary gain in wealth but losing the Bureau as a financial resource.
He ignored the Martial Arts Temple and Martial Arts Pavilion, allowing them to be corroded by worldly sect forces and noble groups.
In fact, the Imperial Comrce Bureau, Martial Arts Temple, and Martial Arts Pavilion are the three offices Emperor Jianxing could most easily control, since they were established recently and don’t have deeply entrenched bureaucratic systems.
With determination, Emperor Jianxing could spend a year or two to take command of these three offices.
Having control over these would an having his personal purse and loyal martial force. If Emperor Jianxing had the patience to proceed thodically, he might prolong the Dynasty for decades.
Unfortunately, Emperor Jianxing lacked such capability, and his managent only made the court’s chaos intensify.
Faced with the departure of Innate Martial Artists from Sanshan Valley and Cui Xia Valley, Emperor Jianxing’s heart was filled with a pale sense of powerlessness.
Imperial City, inside Fengxian Hall.
Emperor Jianxing sat in the grand hall with a dismal expression.
Prince Yu, Chen Wansong, stood with hands behind his back, gazing at the ancestral tablets displayed in the hall.
"Mingxi pays respects to Great Uncle!" Chen Mingxi, dressed in a dark purple narrow-sleeved gauze skirt, stepped gracefully into the hall and perford a ceremonial bow.
Counting the years, Chen Mingxi was already nearing ninety, yet her face still appeared to be around forty, beautiful and dignified, with an elegant deanor.
"Have a seat!" Chen Wansong said in a calm tone.
As the strongest martial artist within the current royal family, and also its most senior elder, Chen Wansong felt heavy pressure.
As the building crumbles, what should the royal family do?
Support the court with all their might, or step out of the ga to seek a new path?
Chen Zhaojun lifted his head to look at Chen Wansong, "Great Uncle, speak freely, whatever it is, I can bear it!"
At this mont, Chen Zhaojun’s only feeling was the inability to reverse the situation!
Bandits were ravaging Shanhe Province, and although the imperial guard was powerful, it could not completely eradicate them; instead, as ti passed, the number of bandits increased.
Now, there were already three to four hundred thousand bandits in Shanhe Province, and the court’s control was limited to Shuntian Prefecture.
Though the imperial guard kept generating success reports, it suffered losses, with only six thousand left out of ten thousand, and due to prolonged battles and high-frequency engagents, the soldiers’ morale had dimd.
Though the imperial guard could still be called an elite force, it was no longer as formidable as before.
With depleted forces, the imperial guard also reached the verge of disintegration.
Feeling powerless, Chen Zhaojun contemplated the situation with a sense of abandon.
Chen Wansong turned, his deep eyes fixed on Chen Zhaojun.
Was Chen Zhaojun truly incompetent?
Not necessarily!
Perhaps Chen Zhaojun wasn’t markedly wise or heroic, but he possessed average qualities.
Moreover, he was not indulgent or reckless; since ascending the throne, he was dedicated and persistent.
If placed two hundred years ago, Chen Zhaojun might have maintained the court and even made significant accomplishnts.
But considering the present, Chen Zhaojun lacked the ability to prevent the towers from falling, making him appear sowhat ineffectual.
"Do you have any ideas?" Chen Wansong asked.
He did not fault Chen Zhaojun because he himself knew no solutions.
All these years, he had hidden away in Fengxian Hall; except for Emperor Yanping consulting him twenty years ago, he hadn’t intervened in court affairs.
Truthfully, until last year when Chen Zhaoxuan died in battle, he scarcely paid attention to court matters.
To him, bandits, rebels, renegades, were just rabble; Da Rong was capable and strong enough to deal with them.
Yet reality had slapped him hard.
It was as if saying, stop sleeping; wake up, or Da Rong will collapse.
This couldn’t be blad on him since the royal family had their rules; royal family’s Innate Martial Artists couldn’t just ddle in court affairs; thus he had concentrated on his cultivation, disregarding court matters.
In his heart, Da Rong should still be the great Da Rong, akin to when Emperor Chengping reigned.
He indeed didn’t expect Da Rong to have declined to such an extent now.
Chen Zhaojun paused briefly before speaking, "I have one plan, but it’s like inviting the wolf into the house!"
"What plan? Tell !" Chen Wansong said.
With a complicated expression, Chen Zhaojun said, "Bring Yang Zhenshan back!"
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