Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 246

Lu Wei's tone was too casual, which made Wei Zhuang feel somewhat uncomfortable.

But he deliberately didn't use his internal energy to stop the bleeding in his tiger's mouth and throat to show his failure. Even though he was a very arrogant character, he could only silently accept the arrogance of the stronger one: "Many people are very interested in the new leader of the Farmer's School. They will offer high prices to make Liu Sha their pawn."

"Given your own strong interest in me, it's not surprising that you accepted this commission." With a light laugh, Lu Wei filled in the blanks that Wei Zhuang hadn't said. He had considered how to deal with this assassin organization before and concluded that killing or not killing was acceptable.

Ultimately, the decision to choose is made based on self-interest.

Unlike Gai Nie, Wei Zhuang's credibility is definitely not trustworthy.

If they really wanted to kill him, even Gai Nie or Zhang Liang wouldn't be likely to seek revenge for a dead man who had broken into Daze Mountain: after all, Lu Wei is now the leader of the Farmer's Clan, a status that is more prestigious than that of the Master of Liusha.

As for the future mission of breaching the Mechanized City and weakening the Mohist School, the Yin-Yang School can accomplish it very well.

It seems that all the reasons prove that Lu Wei could have chosen to kill.

However, there was another reason for choosing not to kill him: Wei Zhuang would cause some trouble for the Qin state.

As for whether he will cause trouble for himself, the strength of the quicksand is not enough for it to attack two enemies at the same time.

Given Wei Zhuang's rationality, he will make the right choice between the Qin state and the peasant school.

Just like Star Soul.

Thinking this, Lu Wei met Wei Zhuang's gaze with a relaxed expression. "The value of quicksand isn't that great for farmers. What do you think I would ask for to buy your lives?"

Before the other party could answer, the chivalrous leader asked himself, "If measured in terms of gold and treasures, how much would the Master of Flowing Sand, two of the Four Heavenly Kings of Flowing Sand, and the Jade Kirin be worth?"

...

The patrols in Daze Mountain were already much stricter than before Lu Wei became the leader of the heroes.

However, due to the inherent conditions of the Daze Mountains, martial arts practitioners can always find a way in if they really put in the effort to break in.

Not to mention Wei Zhuang of the Quicksand personally leading the team, and the Black Qilin's ingenious disguise against ordinary people.

The Yin-Yang School also possesses similar methods to alter one's form; simply trying to defend against this is insufficient. Only by either turning the target into an ally or making them understand the potentially dire consequences of offending the Farmer School can a permanent solution be achieved.

After all, no matter how sophisticated the infiltration techniques are, they can't outrun a minor official dressed in Qin Dynasty attire who can travel as far in the Daze Mountains.

Only let Chi Lian go back and have her transport all the gold and silver treasures that Liu Sha has accumulated over the years to Daze Mountain. As for Wei Zhuang and Bai Feng, since they have come all this way, they should stay for a few more days.

Over the years, Liu Sha has made a considerable amount of money and acquired numerous treasures as an assassin, raising wolf-snake-birds in large numbers.

After the quicksand fell into poverty again, they had to continue to work hard to take orders in order to make a living, which was of course a problem for the Qin Dynasty, which had unified the world.

As for the various ways Wei Zhuang mentioned to test his power as the new leader of the knights, they were diverse, and it's not surprising that the Luo Wang organization was also involved in muddying the waters.

When he saw Shao Siming again the next day, her cold expression and the way she looked at Lu Wei were no different from before, but the newly planted flowering orchid looked somewhat familiar.

Shao Siming didn't seem to care, and Lord Xia Kui naturally continued to discuss the Wan Ye Fei Hua Liu with her with a normal expression, informing her that her predecessors, Hei and Bai, had arrived in Da Ze Shan, and that he needed her to cooperate in putting on a show.

The purple-haired girl looked at her new boss, whose daily distance was getting closer and closer, with her pure eyes, and a strange feeling involuntarily returned to her waist.

------

In Xianyang, all preparations for the new empire have been completed.

Contrary to Lu Wei's subconscious imagination of festive decorations, the solemn ceremony did not allow ordinary people in Xianyang to laugh.

This is the Qin state, a country deeply rooted in Legalist thought, which is certainly very different from the loosely organized Yan state.

Gai Nie did not participate in today's ceremony; he was not qualified enough and could only work with the Luo Wang organization to maintain order in secret.

Gai Nie felt no affection for his colleague Luo Wang, but he was still happy about the establishment of the new country.

In any case, he has already achieved the path he chose. If this path can continue as he imagines and bring happiness to all people, then he can wholeheartedly find his friend's child and retire to the mountains.

But if this path goes astray... Gai Nie didn't know what he would do then...

Among the ministers, Moon God and Star Soul served as the left and right protectors of the Yin-Yang School, as well as the left and right national protectors of the empire. Although they had little real political power, they still had to participate in the ceremonies of His Majesty the First Emperor.

Although the Moon Goddess participated in Lu Wei's anti-Qin plan, she still viewed the Qin ceremony with appreciation: she knew exactly what emotions to be in at what time, and she could make herself perform perfectly.

In contrast, Xinghun's expressionless face was somewhat inconsistent with his intelligence, but the Moon Goddess understood and did not trouble her Left Protector colleague too much today.

The Gan family, consisting of dozens of members, all died under the personal orders of the King of Qin and under the coercion of the Luo Net. Now, watching Ying Zheng ascend higher and higher, his twisted heart is impatient to drag him down and then destroy this bloody country!

In the Lishan Mausoleum south of Xianyang, the prisoners here had absolutely no connection to the grand founding ceremony of the empire.

Their mission is to uncover and establish the framework for the rule of the underworld that the country's master will continue to govern after his death.

Construction on this massive mausoleum began in the first year of King Zheng of Qin's reign and has continued for 26 years, yet it remains far from completion.

It may become an immeasurable historical legacy thousands of years from now, but for the hundreds of thousands of prisoners who built it today, it is an endless chain of shackles and death.

Tian Guang, shirtless, was doing heavy physical labor alongside the other dirty and disheveled prisoners.

The whip marks on his body were as deep as those on the other prisoners, and in terms of sheer number, he had the most whip marks of all the prisoners at a glance.

Given Tian Guang's shrewdness, he certainly wouldn't make a mistake on his own initiative; these whip marks were inflicted on behalf of other prisoners who couldn't bear it.

When being whipped, one cannot use internal energy to resist, otherwise the Qin soldiers will discover that the wounds are abnormal. Therefore, when being whipped, Tian Guang always suppresses his internal energy and relies solely on his physical body to withstand the blows.

Only after everyone has fallen asleep at night can Tian Guang carefully circulate his internal energy to treat his wounds.

He was over sixty years old and a master of martial arts. Logically speaking, even without the identity of a peasant hero, Tian Guang should not have had to endure such a life.

But when he thought of the huge Shennong statue at the Tomb of the Six Sages, Tian Guang never had any thought of backing down.

Fortunately, his efforts were not in vain. Among the prisoners of Lishan, Tian Guang now has a new reputation as a chivalrous hero.

Such a reputation even earned him the respect of a considerable number of Qin soldiers: normal people would not and need not make things difficult for a sixty-year-old man, especially since Tian Guang's presence actually helped the Qin soldiers reduce the difficulty of management.

As for the issue of the other party's high reputation, what use could a sixty-year-old man, a prisoner of Lishan, have in terms of reputation other than occasionally having Qin soldiers give him extra portions in his rations?

Could it be that they're going to rebel with these prisoners?

Chapter 284 The Twelve Golden Men

At the beginning of the Qin Dynasty's unification of the country, news of auspicious omens from all over the country naturally flooded into Xianyang like snowflakes.

Even in Jing County and Dong'ou in the south, people discovered koi and giant turtles bringing good news in their lakes and seas, and hurriedly sent them to Xianyang.

Such minor joys were merely a part of the "others" recorded in the historians' records. The truly earth-shattering event was the report from the governor of Linzhao Prefecture: "There are twelve giants, each five zhang tall and with six-foot-long shoes, all dressed in barbarian attire, who appeared in Linzhao and offered their congratulations to the Qin Emperor."

The First Emperor was overjoyed upon hearing this news and ordered that "all weapons in the empire be melted down and twelve bronze statues made to resemble him."

This order targets the martial arts world outside the imperial court, and farmers are naturally among those affected.

Undoubtedly, upon hearing the order, the wandering knights of the martial world all cursed Xianyang as the "tyrannical Qin," and very few voluntarily surrendered their weapons.

They roamed the land, pursuing nothing but freedom: to drink heartily and to kill enemies with gusto.

If the Qin people want to take their swords, they will have to do so with blood.

The number of wandering knights was enormous, and they often roamed around, making it difficult for the Qin soldiers to capture them one by one.

However, the farmers could not openly defy this order, and their base, Dazeshan, had no way to escape like a wandering knight.

However, as a martial arts sect that makes a living by farming, it is common and normal for farmers to carry some farming tools with them. As for longswords, although there are indeed some in Daze Mountain, the number is extremely small, and handing over two thousand is already the limit.

Although the county magistrate who came to Dazeshan to carry out the order was a Qin native, most of the village chiefs and soldiers under him were locals, and a considerable number of them were even from farming families. It would be enough for them to give a decent explanation; it would be impolite to investigate too much.

While the 100,000 disciples of the Farmer's School may seem insignificant to the entire Qin Dynasty, for the local county officials, their governance would be impossible without the Farmer's School's cooperation.

If the peasants are truly forced to rebel, Xianyang might not be affected, but whose hands will their lives be in?

Wei Zhuang, who was still in Daze Mountain, knew very well that the reason why His Majesty the First Emperor would issue such an order was not because of the so-called auspicious omen of giants, but more likely because of the five evils of his former friend Han Fei: Confucian scholars use literature to disrupt the law, and knights-errant use martial arts to violate prohibitions.

The purpose of regulating wandering knights was to reduce the difficulty of governing the country. Once the openly wandering knights dared not carry swords in the streets, the empire's next target would be Confucianism.

Fu Nian, who was in Xiaoshengxianzhuang, understood this point. Therefore, although he disliked the Qin state, he always treated it with respect and tried his best to eliminate any possibility that Xiaoshengxianzhuang might be targeted, and to minimize the presence of Xiaoshengxianzhuang.

However, while the two lines in "Five Vermin" that criticize Confucianism and chivalry are quite famous, Han Fei actually wrote a long passage later criticizing the School of Diplomacy...

The length of the text far exceeds that of Confucianism and chivalry.

"If things succeed, they will be given power and prestige; if things fail, they will retire with wealth." Han Fei believed that the strategists were petty people who exchanged national interests for their own private gain, and were one of the important reasons for the demise of the state.

It is unknown whether the King of Qin was so influenced by this doctrine that he always regarded his senior brother as a bodyguard and never as a minister in the court.

...

While staying in the Daze Mountains, Wei Zhuang remained well-behaved and made no attempt to investigate its secrets. The strategists, with their keen intellect, were capable of accurately calculating the potential gains and losses of any action.

So when Chi Lian came with money to ransom the Liu Sha group, Lu Wei kept his word and easily released the hostages.

As for the Black Qilin, the kind-hearted farmer found the Gonggong Hall Master, Physician Nian Duan, to help treat his sword wound: the Black Qilin has a very special constitution, the old physician is very interested, and the treatment will take some time.

The chivalrous leader promised to let him leave once he was cured. Wei Zhuang didn't think he had the ability to question this promise, so he left without saying anything and left without a care in the world.

With the unification of the world, the value of strategists undoubtedly plummeted.

I vividly recall my master, Guiguzi, saying that he and my senior brother, Gai Nie, were the most talented disciples of the Guigu School in hundreds of years. But it seems the Guigu School is destined to be destroyed by these two most talented disciples...

Compared to their predecessors, their generation's talent and achievements are completely mismatched.

Wei Zhuang needs to change all of this, and the key to why the strategists are needed is that the world is in chaos!

Wei Zhuang agreed with Han Fei, stating that the strategists needed to maneuver among the seven states to realize their value, and that national interests were indeed something that could be sacrificed in Wei Zhuang's pursuit.

How to stir up chaos across the land is the real problem that Liu Sha will have to face next.

------

Another important reason why Hei and Bai joined the Farmer's School after the fall of the State of Qi was that the former head of the Medical School, Physician Nian Duan, was the head of the Farmer's School.

Their physical condition is so poor that even ordinary doctors can't find the root cause, but they might have a chance with the head of a medical school.

If I could have Dr. Nian Duan treat me, would I have a chance to continue living...?

The two sisters, being alive, naturally did not want to die.

Gonggong Hall is not far from Siyue Hall. We can settle down in a farmhouse for a while first, and then find an opportunity to reveal our identities to the hall master and ask him to ask Physician Nianduan for help. That should not be a problem.

After all, the leader of their Four Mountains Hall was just a soft-spoken girl of about ten years old, who seemed to have a kind heart.

As for the possible consequences of their identities being exposed, at most they would be rejected, or worse, kicked out of the farmhouse... This possibility is unlikely. The Black and White sisters felt that even if they couldn't use the Myriad Leaf Flying Flower Style, their abilities were still more useful than those of the rural farmers.

The potential costs are negligible compared to the potential gains.

The two sisters now work at the Four Peaks Hall not only making pigments for their young master, but also serving as maids to take care of his daily life.

As for Ji Yan, as the youngest and only female leader among the six halls, she always needs suitable female subordinates to take care of her daily affairs.

Mi Lian's abilities are limited, Mei San Niang is better suited to fighting outside, and the maids in Gonggong Hall are quite ordinary. In comparison, Hei and Bai, as former Yin-Yang Masters who have something to ask of them, are very easy to command.