Two Realms: Don’t call me evil!

As time went by, news about the battle between Buddha and demon in Chongzhou spread quickly.

First, a holy monk from the Tantric Buddhism in the Western Regions converted the demons, which caused the demon cultivators in Chongzhou to join forces to resist.

Afterwards, the divine monk Jinghui took over another's body and burst out with combat power comparable to that of a Purple Mansion monk.

And the last to appear was the Blood Demon Ancestor Su Jie, the strongest demon from Qingzhou. He appeared out of nowhere, displayed his overwhelming strength, exposed his true Purple Mansion realm cultivation, and directly suppressed and killed all the monks from the Western Regions.

Dali City!

As the capital of the Dali Dynasty, this place seemed to be disconnected from the disaster-stricken areas in other parts of the Dali Dynasty.

While countless people in other states were worried about the lack of food and clothing for the winter, Dali City was still prosperous and peaceful.

The wealthy and powerful spent money like water, enjoying a life of luxury in high-end restaurants, brothels and theaters. When they traveled, they were driven by spirit beasts, had hordes of servants, and lived a life of luxury that the common people at the bottom could never imagine.

Even if the Dali Dynasty faced more crises and difficulties, with refugees everywhere and the foundation of the country shaken, and the Divine Eagle Empire plundering border states and ceding land and paying compensation, this still could not affect their carefreeness. The wealth they had could not be spent in a hundred lifetimes.

At the center of the central axis of Dali City is a rectangular city within a city.

The city is more than three thousand meters long and one thousand eight hundred meters wide, with a fifteen-meter-high wall. The wall is not an ordinary wall, but is built with the spiritual material Kongtong stone, with various formation patterns painted on it, condensing the majestic spiritual energy of the underground dragon veins.

Within the city, there are magnificent buildings, creating a sacred and solemn atmosphere.

This is the Dali Palace, the core power center of the Dali Dynasty.

At this time, in the Fude Hall of the Dali Palace, smoke was rising from the bronze incense burner, and a meeting in front of the hall was taking place.

Civil and military officials were standing on the left and right. In front, on the jade dragon throne, a middle-aged man in a black robe embroidered with clouds and dragons was sitting. He looked lazy and tired. He spoke slowly, "My dear ministers, the demonic troubles in the south have worsened. A great demon from the Purple Mansion Realm has appeared out of nowhere, killing the holy monks from the Western Regions and unifying the demonic ways of Chongzhou. Now, Su Jie of Guiling Palace has occupied both Qingzhou and Chongzhou. What do you think?"

The person who spoke was none other than the current emperor of the Dali Dynasty, Emperor Yongren, Wei Sheng.

The civil and military officials below were in an uproar. They had all heard the news that Su Jie was a great demon in the Purple Mansion Realm. This was also the biggest hot spot in Dali City recently.

"Your Majesty, regarding the matter of Su Jie in Guiling Palace, I think it is better not to start a war, and to prioritize stability."

Minister of Revenue Zuo Min stepped forward, bowed slightly, and explained his ideas: "The south is where our influence is weak, and we no longer have enough energy to pacify it. As long as that devil Su Jie doesn't mess around, we can limit his sphere of influence to the south and focus on solving problems in other directions first."

"No, I think Su Jie is not a simple demon. He grows too fast and has achieved the Purple Palace at a young age. If we don't deal with him quickly, we don't know how much disaster he will cause in the future."

The Minister of Works Xu Qing immediately expressed his opposition. If they used force against Guiling Palace, their Ministry of Works would be able to receive big orders and make a lot of money.

"Humph, that's easy for Lord Xu to say. He is a demon from the Purple Mansion Realm. He possesses the Blood Sea Devouring Heaven Demonic Art. He is one of the strongest in the Purple Mansion Realm in terms of both means and life-saving. If you act rashly, you may suffer heavy losses."

"Are we going to watch Guiling Palace grow bigger? The south is an important source of tax revenue for our Dali Dynasty. Once the demon plague sweeps in, how will the gap in the national treasury be filled?"

At first, it was a quarrel between the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, but soon more and more civil and military officials joined in. However, most of them were not in favor of sending troops directly to pacify Guiling Palace.

The current Dali Dynasty is like an old man who is frail and lacks the ambition and energy.

"Lord Yue, you are the Minister of War, what do you think?"

Wei Sheng was impatient with the chaotic scene and suddenly turned his gaze to the Minister of War Yue Zhifeng.

“Reporting to His Majesty, in order to pacify Guiling Palace, we need at least 3,000 Black Iron Dragon Riders, more than ten flying magic boats, 80,000 martial soldiers, and we also need to coordinate with the Taoist military commanders.

Now most of our troops are deployed in the north to guard against the Condor Empire. There are very few troops in the south, and they can only be drawn from the North Camp, West Camp and Beijing Camp. It will take a long time and we need at least half a year to prepare.

The most important thing is to have the Sky Patrol send out enough experts to fight against Su Jie, the Purple Mansion Realm demon. Our military department does not have any Purple Mansion Realm experts right now, so we cannot serve as the main force to deal with Su Jie."

Yue Zhifeng stood up and talked about the difficulties of the Ministry of War.

Last year, the Divine Eagle Empire in the north invaded the border, and the military of the Dali Dynasty was defeated, losing cities and territories, and suffered heavy casualties.

The soldiers under the Ministry of War of the Dali Dynasty are not ordinary county soldiers.

The soldiers managed by the Ministry of War are all practitioners.

The Dali Dynasty's Ministry of War recruits talented soldiers, trains and wins them over with blessed lands, skills and spirit stones, and promotes them based on their achievements in killing enemies and their cultivation.

Elite troops like the Black Iron Dragon Riders, each of them has a cultivation level of above the sixth level of the Soul Condensation Realm, equipped with the spiritual beast Dragon Blood Horse, Black Iron armor and magic weapons. A squad leader must be at the Secret Storage Realm, a centurion must be at least at the fifth level of the Secret Storage Realm, and only a thousand-man leader who is a Daotai Realm strong enough is qualified to take on the position.

"My Dali Dynasty has 500,000 soldiers on the register. How come it is so difficult to transfer 80,000 of them? Even if we need to guard the north and guard against the Condor Empire, we can't transfer troops so slowly!"

A member of the Ministry of Rites suddenly spoke up, confused.

He had been transferred to Dali City from Anzhou in the east not long ago, and didn't know much about the court affairs.

Many officials in Fude Hall had strange looks on their faces. They said that there were 500,000 registered soldiers, but there weren't that many.

Many military soldiers are just names on the roster. In fact, these soldiers do not exist at all and will only exist on the roster.

The problem of drawing empty salaries was very serious in the Dali Dynasty. It was something that all the civil and military officials in the court knew well, and only the minor officials from other places were still foolish enough.

The Dali Dynasty paid its soldiers’ salaries in the form of spirit stones. If they received an empty salary, they would have to pay at least fifteen low-grade spirit stones a month.

The country is in a difficult situation now, and the military pay approved by the national treasury is getting less and less every year. The powerful high-ranking officials, the masters of the Ministry of War, and the officers below also have to pass on their money. Sixty to seventy percent of the military pay is gone. How can we support so many soldiers? It would be better to just collect empty salaries. It's good for you, it's good for everyone. Even the Censor-in-Chief will turn a blind eye.

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No one paid attention to such a stupid question. Zuo Min suddenly sneered and made a suggestion.

"Three thousand Black Iron Dragon Riders and eighty thousand warriors. Such a huge mobilization cost. Our Ministry of Revenue has no money, but I know that all of you are wealthy. Why don't you donate some spiritual stones to help His Majesty and the dynasty. Lord Xu, I heard that you recently took in another beautiful concubine. Why don't you set an example for everyone?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene immediately fell silent.

Xu Qing, who was filled with righteous indignation just now and was determined to eradicate Guiling Palace, suddenly changed his expression. He glared at Zuo Min angrily, then quietly glanced at Wei Sheng who seemed to be half awake and half asleep on the dragon throne, and laughed dryly: "Master Zuo, are you joking? I am an honest official, how can I afford such a large amount of spiritual stones?"

He gritted his teeth again, with a generous expression, and said: "But I care about the people of the world, I am willing to take out all my savings and personally contribute one thousand low-grade spirit stones as military funds to boost the morale of the army."

Zuo Min watched Xu Qing's performance quietly. Wow, he could even afford a thousand low-grade spirit stones. This amount of money was not even enough to support a Black Iron Dragon Rider.

He knew how rich old man Xu Qing was. He owned dozens of mansions, houses and shops in Dali City alone. The Xu family also ran a caravan and had many people who respected him. His assets must be at least five million spirit stones, and that was still an underestimate. It was possible that his assets could be several times more. After all, it was difficult for many people to know the exact amount of corruption he had handled, and Xu Qing was not even ranked among those real dignitaries.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you know me well! I have always been honest and caring for the people, and I have given all the money to the poor people."

"Your Majesty, my family has been farmers for generations. I have not spent a penny of the money I earned. I have kept it all at home. I only have about 200 spirit stones. I am willing to donate all of them to the national treasury to help Your Majesty resist the demonic plague in Qingzhou."

More and more high-ranking officials and dignitaries stepped forward. You donated 300 yuan, I donated 500 yuan, and some donated dozens of yuan or even nothing. Soon, a huge sum of 8,000 low-grade spirit stones was raised.

Well, these spirit stones are roughly equivalent to one month’s salary for 500 low-level soldiers.

"We'll discuss this another day."

When Emperor Wei Sheng of Dali heard the huge sum of 8,000 spirit stones, he was blinded by the number and left in anger.

Soon, the news that the emperor was going to recruit officials and collect military funds to fight against demons spread like wildfire.

Fearing that the emperor was serious, all the civil and military officials in the court cried out in various ways to express their poverty.

The Prime Minister of the dynasty put his house up for sale, the Minister of Rites deliberately wore shabby clothes to attend court, and all officials and dignitaries changed from riding in luxurious sedan chairs or carriages pulled by spirit beasts to walking to work.

The most exaggerated one was the father-in-law of the emperor, Cai Fangyi. In order to show his sincerity, he took the initiative to donate 20,000 spirit stones, but only 500 of them were taken out by himself. The rest were asked for by his daughter, the current queen of the Dali Dynasty, by crying poor.

In order to save face, the queen sold her jewelry to raise money for her father.

However, she collected a total of 50,000 spirit stones, but only donated 20,000 spirit stones to the national treasury. As for the other 30,000 spirit stones, no one knew where they went.

On the contrary, people from all walks of life and all classes in the Dali Dynasty responded to the call. The value of spirit stones donated by those brothels and flower houses alone exceeded 100,000, which was twice as much as donated by all the civil and military officials in the court.

After all the fundraising, the donated spirit stones were not enough to cover the military expenses, the gap was far too big.

Because the treasury was empty, the tasks of suppressing the disloyal, conquering the demons, and pacifying the Ghost Ridge Palace naturally came to nothing. (End of this chapter)