Daily Intelligence System: Don't Kill Me, Honey!

The burly man beside him, however, was different. He sat there with a composed demeanor, bright eyes full of determination, as if waiting for the Living Buddha’s response.

The Living Buddha extended his short left arm, while his right arm was still regenerating, expected to fully grow in two to three months.

This is the power of the Relic Reincarnation Technique, able to repair all internal injuries, including a severed arm. It can be said that with this skill, Basiba is unlikely to suffer any incurable injuries.

This is his formidable aspect.

At this moment, Basiba looked at the burly man and said, ”Ruyang King, have you attained any enlightenment from your days of meditation here?”

The Ruyang King, the burly man sitting, said, ”I have attained enlightenment.”

”Oh, please share.”

Basiba looked at the Ruyang King, who said, ”What I seek is a clear conscience. I have guarded Jiangnan diligently for decades, venturing into life and death. It can be said that I have made significant contributions. Does the State Preceptor recognize this?”

Basiba nodded, ”What you said, Ruyang King, is true.”

”Then I ask the State Preceptor: Now that they want to strip me of my military power, should I surrender it or not?”

The State Preceptor looked at the Ruyang King and said, ”Surrender or not, shouldn’t this be a matter for your own consideration?”

The Ruyang King gently nodded, ”What the State Preceptor says is true, but I still cannot understand!”

”What does the Prince not understand?”

Basiba wasn’t impatient, looking at the Ruyang King and asking. The Ruyang King pondered for a moment and said, ”What I don’t understand is whether the reduction of the fiefs is the will of Your Majesty or that of the Lord Prime Minister.”

”Oh, is there a difference?”

Basiba looked at the Ruyang King and continued to ask.

The Ruyang King said, ”Lord State Preceptor, you should know me. I, Cha Han, was entrusted by the late king to guard the eighty-one prefectures of the Jiangnan Five Routes. I consider myself diligent, and in my time, there have been no major disturbances in Jiangnan. Saying that the country is at peace and the people are secure is not an exaggeration.”

”Now, as the world is in chaos, it is precisely when I am needed to suppress Jiangnan, yet suddenly they want to strip me of my military power. If this is the will of Your Majesty, then nothing more needs to be said.”

”Under the full sky, there is no land that is not the king’s, no one along the edges that is not the king’s minister’s subject. A ruler orders a minister to die; the minister cannot refuse death.”

”There is no need for Your Majesty to stage this. As long as the Holy Decree from Your Majesty arrives in Jiangnan, I will immediately relinquish my military power without hesitation, relinquishing authority at once.”

”The State Preceptor can bear witness to this.”

The Ruyang King looked at Basiba, who, upon hearing this, rolled the oversized Buddha beads in his hands and said, ”I’ve seen the Ruyang King’s loyalty and patriotism.”

The Ruyang King said, ”But to bring this back, the military power in my hands was granted by the late king, and only the current Majesty can take it back. Apart from the current Majesty, I recognize no one else, and no one else can take my military power.”

The Ruyang King listened and looked at Basiba, saying, ”So, State Preceptor, if this reduction of the fiefs is something concocted solely by the Prime Minister himself, then forgive me, Cha Han, for not understanding and being unable to understand.”

”Unless he kills me, otherwise, I will never hand over this military power to him!”

Basiba listened to the Ruyang King and fell silent. After a while, he said, ”Perhaps centralizing military power with the central government would be better?”

The Ruyang King looked at Basiba and said, ”Then to whom will the military power be entrusted, to Tuotuo?”

”Tuotuo now has administrative control over the civil servant. If he were also to seize control of the military power across the land, whose realm would this Daqian be? Would it be the realm of the Heavenly Khan left to the Borjigit Clan, or would it be Tuotuo’s realm?”

”State Preceptor, can you enlighten me?”

The Ruyang King looked at Basiba, who listened and remained silent for a long time before speaking, ”This is indeed a dilemma, isn’t it?”

The Ruyang King looked at Basiba and said, ”Lord State Preceptor, you have served as a protector for the country for over a hundred years. One could say Daqian would not have today’s prosperity without the help of the State Preceptor. Therefore, I want to ask the State Preceptor a question.”

”State Preceptor, do you think this world belongs to us, the Borjigit Clan, or to Tuotuo?”

”You are an Earthly Immortal, a Great Bodhisattva of Buddhism. You speak most impartially. Tell me, is this world still ours, the Borjigit Clan’s? If even you think this world does not belong to us, the Borjigit Clan, then we yield.”

The Ruyang King’s words left Basiba rooted there, and after a long time, Basiba sighed and said, ”This world, of course, belongs to the Borjigit Clan, to the descendants of the Heavenly Khan.”

”Then, State Preceptor, why are you keeping me here?”

The Ruyang King continued to ask, to which Basiba sighed and said, ”Cha Han, I used the Buddhist Dream Skill to perform a divination for myself in a dream, and the trigram indicates that the Daqian Destiny is not thriving. Without change, there is a risk of collapse.”

The Ruyang King listened and looked at Basiba and said, ”Then the change the State Preceptor proposes is? Reducing the fiefs?”

Basiba sighed and said, ”I do not know, but Tuotuo came to me and said he knows. As long as I listen to him, he assures that Daqian Destiny will flourish, and the rebellion across the land can be quelled as long as I support him.”

The Ruyang King looked at Basiba and said, ”State Preceptor, are you easily swayed by his words?”

Basiba was silent for a moment, then sighed, ”The world is undergoing massive changes. Without change, there is death; with change, there is a chance for survival. I am entrusted by the Heavenly Khan to protect and ensure the survival of Daqian. I cannot let Daqian fall in my hands!”

”Cha Han, you are of the Heavenly Khan’s bloodline; you should understand me!”

The Ruyang King heard these words, looked at Basiba, and said, ”State Preceptor, I understand you, and I can cooperate with you. But what if you are wrong? If Daqian is defeated because of your decision, will the State Preceptor have the face to face the Heavenly Khan in the Buddha Country?”

Basiba fell silent, and the Ruyang King continued, ”Lord State Preceptor, you should know that those who can bring down Daqian aren’t necessarily the Han people; they could also be the Mulan people.”