Chapter 1385: Chapter 449: Fission Accelerates, Transfer of Military Authority, Military Petition and Mutiny (Part 2)

The Chui Mountain military system is similar to Moao’s various towns, with both the Army Chief and the Lord in charge of the entire army, and they also have the authority to mobilize three thousand elite troops of the Yellow Armor Army; the remaining six Deputy Army Chiefs each lead two to three thousand troops of the Defensive Army.

Duan Mian and Mu Qinghe, aside from each commanding three thousand troops of the Defensive Army, also serve as Commanders of the First and Third Yellow Armor Army, responsible for town defense; the remaining four Deputy Army Chiefs each lead two thousand troops of the Defensive Army, in charge of the defense of the four major camps in Chui Mountain - Jiangyan, Tie Ling, East Qing, and Pingkang.

It can only be said that times change. The death of Duan Chang in May two years ago indeed made the Duan Family lose part of their influence in the military again, while the Mu Family lived comfortably for quite some time.

However, just four months later, in September of the same year, Mu Longhe, the Army Chief, had an incident during the Hongmen battle, ushering in a winter for the Mu Family faction.

Starting from last year, Zhu Ziying, who was in charge of the Tie Ling camp, and Qiu Sanming, who was in charge of the Pingkang camp, were successively removed from their Deputy Army Chief positions and replaced by Duan Yang and Duan Chen, respectively. Until this January, even his father Helian Shan could not escape the fate of being removed, now idling at home.

The removal of the three Deputy Army Chiefs was just the tip of the iceberg.

In the military, down to Commander, Colonel, and even Captain level, anyone with deep ties to the Mu Family who did not pledge allegiance to the Duan Family or had ties too deep to be severed were either removed or driven out of the military.

Not only in the military, but all institutions, including the Inspectorate, the Chamber of Commerce, and other town institutions, went through a major reshuffle, with many people from the Mu Family faction being replaced. Currently, the military and government institutions of Chui Mountain are almost entirely controlled by the Duan Family.

Fighting for power is ultimately for profit. The core purpose of controlling military and government institutions, to put it plainly, is to seize town resources, or more bluntly, to secure more cultivation resources and silver.

Whether for individuals or families, strength is always the foundation of one’s standing, and cultivation resources are the only way to enhance strength.

Helian Ba is over fifty years old and naturally understands this well.

His father, Helian Shan, who is already seventy-six years old this year, when the mentor Mu Longhe was around, relied on the Deputy Army Chief position to receive significant cultivation resources annually, not to mention the over three million taels of current silver, which was the key reason they were able to join the ranks of the renowned Helian Family in Chui Mountain.

But since this January, after his father’s removal from the Deputy Army Chief position, his two uncles Helian Cheng and Helian Gang and other members of the Helian Family were also successively removed from positions in various major military and government institutions of the town. As of this month, the Helian Family has been completely marginalized.

Being marginalized is one thing, but the Lord Duan Hong did not assign them new positions; he treated them as ordinary people.

The Helian Family, with over a hundred members, suddenly faced tighter days.

They aren’t facing starvation, and it’s not that they don’t have cultivation resources, but transitioning from frugality to extravagance is easy; from extravagance to frugality is hard. The reduction in material resources has already caused significant dissatisfaction, not to mention the psychological gap.

Helian Ba remembers clearly that his father Helian Shan used to gain one to two levels of strength annually, thanks to his mentor’s gifts and his own purchased cultivation resources. But since the incident with Mu Longhe two years ago, his father’s strength has remained stagnant at 39 Manes.

Others may not understand the reason, but as his son, Helian Ba naturally knew.

His father Helian Shan, being of such an age, had long reached Peak Cultivation of Cold Resistance Level.

To further enhance strength, cultivation was useless; only Dan Medicine could help.

And for enhancing the strength at Peak Cultivation of Cold Resistance Level, the Nine Towns Territory currently has only four types of Dan Medicine: Tiger Power Pill from Jinshan Town, Dragon Carp Pill from Jiangxia Town, Green Cod Pill from Bashang Town, and the newly developed Black Death Pill by Great Xia.

In fact, during the Dajue Temple battle two years ago, Bashang was destroyed, and the six town Lords who divided Bashang Prefecture had already shared the formula of the Green Cod Pill.

The problem is knowing the formula doesn’t help; you need the materials!

Green Cod Pill, as the name implies, its main ingredient is a Water Cold Beast called Green Cod, which is only found in the Xing River Basin, mostly concentrated in the Bashang Water Area segment.

This segment is entirely controlled by Great Xia now. First, Great Xia wouldn’t allow outsiders to enter their waters for fishing, nor would they sell Green Cod to others. As such, the formula of the Green Cod Pill has basically become meaningless.

Hence, for enhancing strength at Peak Cold Resistance Level, Chui Mountain can only buy from Jinshan, Jiangxia, and Great Xia’s three towns.

The problem is, the production of such top-tier Dan Medicine is inherently limited, and the three towns are bound to prioritize supplying their own of Cold Resistance Level, so it’s unlikely they’ll sell in large quantities, meaning Chui Mountain can buy only a limited amount each year.

Before Great Xia occupied the East Exit, based on the production fluctuation from Jinshan, Jiangxia, and Bashang, Chui Mountain could historically purchase between 500 to 800 pills annually; after Great Xia occupied the East Exit, they boosted the production, giving Chui Mountain a bit of an advantage, purchasing a total of 1200 pills two years ago, and even higher last year, reaching 1400 pills.

pills seem like a lot, but considering there are over seven thousand individuals of Cold Resistance Level in Chui Mountain Town, it’s actually not much.

Of course, not everyone of Cold Resistance Level is at Peak Cultivation, so not everyone needs these Dan Medicines. The problem is, the worse the Battle Body Talent, the faster one reaches the Cold Resistance Level, so even with calculations, there are at least over a thousand people who need them. If distributed evenly, each person wouldn’t even get one pill, which is meaningless for enhancing strength, and the town naturally wouldn’t distribute them this way.