Longzang

Chapter 998 A County Has a Great Talent
Ji State.

Jiaozhi County was where the Ji State's 1.3 million-strong army was stationed. Further ahead was Shuanghuai County, which was also the last stronghold of the rebels. After the Ji army defeated the rebels, they pursued them all the way to this place. The Duke of Longguo suddenly stopped his army and set up camp on the spot. More than three months had passed since then.

On this day, in the central army camp, many burly and fierce generals surrounded a rather refined and slender man in the middle, vehemently requesting permission to fight.

The man kept shaking his head, resolutely refusing to fight, and ordered his men to drag the two most aggressive generals away and beat them with military sticks until their skin was torn and bleeding.

Some of the more arrogant generals subtly revealed their murderous intent, their eyes flashing with malice as they looked at the refined man who was only at the Dao Foundation stage. In their view, the rebel army was currently holed up in a corner of half a prefecture, totaling no more than 300,000 men. Anyone who led the troops there could easily wipe them out; it would be an unparalleled achievement, and securing rewards for their wives and children would be a piece of cake.

Faced with such a great achievement, the Duke of Longguo still refused to let them fight, which made many generals harbor ill intentions, feeling that the Duke of Longguo planned to give the credit to his own people. No matter how brilliant the Duke of Longguo's military skills were, he was only a Dao Foundation cultivator, appearing particularly weak among the many Dharma Masters, not to mention that there were two Yujing Dukes in the camp.

If Duke Longguo himself were a Yujing cultivator, no one would dare to say much. However, Duke Longguo didn't have much talent for cultivation; he had only reached the late stage of the Dao Foundation realm, and his path to enlightenment had ended there. Many generals felt that they could easily kill this fragile fellow with a single slap, so why should they listen to him?

Some people even felt that he was the one who led his men to fight the battles, and that this guy was just pointing and gesturing in the tent and had no real skills.
In the blink of an eye, the two generals who had been dragged away were carried back, their buttocks and thighs covered in sores that not a single patch of flesh was intact. Only then did the generals' arrogance subside slightly.

Just then, a horn sounded, and the imperial envoy of the Prince of Ji arrived.

The imperial envoy was an official in the palace, and without much conversation with the Duke of Longguo, he went directly into the tent to deliver the imperial decree. The decree mainly urged the Duke of Longguo to go to war and quell the rebels as soon as possible to avoid wasting resources and manpower.

However, after receiving the imperial edict, the Duke of Longguo ordered his men to put it away. He then told the palace official that the general in the field was not bound by the emperor's orders and asked the palace official to reply to Prince Ji that it was not yet time to fight the rebels.

The eunuch, being the most trusted confidant in Prince Ji's palace, upon hearing this, gave a forced smile and said, "...I will certainly report the truth. However, Lord Meng, this is the fourth imperial edict issued by the King, and you have rejected it four times. Forgive me for saying this, but the national treasury is currently empty of money and grain, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to sustain the expenditure of a million-strong army for long!"

The Duke of Longguo's face darkened, and he said, "With the army out in the field, provisions are of paramount importance! Is the national treasury empty, and are none of you gentlemen's families either? Are you trying to fatten yourselves up so you can face the rebels' slaughter if you don't completely annihilate the rebels?"

The eunuch sighed and said, "Lord Meng, please calm down. I'm just a messenger, there's no use in getting angry with me! But I will definitely pass on your message."

The Duke of Longguo coldly said, "Then I ask all the officials in the court to do their own jobs. As for me, it's not their place to interfere! Anyone who thinks they can beat Lu Jiande, come on over, I'll step aside!"

At this time, the Duke of Longguo's prestige was at its zenith, and all the high-ranking officials in the court who could command troops were defeated by Lu Jiande. Who would dare to jump into this fire pit? In the end, the eunuch left dejectedly, inevitably carrying resentment with him.

The Duke of Longguo ignored the generals who were requesting to fight and directly invoked military law, saying that anyone who dared to say that they should fight again would be dealt with by military law on the spot!

All the generals remained silent, and only then did the Duke of Longguo breathe a sigh of relief and return to his tent.

He lit a lamp, spread out a map, and studied it intently. On the map, four prominent markers were drawn along the route from Jiaozhi to Shuanghuai County. These places were all flanked by mountains on two sides, suddenly narrowing in the middle, and the terrain was very similar to the pass where Duke Longguo had decisively defeated Lu Jiande. At that time, there was only one formidable pass in front of the capital of Jiguo, but in Shuanghuai County, there were four similar passes!

Although the rebel army was reduced to just over 300,000, in the eyes of the Duke of Longguo, those who remained were the core elites, and those who were removed were merely farmers who had picked up hoes and shovels. Therefore, the rebel army was still strong, and its combat power might even be stronger because it could be mobilized so easily.

The rebels had already retreated behind the four checkpoints, leaving only a small county on the edge of the map, which looked quite out of place. The Duke of Longguo was puzzled; he had apparently sent a detachment to recapture this area, so why hadn't there been any movement after so much time?

Just as he was engrossed in studying military strategy, a maid came over and served him a bowl of ginseng soup.

The Duke of Longguo did not remember ordering ginseng soup, but at this moment all his thoughts were on the map, so he casually took the soup bowl and was about to take a sip when suddenly a maid appeared in her hand with a dagger and stabbed him in the lower back!
The Duke of Longguo was taken aback, slowly turned his head, and asked, "Why?"

The maid's face was sinister as she twisted the dagger forcefully, saying, "Prince Ji asked me to send his greetings to you!"

“Prince Ji…” Blood kept gushing from the mouth of the Duke of Longguo, but his face remained calm. He pondered for a moment and asked, “Why?” The maid clearly did not understand and thought the question was particularly stupid. Why would the king want to kill you?
The Duke of Longguo understood everything from the maid's expression alone, and sighed, "So it's because my reputation surpasses his... How laughable! Is this the kind of person the Martial Ancestor intended to support? Truly, more trouble than good... In this whole affair, where are the common people...?"

The Duke of Longguo's voice grew softer and softer until it was as if he were asleep. He tilted his head and rested it on the shoulder of his maid, and then fell into a deep sleep.

The maid, who had been radiating murderous intent and with a ferocious expression, was completely taken aback by the reaction of the Duke of Longguo. She was momentarily at a loss; in her many years as an assassin, she had never encountered anyone like him. The Duke of Longguo's final words sent a chill down her spine, and she desperately tried to forget them.

It was noon, but outside the window it was pitch black, like midnight. Thunder rumbled faintly in the thick clouds, and moments later large raindrops pelted down, but there was no lightning, just a steady drizzle.

The heavy rain continued until evening, when a commotion broke out in the camp and people discovered that the Duke of Longguo had been assassinated.

Suddenly, the army of over a million was leaderless, and several units set off under cover of night to attack the rebels' last stronghold. As for the news of the Duke of Longguo's death, it was slowly sent to Jidu, estimated to take seven or eight days to arrive.

……

Shuanghuai County.

A small but exceptionally capable troop is marching along a mountain path toward Baocheng County.

Baocheng County was located on the edge of the rebel territory. As the rebels suffered successive defeats, it became more prominent and exposed to the advance of the government troops. This small force of several hundred men moved quite quickly, and their warhorses were specially trained, traversing mountains and valleys as if they were flat ground.

At the center of the group stood a scholar, a stark contrast to the roughnecks around him. This scholar was none other than Lu Jiande, the renowned leader of the rebel army. At this moment, a burly man with a thick beard said, "Leader, why are we going to such a remote place? If you ask me, even if there are talented people there, wouldn't it be enough to send a few of us brothers to make the trip?"

Lu Jiande glared at him and said, "A small county like Baocheng has managed to stand firm for so long. The people there must be very talented! With your tempers and foul mouths, any kind of talent would be driven away by you!"

The burly man scratched the back of his head and said, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. We only respect our eldest brother."

Lu Jiande said, "No matter how capable I am, I don't have three heads and six arms. There will always be times when I can't handle everything. To achieve great things, one person can't do it alone, so the more talented people the better. Such great talents who can stand alone are even rarer and must be kept in our hands."

The burly man said, "What if he refuses to work for us?"

Lu Jiande smiled, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

……

In the county government office of Baocheng County, a lean man took off his scholar's robes and was putting on the clothes of a constable.

Behind the judge's desk sat a shrewish old man, dressed in the robes of a county magistrate, but with the collar open and sleeves rolled up, making him look like a nouveau riche country bumpkin. The old man sitting in the hall was none other than Wei Youcai.

Sitting on a chair nearby was the bald, fully armored Sixth Brother, his feet propped up on another chair. There were also many bailiffs in the courtroom, all with bruised and swollen faces.

Bald Sixth Brother said to the lean man who was changing clothes, "Eighth Brother, what are you doing over there? Isn't there another set of county magistrate's official robes? Let me tell you, that has a rank, much higher than a constable!"

The lean man said, "I love being a constable! I can arrest whoever I want, scold whoever I want, and I don't even have to pay for my meals!"

(End of this chapter)