Chapter 98: The Rebellion
In the next few days, Wang Wei’s group slowly started to reorganize the military district and thoroughly control it.
Wang Wei was lucky because he soon realized that General Dong Wu was a person obsessed with power--especially when it comes to military or force.
In the entire Iron Wall City, the general controls any group that can be considered to be "arm force".
From the daily patrol of the city to the guards standing on the wall, from the martial art halls to the lawless gangs in the city. His hand reached in every aspect of these things. Even the escort service that merchants used to protect their goods had General Dong Wu’ secret hand behind the scenes.
Due to this, he essentially rendered all the nobles powerless. The only force that the nobles of Iron Wall City have are the guards that they secretly trained. Even then, the nobles were forced to control the number in order not to warn the general.
However, as a compromise, General Dong Wu handed all the political and economical power of this city to the nobles--as long as they do not interfere with the military’s livelihood.
Inside the General’s Manor, Wang Wei was reviewing a lot of information about the city’ situation when three people walked into his room. Without raising his head, he asked:
"Wang Ju, did you accomplish the task I gave you?"
"Yes, young master. General Dong Wu was hypnotized and wrote the edict. General 1 already left for the Fortress. However, despite many torture, the general refuses to acknowledge his allegiance."
"It’s not just him that is stubborn. Many of the soldiers in the army are loyal only to him and also refuse to obey our orders," added Li Jun.
Wang Wei thought for a few seconds before ordering to just execute these disobeying soldiers, however, he still kept Dong Wu alive. Given the fact he has the same last name of this kingdom’s royal family, he might be useful in the future.
After that, Wang Wei asked Yan Liling if she had anything to report and she answered, "Big brother Wang Wei, we are running out of money, food, and spiritual materials."
"With the good deeds we did in the past six months, most of our wealth is almost gone. With you asking me to crush a few Nourishing Pills and add it to the food we serve the people of the common district, a lot of spiritual ingredients were used in the process."
"Not to mention we had to secretly provide General 1 to 5 with special pills to bribe or woo the soldiers. Most of the gold, silver, and food we stole on our way from the capital is almost gone."
"Why did we have to put Nourishing Pills in the food we distributed in the common district," suddenly asked Li Jun.
"Well, it is because we need to train a strong army as fast as possible. The majority of people in the common district are weak, thin, and malnourished. However, they are still the main place necessary to recruit troops in the future."
"With the nourishing pills, a lot of strong men were brought back to peak physical conditions in just a few months, and many young people had established a strong foundation. As such, when we recruit troops there, not only will the people easily accept being enlisted, it will be easier and faster to train them into a powerful and usable army."
Everyone nodded after figuring out Wang Wei’s process. As such, Li Jun added: "Back in the sect, I’ve trained an army of cultivators before, but I have never trained a mortal army before. This should be an exciting experience."
"With these healthy people, it will be much easier for them to train in the Military’s Martial Arts."
Wang Wei agrees with Li Jun. This world’s martial arts make it easier to properly train an army--especially resources wise. Training a cultivating army takes countless time and resources.
This is the reason that only the Blood Wolf Army under General Dong Wu is made up of cultivators.
After pondering for a while, Wang Wei said:
"You do not need to worry about the problem of money and materials. My next step of action will solve our problems."
After saying this, Wang Wei ordered Wang Ju to proceed to the next step of the plan.
A few days later, Merchant District, in a public square, General 2 and 3 brought an elite group of soldiers. In front of them stood numerous merchants waiting.
Then, General 5 started reading out loud an edict drafted by General Dong Wu. As soon as he finished, a commotion appeared among the merchants.
"What, we have to hand 90% of our food and gold to the army!"
"It hasn’t been a year since the last food draft, and now, you are already asking for more?"
"Last time we only had to offer 60% of our food, and now you are asking for 90%?"
"On top of that, you guys are also asking for our gold. How can we make any profit with how things are being run in this city?"
Countless people started arguing and denouncing General 2 and 3 for being ruthless. All the merchants were not happy.
"So, you guys are not willing to hand over the food and gold? Can I see your actions as an act of rebellion against General Dong Wu’s order?" said General 2 with a killing intent in his eyes.
Following him, the soldiers behind him also released their killing intent. As elite soldiers that have experienced countless slaughter, their killing intents were not something that a bunch of rich and fat merchants could bear.
So, the majority of them lowered their heads and decided to hand over their stored food, gold, and spiritual materials. However, a few people refused to backdowned. To them, money was more important than their life.
Without hesitation, General 2 ordered the soldiers to slaughter the people that resisted and confiscated all their wealth. After seeing the massacres of their fellow merchants, the rest of them became obedient and did not hide anything.
As for those who thought they were smart and decided to hide the amount of wealth they had, they were soon discovered under the investigation of General 2 and 3. These people suffered the same fate as the disobedient ones.
These were all Wang Wei’s orders. He had no sympathy for these merchants who leeched on the life of the common people. If it was not due to the fact that these merchants were a necessary part for him to build a prosperous dynasty, he would have taken all of their wealth instead of leaving 10% to them.
However, the same cannot be said for the nobles of this city. If the merchants are just a chronic disease, then the nobles are malignant tumors. They all need to be destroyed.
And that is exactly what Wang Wei did. After securing the logistics of his team, he sent all the troops available in his hands to encircle the noble district and arrested all the nobles there.
Then, in front of all the people of the common district, he showed them evidence of the crimes that these nobles had committed. With a recording crystal brought from his own world, Wang Ju and his spy group recorded all kinds of atrocious crimes.
From raping, murder, selling children, and distributing drugs to the common peoople to get them addicted and prevent them from rising. Some nobles even had some sick habits like eating people and children.
All these crimes were exposed to the people. With this evidence and Wang Wei’s prestige as the "Wise Sage", the people were incited to revolt against the royal family.
Taking advantage of this moment of excitement, Wang Wei recruited many strong and healthy male into the army. Then, he spent another year and a half training a proper army.
With General 1 taking over the Iron Fortress, Wang Wei used the battle between the Iron Fist Kingdom to quickly hone the fighting abilities of his new army.
Through constant battles, in just a year and half, these new soldiers turned into elite under the precise guidance of Li Jun.
After that, Wang Wei officially launched his rebellion. In just 3 years, he had captured 12 of the 72 states of the Eastern Rain Kingdom.
Wang Wei had to admit that the princess Dong Lifen did a terrific job in keeping the royal family in the dark. She managed to buy him more than 5 years of time.
However, the new was soon leaked and the royal family acted strongly and swiftly after that.
One day, while in the army barracks and reviewing information about the progress of the army’s marching, Wang Wei suddenly felt a powerful aura heading in his direction.
He left his office and looked in the direction of the aura. There, he saw an old man quickly approaching them. He could tell that this old man was a Divine Altar Realm cultivator.
"Well, the response was quite intense," muttered Wang Wei as he could tell that this man was most likely one of the Ancestors of the royal family used as a powerful deterrent.
Just the fact that they were willing to wake him up from his seal showed that the royal family took their rebellion very seriously and ought to use the swiftest means to put it to an end.