Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 152

"However, General Meng Wu's military tactics are prudent, so we may have to take this into consideration."

Upon hearing the reply, Ying Zheng did not move, but simply said, "General Wang Ben personally beheaded Zhao Cong, the chief general of Zhao. He is incredibly brave. Why did you not recommend him?"

"Although Wang Ben is fierce, he is impulsive in the face of events and is not as calm as General Meng Wu, so he is not suitable to be the commander-in-chief."

Both of them knew that Wang Jian's reason for not recommending Wang Ben was not due to a lack of ability, but neither of them said it outright.

Ying Zheng turned around, stared at the old general who bowed and clasped his hands, and solemnly made arrangements for the fate of the Wei Kingdom in this small hut:

"Our Great Qin needs a fierce general to establish its prestige; we will use Wang Ben to attack Wei!"

"I will obey Your Majesty's command."

Chapter 171 The Mechanical Rooster

Yan Guiling is covered in snow, but compared to winter in Jicheng, the white expanse here is not as heavy.

A new gravel path has been built between Yangui Ridge and the headquarters of Gonggong Hall. Compared to the lush forests of Bailuyan, Yangui Ridge is more barren in winter.

Every so often along the path, there is a simple wooden pavilion. Further up the path, you will reach a mountain village, where the path ends abruptly.

The village served as the disciples' nighttime lodgings; their usual training grounds were located in other parts of Yan Gui Ridge, and these locations changed every few months.

A careful investigation can reveal traces of people who do not belong to the martial arts world in many places in Yan Gui Ridge, but the prerequisite is to be able to enter the area and collect evidence bit by bit without being discovered.

The number of full-time training disciples that Gonggong Hall can provide is very limited. The total of three hundred people assigned to Lu Chen and the Yan brothers has reached the Hall Master's expected limit. If the number is too large, the commotion caused will inevitably be difficult to completely conceal.

In addition, there were eighty disciples trained by Li Mu and his thirty personal guards, all of whom were trained to become captains based on their battlefield experience.

In any war, the number of fully-fledged professional soldiers is limited. Famous professional units, such as Meng Tian's Golden Fire Cavalry and Wang Ben's Hundred-Battle Armored Soldiers of Qin, the Tenglong, Yinghu, and Leibao Legions of Chu, and the Wei Wuzu of Wei, are elite forces that typically only appear at crucial moments to undertake the most important tasks.

It is unrealistic to train all the disciples of Gonggong Hall, but if a large number of leaders can be cultivated and dispatched when needed as the backbone of a 10,000-strong army, then that army will be a strong force.

It is a force that can determine victory or defeat on any battlefield.

After Li Zuoche led Lu Wei to Li Mu, they gave a standard military salute, left the house, and stood guard outside the door.

"General Li invited Wei here, is it for the war between Yan and Zhao?"

Li Mu had grown accustomed to life without armor. After standing up, he clasped his hands in a salute to Lu Wei and nodded, "Indeed."

"After the Zhao army was defeated on the battlefield in Zhao, there was an elite cavalry force in Dai that was once my old troops."

"Master, I have already sent someone to contact them. Is it possible for Daze Mountain to accept them as disciples of the Farmer's School?"

When the Zhao army's defeat in Zhao territory and the subsequent fall of the Zhao state were mentioned, Li Mu showed no change in expression.

He had been mentally prepared for this ever since he was replaced by Zhao Cong and left Zhao Ying last year.

A general should not allow himself to be overly emotionally affected by a war that was destined to fail. Li Mu was never one to be sentimental on the battlefield. When he was hunting the wolf tribe, he deliberately left behind several thousand people as bait to lure the wolf tribe into a trap, and finally lured them deep into his territory to annihilate the wolf tribe's cavalry with a large infantry force.

“I heard about this from Lü Qing.”

Li Mu had informed Lü Qing a few months ago that there was a defeated force in Daidi. The order to contact those remnants was personally granted by the head of the hall in Shouchun through a letter.

At that time, Zhao's army numbered only a little over a thousand, all of whom were cavalry.

However, through continued efforts to gather scattered soldiers and the voluntary participation of local people, their numbers have now reached as many as five thousand.

After the Yan army entered the battlefield, this team received support from the Yan state. King Dan of Yan's initial plan was to let them rest briefly before rejoining the battlefield to fight against the Qin soldiers.

But the situation changed too quickly, and the Yan army was defeated so fast that before they could even finish preparing, everything was over.

After Prince Jia of Zhao declared himself king in Dai, this army nominally became the army of the Dai state. However, the army's fake commander consistently refused King Jia's order to send powerful officials to take over the army, obeying orders but not proclamations.

Many people in the region were close to Gonggongtang. When the procession was only about a thousand people, the news quickly spread to Dazeshan and eventually reached Li Mu.

This led to the subsequent contact.

The remnant soldiers, who were falsely appointed as their commanders, refused Zhao Wangjia, but they would not refuse Li Mu. When they learned of Li Mu's whereabouts, the leaders of the remnant soldiers were overjoyed and even eager to return to Li Mu's command.

The task of recruiting these people has been completed, but after their numbers expanded from a thousand to this level, the key for Gonggong Hall to absorb these new disciples is to find a place to house them.

It should be noted that, originally, including disciples from Qi, Yan, Zhao, and Wei, the total number of members in Gonggong Hall was only over 30,000.

The Daze Mountains can accommodate a total of 100,000 people, but the quota allocated to Gonggong Hall is already full. If they stay in Dai, they will be targeted by the Qin army sooner or later, so they need to find another place.

Before returning to Daze Mountain, Lu Wei pondered how to arrange things for them. After much deliberation, he finally set his sights on Mirror Lake:

"Five thousand people is too large. We will send about a thousand people from Dazeshan to the old Wu and Yue lands in the south. The headquarters can free up a thousand people."

Li Mu remained silent, listening attentively. He knew that Lu Wei couldn't possibly have been unaware of the other four thousand people.

"It is best to send the people who later joined the army back home. They can become disciples of farmers, but we can only give them the title of disciple. If they want to survive, they can only rely on themselves."

Lu Wei continued.

“This group of people numbers around two thousand.” Li Mu had no objection to this and provided the number of people.

"The remaining soldiers who stayed in Daidi would either become laborers or be used as soldiers for military merit."

The hall master expressed his idea: "Why don't we let them fight their way out of Dai, and before the war between Qin and Yan begins, let them enter Yan and come to the border between Yan and Qi?"

"Next, I will use the Farmer's Family's influence in Qi to bribe the border guards and send them in in batches before sending them to Chu!"

"The land of Chu is vast and sparsely populated. In the former Wu and Yue region, there is a large lake that is called Mirror Lake by physicians. It is located in a remote area, about 800 li away from Shouchun, the capital of Chu. It is another branch of Gonggongtang."

"After the land is reclaimed, Zhao's soldiers can live there, in order to wait for changes in the world."

"A transfer of thousands of miles could become a disaster if things go wrong." This plan was somewhat unreliable. Li Mu knew that in Yan and Qi, the remnants of Zhao's army were being supplied by the Gonggong Hall, so things were alright. But once they entered Chu, the journey would be extremely difficult.

"The Yan state is determined to hold Ji City, and the battle there should last at least six months. If the Qin army seeks stability, it will continue for even longer."

Lu Wei analyzed the timeline: "Three thousand men will advance into Qi. There will be no war in Qi for five years. After that, we can slowly send people to Jinghu in the form of caravans. Qin's next target will be Wei, and Chu will be safe for the time being."

It's not that we can't squeeze in two thousand more people near Dazeshan, but there's no more arable, unclaimed land left in the area, and we need to fill the area near Jinghu with people. So these two thousand people are being sent to reclaim new farmland.

With the help of government-run oxen, the land reclamation in Gonggongtang was progressing rapidly. The Chu region was crisscrossed by waterways, and by using methods from books ahead of their time to produce more natural fertilizer, Jinghu could become a major grain-producing area.

"I will obey the Master's orders!"

After bowing respectfully, the matter was concluded, and Li Mu took Lu Wei to inspect the military formation.

Upon seeing Li Zuoche standing guard outside the gate, Li Mu suddenly pointed at him and said, "Master, let Li Zuoche handle this matter of contacting the soldiers of Daidi."

"Oh?" Lu Wei looked at the composed young man before him and smiled, "The journey to Dai is fraught with danger. Zuo Che is the general's grandson, with a bright future ahead of him. Is the general willing to send him on this risk?"

“It is precisely because this trip is dangerous that I recommended Li Zuoche to go.” Li Mu said frankly, “Li Zuoche is calm in the face of adversity and has outstanding abilities. This trip is related to the lives of three thousand Zhao soldiers’ remnants, and we need him to use his abilities to help the hall master complete his mission.”

"Since the general says so..." The hall master looked at Li Mu's grandson and began to test him: "Li Zuoche, what do you think of your consul's orders?"

"The left chariot is willing to go!"

Li Zuoche firmly clasped his hands in a fist salute to Lu Wei: "I am willing to bring back three thousand disciples for the Hall Master!"

"This journey will be difficult, yet you are so confident?"

"Even the wisest person can make a mistake, and even the most foolish person can have a stroke of genius." Li Zuoche uttered his famous saying that has been passed down through the ages: "Zuoche will give it his all and will certainly not fail in his mission!"

"Good!" Lu Wei stepped forward and took Li Zuoche's arm, laughing heartily: "After this trip, without General Li Mu having to say anything, you will also be in charge of patrolling the Gonggong Hall along the way!"

He intended to promote Li Zuoche to the same rank as Lü Chen and the Yan brothers.

"Thank you, Master!"

------

After Li Zuoche was put into service, and after watching the military drills with Li Mu, it was already dark when the Hall Master returned to the Gonggong Hall headquarters.

Lü Qing smiled and presented him with a wooden box held in both hands, requesting an audience.

"When did Uncle Qing become so happy?"

Lu Wei gestured for the other person to sit down, while his gaze remained fixed on the long box.

If nothing unexpected happens, the reason he's happy is because of this box.

"Master, this is a mechanical rooster sent from Bailuyan."

Lu Qing opened the wooden box with a smile and took out a mechanical rooster that was twice the size of an ordinary rooster. He placed it on the ground, pressed the comb mechanism, and the rooster automatically walked around the hall and actively avoided obstacles, just like a real rooster.

Then, he began to demonstrate the operation verbally:

"Crowing rooster, it's time now."

"Gurgle, it's three quarters past Hai hour. Gurgle, it's three quarters past Hai hour."

Lu Mu's voice came from the rooster's belly, reporting the time.

"Oh~" This sound must have been pre-recorded, but Lu Wei had no idea how a combination of metal components could scientifically record and play sound.

Perhaps this is the mystery of mechanical arts.

"The rooster has an automatic timekeeping and time-announcing function. Although it is not very accurate, it can announce the hour and quarter-hour, which is very helpful for the disciples' lives!"

"It was specially made to look like a rooster, not just for telling time, right?"

Noticing the rooster's specially polished, gleaming beak, Lu Wei set aside any scientific considerations and raised an eyebrow, asking a question.

"Master is wise!" Lü Qing has been flattering him more often lately: "Another function of the rooster is that it can automatically identify pests in the fields and peck them to death."

"The crowing rooster plays a vital role in the growth of grains!"

"Amu has indeed made another great contribution!" Lu Wei looked at the free-range chicken with delight: "I will personally go to Bailuyan tomorrow."

The next day, accompanied by Lu Shan, they arrived at Bailu Rock and happened to come across the mechanical workshop conducting a crowing rooster experiment.

Three roosters were running around aimlessly in the field.

"Boss! Brother Shan!"

Amu happily explained the principle of the crowing rooster to the two of them, and Lu Wei nodded repeatedly in praise, seemingly having fully understood it.

"Unfortunately, the rooster has too many complex parts inside, and it is easy to malfunction after mud and water seep in. Its reliability needs to be further improved."

At the end of the conversation, Lu Mu scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Breaking through from nothing to something, there's always a way to take something to excellence." Patting Amu on the shoulder, the Hall Master comforted him, "You are the most outstanding mechanical genius in the Farmer's Clan. The mechanical ox and the mechanical rooster are both very important!"

"I'm just following the boss's blueprints, there's nothing innovative about it..." Amu became more and more humble as he studied mechanical arts. He felt insignificant, stumbling and crawling on a road with no end in sight.

With the direction for improvement in the rooster's crowing mechanism in place, all that remained was a small breakthrough. Lu Wei then informed Amu of his plan to establish a larger and more unrestricted mechanical workshop in the south, which greatly excited the latter.

After learning that the lake there was very vast, he decided to set his next research target after the rooster crowed as the 'snake' from the Twelve Zodiac Mechanisms.

After spending the morning at the government workshop, on the way back after lunch, Ashan reported on his work achievements at the Gonggongtang headquarters.