Chapter 115: Taiping City
Two hundred years ago, it was a period of utter darkness for the Han people. To preserve the Han bloodline under the butchers’ knives of the Hu people, the predecessors of the Taiping Dao led a hundred thousand northern Han people on a thousand-li trek, passing through deep mountains and dense forests, to this land of Liaodong, far from the Central Plains, and established this great city named Taiping.
In the ensuing hundred years, Taiping City was a place of peace for desperate Han citizens, where they could preserve their lives in a chaotic world. Countless Han people brought their families and belongings, traveling thousands of miles to seek refuge. At its peak, Taiping City’s population reached hundreds of thousands, its scale even surpassing that of a capital city of a Hu regime.
Naturally, the Hu regimes within the passes, as well as the Goryeo people who once occupied Liaodong, regarded Taiping City as a thorn in their side, eager to eliminate it. To protect this last homeland, the Han people of Taiping City, under the leadership of the Taiping Dao, with the help of the harsh climate and vast expanse of land outside the passes, engaged in a hundred years of arduous and heroic struggle against the Hu and Goryeo people.
For a century, their blood was spilled across this vast black land. They repelled the expeditionary forces sent by the Hu regimes multiple times, routed the armies of the Goryeo Dynasty over ten times, and finally forged an iron-clad army that instilled fear in foreign races, always defending this great city’s unyielding existence!
Eventually, they held on until the era when the eight clans emerged from Guangzhong and the Han people began to rise again. Founding Emperor himself visited Taiping City and formed an alliance with Kou Xianzhi, the previous Sect Leader of the Taiping Dao, greatly praising the heroic deeds of Taiping City in preserving Han Dynasty Attire amidst the chaos. He vowed brotherhood with Kou Xianzhi, pledging to never lead an army into Liaodong, and promised that after pacifying the realm, the Yan Yun region would be granted to the Taiping Dao as eternal protection!
Thus, Kou Xianzhi mobilized tens of thousands of elite soldiers and marched south, launching a pincer attack with Great Xuan to eliminate the Hu Eastern Qi regime that occupied Youyan and Shandong. Afterward, the Taiping Dao continued to follow Founding Emperor in his campaigns, making great meritorious deeds and immense sacrifices for the Great Xuan Dynasty to restore China and unify the realm.
After the realm was pacified, Kou Xianzhi relocated the Taiping Dao headquarters to Jizhou Yuyang Commandery in Yan Yun. He repeatedly sent letters to the Imperial Court, hoping Founding Emperor would hand over Yan Yun as promised. Founding Emperor invited him to the Capital City for a meeting, stating that a grand ceremony would be held in the Capital City to thank the Taiping Dao for their meritorious deeds. Kou Xianzhi, unaware of the treachery, happily accepted the invitation, only to find a long-planned feast of Hongmen awaiting him!
Previously, Founding Emperor only controlled Guangzhong and not the Central Plains. To obtain strong support, he could make any promise. Now that Great Xuan had entered the Central Plains, Yan Yun held a commanding position and served as a barrier to the Central Plains. Founding Emperor finally felt the sting of it and would absolutely not hand over Yan Yun.
Moreover, compared to the Heavenly Master Dao, which supported imperial power and adhered to a top-down approach, the Taiping Dao, which had always resisted assimilation and held great prestige among the populace, remained a constant source of unease and a dangerous factor. Now that Founding Emperor was the master of the realm, how could he allow the Taiping Dao to continue their disruptive activities? Thus, with the assistance of the Heavenly Master Dao, he plotted this great purge of the Taiping Dao.
Upon entering Luodu, Kou Xianzhi was ambushed and placed under house arrest by Founding Emperor in Ziwei City. Simultaneously, with the full cooperation of the Heavenly Master Dao, Imperial Court troops launched a surprise attack on Jizhou Yuyang Commandery, destroying the newly established Taiping Dao headquarters. The Taiping Dao suffered heavy losses in this battle, with more than half of their experts killed or wounded. Fortunately, Sun Yuanlang stepped forward and turned the tide, allowing the Taiping Dao to escape encirclement and retreat to their old base outside the passes.
However, several of the Taiping Cult’s most treasured artifacts were hidden by Kou Xianzhi in a heavily trapped secret vault. In the critical moment, Sun Yuanlang was unable to retrieve them.
Later, Founding Emperor used one hundred thousand catties of explosives to blast open the secret vault and obtained the treasures within. Among them was the last scroll of the Taiping Sutra, the profoundly mystical Gui Scroll!
After the Taiping Cult retreated outside the passes, Founding Emperor ordered the Pei Clan Leader and Grand Commandant, Pei Qiu, to lead fifty thousand troops alongside the Heavenly Master Dao in pursuit. However, the Taiping Cult had operated outside the passes for a century, and all their followers and soldiers had their homes there. Furthermore, winter arrived early, and the weather was extremely cold. As a result, the Imperial Court army suffered a crushing defeat and had to retreat back within the passes in disarray.
The following year, Pei Qiu launched another assault. This time, he chose the warm period of late spring and early summer, increased his army to one hundred thousand, and allied with the Goryeo regime’s army. However, the Taiping Cult, united against a common enemy, under Sun Yuanlang’s leadership, employed scorched-earth tactics and utilized the vast expanse of land outside the passes to engage the enemy in a protracted guerrilla war. Ultimately, the Imperial Court army suffered from a shortage of grain and fodder, forcing them to retreat once more.
Seeing that several attempts to deploy troops outside the passes had been fruitless, and considering that the realm had only recently been pacified, the Former Dynasty’s forces south of the Yangtze River remained powerful, and even the local powerful families in the northern Central Plains were still defiant, Founding Emperor ordered Pei Qiu to cease operations outside the passes. He was instructed to lead one hundred thousand laborers to build a formidable pass on the foundation of the Former Dynasty’s city walls, which would lie north of the mountains and south of the sea, named Zhenbei Pass.
From then on, in the eyes of the Great Xuan Imperial Court, the border wall along Zhenbei Pass was the boundary of Great Xuan. Although it was not explicitly stated that the area north of Zhenbei Pass did not belong to Great Xuan, the region outside the pass was clearly regarded as a wild land beyond the reach of imperial civilization.
More than a decade passed, and Zhenbei Pass remained undisturbed. The Imperial Court no longer launched military campaigns beyond the passes, and Pei Qiu had long since returned to the Capital City. The Taiping Cult recovered its vitality outside the passes and, by sea, bypassed Zhenbei Pass, continuously dispatching core members to return to the Central Plains, contact hidden followers, and once again grow in strength. However, as long as Zhenbei Pass was not conquered, they dared not make any significant moves.
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Although Pei Qiu had returned to the Capital City, Zhenbei Pass and the Yan Yun region were still guarded by the Pei Clan. Therefore, Sun Yuanlang attached great importance to this negotiation with the Pei Clan and ordered Su Yingxiu to report the progress to him at all times.
However, when the young man requested to go to the Capital City to assist Su Yingxiu, Sun Yuanlang flatly refused.
“No,” Sun Yuanlang said in a deep voice without a second thought. “The time is not ripe yet. Your return to the Capital City at this moment would be of little use and would instead arouse the vigilance of the Emperor and the Xiahou Clan!”
“They…” the young man said hoarsely, “would not recognize this child!”
“They would not recognize you, but your heart full of hatred and killing intent would not escape those cunning old foxes,” Sun Yuanlang said in a deep voice. “Long’er, you must prioritize the bigger picture; you absolutely cannot make any mistakes at this time!”
“Adoptive Father…” The young man knew that nothing he said would matter and turned his head away, filled with unwillingness.
“Rest assured,” Sun Yuanlang gently comforted him. “I have painstakingly planned for ten years, all for you. Wait patiently a little longer; the day you return to the Capital City is not far off…”
“Yes!” The young man nodded gratefully and said hoarsely, “I can never repay the grace of my adoptive father’s new life!”
“Alright, focus on your cultivation practice during this period and strive for further progress,” Sun Yuanlang encouraged him with hopeful eyes. “When I return, I will arrange your marriage to the daughter of the King of Goryeo, dispelling any worries for our Taiping Dao!”
“Adoptive Father is going south?” The young man looked at Sun Yuanlang in surprise.
“I must go there personally,” Sun Yuanlang said with a self-deprecating smile. “Empty-handed bargaining is not a solution; it’s better to retrieve the Imperial Seal as soon as possible.”
“That will surely be easily accomplished!” the young man flattered.
“It’s not that simple. Luodu City is a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Once I am exposed, I won’t be able to move an inch,” Sun Yuanlang said with a long sigh, not optimistic at all. “This trip to Luodu, I still need to find a way to get back the 《Gui Scroll》. It’s the only sliver of hope to advance to Xiantian, and only then can I truly travel the world.”
“Gui Scroll…” The young man repeated softly, quickly lowering his head, afraid Sun Yuanlang would see the glint in his eyes.
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In Luodu City, Ziwei City, within Changle Palace.
After reading Lu Yun’s article, the Initial Emperor was greatly pleased and said, “This young man has not disgraced me. It was worth it for Old Du to make the trip himself.”
“Yes,” Du Hui reported softly. “Lu Yun was not being needlessly alarmist. The Lu Clan seems to be in an internal struggle. If Your Majesty hadn’t intervened, he would likely have become a victim of the conflict.”
“If all the clans were like the Lu Clan, what would I have to worry about?” The Initial Emperor chuckled, no longer paying attention to the Lu Clan’s internal disputes. “How is Gao Guangning’s case progressing?”
“Progress is very limited,” Du Hui replied softly. “The original dam has been washed away and submerged, and the accounts show no problems. Dali Temple has still not found conclusive evidence of corruption from the Ministry of Works or the Water Management Bureau.”
“And what about those disaster victims who testified?” the Initial Emperor asked.
“Dali Temple has determined that the disaster victims’ statements are contradictory, full of loopholes, and insufficient to be relied upon…” Du Hui said softly.
“That’s what Xiahou Ba thinks, isn’t it?” the Initial Emperor said coldly.
“The Xiahou Clan has indeed exerted considerable pressure from all sides,” Du Hui nodded.
“If I had known it would be like this, I would have had Zuo Yanqing come!” The Initial Emperor sneered and said in a deep voice, “It’s time for the next step!”
