You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/

In the year 3868 of the Xia calendar

Any seemingly outrageous policy is enacted because even more outrageous things have happened.

From the rebel army to the Zhenguo Army in less than a year, and from the Zhenguo Army to the Datong Army in less than a year, after Lin Jiang established himself, both the Feng State and Taizhou State faced significant unrest. Many officials left on their own accord as they could not accept Lin Jiang’s independence.

This includes many social elites, some nobles from the five major families. Lin Jiang didn’t hinder their departure; for each person leaving, he promoted someone from the lower ranks. With a total population of over ten million in the two states, there was a sufficient talent pool.

There are many talented people in the world, but not everyone gets the chance to show their talents. Lin Jiang is someone who helps talented individuals reach their full potential.

From last winter to this summer, Lin Jiang spent a lot of time promoting the policies of the Datong Army. Many people were attracted to join, especially through Lin Jiang’s talent recruitment platform. After rigorous assessments, they were assigned to various roles.

The army has been training continuously. Twenty thousand new recruits from two provinces have undergone rigorous training for over half a year. They only need a real test of battle to become skilled soldiers.

When the summer harvest ended and the army was well-prepared, Lin Jiang could no longer resist launching a war of conquest.

"Chen Kingdom is divided by Cloud Mountain in the north and south, and further divided by Yun River in the south. Our navy is not yet ready, so in this war, we will focus on annexing the territories south of Yun River.

The army will split into two routes. I will lead the western route with a hundred thousand soldiers to capture Daizhou State, Hezhou State, and Shizhou State. Qin Yong will lead the eastern route with Fang Rui, Xie Yunfeng, and Yuan Shan to capture Tai State, Fenzhou State, and Yun State. If possible, they may also take the southern part of Zhong State."

"Each army will have fifty thousand experienced soldiers and fifty thousand newly recruited soldiers…"

"Tian Heng will stay in Taizhou State, the military advisor will be in Feng State, and they will be on guard against Pingzhou State, Jiaozhou, and other enemies. They will also continue training troops and managing the conquered territories. Each territory must have over thirty thousand administrators for governance…"

As Lin Jiang continued speaking, Xie Yunfeng and others remained calm. They could sense Lin Jiang’s distrust towards noble families, including the five families present.

However, the five people didn’t leave Lin Jiang because they saw Lin Jiang’s huge potential. In the big battle last year, even if the founder of the Chen Kingdom, Chen Baxian, was reborn, there was no way to win, but Lin Jiang managed to win.

With thousands of cavalry, fighting in many different places, winning every battle – how terrifying his combat power was, they couldn’t even imagine.

They also greatly admired Lin Jiang’s personal integrity. Despite having great power, he stayed away from women, didn’t seek more power, had no luxurious hobbies, treated his subordinates with respect, and worked late into the night every day. Who wouldn’t succeed with such qualities?

········

After paying respects to heaven and earth, Lin Jiang led his troops to Daizhou State. The large army had already arrived near Daizhou State, and once Lin Jiang arrived, a big battle erupted.

Daizhou State’s important border town fell in just one day. Then Lin Jiang divided his army of 100,000 into three groups, with two heading south to capture other counties while he himself went straight to Daizhou City.

King Dai and Prime Minister Li didn’t escape, but gathered all their forces to defend the city and asked for reinforcements from nearby forces in Hezhou State, Shizhou State, and other places.

Lin Jiang led 30,000 soldiers to Daizhou City, rested for three days, built siege weapons, and then launched a fierce attack on the city. As before, Lin Jiang led the charge and personally fought on the city walls.

After opening the city gates, the Datong Army stormed into the city. King Dai fled from another city gate under protection, while Prime Minister Li and his followers fought to the death. Although they resisted fiercely, they were ultimately killed by Lin Jiang, and Daizhou City fell.

After capturing Daizhou City, Lin Jiang sent soldiers back to Feng State. Skilled officials started governing Daizhou State, allowing someone to take charge of the city. Lin Jiang led his troops to continue conquering more cities.

The other counties surrendered easily, as the Southern Chen Kingdom only had around 100,000 elite soldiers. The rest of the soldiers were not well-trained. After losing tens of thousands of soldiers in Feng State earlier, they were already weak.

King Dai fled to Hezhou State, but Lin Jiang’s troops followed him there. Hezhou State was controlled by several warlords who killed King Dai and presented him to Lin Jiang’s army, hoping to make him retreat. However, Lin Jiang refused and kept attacking.

Although Hezhou State surrendered without fighting, its terrain was rugged with many mountains. Some warlords hid in the deep mountains, a few of whom were former bandits and were very skilled in the area.

Lin Jiang stationed his army in Hezhou State. He organized the governance of the state while also calling for new troops from Feng State. This low-intensity war was a good opportunity for the new soldiers to train through real combat experience.

In the winter of the three thousand, eight hundred, and sixty-eighth year, the Datong Army successfully took control of Hezhou State and Daizhou State. All that was left was to manage the states and deal with bandits, securing victory.

Meanwhile, Qin Yong managed to conquer Tai State with the help of Fang Rui and others. However, their achievements were not as great as Lin Jiang’s. They faced more enemies and encountered greater difficulties in governance.

As winter arrived, heavy snow fell in Hezhou State and Daizhou State, making it more challenging to combat the bandits. Lin Jiang personally led the troops to disperse several groups of bandits before taking over Shizhou State with over a thousand soldiers.

Although Shizhou State was not very powerful, when Lin Jiang defeated their main forces, causing internal conflicts among the enemy troops. The enemy’s leader was killed, and the rest surrendered to Lin Jiang.

Lin Jiang treats all the surrenderers equally, their families will be moved but assured of their wealth and honor. Those who wish to serve in office will be assessed and appointed, while those who don’t want to, will still be taken care of for their whole lives as long as they obey the rules.

Shizhou State is located at the southernmost part of Chen Kingdom, with a hotter and more humid climate similar to Minyue. It has many mountains and limited land, making it weaker in overall strength.

Despite the challenges of governing such a place, Lin Jiang leaves his troops to manage it and gives them the task to expand southward until reaching the beach.

When Lin Jiang consulted Ancestor Peng, he learned that heading southward could lead to the sea, although it was difficult due to the harsh environment and sparse population.

Currently, Shizhou State and its surroundings are inhabited by natives who have evolved from primitive times but lack a significant population to develop an independent civilization. Even the Zhou Kingdom to the north of Chen Kingdom has a lower level of civilization, resembling the tribal structure of Liao Kingdom in Lin Jiang’s memory.

"Time flies, the Hidden Immortal Gorge remains, but the Peng family is no longer there."

Lin Jiang visited the Hidden Immortal Gorge and found it still existing but with fewer people of the Peng surname – the Peng family has vanished.

Lin Jiang visited some native tribes near Shizhou State under the strong influence of Huaxia Language, assimilating gradually. However, tribes in remote areas without a written language remain at a primitive level of civilization.

The distance to the sea from Shizhou State is unknown. Merchants trade with natives, but after traveling thousands of miles, only daunting mountains lie ahead, dissuading further exploration. It may take hundreds of years for Shizhou State to reach the coast.

Leaving a general behind, Lin Jiang returned to Hezhou State. It was already the year 3869 in the Chinese calendar. The newly conquered regions would be stable in just one year because in that time, the people would see the fairness of the officials and know who to support. Honesty begets honesty.

Seeing that things were settled in Hezhou State and Daizhou State, Lin Jiang returned to Feng State. Since two years ago, Lin Jiang had been focusing on developing the navy. After nearly two years, the navy had trained thousands of people and had about a hundred small to medium-sized warships, but they were still not combat-ready.

"One year for the army, a hundred years for the navy, that makes sense."

After inspecting the shipyard, Lin Jiang sighed. Overcoming some technical challenges was still needed to build large warships. It seemed like they needed to find a way to accelerate progress.

Large timber was abundant in the deep forests of several provinces with countless massive trees to use. It was purely a matter of technical expertise.

The most skilled shipbuilders in the Chen Kingdom were in Haizhou State, known for building large sea vessels. They needed to find a way to recruit skilled builders from there or perhaps even consider conquering Haizhou State.