Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 143 Generals Shouldn't Be Too Old
Whenever a woman starts telling her story in Zhuangzi's style, she immediately makes a very big demand.

Therefore, Yun Ce looked at Zhang Min with extreme caution, fearing that this woman would ask him to sleep in her tent that night.

"Give me a thousand men, give me six months, and finally, give me ten thousand bombs. When you reach the area north of the Great Wall and prepare to settle down and cultivate the land, I guarantee I will provide you with an army strong enough to protect you."

"If you like playing military games, then go ahead and play them. But what's the point of you subtly implying that you're beautiful but useless?"

Zhang Min was stunned by Yun Ce's decisiveness, and then felt embarrassed and annoyed by his words. She raised her hand to take off her clothes.

Yun Ce grabbed Zhang Min's hand and said, "I know exactly how beautiful you are. You don't need to take off your clothes to prove it to me. But let me make this clear first: you can have an army, but you will only have the authority to train it and command it during wartime. In peacetime, the army's food, clothing, and shelter should be at E Ji's disposal."

Zhang Min angrily retorted, "Eji knows nothing, how can she advise on military affairs?"

Yun Ce pulled E Ji, who was already on the verge of anger, over, and the two of them looked at Zhang Min together and said, "She doesn't need to know anything about military affairs. She just needs to take good care of the army you are in charge of."

Zhang Min said, "You still don't believe me."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "A person who entrusts his army to others simply because he trusts them is called a tyrant, or a fool."

Let me tell you, the army is essentially a violent institution, and it's best to tie a few more ropes around this violent institution.

This has nothing to do with whether we trust you or not; it only relates to the regulations we will be implementing in the future.

Despite Yun Ce's detailed explanation, Zhang Min still angrily pushed Yun Ce onto E Ji and said, "You should spoil her as much as you want. Don't blame me for laughing at you when you spoil her like Consort Yu."

With a mischievous grin, Eji pecked Yun Ce on the lips, then hurriedly got up and said to Yun Ce, "I'm going to keep an eye on her."

Yun Ce's caravan traveled on the main road for another three days, and the same thing happened twice more at Tongming Post Station.

Even though three post stations had mysteriously disappeared, no one seemed to care. In fact, when Yun Ce entered the Caowo Post Station with the Grand Marshal's pass, the postmaster there warmly welcomed him and arranged accommodation and meals for the more than two hundred people he brought, according to the pass.

As for the slaves, they naturally had to find their own places to camp outside.

This time, however, Yun Ce did not exchange many pleasantries with the postmaster. On several occasions, Yun Ce preferred to focus his gaze on the postmaster's simple cuffs rather than his enthusiastic face.

Yun Ce discovered that robbery can actually be addictive, and that the process of robbery releases a large amount of dopamine, keeping people in a state of constant excitement. Ironically, it is in this state of excitement that a person's memory is at its best.

After three robberies, Yun Ce's slave camp has become a seasoned bandit force. On days when they are not robbing, they are timid and cowardly, able to calmly endure the humiliation, beatings, and even being spat on by others.

Only when it comes to the moment of robbery do they immediately transform into monstrous villains with blue faces and fangs.

"We've consumed a lot of gunpowder these past few days. We've already traveled a long way, so we should find a safe place to rest and regroup our troops. We should also distribute the remaining gunpowder so they can load it themselves and make bombs."

Furthermore, having successfully committed three robberies in a row, these people have become incredibly arrogant lately, believing they can act with impunity simply because they possess bombs. There have even been instances of individuals, after being humiliated during the day, secretly committing murder at night.

“Then punish them severely. The army is an organized and disciplined violent organization. Organization and discipline are above violence. If there is any more such disorganized and undisciplined behavior, just kill them.”

"Huh, aren't you going to give me any warnings or anything? You're just going to chop my head off like that?"

"Without this, it would be insufficient to create a deterrent."

Feng An was very efficient; by evening, three human heads were hanging from a large tree next to the Caowo Post Station.

When the postmaster heard that the dead man had slaughtered slaves of a merchant caravan, his initial shock turned into admiration.

"The Grass Nest Inn is not worth robbing. Apart from some grain and fodder and livestock for changing trains, there is nothing here."

After Liang Kun returned from outside, he told Yun Ce about what he had found out.

Yun Ce said softly, "A dark silk undergarment with a dragon-patterned color-changing design. An Ji said that such silk is very rare even in wealthy families. Only some wealthy families have one or two pieces of it in their daughters' dowries."

"Everyone who received such a thing as part of their dowry was, according to Angie, extremely wealthy."

Liang Kun remained silent for a moment, ignoring Yun Ce's suggestive words, and said directly, "I always feel that you are deliberately cutting off the post stations from Tiewei Pass to Chang'an."

Yun Ce nodded and said, "That's the idea. Since trouble has broken out here, I don't mind making it even bigger. After the instigator of this turmoil wins, he will probably be busy rebuilding the post station and won't have much energy to manage us poor people who have to farm in the wilderness."

As its name suggests, Caowo Post Station is a post station built on a barren wasteland where only grass grows and no trees grow. It is far from the cities on both sides. If such a post station were not built to provide convenience for officials and messengers, they would have to spend the night in the wild, which would be a very dangerous thing.

During the day, as the caravan traveled, Yun Ce spotted a ferocious beast covered in stripes and with enormous teeth. The beast was lurking in the weeds, and Yun Ce could sense its barely concealed malice.

Through Zhang Min's introduction, Yun Ce learned that this thing was the third most deadly beast on the list of wild beasts in the wilderness—the Abandoned.

Fierce carnivorous beasts usually don't appear within the area covered by the Shehuo (a traditional folk performance). The fact that this thing has appeared means that this place, Caowo, is not within the scope of the Shehuo's influence.

After Liang Kun left, Yun Ce took out a folk firework from his wristband. Sure enough, without the influence of other folk firework, Yun Ce's folk firework blazed brightly, and with Gouzi's support, it transformed from a candle flame into a blazing torch.

The flames weren't very hot; even if you put your hand on them to be scorched, they didn't seem to hurt you much. Of course, if you put your unchanging left arm on them, you could only feel the warmth. But when Yun Ce transformed his left arm into a dragon, the flames of the firework immediately turned into sharp cones and fiercely attacked the dragon arm.

Yun Ce only managed to hold on for a few breaths before removing the dragon arm from the flames. Looking at the arm, which was still faintly steaming, Yun Ce realized he might have been careless and had almost cooked it.

Sure enough, after my arm returned to normal, I saw a large string of blisters on my skin, the largest of which was the size of an egg and filled with liquid.

There is no doubt that this is the result of severe burns.

Seeing Yun Ce self-harming, E Ji was very worried, but she did not come to stop him. Back in Shanzi Mountain, she knew that Yun Ce had an arm that could transform into a dragon. She thought it was the result of Yun Ce devouring the dragon pearl. In fact, it was also something that Yun Ce wanted her to know.

After all, the two of them share a bed every day, so it's better for her to find out sooner rather than later.

"That arm was very powerful, why did you have the heart to destroy it, my lord?"

Yun Ce hardened his heart and used a knife to cut open all the blisters on his arm. After the water in the blisters dried, he took out a bottle of Pengzeng brand quick-healing medicine and had Eji apply it to his arm, which was already unsightly.

The medicine was applied to Yun Ce's arm, and a cool sensation flowed through it. An hour later, Yun Ce's arm, which had been burned by the firecracker, had fully recovered.

Just as Yun Ce was about to summon the dragon arm to compare the changes, Feng An rushed in and said to Yun Ce, "This time we're in trouble. The Grass Nest Post Station has become a bandit's den."

Nearly three thousand cavalrymen are lying in ambush on the grasslands around us, ready to launch a surprise attack at any moment.

Upon hearing this, Yun Ce smiled and asked Feng An, "Did Zhang Min capture that post station manager?"

"They've been captured and are being interrogated. My lord, we must prepare as soon as possible, otherwise these ten thousand men will not be able to withstand a single cavalry charge."

Yun Ce nodded and said, "Everyone should enter the post station and use the walls to block the cavalry. Once the cavalry gets close, we can drop the bombs."

Seeing Yun Ce's nonchalant expression, Feng An couldn't help but say, "The cavalry have crossbows and grappling hooks. I've seen that the walls of the Caowo Post Station are mostly made of wood, which could easily break down the walls. And the crossbows will cause a lot of casualties to our people."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "They've already succeeded in robbing three times. It's time for them to experience what it's like to take on a tough nut to crack. If they can withstand this attack and even win, they'll basically qualify as proud residents of Yun City."

Before he could finish speaking, Liang Kun rushed in and said, "My lord, the problem is serious. Zhang Min just interrogated them and found out that these people are actually from the Great Wall Guard."

Yuncheng nodded and said, "Yes, only they have the ability to block this road, and only they can put enough pressure on Chang'an. Everything has its signs."

However, the good thing is that they didn't openly support either side in the Chang'an unrest; it seems they wanted to sit on the fence and see which side gained the upper hand before helping that side.

Zhang Min walked in while wiping her hands. She had heard everything Yun Ce had said. She quickly dried her hands and asked Yun Ce, "Don't they have any intention of wiping out both sides at once?"

Yun Ce laughed loudly, "Who is the commander guarding the Great Wall?"

Zhang Min quickly replied, "Grand Commander Zhao Shu."

"You must be very old."

"Yes, I am ninety-one years old this year."

Yun Ce sneered and said, "The old man has lost his guts. Don't worry, he's just sitting on the fence and watching. If he had any more courage, he wouldn't have left three thousand cavalrymen in a place like Caowo Post Station."

(End of this chapter)