Chapter 198: Chapter 173: Establishment of Six Bureaus_1
The next day, early in the morning.
The Li Family had gathered 500 warriors, led by Li Wenxin, together with Lu Yan, they mightily set off towards Changfeng City.
Lu Yan had Wang Lin and Li Quan accompanying him.
Of course, the scouts under Li Quan’s command had already hurried to Changfeng City overnight.
The speed of the warrior’s march naturally couldn’t compare to Lu Yan traveling on his own.
After a day’s journey, they arrived at Changfeng City.
There was no major battle, the Liu Family had left, dispersing their warriors.
The remaining members of the Liu Family who didn’t evacuate had long been captured and interrogated by the major feudal lords.
Therefore, Lu Yan and his men took Changfeng City and its three first grade Blood Land Veins without a drop of bloodshed.
"Finally, we’re back."
Walking along the streets of Changfeng City, Lu Yan looked at the familiar streets and sighed internally.
Compared to before, Changfeng City was much quieter. Many shops were closed and there were fewer pedestrians on the street.
This was normal.
After the Liu Family left and dispersed the martial army, Changfeng City became chaotic without a leader for a period of time.
Criminal activities, robbery, murder, and arson were all rampant.
The influence of the gangs increased drastically, extorting money house by house, causing great suffering among the people.
The first step of Lu Yan’s return to Changfeng City was to eliminate the gangs.
The Li Family’s martial army took action like a thunderbolt. In just a day, the gangs of Changfeng City were completely wiped out, and all the leaders of the gangs were beheaded in the street.
The people applauded and cheered.
Then, there were notices posted to reassure the people, announcing that Changfeng City now belonged to the Li Family of Baicao City, and that Lu Yan was the city lord.
As for establishing a feudal lordship, it was easier said than done.
There were only a few people in the Lu Family.
How could three people, himself, Lu Qingshan, and Wang Cui, establish a feudal lordship?
Therefore, it was better for Lu Yan to first serve as the city lord.
After appeasing the people, Lu Yan began to transfer people to Changfeng City.
Wen Yuan, Cao Hu, Zhang Jun, and the core disciples of the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall were transferred to the city.
Then they posted notices, recalling the martial army that had been dispersed by the Liu Family. If they returned, they would not be blamed, and they would receive preferential treatment.
These warriors, all Limit Breaking Warriors, became bandits or commoners, and some joined other feudal lords after being dismissed by the Liu Family.
After the notice was posted, some people began to return gradually.
Half a month later, about 200 warriors had returned.
That’s not even a third of the Liu Family’s numbers at its peak.
The Liu Family, after integrating the Wu Family’s martial army, had trained many more warriors over the years.
Although many had died in the great battle with the Wei Family, the number of their martial army still surpassed 600.
"Have some of them become comfortable being bandits, robbing homes, and don’t want to come back?"
A chill flashed in Lu Yan’s eyes.
The returning 200 warriors were assigned to Wang Lin and Wen Yuan to command.
They led the troops, along with another 200 Li Family warriors, to go and sweep the surrounding bandits and mountain thieves, etc.
After a sweep, there were indeed many gains.
Those warriors who had become bandits, seeing that they couldn’t resist, all surrendered.
Lu Yan didn’t kill them, but re-integrated them into the martial army.
A month after returning to Changfeng City, the number of the martial army had grown to 400, finally forming a scale and temporarily enough for use.
At this time, Li Wenxin, with 500 warriors from the Li family, returned to Baicao City.
Changfeng City was totally under Lu Yan’s control.
After gaining control, Lu Yan began a drastic reorganization.
Firstly, Lu Yan made a trip back to Baicao City, met Zhou Zhengkong, and asked him to lead some of the Zhou Clan’s elite to live in Changfeng City.
And promised that Qingyang City would be returned to the Zhou Clan.
Hearing that Lu Yan had taken control of Changfeng City and would return Qingyang City to the Zhou Clan, Zhou Zhengkong readily agreed.
The Zhou Clan also swiftly mobilized.
Lu Yan first took more than thirty of the Zhou Clan’s elite martial chefs back to Changfeng City.
Zhou Zhengkong took the rest of the Zhou Clan back to Qingyang City.
Then he sent people to recall the borrowed martial army and other clan members.
The first step when Lu Yan returned to Changfeng City was to establish the Six Bureaus.
The Six Bureaus were: Intelligence Bureau, Martial Chef Bureau, Alien Beasts Bureau, Military Bureau, Judicial Bureau, and Population and Economy Bureau.
As the name suggests, the Intelligence Bureau was responsible for gathering information and training intelligence personnel. Li Quan was the head.
The Martial Chef Bureau was naturally the department for cooking martial foods. The bureau was temporarily led by a senior martial chef from the Zhou Clan.
The Alien Beasts Bureau, responsible for managing the Blood Land Veins and raising martial foods, was currently understaffed and left to be determined.
The Military Bureau, which was responsible for commanding the martial army, was led by Wang Lin, with Wen Yuan as his deputy.
The Judicial Bureau maintained law and order, similar to the previous Red-clad Guard, but Lu Yan did not use this name and instead followed tradition by calling them Martial Hunters. Zhang Jun was the bureau head, and Cao Hu was his deputy.
The Population and Economy Bureau was the department forcounting the population, managing finances, and economic affairs. Lu Qingshan was its head.
They had no choice, this position was very important, and no suitable candidates were available for now. Lu Yan could only rest easy if Lu Qingshan took charge.
With the establishment of the Six Bureaus, Changfeng City quickly recovered its previous order and everything was in order.
The second step, the headquarters of the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall was moved to Changfeng City, leaving only a branch in Baicao City.
Some disciples and apprentices of the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall moved to Changfeng City.
Whether or not one chooses to come to Changfeng City is entirely up to them. Those who do not wish to come may remain at the Baicao City branch.
However, there will be a difference in terms of treatment. Lu Yan’s personal guidance, as a grand master, will be missing, and the supply of Martial Food will be significantly reduced.
Many talented and ambitious disciples chose to go to Changfeng City.
After the opening of the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall in Changfeng City, Lu Yan established a language and literature program, hiring professionals to teach apprentices how to read and write.
Many of these apprentices come from poor families and can’t even recognise their own names.
If one wishes to progress far in martial arts, literacy is a must.
Lu Yan plans to develop the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall into a cradle for talent cultivation, continually nurturing all types of talents.
On the same day that the hall began operations, Lu Yan accepted Wen Yuan as his personal disciple. He also selected three apprentices with the most outstanding talent as named disciples. In addition, a child nicknamed "Tofu" was also promoted to the status of a named disciple.
In the past, Lu Yan had been reluctant to accept disciples for fear of encumbrances.
But now, he’s no longer afraid of grandmasters. He can handle these shackles.
This way, apprentices and ordinary disciples will have incentives and can be motivated.
The third step is to send artisans into the second-level Hidden Blood Land Vein to build castles.
Not only were artisans dispatched, but a portion of the military, led by Wang Lin, was also deployed to assist within the Blood Land Vein.
When Wang Lin was informed about the presence of a second-level Hidden Blood Land Vein, he was stunned and silent before expressing his excitement.
They actually control a second-level Blood Land Vein and three first-level ones. Given time, won’t they be able to develop into a Master Level Feudal Lord and become one of the rulers of the six counties of Lingdong?
As those who have been closely following Lu Yan, their status would naturally rise in tandem.
He was once just a minor Red-clad Guard but now had seen such opportunity.
He was extremely thankful for his decision back then.
To have killed the prominent individual of the Liu Family and to have chosen to follow Lu Yan.
"Wang Lin, the matter of a second-level Hidden Blood Land Vein is of enormous importance. The fewer people know about it the better. It must not be divulged, even to your closest kin. In the future, this secret may just save our lives. If this leaks out, you alone will bear the consequence."
Lu Yan’s tone was serious and his gaze piercing.
Wang Lin was startled and bowed, "If even a single word leaks out, I will be ready to face the consequences."
"Moreover, those artisans, as well as the martial soldiers who follow you in, it’s best if they stay in there and not come out for a few years to prevent information from leaking."
"There are currently not many Alien Beasts inside. However, as they’re wild, they have a certain level of aggressiveness. Your mission is to ensure the safety of the artisans and prevent them from leaving without permission."
Lu Yan commanded.
"Understood."
Wang Lin nodded.
"Good, later on, I’ll also be sending in Zhou Clan’s Martial Chefs and Beast Tamers."
Lu Yan stated.
A few days later, in the evening, Lu Yan personally led a group, along with Wang Lin, who guided a team of soldiers and artisans, secretly departing towards the Hidden Blood Land Vein.
Before departure, Wang Lin had revealed to them that this will be a secret operation which would require several years, and during this period, they could not return home.
The soldiers obeyed order, none dared to defy.
However, the artisans were initially unwilling. But once they learned about the rewards, they all changed their minds.
They were given rewards so hefty that a few years of effort were equivalent to decades of work in the past.
At the entrance to the Blood Land Vein, Lu Yan had already installed ropes. As he watched the artisans and soldiers enter the Blood Land Vein one by one, Lu Yan’s gaze drifted towards the north.
"Zhou Clan, I’ve helped you so much, it’s time for you to make contributions. The Martial Chefs and Beast Tamers are up to you."
Lu Yan murmured to himself.
Though Liu Family did have Beast Tamers before, when the upper management of Liu Family left, they dismissed their Beast Tamers.
These Beast Tamers were in high demand in the market. They could easily enlist with any Feudal Lord and receive great treatment.
As a result, most of these Beast Tamers have already joined other Feudal Lords.
Even though Lu Yan issued an announcement to call them back, only two returned.
That was too few.
Now, he possessed a second-level Blood Land Vein and three first-level ones, all of which require Beast Tamers.
"In addition, I need to purchase Alien Beast Cubs. Damn Liu Family and those other Feudal Lords didn’t even leave behind a single Alien Beast hair."
Lu Yan spat contemptuously.
That day, Lu Yan made a trip to Qingyang City only to find Zhou Zhengkong looking worried.
Upon asking, he discovered that the military forces he lent to the three Feudal Lords could not be reclaimed.
The others made up excuses and refused to return them.
Being unable to defeat them, Zhou Zhengkong was genuinely distressed. He was considering asking for Lu Yan’s help but remembered that Lu Yan was only at Martial Marquis Level Two, making it difficult to contend against these Feudal Lords.
He was considering asking the Li Family for help.
But now that he had taken the Zhou Clan away from the Li Family, it was already good that the Li Family did not cause trouble for them. Would the Li Family help them?
What he didn’t know was that Lu Yan had been mediating the whole situation. The Li Family turned a blind eye, otherwise, it might not have been so easy for Zhou Clan to leave the Li Family.
Even if they could break away, they would probably have to leave some Martial Chefs to be used by the Li Family.
"I might just have a way to reclaim them for you."
Lu Yan said.
"Brother Lu, you have a way? Those Feudal Lords, at the very least, have Martial Marquis Level Four warriors in their ranks. One even has a Martial Marquis Level Five warrior. As a Martial Marquis Level Two, I’m afraid..."
Zhou Zhengkong expressed doubtful.
"Do you know why the Elder of Li Family gave Changfeng City to me?"
Lu Yan asked.
Zhou Zhengkong shook his head.
"It’s because a grandmaster stands behind me. I participated in the siege of Liu Zhenshuo and seriously injured him with my archery. Otherwise, do you think that the Li Family would lend an army to me and gift me Changfeng City and three Blood Land Veins?"
Lu Yan said.
