Chapter 1 Arriving in Yunzhou

In the early summer of that year, Lei Huang and his wife, Sun Meier, set foot on the land of Yunzhou. Their party looked like a wealthy and idle young master from a prominent family on a spring outing, with a distinctly flamboyant air. Of course, none of them wore or carried anything related to the Lei Yin Demon Sect. Although Lei Huang was quite well-known in the northern part of Xiling, his current light blue silk robe made it hard to associate him with a religious leader.

Marriage always required a period of vacation, and the leader of the Lei Yin Demon Sect was no exception. From its inception, the Lei Yin Demon Sect had been designed with a complete structure and standardized system, resembling more of a corporation in the minds of Ye Tao and Tan Weixin than a religious organization. Even Lei Huang could leave for a while without any problems. The problem was that the honeymoon period didn't seem to be mentioned in the Lei Yin Demon Sect's rulebook. After a discussion among the high priests of the Lei Yin Demon Sect, most of whom came from the Dongping Internal Affairs Office, they finally announced directly to the outside world after Lei Huang's marriage that the religious leader was going into seclusion. From then on, no matter how the Lei Yin Demon Sect developed, all longer holidays related to family matters, such as honeymoons, maternity leave, and funerals, were all referred to as "seclusion"…

Lei Huang, in seclusion, didn't care too much about the title. Being able to bring his wife back to Yunzhou and Dongping was a great happiness for him. Unlike in Xiling, where he had to endure considerable psychological pressure every day, constantly thinking about how to expand the Lei Yin Demon Sect's business, he could breathe freely and sleep soundly in Yunzhou. And his wife, Sun Meier, seemed to easily accept his identity as a Dongping secret agent... After all, regardless of his identity, his eloquence and his power to bewitch people were unrelated to nationality. And when Sun Meier learned that the idea for the entire Lei Yin Demon Sect came from the current Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner Ye Tao, and that even the entire team for developing the religious affairs was personally trained by Ye Tao, Lei Huang gradually understood another side of human nature from those charming statements and the subsequent training and internships. That was how the current Lei Huang gradually developed his unique charm, which combined rationality and passion. Sun Meier also had the idea of coming to Yunzhou to see the Pacification Commissioner.

In early summer, Yunzhou was full of vitality. And Lei Huang's party happened to enter Yunzhou from Zijing Pass, heading to the Ye Family Workshop north of Snow Wolf Lake. This route was exactly through the mixed agricultural and pastoral area of central Yunzhou. The paths between the fields and the horses running on the grasslands appeared alternately, which really broadened one's mind. Sun Meier had never seen such grassland scenery before and couldn't help but be amazed.

After they crossed the central axis road of Yunzhou, which ran from Thunder Cliff to Ningyuan, a cavalry unit of several thousand soldiers suddenly appeared. They crossed Lei Huang's party in four rows of marching formation, looking majestic. Due to the recent wet weather, there was no dust storm to make things unmanageable. After inquiring a little from the garrison soldiers who were escorting and guiding Lei Huang's party, they learned that this should be a battalion of the Jingyun Cavalry (Cloud-Piercing Cavalry) on their way to the Ye Family Workshop for re-equipment. Now, the re-equipment process of the Yunzhou armies was being turned into military training by Dai Yun. The official re-equipment notification documents clearly stated the departure date from the camp, the handover and defense troops, and that the troops to be re-equipped must arrive at the specified location at the specified time, fully equipped and staffed. If they failed to do so, the unit would be moved to after all fifty battalions had been equipped. No one wanted to encounter such a thing, so despite the extremely tight marching schedule and high requirements, all the re-equipped troops had arrived early.

The Yunzhou armies were mainly re-equipped in two locations: Suiyuan and the Yunzhou branch of the Ye Family Workshop north of Snow Wolf Lake. This time, Lei Huang was really lucky. He encountered not only the Jingyun Cavalry, but also one of the two unique cavalry archer battalions in the Jingyun Cavalry. The armor of the cavalry archer battalion looked the same as the standard cavalry armor, but it was lighter. The ordinary cavalry of the Jingyun Cavalry were equipped with two cavalry swords and a quick-opening folding crossbow, while the cavalry archer battalion was equipped with a cavalry sword, a composite bow, and a standard-sized folding crossbow.

Lei Huang arrived at the Ye Family Workshop less than a day later than the cavalry archer battalion of the Jingyun Cavalry. Around the Ye Family Workshop, there were now six military camps and two sizable specialized villages. In order to maintain the full operation of the Ye Family Workshop, various materials, consumables, and food and other supplies for the artisans were such a magnificent logistics operation, flowing endlessly. The two villages had developed in response to this specialized logistics need. In order to provide the artisans with a richer and more colorful life, the villages were small but fully functional, with all kinds of shops. Even the smaller shops generally offered goods reservation services. The two villages even had brothels and casinos, but to be able to open such institutions in this military secret area, both the owners and the employees had to be strictly vetted.

After settling down in the village, Lei Huang and Sun Meier walked around and saw many soldiers from the cavalry archer battalion of the Jingyun Cavalry also strolling around the village. During these days of re-equipment and armor adjustment, although they had half a day of free time every day, they had to wear full armor and carry weapons wherever they went, so that they could find places where the armor didn't fit properly and let the apprentices in the workshop adjust it.

Watching the heroic cavalry archer soldiers walk by, constantly complaining about where the armor was uncomfortable, Sun Meier was surprised: "Is this the armor of ordinary soldiers? It's so beautiful. In Xiling, I'm afraid only generals can wear this kind of armor, right?"

Lei Huang shrugged and said, "That's because you haven't seen the real fighting armies in Taizhou. The elite cavalry units of the Zhenbei Military Command are also covered in iron armor. It's just that the iron armor there isn't as good as here, and it's not as cheap as here either."

Sun Meier asked curiously, "Isn't it true that the better the things, the more expensive they are?"

Lei Huang smiled and said, "That's not necessarily true. Look at the broken knives and swords used by the Zhenbei Military Command. They're not cheaper than the cavalry swords used by these soldiers now at all." Lei Huang had gradually understood the benefits of economies of scale for cost control. There were really too many related products of the Lei Yin Demon Sect. And Lei Huang had been trained under Ye Tao for a long time anyway, so he had learned some superficial knowledge.

While Lei Huang was explaining to Sun Meier the various production and management methods of Yunzhou and Dongping, the soldier who had been acting as the liaison officer for the past few days ran over and said, "Mr. Lei, the Pacification Commissioner is waiting at the workshop. Are you going now?"

"Now?" Lei Huang glanced at Sun Meier and said, "Okay, I'll take my wife back to the inn. Please wait a moment."

The soldier said, "Mr. Lei, please go with your wife. Today, there are guests from the Seven Seas Trading Company visiting the workshop. The Commissioner ordered that your wife can join the tour. Of course, if your wife is willing."

Sun Meier's eyes lit up. For the world-famous Ye Family Workshop, the opportunity to enter it and see it was so rare. The Seven Seas Trading Company must have sent important figures to be able to enter the working area of the workshop, and Sun Meier was able to visit with them, no doubt thanks to her husband. The current Lei Huang was no longer the apprentice of the Internal Affairs Office's industry, but an important link in Dongping's entire layout.

Following the liaison officer, Lei Huang arrived outside a heavily guarded courtyard located in a corner of the Ye Family Workshop. He glanced at the carriages parked at the entrance of the courtyard and couldn't help but shrug. Golan, the Director of the Yunzhou Agricultural and Pastoral Bureau, Tan Weiran, the Commander of the Jingyun Cavalry, and others were actually in this courtyard. He didn't recognize the emblems on some of the carriages, but he guessed that anyone who could be here at this time wouldn't be a simple character.

Ye Tao was receiving another group of guests in his studio, so he could only meet Lei Huang in the Ye Family Workshop's data room next door. This treatment made people even more apprehensive than bringing Lei Huang into the studio. So many spies were staring at the production technology data in the data room. For any country, the ultra-high-end things of the Ye Family Workshop were meaningless even if they got them, because they couldn't make them. But those smelting formulas, weapon designs, and drawings of heavy machinery were all priceless treasures. Even if there were differences in the quality of what they made, they wouldn't be too outrageous after all.

Ye Tao looked at Lei Huang, who seemed much more experienced after a period of training in Xiling, and said with a smile, "Are you still making those notes? Dialects, folk songs, ballads, and things like that."

Lei Huang chuckled and said, "I'm still doing it. Now there's a big pile of them. Commissioner, these things are really interesting, but can you really let me focus on this in the future, as you said? Right now…"

Lei Huang's smile was a little bitter. Ye Tao comforted him, "You've done better than anyone expected. The significance of the fact that a key governor of Xiling is a Dongping secret agent is obvious. It's just... I'm afraid we won't have time to take down Xiling during his governorship. After all, we have to solve the Northern Liao first. But you're still young, what are you afraid of? I guarantee you that when we destroy Xiling, you'll still be in your prime. At that time, I'm afraid you won't be able to give up other things to do research."

These words, which had a somewhat cautionary meaning, made Lei Huang a little nervous. He bowed to the ground and said, "This student dares not."

This was the first time someone had called himself a student in front of Ye Tao. Ye Tao quickly pulled Lei Huang up and said, "Don't be nervous. At that time, you may want to do research, but you may not be able to let go of the Lei Yin Demon Sect's affairs. Although it's a little early to talk about post-war stability issues after conquering Xiling, we'll really need someone who can hold the ground and has enough influence to sit there. You should be the most suitable, right?"

Lei Huang stood up and said somewhat awkwardly, "The Lei Yin Demon Sect is indeed developing very quickly, and the organization has always been very strict. However, more believers means more trouble. At least part of the reason for coming here this time is to apologize to you, Commissioner."

"Oh? What's the matter?" Ye Tao was a little puzzled.

"Some believers have spontaneously entered Yunzhou to preach," Lei Huang said with difficulty.