Three days later.
The weather was fair, the breeze gentle and the sun bright.
Outside Jiangzhou Prefecture City, armored soldiers stood in dense ranks. Poison Dragon and the others stood solemnly according to their status, gazing at an earthen altar ahead.
The altar and its platform had been hastily constructed, looking crude and lacking in proper form—because "rites" were the exclusive domain of Confucian scholars.
Hardly any Confucian scholars had joined their regime, so nobody was available to oversee the rituals. Many things could only be made do with.
Poison Dragon had no choice but to do it himself, forcing ducks onto the perch. Thus, this altar to Heaven bore a great deal of Daoist style.
Among the watching crowd, several Confucian scholars in scholar's robes and green headscarves sneered inwardly. "A grass-crowned king of chaos, a monkey in a cap—nothing could be more fitting... How improper!"
Yet as they looked at the more than one thousand armored troops, not one of them dared say it aloud.
Recently, Great Liang had been conquering cities and seizing land in rapid succession, striking out in all directions. Several nearby county seats had already fallen.
Though the other routes seemed to have encountered setbacks, Aaron's attitude was firm: whatever was lost would be replaced. However many men they lost, that many would immediately be replenished.
Those county commandants and county troops might not be able to hold out much longer.
Thus, Great Liang could be considered somewhat stabilized—at least until the imperial army arrived.
And so they held this Heaven-worshipping ceremony to proclaim a king.
Though the ceremony was rudimentary, many secretly shuddered at the sight. "These rebels have quite a system to them... Once they proclaim a king, they'll immediately become a force to be reckoned with!"
A bad reputation was still