Chapter 1 The Changes in the Protecting-the-Doctrine Army

In less than half a month, the Yunzhou army had firmly grasped the entire Zhenbei Military Command, but what shocked Jiang Xujing the most was the changes that had taken place in the Protecting-the-Doctrine Army. An officer, who he had previously thought was a loyal follower, actually argued with a Yushi (Daoist priest), which triggered a conflict within the entire army camp. The officer who contradicted the Yushi was killed by the Yushi's personal guards, which aroused a huge backlash from the officer's subordinates. Although the officer couldn't be said to be deeply popular, he had indeed done a lot for the soldiers. After the situation spread, those purely Dao Ming Sect religious personnel who only followed the teachings in the army camp were immediately isolated. The situation almost turned into infighting, but fortunately, the Yunzhou military intervened in time to mediate, which stabilized the situation. As for those high-ranking Dao Ming Sect religious personnel who made sarcastic remarks about Yunzhou's intervention, a Yunzhou military officer "couldn't help but" debate with them, staging a good show in front of the entire Protecting-the-Doctrine Army. He pointed out the many contradictions and loopholes in the Dao Ming Sect's doctrines one by one, leaving the Yushi speechless. After the situation was settled, the Yunzhou military withdrew from the army camp, leaving behind piles and piles of Protecting-the-Doctrine Army soldiers and officers who were either silently pondering or whispering to each other… But without a doubt, the coordinates of their faith had been heavily struck again.

Applying both kindness and severity… This has always been a recognized method for incorporating surrendered soldiers for one's own use. In fact, this may not be the best method, but it is indeed the fastest and most effective. Speaking of which, Jiang Xujing had used this method more than once or twice. But he never expected that surrendering could be done in so many ways. For ordinary soldiers, kindness and severity are enough. Even if most soldiers may have to serve in the garrison battalion-level troops before being promoted to the main combat troops, the various benefits of the garrison battalion, as well as the Veteran Farms and Pastures after retirement, and many other opportunities bring tangible benefits to everyone. Soldiers can support their families more easily and live better lives. Although officers have fewer opportunities to play tricks, the increase in salary is not a small compensation. In fact, due to Xiling's unique quasi-private army trend and the general practice of treating soldiers well and training elite troops, officers' abuse of power or corruption is not serious, and the lives of most officers will be more decent than before. As long as a few months, a year like this passes, I believe these soldiers and officers will be sincerely attached to Dongping.

But the Protecting-the-Doctrine Army is different. They are completely unlike people from a country, and their thoughts cannot be fathomed by others at all. But Ye Tao and his small team dismantled the spiritual weapons of the Protecting-the-Doctrine Army with ease, rendering them harmless. And these people, who originally came from all walks of life, can no longer stir up any waves after being disarmed spiritually and then gradually dispersed, repatriated, and resettled. Thinking of this, Jiang Xujing felt a chill down his spine.

After seeing this situation, Jiang Xujing finally became interested in another question. He asked Ye Tao, "Ye Jinglue (military commissioner), I wonder how you plan to deal with this old man?"

Ye Tao said nothing, but took out a document from a large pile of documents on his desk and handed it to Jiang Xujing. This thick, beige file bag contained a series of documents related to Jiang Xujing. Since the fact that Jiang Xujing had surrendered to Dongping could not be concealed, Dongping did not make too many efforts in this regard. However, Jiang Xujing's few relatives in Xiling, as well as old friends and old subordinates who might be implicated, were secretly transferred by Dongping's Intelligence Bureau. Precisely for the smooth progress of this work, Yunzhou sealed off all personnel and material exchanges with Taizhou for nearly ten days. In these few days, the latest situation had been transferred to Danyang, and very unexpectedly, Tan Xiaopei was not in Danyang but had gone to the battlefield with Northern Liao, leaving Tan Weiming to oversee the country as the crown prince. Tan Weiming sent back a document asking Jiang Xujing to come to Danyang as soon as possible for talks to decide his future direction, and also sent a copy of this document to Tan Xiaopei. Tan Xiaopei even folded his handwritten letter and sent it in a letter tube on the leg of a flying eagle. The letter stated that if Jiang Xujing had any concerns and was unwilling to take a position in Dongping, it was completely understandable, but he hoped that Jiang Xujing could continue to provide guidance to the governing body of the Zhenbei Military Command within one to two years. If Jiang Xujing still wanted to serve in the military, a new position could be established at the level equivalent to Left General Xu Jingtian. It could be an actual military position, or it could be a senior staff-type military position in the central government participating in military affairs. In fact, Xu Jingtian is currently in such a state. Dongping will not specialize in military affairs, and generals may be transferred in position and task at any time according to needs. However, Tan Xiaopei also made it clear that he did not recommend Jiang Xujing to take a position in the Zhenbei Military Command. If he were to hold a substantive military position, it might be in the Tianxuan Army targeting Northern Liao, or in the amphibious force being formed targeting Chunnan…

Before Jiang Xujing could recover from the taste of this handwritten letter, Ye Tao went on to tell him about Tan Xiaopei's thoughts on the current governance of the Zhenbei Military Command. The current Zhenbei Military Command, due to its relatively complex situation, is not conducive to being directly under the central government of the court. It will report directly to the Yunzhou Military Commissioner's Office and be renamed Zhenzhou. As a result, the Yunzhou Military Commissioner's Office has also been upgraded to the Northern Border Military Commissioner's Office, which governs the two terrifyingly large states of Yunzhou and Zhenzhou. The imperial court will appoint the administrative and military chiefs of Zhenzhou as soon as possible, and is still soliciting Ye Tao's opinions on the candidates. However, among the suggestions of the governor of Zhenzhou, what Ye Tao is most satisfied with is Lu Dan. As for the Zhenzhou Inspector General, Tan Xiaopei has decided to send Xu Jingtian. This will be Xu Jingtian's last post before his official retirement, and Xu Jingtian can now be regarded as experienced in the governance after this kind of conquest. At the same time, a series of local officials will be transferred in one after another. The current situation in all aspects is relatively complicated, especially since Dongping is still at war with Northern Liao, and the war is quite stalemate, with no smooth progress. For a while, all departments cannot spare manpower to select personnel. They can only order Yunzhou to temporarily administer military affairs and wait for local officials to arrive one after another. As for the urgency of governance, Tan Xiaopei did not mention a single word. Yunzhou had surprised him so many times in terms of governance. He was waiting to see what pleasant changes could still occur in Zhenzhou. If Yunzhou's set of governance methods could be successfully implemented in Zhenzhou as well, he even planned to start a pilot project under the Yunhe (Grand Canal) Governor's Office and decide whether to popularize it based on the situation.

Which path to choose? For a while, Jiang Xujing was also confused. In these days, even the *** who said he wanted to avenge Ni Sigui quietly said, "Damn it, we really can't beat them. The gap between us is too big. This is still with a hundred thousand more troops than them. If the number of people is roughly the same… If I knew how strong they are now, I'm afraid I would have surrendered directly."

This is also the true thought of many people in the Xiling army now. *** is not young anymore, and he is really preparing to retire and return to his hometown. Even if Ye Tao doesn't take care of him, the various assets he has acquired in the Zhenbei Military Command over the years are enough for his family to live comfortably for several lifetimes. And many young officers are becoming eager under the provocation of the Yunzhou army in front of them. At this time, the disadvantages of Xiling's quasi-clan military system are revealed. The soldiers' loyalty to their families and places is far higher than their loyalty to the country. Since the Zhenbei Military Command has always been relatively poor, more soldiers have more realistic problems to consider. When Dongping can solve all the problems well, everyone will be shaken.

Ye Tao did not urge Jiang Xujing, but gave him plenty of time to consider. What is strange is that Ye Tao disappeared for a full four days. During these days, Ye Tao personally led the airship team to conduct continuous night flights, and finally safely returned all the way under the guidance of Dongping's Intelligence Bureau and the Special Operations Battalion. Ye Tao didn't have much to do, mainly to arrive at a mountain valley south of Taizhou, at the junction with Zhongzhou, where he moved a large batch of documents onto the airship and transported them back. There, he also had a brief meeting with his second senior brother, Suo Yong, who had been deeply involved in Xiling for a long time.

If the airship had not been successfully developed, how could these documents have been transported out without anyone knowing? Their group entered Xiling. Because they had the complete set of contact arrangements left by Chen Kai, they secretly entered the library building without any difficulty and took out all the documents. Now, a group of people is already investigating the location of that treasure, and there are still some results. Due to the large-scale invasion of Chunnan and Dongping's annihilation of the Zhenbei Military Command from the Yunzhou direction, no one is in the mood to hunt now, and the guarding Xiling Imperial Guards are happy to be carefree. After all, this place is too far from the front line. The more negligent the Imperial Guards are, the more the treasure hunters laugh. Although they don't dare to dig openly, they have found a suitable foothold in that royal hunting ground, and they are transporting tools, equipment, etc., little by little… This kind of work is dangerous and has no technical content, so the Imperial Guard officer leading the team kicked Suo Yong into the team escorting the secret documents.

After sending Ye Tao back to his original location, the airship team turned directly to the east, preparing to sail directly to Dongjiaji for supplies, and then send the documents directly to Danyang. This is a major event. Although most of the documents have not been read by anyone, and some have been stored in wooden boxes for many years, Ye Tao only glanced at the catalog of those documents and realized that these contents might really have a huge impact. Perhaps, it will cause some interesting turmoil in Xiling and even the world. In particular, the arrangement of the Chen family is still different from that of the Dao Ming Sect. The Dao Ming Sect needs to rely on the masses, on the crowd, on the fanatical spirit condensed in the crowd, but the Chen family can reach areas that the Dao Ming Sect's more grassroots methods cannot reach through the tentacles of the aristocratic families. Some of the names and aristocratic families listed in the documents really surprised Ye Tao. I believe that after these documents arrive in Danyang and the Intelligence Bureau has verified them, there will be actions. If the hidden dangers in the country are not eliminated, Dongping would never dare to use these documents to attack the enemy. Harming others and oneself has never been Dongping's tradition.