The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 589: The Prosperous and Unique Liaodong City

The Duke of Liaodong's wedding was not a cause for universal celebration, but it could definitely trigger changes in the world situation. At least after confirming that Yue Buqun was not with Zhang Xutuo, Li Mi began his own plan.

He raided Zhai Rang's residence and successfully killed the leader Zhai Rang, and then integrated the Wagang army to raid Luokou, continuing to advance his long-planned cause.

In Hebei, Dou Jiande restrained himself a lot. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the wedding, the Duke of Liaodong cleared the roads to and from the Central Plains. Tens of thousands of elite cavalry swept across a line and almost razed Dou Jiande's lair. If there were no people offering gifts and persuading him in a gentle manner along the way, there would probably be a river of blood and the heads of 100,000 rebels would be used as gifts.

In the Liaodong County Mansion, Yang Ruyi was as happy as a lark, flitting around Shi Qingxuan, Dong Shuni, Song Yuhua, Dugu Feng, Shan Wanjing, and Shang Xiuxun.

As Yang Xuyan's cousin, Yang Ruyi is the one with the least burden and unnecessary thoughts. She is beautiful, sweet-spoken and smart, so how can she not be loved by all the girls, especially Dong Shuni and Song Yuhua, who are vying to make friends with her.

However, Dugu Feng, Shan Wanjing and Shang Xiuxun, who were disciples, were somewhat jealous. Why could they only be disciples while they could be wives?

After Yang Xuyan was promoted to Grandmaster, he gradually confessed his identity to the women. However, he only revealed his identities as Xiaoyaozi and Butian Daozhu, and not all of them. After all, the son of the late crown prince was still somewhat sensitive.

There's a huge difference between someone related to a Grandmaster and the Grandmaster himself. When they learned that Yang Xuyan had already reached the Grandmaster level at such a young age, they were all shocked. If it weren't for Yang Xuangan transforming into Dugu Qiubai, Lu Miaozi disguising himself as Yue Buqun, and Shi Zhixuan transforming into Xiaoyaozi, they would probably suspect that these people were all Yang Xuyan in disguise.

The Changbai Medicine King Miaoying Zhenren suddenly had an idea and transformed into Sanfeng Zhenren to join them in the fun. Before the wedding began, he severely shocked the heroes who came to congratulate them.

It should be noted that Shi Zhixuan is a genuine grandmaster, and Yang Xuangan and Miaoying Zhenren are also strong men at the level of half-step grandmaster. No one can expose their disguises, at least no one among the guests can do it.

Only Lu Miaozi was slightly weaker in strength, but he was also a senior master. If he did not take action, others would not be able to detect the level of his strength. With other people looking after him, he did not worry about being exposed. He was known as the best craftsman in the world, and his own cultivation was not bad at all. He had a good exchange with Shi Zhixuan on Taoism, and he was very adept at pretending to be Yue Buqun to fool ordinary people.

In order to make their role-playing more realistic, Yang Xuyan revealed to them the "Wisdom Sutra of Controlling the Origin of All Things" and stated that this technique has both advantages and disadvantages. It is slightly helpful for Shi Zhixuan, and the most helpful for Yang Xuangan and Miaoying Zhenren. It can accelerate the progress of becoming a grandmaster, but it may also be the one with the smallest potential among the grandmasters. For Lu Miaozi, who has no hope of becoming a grandmaster, being able to advance to a half-step grandmaster is already the limit.

In addition, Yang Xuyan also gave the "Tai Chi Magical Skills" to Miaoying Zhenren, the "Tianshan Plum Blossom Hand" to Shi Zhixuan, the "Yangwu Sword Technique" and the complete set of Huashan Sword Technique to Lu Miaozi. As for Yang Xuangan, he had already played the role of Dugu Qiubai several times, and his Dugu Nine Swords were more proficient than Dugu Feng, so he did not need to rely on other methods.

Four of the five hermits came at once, which really shocked the guests who came to congratulate them. They secretly wondered in their hearts whether this Duke of Liaodong was the super second generation trained by the hermit team?

The more I think about it, the more reliable this speculation seems. Someone wanted to establish a relationship with the hermits but failed, so he turned to Liaodong. After gaining their trust, he discovered that the library in the mansion was surprisingly rich in various classics, and even the martial arts inheritance of the five hermits were collected. This made him more convinced of these speculations and rumors.

Shan Wanjing arrived early and brought with her many young masters from aristocratic families. They could not enter the Liaodong County Mansion, so they had to wander around Liaodong City. However, they found that the city was unusually clean and tidy. There were people coming and going on the streets, but there were no beggars, gangs, ruffians or the like, and men and women had constant smiles on their faces.

There are special horse paths and sidewalks in the city. The patrol soldiers are divided into groups of five. All of them are quite strong, at least third-rate. The leader is a second-rate player. They are good at light work and are equipped with shields, fishing nets and lassoes. They cooperate with each other and even first-rate players who are not familiar with their combat methods will fall into the trap.

The more Li Shimin looked, the more shocked he became. Shi Feixuan, who had transformed into Qin Chuan, looked at him with rippling eyes. He secretly wondered how this paradise on earth was created. It should be noted that Liaodong City had not been under the jurisdiction of the Sui Dynasty for a long time, and its foundation was shallow and the climate was not pleasant. How could it develop so rapidly and surpass all the cities of the Sui Dynasty except Chang'an and Luoyang?

If we talk about the differences, a lot of them can be listed. The strangest one is that there are no gambling houses or brothels here. There are only countless sports halls with various competitive events, including polo, cuju, martial arts arenas, as well as various arts of music, chess, calligraphy and painting. What is even more unacceptable to Li Shimin is that reading and literacy have been popularized in Liaodong.

As a scion of a wealthy family, Li Shimin was well aware of his family's roots. Liaodong offered only the most basic literacy and agricultural and commercial knowledge, yet many of these young men found it difficult to accept. In response to these young men's inquiries, the Liaodong government offered a straightforward answer: Since the Han Dynasty, all schools of thought had been abolished, with Confucianism as the sole patron saint. Liaodong had no intention of breaking this rule, disseminating only the most humble and inferior knowledge. Confucian classics were inaccessible to anyone other than officials and the nobility.

This left many children from aristocratic families and Confucian scholars speechless. Truly smart people knew what was practical and what was a face-saving project, but some things could not be said openly, so they turned to opening up martial arts to Liaodong.

The Liaodong Prefecture produced instructions for exchanging merits, which clearly mentioned the different levels of treatment for Liaodong nobles, gentry, citizens, civilians, and prisoners of war and slaves. Not only was there an upper limit on the number of levels of exchangeable skills, but the exchange prices were also different. There were also strict requirements for the skills obtained to be passed on to future generations.

It's not that it can only be passed down to males but not females, but it can only be passed down to relatives. There is also a limit on the number of people that can be taught in each generation. Even before passing it on to others, it must be registered with the City Lord's Mansion Library, otherwise it will be regarded as stealing and will be prosecuted.

Of course, if you create your own martial arts based on this, this does not apply. Otherwise, you will be held accountable even if you have left Liaodong.

All of this is not so rigid, and there are time limits. Third-rate martial arts take twenty years, second-rate martial arts take thirty years, first-rate martial arts take fifty years, innate martial arts take eighty years, and master-level martial arts take a hundred years. As for the exchange price of grandmaster-level martial arts, it depends on the mood of the city lord, and it is basically priceless.

As for martial arts above the Grandmaster level, there are only lists and introductions in the library. Only the Duke of Liaodong knows the original or copied version. It needs to be applied in advance, and it will be reviewed in three days and issued in seven days. Nowadays, there are only a handful of people who can really get the Grandmaster level martial arts, and all of them are well-known figures in Liaodong.

For example, there is Shi Long, the mountain pusher, and the fierce general Song Jingang. Shi Long escaped from Yu Wenzhi's men, and followed Feng Zhenzhen's way to Liaodong. He joined the Liaodong County Mansion as a worshiper, accumulated merits in exchange for master-level skills, and was promoted to master with the help of Liaodong County Duke.

Song Jingang was originally a subordinate of Liu Wuzhou. In the Battle of Yanmen City, the Turks suffered a crushing defeat. Yang Xuyan, who was only the Marquis of Liaodong at the time, took advantage of the situation and severely beat up the two heroes of Yingyang and captured Song Jingang, a subordinate of the enemy. After undergoing labor reform, he performed well and was transferred to the death squad. He made many outstanding achievements in battles against foreign races and was promoted to a military general.

Song Jingang's aptitude is even better than that of Shi Long, the Mountain Pusher, and his ability to command troops in battle is far superior. Fortunately, he was accepted as a registered disciple by Yang Xuangan, and exchanged his merits for a master-level martial arts technique. Now he has even entered the master level, and his strength is even higher than that of Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin, and Cheng Zhijie. He is also a well-known general in the northern border.

Well, his reputation is limited to the foreign ethnic groups in the grasslands outside the Great Wall. He is relatively low-key internally, just like Liaodong today.