Chapter 1 Only Tan Weixin Remained Silent

In the long debate where many wanted Ye Tao dead, and simultaneously, many others wanted to completely erase his guilt, only Tan Weixin remained silent. Besides carefully protecting all that Ye Tao had poured his heart and soul into in Danyang, and sending people to cautiously watch over Ye Tao as he busied himself with various trivial matters in Baishi City to pass the time, she didn't express her thoughts to anyone. But when, after a long inner struggle, Tan Xiaopei finally made a decision, the result wasn't bad.

It wasn't that Tan Weixin didn't care about the disposition of Ye Tao; what she cared about was any situation Ye Tao might find himself in after the disposition. Whether noble or humble, in Tan Weixin's eyes, Ye Tao was always that same person: a warrior brave enough to face an ancient dragon with a giant sword, a hero who wouldn't hesitate or falter in the face of blades, axes, and flames. And she herself was the princess who had been rescued. What a perfect match.

Besides, there were too many others watching Ye Tao besides her. Qi Zhentao came to Danyang in person, representing the entire Qi Hai Merchant Guild, and met with many ministers in the court, expressing his determination to protect Ye Tao. And the Jiu Zhou Merchant Guild, led by Tan Weixin, without any clear instructions from Tan Weixin, had many members who gave Qi Zhentao a lot of help, either overtly or covertly. Some officials whom Qi Zhentao wasn't previously familiar with, and stewards of major clans, all became guests of Qi Zhentao. Perhaps because Ye Tao wasn't a court official and had clearly stated that he didn't want to become one, Ye Tao's humble and peaceful impression was good in the eyes of most people. And among the major aristocratic families in the capital, there were not a few who had invited Ye Tao to design courtyards and gardens, and they patted their chests to promise their support for Ye Tao's matter.

The many scions of aristocratic families in the Blood Kirin Army played an even greater role. Although everyone was under house arrest, this order, which had little practical binding force, couldn't stop these people from colluding with each other to create momentum. The camaraderie forged on the battlefield couldn't be denied. On the issue of Ye Tao, even some families whose relationships with each other weren't so harmonious would cooperate to persuade their families as long as they had descendants studying and training together in the Blood Kirin Army, all for the same goal.

Several ministers in the court, including Situ Huang Xuping, were speaking up for Ye Tao. Zhuo Mang even made a proposal in writing, hoping to allow Ye Tao to be strongly cultivated by the entire Dongping court, especially the military, hoping to allow Ye Tao to truly become a future prime minister who could understand both military and political affairs.

Under these circumstances, the decision made by Tan Xiaopei seemed somewhat incredible to everyone. The final disposition of Ye Tao was: the compensation for all the fallen soldiers of the Blood Kirin Army would be borne by Ye Tao, implemented according to three times the Dongping Ministry of War's compensation standards, with the funds advanced by the Dongping court, and the Ye family would repay this amount with 20% of the shares of its assets; dismiss him from the position of advisor to the Two Armies Review Office, transfer him from the position of recorder in the Two Armies Review Office; summon Ye Tao back to Danyang to continue supervising the construction of the Danyang New District and Iron City. Before the completion of construction in both places, a team of inner court guards would be responsible for monitoring Ye Tao's actions. After the completion of both places, his merits and demerits would be discussed based on the completion situation. Before this, the crime of arbitrarily mobilizing the army would be shelved; Ye Tao would be appointed as an official of the Ministry of Works, holding the military rank of Jun Shi Jiang Jun (Military Advisor General), and would be appointed as an official of the Ministry of War, working with officials of the same rank, not included in the official assessment, and without salary.

None of these items looked like a so-called punishment for Ye Tao. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like they were praising and rewarding Ye Tao in some way. After the state held 20% of the equity of the Ye family, the Ye family's booming manufacturing industry had a national background. In this era where the interests of clans and merchants were protected, and technology was in the hands of aristocratic families and merchants, the Dongping royal family could personally grasp the most profound series of manufacturing technologies through the Ye family. And Ye Tao's creativity determined that the Ye family would have an increasingly rich technical reserve and technological development. In the future, no matter who wanted to deal with Ye Tao again, they would have to consider this relationship: Ye Tao and the Dongping royal family were already an integrated whole with unified interests. And accepting the Ye family's equity in the name of compensation for pensions actually served to assess the overall value of the Ye family, and this value, calculated in this way, was considerable.

The Two Armies Review Office wasn't a formal institution of the Dongping court, but a joint meeting to coordinate various issues. Speaking of which, Tan Xiaopei's intervention in the personnel arrangements of the Two Armies Review Office was meaningless, but Tan Xiaopei's actions implied that he wanted to raise the level of the Two Armies Review Office, making it a formal institution of the Dongping court.

Summoning Ye Tao back to supervise the construction of Iron City and the Danyang New District was indeed because the construction of these places couldn't do without Ye Tao, especially the clock tower in Danyang. Without Ye Tao, subsequent work might not be able to proceed, and it could only become the greatest "unfinished building" of this era. The so-called shelving of the crime to observe the results was just some kind of excuse. In all official dispositions, most of the time, if such words appeared, it meant that the matter was considered settled.

And what everyone couldn't understand the most was the dual appointment of Ye Tao as an official of the Ministry of Works and an official of the Ministry of War. That Jun Shi Jiang Jun (Military Advisor General) rank was nothing. It just gave Ye Tao, who didn't have a formal military position, a reference in terms of status, so that he could determine the hierarchical relationship between the two sides when dealing with generals in the military. But the positions of officials in the two ministries implied too much. Most people, even officials in the court, only regarded it as the court's great favor to Ye Tao, formally affirming Ye Tao's achievements in this form and giving Ye Tao a status. But those who really understood Ye Tao and understood the key would smile knowingly. Ye Tao was very afraid of becoming an official. When Tan Xiaopei agreed that he could not hold any formal position, the sigh of relief he breathed obviously left a deep impression on Tan Xiaopei. Now, Ye Tao had no room for bargaining, so he should obediently work for the court. This appointment had some of Tan Xiaopei's mischievous thoughts in it. Because even without these two appointments, Ye Tao would actually participate in related matters anyway, without any doubt.

When such a disposition plan allowed Ye Tao to pack his luggage and embark on the road back to Danyang, many people were still curious about another thing: how would the matter between Ye Tao and Tan Weixin develop?

Although Tan Xiaopei didn't see Ye Tao many times, his impression of him was quite good. The entire Dongping royal family had a high evaluation of Ye Tao. The crown prince Tan Weiming and the prince Tan Weiran often hung out with Ye Tao, discussing all kinds of strange things. The embroidered princess Tan Weishi had already regarded it as a matter of course to extort various small gifts and fun little things from Ye Tao. Not to mention, there was that strange tacit understanding between Ye Tao and Tan Weixin. For such a special family as the Dongping royal family, since everyone had no obstacles to accepting Ye Tao as a member, then Ye Tao, such a talented and ambitionless person, was ideal in every way. But Tan Xiaopei always felt a little unwilling. From the time Ye Tao appeared until now, he seemed somewhat insignificant to Ye Tao. Ye Tao, who didn't care about power and position, could ignore his sincerity and refuse to become an official. As a monarch, he really lost face. Although Tan Weixin didn't say anything, her posture of already being engaged to Ye Tao made him, as a father, even more depressed. He decided to test Ye Tao again. This was probably one of the few initiatives that he, as a father and a monarch, could grasp on this issue.

Ye Tao and Guan Yinhang set off for Danyang together. They stayed in Baishi City until the renovation project of the Yun Kiln was completed before setting off, and they hadn't had time to test the current situation of the Yun Kiln. They handed over the testing work to several experienced craftsmen, and after saying goodbye to his family, Guan Yinhang, carrying the funds to open a shop in Danyang and a large batch of goods, became one of Ye Tao's attendants. By the time they returned to Danyang, there were only two days left until the assembly date of the Blood Kirin Army.

During those few days when Ye Tao and Guan Yinhang were on the road, before the assembly of the Blood Kirin Army, Tan Xiaopei finally announced the disposition plan for the Two Armies Review Office and the Blood Kirin Army. This plan formally affirmed the important role played by the Blood Kirin Army in the war against Xiling, and also expressed the Dongping court's desire to refer to the Blood Kirin Army's model and invest heavily in building an elite army. The Two Armies Review Office was upgraded to become a formal department of the Dongping court, becoming an affiliated institution of the Forbidden Army's Capital Military Command. The Meng Xue (Fierce Blood) Army and the Blood Kirin Army under the Two Armies Review Office were renamed the Meng Xue Battalion and the Huo Kirin (Fire Kirin) Battalion, collectively known as the Blood Kirin Army. Each battalion had a formal establishment of 10,000 people. In addition to the two battalions, the Two Armies Review Office could also organize a guard of 500 people, 500 reconnaissance cavalry, and 1,500 logistics soldiers. During combat, this force would effectively ensure the logistics and reconnaissance of the Blood Kirin Army, maintain the top-down command within the Blood Kirin Army, and during exercises, these people would be professional organizers and competition managers. Because the Blood Kirin Army currently had a significant shortage of personnel, the missing positions would be filled within a month by elite soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers drawn from the Forbidden Army and the Danyang City Guard. From then on, the source of officers in the Blood Kirin Army would maintain a ratio of 30% from the Forbidden Army, 30% from the City Guard and garrisons in various places, and 40% selected from the Yi Zhan Lou (Strategy Battle Tower) Military Chess Competition. In the Blood Kirin Army, those who couldn't complete the training and assessment of the existing 60 subjects within two years would be advised to leave, and if they completed it, they could undergo another year of training and assessment. After completing three years of training, they could choose to stay in the Blood Kirin Army or go to the Forbidden Army or other troops, or they could choose to leave the army and continue to be their wealthy sons. And the most critical change was that all expenses of the Blood Kirin Army would no longer directly accept donations from aristocratic families and wealthy households, but would be circulated through the inner court and the Forbidden Army's Capital Military Command, so as to avoid situations where donors were favored in the Blood Kirin Army.

Through such a change, the Blood Kirin Army and the Two Armies Review Office would truly become representatives of elite troops that combined combat and training. The Blood Kirin Army's military expenditure had only one standard, and that was whether it was needed. As long as it was indeed needed, all expenses, whether for equipment procurement, organizing exercises, etc., could be approved without restriction, without setting a limit. The Blood Kirin Army's model was bound to be impossible to popularize, but the Blood Kirin Army would undoubtedly become a loyal and powerful army. And many internal regulations of the Blood Kirin Army, after being tested in actual combat, had now been recognized by the Dongping military. For example, small details such as not having to salute senior officers passing by the barracks during rest unless ordered by an officer, and the internal system of setting up military courts within the Blood Kirin Army to judge soldiers who violated discipline and the law instead of being arbitrarily dealt with by their direct superiors, would all become established practice in the Dongping military.

On the day Ye Tao returned to Danyang, the Blood Kirin Army spontaneously gathered to welcome their general. Everyone wore various casual clothes of different styles, generally in black or dark brown tones. Among these two hundred representatives of the Blood Kirin Army were officers who were already well-known and officers and soldiers of various ranks. Some of them, with the help of family power, might be able to enter Dongping's bureaucratic system in a short period of time and become officials of not low rank. However, that kind of risk-free path was not as stimulating, as exciting, or as fascinating as earning merits in a special army like the Blood Kirin Army, among completely trustworthy comrades-in-arms, superiors, and subordinates, and on a battlefield where anything could happen. Moreover, now it seemed that the Blood Kirin Army might be a faster path for those who aspired to develop in the military.

"A detachment of the Blood Kirin Army requests to join the ranks," Lu Dan said, bowing his body to Ye Tao in the carriage.

"Permission granted to join the ranks." Ye Tao, who originally wanted to return to Danyang in a low-key manner and avoid causing too much attention, was not unhappy because these lovely subordinates had broken his expectations. His heart was filled with deep emotion. He came out of the carriage, jumped on a horse, and rode to the forefront of the team. In the middle of the team, the tall "Ye" character flag was raised high, flying with the entire team, and following all the way to the entrance of the Ye family's residence - Zheng Yuan.

"Thank you, everyone," Ye Tao placed his right fist on his heart, signaling to everyone with the chest-stroking salute commonly used in the Blood Kirin Army. Immediately, he put down his hand and happily said to everyone, "I'll go to the camp tomorrow to treat everyone to a drink."

Everyone responded with laughter and cheers. Chi Lei, Zeng Zining, and a few others followed Ye Tao into Zheng Yuan, while the others dispersed.

In Zheng Yuan, Ye Tao's father, Ye Laogeng, and his several senior brothers were all there, not at all to his surprise, but Qi Zhentao was sitting on the side with great fanfare, which made him somewhat flattered.

"You kid is really capable of making trouble." Qi Zhentao put down the teacup in his hand and scolded with a smile.

Ye Tao bowed deeply to Qi Zhentao and said, "Old Master Qi, thank you very much. Actually, I didn't expect myself to be so reckless. I've caused everyone trouble."

Qi Zhentao waved his hand and said, "What's there to thank? Speaking of which, the fact that you can return to Danyang safely has nothing to do with what others say. It's all because of yourself. If it were anyone else, they would probably have died there."

Qi Zhentao patted Ye Tao on the shoulder and said, "Come, let me say a few words to you. I have to leave Danyang today. There are too many things waiting for me in Yicheng. Besides, there are people waiting for you later."