Li Feng retained the layout of the five major regions and did not touch the Black Tiger Emblem in the hands of the Marquis of Order either. He only set up several supervisors in addition to the existing commanders of each region. The supervisors were directly under the Ministry of War, and a new person would be changed into this position once every three years. Their job only consisted of one thing - to request for the 'Drumming Order' from the Ministry of War.

If the Drumming Order hadn't arrived, any commander who dared to deploy the troops would be treated the same as if they had rebelled.

Except for the Black Iron Camp, all the troops stationed in five major regions were required to follow this law.

When the Drumming Order was sent down, the whole country was shocked. Who would have the heart to care about such a trivial matter like commonfolk Mechanics?

The Emperor and the court's officials argued noisily for a year, three out of five commanders wanted to resign. It was chaotic to the point of alarming the Marquis of Order in the Northwest.

The Marquis of Order didn't have the time yet to express his opinions to His Majesty's decree that was basically trying to seek death, but he already had to travel everywhere regardless of difficulty to calm the heart of the military personnel, patiently listening to the cries of the old generals. As soon as one matter settled down, another one emerged. It was incredibly chaotic.

On New Year's Eve, when Gu Yun returned to the capital to report his duties, more than fifty handkerchiefs were thrown his way by young ladies and misses on the street*. He hadn't had time to feel proud when he already needed to give them back for people to wipe their tears - even diapers were less wasteful than this.

*When the troops make their way through the capital, the ladies will throw handkerchiefs towards the soldier they found to be handsome.

Even the folks became worked up along with it. All the scholars from every library throughout the country seemed as if they had nothing else in their mouths, every day, repeating this law, that law, debating nonstop.

The imperial court under the rule of Emperor Yuan He, that was engulfed in a heavy and silent atmosphere, finally had something to talk about.

This chaos dragged on until Long An's sixth year, the debate surrounding the Drumming Order still wasn't concluded. The Emperor refused to abolish the decree, but for the time being, he did not send out any supervisor either. The decree was suspended in the air, like a hanging sword that was ready to break one of two sides at any time.

It was a cool autumn of another year, it had been four years since the disaster in Jiangnan, Wei Wang’s bones had turned cold. That matter became an outdated topic, and no one mentioned it anymore.