Chapter 860
Chen Jie's Incense Offering Realm Has Improved
Upon hearing Fu Youde ask him to state his conditions for surrender, Mu Ying sat up straight.
After all, surrendering is a big deal, and he needs to negotiate good terms for himself.
"Commander Fu, let me first tell you what we have. Currently, our island nation has nearly 100,000 troops, about 6 million people, more than 100 million taels of gold and silver, and nearly 30,000 mu of fertile land."
"If I surrender, all of these will belong to the Han Dynasty. My conditions are simple: I hope Commander Fu will treat my soldiers well. They are all brothers who fought alongside me to conquer the world. In addition, I ask Commander Fu to ensure the safety of me and Lan Yu's family."
Mu Ying looked at Fu Youde and said.
Fu Youde glanced at Mu Ying. He took a sip of tea from the table, savored it, and said, "Don't you have any personal thoughts? For example, after surrendering, what official position or title would you like the Han Dynasty to bestow upon you?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Ying smiled and said, "It is already a stroke of luck that I survived. What official position or title is really not important to me anymore. If the Emperor of the Great Han thinks highly of me and bestows a title upon me, I will not refuse it."
"As for anything else, that's wishful thinking. So my condition is simple: I can surrender unconditionally, I just hope that Marshal Fu can treat us well."
Mu Ying looked at Fu Youde and spoke slowly.
Upon hearing this, Fu Youde said, "These are all your ideas. Does Lan Yu have any thoughts?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Ying said, "He has been overwhelmed by Marshal Fu's cannon fire and is now only indulging in wine and women. He no longer cares much about the country or his family. My opinion is the final opinion of the Great De Empire."
Upon hearing this, Fu Youde said, "Very well, since that's the case, then I will accept your surrender on behalf of the Great Han Empire."
"I will write a memorial to Your Majesty immediately. At the same time, my troops will enter the islands and take over the defense of various places. Your troops will also be under our control. Do you have any objections to this?"
Fu Youde looked at Mu Ying with a serious expression.
Mu Ying shook his head and said, "I have no objections. We will do as you say, Commander Fu. My army can surrender today."
"Alright, Tang Shengzong, Lu Zhongheng, you lead your troops and Mu Ying to take over the island's troops. I will lead my troops to support you. After the troops are taken over, we'll drink and reminisce about the past tonight."
Upon hearing Fu Youde's words, Tang Shengzong and Lu Zhongheng immediately clasped their hands in greeting and said, "Yes."
After saying this, Tang Shengzong said to Mu Ying, "Brother Mu Ying, let's take care of business first. After we finish that, we'll drink until we're completely drunk tonight. I'll take you to try the wine of the Great Han. The wine of the Great Han is strong, I guarantee you'll like it."
Lu Zhongheng also spoke up: "By the way, have the cooks accompanying the army make you a few authentic hometown dishes. Let me tell you, the cooks in our Vermilion Bird Army are famous chefs transferred from Anhui. They are more than capable of making you a few hometown dishes."
"After being away from home for so many years, are you starting to miss the food from your hometown?"
Mu Ying nodded upon hearing this, saying, "Yes, these past few years away from home, I have indeed missed the dishes from my hometown, as well as the duck blood soup from Nanjing."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Shengzong of Tang laughed and said, "Then you are really in for a treat. This time, the ships on the expedition are carrying 800 live ducks, which are placed on the grain transport ships. I will make you an authentic Nanjing-style duck blood vermicelli soup, served with sesame flatbread."
Mu Ying said, "That's great! Let's go, let's take you to incorporate the troops. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can call it a day and have a good drink. I've had enough of being this damn prince, and I never want to come back to this damn island again."
Upon hearing this, Tang Shengzong and Lu Zhongheng both burst into laughter. It seems that Mu Ying has really been holding back all these years.
Mu Ying actually wanted to get rid of this burden as soon as possible. After all, he had really had enough of this wretched island. He truly regretted listening to Lan Yu's slander and running to this wretched island to become some kind of king.
He's ended up in this miserable state. If it weren't for Lan Yu, he would probably be living a peaceful life in his hometown now, just like Tang and Tang Shuai.
With this in mind, Mu Ying no longer harbored any ulterior motives.
The takeover went very smoothly, thanks to the assistance of Mu Ying, a king of equal stature. The soldiers on the island laid down their weapons without any resistance. Fu Youde quickly occupied the entire island and took control of important locations such as the granary and armory.
Throughout the entire process, Lan Yu did not show his face. He remained in his palace, frolicking, drinking, and indulging in pleasure with courtesans. He had completely lost his former fighting spirit. Yesterday's naval battle had robbed him of his former bravery, or perhaps his years as king had robbed him of his former prowess.
Finally, Fu Youde led his army to the palace. Pushing open the palace gates, he saw the courtesans dancing in panic. Lan Yu sat on his throne, watching Fu Youde enter. His gaze was calm; he simply raised his wine cup and said, "General Fu, you've come."
Fu Youde met Lan Yu's gaze directly, without saying much. He remained silent for a moment, then picked up a wine glass from the ground, poured himself a drink, took a sip, and said, "I have taken over the soldiers on the island, as well as all the important places like the armory and granary. Now, only the palace remains."
Upon hearing this, Lan Yu slowly raised her head to look at Fu Youde, her eyes filled with mockery, and said, "So, Commander Fu, are you planning to lock me up and take me to your Emperor for a reward?"
Looking at Lan Yu's appearance, Fu Youde slowly said, "Where is the bravery you had when you fought the bloody battle at Poyang Lake? Wine and women have completely drained your body."
Lan Yu scoffed, “Heh, was it wine and women that drained me? No, it was you, Commander Fu. You personally crushed my courage with your cannons.”
"Faced with such a terrifying behemoth, I, Lan Yu, am not confident of defeating you. Besides, don't you think that I am the person Your Majesty the Emperor wants to see?"
“Commander Fu, your Emperor doesn’t want to see a brave and daring Lan Yu. He wants to see a Lan Yu who has been hollowed out by wine and women, a Lan Yu without courage. Now he has achieved that. I have become such a useless piece of trash, and he can rest easy. And you can go back and be promoted. My fine head, Lan Yu, should be enough to exchange for a dukedom for Commander Fu.”
Snapped!
Enraged, Fu Youde slapped Lan Yu across the face and glared at him, saying, "What do you take me for? Do I need your head as a stepping stone to share the credit?"
"You think too highly of yourself."
Fu Youde sighed and slowly sat down: "You can stay here. Without His Majesty the Emperor's order, no one will touch you. You will still be the king of this palace. Your singers will be preserved for you, your wine will be preserved for you, and your meat will be preserved for you. You can be king in peace."
After saying that, Fu Youde turned and left, but stopped after a few steps.
"As the commander-in-chief, I am very pleased to see you like this. Just as you said, if I defeat you, I might be granted the title of Duke when I return."
"But as your former teacher, boss and brother, I am very disappointed in you as you are now."
“I hope you can pull yourself together. The Great Han Empire is not as narrow-minded as you think. Our Emperor can accommodate anyone, including you, Lan Yu.”
"Since things have come to this, I will say no more. You'd better take care of yourself."
After saying this, Fu Youde strode out of the palace with powerful steps. At this time, the palace was already surrounded by a large army. Fu Youde looked at the soldiers and said, "Guard this place and do not go in to disturb him. Before His Majesty the Emperor's order, he is still the king of this country."
Fu Youde continued walking forward, and at this moment, someone had already erected a carved stone statue in the square outside the palace.
That stone statue was a deity statue of Chen Jiu Si. The person who erected the statue was an official from the Ministry of Rites that Chen Jiu Si had sent to various armies to be specifically in charge of this matter.
This was Chen Jiu Si's strict requirement: whenever a place was conquered, the first thing to do was to erect his statue there. And after the statue was erected, a powerful force seemed to flow back to Chen Jiu Si, who was far away in Dadu.
At this moment, Chen Jiu Si was cultivating in a quiet room in Dadu. There was actually a realm above the terrestrial immortal.
However, the limit of this world is that of a terrestrial immortal. At present, he can only cultivate the laws of the world and absorb the incense power of the laws of the world.
When Chen Jie's incense offerings spread throughout the world, this world will become Chen Jie's possession.
Chen Jie closed his eyes to meditate, his five centers facing the sky. A protective aura rippled around his body, and the power of the Great Dao appeared and disappeared intermittently. Above his head, auspicious clouds of incense smoke materialized, and Chen Jie discovered that the power of this incense smoke was also quite potent.
If he had the strength he has now, then the Living Buddha Phagpa might not have been a match for him at all. Chen Jie understood why the gap between the Living Buddha Phagpa and Zhang Sanfeng was so great.
That was an understanding of the Tao and a comprehension of the power of incense.
Just as Chen Jie was explaining his path of incense offerings, a powerful stream of incense energy suddenly poured in from the east.
Chen Jie clearly felt that his incense offerings and auspicious clouds had grown stronger, and at the same time, his cultivation level had also subtly improved.
"This is... Fusang?"
Chen Jie slowly opened his eyes and came to a conclusion: it was very likely that Fusang Island had been taken over, and the power of this incense offering came from Fusang Island. His statue should already be erected in the square of Fusang Island.
This is the power of incense offerings absorbed from Fusang.
But this is too fast; it's only the 3th of the first lunar month. The army set out less than three days ago, and they've already captured Fusang Island?
Didn't the intelligence say Lan Yu was on Fusang Island? The Great De Empire he established, with an army of 200,000, was so easily defeated by Fu Youde's 100,000 troops. It seems Lan Yu has also been weakened by wine and women, no longer possessing his former prowess.
Chen Jie closed his eyes again. After absorbing the power of the incense offerings,
The incense and auspicious clouds above his head grew even stronger, and at the same time, the range of his divine sense expanded, breaking away from the entire Hebei province and beginning to radiate outwards towards Shandong province, with the range increasing by hundreds of kilometers.
At the same time, he felt his combat power rapidly increasing. Now, every gesture he made emanated the will of the Great Dao, the power of the rules of this world. Was this the feeling of becoming a god?
No wonder. The ancient Shennong said that by following the path of the incense-burning human emperor, one can ultimately control this world, making it one's own treasure and thus becoming the master and god of this world.
It turned out to be the case.
Chen Jie felt that he was now one step closer to the Dao.
Just then, there was a gentle knock on the door of his secluded room.
Chen Jie slowly opened his eyes: "Come in."
Just then, the door was slowly pushed open by a pair of small hands, and two children appeared in the doorway. They were Chen Jie's two sons, Chen Li and Chen Wen.
"Father, Mother has asked us to invite you to have your meal."
Chen Li spoke up.
Chen Jie slowly stood up, glanced at Chen Li, and then asked Chen Wen, "What food did Mother prepare for us today?"
"Today we're making sea crab."
Chen Wen replied.
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie nodded slightly and said, "That's right, now is the time when crabs are at their fattest."
As he spoke, Chen Jie picked up his two sons and said happily, "Come on, Daddy will take you to eat crabs."
Chen Jie and his group quickly arrived at the dining hall. Su Yunjin, Zhao Ya, and Huang Wan'er were already waiting there.
When Huang Wan'er saw Chen Jie, she immediately pointed to her daughter Chen Wanning who was standing next to her.
Xiao Wanning understood her mother's meaning and went directly to Chen Jie's side, saying, "Father, give me a hug."
Chen Jie then put his two sons down and looked at his somewhat jealous daughter, laughing, "You, all you ever do is compete for my favor."
Despite saying this, Chen Jie still picked up Chen Wanning. A daughter is a father's little angel, and Chen Jie actually quite liked Chen Wanning. However, as an emperor, he didn't need to show his affection for a child. Moreover, he valued the heir to the empire more.
Sometimes, once you reach a certain position, you can no longer do whatever you want.
As an emperor, if he showed too much favoritism to a particular child, unless that child was the heir apparent, the ministers below would make wrong judgments and do things that would harm the country. Therefore, Chen Jie restrained his affection.
After we sat down, the palace maids brought out the food. The meal was indeed very lavish, including sea crab.
Seeing the sea crabs, Zhao Ya couldn't help but ask, "I wonder how Fu Youde and Feng Sheng's battle is going? Although these two countries are small, their military strength is not weak. The Fusang Kingdom is even guarded by Lan Yu. It is said that Lan Yu has more than 20 soldiers there and has even established a country."
"Husband, do you think we should send troops to support Fu Youde?"
Zhao Ya looked at Chen Jie and asked.
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie looked at Zhao Ya and smiled, "Don't worry, under the Empire's heavy artillery, no enemy can withstand a single blow. Besides, Fusang Island has already been captured."
"Ah, we've got it! So fast, only three days. Husband, how did you know? Three days isn't enough time for even a messenger to get the message back, is it?"
Zhao Ya asked in surprise.
Chen Chenjie smiled slightly and said, "The good news should be on its way, but I already know about it in advance. As for how I found out..."
Chen Jie stopped there, leaving only an angry Zhao Ya saying, "Husband, you only say one thing, how can you be so mean?"
Hearing her mother say that Chen Jie was bad, Chen Wen looked up and defended her father: "Father is not bad, Wenwen likes Father the most."
Hearing Chen Wen's innocent remark, everyone burst into laughter. (End of Chapter)