Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 214

This old fox will understand the unspoken understanding between the two sides.

Just as Zhou Wen had predicted, the Zhu family in Shennong Hall were indeed puzzled by yesterday's meeting:

"Why would Lu boy willingly push me, Situ Wanli, and even that woman Tian Mi into Tian Meng's forces?"

A person contemplates in the darkness; the masks of the Zhu family are ever-changing...

As the oldest of the current six hall masters, Zhu Jia's intuition told him after close contact that Lu Wei and Tian Meng seemed to be cooperating silently.

"Is the key to this cooperation with me?"

Chapter 240 Internal Affairs

Physician Nian Duan opened a clinic in Gonggongtang, near the three-way intersection between the Gonggongtang headquarters and Qiufenling.

Heading south from here is Gonggong Hall, and heading north is Chiyou Hall. This is the only main road on the western side of the Daze Mountains that can transport large cargo caravans.

Heading east leads to the Tomb of the Six Sages. You can take a road around the Tomb of the Six Sages to reach the Lieshan Hall.

As an important transportation hub in Dazeshan, the first line of defense in Qiufenling to the north was formed by disciples of Chiyou Hall, and the intersection itself was guarded and inspected by Gonggong Hall on a daily basis.

Such an arrangement has not been used in an emergency in the memory of at least these three generations. The State of Qi has not experienced war for nearly fifty years, and Dazeshan has naturally developed peacefully as a result.

However, since last year, after Qin troops were stationed in the old Wei towns that this road passes through at its exit, inspections have become much stricter.

The main reason why Physician Nian Duan opened her clinic here is because it is close to the place where she collects herbs, which makes it convenient for her to teach her students.

In addition, a sitting hall was set up at the headquarters in Dazeshan. Every month, Nianduan would lead his disciples to sit in the hall for two days as a form of practice.

In recent years, the old doctor has widely disseminated his simple first aid manual in Gonggongtang, and the feedback from the disciples of the Farmer School has been very positive.

Many of these methods actually have rough solutions based on the repeated injuries experienced by practitioners of traditional medicine. After this master of medicine summarized, optimized, and systematized these methods, they are undoubtedly more convenient to use.

When Lu Wei brought Duanmu Rong to the clinic, the old doctor was giving a lesson to Rong'er's junior brothers and sisters.

Compared to the attentive care he showed when teaching Duanmu Rong, Nian Duan was unable to teach these less gifted disciples according to their individual talents like Confucius had done in the past. He could only follow Master Lu's advice and mass-produce batches of semi-professionals who understood basic medical principles through rote learning.

Among the 100,000 disciples in the Dazeshan area of ​​the Farmer's Family, the proportion of actual doctors is extremely low; most are simply elderly people with rich experience who also serve as doctors.

Nian Duan himself is getting old, and his energy is even more limited. Apart from treating the middle and senior-level members of Gonggong Hall who are in charge, the treatment of the more ordinary disciples below can only be done by these students who have only a superficial understanding, through gradual practice and experience.

When there are many teachers, the best among them will always emerge.

After the course, Duanmu Rong went to have a private chat with her master, while the headmaster went to these disciples who were both farmers and doctors to listen to their feedback from their journey in the Daze Mountains.

Although these people are all disciples of the Gonggong Hall and their main work is within the Gonggong Hall, when the outer halls encounter emergencies, they inevitably have to invite healers from the Gonggong Hall to treat the sick. Healers can have easier access to some key secrets than ordinary spies.

These disciples who came to Physician Nian Duan's medical clinic had all passed A Yu's examination and were members of the Gonggong Hall's secret guards. Every ten days, a large amount of intelligence would be reported from them.

The medical spies are an important part of the Gonggongtang intelligence network. In order to show his importance to these people, Lu Wei always makes time to visit the clinic every time he returns to Dazeshan.

These things might be kept secret from others, but they certainly couldn't be hidden from their medical teacher, Nian Duan. As a pure healer, the old physician held such matters in low regard. However, every time Lu came to visit, he brought Duanmu Rong along. Seeing the jubilant expressions on his most beloved disciple's face, what could Nian Duan do but sigh and pretend not to know...?

In the evening, watching his disciple being casually led by Lu Wei to take a walk outside, the old doctor glanced at the students below and led them to the pharmacy to process the medicinal herbs.

"The Six Halls are currently in turmoil. People are capable of anything in their struggle for power. You...you must be careful."

Duanmu Rong gazed at the reddening sunset on the horizon, glancing at the tall figure beside her out of the corner of her eye, and couldn't help but ramble on.

The current situation in the farmhouse is affecting the hearts of everyone in Dazeshan. Even Duanmu Rong, who usually devotes herself to medical research and stays away from disputes, is worried.

"Don't worry, although I'm not good at scheming, I've been through a lot, so I'm not afraid of other people's schemes."

Looking up at the setting sun, though the evening sun was still dazzling, it was only the last rays of light before its 'death' for the day, and he hadn't even begun his ascent yet: "You don't need to worry about the affairs of the farmers."

"Hmm." Duanmu Rong gave a soft hum. She wasn't good at scheming and intrigue. After offering a reminder based on her emotions, she felt that all she could do next was to continue improving her professional skills to support him in his medical career.

'Although I can't help Brother Lu with administrative tasks like Ah Xue does, I'm very useful in medicine!'

After silently encouraging herself, Little Fairy Doctor took the initiative to put her arm around the person next to her.

...

After returning from my walk, I stayed overnight at the old doctor's clinic.

The next morning, with a slightly flushed face, Duanmu Rong met her master at the door. She bowed and waited for Nian Duan to walk away expressionlessly before subconsciously gritting her teeth and raising her fist to punch Lu Wei's arm.

It's fine if it wasn't done with silver needles. The Hall Master knew she would stay here for a few more days until the old doctor went to headquarters to oversee things before returning together, so he went back to Gonggong Hall alone first.

After visiting the medical clinic, Master Lu and Li Mu discussed the war against Chu at Yan Gui Ridge.

Li Mu could only speculate about Xiang Yan based on the information in the intelligence, but Wang Jian was one of his old acquaintances.

With the powerful Qin state behind him, Wang Jian's war strategy was obvious even without intelligence gathering; he would have guessed that once inside Chu territory, he would simply hold his ground and not engage in battle.

As the 'strongest' general of the Xiang clan, Xiang Yan did not need to worry about being dismissed by the King of Chu, but his lack of ability to launch direct attacks was the reason why he was destined to fail.

Looking at Xiang Yan's military record over the years, he has not achieved any significant military victories. Even his major victory over Li Xin last year was achieved through a counterattack tactic that relied on luring the enemy deep into his territory and then using the harassment of Changping Jun's rebellion.

Like the Zhao army, the Chu army was one of the few remaining armies with fighting spirit at the end of the Six Kingdoms period. Wang Jian's approach to both armies was similar: the Qin army would hold its ground and wear down the enemy's morale.

Xiang Yan's ability to mobilize 400,000 troops to hold off Wang Jian was remarkable in itself, but he lacked the capacity to effectively launch Chu's offensive.

Li Mu might be able to do this better than his opponent, but the key to defeating Wang Jian is to find opportunities amidst the ever-changing battlefield every day, rather than relying solely on verbal plans to defeat the enemy.

Li Mu lacked the confidence that he could easily defeat Wang Jian if he were in Xiang Yan's position. This was true not only for him, but also for Sun Tzu if he were resurrected.

Unless the generals on both sides are particularly foolish, in a battle involving millions of people, it all comes down to a contest of national strength in the end.

But one thing is certain: if they continue to hold out, the Chu state will surely lose.

Therefore, Xiang Yan must take the initiative to seek change, but at present, this Lord Wu'an of Chu has no good solution.

Li Mu roughly simulated the battlefield and believed that continuing to lure the enemy deeper was Xiang Yan's last chance, which required the Chu army to take the initiative to withdraw from the standoff.

If there were any flaws in the command during the retreat of 400,000 troops, the Qin army would seize the opportunity to rip off a large chunk of their territory, or even cause them to lose everything.

It remains to be seen whether Chu's professional scouts can help Xiang Yan find an opportunity to change the situation; otherwise, the war could very well collapse within a year or two.

After the crushing defeat of 400,000 field troops, the State of Chu had very few troops left to defend the city.

After finishing the discussion about the Qin-Chu war, Master Lu remembered that Li Mu hadn't been in contact with regular military formations for several years. Any hobby will inevitably become rusty if not touched for a long time.

However, the Daze Mountain is too conspicuous. It is more likely that a 10,000-strong army can be deployed in Jing County to the south. After Li Zuoche returns in a few months, the old general can go to the south for a visit.

We will continue to cooperate with several powerful Yue states, but we will also demonstrate the martial prowess of Jing County to certain smaller Yue tribes.

With Li Mu as the commander-in-chief, Peng Yue learning from him, other Yue natives in the mountains as guides, Xiao He from Jing County as backup, and Chen Ping in charge of intelligence gathering, this small-scale trial is highly anticipated!

------

After learning the general situation in Daze Mountain, Lu Wei was then visited by the Zhu family in person.

Zhu Tangzhu didn't talk about the leader of the chivalrous sects, nor did he discuss the situation within the six halls. He came here to purchase grain.

Shennong Hall has always been a major grain-producing area. However, due to the double whammy of natural disasters and man-made calamities in Chu, the young and strong men of Shennong Hall who had been conscripted reported a shortage of food. Surprisingly, the Zhu family did not have enough grain to allocate to alleviate the emergency.

The reasons for this are self-evident. The Gonggong Hall was in a food shortage two years ago, but after two years of bumper harvests in Jing County, it was not difficult to provide enough food for the more than 3,000 elderly, weak, sick and disabled disciples of the Shennong Hall in Chu for a year.

Although the Lieshan Hall and Kuiwei Hall, which are adjacent to Shennong Hall, have some grain reserves, these reserves are for the disciples of the halls in case of a famine in Dazeshan and cannot be sold in excess.

As for Situ Wanli, who was close to the Zhu family, in addition to the failed investment in Daliang City, a large portion of the land owned by Siyuetang in the old Wei Kingdom was also confiscated, resulting in a significant drop in grain production.

For a time, the only one who could help Shennongtang was Gonggongtang.

Saving lives at a price is certainly possible. After negotiating a 'reasonable' price: Shennong Hall would supply Gonggong Hall with a batch of valuable herbs annually for the next five years. The deal was then struck.

Watching the grain being transported away truckload after truckload, the Zhu family, having solved their problem, breathed a sigh of relief and said to Lu Wei beside them with a smile:

"Gonggongtang must have suffered considerable losses in Yan and Zhao. However, I have heard that Gonggongtang receives a large amount of grain from outside Daze Mountain every year. Brother Lu, you should pay attention to this aspect of security."

In response to the Zhu family's reminder, Lu Wei smiled and said, "Don't worry, Brother Zhu, I know what I'm doing."

“Brother Lu is certainly capable in handling things.” Zhu Jia chuckled, stroking his mask and beard. “However, there is one question I would like to ask you again.”

"Brother Zhu, please feel free to ask."

"Hehe, the last battle between General Dian Qing of the Gonggong Hall and the masters of the other halls was only halfway through... Brother Lu, do you really think he can defeat all five hall masters by himself?"

"Of course, I have great confidence in Dianqing."

"I see, now I understand, brother."

Chapter 241 Even the horse is dead

When Lu Wei left Dazeshan, it was raining, and it rained again after he arrived in Sanghai.

Although I can use my internal energy to keep myself dry, it wouldn't be bad to let the rain wash away the blood and energy from my body.

An hour ago, in the mountains outside Sanghai City, Lu Wei encountered a special team. Judging from their aura, they seemed to have the characteristics of the Yin-Yang School.

The sect leader originally did not want to get entangled with these strange people, but at the front of the opposing group, a seemingly quirky young girl clapped her hands and ruthlessly sent two of her subordinates to capture him.

There was no need to say more. Lu Wei drew his sword and wiped out the entire problematic team.

During the killing, he discovered that the group was indeed related to the Yin-Yang School, and several of them even knew the Yin-Yang hand seal, indicating considerable strength.

But even the most mysterious school of thought among the Hundred Schools of Thought can still die if their head is cut off.

The little girl who was the culprit looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old. She had a delicate and beautiful appearance, but her strength was very average. She couldn't even withstand a single sword strike from Lu before her lotus-root-like white and tender arm was severed.

Using the Soul-Sweeping Technique, they interrogated the girl who had lost the ability to resist, and learned that their identities were not actually those of the Yin-Yang School, but they were still inextricably linked to the Yin-Yang School: this caravan was the Ji clan, descendants of the Zhou royal princes, as mentioned by the Moon Goddess.

The girl before him was, in fact, the Moon Goddess's cousin.

Carefully examining the face, which no longer held arrogance but only fear, Lu Wei saw a resemblance to the young Moon Goddess. He then drew his sword and delivered a swift and decisive blow.

These people were ordered by the clan elders to escort several special Yin-Yang formation materials to the southern part of Sanghai, where the construction of the mirage had already begun, including the shell making and the assembly of some parts.

The Moon Goddess mentioned this part to Lu Wei: in a secluded location in the southern part of Sanghai City, the Qin state, through its relationship with Hou Sheng, the Prime Minister of Qi, secretly designated a large area under its own name as a shipyard for building the Mirage.

There was no elder of equal status to oversee the Yin-Yang School headquarters, so it is likely that at least one of the River God or Mountain Spirit was in charge of supervising the construction.

However, the Moon Goddess was unaware of the actions of this Ji-surnamed team. Judging from the timing, the team must have set off when the Sun, Moon, and Stars arrived in the State of Chu.

In the Moon Goddess Plan, she originally intended to launch an attack on the Eastern Emperor only after the mirage was built and the hidden Ji family members entered with the treasures and books belonging to the Zhou royal family.

Master Lu fully supports this plan: at that time, the Zhou royal treasures, the Yin-Yang School, the Mirage, and even the entire world afterward will be in his hands.

It was purely coincidental that I encountered a group from the Ji family on my way to Sanghai at the request of Fu Nian, and had a minor conflict with them.

But now that the killings were already done, Lu Wei had no regrets. He carefully finished off each corpse to make sure all the witnesses were dead, and then carefully treated the wounds of the dead to avoid being blamed. After that, he opened the cargo of the convoy.

Each piece of Yin-Yang magic material is quite valuable, but taking them away or reselling them later is troublesome.