Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 450 Prime Minister, please sign, affix your fingerprint.

"Ss ...

Lin Dao tore off a piece of paper from which he had written down several requirements and slapped it in front of Prime Minister Zhuge.

"Sign and put your fingerprint on it."

Without hesitation, Prime Minister Zhuge signed his name, affixed his seal, and pressed his fingerprint.

Lin Dao took back the paper and nodded. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that Sima Yi is too famous as a cautionary tale."

"How about this, I'll ask my master to act as a notary for us."

"If you break the contract, you will offend my master."

"When he decides to destroy the Great Han, don't blame me for not warning you beforehand."

Prime Minister Zhuge's eyes were full of curiosity. "May I ask who your esteemed teacher is?"

"The Greatly Enlightened, Wondrously Manifested, Golden Immortal, Heavenly Longevity, Naturally Respected by the Three Teachings, the Greatly Enlightened Bodhi Patriarch."

Prime Minister Zhuge blinked, then blinked again.

Such a long title must belong to someone powerful!

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the praise in this regard was not as exaggerated as it is in later generations.

What Lin Dao said wasn't long at all; there were many things that were much longer.

He started making preparations.

They set up an altar and a stove, and even took out a portrait.

This isn't something you can just throw together with any painting.

In reality, this was drawn stroke by stroke by a profiler and professional painter that Lin Dao hired at great expense in the modern world, based on what he saw in his dream.

Prime Minister Zhuge looked up and saw that the person in the portrait was wearing a lotus-shaped golden crown, a robe of heaven and earth and clouds, and holding a ruler and a whisk.

His white beard reached his chest, and his posture was ethereal and transcendent.

Moreover, the painting depicts a riot of flowers falling from the sky and golden lotuses springing from the ground.
This is really true~
"Wait!" Prime Minister Zhuge was suddenly startled and looked closely at the portrait.

As expected, all that could be seen was a head tied up with snow-white hair and a long beard.

However, the face was blurry and indistinct, with only the outline visible and no details.

"That's a bit strange, isn't it?"

Lin Dao, who was standing to the side, smiled and explained, "Don't worry, it's nothing serious."

“The appearance of a Taoist practitioner is not captured in paintings, so it’s normal that you can’t see it clearly.”

In the world they traversed, apart from Lin Dao, no one could clearly see Bodhi Patriarch's face.

But once you return to the modern world, there will be no problem.

"May I ask, esteemed teacher?"

Suppressing his inner turmoil, Prime Minister Zhuge asked softly, "Is it...is it..."

What he wanted to ask was, "What is the background of your master? This is too amazing. You can't even see the face clearly in a portrait. It gives people a hazy and mysterious feeling."

"They are cultivators of the Tao."

"It's just that Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism are practiced together."

"Come."

Lin Dao pulled Prime Minister Zhuge along, and together they held incense sticks and bowed to the portrait.

"Master, look at me."

"I made an agreement here with this man beside me, whose surname is Zhuge, given name is Liang, courtesy name Kongming, and whose official position is the Chancellor of the Han Dynasty."

He lit the paper with the conditions written on it and the signature, fingerprint, and handprint of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, then threw it into the incense burner.

"Please ask the master to be a witness."

"If he breaches the contract in the future, please ask the master to destroy what he cherishes most."

After saying this, he held the incense sticks in both hands, bowed three times, and then inserted them into the incense burner.

"What are you waiting for? It's your turn."

Lin Dao urged, "Hurry up."

Prime Minister Zhuge's lips twitched, as if he wanted to say, "Why don't you mention how you would be punished if you breached the contract? Why are you only punishing me?"

But then I thought, they're worshipping a master, they're one of their own, why punish them?

With a sigh, Prime Minister Zhuge stepped forward and said, "Bodhi Patriarch, I, Zhuge Liang, am grateful for the assistance of your esteemed disciple in restoring the Han Dynasty."

"We will forever remember the kindness of restoring the Han Dynasty!"

After bowing three times, the incense sticks were inserted into the incense burner.

That night, Prime Minister Zhuge, who was having a rare good dream, suddenly felt a golden light shining in his sleep.

A faint voice echoed in my heart.

'You have a pact with all the Heavenly Emperors; you must faithfully abide by it.'

'If anyone violates this rule, the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Man will not tolerate it.'

Remember this! Remember this!

He suddenly woke up and sat on the bed.

Those three sentences are still echoing in my mind.

It was so clearly audible.

"A human...a human emperor?!"

Lin Dao here is also having dreams, dreaming several times a month about the temple giving lectures.

However, this time was different from before; he was the only one in the dojo listening to the lecture.

The seated Bodhi Patriarch was surrounded by a shower of heavenly flowers and golden lotuses blooming around him.

A pair of bright eyes looked at me and slowly opened their mouths.

"Grand Celestial Immortal Technique~"

"The true and wondrous secret of the perfect integration of exoteric and esoteric teachings lies in the cultivation of one's nature and life force—there is no other way. It all comes down to essence, energy, and spirit; guard them carefully and keep them hidden, never letting them leak away."

The entire Shu Han state was mobilized.

The conscripted laborers bid farewell to their families and transported supplies stored in various places to Hanzhong.

The troops stationed in various places also received orders to be transferred and packed their bags to go to Hanzhong.

Even the Nanman people who had been subdued before received a letter from Prime Minister Zhuge, ordering them to send their elite troops to participate in the expedition.

Countless people and goods are converging on Hanzhong.

Cao Wei's spies planted in Shu risked their lives to deliver the message to Chang'an.

Xiahou Mao, who had no real ability and only held a high position because of his privileged background, didn't care.

It was merely a routine matter; orders were sent to various parts of Guanzhong and Longyou to strengthen vigilance, and that was it.

They didn't even send anyone to inform the emperor. After all, ten years had passed since the Battle of Hanzhong, and since Liu Bei's death, the Shu Kingdom had long been a sick cat.

If it weren't for the natural barrier of the mountains, the country would have been destroyed long ago.

It wasn't just Xiahou Mao; almost everyone in Cao Wei held him in contempt.

After all, everyone knows that the Battle of Yiling had completely wiped out the main force of the Shu Kingdom.

If those tens of thousands of elite troops were still there, it wouldn't be Xiahou Mao's turn to guard Guanzhong.

At the same time, Zhuge Liang dispatched Chen Zhen, a court attendant, to Eastern Wu in an attempt to persuade them to send troops to contain Cao Wei's forces.

Lin Dao and Prime Minister Zhuge traveled together to Hanzhong.

To conceal the truth, Prime Minister Zhuge publicly stated that Lin Dao was a military advisor in the Prime Minister's office.

Giving me an identity makes things easier.

Along the way, Zhuge Liang was busy perfecting the plan for the Northern Expedition.

The original plan was to be followed as the main strategy, concentrating troops and forces at Jieting to draw away the main force of Cao Wei.

Wei Yan was ordered to lead 5,000 elite troops to launch a surprise attack on Chang'an City via the Ziwu Valley, cutting off the retreat route of Cao Wei's main force.

To avoid any unforeseen circumstances, the naturally cautious Prime Minister Zhuge even refrained from warning Meng Da, allowing him to be defeated by Sima Yi.

Meng Da, in his youth, joined Liu Zhang along with his fellow villager Fa Zheng.

After Liu Bei entered Shu, he and Fa Zheng joined Liu Bei's forces.

He then followed Liu Feng in capturing Shangyong and other places.

Then came the turning point for Shu Han, when Guan Yu was defeated at Fancheng.

Fearing punishment, Meng Da submitted a memorial resigning from his post as the First Lord and surrendered to Cao Pi.

Cao Pi, who had just ascended the throne, was overjoyed to have a general from the enemy army surrender to him.

Throughout Cao Pi's reign, Meng Da was greatly favored by Cao Pi, who not only granted him the titles of Marquis and General, but also merged the three commanderies of Fangling, Shangyong, and Xicheng into Xincheng Commandery and appointed Meng Da to serve as its head.

While Cao Pi was alive, Meng Da's position was secure.

But things changed after Cao Pi died.

As the saying goes, "a new emperor brings a new court," and with the successive deaths of Huan Jie, Xiahou Shang, and others who were Cao Wei's external allies, Meng Da, a regional warlord like himself, was naturally not well-liked.

Sensing the crisis, Meng Da secretly contacted Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, attempting to return to the Shu Kingdom.

At this very moment, Meng Da's handwritten letter was in the hands of Prime Minister Zhuge.

"Zihou is worth observing."

Lin Dao, who was in the same car, took the letter and glanced at it.

He quickly closed the letter, gave a casual laugh, and said, "He's just an ambitious but incompetent fellow."

"He wanted to continue being the local tyrant of Xincheng County."

But Cao Rui didn't give him the chance.

"He wants to come back here and continue being a local tyrant."

"People like this only need to be used once."

Prime Minister Zhuge asked with a smile, "How can we utilize it?"

"Keep him hanging, and when the army launches its northern expedition, have him rebel and draw away Cao Wei's forces."

To put it bluntly, things are not like they were back when the world was in chaos and warlords ruled over their own territories.

With the Three Kingdoms now in a state of tripartite balance, a small warlord like Meng Da, who occupies only a commandery, doesn't really have much room to maneuver.

Only he himself thought he could please both sides.

Prime Minister Zhuge praised, "That's excellent."

Whether in strategy or tactics, the way to victory is to utilize all available resources to achieve one's goals.

Upon arriving in Hanzhong, Prefect Wei Yan led a group of people out to greet them.

Wei Yan was originally a subordinate of Liu Bei.

He was later promoted to general for his merits, and with Liu Bei's support, he surpassed Zhang Fei to become the governor of Hanzhong.

Having operated in the Hanzhong Basin for many years, it can be said to be deeply rooted.

Such a general, forged in the crucible of war, was not someone Liu Shan, who was adept at indulging in pleasure, could command.

This refers to the journey of Prime Minister Zhuge from Chengdu to Hanzhong.

Lin Dao personally saw several letters about the emperor's lack of ambition, spending his days eating, drinking, and having fun while ignoring state affairs.

Which capable person would be willing to submit to a good-for-nothing who has gained wealth and status solely through bloodline?

He could submit to Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, but Liu Shan...
"Lord Duting, heed my decree!"

Prime Minister Zhuge did not get out of the carriage, but Yang Yi came out and took out the imperial edict with a blank expression.

Wei Yan was taken aback, then immediately bowed and waited.

"In the first month of spring in the sixth year of Jianxing, the Emperor decreed..."

"Now there is a Marquis of Duting, Wei Yan, who has made outstanding contributions and governs Hanzhong well."

"The Marquis of Duting is known for his virtuous character and simple honesty, and his illustrious achievements are all evident to the Emperor. I admire his kindness and commendable righteousness."

He was appointed as Sima of the Prime Minister's Office, Governor of Liangzhou, and former Military Advisor.

"Like a story~"

"I respectfully agree!"

After the imperial edict was read, Yang Yi closed it and stared at Wei Yan.

Wei Yan was stunned for a moment, then quickly came to his senses and said, "Your subject Wei Yan receives the imperial decree!"

As soon as he received the imperial edict, a hearty laugh erupted from the carriage.

Prime Minister Zhuge, holding a feather fan, stepped down from the carriage with a smile and approached.

"Wen Chang, you've worked hard."

"I dare not complain of hardship in front of the Prime Minister." Wei Yan stepped slightly to the side. "Please, Prime Minister."

Prime Minister Zhuge grabbed his arm and said, "Wen Chang, come into the city with me."

Everyone followed along, chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere seemed very harmonious.

At this moment, Lin Dao came out of the carriage, also smiling.

"As expected of Prime Minister Zhuge, he seized control of the Hanzhong army in one fell swoop."

Wei Yan's title of Governor of Hanzhong was bestowed upon him by Liu Bei, and the Hanzhong Army was also left to him by Liu Bei.

To take it over, it must be done officially by imperial decree.

Of course, what really mattered was the prestige of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang and the tens of thousands of troops he brought!

(End of this chapter)