Taiheiki

Chapter 212 Going against the grain
"Three days? That long? I can't feel the time here!" Xie Bing exclaimed in surprise, his mouth agape. He struggled to stand up from the stool, straightening his back. Qin He could hear his friend's bones creaking.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Qin He asked curiously.

"Do you see that over there?" Xie Bing pointed to the rope next to the wooden table: "Pull it once, and someone will bring food; pull it again, and someone will take away the empty bowls and chopsticks."

"What about sleeping?"

"There's a bed over there! If you're sleepy, you can lie down for a while, rest, and then get up and continue working!"

Qin He looked in the direction Xie Bing was pointing and indeed found a low couch in the corner. He shook his head: "Did Lord Wei make you work so hard? You haven't been home for days?"

Xie Bing yawned: "No, it's not that. I volunteered to work overtime tonight. Wei Gong is actually a very kind and gentle man, which outsiders don't know. Moreover, he knows a lot of things. I really don't know how one person can know so much!"

"Let me see what you've drawn!" Qin He said as she flipped through the pile of drawings on the table next to her. The one on top was a strange machine, with a huge wooden frame and a wheel next to it. The drawing was very detailed and even had numbers marked on it.

"What is this?" Qin He asked.

"A cage crane? See that wheel? A person can stand inside and walk around, and it can lift objects weighing several thousand kilograms. It'll be used at the dock soon!" Xie Bing glanced at it: "Don't ask me why it has such a strange name, it was given by Lord Wei!"

"What about this one?" Qin He flipped to the next page.

"This? A repeating crossbow! You don't need to string the bolts; just pull the handle and the arrows will automatically be strung. One crossbowman can do the work of three or four people!"

"what about this?"

"A catamaran! It's two small boats connected by a horizontal plank, with the cabin and other hulls on top. This way, the boat is less likely to capsize even in strong winds and waves!"

"what about this?"

"A catapult! It can throw large stones weighing tens of kilograms more than three hundred paces away. It's useful when besieging a city!"

"what about this?"

"Wei Gong's hunting dog! His favorite one!"

Qin He finished flipping through the last drawing with lingering interest, then glanced at the one her friend was working on at the drawing table. She was immediately put off by the dense lines and numbers: "This looks quite interesting, better than I imagined. I thought that after you became an official, you'd have to dress up like a dutiful puppet, following your superiors around all day doing those boring things. I didn't expect it to be the same thing you did back then—drawing!"

"Yes! And the salary is quite good too!" Xie Bing laughed. "Do you know? Lord Wei just promoted me, and now I'm receiving a stipend of two hundred bushels of grain!"

"Two hundred shi?" Qin He's eyes lit up. Two hundred shi of income a year was indeed nothing for the Qin family, whose business was growing bigger and bigger. But two hundred shi referred to more than just income. It also referred to the status that came with it. Not to mention that it was two hundred shi of income from the side of the governor of Jiaozhou: "Then you really have a stroke of good luck!"

"Are you interested?" Xie Bing asked with a smile. "Lord Wei is currently short-handed and has allowed me to recruit six apprentices, each with a salary of fifty shi (a unit of grain). If you're willing, you can be one of them!"

"Me? I can't draw!"

"Who is born knowing everything? Everyone learns later. If you're willing to learn, I'll naturally teach you!" Xie Bing laughed. "Let me give you a heads-up: at the end of the year, Duke Wei will be leading his troops north, and we'll all be going to accompany him and paint. You all saw how those who went south with Duke Wei last time fared; the worst off got the rank of Grand Master. Aren't you always complaining about being looked down upon and scolded by your elder brother at home? Now that you've returned with a title, let's see if he'll still scold you then."

"Alright! Then I'll have to trouble you, brother!" Remembering his brother's harsh words to him, Qin He gritted his teeth: "Don't you dare mess with me!"

"Don't worry, why would I cheat you!" Xie Bing laughed. "Go back and wait for news. It'll be over in the next few days!"

————————————————————————

Outside the governor's mansion of Jiaozhou.

Looking at the vermilion gate that was at least three people tall and the armored guards who looked like wooden stakes, Liu Sheng couldn't help but swallow hard. He turned to Liu Qu behind him and asked, "Uncle, are you really sure you're not mistaken? That you and the governor are old acquaintances? This is no joke; impersonating him could cost you your head!"

Seeing this, Liu Qu's legs went weak, and he whispered, "How could this be false? It's just that he wasn't the governor back then; he was just a fugitive who had killed someone!"

"A fugitive?" Liu Sheng frowned. "Could you be mistaken? There are plenty of people in this world with the same name!"

"No mistake!" Liu Qu said urgently, "It all matches up, it's just that he was promoted too fast! Have you forgotten? When we were in Yuzhang, he was still the governor, and now he's the prefect!"

As Liu Sheng was still doubting, he suddenly saw a beautiful young female Taoist priest walk by. She was only twenty-three or twenty-four years old, wearing a jade crown and a long sword at her waist. Her skin was extremely fair, almost indistinguishable from the jade handle of the whisk in her hand. Beside her was a fierce beast, its entire body covered with beautiful patterns, and its long tail swayed rhythmically, just like a python.

"Hiss!" Liu Sheng instinctively took a step back, reaching for his knife: "This is a leopard, no, leopards aren't this big—"

"Don't move!" Liu Qu quickly pressed down on his nephew's hand: "This isn't a leopard, it's a civet cat!"

"Wenli?" Liu Sheng was startled: "Could this female Taoist be—"

"Okay!" Liu Qu nodded: "Don't anger this big guy, otherwise even if we uncle and nephew were tied together, we wouldn't be a match for her!"

Liu Sheng nodded, releasing his right hand from the hilt of his sword. This beast was indeed terrifying, but compared to its master, it was utterly insignificant. Among the top three figures of the Moth Bandits, the most famous characteristic of the Chief Minister Lu was his ethereal beauty, accompanied by a veiled fox. This veiled fox must refer to this beast, but the problem was, this was no fox; it was the size of a tiger. At this moment, the guards in front of the governor's mansion also noticed the anomaly. Under the command of an officer, they formed a fan shape and surrounded the area. The female Taoist waved her hand, and the beast beside her obediently lay down. She went to greet them, smiling, "Please inform Lord Wei that Lu Ping, an old friend from Yuzhang, has come to visit!"

The officer's expression changed slightly upon hearing "Lu Ping," and he quickly turned around to instruct his subordinates before respectfully inviting Lu Ping to wait at the gatehouse. Liu Qu and his nephew saw this clearly, and Liu Qu said with a wry smile, "It seems the rumors are true; this Lu Jijiu has a very close relationship with Wei Cong!"

"Uncle, shall we still see Duke Wei?" Liu Sheng asked.

"Of course I'll see you!" Liu Qu said, "But it's not a good day today, let's wait a couple more days!"

"Yes! I suppose Lord Wei hasn't been in the mood to see old friends these past few days?" Liu Sheng said with a smile.

————————————————————

"Why is it like this?" Lu Ping asked with a smile. "Am I really that unwelcome?"

"No, that's not it!" Wei Cong said with a wry smile. "I just didn't expect you to come. Has something happened in your sect?"

"Something happened in the sect?" Lu Ping was taken aback upon hearing this, then smiled and said, "That's right, something big has indeed happened. I've already left the sect, isn't that a big deal?"

"You've left the sect?" Wei Cong was taken aback. "Is that so? Did Liu Xin do something to you?"

Why do you think Liu Xin would target me?

"I remember you held a very high position in the Celestial Masters sect. Apart from him, there shouldn't be anyone else who could do anything to you, right?"

Lu Ping smiled but didn't answer Wei Cong's question. She looked at the scenery in the courtyard and suddenly asked, "On my way here, I heard that you have become the governor of Jiaozhou and are about to lead troops north? Is that true?"

“That’s right!” Wei Cong didn’t hide anything: “However, my target this time is the Wuling Barbarians, not you!”

"Wuling barbarians?" Lu Ping nodded thoughtfully. "But it was expected. After all, you have become the governor of the Han Dynasty. It is only right to be loyal to the emperor when you receive his salary!"

"You still haven't answered my question. Liu Xin has made a move against you?"

“No!” Lu Ping shook her head: “He persuaded me to leave on my own. Do you remember the question you asked me back then? If the magic is real, why weren’t we, the sorcerers, great shamans, and Taoist priests, the ones who ascended to the throne?”

“I remember!” Wei Cong looked on with a look of recollection: “I remember you said that if the world is at peace, your magic will become useless tricks, and it will only become useful when the world is in chaos!”

"That's right! You have a good memory; you remember so many words from so long ago so clearly!" Lu Ping smiled, then suddenly waved her right hand, shooting a ball of fire from her sleeve. The fire struck the locust tree in the courtyard, instantly turning it into a blazing inferno, as if it had been doused in gasoline. The guards standing beside Wei Cong quickly shielded their master behind them, drawing their swords and watching the female Taoist priest warily.

Lu Ping waved her hand, and the fire in the courtyard went out. The once lush and leafy locust tree was now mostly burned, leaving only a charred, half-charred remnant. Wei Cong suppressed his shock and asked, "What happened?"

"You've already seen it!" Lu Ping said, "Our spells have become much more powerful!"

"Are you saying the world is about to descend into chaos?" Wei Cong thought for a moment and asked cautiously.

“That’s right!” Lu Ping nodded. “But it’s not that chaos is about to break out, it’s already broken out. In the past few months, my magical power has increased many times over. If you had met me now back in Chaisang, you and your subordinates would definitely be a pile of charred corpses by now.”

"What about Liu Xin?"

"Him? He's improved even more than me! Let me put it this way, if in the past my magic power was three and his was ten, now I'm thirty, and he's at least three hundred!"

"How could this happen?" A shadow fell over Wei Cong's face. This unexpected turn of events forced him to revise his original plan. "Then why did he advise you to leave? Although your magic power is not as good as his, it's still quite formidable!"

"Don't you understand yet, Wei Cong?" Lu Ping sighed. "The reason our magical powers have increased so much is because the world is in chaos, and the real reason for the chaos is you! Isn't it only natural for someone like me to follow the one destined by Heaven?"

"Me?" Wei Cong chuckled. "Are you kidding me? I clearly quelled the rebellion in Jiaozhou. How can you say I caused chaos throughout the land?"

“Wei Cong, when we cultivators talk about the great chaos in the world, we are referring to whether the Mandate of Heaven is determined by one family or one clan. If it is determined, even if there is war, the world will be at peace. If it is not determined, even if there is no war, it is still uncertain. Your existence has already shaken the Mandate of Heaven. The evidence is that after you started the uprising in Jiaozhou, both my and his magical power increased rapidly. Moreover, only the two of us have this phenomenon because we both have karma with you. This is certain.”

"Alright!" Wei Cong looked at Lu Ping with some skepticism. Deep down, he was willing to believe Lu Ping's words. The reason was simple: if anyone in the world had the greatest chance of destroying the Han dynasty, it would be him. After all, neither scholars nor barbarians, strictly speaking, had this idea. The common people might have the idea, but they lacked the ability. Only he had both the ability and the will.

"Why didn't Liu Xin come? Why did he only send you?"

“Because he intends to defy fate!” A rare look of sorrow appeared on Lu Ping’s face as she recounted what Liu Xin had said to her in the pavilion that day. Finally, she said, “If we cultivators defy fate, our end will be tragic. But even so, he would rather take that path!”

Wei Cong remained silent for a long time, stunned by Liu Xin's choice. This man, whom he had only met once, was indeed right. According to his plan, he wouldn't actually "liquidate the sins of the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty" as Liu Xin claimed. After all, in his view, while the aristocratic families and nobles of the Han Dynasty were cruel rulers, they were also the inheritors of culture. If the peasant armies and barbarian invaders could only obtain the necessary means of production and wealth to establish their own country through a bloody purge of them...

Wei Cong didn't need to do that at all—having already controlled the fertile lands of the Pearl River Delta, Red River Delta, and Mekong River Delta, he had enough living space to accommodate the remaining tens of millions of people. Advanced production technologies and the introduction of high-yield tropical crops, fisheries, and handicrafts could generate the wealth accumulated over the previous centuries in a very short time. Rather than violent massacres and purges, it would be better to focus on development in the south, using massive quantities of cheap, high-quality goods and food to economically destroy the enemy.

Ultimately, even with its rampant extortion in Henan, the Yuan family of Runan could only collect two or three hundred thousand shi of rent annually. Meanwhile, Wei Cong's men, if they so desired, could easily earn ten times the economic income of the Yuan family through coconut harvesting, cotton and palm oil cultivation, rice paddy farming, salt production, and mining. Given this stark economic disparity, it was only a matter of time before Wei Cong's emerging class overwhelmed the existing aristocratic landlords of the Han Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)