Longzang

Chapter 520 What is Benevolence and Righteousness
After Bao Yun left, Wei Yuan pondered for a long time but still couldn't figure out how she knew about the conversation between the traitor and the witch clan last night. Could she have been hiding nearby at the time?
Wei Yuan thought about it carefully and felt it was unlikely. Although Bao Yun's ability to conceal herself was strong, it was far from being able to merge with the world. Wei Yuan had carefully searched the surroundings at the time, and with the enhancement of the Peerless Dao Domain, unless someone was as abnormal as Su Xuejing, there was absolutely no way she could have escaped Wei Yuan's notice.

After thinking for a long time, Wei Yuan still had no clue, and knowing that Bao Yun would definitely not tell, he could only give up.

In Wei Yuan's current plan, this traitor was actually ranked quite low in terms of importance.

She had already purchased three million catties of thunder sand from the Desolate Ancestor Tribe and was also buying spirit wood in large quantities from the surrounding areas, so the formula for the new gunpowder would eventually be no secret. The real secret was the formula ratio. The workshop for mixing gunpowder was also strictly restricted to entry and exit, and under normal circumstances, she couldn't get in. Trying to trick them into revealing the formula ratio wouldn't be so easy.

The key to the current war with the Witch Clan is not a matter of one or two traitors, but rather to either cripple the Rain Kingdom on the battlefield until it has no choice but to stop; or to eliminate or at least severely damage Red Leaf; or to continuously eliminate other Nether Witches and make them utterly terrified.

Now that the traitor's identity is known, she can no longer cause any trouble. With a little planning, Wei Yuan can ensure she gets nothing. As for how to deal with her, Wei Yuan thinks it's best to inform Zhang Sheng and Ancestor Xuan Yue first.

Wei Yuan checked the schedule and hurried to Yu Zhizhuo's place. According to the schedule arranged by Renjian Yanhuo, Wei Yuan was to discuss the production of city defense cannons with Yu Zhizhuo, and the discussion was expected to last thirteen minutes.

Next, Wei Yuan needed to get to Sun Yu's location in two minutes to: first, check on the wounded soldiers' treatment and recovery; second, discuss the training plan for Innate Life-Giving Waterway Foundation Cultivators and ask Sun Yu how many more people he needed; and third, check on Sun Yu's own recovery. The three tasks totaled thirteen minutes.

Next, I need to get to Xu Henshui's place in one minute. The schedule includes the following four items...

For the next two hours, Wei Yuan flew around the entire realm, landing in one place and buzzing for a while before heading to the next.

After flying around several times, they finally finished all their business by noon.

Of all the matters at hand, the most important one recently is the city defense cannon. As the weapon that inflicts the second most casualties on the Wu tribe, Yu Zhizhuo believes that it is difficult to fundamentally improve in the short term, as its accuracy will drop significantly once its range approaches ten miles.

To improve range and accuracy, a complete overhaul of the cannon barrel casting process is needed. If only a few dozen cannons are needed, skilled Dao Foundation cultivators can handcraft them one by one, with Yu Zhizhuo making the final adjustments. However, large-scale manufacturing requires a complete upgrade of the manufacturing process, which cannot be accomplished in a short time.

Therefore, Yu Zhizhuo's plan was to add anti-arrow steel plates to the existing structure to block the Wu tribe's archers. Once a high-level archer was spotted, cannons wouldn't be able to hit him; the best approach was to call in missiles. One missile would severely injure even a high-level archer, and two more would kill him.

Great Wizard-level archers are few in number; every one they lose is a loss. Furthermore, after acquiring the new Thunder Sand, Qingming's gunpowder costs have dropped significantly, resulting in a 50% discount on missile prices. Exchanging three missiles for a Great Wizard is a huge profit. Therefore, this plan was approved by Wei Yuan.

Another major long-term issue is the number of people disabled in the war, which now exceeds 50,000. The treatment of this group can only be postponed for now; elixirs for limb regeneration are simply too expensive. Even cultivators outside of powerful families cannot afford them, let alone use them on ordinary people.

In the afternoon, Wei Yuan planned to continue inspecting several military camps housing the reorganized refugees. The Marquis of Ping'an had kept his word and had already sent 250,000 refugees; the remaining 40,000 were on their way and would arrive in the next day or two.

Cui Shutong seemed to sense the threat, fearing that Wei Yuan would stop buying refugees, so he accelerated the process of sending people away. Currently, there are already 200,000 Zhao refugees undergoing training and reorganization in several camps, while another 100,000 refugees have nowhere to go. Wei Yuan urgently opened four more camps, which were barely enough to meet the needs.

But as soon as Wei Yuan stepped out of the house, he saw a scholar in the courtyard who said coldly, "Lord Wei, it's really not easy to see you these days!"

The newcomer was Cai Shizhi, who had also sustained a hidden injury during the previous battle when he lured the Netherworld Witch into a trap. Wei Yuan hadn't allowed him to fight in the last battle. Firstly, his injury hadn't healed, and secondly, Wei Yuan feared retaliation from the Witch Clan for luring the Netherworld Witch to her death, and wanted to kill Cai Shizhi amidst the chaos.

Mr. Cai's true value lies not on the battlefield. His Dharma image possesses an enlightening power when teaching students, significantly enhancing their comprehension and greatly accelerating their learning progress.

One can judge a person by their appearance. Cai Shizhi truly wanted to have students all over the world, so Wei Yuan always respected him.

But at this moment, Cai Shizhi arrived in anger. Wei Yuan, not understanding why, hurriedly said, "The great battle has just ended, and there are many things to clean up. Ding'an City has been destroyed, and the defense line must be rebuilt. Otherwise, the Wu tribe will be able to break through the defense line from there and advance unimpeded next time."

Cai Shizhi snorted and said coldly, "Although I have some experience in military affairs, Lord Wei is a master strategist, so I won't presume to teach you. But I would like to ask you, Lord Wei, who are the 300,000 new recruits currently training in the nine camps? Who were the people who died in the previous battles? And where are the 100,000 Zhao refugees who were the first to arrive in Qingming?"

Wei Yuan frowned slightly. Many generals had already seen these things, and although they had only seen a part of the picture and not the whole story, they could roughly guess some of the facts. Everyone chose to remain silent, except for Cai Shizhi, who stepped forward.

Faced with Cai Shizhi's question, Wei Yuan said, "Since Mr. Cai has asked this question, he must already know the answer, so why ask again?"

Cai Shizhi said, "Then let me ask the Realm Lord another question: if we don't do this, will the realm be unable to be protected?"

“That’s right, we can’t hold it,” Wei Yuan said frankly.

"But Qingming still has 150,000 elite troops and 30,000 heavily armored soldiers who are considered the best in the world! In the three major battles, these two forces were almost unscathed! With them around, why send innocent civilians to their deaths on the front lines?" Wei Yuan sighed, "Mr. Cai, the 150,000 elite troops you mentioned are actually only 100,000; the remaining 50,000 are reinforcements. 20,000 died in the last battle, and we can only replace them with 5,000 now. These two forces must be kept in the rear. Even if they don't participate in the entire battle, as long as they are still there, the battle situation won't collapse."

Yesterday, Ding'an City was destroyed. If it weren't for the Longxiang Army immediately plugging the breach, the Wu tribe would have already broken through our defenses. At a time like this, if we don't have elite troops, no matter how many ordinary soldiers we send, we can't stop the Wu tribe!

Cai Shizhi coldly said, "I don't care about military strategy. But right now you have heavily armored elite troops and fierce warriors at your disposal, yet you're sending ordinary people with no strength to kill chickens to the front lines to die! This is treating human life like dirt, this is slaughter! It's unreasonable and morally unacceptable! What's the difference between what you're doing and the witch tribe that sacrificed people to the heavens? What's the difference between you and those tyrannical and incompetent rulers in history?"

Wei Yuan sighed helplessly, "Mr. Cai, there are beings in the Azure Netherworld who can instantly transform into body-forged warriors. They are not simply going to their deaths..."

"Then let me ask you, before you sent them to the battlefield, did you say how many would come back alive? Of those ordinary people you sent to the front lines, how many came back alive? You're just deceiving them into dying!"

Wei Yuan frowned slightly, and his voice rose a little: "Since you are so noble, sir, then may I ask you, what are your brilliant ideas on how to stop the three million-strong army of the Witch Clan?"

Cai Shizhi said loudly, "Armored soldiers should die in a hundred battles on the battlefield, their bodies wrapped in horsehide. That is how it should be! Therefore, we should use an elite army and a well-trained force to give the Wu tribe a head-on blow. At worst, we should sacrifice our lives for righteousness, and our reputation will be passed down through the ages, admired by future generations! This is the true meaning of a righteous army!"

"Lord Wei, it's not too late to pull back from the brink! If you are willing to repent and reform, then I, Cai, am willing to be a lowly pawn at the vanguard, fighting to the death with the Witch Clan!"

Wei Yuan raised his voice a little higher and said, "If I send the elite troops forward, I'm afraid we won't even make it through the next battle! Even if we can survive the fourth battle, the elite troops will be wiped out in the fifth battle, and we will definitely be defeated then! These mortals can only hold their ground in one place. Once they start moving, they will be a disorganized mess and will only become targets for the witch clan to slaughter."

According to your methods, Qingming will surely perish! Is the so-called righteousness you speak of more important than the lives of these million inhabitants?

To everyone's surprise, Cai Shizhi exclaimed, "Righteousness is the essence of great principles. It is worth more than the lives of millions, let alone tens of millions or hundreds of millions! The way of the sage lies in utmost sincerity, benevolence, and great righteousness. Even if we lose Qingming for a moment, our reputation for righteousness will be passed down through the ages, and the teachings of the sage will endure for ten thousand generations. This is a merit that will last for thousands of years! How can it be compared to the gains or losses of a moment or a place?"

Wei Yuan coldly replied, "Sir, your so-called benevolence and righteousness are too heavy a burden for me to bear. I will do whatever it takes to protect Qingming and drive the Wu Clan back. As long as we can defeat the Wu Clan, I will do it even if it means carrying a cannonball with my child."

Cai Shizhi trembled with rage, pointing at Wei Yuan and cursing, "You heartless and unjust scoundrel! No, you are utterly depraved! So what if you win by chance? With such dirty tricks, even if you win, you will be infamous for eternity! How unfortunate and innocent the people are to fall into your hands!"

"Mr. Cai, you must be tired. Go back and rest."

Cai Shizhi's face turned ashen, and he roared, "You wicked scoundrel! I was truly blind to associate with such people! I'm packing my bags and leaving now. If you want to kill me, go ahead and do it!"

Wei Yuan sighed, "In your heart, sir, is it alright for the destruction of the realm for the sake of so-called righteousness? With my method, there is at least a sliver of hope for victory, and at least hundreds of thousands or even a million people can survive."

Cai Shizhi said sternly, “I don’t object to you sending the people to the battlefield. But you can’t send them to the battlefield without knowing anything. At least let them know the cause and effect. Only if they agree can you drive them. This is the will of the people! The people are like water. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. If you act against the tide, you will surely meet the same end as those tyrannical monarchs in history!”

Having said that, Wei Yuan said, "Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together. If you are determined to leave, then I will not stop you."

Cai Shizhi coldly replied, "I'm not just leaving. After I leave, I will write an article to expose your inhumane and unjust actions to the world! You can still kill me now."

Wei Yuan sighed, "Sir, you have rendered great service to Qingming. Even if you have different opinions, how can you harm me? If you want to leave, then leave. Just do not do anything to undermine the morale of the army, otherwise it will not look good for everyone."

Cai Shih-chih remained silent for a moment before saying, "Farewell."

Watching his figure disappear into the distance, Wei Yuan suddenly remembered the question that the Immortal Lord Tinghai had given him when they met that day.

The question's main idea is that a flying boat is about to capsize, and half of the people must be thrown overboard. Who should die and who should live?

When Wei Yuan discovered that the Rain Kingdom was launching a full-scale attack, he realized that the important thing was not who should die and who should live, but to throw half of the people off the flying boat before it capsized.

The person who makes that decision is destined to bear the infamy.

(End of this chapter)