Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 209

Chen Ping laughed and clapped his hands again, and the lights in the room were turned back on.

"This... I'd be impolite to refuse." After hesitating for a moment, Ou Yangguang couldn't help but reach out and touch the bronze seal, nodding in agreement.

"The Dong'ou Kingdom and Jing County have a seamless cooperation, and Brother Ouyang, as the Prime Minister of Dong'ou, has made great contributions in this regard. This mere gift is but a small token." Chen Ping said in a friendly tone, "Jing County has also prepared another gift for the King of Dong'ou, and we hope that Brother Ouyang can take it back and present it to him."

"I will certainly not fail in my mission," Ou Yangguang nodded with a broad smile, returning the favor by saying, "The friends of Dong'ou Kingdom and Jing County are as close as brothers; we should naturally become even closer in the future..."

After the two finished admiring the artifacts and walked away to visit another location, Lu Wei and Xiao He emerged from the room next door, which was separated by only one wall.

With his hands behind his back, the hall master watched the two departing figures thoughtfully and shook his head, saying, "It's just Dong'ou. Although it's important, there's no need to treat it with such high regard."

Xiao He's hospitality towards Dong'ou was excessive. Although these treasures were only brought back by Peng Yue and his men on a trip north, such wasteful spending is not good for the long term.

“This is like buying a horse's bones with a thousand pieces of gold.” Xiao He calmly responded to the question from the Hall Master Lu: “Although the Dong’ou Kingdom is weak, by setting it up as a typical example among the Baiyue people, the Yue people will naturally become closer to us.”

"Is that all?" The hall master stared at County Magistrate Xiao with a meaningful look, while the latter's smile deepened: "As the hall master guessed, this act of buying a horse's bones with a thousand pieces of gold also involves buying my junior brother Chen Ping."

"Tell me in detail," Lu Wei said calmly.

"The Hall Master naturally understands Junior Brother Chen Ping's talent, so I don't need to elaborate further." Xiao He led Hall Master Lu around the booming Jing County at a leisurely pace, speaking without any reservation: "If the Hall Master wants to recruit him to work for Gonggong Hall, he should not only demonstrate the strength of Gonggong Hall, but also show how much resources Gonggong Hall can provide him."

“Junior Brother Chen Ping is indeed very capable, but he has never before so casually disposed of several valuable treasures as he has today, and the object of his disposal is merely the small Dong’ou Kingdom.”

"The more adept he is now, and the more he feels he has made the most of his abilities, the more likely he will feel disappointed when he returns to the small Junjin Pavilion after being freed from the luxurious support of Gonggong Hall. If I invite him to serve the Hall Master again, I am sure I will succeed."

Despite his seemingly honest and simple appearance, Xiao He was ruthless when it came to scheming against his junior brother.

"What does the Master think of this 'spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones' strategy?"

"Brother Xiao He's words have truly enlightened me!" With a chuckle, the Hall Master was very pleased with Xiao He's wholehearted consideration for Gonggong Hall.

"Only someone as wise and magnanimous as the Hall Master could have accomplished this. I was merely going with the flow." Xiao He smiled faintly, raising his hand to stroke his newly grown long beard. He was just as pleased with Lu Wei's praise.

Xiao He was using the resources of Gonggong Hall to bribe his junior brother Chen Ping, while Lu Wei was also deliberately playing dumb at the right time to give Xiao He time to prove himself and further bribe this county magistrate.

Did Chen Ping and Xiao He, who were attracted by the "buying horse bones" offer, know this?

Of course, those two smart people knew that.

But if you see through something, don't say it. As the beneficiary, why bother asking so many questions?

Chapter 234 The Eve of the Campaign Against Chu

After a grand banquet with the Dong'ou envoy that evening, Lu Wei, Xiao He, and Chen Ping held a private banquet in a pavilion on Mirror Lake.

It was winter, and the weather was slightly chilly. With such a cold wind blowing, setting up a small stove on the lake, warming wine and chatting would be quite pleasant.

Master Lu was wearing a bright red fox fur coat, so even without using his internal energy, he didn't feel cold in the winter.

The coat was a gift from the Dong'ou Kingdom. The fur came from a type of fire fox, a specialty of Ouyue. Because the fur was warm, "like a blazing flame," it was quite expensive in Shouchun.

Foxes are rare, but the Dong'ou people have always struggled to survive, so it's impossible for them to be concerned with protecting rare animals while starving.

Of the three, Xiao He had lived in this place the longest, so he sat next to the wine warmer and was in charge of distributing the wine.

The three of them set aside their utilitarian identities and did not mention a word about what happened during the day. They simply chatted as disciples of various schools of thought. Inevitably, the first topic of their conversation was related to the Taoist Heaven-Man Sword Debate that had just ended.

As one of the witnesses, Chen Ping's evaluation of the sword duel between Chisongzi and Xiaoyaozi was very fair and objective, and he did not show any bias towards Xiaoyaozi because he was a disciple of the Human Sect.

The battle ended in a complete victory for Chishongzi. Chishongzi had kept Xueji for ten years and had a very deep understanding of the sword's essence.

The two leaders of the Heavenly and Human Sects were both renowned Taoist masters of their time. Due to the differences in their philosophies of 'Heaven' and 'Humanity', they made very different choices regarding the ever-changing situation.

Regarding the general trend of the world, Chisongzi firmly adhered to the tenets of the Heavenly Sect, devoted himself to cultivation in Mount Taiyi, received the teachings of the Heavenly Sect's predecessor Beimingzi, and continued to comprehend and pursue the realm of 'unity of heaven and man' in personal cultivation.

As the leader of the Human Sect, Xiaoyaozi would occasionally descend the mountain to personally experience the hardships of human life, and he was deeply moved by them. As the Qin state's unification efforts accelerated, Xiaoyaozi descended the mountain more and more frequently.

It is unknown how Chisongzi views the choice of his fellow disciples from the other lineage, but both Xiao He and Chen Ping estimate that the leader of Xiaoyaozi has already become entangled with the anti-Qin alliance.

Xiao and Chen disagreed with Tianzong's choice of which path to establish itself, but they wouldn't oppose it either, as everyone has their own ambitions. However, they also had reservations about their sect leader's eagerness to take sides: Taiyi Mountain was, after all, within Qin territory. If Qin obtained evidence of Xiaoyaozi's rebellion against Qin and its army pressed in, the entire Renzong sect would face scrutiny.

Although they lived far from the mountains, their feelings for the Taoist community remained profound.

Xiaoyaozi's anti-Qin stance cannot be simply judged as right or wrong, but his methods should have been more covert, or he could have temporarily stepped down from his position as sect leader.

"Has Hall Master Lu, who has been traveling the martial world for many years, ever met with our Sect Leader Xiaoyaozi?"

Chen Ping drank half a cup of warm wine and closed his eyes to savor its warmth.

"I've never met him, but I've heard quite a bit about him." Lu Wei pondered for a while, then shook his head and said, "I heard a few days ago in Shouchun that even when Sect Leader Xiaoyaozi arrived in the city, I didn't get to meet him."

"After the battle between the heavens and the man, the sect leader was not too discouraged. He went down the mountain before me and arrived in Shouchun."

"Shouchun is a mixed bag of people, so it was predictable that the sect leader would go there." Xiao He did not return to Taiyi Mountain after the Heavenly Sword Tournament, but he had some understanding of the situation in Shouchun, proving that he was now more concerned about the latter than the sect's actual situation.

"The Mohists are also present in Shouchun. If the sect leader takes this opportunity to contact the Mohists, there will be opposition within the Human Sect."

Chen Ping had only recently returned to the mountain and lacked recent intelligence, but he was aware of the Mo family's whereabouts, which had been known for some time.

"It's truly lamentable that the Mohist school, once a prominent school of thought, has fallen to its current state." Xiao He sighed. The name of the Mohist knights held great prestige among the young heroes of the martial world, and Xiao He himself had been influenced by them in the past.

"The root cause lies in their doctrines themselves, and the destruction of the Mohists was inevitable." Chen Ping disagreed: "Because of 'universal love,' the Mohists, even before the Six-Fingered Black Knight, had taken in a large number of people from the six states who were in distress because of the war. Some of these people from the six states hated each other, but most of them basically hated Qin."

"Once you have a stance in mind, you can no longer practice 'non-aggression'."

"The Six-Fingered Black Knight still had the prestige to suppress the thoughts of those below, but the composition of the Mohist disciples determined that it was destined to stand on the opposite side of the Qin state. Later, the succession of King Dan of Yan was not only due to his outstanding abilities, but also related to the general environment of the Mohist school."

"Six-Fingered Black Knight is also a hero who has dominated the martial arts world for decades. How could he not see that the next leader of the Mohist School would most likely be Yan Dan?" Chen Ping smiled sarcastically: "He can only acquiesce helplessly."

"In the future, what will ultimately destroy the Mohists is the Mohists themselves," he boldly predicted.

"In this respect, Confucianism is more advanced than Mohism in that Confucian doctrines are not immutable. The leaders of Xiaoshengxianzhuang in successive generations have modified and changed the interpretation of Confucianism according to the context of the times. A growing school of thought will always have more tenacious vitality."

Xiao He glanced at Lu Wei, who had been listening with a smile, and changed the subject: "The same applies to farmers."

"From the very beginning, the rough and rugged martial arts sects actively participated in the great struggle, accumulating strength and acting in a low-key manner. The development potential of the Farmer's Family will definitely not be limited to Jing County in the future."

“That’s inappropriate,” Chen Ping said, refuting his senior’s statement. After sensing two gazes with different meanings directed at him, he smiled and continued speaking eloquently:

"This is not progress for the peasants, but rather the great talent and strategy of Master Lu. It is under his guidance that Gonggong Hall has made progress, while the other five halls have not changed at all."

“Junior Brother is absolutely right!” Xiao He agreed with a serious expression.

...

After discussing Taoism, Mohism, Confucianism, and Agriculture, the three continued with a brief evaluation of the other schools of thought. In comparison, the other schools could only be considered 'small schools' in terms of the number of members they represented.

The premise is that law and military affairs are considered special cases and not counted.

After a night of casual conversation, it wasn't until the next day, during working hours, in the back hall of the Jing County government office, that Xiao He took out more detailed information about the Baiyue region and began to report to Lu Wei.

Overall, everything is proceeding according to plan. Dong'ou and Minyue are friendly partners, and Fanxian's strength is expanding rapidly. However, there has been no internal strife between the two sides.

Although Fanxian was much more civilized than Baiyue, it still needed a lot of mature knowledge that Jingxian had brought directly from the Central Plains, especially those mechanical beasts that were extremely efficient in land reclamation.

All of this was under the control of Jing County, which gave Jing County a special and superior status on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

Xiao He had a very detailed plan for all aspects, which enabled Jing County to gradually gain the greatest and most stable say on the south bank. After listening carefully to his plan, Lu Wei patted Magistrate Xiao on the shoulder and encouraged him to keep up the good work.

While Jing County was engaged in a battle of wits and courage with several small forces in a remote area, in Xianyang, the Qin state was ambitiously preparing a plan to conquer Chu with an army of 600,000. The two sides were completely incomparable.

Ying Zheng personally invited the ailing General Wang Jian back to court and agreed to all of Wang Jian's requests.

The demand for 600,000 soldiers almost encompassed all of Qin's field troops after Li Xin's defeat. If Ying Zheng were to say that he completely trusted Wang Jian, it would undoubtedly mean losing the reasonable and necessary suspicion that a monarch should have.

However, Li Xin's previous defeat had already diminished the authority of the King of Qin. The campaign against Chu could not afford another defeat; these 600,000 troops were indispensable.

Fortunately, after Wang Jian returned to Xianyang, he kept demanding money and land, seemingly greedy for the rewards from the King of Qin before the battle. He acted as if he would return to be a wealthy man after the battle, which reassured Ying Zheng somewhat.

Before a war, it's perfectly acceptable to have any doubts; once the war begins, there's no room for doubt... This is a lesson that Qin's successive adversaries have taught Qin through numerous disastrous consequences.

You cannot change generals on the eve of battle, you cannot hasten the attack, and you cannot overstep your bounds...

After fulfilling all of Wang Jian's requests, Ying Zheng gave him only one condition: to destroy the State of Chu.

As long as this requirement can be met, how to eliminate them is entirely up to Wang Jian's command.

Even Changping Jun, whom Ying Zheng deeply hated, was not mentioned at all.

The border between Qin and Chu was a vast plain. Like Li Xin, Wang Jian also believed that the key to defeating Chu lay in annihilating Chu's field forces.

Li Xin's previous attack route and strategy were mostly correct, but in terms of specific implementation, a rapid attack was clearly not suitable for the vast territory of the Chu state.

A blitzkrieg could be used to attack states like Han, Zhao, and Wei, but not against Chu, regardless of whether the rebellion of Lord Changping occurred.

Wang Jian believed that if they wanted to destroy Chu, fighting a war of attrition in the early stages was still the best option.

The King of Qin had already stated that the war was entirely up to Wang Jian. He readily agreed to Wang Jian's respectful and earnest report and promised to prepare enough provisions for the army to march for three years.

Seeing the king's generosity and Qin's wealth, Wang Jian decisively requested again that he be granted land and houses as rewards...

Ying Zheng reluctantly agreed.

However, one important point is that Wang Ben and Wang Li cannot participate in this expedition. Officially, the two had worked hard in the last campaign against Wei, so they need to continue to rest in Xianyang. The deputy general who will be in charge of the next campaign against Chu is Meng Wu, Wang Jian's familiar partner.

Wang Jian was grateful for the King of Qin's concern for the Wang family and had no other complaints.

On the Qin side, they were sharpening their swords, ready to attack Chu after the New Year. On the Chu side, the Xiang clan and King Fuchu were a fairly good match, but the problem was that Chu's resources were far inferior to Qin's.

The grain reserves can only support an army of 400,000 for a year at most.

Therefore, although Qin was the aggressor and Chu was the defender in this war, the defender had to achieve a quick victory within a year, while the attacker could use up to three years to slowly wear down the Chu people.

Xiang Yan had carefully studied Wang Jian's style and understood that this opponent's strategic methods were more troublesome for the enemy than his specific tactics.

The other side will also be very clear about the situation in the State of Chu...

"The upcoming war will be very troublesome."

Late into the night, Xiang Yan was still analyzing the Qin army's possible attack methods. His eyes reflected the lines of the map on the table as he muttered to himself...

Chapter 235 New Year's Murder

At the headquarters of Gonggong Hall in Daze Mountain, although Yue Shen came alone and none of the Gonggong Hall disciples recognized her, Lu Ni, Xue Nu and others provided cover for her after she arrived in the backyard.

The women were not close to the Moon Goddess, but she was, after all, the mother of Xiao Qian'er.

Because of the Yin-Yang magic he had once used, Lu Qian had never seen the Moon Goddess since he was old enough to understand things. However, under the guidance of his special bloodline Yin-Yang magic, he naturally felt a sense of closeness to her.

Seeing that the woman had taken away the responsibility of raising their child, whom they had carefully nurtured for several years, and that Qian'er himself seemed to be enjoying it, the women couldn't help but feel a little depressed.

Even the Snow Woman, who already had a son named Xiao He'er, was no exception. She had always shown great love for her children, but now that Qian'er had been taken away by her biological mother, the Snow Woman could not show any resentment, even though she disliked that woman.

The Moon Goddess felt neither ill will nor affection for the women in the backyard. In her plan, she and Qian'er would eventually belong to the Yin-Yang School.