Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 173 Good or bad is just a matter of a single thought

When one autumn leaf falls, a whole swarm of autumn leaves will soon follow. This is the so-called law of nature. There will be no signs of improvement, nor will there be any miracle of withered leaves turning green. When things go wrong, they will only get worse without any bottom line.

As the struggle between Grand Marshal Zhou Bo and the Emperor of Han came to a complete end, Zhao Shu, the Grand Commander of the Great Wall, returned from Chang'an.

When he left the Great Wall for Chang'an with nearly 70,000 Great Wall garrison troops and his large family, he returned with less than 3,000 personal guards and more than 2,000 family members.

When he left, the old man was incredibly dashing. No matter how his subordinates advised him to value the territory he had cultivated for nearly thirty-six years and not be attracted by the prosperity of Chang'an, the old man said, "Opportunities are like a white horse flashing past a crack, fleeting in an instant, and must be seized." That silenced all the voices of advice.

As he left Chang'an, the old man sighed on the East Drawbridge of Chang'an: "I was misled by treacherous people and abandoned the Great Wall to come to Chang'an, which is the shame of my life. Now I am returning north, waiting for me to regroup and start anew."

He probably didn't want to leave Chang'an. In the short 48 days since he arrived in Chang'an, he bought a mansion that covered 600 acres. Within five days, he recruited 4,000 retainers in Chang'an. It is said that the mansion, located in the best location in the east of Chang'an, not only has pavilions and towers, but also carved beams and painted rafters, and is extremely luxurious.

The house was formerly owned by Hou, the Left Chancellor of the Han Dynasty. Not long after he moved in, he was executed by dismemberment for doing something wrong. His children and family members were sold off. It is said that the slave trade in Chang'an was unprecedented on that day.

Before Hou Qian moved in, the owner of the house was named Lü Kuang, who was a Silver-ranking Grand Master of the Palace in the Han Dynasty. Unlike Hou Qian, who was a close confidant of the emperor, Lü Kuang was related to the son and daughter of Grand Marshal Zhou Bo. It seems that he also did something wrong, and Hou Qian caught him in a compromising situation and beheaded him at Chongguang Gate in Chang'an. When he died, all his family members hid in the Grand Marshal's mansion and dared not come out. Later, it was said that the Grand Marshal took them all in.

Before Lü Kuang moved in, the owner of the house was named Lou Wan, a wealthy merchant of the Han Dynasty. He had more than 2,400 caravans that traveled throughout the east, west, north, and south of the Han Dynasty. His wealth was beyond description. It was he who spent an exorbitant amount of money to buy this 600-acre land and spent eleven years building this mansion, which he called a 'blessed land'.

Before he could even move in, he was shocked to learn that his caravan had been attacked by bandits in every part of the Han Dynasty. He ran all over the mansions of his former relatives and friends, hoping to borrow some strength to save his caravan, even just a part of it.

As a result, it attracted even more dog skins, and within six months, it completely swallowed up a behemoth with more than 2,400 caravans.

Lou Wan hanged herself at the gate of the blessed land, saying before her death, "Those who live in this place will not die a good death."

The fates of Lü Kuang and Hou Qian, these two important figures, seem to confirm Lou Wan's curse; they truly died tragically.

Zhao Shu didn't die; he is currently the only person who has managed to escape unscathed from the jaws of this Blessed Land, a place that devours powerful figures.

However, his departure from the blessed land was not without cost. After the Grand Marshal and the Emperor joined forces to divide, disintegrate, reorganize, and purge his army, Wu Tong, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, subjected him to inhumane oppression and exploitation. Only after paying an extremely heavy price was Zhao Shu able to make that declaration, "I will come back," on the East Suspension Bridge.

Along the way, Zhao Shu ate grass and rations to stave off hunger, and traveled day and night with his personal guards and family. He thought that as long as he returned to the Great Wall, he would still be the majestic Great Wall Commander.

He started calling for the gates to open from Hutou Pass, the outermost point of the Great Wall. However, Hutou Pass remained completely silent. No matter how much the white-haired Grand Commander Zhao Shu personally called out, no one answered.

After staying outside the city for an entire night, he called out again the next day, but still no one answered. The flag on the city wall was still the familiar flag, but sadly, that flag no longer recognized him.

Jingkou Pass was the sixteenth city Zhao Shu wanted to capture; he hadn't captured any of the previous fifteen.
Even Yun Ce was shocked by the old man's relentless and shameless spirit.

Cao Kun, who had traveled a long way to see Zhao Shu's disheveled appearance, was not surprised at all. He felt that Zhao Shu, this stray dog, was now making a big comeback with a small investment. Once he managed to open a city gate, he would stay there and refuse to leave.

"Liu Che, do you still remember how I treated you when you first entered the Grand Commander's Mansion? Today, I am in trouble, and you won't even let me enter the pass to rest for a moment?"
Liu Che, you can't be so heartless and ungrateful. If you refuse me today, you'll surely be treated the same way when you fall on hard times..."

Cao Kun listened to Zhao Shu's plea and asked Yun Ce.

Who is Liu Che?

"The former garrison commander of Jingkou Pass."

"What did you do to him? Did you kill him?"

"No, he asked me for six million dollars, then forced the well pass to me, took the money, and ran away with his family."

Cao Kun angrily retorted, "Could there be such a good thing?"

Yun Ce shrugged and said, "That's how it is. Everyone in the entire Jingkou Pass knows it. If you don't believe me, just ask the deputy general and the chief clerk of Jingkou Pass."

By the way, how many town gates does your family own?

Cao Kun, suppressing his anger, said, "One and a half."

Yun Ce asked in surprise, "What's the logic behind 'half'?"

Cao Kun said, "We should share a city gate with others."

Yun Ce curled his lip and said, "Your cooperation methods are really flexible and varied, as long as they can weaken the court's control."

Cao Kun picked at his ear, glanced at Zhao Shu trembling below the city wall with annoyance, and said, "What, do you still want to listen to this old scoundrel's incessant chatter?"

Yun Ce shook his head and went down the city wall with Cao Kun. Zhao Shu watched the people standing on the city wall leave, so he didn't bother to say anything more. He took the water bottle from his equally aged son, took a sip of water, and then said in a hoarse voice, "Go to the next checkpoint."

Zhao Shu's elderly son, Zhao Huan, said anxiously, "Father, must we suffer this humiliation endlessly?"

Zhao Shu glanced at his son, who also had white hair, and said, "Whether you and I live or die is no longer important. There are still some promising great-grandchildren in the family. They cannot die."

I, Zhao Shu, was once a great figure, but now I'm stuck in the mud. I have to abide by the rules of the mud. Only if I run all over the Great Wall and am rejected by all eighty-two passes will people think that I am powerless to make a comeback.

Perhaps only then will they spare our family and allow our more promising descendants to have the right to live.

Zhao Huan said, "When will this end? Even if Xun'er and the others are capable, they won't be given a chance to stand out."

Zhao Shu took another sip of water and said, "It won't be long before the world is in chaos. In such times, as long as you have the ability, you'll be used. Who will care about your family background?"

Zhao Huan asked, "Father, do you really think Iron Enclosure Pass can't be defended?"

Zhao Shu sighed and said, "If Tiewei Pass is really as impregnable as people think, do you think your father would really be willing to give up the Great Wall and wade into the muddy waters of Chang'an?"
It was all for the sake of saving my life. I thought that even if I failed, my whole family would just have to go to a remote and isolated place. I never expected that they wouldn't give me any chance to be reinstated.

That young master Shen Tong is truly ruthless. You must remember, once the Zhao family rises to power, you must uproot that Shen Tong completely.

Zhao Shu, along with his guards and family, continued along the Great Wall, while Yun Ce and Cao Kun arrived at the Yun family's manor north of the Great Wall.

Cao Kun lay in the hot spring pool and said to Yun Ce with satisfaction, "Your house only has this much good water."

Yun Ce didn't say anything, he just kept splashing water on his head with a towel.

Cao Kun patted his stomach and said, "The food at your house is pretty good. Oh, the bell-ringing musician is good too. Hmm, those little dancers are alright as well."

Yun Ce said, "Tell me about the bad things about my family."

Cao Kun sighed and said, "It's just too poor... *gurgle*."

Yun Ce glanced at Cao Kun, who had buried his head in the water and was blowing bubbles. He was also very worried. This guy had sent him another 8,000 men, just as he had said at Ghost King Mountain. They were mainly scholars, young women, and children.

The arrival of so many people at once made Yun Ce's already meager finances even worse. Despite the difficulties, Yun Ce, E Ji, Zhang Min, Feng An, Liang Kun, Qin Shu, and He Qingfang all believed that these people must stay, even if it meant persevering until the dawn broke.

Now, it is the dead of winter, and the wilderness is covered in snow. People can do nothing but sleep and eat; they can't do any work outside.

Spending without receiving is a major taboo for healthy finances. Seeing that Eji was so anxious that blisters appeared on her lips, Yun Ce even rode his chestnut horse to a distant place with many rich people to rob them.

"You have a decent cavalry, don't you?" Cao Kun raised his head from the water and looked at Yun Ce.

Yun Ce nodded and said, "Five hundred cavalry."

Cao Kun added, "They were 500 cavalrymen who had killed 2,300 Japanese soldiers."

Yun Ce asked, "What are you going to do?"

Cao Kun asked, "You're twenty this year, aren't you?"

Yun Ce nodded again and said, "Yes."

Cao Kun continued, "Starting to establish a family business at this age is already several years later than others. If you want to catch up and surpass others, you will inevitably have to take some shortcuts. Don't you think so?"

Yun Ce nodded again and said, "That's right, that's how it is."

Cao Kun wiped the water off his face and smiled at Yun Ce, saying, "I have a friend who is very rich, but he has recently run into some trouble and wants to find a reliable force to help him out."

After thinking it over, I think you're a very good person.

Yun Ce pondered for a moment and said, "Can't stand the light?"

Cao Kun nodded and said, "It's something that can't be done in the light of day. You'll have no legitimate reason to start the campaign and no legitimate reason to return. You can take the benefits, but the reputation will be of great use to others. Afterwards, we can also provide you with a large amount of grain and supplies."

(End of this chapter)