Chapter 340: New Policy

Chapter 340 New Policy

Snow blanketed the city, and the sun grew slow.

The surroundings of the Inuyama Castle Jinyiwei Office, usually utterly silent, were now uncharacteristically swarming with people, bubbling with tumultuous laughter.

A Confucian Temple, funded and built by the Pacification Commission Bureau, had appeared right beside the office.

The two buildings were separated by no more than several dozen paces, making them near neighbors in the sparsely populated western suburbs.

Before the gates of the Confucian Temple, a crowd of raggedly dressed youths gathered together, without exception holding a set of brand-new scholar robes they had just received.

A youth named Terao Reki stood on the edge of the crowd, his gaze blank as he looked at the radiant, smiling faces before him.

"Room and board included, no more sleeping in the rough." "Develop your brain and quicken your wits, live a high-class life." "Go to work in the Empire, see the sea of stars."

Aside from "room and board," the other concepts that were not so easily understood drifted into Terao Reki's ears, making him furrow his brows subconsciously.

"The Master gave me a new name. Do you guys have one?"

A taller youth shouted with excitement.

"Takagi Hotaru, if even you have one, of course everyone does. The Master is the fairest of all."

"Don't call me Takagi Hotaru anymore. I am now called Gao Song. The Master said that starting today, we must use our new names so we can have a new life."

"Yes, yes, yes, don't call me Sunaga Hime either. I am now called Xu Chen!"

"Starting today, I, Ogasawara Tsutomu, am officially renamed Li Yuannu. All of you better remember that!"

These youths, who had no inheritance of factory workstations and no money to modify cybernetic prosthetics, were jumping for joy at this moment, as if they were already waving goodbye to a past they could not bear to look back on.

At last, someone noticed Terao Reki, who had remained silent the entire time, and asked with a laugh, "Terao Reki, you haven't told everyone yet. What is the new name the Master gave you?"

"Yeah, now you're the only one left who hasn't said it."

"Speak up, speak up, otherwise how are we going to address you in the future?"

Suddenly surrounded by the cheerful voices and laughter, a flustered expression appeared on Terao Reki's face. He twisted his body unnaturally and mumbled, "I don't really like the name."

"But the Master said that as long as we change our names, we can enter the temple to study, and room and board are taken care of."

The youth named Gao Song asked in bewilderment, "You can eat your fill and dress warmly. Why don't you like it?"

True, why wouldn't I like it?

Terao Reki's stunned gaze swept across his surroundings, meeting pairs of uncomprehending eyes staring back at him.

To be able to eat his fill and dress warmly, wasn't that what he had always craved?

Terao Reki scratched his head, and a smile slowly spread across his face, which had been blown crimson by the cold wind.

"The name the Master bestowed upon me is Shi Le. From today onward, my name is Shi Le!"

"I truly don't understand. It's fine for the Pacification Commission to push through the new policy, but why did they have to open the Confucian Temple right next to our office?"

In the Centurion's office on the top floor of the western suburbs office, Fan Wujiu withdrew his gaze from looking out the window and asked in confusion, "We are the Jinyiwei, not security guards. Isn't protecting the safety of the Confucian Temple the job of the Garrison Bureau? How did it fall onto our shoulders?"

"Do you think those useless trash from the Garrison Bureau can be relied upon?"

Standing beside him, Xie Bi'an said testily, "Stop grumbling. The command from the Thousand-Man Office is for us to fully cooperate with the work of the Pacification Commission. We can only obey."

"Fine, but the scale of this Confucian Temple is simply too massive, isn't it? Little Bai, look at how many people are down there."

Fan Wujiu bared his teeth and said, "Don't these people need to punch the clock and go to work? Lord knows I was already working in a factory when I was twelve."

"The Pacification Commission issued a decree. Every youth in the entire Inuyama Castle who has not yet reached the age of hair-binding must enter the temple to study. What you are seeing now is just a pilot site."

"Could their families agree to this?"

"It is not up to them to choose. If they don't send the children to study, the garrison will go door-to-door to arrest people."

Xie Bi'an said, "Furthermore, after entering the temple, not only will room and board be covered, but silver notes will also be distributed monthly as a subsidy. If anyone has the potential to break their locks and advance their sequence, the Pacification Commission will even pay to send them to the Empire's large academies for free study. Who wouldn't take up such a good deal?"

"A blade in one hand and candy in the other. The methods of this Vice Commissioner Yang of ours are truly formidable."

Fan Wujiu clicked his tongue in admiration, then suddenly asked out of curiosity, "Little Bai, what exactly do you think they teach in that Confucian Temple? Will they really teach the Six Gentlemanly Arts? The grand ministers in the court wouldn't truly be so kind-hearted, would they?"

"See for yourself."

Xie Bi'an drew an electronic dossier from his sleeve and handed it to Fan Wujiu.

"The Course of the Liberation of the Wa Region."

Fan Wujiu took it and flipped through it casually, raising an eyebrow with a chuckle.

"His late Majesty Emperor Longwu probably never imagined in his entire life that he would one day become the Great Emperor who rescued tens of thousands of Wa citizens from the depths of misery, would he?"

"Look all you want, but you had better watch your mouth so you don't get caught by anyone."

"Little Bai, you are far too timid. What is there to fear? Here, the sky is high and the Emperor is far away; even the Yellow Millet Dreamscape does not interconnect with the Empire. Besides, the current chief official of the Pacification Commission is Brother Jun's little brother. Who would report my secrets?"

Fan Wujiu said carelessly, "Furthermore, I don't believe the Three Judicial Offices would have the energy to target a small character like me."

Seeing that his talk was becoming more and more outrageous, Xie Bi'an simply ignored him and turned his head to look at Li Jun, who was sitting behind the desk.

"Brother Jun, after the New Year, the Pacification Commission Bureau under the direction of Yang Baize has been making sweeping changes to implement various new policies."

"This time, they have not only piloted the Confucian Temple to gather these helpless youths. Moreover, on the side of the Empire's mainland, the major corporations under the banners of the Confucian aristocratic clans have begun to recruit able-bodied young adults from the Wa Region in large numbers. They have put forward only one requirement: if you can speak the official language, you can get a workstation."

Xie Bi'an said in a deep voice, "For those who have lost their jobs due to various reasons, this is the fatal temptation. Currently, this decree is only open to our Inuyama Castle, and quite a few people from other major cities have quietly sneaked in."

"Brother Jun, this Vice Commissioner Yang has indeed struck a bit harshly. Doing this is no different from digging out the roots of the Wa people. The trouble for Inuyama Castle hereafter will likely not be small."

Taking away the young adults whose worldviews were already firmly established, while leaving behind the youths who were easy to cultivate.

Yang Baize has excellent methods!

Li Jun pondered for a moment and asked, "Is there any unusual movement from the Four Major Corporations and the Honghu side right now?"

"The Four Major Corporations haven't shown any movement, but the Honghu side has been extremely active lately."

Xie Bi'an took the electronic dossier from Fan Wujiu's hand and handed it to Li Jun.

"Brother Jun, this is the official gazette of the Thousand-Man Office from the first day of the second lunar month."

Li Jun scrolled up and down the screen. Shocking, blood-red characters filled his vision.

Without exception, every single one was about a Honghu attack.

"Within just a few days, Honghu attack incidents have occurred in other major cities. Among them, Kanazawa Castle suffered the most severe attack; even the Pacification Commission Bureau was blown up, and the Vice Commissioner responsible for implementing the new policy died on the spot."

Xie Bi'an said solemnly, "Right now, Qiongqi is acting like he's gone mad, his eyes bloodshot as he frantically searches for traces of Honghu. He has even sent word to all the offices that whoever can help him find the planner of the attack, he is willing to give up half of this year's Ministry of Works allocation."

"Looking at it this way, the only major city that hasn't been attacked yet is us?"

"The tree that stands taller than the forest will surely be destroyed by the wind. Honghu will absolutely not exclude Inuyama Castle alone, not to mention that we are the first pilot site for the implementation of the new policy."

Xie Bi'an said, "The lack of movement now leaves only one possibility. They are plotting a massive attack!"

"Damn it, let them come. As long as these Honghu dare to show their heads, I'll take them down one shot at a time!"

Fan Wujiu drew a "Beiwei" blade from beneath his robes, his face twisted in a ferocious grin.

"Disperse all the brothers of the Second Division to gather intelligence on the ground. Do not let any sign of disturbance slip by."

Li Jun said coldly, "The mountain rain is approaching, and this is the critical moment. Tell them not to be soft-handed. If there is any abnormality, throw the person straight into the Imperial Prison."

Xie Bi'an took the order and withdrew together with Fan Wujiu.

In the vast office, only Li Jun remained.

He paced to the window, staring at the distant Confucius Temple where laughter rippled in waves.

Li Jun cared little for whether the empire's new policy was right or wrong.

Whether it could be carried out smoothly was also of no concern to him.

What mattered to Li Jun was only the great hawk.

The various affairs of the old Chongqing Prefecture now rushed over his heart like flowing water.

It was not merely due to Gong Qinghong's scheming, but also because of Yan Bahaang's death that an irreparable enmity had been forged between him and the great hawk.

Li Jun's palm, bearing the weight of his hand, closed slowly, the power within climbing like ascending a high tower, layer upon layer.

Clang!

The clatter of the bronze lock had not ceased since the moment he infused the Heavy Tower Secret.

“Now the high tower has been ascended, the cease-fire is complete. What is the ritual of the solitary martial sequence five that follows?”