The Heavens: A Qing, the Yue Girl at the beginning

"Two-hearted worm." At the same time, in a house adjacent to the fish shop in the west of the city, a man of medium build with gray hair looked up at the fire in the distance for a while. The cold light of armor could be vaguely seen under his civilian-style robe. Then he turned his head to look at the masked man sitting above him:
"We prepared several tricks in advance, each of which corresponds to a specific time period. Then we made the two-hearted insects in the Changling Palace and here die at a certain time. We launched one of the plans based on the death of the insects, catching the Chu people off guard. It was a really good trick."

"It's quite difficult to cultivate a 'two-hearted worm' that can live and die together across two places, so we have to use it sparingly." The masked man nodded, and a sword energy shot out from his finger, crushing a purple worm in the glass jar beside him into a bloody mist: "Now, we should evacuate."

"A big fire has caused those workshop craftsmen and the dignitaries in Chu to doubt and fear the so-called 'new policy', creating chaos and division, and everyone is in danger. This mission has been successfully completed... It is worth giving up the spy network that I have run for many years for this."

"Although the Chu Dynasty is strong on the outside and its national strength is growing, it is still not as tenacious, stable and far-reaching as our Qin Dynasty. Therefore, in the next war, the first dynasty to be destroyed will be Chu, not Qi or Yan..."

"A seemingly magnificent palace or pavilion, if there is too much dry firewood piled up in the corner, then it only takes a spark to ignite quickly and burn down the entire supporting beams and pillars. Collapse is inevitable... Perhaps in a few years, we will have the opportunity to return here."

The gray-haired man slowly stood up and shook his robes. As the subtle sound of armor blades rubbing against each other was heard, his figure quickly grew taller, becoming extremely sturdy and majestic, completely different from the ordinary old man before:
"I have been quietly doing the work of burying firewood for more than ten years. Today, I finally got the order to light them. I still can't believe it and can't suppress my excitement. However, it is a pity that I can't fight with the Chu Dynasty's generals in person and find out their progress in cultivation in recent years."

"You've waited too long, Ying Lu." The masked man sighed softly, and there seemed to be some emotion in his voice.

The burly man named Ying Gao laughed loudly towards the sky. His heroic laughter spread far in the air nearby, but was quickly caught up and swallowed up by the deep sword intent:
"Yes, it's been too long! However, if I can watch the dynasty that once dominated the world but is now completely corrupt turn into ashes in the firewood and sparks that I buried with my own hands, what's the harm in waiting for another ten years?"

After saying that, he strode to the courtyard wall, his shoulders slightly sank, and with a "bang", he broke through the thick wall and disappeared into the alley outside. He didn't even look back, he was extremely decisive, as if nothing could hold him back.

The masked man sat quietly there, watching Ying Hai leave. After a long while, he sighed and said to himself, "It's not just the Chu Dynasty that is utterly corrupt."

He reached out and took off the black veil, revealing a handsome face with a few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, and a pair of bright and deep eyes. There seemed to be a light flashing in them, but they seemed to be shrouded in heavy fog, making it difficult to see clearly.

"I just hope that 'over there' can understand the value of our sacrifice and not let them down." The man muttered to himself, stood up and walked towards the backyard. With a wave of his hand, several men in black appeared silently and began to pack up their belongings and destroy the documents: "Send a message to the others, follow the second plan to evacuate Yingdu, without any mistakes."

"Yes!" The men in black responded in unison and took action quickly without any delay.

The masked man, who had taken off his veil, looked around slowly, as if he wanted to deeply imprint every inch of land and every brick and tile in this house into his mind. This place carried too many of their memories and efforts, but now they had to give it up. The feeling in their hearts was indescribable.

There was a look of loss and regret on his face. He knew that although he had completed his mission beautifully, he had also exposed a lot of things. The counterattack of the Chu Dynasty would definitely be more fierce. He couldn't help but have a lot of thoughts in his mind:

"In order to investigate the strength of the Chu State and plan for the future, I lowered my status and sneaked into Yingdu. Starting from a commoner, I worked hard to climb to the current high position of 'Zhibo'. I have obtained a lot of important intelligence and secretly placed a lot of chess pieces. I even got the blueprints of 'Feitian'."

"I thought I could continue to lurk for a few more years, slowly activate those chess pieces one by one, play a greater role, deeply infiltrate several imperial workshops, and steal the craftsmanship of advanced talismans such as 'Heaven's Punishment' back to China. I didn't expect that a fire tonight would make my more than ten years of hard work go to waste..."

He shook his head, as if to get rid of these unpleasant thoughts, and turned and strode towards the backyard, where there was a secret room that contained the final trump card they had prepared for a safe evacuation:
"Never mind. As long as I can complete the mission given by 'the other side', it will be worth it no matter how great the sacrifice. What's more, I have already left a backup plan for myself. Even if I evacuate Yingdu, it does not mean that I have to start all over again. Whether in the northern or southern borders of Chu, there are many local clans that are pro-Qin."

At this moment, the city of Yingdu was in chaos and noisy, unlike the orderly situation in this house.

The panic caused by the fire had not yet completely subsided. The streets were full of panicked civilians and soldiers rushing to various places to put out the fire. Occasionally, one could hear a few angry shouts and the sound of weapons clashing. It was obvious that someone was taking advantage of the fire to fish in troubled waters.

At the side of a rockery five or six miles northwest of Tianyangqiyuan, Zhao Qing used the Lingxi Jade Talisman to contact Fan Wugou, who was searching for and suppressing suspected arsonists in Chudu. While listening to the reports of several of the other party's lieutenants in turn, she examined several panicked elderly craftsmen she had just captured.

"The reason why you cooperated with the Qin spies and some traitorous dignitaries in the 'Fire Dragon Burning Warehouse' operation is not just because the inventory of refining materials in the workshop is short and needs to be settled, right?" She stared at the craftsmen in front of her who were bound by spiritual chains and whose cultivation was completely banned, with a cold tone:
"The fire couldn't have destroyed much metal. The traces left behind are enough to restore the previous total amount... Besides, I never said I would investigate the past transactions of the private workshops. I don't care if the amount of materials reported to the supervisor is concealed. After all, poor management and bankruptcy are the workshops' own business."

"What exactly are you thinking? Did you violate other regulations and want to destroy other important evidence during the chaos? Is there a quality problem with the talismans involved in the military order? Are the parts unqualified? Are there financial transactions with Qin in the internal accounts? Or have you been bribed with a large sum of money and are colluding with foreign countries to overthrow the country and create chaos?"

As Zhao Qing asked questions one after another, the faces of those craftsmen became more and more ugly. They looked at each other and could see the fear and uneasiness in each other's eyes, but they didn't know that the other party only needed to look at them deeply to read the relevant memories.

"Just because a 'trustworthy' person deceived you, claiming that the next 'new policy' would thoroughly investigate all major and minor problems in the operation of the workshop, you became anxious and panicked, suspicious of each other, and afraid of being liquidated, so you were easily instigated and used to collude and launch this incident?"

Zhao Qing looked at them coldly and questioned them, but he sighed in his heart.

Although it was known that the Qin people had infiltrated deeply into the Chu territory over the years, bribed a large number of high-ranking officials, and obtained countless confidential intelligence, it was really difficult to guard against it. It required a lot of effort to slowly screen and replace them in order to gradually eliminate these contradictions and hidden dangers.

But today's fire had a significant impact on and controlled even the craftsmen who should have focused on their skills and paid less attention to worldly affairs. It still made her deeply feel the cunning and difficulty of the Qin spies, as well as their style of doing things to achieve their goals by any means necessary.

The Lushan Alliance was approaching, and a sword meeting was also being held in Changling, the capital of Qin. No matter how you looked at it, the situation in each dynasty should be stable in the near future. This was something Zhao Qing had not expected, that such a decisive, swift and fierce attack would occur against her new policy of trying to integrate and form a "consortium" of workshops.

It seems that I underestimated the impact of the previous major events, the sense of crisis they brought to Yuan Wu, Zheng Xiu and others, the strategies and tactics of the Qin Dynasty, and the fact that I was not the only one with the tools to transmit messages remotely.

Zhao Qing pondered secretly in her heart and had already made a new decision. Ji Tianxue, the owner of the Divine Craftsman Workshop who was following beside her, was also furious. He exuded a majestic aura like a mountain falling. He took a few steps forward and pressed towards the trembling elderly craftsmen.

As the most experienced and top-ranking weapon-refining "master" in the Great Chu Dynasty, he has witnessed the ups and downs of too many times. He witnessed this generation of Chu emperors rise from crisis and turn the tide, but gradually became unable to do so due to rapid aging. However, he has never felt as humiliated and indignant as he does today.

"A bunch of useless things! What I hate most in my life is that someone uses the way of refining equipment as a bargaining chip to do such dirty and filthy things!" Ji Tianxue shouted angrily, his voice was like a bell, and the ears of the craftsmen were buzzing, their blood was flowing backwards, and their faces became paler:
"Every one of the workshop reform measures proposed by Your Majesty and the Ambassador is to promote the improvement of craftsmanship and the long-term development of the industry. Have they ever had any intention of persecution?"

"If you normally act according to the law and work according to the rules, why would you be afraid of a thorough investigation? Don't you understand this principle? Or do you know that you are not clean on a daily basis, so you believe everything you hear, and think you can cover it up with this chaos?"

He stretched out his hand and clenched it. Light blue chains of true energy instantly dropped from the sky, grabbing the craftsmen and hanging them in mid-air. Then, they retracted and hung in front of him. He then examined their faces one by one, and his tone became increasingly stern:

"Do you know how much damage this fire has brought to Yingdu and our dynasty because of your momentary lapse of judgment? How many innocent people have been affected by this disaster? How many soldiers have had to take risks to put out the fire and maintain order, and may even be injured or sacrificed?"

"Do you think you are just a small person and your actions are irrelevant to the overall situation? Let me tell you, you are wrong! Very wrong! The reason why the Chu State is strong is because of the joint efforts and perseverance of every Chu citizen. And you, as a weapon refiner, are rated as a 'famous craftsman' and a 'skilled craftsman'. You usually enjoy the support and respect of the court and the people. You should serve the country and benefit the people. However, because of your own selfishness and momentary fear, you have done such a thing that harms the country and the people! Are you worthy of your identity and responsibilities?"

Every time Ji Tianxue spoke, the faces of the craftsmen turned paler. When he finished speaking, several craftsmen looked ashen. One of them was trembling all over and suddenly burst into tears:

"Master Ji, we are guilty! There were indeed spies from Qin who spread rumors secretly, saying that the court would severely crack down on the workshop. We were panicked and deceived by them, so we did such a foolish thing!"

Another craftsman also spoke tremblingly: "Master Ji, please have mercy. We were also bewitched for a while. Please give me a chance to reform!" "Little characters like us, with poor talent and cultivation, are not like you who are high above, sitting firmly on the throne of the master of a workshop, and are not involved in worldly affairs. As we age and our skills decline, it is difficult for us to maintain our original craftsman rating. We can only find ways to make a living and cheat, which is why we are in trouble today!"

Another craftsman lamented, his face full of tears of regret and self-blame, but most of them were forced out with his true energy: "If I had known that it would lead to such a disaster, I would never have participated in it even if I was beaten to death!"

"Yes, the craftsman rating and assessment are becoming more and more strict, but the success rate of refining equipment is difficult to improve, and the material consumption is high. In order to keep our ratings and jobs, we can only try desperate methods, trying every possible way to cheat, bribe superiors, and even harm the interests of the workshop and the court..."

Another person also spoke in a crying voice.

Listening to their explanations and complaints, Zhao Qing and Ji Tianxue's faces became more gloomy.

Compared with the problems of reselling materials and accounting deficits, widespread fraud in craftsman ratings is probably the real cause of this disaster - the problems exposed behind this are even more serious!

Falsification of craftsman ratings and "academic corruption" - unexpectedly, this kind of problem would appear in the equipment refining industry, which should be the most rigorous and meticulous!
Moreover, judging from the implied words of these craftsmen who committed crimes, this situation seems to be quite common. It has formed an unspoken rule, or even an "industry consensus" in a sense. Only a few imperial workshops that are isolated from the outside world are kept in the dark.

It is basically certain that the reason why the Qin people could directly or indirectly influence and control a large number of craftsmen in multiple workshops was because they were deeply involved in this counterfeiting industry chain and grasped the lifelines and weaknesses of many people.

According to the confessions of these people, in order to get a higher level in the craftsman assessment, or to maintain the original rating, they would find ways to falsify their own success rate in refining equipment, and even spend more materials and waste resources, and ask others to refine for them. This has long been a common practice.

On a daily basis, they would try to maintain good relations with relevant officials, bribe them, form cliques within the workshop, exclude dissidents, and all kinds of intrigues and despicable practices were common.

After all, the higher the craftsman's rating and the greater his reputation, the more expensive his products will naturally be and the more popular they will be. Anyway, most buyers are unable to distinguish between good and bad, and as long as they look similar on the surface, they can be fooled by excuses such as "fit".

This creates a huge operational profit margin, enough to form a brand effect and make up for the money spent on it, so that many ingenious craftsmen can make a fortune and gain both fame and fortune.

The related counterfeiting methods, after several iterations and upgrades, have gradually become an extremely complex and profound skill, involving many changes in vital energy and rune structures, and can be said to have opened up a new path for refining equipment.

The more "powerful" the craftsmen in a workshop are, the more attention they will receive from the court and the military, and they will be able to obtain key research projects, have priority access to large amounts of refining resources and long-term talisman orders, and be eligible to recruit more low-level craftsmen, apprentices, and helpers who can be exploited.

As for the increasingly strict rating and assessment of craftsmen, it is actually a means for relevant officials to gain political achievements and seek private profits - if you want to be promoted or maintain your original rating, you have to pay some "blood", right?

All the big and small beetles in the entire profit chain are hoping to make a fortune from this.

What's worse, some of them relied on taking some special elixirs produced in Qin territory to improve their skills in a short period of time, and were barely rated as senior craftsmen. But then their level dropped. In order to maintain the rating, they had to continue taking the elixirs and provide confidential information to the Qin people in exchange for what they wanted, completely becoming the enemy's lackeys and pawns.

In addition, there were also some craftsmen who were not very "knowledgeable" and could not "handle things" and were repeatedly excluded. Unable to bear the harsh environment, they resigned and were recruited by the Qin, Qi, and Yan dynasties or local dignitaries, taking away many advanced refining skills and experience.

From this perspective, the last time the Emperor of Chu had a sudden idea to organize an open bidding conference for military talismans, he put the selection and purchase of military talisman orders on the table, speaking based on quality and cost-effectiveness, and carried out a certain degree of marketization and introduced a competition mechanism. In fact, it broke the monopoly of certain workshops on the court's supply channels invisibly and affected many people's interests.

This may also be one of the main reasons why some people colluded with foreign countries and instigated and linked up a large number of craftsmen to take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos during this incident.

It was originally an innovative and transformative move, but it became the fuse that triggered many problems and caused many craftsmen to take risks!
In the past, the Dayu Dynasty had unrivaled weapon-making skills, its military was at its peak, and it had countless powerful practitioners. Any one of their skills would have been legendary even today, but it still couldn't escape the disaster of destruction. Judging from this incident, it is probably related to the corruption within the dynasty.

"It's really... a filthy, foul place, unbearable to look at! All the filthy things I've seen in my life combined are not as bad as what I heard today!"

Listening to these shocking crimes and horrific cases being revealed, Ji Tianxue laughed in anger, with a cold light flashing in his eyes:

"I originally thought that only politicians in the court would resort to such tactics, but I never thought that our weapon refining world would also be reduced to this state!"

He has been immersed in the art of refining weapons all his life. He relied on hard work and countless failures to reach his current position step by step. He has become one of the top refining masters in the Great Chu Dynasty and a world-renowned leader in the refining industry. However, at this moment, he feels deeply remorseful and ashamed:
"If this fire had not exposed these hidden filth, I would not have known that there are so many termites and scum hidden in the workshops in Yingdu City! This is not only a personal shame for you, but also a shame for the entire refining industry! It is a dereliction of duty and a shame for our generation of craftsmen!"

Ji Tianxue looked at the craftsmen with great sorrow and clenched his hands. These people suddenly felt that their bodies were tightly bound by an invisible force, and their bones seemed to be crushed. They could not help but let out a shrill scream, and then turned to look at Zhao Qing, clasped his fists and said:

"Your Excellency, I request that these extremely evil craftsmen be punished to serve as a warning to others! At the same time, all workshops in Yingdu and even the whole country should be thoroughly investigated. Anyone involved in fraud, corruption, and collusion with the enemy should be severely punished without mercy, and no leniency should be shown to restore order to the art of refining!"

Zhao Qing nodded slightly after hearing this: "Master Ji is right. However, in addition to thorough investigation and punishment, we also need to reflect on and improve the current craftsman rating system and the workshop management system to fundamentally prevent such problems from happening."

From a positive perspective, since the artisan system of the Great Chu Dynasty had become so corrupt, it was still able to produce excellent works and achieve remarkable results. After her cleaning and rectification, the original problems would have been solved, and in the future it would surely be able to unleash even more powerful refining capabilities.

“Yes!” Ji Tianxue promised solemnly, and with a wave of his hand, he destroyed the true essence seals and meridians of the craftsmen, completely abolishing their cultivation. He then threw them to the soldiers who followed him: “Take these criminals away, keep them under strict supervision, and wait for their fate!”

"The trend of counterfeiting is so prevalent that it has come to this. It is really regrettable." After dealing with these craftsmen, he sighed and asked, "What should we do next? Should we immediately gather the owners and senior craftsmen of the major workshops in the city to discuss countermeasures together?"

Zhao Qing nodded: "That's right. But before that, I have to do one more thing. We can't just let those Qin masters who sneaked in get away like this."

She looked up at the distant sky, where she could vaguely see the fire gradually dying out and a new dawn was about to appear.

So, the "Lovesickness" sword mark that had recently encircled almost the entire Yingdu, stretched for hundreds of miles, and was shallowly scratched on the ground, gradually became lighter, broke away from the heavy gravity of the earth, and began to float into the air.

A bunch of chaotic black lines danced in the wind, stretching and continuously changing their appearance, just like the unpredictable human thinking, but ultimately remaining in a fixed picture.

The next moment, a huge furnace as huge as a mountain, covering an area of ​​several miles, suddenly appeared right above Zhao Qing. The furnace mouth was facing downward, and the inside was full of violent flames. The terrifying and blazing vortex swallowed up countless dust, mist, and residual flames.

...(End of chapter)