Chapter 12 Sun Bo Ping

Sun Bo Ping arrived at the main altar two days later. The journey from Anqing to Taizhou was surprisingly turbulent. Sun Bo Ping was a thorn in the side of those ministers and local forces who supported the Daoming Sect. Although they couldn't directly attack him, it was easy enough to contact some of the sect's followers, orchestrate attacks on the convoy, and then let some skilled individuals take the opportunity to strike. However, Sun Bo Ping was surrounded by quite a few experts, especially a Zongmo squad (Demon Sect Squad). Even if they encountered a vast army, it wouldn't be difficult for them to protect Sun Bo Ping and escape, let alone deal with some poorly armed rabble. To those rioters, the Zongmo squad members wearing white robes were like grim reapers.

But the attacks on the road also exposed the extent of the power struggles in Xiling. If anything were to happen, the situation might become even more complicated. Ye Tao was considering whether he should stir things up a bit more and cause some more trouble for the Daoming Sect. But at this point, the degree of intervention had to be carefully controlled. If things got too big and turned into a large-scale battle, it might involve the entire Taizhou area, or even a wider range of forces, which was not Ye Tao's intention. If things went wrong, it could involve a large number of troops and greatly delay the conquest of Chunnan. Ye Tao was unwilling to postpone the conquest of Chunnan for even a day. Launching the attack at the beginning of spring had been planned long ago.

"My lord, there's no need to worry too much about that," Lei Huang said, clearly confident in his plan. "If I don't give those people a lesson after my father-in-law was attacked by the Daoming Sect followers, that would be strange."

Lei Huang quickly deployed a counterattack. The Zongmo squad launched a night raid, destroying four Daoming Sect altars in a row, without killing a single person. This level of control let the Daoming Sect know they were in trouble, but they couldn't react or use it as an excuse to cause trouble. In the conflicts between religious sects, military strength was only one aspect. In this era of frequent warfare, the followers valued what kind of security the sect could provide. And the Lei Yin Demon Sect's performance this time could almost be described as a show of force. After seeing Lei Huang's arrangements, Ye Tao felt quite relieved. The young brat from back then had now become a strategic and talented general. The entire Taizhou area was well-organized under his management, and his strategies for dealing with various conflicts were diverse, powerful, and well-controlled. Looking at Lei Huang's lazy appearance, Ye Tao thought it might be time to give him a bigger responsibility.

Sun Bo Ping hadn't seen Ye Tao for many years. For a high-ranking minister like him in Xiling, maintaining minimal contact was sufficient. Sun Bo Ping had never considered revealing his spy identity or using his vast power and network of relationships to sever ties with Yunzhou. Sun Bo Ping understood very well how much effort Yunzhou had put into getting him to where he was today. Just to ensure that his series of financial measures could be implemented and achieve good results, Yunzhou had invested nearly fifteen million taels of silver, both before and after. Of course, when Tan Weixin was managing these funds, she carefully selected different areas to invest in, which was not purely to support him. Looking at it now, there were no losses and even a small profit. However, this profit was insignificant compared to the Ye family workshops and the various other businesses Tan Weixin was operating. Over the years, Yunzhou had injected more than forty million taels of silver into Xiling, but none of it had been taken back. The annual profits were either reinvested locally or simply given to the Lei Yin Demon Sect to control. And it was because of this economic penetration that Sun Bo Ping knew that once Tan Weixin was willing, she could easily stir up a storm that would make the Xiling court struggle. Sun Bo Ping met with Ye Tao and didn't talk about too much. They just exchanged their attitudes, and Sun Bo Ping once again declared his loyalty to Ye Tao and Dongping. At this critical moment, this kind of statement was extremely necessary. Sun Bo Ping's financial skills were almost entirely taught step by step by Tan Weixin's "correspondence courses," but his official skills were much stronger than Tan Weixin and Ye Tao's. Being able to reach the highest ranks of the court, Sun Bo Ping had also colluded with a rather large group of forces both inside and outside the court. He could at least command two of the six ministries of Xiling, as well as one part of the Imperial Guards, one part of the City Guards, and the full strength of several families. Sun Bo Ping smiled and guaranteed that even if they really had to attack the city, he could guarantee to open a city gate and control a portion of the Xiling ministers as soon as possible, and that he would keep his word. With the help of the Special Operations Camp and other forces, he could even try to control Anqing in a short period. If the Xiling royal family had already surrendered, it could almost be guaranteed that the situation in Anqing would be stabilized within two days. But the attitude of the surrounding aristocratic families was hard to say. Now, the various forces in Xiling were basically optimistic when put together. It didn't seem like this would be a coup, but rather a top-down suppression. With these communications, Ye Tao returned to Danyang, satisfied after briefly inspecting the various facilities and preparations of the Lei Yin Demon Sect.

The negotiations in Danyang were relatively optimistic. The Yin family of the Xiling royal family was almost the oldest family on this continent, and their political wisdom accumulated over many years was not to be underestimated. The conditions they proposed were very interesting. Regarding family assets, the Yin family gave up all assets within Xiling, keeping only the Yin family ancestral temple and its attached manor. All of these assets would be exchanged at half price for various industries within Dongping's inherent territory, Yunzhou, Benlang Plain, and the former Northern Liao territory. Of course, they definitely didn't want loss-making industries. They were willing to take even those that could break even. The Yin family would be divided into three branches in the future. The core royal family would continue to be called the Yin clan, while the other two branches would become the Yin clan and the Yin clan, respectively. These three branches would also not actively intervene in the Dongping court for thirty years, and all personnel and assets would be reported to the Dongping royal family's clan office every year. When this proposal was made, even Tan Xiaopei was quite shocked. The Yin family was an ancient and noble family. Such a family would naturally have internal conflicts, but they would definitely be united externally to fully maintain the family's honor. For such a family to split itself up, the attitude of those who were split off would definitely not be good towards the main family. Moreover, no matter how united they were originally, once they were divided into different families, their centripetal force would immediately decrease a lot. The heads of each clan would have their own interests to consider and would not be as inclined to support the main family as before. It was really hard to say how the three branches would develop in the future. The Yin family might not be the healthiest one to develop.

The asset requirements and these self-restraint requirements made Tan Xiaopei very willing to consider their other requirements. But the request that the Yin family made afterwards made Tan Xiaopei a little embarrassed. The request made by the Yin family was quite traditional, very much in line with the style of such an old family: a marriage alliance. The Yin family hoped that Tan Weiming's son could marry the youngest daughter of the Xiling emperor, the four-year-old Princess Yueying Yinzhen. The Yin family explained that Yinzhen would not have to be, and should not be, the queen in the future, but at least considering her good family background, she should be a concubine with a bit of status, right? And Yinzhen had already been brought to Danyang hidden in the delegation. As long as Tan Xiaopei nodded, Yinzhen would live in Danyang. The delegation also brought bank drafts issued by Yunzhou Bank for five million silver yuan, which could be used immediately to purchase a mansion, hire guards and servants, and build a princess's residence directly in Danyang. Then, they would wait for the merger of the two countries to be completed and wait for Tan Xiaopei to announce...

But Tan Xiaopei did not agree to this request. Tan Weiming's child had been flagged because of what the crown princess had done back then. Although the crown princess was instigated by Chang Ling, she was indeed too attached to power and too vain. Tan Xiaopei had discussed this matter with Tan Weiming at the time, and Tan Weiming himself felt that his child's personality was not suitable for inheriting the throne. In terms of the child's current development, his intelligence and personality were more similar to a general than a ruler. He was too reckless in doing things. Tan Weiming recommended Tan Weiran's second son and Ye Tao's eldest son, Ye Wenxuan, to inherit his position in the future. Ye Wenxuan was now registered in the Tan clan's genealogy, so there was no problem with his identity. It was just that this matter had not been told to Ye Tao yet, because the three Tan father and sons, plus Tan Weixin and Tan Weishi, knew that Ye Tao would never agree. And Tan Weixin and Tan Weishi would almost certainly be on Ye Tao's side. In fact, in terms of the personalities of these children, Ye Wenxuan was the most suitable. At a young age, he was gentle and kind, had great leadership skills, was curious, and was willing to listen to the opinions of all kinds of people, especially because he had no prejudice against anyone and never boasted about his identity. Tan Weiran's second son had almost become Ye Wenxuan's follower. If Tan Weiran's second son were to inherit the throne in the future, there was no doubt that Ye Wenxuan would become a famous minister, but letting him be the emperor seemed to be a better choice. Tan Xiaopei and Tan Weiming had discussed this matter privately many times, but finally felt that this matter could not be revealed, otherwise, Ye Tao might be happy to let Ye Wenxuan and Ye Wenji, two curious explorers, run around the world and never be found again. And the Tan family could do nothing about Ye Tao.

Tan Xiaopei couldn't say this to the representatives of the Yin family. His explanation was that, starting from his generation, every person in the Tan family had chosen a partner who was compatible, rather than arranged by the family. It would be great if it was a well-matched noble lady from a prominent family, but even if it was a commoner, they would not interfere. Because the current level of education in Dongping was generally very high, they were actually more willing for a woman with a good personality from a commoner background to enter the royal family. This matter was really not easy to interfere with the children. Especially since these children were still very young. But Tan Xiaopei was not refusing. He agreed to let Yinzhen live in Danyang and receive education together with the children of the Tan, Ye, Zhuo, Dai, and Northern Liao Li families, cultivating relationships from an early age. If Yinzhen became particularly close to one of them in the future, their parents would do their best to facilitate it. The Danyang royal family kindergarten...the lineup would probably be quite large, and there would be a cultivation mechanism all the way up in the future...

The Yin family agreed. As for the matter of building a princess's residence, Tan Xiaopei was too embarrassed to really let Xiling invest a large sum of money into the active Danyang real estate market. Instead, after consulting Tan Weishi, he gifted Embroidery Garden to Yinzhen. This exquisite little garden, designed and built by Ye Tao many years ago, had been carefully maintained for so many years, like a beautiful jade that had been nurtured for many years, becoming even more beautiful. When the yard was built, the planting of flowers and trees in the core garden was still a bit rushed, but now, almost every flower and tree in the entire Embroidery Garden was a rare and famous species, and every piece of rock was carefully selected and even replaced many times in order to make the entire garden feel like a perfect whole...The Yin family initially accepted it reluctantly, but when they took Yinzhen into Embroidery Garden and saw it, they were all stunned. Not to mention the garden itself, just those flowers, trees, rocks, and the supporting design would probably cost five or six million silver yuan. The garden had recently undergone a renovation, replacing several of the rocks with whole pieces of jade. The quality of the jade might not be too high, but holes were drilled in the middle to install electric lights. When the lights were turned on at night, the light was filtered through the jade, spreading harmonious light throughout the yard, like a fairyland. The technician in charge of this renovation was still making the final adjustments. According to him, Ye Tao, Sophie, Tan Weishi, and Dai Qiuyan had revised the design several times, fully considering the position and characteristics of each flower and tree. And during the construction, thirty-three technicians and gardeners from all walks of life were summoned. Those who were qualified to enter Embroidery Garden to participate in the garden renovation were all top craftsmen in Dongping. Not counting the cost of materials, just calling these people together and having them work here for a month would cost 500,000 taels of silver. In addition, the books in the study, the calligraphy and paintings hanging in the various halls and corridors, and the small items that had been engraved on stone tablets or had the original paper manuscripts placed in vacuum-sealed glass covers hidden throughout the yard would all continue to increase in value. In addition, three four-wheeled carriages with all the latest designs were also included. As for the horses, the horses kept in Embroidery Garden were not the best. After all, Ye Tao's family didn't spend much time in Danyang now, so there was no need to waste them. The seemingly simple and low-key Embroidery Garden was undoubtedly the most valuable property in the entire Danyang area other than the palace.

And unlike any other property that could be bought, Embroidery Garden was a registered yard in the Ye family workshop system. Whenever there was any equipment or design that would help improve the quality of life, the technicians would immediately come up with a plan based on the specific situation of Embroidery Garden and implement it. Purely in terms of living comfort, Embroidery Garden could rank in the top ten in the world. The first place was naturally Ye Family Fort, the second was Gandor's Jinglue Manor, the third was Yicheng's Chunnuan Residence, the fourth was Old Man Qi's newly built Zhenhai Pavilion in Yazhou, and the fifth was the Dongping Palace. It was debatable whether Embroidery Garden or Lingyun Pavilion, where several elders of the Dai family in Tianling Fort lived to enjoy their old age, was sixth or seventh.

People from Xiling had never imagined such a garden. And Yinzhen, this pink and jade-like little girl, was even happier to run around everywhere, never getting enough of it. What made the Xiling delegation feel even more like a good omen was that the kittens raised in Embroidery Garden liked Yinzhen very much and were playing with this little girl, who had no idea what was going on, in less than an hour.

Using Embroidery Garden as a gift also greatly enhanced the persuasiveness of Tan Xiaopei's so-called cultivation of relationships. In Xiling's eyes, Embroidery Garden...it was simply giving Yinzhen the betrothal gifts in advance. No one could estimate how much this garden was worth.

The Yin family and Tan Xiaopei were still continuing more detailed consultations, but since they had reached a consensus on the broad outlines, they could proceed with the actual deployments. The Yin family's military representatives began to discuss the various details of controlling the entire territory of Xiling with Tan Xiaopei, but their property exchange plan could not be started quickly. Only Tan Weixin and her subordinates could negotiate and handle this matter well, but Tan Weixin's entire team was currently helping with war preparations, and there were too many miscellaneous things. Tan Weixin's energy was limited, and everyone knew that. The Xiling representatives were very open-minded about this and were not in a hurry at all. After all, in addition to this item, even the clause allowing the children to cultivate relationships from an early age had begun to be implemented.