After putting away the various Law Treasures and manuals, Lin Xiye sat cross-legged on the ground, took out a Spirit Stone fragment, and began cultivating...
In his drawn-out fight with the Zhao Household's patriarch, Lin Xiye had seemingly held the upper hand throughout, but the amount of Qi and Blood he had expended was staggering.
If he did not cultivate and recover soon, it could even affect his lifespan.
After Lin Xiye entered a secret chamber for secluded cultivation, Lin Changge urgently summoned all the Lin Household's clansmen, vassals, and household slaves in Qiao Town...
After this battle, the Purple River City Zhao Household had essentially exhausted its core reserves.
At most, only a small number of household slaves and ordinary armored guards remained in the Zhao Household.
As for immortal cultivators, the Zhao Household still had a patriarch at the Bone Refining level and a few immortal cultivators at the Skin Refining level.
Once these remaining forces were wiped out, the Purple River City Zhao Household... would be utterly overthrown.
Lin Changge spent two whole days assembling an armored guard corps.
This time, the Lin Household had obtained all kinds of armor and equipment. As long as there were enough able-bodied young men... the Lin Household could easily assemble a force of ten thousand armored guards.
Of course, hastily recruited armored guards would surely be somewhat weaker in combat.
But none of that mattered. What Lin Changge wanted was an imposing show of force.
The Zhao Household's remaining forces no longer posed much of a threat to the Lin Household.
The Lin Household's occupation of Zichuan City was already a nail hammered into the board.
Assembling an imposing armored guard corps was primarily meant to deter the surrounding powers and proclaim the Lin Household's foundations and strength throughout the territory within a thousand li of Zichuan City.
Previously, the main reason the Lin Household could only support a force of several hundred armored guards was its limited finances.
Resources were scarce within a hundred li of Qiao Town. The population of all the surrounding villages, together with that of Qiao Town itself, was less than a hundred thousand! Of those, only a few thousand were able-bodied young men.
Drawing several hundred armored guards from those few thousand able-bodied young men... was already the Lin Household's limit.
But as long as they captured Zichuan City, everything would be different.
The difference in resources between a territory a hundred li across and one a thousand li across... was far more than a hundredfold.
Once it took Zichuan City and ruled the territory within a thousand li, the Lin Household could easily support around twenty thousand armored guards, even after paying the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect a large tribute of resources every year.
"Reporting to the patriarch, after two days of recruitment, our Lin Household's armored guards now number three thousand..."
"Recruiting these three thousand armored guards was already the limit of what our Qiao Town could manage."
"Moreover, all three thousand are infantry."
"As for cavalry, they would be difficult to train in a short time..."
In a broad square, a dense mass of armored guards had gathered. A Lin Household elder looked at Lin Changge and spoke with a helpless expression.
"Only three thousand recruits?"
Lin Changge sighed softly.
Although he had anticipated this result, he was still somewhat dissatisfied.
Hearing this, the Lin Household elder shook his head, cupped his hands, and continued,
"Under ordinary circumstances, if our Lin Household spared no expense, we could recruit seven or eight thousand able-bodied young men from within a hundred li of Qiao Town."
"But because of the slaughter carried out by the Zhao Household and its affiliated forces, quite a few villages were wiped out... Qiao Town's population has been cut almost in half."
At this point, a flicker of anger appeared on the Lin Household elder's face.
The mountain folk in the villages within a hundred li of Qiao Town were all retainers of the Lin Household... Half of their retainers had been slaughtered, so how could he not be angry?
"Patriarch, when are we attacking Zichuan City?"
"Once we fight our way into Zichuan City, I'll slaughter the city for ten days, until blood flows through it like a river!"
The more the Lin Household elder spoke, the angrier he became, his eyes filled with killing intent.
Although the Jin Kingdom was nominally a unified whole,
in reality, the Aristocratic Clans and sects in each region... were like independent little kingdoms.
It was commonplace for Aristocratic Clans to fight among themselves and slaughter the inhabitants of each other's cities and towns.
When forces of equal standing fought, their superior power usually would not interfere, no matter which side swallowed the other, as long as tribute was paid on time.
In Huai Mountain Commandery, for example, the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect would not interfere unless the great households fought and caused the deaths of millions or even tens of millions of mortals...
In a conflict on the scale of the one between the Lin Household and the Zhao Household, even the deaths of hundreds of thousands of mortals would not attract the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect's attention.
"Shut up!!"
"Once our Lin Household occupies Zichuan City, we must win over the people... and we must have a large enough population to develop our various industries!"
"Our Lin Household isn't the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect, slaughtering a city at the drop of a hat! If there aren't enough people, holding an empty Zichuan City would be utterly meaningless to our Lin Household."
"Wiping out the Zhao Household and some of its affiliated forces will be enough!"
"Someone who knows nothing but fighting and killing is a brute and a fool!"
Lin Changge sternly rebuked the Lin Household elder for his words.
He rubbed his head, turned his gaze to the three thousand armored guards, and promptly drew up a series of laws.
First, after occupying Zichuan City, there was to be no burning, killing, or looting, and no disruption of order!
Second, they were to wield the butcher's blade only against the Zhao Household and its vassal forces.
Third, anyone who dared violate either of the first two laws would be executed by a thousand cuts, even if they were an elder of the household!
Lin Changge did not make these arrangements out of mercy.
If it benefited the Lineage's development, let alone slaughtering a city, he would not care even if an entire kingdom were wiped out.
The main thing was that the Lin Household needed to develop its economy! It needed production!
For the Lin Household at present, people were a precious resource. Apart from those unstable elements... the Lin Household had to reassure the people and reduce the killing.
Faced with Lin Changge's blistering rebuke, the Lin Household elder dared not argue and hurriedly nodded in agreement.
"Then, Patriarch... when do we begin occupying Zichuan City?"
At that moment, another Lin Household elder suddenly stepped forward. When he mentioned "occupying Zichuan City," his face filled with longing, and he was clearly growing impatient.
As soon as he finished speaking, the many Lin Household clansmen and armored guards all turned to look at Lin Changge.
With everyone watching him, Lin Changge did not answer directly. He merely said calmly,
"There's no rush..."
"The patriarch still needs time to recover and recuperate."
"Besides, Zichuan City is far from Qiao Town, with mountains and long roads between them. We need to prepare enough provisions and supplies, or trouble will inevitably arise on the march."
"One more thing, let me emphasize this again! In this battle, our Lin Household must remember two points!"
"No innocent person unconnected to the Zhao Household is to be killed indiscriminately or robbed..."
"Otherwise, whoever it is will be executed by a thousand cuts!"
After speaking, Lin Changge turned and left the square, heading toward the small courtyard where Lin Xiye was staying.
As for when they would occupy Zichuan City, the most crucial factor was their own patriarch!!
After all, dealing with the Zhao Household's remaining immortal cultivators required the patriarch to act personally...
At the thought, Lin Changge felt somewhat helpless.
He decided that once this matter was over, he would find infants and children with Spirit Roots as soon as possible and entrust them to their patriarch's care.
The Lineage had to raise more immortal cultivators. Otherwise, relying on the patriarch to handle everything really made them, his descendants, look incompetent...