Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 60

"I'm getting old, I've forgotten things!" Old Nan waved as he walked away. "Young farmer, maybe I'll remember next time we meet."

Step by step, he quickly disappeared into the crowd.

If I say it now, I'll become useless and be dismissed.

"Thank you, Master Nan!"

Lu Wei thanked him in a low voice, though Nan Gong could no longer hear him.

He then left in the opposite direction.

The steward did not choose to chase after them. Chu Nan's words were very insightful. If he were to figure out what he had learned today on his own, who knows when he would truly understand it.

"Impose the Yin and Yang aspects upon the Five Virtues, and apply the changes of day and night to the Twenty-Four Earthly Branches..."

Eager to return to the Gonggong Hall base, Lu Wei immediately went into seclusion to cultivate...

------

Time flies, and soon it's almost the end of the month.

Early in the morning, Xiang Bo personally came to the Gonggongtang branch and invited Lu Wei to go hunting in the mountains.

When the steward, whose seclusion had been disturbed, opened his eyes again, a ray of multicolored light quietly disappeared from the outside in.

"Understood." After dismissing the reporting disciple, Lu Wei changed into his close-fitting clothes and walked out the door.

"Brother Lu, let's go!" Xiang Bo said happily, "Today, the General has given special permission to drink wine."

"Let's go and bring back some game first, then have a good drink!"

"The young general has been born?" Lu Wei asked calmly.

"The General's residence is under martial law today, and the General will not see any outsiders."

Xiang Bo didn't say it directly, but from this message, we know that today is production day.

Xiang Dong and Xiang Liang are still on the border. Although Xiang Bo is of the same clan, he is not a direct relative and therefore cannot enter the general's mansion.

"Alright, two years have passed, and I don't want to lose too much to Brother Xiang today!"

Lu Wei mounted the new horse brought by his disciple, and the two of them spurred their horses to leave the city.

But just as they reached the city gate, a Xiang clan cavalryman, travel-worn and looking hurried, spurred his horse straight into the city, completely ignoring the fact that his horse had knocked a passerby flying, and shouted, "Urgent report from the border! Idlers, disperse!"

Xiang Bo's expression suddenly changed: "Brother Lu, I cannot accompany you today."

"That cavalryman just now was Brother Xiang Dong's personal guard captain!"

"Brother Xiang, please go ahead! Military affairs are of utmost importance!" Lu Wei clasped his hands in a fist salute and said solemnly.

"I will definitely apologize to Brother Lu next time!" After saying that, Xiang Bo turned his horse around and chased after the cavalryman.

Watching the two horses depart in the direction of the General's Mansion rather than the Royal Palace, and recalling the 'Overlord' soon to be born in the General's Mansion, eight words suddenly came to Lu Wei's mind:

"Life and death are the essence of Yin and Yang."

Chapter 82 Xinling Temple

Xiang Dong died, and his death was utterly worthless, even a complete disgrace to the Xiang clan.

A mutiny broke out in the army. Several junior officers conspired to invite Xiang Dong to inspect the troops, and planned to ambush and kill him as soon as he entered the camp.

Subsequently, these junior officers, along with more than three hundred soldiers, attempted to cross the border and surrender to the Qin state.

Halfway there, they were overtaken by the Chu army's Shadow Tiger Legion, and the entire rebel army was annihilated. The leader of the rebels was captured, and after torture, the truth was revealed: it was all because of one or two taels of gold.

Xiang Dong rushed to the border to bolster morale and boost the troops' spirits, so he carried a large amount of rewards and valuables with him.

Upon reaching the border, Xiang Dong did not keep a single penny of the reward for himself, but distributed it all out. However, the problem was that the soldiers all felt it was unfair!

Taking junior officers as an example: junior officers with the surname Xiang each received two gold coins, while other junior officers each received one gold coin.

Such differential treatment made the leading rebels feel insulted and that they had to wash it away with the blood of the Xiang family!

So they devised the incident...

This was ridiculous enough already.

However, what's even more ridiculous is that the Chu Kingdom's reward for junior officers was only one gold coin!

The extra gold coin given to the Xiang clan generals was a reward personally paid by Xiang Dong on behalf of the Xiang clan for their people...

This matter was decided by him personally; as a young general, Xiang Dong had extremely high authority.

The matter was not reported to General Xiang Yan. The general trusted his eldest son greatly and entrusted him with the task. He had many more important things to attend to.

And so, this childish and ridiculous thing happened.

After kneeling and recounting the entire incident to the General's Mansion, Xiang Dong's personal guard captain immediately drew his sword and committed suicide.

As a bodyguard, failing to die alongside the commander is a grave sin.

In his utter shock and grief, General Xiang Yan received the news of his eldest grandson's birth...

When Lu Wei, who was well-informed, first heard Xiang Bo recount the events with tears in his eyes, he was also surprised, but upon closer reflection, it made some sense.

Because Xiang Dong is indeed a person who values ​​family over outsiders.

When the Grand Steward first came to Shouchun, he went hunting with Xiang Dong. At that time, Xiang Dong instructed the soldiers to ensure that the venison he wanted to eat was not bumped or damaged, so as not to spoil the meat. The larger deer and rabbits that he did not want were generously given to the ordinary soldiers.

From the seemingly trivial matter of distributing prey to the current gold-sharing incident, it's clear that Xiang Dong's "love for his soldiers" is the "result" of his study of military strategy, while his true character lies in his arrogance as a nobleman.

That future overlord, born amidst news of his father's death, must have inherited countless genes related to this...

Xiang Dong's name has now become a taboo in the Xiang army, a taboo that must never be mentioned.

As a young general, he did not die on the battlefield, but instead died by the blades of his own soldiers. This disgrace erased all his previous achievements and turned him into a complete sinner.

So much so that his name never appeared in his son Xiang Yu's childhood memories...

Of course, even Xiang Yan himself admitted that 80% of the responsibility for the mutiny lay with the deceased Xiang Dong, but the junior officers who led the rebellion and about 300 soldiers were still severely punished.

Direct relatives of the deceased were executed by being cut in half at the waist, while collateral relatives were exiled as slaves...

Lu Wei's trip to Shouchun was originally intended to joyfully present a gift to the young general of the Xiang family, but now he has witnessed a tragedy...

If it weren't for the huge gains I made from meeting Chu Nan Gong in the Yunmeng Market, this trip to Shouchun would have been a complete waste of time.

The year began inauspiciously; after bidding farewell to the listless Xiang Bo, Lu Wei quickly left the State of Chu.

Before leaving, he went to the variety show area of ​​Yunmeng Market again and watched a complete witch dance for the first time, but he did not meet Chu Nan Gong again.

This time, Lu Wei chose the same route as his previous caravan: from Chu to Wei, then to Zhao, and finally to Yan.

Last time, due to the stalemate in the Qin-Zhao war and the order from the Gonggong Hall headquarters, Lu Wei was worried about the situation in Ji City, so he broke away from the caravan halfway and rushed back to Yan State on horseback.

Although the war between Qin and Zhao is still ongoing, the current chief steward no longer needs to rush. He can take the time to travel around the land of Jin and explore its customs and culture to broaden his horizons.

The primary target is Daliang, a city that will be flooded by the Yellow River in seven years.

The State of Wei was situated in the central region of the world, a place of constant warfare. When strong, it was the hegemon of the Central Plains, its power awe-inspiring to all sides. When weak, it was surrounded by crises and constantly threatened.

This year, Han and Wei sent a joint army to join Qin in attacking Zhao, resulting in a decline in population in Daliang City, which was less vibrant than Shouchun.

Lu Wei led his horse and paid a hefty entrance fee at the gate. Walking on the cobblestone streets, he could still sense the former prosperity of the place.

The Sanghai Sea in the State of Qi is the headquarters of the Confucian Sage Village, where Confucian scholars gather in droves. In the city of Daliang, Confucian scholars dressed in Confucian robes are also a common sight.

This is a legacy of the time when Marquis Wen of Wei took Zixia, a disciple of Confucianism, as his teacher, and Confucian scholars still hold him in high regard today.

The State of Wei has produced a great many talented individuals over the centuries, making it famous throughout the land. Unfortunately, many of them have left for other states. In recent years, even Lord Xinling, Wei Wuji, could not be tolerated...

But no matter how autocratic and ignorant King Wei was, he could not change the will of the people of Daliang: Lord Xinling’s former retainers contributed money and the common people in the surrounding area contributed their labor to build the Xinling Temple in the northern part of Daliang to commemorate Wei Wuji.

As one of the pretexts to be used in the future, the steward went straight to the Xinling Temple, bought sandalwood from the two temple guardians, and respectfully bowed to the temple.

"Sword energy flows like autumn water, heroic spirit soars through the long clouds."

He muttered lines from the miscellaneous books he had read in the past, not caring whether they fit the context. In this era, being able to recite poetry was a luxury.

As for what Lu Wei truly thought, it was:

"I will take care of your wife and daughters, so you need not worry."

After finishing his prayers, the head steward glanced discreetly at the shrine guardians on both sides of the hall before leaving with an air of nonchalance.

Both of them possess extraordinary internal strength; they are truly talented individuals!

Since they are willing to serve in front of the Xinling Temple, they must all be loyal retainers of Lord Xinling, Wei Wuji.

Lord Xinling's people are my future people!

It's best to build up goodwill first, as it will make things much easier when you try to recruit them later.

There are also farmhouses in Daliang City. Although this area is mainly under the influence of the Four Mountains Hall, the Lieshan Hall, Shennong Hall, and Kuiwei Hall also have branches here.

Since Qi and Wei were neighbors, the first step for Qi's influence to extend beyond Qi's borders was usually to enter Wei's territory.

Although Lu Wei was on good terms with the Zhu family and Situ Wanli, he did not have the habit of staying in other people's territories for a long time, so he spent his own money to find an inn in Daliang City to stay in.

For the next three days, he would go to the Xinling Temple every day before sunrise, offer three sticks of sandalwood to Lord Xinling in the rising sun, and leave behind a seemingly heroic poem before turning away.

When Lu Wei finished his fifth visit to the Xinling Temple, the two shrine keepers finally spoke up and called out to him.

"Young hero, do you have a past relationship with Lord Xinling?"

One of them spoke, staring intently into Lu Wei's eyes.

"Lord Xinling has been kind to me, so I paid my respects to him on my way to Daliang." The steward nodded sincerely, unfazed by the scrutinizing gaze. Although he had never met Lord Xinling, Wei Wuji, it was true that Lord Xinling had been kind to him.

At this point, Lu Wei added, "Moreover, I feel even more guilty for the place where I have wronged Lord Xinling."

The shrine keeper, who had not spoken, calmly said to the young man before him, whose words were earnest and whose eyes were innocent, "If you could have such feelings for Lord Xinling, he would be comforted if he knew in the afterlife."

"His Majesty is usually extremely tolerant of people. If you feel that you have wronged him, His Majesty will not take it to heart or remember it, so there is no need to blame yourself too much."

The young man before him looked to be no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, or even younger. What evil could he possibly do to Lord Xinling, who died four years ago?

“I know that Lord Xinling is tolerant and generous.” Lu Wei nodded. “Since you two seniors are willing to guard the shrine for Lord Xinling, you must be his followers. Hearing your words makes me feel much better.”

"My name is Lu Wei, a farmer. May I ask who you two are, seniors?"

Wiping away non-existent tears, the steward cupped his hands and bowed.

Since the young man before him admired Lord Xinling, he must not be a bad person. Moreover, he was from a farming family, which means he came from a prestigious background.