Caleb Carter was suddenly filled with pride. Although Henry Walker disdained his father's reclusive and non-official lifestyle, his words could not hide his admiration. In the thirty-fifth year of the New Dynasty, when he himself was still in swaddling clothes, the three great clans of Donghai managed the salt trade themselves, transporting salt via the Yangtze, Huai, Jin, and other waterways to the northwestern commanderies. However, the various warlords did not want Donghai to grow powerful by profiting from the salt trade, so they allowed bandits within their territories to harass the salt transport ships. Every time the three Donghai clans shipped salt, they had to employ strict security, which was very costly. The profits from the salt trade, after such deductions and losses, were meager. At that time, the notorious bandit Edward Grant rose to power on Pujilian Island, seeking a foothold on land and splitting his forces to attack both Donghai and Yue commanderies. Edward Grant was the head of a remnant noble family from the old dynasty and refused to submit to the New Dynasty even in name. Thus, he occupied the island and became a pirate, ravaging the economies of the two commanderies and killing at will. This was just another episode in the ongoing struggle for supremacy among noble families on the mainland, and his father originally had no intention of getting involved. However, his godfather and father had been friends since childhood, and together with the other two noble families, they made a pact: “Once the bandits are pacified, we will settle in Donghai and protect this region, without seeking to dominate the world.” Thus, his father came out of retirement once more, presented the “Donghai Salt Affairs Strategy,” and recommended that the Donglin Society oversee the salt trade in Donghai Commandery, with the local noble families only collecting a twelfth of the salt tax. Warships were built at Yongyang to control the mouth of the Yangtze, and at Pingcheng, at the mouth of the Huai, a seaport was expanded, tower ships were constructed, city walls were raised high, elite troops were stationed within, all to repel pirates and protect the sea routes. From then on, the Yongyang sea route, which had been cut off for over fifty years due to the Donghai pirate problem, was reopened. Fine horses from Baiji and high-quality iron once again appeared in the Central Plains via the Yongyang sea route. Donghai Commandery controlled key commercial routes, trade flourished, and the commercial tax revenue was several times that of the salt trade, greatly increasing its strength. Edward Grant, seeing that Donghai could not be conquered and suffering heavy losses, made peace with the three Donghai clans and turned his full attention to Yue Commandery. From then on, with the Yangtze’s mouth as the boundary, banditry north of the river ceased, and Yongyang, benefiting from trade, gradually gained the momentum to become the greatest city in the realm.

“After the Donghai bandits were pacified, Ethan Brooks and your father agreed to settle in one corner and not seek dominion over the world. But they did not realize this was the most foolish idea under heaven. Now, the empire’s situation is such that the inner court is an empty shell, warlords vie for power, and outside the Central Plains, the Hulan people in the north are covetous, while the ten kingdoms on the western frontier are restless. The world is in turmoil; to stand still is to fall behind. My The Walker Clan has lived in Boling for generations, never contending with the other warlords, yet we are not tolerated by John Bolton. Although Ethan Brooks’s martial prowess is unmatched in the southeast, commanding tens of thousands of elite troops and a thousand mighty warships in Donghai, the northern neighbor, Qingzhou’s William Evans, and the western neighbors, Yongning’s John Bolton and Samuel Harris, are all as fierce as tigers and wolves. Victorious armies are forged in battle; only on the battlefield can elite troops and great generals be trained. In a few years, although Donghai Commandery may be as wealthy as any in the realm, its military strength will be the weakest among the five commanderies of Hedong, and by then, will it not have fattened itself only to be devoured by others? If William Evans seizes Yixing and Baishi Prefectures, or if John Bolton controls the Zhongliu navy, Donghai Commandery will be in danger.”

“However, with your father’s abilities, he must have long since seen through the situation. He surely realized that, although the The Evans Family holds all of Qingzhou, internal factional strife runs deep. The eldest son, Andrew Evans, though exceptionally talented, is not born of the main wife and is not listed in the family register. The legitimate son, Robert Evans, is cruel by nature, ambitious but lacking in ability, and is not favored by William Evans’s younger brother, Stephen Evans. Outwardly, Qingzhou appears united, but in reality, it is divided. John Bolton rose from Yixing and Baishi, flourished in Jiangjin, but his power ends there. For years, I have led four thousand ghost cavalry to harass Yixing and Baishi, leaving him unable to seize Zhongliu. The noble families of Yue Commandery have always been weak and are not to be feared. The Huo family of Jinyang is strong, but their land is mountainous and they are unaccustomed to cavalry warfare, and with Yongning as a barrier, they cannot reach Donghai. Yet the world’s situation is ever-changing—can things still go as your father planned? Only by sharpening one’s resolve, devising strategies for the realm, and contending for supremacy in the Central Plains can one truly grasp everything in one’s own hands.”

His father had once spoken to him about the state of the world, and Caleb Carter recalled it silently.

When the New Dynasty was first established, the remnant The Young Family of the old dynasty, aided by the The Reed Family, retreated to Nanping. From then on, the old noble families of the southeast submitted to the New Dynasty, and the realm was at peace. The former imperial in-law The Reed Family rose to prominence in Nanping, once driving a million indigenous Sanmiao people from Nanping Commandery to Lingnan. The Sanmiao sought refuge with Le’an’s The Young Family, who then dominated Nanning Commandery. At the founding of the New Dynasty, the head of the The Young Family, Olivia Young, seeing that the world could not be taken, submitted a letter of allegiance and was granted the hereditary title of Prince of Nanning Xuanzheng. Thus, Nanning was pacified.

The old noble family of the Zongzheng clan in Nanmin Commandery soon after also submitted in name to the New Dynasty and was granted the title of Prince of Nanmin Qinde. Southwest of Nanping Commandery, crossing the thousand-zhang-high Qian Mountains, one reaches Nanzhao Commandery, which was divided among six vassal states. However, being far from the heartland of the Central Plains, no matter how fierce their struggles, they rarely affected the situation in the Central Plains. South of Nanning Commandery, the great island of Qiongzhou faces it across the sea. Qiongzhou Prefecture originally belonged to Nanning Commandery. When the New Dynasty was founded, among the several southern commanderies, Nanmin Commandery suffered from Ryukyu pirates, the six states of Nanzhao were in constant warfare, and Nanping Commandery was a refuge for the old dynasty’s clansmen. Only Nanning Commandery, under the painstaking management of Olivia Young, was free from both internal and external troubles. To weaken the power of the The Young Family in Nanning Commandery, the great general Benjamin Reed was granted Qiongzhou as a fief. Thus, Qiongzhou was isolated from Nanning Commandery and became a separate entity.

These are the lands of the four southern commanderies and one prefecture.