North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 278 A Great Joy

"Mr. Zuo is a man of both literary and martial talents. Rest assured, I will definitely give you a bigger stage!"

Faced with Zuo Zongtang, a stubborn, arrogant, and ambitious genius, Azu smiled and continued to paint a rosy picture: "Guangdong is just our testing ground!"

"With Shi Dakai's talent and ability, he is more than capable of handling the task in Guangdong."

"If we let Mr. Zuo and Shi Dakai work together, it would be a waste of your talents."

Azu continued with a smile, "Mr. Zuo has been studying the ways of governing the country and bringing peace to the world since childhood. If we talk about knowledge and ability in this area, there are only a handful of people in the whole world who can compare with Mr. Zuo."

"However, times have changed! Many things that Mr. Zuo studied are outdated and have been eliminated by the times."

"Hmm...this...!" Given Zuo Zongtang's stubborn and arrogant personality, he was still somewhat unconvinced upon hearing this.

But when Zuo Zongtang thought about the past two years of going abroad and truly seeing the world, he asked himself honestly that the old Confucianism and Legalism approach he had learned was indeed outdated and no longer relevant to the times.

Zuo Zongtang wanted to argue, but when he opened his mouth, he didn't know how to refute.

Seeing his stubborn look, Azu grinned and said, "I appointed Mr. Zuo as Governor of Panama, to take charge of things independently, so that you could immerse yourself in a Western learning environment, gain more experience, and grasp the essence of Western learning more comprehensively and systematically. It is also to put Mr. Zuo's knowledge and insights into practice and see the results."

"After three to five years, once we have reclaimed China, we will certainly govern the country by combining Chinese and Western learning."

"Mr. Zuo, as you know, I am most disgusted by the vast amount of trivial affairs. Mr. Zuo, with his profound knowledge of both Chinese and Western learning and his ability to embrace both, is undoubtedly the first choice for governing the country."

"Moreover, in the future, when we roam the world and sweep across the land, we will certainly have the opportunity to lead the troops in person."

"Therefore, Mr. Zuo should rest assured that he is in charge of Governor Panama for now, and take this opportunity to learn, observe and practice more, so as to lay the most solid foundation of knowledge for the future."

After Ah Zu finished speaking, Zuo Zongtang was immediately ashamed!
As soon as Ah Zu finished speaking, Zuo Zongtang clasped his hands and bowed deeply to him: "I never imagined that the boss's arrangement for me would have such a profound meaning!"

"It was Zuo who was rash and too hasty!"

Azu reached out and helped Zuo Zongtang up, laughing, "Haha, we're all family, Mr. Zuo, there's no need for such formalities!"

……

When the group arrived at the school playground, hundreds of teachers and students of different skin colors had already lined up in neat rows.

After the principal's brief welcoming speech, hundreds of elementary school students picked up their wooden guns and began practicing bayonet techniques in a very serious manner.

"Kill...kill...kill...!"

Hundreds of children, ranging from a few years old to over ten years old, shouted out deafening battle cries in unison.

In California, all elementary and secondary schools are required to undergo standard military-style training.

Every school has veterans who were wounded and retired from the battlefield, who serve as full-time military instructors to provide military education to all the children.

In a few years or a decade, with just a little training, these children will be excellent soldiers on the battlefield.

Looking at the scene below the viewing platform, where students in neat school uniforms were demonstrating their precise assassination skills to the best of their ability, Vivian, standing beside Azu, couldn't help but sigh softly: "I wonder when our children will be able to be like them...!"

As they spoke, Vivian, Youma, and Victoria all glanced resentfully at Azu beside them.

"Haha...!" Azu laughed heartily, "It'll be here soon, it'll be here soon...!"

It wasn't that he wasn't working hard, but for some reason, none of his wives had gotten pregnant in the past two or three years.

Azu also had his father-in-law, Peter Parker, check up his health several times.

Every test result showed that there was absolutely no problem with my health.

But even after working hard every night, all that can be done is bloom and no fruit. What can be done about it?
As Ah Zu watched the elementary school students' performance below the stage, his mind had already wandered off to who knows where.

After the drill ended, Azu personally praised the children and gave them a passionate pep talk.

Next, Azu walked through each classroom one by one, listening to the children's lessons with great interest.

During the break, Ah Zu had someone call the legendary Mad Horse to the principal's office alone.

Across the principal's desk, Azu looked with great interest at the twelve-year-old boy who was wearing a school uniform, tall and thin, with an arrogant and even hateful look in his eyes as he stared at him.

"So you're Crazy Horse from the Sioux Curly Clan?" Azu asked casually.

“That’s right, I am Mad Horse! The Mad Horse who slaughtered thousands of his people at the foot of Black Mountain and was captured alive by your army!”

"Young Mad Horse," he said fiercely through gritted teeth.

Azu grinned faintly: "I thought the Curly Hair family would be some kind of extraordinary young heroes, but I didn't expect you to be... so disappointing!"

"Disappointed...?" Mad Horse's face froze. "What are you talking about? What do you mean?"

Azu calmly said, "It was I who dispatched the army to defeat the combined forces of your Su tribe and the Xiayan tribe of tens of thousands of men at the foot of your Su tribe's sacred mountain, and slaughtered thousands of your warriors."

"That's right, I had my women do all of this!"

"To say that the strongest Sioux warrior among all the Indians couldn't even defeat a woman... what a disgrace!"

As he spoke, Azu turned around and smiled slightly at Youma, who had no expression on his face.

Upon hearing these two sentences, the young Mad Horse's face flushed red instantly. He felt a surge of hot blood rush to his head, and he wished he could rush up immediately and peel off the culprit's scalp!
But then he heard Azu continue calmly, "It's true that I have a blood feud with your Su clan!"

"You want revenge on me, that's understandable, and there's nothing wrong with that!"

“But I am strong and you are weak. I can kill you without even lifting a finger, and even wipe out all the Su people.”

"You...!" At this moment, the young Mad Horse's anger was so intense that it seemed to ignite him from head to toe!
Ah Zu added, "Therefore, although you hate me and want to kill me, you simply cannot do it with your current abilities!"

"Since you can't do it, you should swallow your pride and bear the humiliation, and try every means to make yourself and the entire Su clan stronger."

"Only in this way will you have a chance to successfully take revenge someday in the future."

As he spoke, Azu scrutinized the boy in front of him with a hint of disdain: "And what are you doing right now?"

"Leading a group of Sioux and Cheyenne children, and getting into fights with children from other ethnic groups all the time?"

"Is this your way of getting revenge?"

"In front of me, the hatred that should have been buried deep in their hearts was expressed so intensely and openly."

"Are you afraid I won't kill you right away? Is that why you're making your hatred so obvious?"

Azu shook his head slightly: "I thought you would be a young hero, but I didn't expect that you are still just an ignorant child after all!"

"I...!" Upon hearing Azu's words, Mad Horse felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, instantly extinguishing his hatred and anger.

Yes! What am I even doing?
Taking children to fight a group of people—is that how you get revenge?

Is it possible to take revenge by showing such intense and obvious hatred in front of your enemy?
The young Mad Horse stood there dumbfounded, as if he had lost his soul and was at a loss!
Ah Zu's voice continued, "If it were me, burdened with such a blood feud, I would endure the humiliation and bury the hatred deep in my heart, learning from the enemy...!"

"Study...?" The young Mad Horse asked in shock, "Study what?"

Azu replied calmly, "Learn how to become strong, learn why you failed back then, learn... how to take revenge!"

"Crazy Horse, haven't you ever reflected on why the seemingly powerful allied forces of the Sue and Xia Yan tribes failed so completely?"

"Thousands of elite cavalry from both tribes were slaughtered! The rest were almost all captured."

"And the casualties you inflicted on my army were negligible, with the number of casualties not even reaching three digits!"

The young Mad Horse gradually calmed down: "Of course I've thought about why we failed... It's because your weapons are just too powerful!"

"If we had equally powerful weapons, we could not possibly lose!"

Azu gave a cold laugh and pointed to the teacup on the table: "If we're talking about 'if,' I'd say if we could fit your Su tribe's sacred mountain into this teacup...!"

"A defeat is a defeat; there are no 'what ifs' in this world!"

"Moreover, you only saw the difference in weaponry, Crazy Horse, you're far more superficial than I imagined!"

"Why is that...?"

"Hehe...!" Azu smiled calmly and slowly stood up: "You need to think about this answer yourself."

"Of course, you can't possibly understand that right now!"

"To truly understand the reasons for failure, you must study diligently, think hard, and learn, observe, and reflect more!"

"Otherwise, you'll never understand it in your entire life and will just be a confused fool."

“And a fool like me doesn’t even deserve to seek revenge against me!” With that, Azu led Youma and the others out of the principal’s office on his own.

The young madman was left behind, bewildered and lost in the wind.

"Tell me, what is the answer...?!?"

The young madman roared wildly at Ah Zu's retreating figure.

Azu stopped, but didn't turn around. He simply said, "Young man, you can come see me anytime you think things through!"

I won't tell you the answer!

"But I will tell you whether your answer is right or wrong!"

……

On the carriage ride back, Youma stared wide-eyed at her husband sitting opposite her: "Your attitude towards Mad Horse is very strange!"

Ah Zu laughed and said, "What's strange about it?"

“You’re just being deliberately mysterious. I don’t know why you would treat him like this?” Youma pressed.

Azu turned to look at the street scene flashing by outside the window: "Young people are always very curious! Especially a young man like Crazy Horse who carries a deep-seated hatred, he will be particularly curious about the reasons for the defeat in the war."

"If he wants to find the answer, he must study hard, observe diligently, and think deeply!"

"Crazy Horse is blinded by hatred right now. I'm just helping him turn that hatred into motivation to become stronger."

"If he wants to become stronger, he must double his learning, observation, and thinking."

"As long as Crazy Horse is willing to learn, observe, and think, he will gradually understand that integrating into this era and into other ethnic groups is the only way out for the Sioux, and even for all Native Americans!"

At this point, Azu turned around and smiled slightly at Youma: "Back then, didn't your Blackfoot tribe also come this far step by step?"

"Your Blackfoot tribe has been able to get to where you are today and gradually integrate into this era and other ethnic groups because of the pressure to survive."

"And for Crazy Horse to realize this, hatred and curiosity will be his strongest driving forces."

"I see...!" Yuma nodded thoughtfully. "I understand now, you were using reverse psychology...!"

"Hehe!" Azu looked at her and laughed happily: "It seems that our Miss Youma has read a lot of ancient Chinese military books in the past two years and learned a lot of ancient Eastern wisdom!"

A blush crept across Youma's pretty face. Although she was already a brigadier general commanding thousands of troops and a married woman, she was still as shy as when they first met.

When praised by her husband, Youma immediately became a little shy, lowered her head and whispered, "Everyone studies hard and makes rapid progress. How can I not study?"

Youma continued, "But I still don't quite understand why you're so interested in a boy from the Curly-haired family. Is there something special about him?"

What's so special about it?

Could it be said that, more than a hundred years from now, the sacred mountain of the entire Sioux tribe will be transformed into the image of a mad horse?
Azu simply shook his head and smiled: "Hearing the story you told me about the young madman on the Holy Mountain battlefield, my intuition tells me that in the future, this madman will be the leader of the entire Su tribe!"

"If we can win back the young mad horse, then completely subjugating the entire Su tribe will not be far off."

Yuma thought about it and realized that it was indeed a possibility.

Moreover, the possibility is very high!

After all, most of the adult men in the Curly-haired family died on the battlefield of the Holy Mountain.

Given Crazy Horse's calm and courageous performance on the battlefield, he is indeed very likely to become a pillar of the Sioux family and a leader of the entire Sioux clan in the future.

Thinking of this, Yuma couldn't help but sigh softly: "If our children could be like young Mad Horse in the future, that would be wonderful...!"

"Cough cough...!" Azu couldn't help but cough.

I can't seem to get past the issue of my child, is it really something I can't overcome?

……

When the grand convoy returned to headquarters, many people came out to greet them.

Azu glanced at the crowd and noticed that besides the three women who were patrolling with him, Daisy and Monica were also there. There were six ladies, but Fu Shanxiang was the only one missing.

"Where is Shanxiang?" Azu asked casually.

Daisy snuggled up and took Ah Zu's arm, replying, "Shanxiang said she wasn't feeling well and went home to rest...!"

"Not feeling well?" Azu frowned. "Are you sick? What's wrong? Have you arranged for a doctor?"

"Mr. Parker has already gone there in person!"

"That's good. I'll go see her when I'm done with my work...!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Peter Parker rode up in a hurry on a snow-white steed.

Seeing Peter Parker's hurried appearance, Azu's brows furrowed tightly once again.

"Mr. Boya...!" Azu rushed forward, anxiously asking, "Is Shanxiang... alright?"

"It's alright... Haha!" Parker Parker grinned broadly. "Not only is it alright, it's actually great news!"

"Good news?" Azu pondered for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be...!"

“That’s right!” Parker Parker excitedly patted his son-in-law on the shoulder: “Miss Fu, she’s pregnant!”

"Hey...really???"

“Absolutely true!!!”

Upon hearing this, Ah Zu was overjoyed and couldn't help but clap his hands and stomp his foot loudly: "She's pregnant! She's finally pregnant...!"

"Congratulations, Boss! This is a momentous occasion for the entire Huamei Company and the entire state of California!"

Upon hearing this good news, everyone present, including Zuo Zongtang and others, was overjoyed and gathered around to congratulate their boss.

Huamei Corporation and California now possess such a large foundation, but their boss, despite being so young, has never had any offspring, which has gradually become a source of anxiety for the core figures of the entire Huamei Group.

If the boss has no descendants, how can the continuation of the Huamei Group be guaranteed? How can this vast empire be ensured to have successors?
Although no one said it aloud, everyone was more or less worried because of it!

The situation is now very clear: our boss must have an heir as soon as possible!
Now, upon suddenly hearing the news that Fu Shanxiang is pregnant, how could everyone not be overjoyed?

Especially for Chinese people like Zuo Zongtang, the first woman to conceive was Fu Shanxiang, which brought them great joy.

In the subconscious of Zuo Zongtang and others, this vast empire was built by their Chinese boss, so it would be best if the future successor could also be a pure Chinese.

The fact that their boss and Miss Fu were the first to have a child undoubtedly gave them a huge advantage in the future succession battle.

Overjoyed, Azu briefly brushed off everyone's congratulations before mounting Peter Parker's white horse and speeding back to his own courtyard.

"Shanxiang...Shanxiang...Shanxiang...!"

As soon as they arrived at the gate, Azu couldn't wait any longer. He jumped off his horse and shouted excitedly.

"What are you yelling about...!"

Fu Shanxiang, seemingly unperturbed, appeared at the entrance of the three-story building accompanied by Princess Sissi, glancing at her husband with a resentful expression.

"Shanxiang, you're pregnant? You're carrying our child!!! Hahaha, hahaha...!"

Azu rushed forward, put his arms around Fu Shanxiang's shoulders, and laughed with uncontrollable excitement and joy.

"So what if I'm pregnant!"

Compared to Azu's boundless excitement, Fu Shanxiang appeared quite calm, simply smiling gently and saying, "We've been married for over a year now, so she should be pregnant by now...!"

"You're right, you're right, she should have gotten pregnant a long time ago, she should have gotten pregnant a long time ago... Hahaha!"

Azu couldn't contain his excitement and kept laughing: "But, we were the last... the last to have sex, yet you got pregnant first. And it had to be between Chinese people, it's easier...!"

Their conversation was conducted in Chinese; otherwise, Princess Sissi would likely have been heartbroken for a long time.

"Hehe...!" Qianqian, who was supporting Fu Shanxiang, congratulated her with a bright smile, "Congratulations, Azu! And congratulations, Sister Fu!"

"In a few more months, I can play with the kids again! Hehe...!"

At her home in Bavaria, Sisi had to personally deal with her five mischievous younger siblings quite a bit!
It's been a long time since I've played with my child, and to be honest, Sisi is even a little itchy to do it!

(End of this chapter)