Longzang

Chapter 1098 The Friendship of Yesteryear
Wei Yuan had prepared a whole host of reasons, but now they all vanished, and he couldn't remember a single one. Instead, memories of the past gradually surfaced in his mind.

I still remember the bloody battle between Qingming and the Wu tribe. Li Zhi's Zhenshan territory had just been established, and he himself was not yet firmly established, yet he personally led tens of thousands of elite troops out in full force, fighting for many days to defend the flank of the still inexperienced Qingming. After that, Li Zhi led his army to aid Qingming in many battles, without making any demands or asking for anything in return.

At that time, Qingming was still very weak, and the situation in several key battles was extremely precarious. Wei Yuan had to rely on the power of the masses to turn the tide of battle, and no one knew whether they could hold out until the end. At the most critical moment, if Xu Wangu hadn't suddenly become ambiguous in his attitude and stopped kicking them when they were down, Qingming would have been in danger of collapse.

In the later stages, the power of the Instantaneous Beings became obsolete, relegated to a supplementary means used only in the Foundation Establishment Conference. This was something the immortal who refined the Azure Netherworld Stone could not have foreseen.

At this moment, Li Zhi didn't mention the past or give any reasons; he simply asked Wei Yuan if he was willing to help. This question precisely struck at Wei Yuan's only weakness. From this way of asking the question, Wei Yuan knew that Li Zhi had reached the most crucial juncture in his path and life.

Wei Yuan didn't ask any more questions at that moment, he simply said, "Okay!"

Li Zhi didn't say anything, he just came over and hugged Wei Yuan tightly, then they separated.

Wei Yuan didn't bother with reminiscing; he immediately spread out the map and asked, "What are your plans?"

Li Zhi pointed to the southwestern border of Ji State and said, “I have already erected a boundary stone here and transformed a hundred miles of land. I have already transferred 80,000 troops here. My father will raise an army from Southern Qi and confront the Ji army on the border to contain the main force of the Ji army. Then I will lead the troops into the country from the southwest and advance towards the capital of Ji State along this route.”

Li Zhi drew a winding route on the map, passing through towering mountains and bypassing several natural passes, heading straight for the capital of Ji Kingdom.

The marching route was meticulously planned, and even Wei Yuan could not see anything wrong with it, which clearly showed that Li Zhi had done a lot of work beforehand.

Looking at the capital of Ji Kingdom at the end of the marching route, Wei Yuan frowned slightly and asked, "Are you planning to launch a surprise attack on the capital?"

Li Zhi said, "I led my elite troops out of Kunshan, and we are only a thousand miles from the capital. We can reach the city in a few days. The imperial guards in the capital of Ji are rife with corruption, with as many as 70% of them being vacancies. It is very likely that we can take the city in one battle."

"What will you do after you take it? What are you going to do with Prince Ji?" Wei Yuan asked the crucial question.

How to deal with Prince Ji is essentially how to deal with Emperor Wu's scheme. If you don't want to disrupt Emperor Wu's scheme, the best way is to stay away from within a thousand miles of the capital.

Just like Wei Yuan's recent comeback and re-entry into the Ji Kingdom, his military force remained stationary on the border, never venturing into the core area. The straight-line distance from the capital required passing through four prefectures, making it tens of thousands of miles away.

Therefore, it's one thing for Li Zhi to purge the court of corrupt officials, but it's quite another to conquer the capital.

Faced with Wei Yuan's question, Li Zhi did not evade it, but frankly said: "Master Gu has prepared a backup plan and intends to challenge the Martial Ancestor's scheme. Therefore, the minimum goal of this battle is to capture the capital, and the best outcome would be to capture Prince Ji."

"Is he really that confident?" Wei Yuan was deeply skeptical.

Li Zhidao said, "Based on my understanding and observation of you, I am at least 30% or 40% confident this time."

Wei Yuan frowned and said, "Is there a 30-40% chance of shaking the Martial Ancestor's plan, or a 30-40% chance that you will successfully rebel and transcend the tribulation this time?"

"Naturally, it's the former. With your help, there's a 100% chance of triggering a calamity."

Wei Yuan sighed, "Your current position and role will likely lead you to directly clash with Martial Ancestor's hidden plan. Once that plan is activated, won't you become a sacrifice for scouting?"

Li Zhi hesitated for a moment before saying, "Let me be frank with you. I have obtained the fortune of the ancient human king, and it has been recognized and completely integrated into my being. In a sense, I am now a projection of the ancient human king in the present world. According to the Duke of Yansheng's calculations, the Martial Ancestor was likely the reincarnation of the ancient human king at that time. Therefore, with this identity, I have a high chance of avoiding the Martial Ancestor's hidden tricks. That's one point."

Secondly, I have studied the life and deeds of Emperor Wuzu and read all the available records of his daily life. According to the records, Emperor Wuzu had two wishes in his life: to pacify the foreign tribes and to achieve peace and prosperity for the country. Meanwhile, I spent the first half of my life fighting against the mountain people, killing over a million of them and expanding my territory by thousands of miles. At the same time, the people within Zhenshan Territory were stable and prosperous. Although not as prosperous as Qingming, it was comparable to Southern Qi and far surpassed the other eight kingdoms.

"Based on these two points, I have made a small contribution to the human race. Even if the Martial Ancestor activates his contingency plan, he will leave me a sliver of hope." Wei Yuan still frowned: "Do you know what the Martial Ancestor's plan is? Do you know what his contingency plan is? How can you be so confident?"

Li Zhi said, "Don't you agree?"

Wei Yuan nodded and said, "Over the years of governing Qingming and Yizhou, I have vaguely sensed the key to the Martial Ancestor's plan. Perhaps in a while, I will be able to touch upon the truth of what happened back then. The path I am taking now should have a certain chance of success, so there is absolutely no need to shake the royal families of the Nine Kingdoms at this time and confront the Martial Ancestor's plan head-on."

So I will not allow you to attack the capital. I believe the plan should be as follows…”

Wei Yuan also drew a route on the map. The first part of the route overlapped with Li Zhi's route, but it turned north halfway and then west, encircling the four southern and western prefectures of Ji State.

“Although the four prefectures are barren, they currently have over 90 million people. If you were to sweep through one or two more prefectures on the outskirts, the war would affect over 100 million people, enough to trigger an ancient calamity of chaos. After successfully surviving the calamity, you should retreat back to defend one prefecture on the border. Then I will intervene and have the King of Ji issue an edict to offer you amnesty and appoint you as a military governor. Then we will work together to expand our territory into the mountain people’s lands, leaving the State of Ji here untouched,” Wei Yuan said.

"Why is that?" Li Zhi frowned.

Wei Yuan explained, "There are probably three or four immortal forces in Ji State who have made their moves, and there are likely more than two hands' worth of immortals involved in this situation. I think it's unnecessary to rashly intervene in this chaotic situation. Let the immortals slowly pull each other apart while we gradually seize a small corner of the land, establish ourselves, and then cultivate it slowly. By the time the immortals have figured things out, our influence will be deep enough that they won't be able to shake us."

This is a long-term strategy, better than directly confronting the Martial Ancestor's plan now.

Li Zhi seemed to want to say something, but hesitated and finally said only, "I'll do as you say."

Wei Yuan pointed to the base area chosen by Li Zhi and said, "First, build a take-off and landing field that can accommodate floating boats and airships. I will send people over to deliver supplies and food to you. Then, build temporary camps to accommodate starving people. After the refugees caused by the war have stayed in your territory for a month and have accumulated karma, I will transport them back to Yizhou."

Li Zhi nodded.

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "In addition, we need to have a legitimate reason for our actions... Well, the south was originally a breeding ground for rebels, and most of the rebels have been wiped out, but that doesn't prevent new rebels from emerging."

Li Zhi's eyes lit up, and he said, "I understand. I will send 20,000 men to infiltrate the State of Ji, rise up in rebellion, and pretend to be rebels to attack and seize territory. Then I will send a large army to surround and suppress them, which will allow us to enter the State of Ji legitimately. Hmm, we also need an imperial decree from the Tang Dynasty. This is easy to handle. I will have Father send someone to do it."

Wei Yuan replied, "No, 20,000 men are not enough. Besides, they must not pretend to be rebels, but genuinely be rebels, otherwise we cannot fool the divination. Here's what we'll do: your troops probably don't have suitable attire. I'll send someone to deliver 50,000 sets of rebel armor and banners to you later, along with ten rebel generals. They were real rebels a few years ago, and their uprisings were very professional."

I will send another 50,000 men, starting from your side, and they will rise up in rebellion once they reach the territory of Ji. I will first capture Dingnan Pass, opening the southern gateway. Then your main force can enter Dingnan Pass and advance unimpeded.”

Li Zhi pointed to several key military towns and said, "These places have about 300,000 troops on the southern border. What are your plans to do with them?"

Hearing Li Zhi's doubts, Wei Yuan knew what was going on and asked, "Do you want it?"

Li Zhi did not hide his intentions and nodded, saying, "I want to incorporate these troops. There are relatively few vacancies in the border troops, probably only about 30%. These soldiers are all elites guarding the border, and their physical fitness is not low. However, for a long time, military discipline has been lax, and corruption among officers has been rampant. But as long as they are given strict training, they can become an elite force again in no time."

My Zhenshan territory is very remote; being able to send 80,000 men is already the limit. More troops will have to be reorganized from the Ji army. We'll also need Qingming's support for supplies.”

Wei Yuan then voiced his question: "Normally, shouldn't it be the Southern Qi that sends troops to attack the eastern part of Ji State? Why are we going through so much trouble to launch an attack from the southwest of Ji State?"

Li Zhi gave a wry smile and said, "I went to find you a year ago, but you weren't there. It was Zhang Shi who saw me. Zhang Shi said that launching a military campaign against Southern Qi would cause immense disaster to the people of Ji, and you certainly wouldn't agree to that. So I changed the strategy to attack from the southwest. The people in that region were already suffering terribly, and the added disaster of war didn't actually cause too much additional harm."

I spent a whole year preparing for this, erecting boundary stones and barely managing to transport 80,000 troops over before finally coming to find you.

　P.S.: Please stop criticizing, I'll make it up later.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)