Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 222: It looks chaotic, but nothing has actually happened.
"Tan Shou is currently being squeezed out of Pingcheng by various heroes, and his demise is imminent. Don't you intend to get involved?"

Cao Kun looked around and changed the subject.

"Liu Changsheng specifically mentioned the dragon in his letter, so he must have already made some discoveries. If you are interested, I can write to him to inquire about the news."

Cao Kun frowned and said, "If Tan Shou is executed, the trade routes in Pingzhou will be unimpeded. If you have no interest in Pingzhou, you can make the decision in Xiangcheng."

Yun Ce looked at the serious-looking Cao Kun and said, "I have actually seen a dragon before, at Tianzhu Mountain. If Liu Changsheng doesn't have any accurate information, you can go to Tianzhu Mountain in Chuyun Prefecture to take a look."

Cao Kun splashed water on his face and looked at Yun Ce, saying, "The only way to cut off the caravan supply from Jingkou Pass is through Xiangcheng."

Yun Ce sighed and said, "I still have a few friends in Chuyun Prefecture. Although their identities are not quite right, you should be able to enter and leave Chuyun Prefecture safely based on our friendship. Just be careful after entering the Tianzhu Mountain area. There are many poisonous insects there, and there is a kind of centipede with extremely potent venom. Once you are injured, you will die without a burial place."

Cao Kun sighed and said, "When the caravans arrived at Jingkou Pass, only small caravans could come because the transaction volume was insufficient."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "Also, there are monsters roaming around there. I met a pig king and a bear king there. These two kings have been killed by the spies of the Climbing Star Tower. Otherwise, I would not have advised you to go to Tianzhu Mountain."

“That’s good. The caravans going to Jingkou Pass will have the right to purchase goods, but I hope that at least 60% of the harvest from your Yun family’s lands will be handed over to the Cao family’s caravans.”

Yun Ce nodded and said, "I will not go to either Pingzhou City or Tianzhu Mountain. In fact, I can't go. In two months, it will be harvest time. This is the first harvest of man-made crops in the vast area north of the Great Wall. I need to keep an eye on it from beginning to end and dare not slack off for a moment."

Cao Kun nodded and said, "I know you want to use a portion of the Yun family's land output to support Tiewei Pass. Therefore, the Cao family caravan must receive 40% of the output from your Yun family's land. When you harvest, a manager from the Cao family will come to supervise."

"When we eat noodles later, I'll use pork belly as the topping, along with Yun's special diced tofu, egg crepe, and two kinds of mushrooms. Do you want it spicy?"

Cao Kun nodded and said, "I haven't been eating meat lately and prefer vegetarian food, but please add plenty of egg crepes."

The irrelevant answering segment ended, and the two finally found common ground again during the noodle-eating segment.

Yun Ce asked in confusion, "Do we really have to talk like this? This is too strange."

Cao Kun sighed and said, "Since it's an exchange, it's not good to say it outright. I'll go find Long, and you can make money on the spot. That's good, we both have something to do."

Unfortunately, my martial arts skills are lacking. Originally, we should have switched roles; you should have gone to find the dragon, and I should have been the one to make my fortune on the spot.

Neither Yun Ce nor Cao Kun were people who enjoyed being served while bathing. The first time was just an experiment, and once they had tried it, they lost interest in such superficial things.

Once the business was finished, the bathing session was over.

Cao Kun stayed and ate a bowl of noodles. Before boarding the Xintianyou (a type of folk song), Cao Kun said to Yun Ce, "If your family background were better, we would be true friends who can talk about anything."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "If my family background were equal to yours, we would only be enemies. Even if we were laughing and talking, given the current situation, we would eventually turn against each other."

It's good now. The strong and the weak, the hierarchical structure, allow us to coexist. People must know how to be content.

Cao Kun chuckled and said, "That's true, things are pretty good now."

When the Xintianyou took off, it still had the heroic spirit of breaking through the clouds and piercing the sun. However, Cao Kun was not in a good mood. The Xintianyou did not fly away immediately, but circled above the Yun Clan Manor.

The changes at Yun's Manor are not significant, except that many people are planting cypress trees, a new variety of cypress tree that can provide excellent bark even in the cold north of the Great Wall, offering inexpensive cypress powder and cypress fiber.

Others drove tall cattle to plow the land. This time, the plowing was not for cultivation, but to create ditches. The plowshare broke through the soft soil, and someone moved the soil away. Then the cattle continued to plow until the groundwater was dug out by the plowshare, and the ditch was filled with water.

This amount of water was naturally insufficient. However, when Cao Kun saw that some ditches were extending into the Qingshui River, he understood that when the Qingshui River flooded in the autumn, these ditches, which were lower than the riverbanks but higher than the water surface, could take advantage of the rising water to divert water into the ditches, eventually turning those ditches with only a little water into moats.

Although Cao Kun, who was knowledgeable in military affairs, did not understand the purpose of planting the trees, he could clearly see the ditches that appeared on the wasteland.

When a cavalry unit enters this wasteland, due to the ditches, it can only follow the routes planned by others. The routes that the cavalry can take are flanked by hills, mountains, or woodlands that are convenient for ambushes.

Currently, the defensive fortifications of the Yun Clan Manor are far from complete. However, once they are completed, this vast wilderness will be under the control of the Yun Clan.

Such behavior may seem slow and clumsy, but it is a young person's strong confidence in their future that leads them to make such a long-term investment.

Such investments, lasting decades or even centuries, are typically undertaken only by truly powerful families, and only they possess the confidence to reap the rewards. Yun Ce, at only twenty years old, has already begun this endeavor, undertaking these incredible tasks for the Yun family thirty years from now.

Searching for the Dragon!

Dragon hunting is something that all the great nobles must do whenever they have the chance.

The dragon is the foundation upon which the Han people exist on this land. They know very well that the Yellow Emperor came riding a dragon and, with the help of the dragon's power, survived and ruled this land for three thousand years.

Later, Huo Qubing also arrived on a dragon, ending the corrupt succession of the Yellow Emperor and single-handedly supporting the rise of the Han Dynasty, which has now stood for two thousand years.

If one could find the dragon, and if one could bypass the Han imperial family and communicate with the dragon, would one then have the hope of replacing it?

Do not forget that on the last day the dragon descended, it did not descend on Chang'an, nor on the alternative city of Luoyang, but instead appeared in the desolate Chuyun Prefecture.

If the divine dragon had descended upon Chang'an again, the Grand Marshal would never have dared to challenge the emperor in Chang'an, and so many ambitious figures would not have emerged in the world.

A Confucian scholar in Luoyang said: "When Heaven unleashes its killing intent, stars shift and constellations change; when Earth unleashes its killing intent, dragons and snakes rise from the land."

This already foreshadowed the coming of a chaotic era, a critical moment when all the nobles would be unable to maintain their existing glory. Cao Kun felt that even if he returned empty-handed from his trip to Tianzhu Mountain, he would surely gain more prestige and benefits through his uncle's efforts.

Yun Ce made it very clear that his best situation right now is to sit back and collect money.

For Cao Kun, the best course of action is to soar like a dragon in the sky.

Yun Ce stood at the gate with his hands behind his back, watching Cao Kun's Xintianyou fly erratically over the Yun Clan Manor. If this hadn't happened before he was told about the dragon's whereabouts, there might have been some trouble.

Now, even if Cao Kun is somewhat worried, he will probably be overshadowed by the news about the dragon. In any case, finding the dragon is urgent, and there is no rush to guard against Yun Ce.

The Cao family is currently very powerful. Not only do they monopolize Qiuhe Prefecture, but they have also taken over Ping Prefecture. Judging from the Cao family's character, He Tian of Ling Prefecture, who asked them for help, will probably not fare much better. Once Ping Prefecture is stabilized by the Cao family, their next step will inevitably be to extend their reach to Ling Prefecture.

Cao Kun's visit this time was to deliver an invitation to him.

Cao Kun is planning to get engaged to He Rou, the legitimate daughter of He Tian from Lingzhou.

Judging from her name, she seemed like a rather nonsensical woman. When Cao Kun was taking a bath, he told him what He Rou looked like, but he didn't get a good look at her. However, he really took a liking to the fierce guards in He Tian's courtyard.

According to Cao Kun, those Tiger Guards were generally over two meters tall, with broad backs and thick waists. They were also said to have been trained by a master using secret methods. They were not only fearless in battle, but also extremely loyal to He Tian and had no intention of betraying him.

This immediately reminded Yun Ce of the methods the Beast Guard used to deal with Thunder Smoke Beasts... So many years have passed, such an effective method must have improved, right?

When Yun Ce was at home, the Yun Family Manor became more lively than usual, and even the smoke from the chimneys behind the houses rose straight into the sky.

The sun was a bit too hot, and some unknown insects kept chirping behind the leaves.

Yun Ce slept on his side. When he woke up, he found that the clothes on his left side, which were pressed down by his body, were soaked with sweat. So he turned over and continued to sleep.

The dog kept chattering in his head. He felt that Yun Ce was too lazy. At this time, he should go to the fields or people's homes to visit the poor and ask about their hardships, and spread more care to them.

Yun Ce would never do something so thoughtless. Nowadays, all the able-bodied men in Yun Family Manor are working as hard as donkeys, while the children have gone to the children's academy to study, practice martial arts, and learn a trade.

There were only some women left in the village who weren't working in the fields. If he went to their homes with gifts at this time, people might misunderstand and think that Yun Ce had taken a fancy to one of their slaves.

"In this age of great strife, we must strive to make ourselves strong."

The dog's noisy barking started again, this time with a hoarse, grating voice. Yun Ce suspected that the dog had been infected with a virus, but he didn't know how to deal with it.

It's true that we're in a time of great competition right now, but nobody's moving. If you go out and start competing, who will you compete with?
Yun Ce deliberately blocked out the dog's noise, yawned, and went back to sleep.

(End of this chapter)