Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 205 In chaotic times, you must invest your money in people.
Whether Yun Ce was willing or not, he had no choice but to accept the prevailing trend.

The blockade of trade routes is a matter of life and death for all the cities and passes along the Great Wall. As things stand, there is almost no other solution except to launch a war to kill Tan Shou.

Cao Cao was the strongest in the Great Wall defense line, with the largest army and the most abundant supplies. It was only natural that he proclaimed himself the leader of the alliance.

After securing the position of leader, it would be only natural for him to then command Yun Ce, the victim.

Neither Jingkou Pass nor Yun Family Manor could survive independently of the northern environment. It was only natural that they were exploited and driven by shared interests.

This is the advantage of having the upper hand, and it is also the reason why Zheng Tianshou, the old steward of the Cao family, worked hard to gain an advantage along the Great Wall.

Yuan Shao also used this tactic at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but it remains to be seen how Cao Kun will turn this alliance meeting into something else.

"Apart from Cao Kun, no one should know what the battle at the mouth of Yongshou River was really like, nor does anyone know whether Tan Shou of Pingzhou and He Tian of Lingzhou were actually fighting."

Often, when two major powers are at war, people are surprised to find that the two powers themselves have not suffered much damage, but the smaller powers around them have been wiped out.

Such things are neither common nor rare. Therefore, my lord, we must first find out the exact situation between He Tian and Tan Shou, and also determine whether Cao Kun is colluding with these two.”

After Feng An finished speaking, he turned to look at Zhang Min.

Zhang Min said, "Panxinglou should have early records of these two people. I'll write to Wu Tong and ask him."

Feng An added, “The interactions among nobles often span hundreds of years. They are intertwined and cannot be severed in a short period of time. Looking at past records may be more valuable than looking at the most recent ones.”

After Qin Shu finished making his suggestion, he said to Yun Ce, "It is not advisable for the general to go into danger alone. Why not take me with you? That way, you will have someone to help you."

He Qingfang added, "Cao Kun has ulterior motives."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "I'll take Cao Kun's five hundred cavalrymen to Xiangcheng by myself. If you go, I won't be able to perform well in that kind of environment."

He Qingfang asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by 'use'?"

Yun Ce sneered and said, "If things are not right, then kill them all. You don't need to worry about my affairs. It's better for you to take good care of the more than 40,000 women and children in the manor."

For the first ten years, we went with the flow; the next ten years will be our time to shine. This is our established development strategy.

The next day at dawn, a tired messenger bird landed in front of Yun Ce's window. Zhang Min was awakened by the bird's call. Without even getting dressed, she opened the window and was about to reach out to grab the bird when E Ji slammed it shut.

"Open the window, don't wear clothes, who are you trying to impress?"

Zhang Min glanced at Eji, who was already dressed, and said with a charming smile, "I feel bad for your husband?"

Having said that, she pushed Eji aside, opened the window, and leaned out her infinitely beautiful upper body. Under the horrified gazes of Anji and her maids, she snatched the messenger bird back.

Ignoring Eji's loud pats on her back, he took out a metal tube from the leg of the messenger bird, looked at it, and said to Yun Ce, who was still sleeping, "Tan Shou and He Tian really fought, and they were very fierce. Tan Shou sent his general Yan Fei to launch a surprise attack on Feixiang City in Lingzhou at the mouth of Yongshou River, catching He Tian off guard. Now Feixiang City has fallen into Tan Shou's hands."

Furthermore, He Tian sought help from Cao Lang of Qiuhe Prefecture, promising that once Tan Shou was defeated, he would only take the two southern cities, and the rest would belong to Cao Lang. Oh, Cao Lang is Cao Kun's father.

Yun Ce stretched and casually pulled Zhang Min's slender waist back under the blanket. E Ji stood in front of the bed, angrily watching the two of them play around under the blanket. She punched them a few times randomly, then lifted the blanket and yelled at the two naked people, "Let's get down to business."

Zhang Min stretched out her long legs and tapped Eji's stomach twice, saying, "I am a concubine, serving my husband is my proper duty, don't you think so, my lord?"

Previously, the word "concubine" was Eji's secret weapon to control Zhang Min; as long as she mentioned it, Zhang Min would go mad. Now, the tables have turned, and the word "concubine" has become Zhang Min's Achilles' heel in controlling Eji.

Seeing that Eji was about to devour the puppy she brought, Zhang Min and Yun Ce hurriedly got up and summoned the Yun family's retainers to continue their discussion.

“If we can take Xiangcheng, Xiangcheng and Jingkou Pass can be connected. We can even dig out a section of the Great Wall closest to Xiangcheng and build another city pass. In the worst case scenario, if the Guifang people invade, we can relocate the people to Xiangcheng.”

If a large-scale war breaks out south of the Great Wall, we can relocate the people of Xiangcheng to the north of the Great Wall. Although this will not help the overall situation, it will allow us to maneuver within a small area and greatly increase our chances of survival.

Yun Ce knew that Feng An had been reading "The Art of War" recently, but he didn't expect that Feng An had actually figured out some of its secrets. At least, Yun Ce was not as good as Feng An in terms of insight.

“Destroying the Great Wall without permission is a serious crime.” Liang Kun disagreed with Feng An’s reckless behavior.

"Although the court is weak now, it still holds the reputation of righteousness. Moreover, the ancestral fire is still in Chang'an, so people in the world have to respect the court."

Destroying the Great Wall is not only unacceptable to the imperial court, but also to the common people. If we demolish the Great Wall and open gates privately, we might not gain any benefits, but instead become the target of public criticism.” Zhang Min said, “It can be done secretly.”

He Qingfang waved her sleeve and said, "What's done is done. It can't be hidden. Many things that seem to be hidden are proven to be just that people are unwilling to expose them for various reasons. Once there is a need to expose them, they will ruin our reputation in the shortest possible time."

Feng An pressed his hands down, and when everyone looked at him, he took out an exquisitely crafted model from under the low table.

"This is the main suggestion that someone is making to His Majesty today: to build the Golden Lock Pass."

Yun Ce looked at the model Feng An had taken out and asked, "Who made it for you?"

Feng Andao: "Fire."

Yun Ce then asked, "How many Fire Clan members do you currently have under your command?"

Feng An said, "There are 277 people, of whom 200 are skilled in digging and tunneling through mountains."

Zhang Min asked in surprise, "Don't the Fire Clan make a living by smelting iron?"

Liang Kun smiled and explained to Zhang Min, "How could you forget those drawbridges in Chang'an, Madam? The Fire Clan is skilled not only in iron smelting, but also in mining and the study of mechanisms and intelligence. It's just that the world values ​​iron smelting the most."

"My lord, if Jin Suo Guan is an underground city, I have no objection."

To be precise, Jinshuo Pass is actually a city located at the foot of the Great Wall. This city was built by excavating a natural cave. The excavation continued along the fissures extending inward from the cave, eventually connecting the mountain range at the foot of the Great Wall to achieve the purpose of transportation between the inside and outside.

Judging from the model Feng An brought, the most important function of Jin Suo Guan was storage and disaster relief. It was a natural cave, and the Fire Clan had arranged almost every usable space in an orderly manner.

The garrison area, residential area, warehouse area, and the expressways connecting the inside and outside of the Great Wall can all be clearly understood with just one glance at the model.

It's a very good plan.

Yun Ce took the exquisite model and casually handed it to E Ji, who had been eyeing it for a long time. Then he asked Feng An, "Does Huo Liao believe you now?"

Feng An laughed and said, "I am very close to Huo Liao. As long as you help him kill Huo Ming Gong, he will definitely be loyal to you."

Yun Ce stood up and said, "Then we must do a good job and not give up halfway or cause any bad things to happen. At the same time, we will entrust the construction of Jin Suo Guan to Huo Liao, and you will assist him from the side."

What is needed and used should be supplied with priority.

Finally, I told Huo Liao that if he could successfully rebuild Jin Suo Guan, Huo Ming Gong's head would be my congratulatory gift to him on the day Jin Suo Guan was completed.

Feng An smiled and bowed, saying, "If Huo Liao heard the Lord's promise, he would be moved to tears."

Yun Ce then said to Zhang Min, "Block all news about Jin Suo Guan."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Min happily accepted the order. With Yun Ce's words, she would now be the head of the Yun clan's secret service, truly holding great power.

Zhang Min planned to select personnel from those teenagers. She felt that the loyalty of these children was almost beyond question, and within three to five years, she would definitely have a very good intelligence team under her command.

Feng An selected children who were only a few years old to assist the Fire Clan in excavating the cave. In the Yun Clan, there were too many children, almost half of the current population.

When the Lord came north of the Great Wall, the importance He attached to those children was incomprehensible to the stewards. They couldn't understand why the Lord was frantically taking in orphans when He himself was struggling to feed himself.

Now I understand everything. A ten-year-old child, if invested in for three to five years, can support himself. If educated for another three to five years, he will become the core of the Yun family. This kind of loyalty cannot be bought with money or food.

These teenagers followed the Fire Clan in carving out the Golden Lock Pass. Once the Golden Lock Pass was completed, these children had basically mastered the skills of carving mountains, which could effectively suppress the bad thoughts in the hearts of the Fire Clan members.

"Nothing is better than investing in people, especially investing in helpless children. You will definitely get back your investment tenfold or a hundredfold in the future, and the returns will be almost permanent."

"You don't need to envy Zhang Min's ability to accomplish great things now. In reality, if you just raise these Yun family children to adulthood, without mistreating or treating them harshly, occasionally checking on their basic needs, and strictly supervising their studies, then when these children grow up, the little power Zhang Min holds will be nothing at all."

Even when he was deeply in love with Zhang Min, Yun Ce still kept a clear distinction between himself and Zhang Min.

Those words can be spoken to Qin Shu and He Qingfang, those words can be spoken to Feng An and Liang Kun, those words can be told to Zhang Min, and those words can only be known to Eji alone. There is a lot of knowledge involved in this.

(End of this chapter)