Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 760 Heavens, how are we going to fight this?

Today was a fine day with a gentle breeze. The days after the Mid-Autumn Festival were getting colder in the north, but the south remained warm. Emperor Jingtai had just returned from his morning exercise when he saw Xia Lin standing behind him, clinging to the wall.

What are you doing?

"I'm thinking about how many new elites will be created by the upheavals of the past few years and the next few years, and how to prevent them from coalescing into new powerful families."

"Oh, this? I don't know, I don't understand." Emperor Jingtai came to the base of the wall: "But since things have come to this, why don't we go eat first?"

Xia Lin scratched his head vigorously: "Actually, many problems have already emerged. Human nature is inherently vulnerable to testing. When we were fighting for the country, everyone was united, but when it came time to divide the spoils, everyone's own thoughts started to emerge."

"Well, who told you to be so determined to give the biggest slice to the poor? To be honest, if I weren't the emperor, I wouldn't be happy either. But I am the emperor, and I think it's the right thing to do. As for how you handle it afterwards, I won't interfere. If you mess it up, I'll call you a good-for-nothing."

"You bastard, can't you even act like a human being?"

"You can't have both praise and power, right? Isn't being in power meant being criticized?" Emperor Jingtai said nonchalantly, "Look, now that I've relinquished power, the whole world sings my praises. In previous years, who didn't curse this dog emperor? All the good things in the world can't be enjoyed by you, Xia Daosheng. Heaven shouldn't act this way. As the Tao Te Ching says, 'The high should be suppressed, the low should be raised, the surplus should be reduced, and the deficiency should be supplemented.'"

Xia Lin shook his head, jumped down from the wall, turned around and went into the house, while Emperor Jingtai strolled around the path outside like a retired old man, without any sense of urgency.

Since he had already chosen to lie down, there was no need to worry about these things anymore. Before his death, his father told him that as emperor, he should be worthy of his ancestors and the common people. He should not treat those in between as human beings. They were all cattle, horses, and mules. If they could be used to death, then use them to the death.

Ningbo Prefecture, as the leading trading city on the eastern coast, has plenty of things to eat, drink, and have fun. In addition, craftsmen from all over the country have gathered here during this period, making the area more lively than ever before. However, unlike Jinling, this place is purely for enjoyment and has no pretense of elegance.

The literary style of the Great Wei Dynasty can be said to be at its peak. This trend was started by Emperor Jingtai. Although Emperor Jingtai was not particularly talented in being an emperor, nor in poetry and prose, he had excellent judgment and was surrounded by a group of brilliant geniuses. So, he had been searching for talents all over the years, trying to find a second Xia Daosheng.

Unfortunately, Xia Daosheng was not a second one, but he found many people who were good at writing articles and poems. However, these people could not become officials, but they were able to organize their own group. The state would also provide some subsidies, giving them ample time to engage in creative work. However, this money could not make them very wealthy. It was this painful state of being neither full nor starving, and having some dignity but not a very dignified one, that raised the cultural attributes of the Great Wei to a whole new level.

In Xia Lin's words, "When people are well-fed and clothed, they start to think about lustful desires." These people need to be made to go hungry and frustrated so that they can write good works.

There are many works now, but they all say that Xia Lin is a pure beast.

After checking on the shipyard's construction progress in the morning, Xia Lin and Emperor Jingtai went to a restaurant for lunch together. This was their usual routine; Emperor Jingtai usually treated Xia Lin to lunch. During the meal, Emperor Jingtai asked Xia Lin some questions.

"Tell me, has fighting broken out over there yet? How come we haven't heard a thing?"

"Autumn has arrived, the winds have changed, the sea is unstable, and it's become much more difficult for ships to travel. Now you know why I didn't let you go yourself. From now until the beginning of spring next year, you'll be practically stranded overseas. Aren't you afraid?"

This is still somewhat terrifying. It seems that not having a mature navy is indeed very risky. You know, if he really went to lead the troops, and something happened there, he would be dead and rotten and no one would even know. Moreover, Emperor Jingtai also realized something at this time: the navy is not just a threat to the enemy. It also has a very important role in deterring his own soldiers.

"Humans are always the most dangerous. There are millions of people there. Who can guarantee that there aren't a few with ulterior motives? Besides, do you know how many of them have criminal records or are notorious thieves? Few of the people who would go there to pan for gold are honest and simple."

As the saying goes, you can't teach someone everything, but you can learn something from experience. When he saw that the connection with the other side was almost severed, Emperor Jingtai realized how terrifying it would be to be isolated and helpless after going there, and he never made a fuss about going there to lead troops again.

Meanwhile, the pioneering group stationed in Baga was now isolated, and this was the most tense moment for all the accompanying troops.

The new recruits' training ended ahead of schedule, and everyone entered a tense, ready-to-fight state; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as being on high alert.

Zhang Feng is now a member of the light armored soldiers. He and his comrades are on their daily patrol. It is afternoon, but the place is shrouded in fog. They can't see anything more than ten feet ahead. The patrol team is carefully advancing along the established route.

At this moment, Dugu, Zhang Feng's henchman, asked in a low voice, "Brother Feng, do you think those Japanese won't launch a surprise attack?"

"It shouldn't be. They haven't made any moves for so long, so don't panic."

"How could we not panic? We heard that those Japanese are elusive and can appear and disappear like ghosts, thanks to their familiarity with the terrain. A few days ago, many of our brothers fell into an ambush."

"That's just a tactic they use to manipulate morale. If they were confident, they would have done it already."

Harassment tactics are a common way to wear down the enemy. In recent days, the activities of the Japanese have become more frequent. Scouts from the front have reported that a large number of Japanese have gathered in their capital, Kyoto, and they all seem to be quite skilled.

All signs indicate that the other side is making systematic preparations for a major battle.

When they returned to the barracks after patrolling, it was already dark. Zhang Feng and his little brother Dugu received their food and then sat down by the campfire to rest and eat.

Their food and treatment have always been very good. Many locals who came here and were selected did so just for the food. As an army of the Fuliang faction, they have a very strong ability to assimilate people. After the daily training and patrols during the day, the political commissar would come to give them literacy lessons in the evening.

Many of the new recruits were illiterate, and coincidentally, there were also quite a few soldiers from the Mao and Japanese tribes mixed in, so literacy classes became a compulsory course for them.

Zhang Feng and Dugu Xiaodi were both literate; Dugu Xiaodi had even almost passed the imperial examination to become a scholar. Because of their literacy, they were selected as teaching assistants at the military camp's night school. Every day after finishing their literacy classes, they would work with other literate comrades to help the illiterate students fill in any gaps in their knowledge.

Cultured people have always been respected in the Han cultural sphere. Although Zhang Feng was young and a new recruit, few people in his recruit camp dared to be rude to him. Even their battalion commander took extra care of these cultured recruits. The canned meat that everyone else was reluctant to eat was given to these literate people first.

The working people's simple values ​​led them to believe that educated people were more useful than themselves. The Fuliang army also had a significant characteristic: an extremely strong sense of belonging. Many of the new recruits were former deserters and defeated soldiers from the Central Plains and Shandong.

Everyone knows how weak their combat power is, but here, before they've even finished their basic training, their combat power has already increased several times over, and their sense of conviction is extremely strong. This is really amazing. In short, even seasoned veterans can't figure out what the secret is.

"Hello everyone." At this moment, a woman walked into the large tent of the night school, and the men in the tent immediately became restless. None of them expected that a girl would suddenly come here, and a pretty girl at that. Zhang Feng, who had never even touched a girl's hand, and Xiao Chunan, would blush even if they made eye contact with her.

"I am your night school counselor for this term." The woman smiled and turned around, writing three words on the blackboard with chalk: "My name is Zhou Xiaoxiao. I used to be a prostitute who was sold to a brothel."

She smiled calmly as she said this, but at this point, none of the scoundrels below cared about her background; they were all incredibly excited.

With girls in the barracks, these guys became more energetic in class, more eager to ask questions, and their eyes were practically glowing with envy. Clearly, their thirst for knowledge had seeped into their very bones.

However, just as everyone was watching the sweet-voiced and engaging young teacher giving her lesson, the bugle call of the patrolling soldiers sounded outside.

"damn it!"

"Damn it!"

"Which son of a bitch is that!"

The entire camp was filled with curses, but despite the cursing, they immediately grabbed their weapons, donned their armor, and rushed out.

When the recruit camp arrived at the place where the bugle had sounded, they indeed found about three hundred Japanese soldiers attempting a night raid. At that moment, one of Zhang Feng's men yelled "Damn it!" and charged forward.

Even the battalion commander was shocked, because when he turned around, he couldn't see anyone; all he saw was a pack of hungry wolves.

Although they were new recruits, these lads were no pushovers. When the three hundred-plus samurai charged with swords, they were no match for these wolf cubs, even with equal numbers. The experienced samurai were being overwhelmed by a bunch of greenhorns. Although the Japanese had superior combat skills, their weapons clearly couldn't even break through the enemy's defenses. Furthermore, although these new recruits weren't equipped with firearms, the combination of spears, short swords, and shields made the unarmored samurai suffer a brutal defeat.

Zhang Feng kicked a Japanese samurai to the ground, and his brother Dugu immediately stabbed him to death with a spear. The two worked together perfectly. In the darkness, sparks would occasionally fly as swords struck armor. Whenever this happened, a short-swordsman would immediately move in that direction and slash the back of the neck of the Japanese who were attacking.

However, due to the night battle, they were unable to kill all the Japanese soldiers. In the end, they only found less than two hundred corpses and dragged them back.

When they returned to camp victorious, the group of girls who had come to help with the lessons were already standing there waiting. This made the boys, who were starting to feel tired and even weak after the adrenaline rush, feel strong again.

"Stay focused, don't embarrass yourself!" Zhang Feng whispered to his henchman, Dugu.

"Brother, I'm bleeding!"

"Blood is good; bloodshed proves your bravery in battle!"

Because of those words, Brother Dugu, whose arm was slashed and torn open, took the Japanese pirate's corpse from Zhang Feng and carried it on his shoulder, returning to the camp in his super-powerful mode.

Many of them were injured. After all, although they were reckless, they were still newcomers. This is often the case when they lack battlefield experience. But all the injured people had pretty young ladies to help treat their wounds and bandage them.

Who could withstand that? And those people who came out of the tents with bandages wrapped around their arms and legs looked like they were wearing medals instead of bandages, and they were so proud of themselves they could fly.

Dugu Xiaodi was no exception. He pointed to the bandage on his arm and said to Zhang Feng, "Brother Feng, that young lady was really too gentle. While she was bandaging me, she asked me if it hurt and where I was from. Oh... it's such a pity you weren't injured."

"Look at your pathetic self."

“This is different, Brother Feng!” Brother Dugu’s eyes shone brightly: “Apart from my mother, no one has ever treated me like this.”

Meanwhile, the Japanese, who had been routed, quickly retreated to their hiding place. One of them took off his mask and reported in a terrified and hurried tone to his commander, Soga Iruka's cousin, Soga Hyuga: "Sir, we have encountered the main force of these bandits. They are very brave and well-equipped. We are simply no match for them."

"The main force?" Soga Hyuga, with his calm and collected nature, narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "Approximately how many of them are there?"

"There are about three hundred men who went out to attack, and there may be another three to five hundred men in the rear."

"Good!" Soga Hyuga clapped his hands and laughed, "As expected of the main force, so many men. You've done a great job. Tomorrow I will lead five times their strength to wipe them all out!"

Meanwhile, because the recruit camp was ambushed, the higher-ups immediately made a prediction based on the enemy's direction of attack and dispatched 500 of His Majesty's guards overnight to assist in the defense.

As dawn broke, when everyone in the recruit camp except the sentries had gone to sleep, they suddenly felt the ground tremble. Many were awakened from their dreams and peeked out of their barracks to see rows of heavily armored soldiers, as imposing as iron towers, gathering in the camp.

"Remove your armor! Rest!"

"Brother Feng, Brother Feng." Brother Dugu shook Zhang Feng, who was sleeping soundly beside him, "They wear armor even when marching? That's so impressive."

"Do you know how much their food costs a day?" Zhang Feng muttered. "Three taels of silver! We only have one hundred and fifty coins."

"I think 150 coins is more than enough for me, much better than what I eat at home. What do they eat for 3 taels of silver?" Brother Dugu was shocked. "They must be eating dragon liver and phoenix marrow!"

"Heh, didn't Brother Mei say last time that if we don't eat well and not eat our fill, we won't even be able to carry that armor? Go to sleep, what do we have to worry about now that they're here?"

(End of this chapter)