Distant Mountain Battle Song

The routes around Chapter 235 are quite good.
When it comes to academic research, Yun Ce has always believed that progressing from the shallow to the deep, from the simple to the complex, is an essential process.

That's how it is with everything. Even cooking starts with the simplest tasks like chopping and washing vegetables before you can become a master chef. If you expect a novice apprentice to prepare a grand imperial banquet right from the start, isn't that ridiculous?

"The blue-faced devil tree will sing 'The Legend of the Black Wind King' when it wakes up from its nap."

Feng An greatly admired Huo Liao's spirit of seeking knowledge and truth, and even brought up that fool Shu Tuo as an example.

"is that a lie?"

"Does Tree Tuo's brain even have the ability to lie? It's not even qualified to lie."

“Persistent rote memorization is also possible.”

“Impossible. I forced him to memorize the 1,700 words of the ‘Management Regulations of the Mountain Villa’ with a whip. He was whipped for every mistake he made. He received nearly 200 lashes on the first day.”

"Did it gradually get better afterwards?"

"No, it got even worse on the second day. I let it go on the third day, otherwise it would have been whipped to death."

"Huh? This guy can withstand two hundred lashes?"

"You can't deny the devil's physical resilience. After you beat it one day, you let it rest for a night, and it can still be whipped the next day. As long as you don't kill it all at once, it will always come back to life."

"Huh? Another Peng Zeng?"

"It can't become Pengzeng. I tried drawing its blood and injecting it into the injured cattle and horses. As a result, the cattle and horses died immediately. The demon's blood is useless."

My Lord, you don't need to change the subject. Let me tell you, I've only heard Tree Tuo chant up to the chapter about the Black Wind King's battle against the Ghost King Tree in "The Legend of the Black Wind King". I've calculated that it's a full 180,000 words. Tree Tuo said that this is only 30% of the entire "Legend of the Black Wind King".

My Lord, a fool can learn and memorize 500,000 words of "The Legend of the Black Wind King" in one night. If a bright young man like Huo Liao really understands "Advanced Mathematics" in the future, don't be too surprised.

Furthermore, Your Majesty should treat your subordinates with magnanimity and not easily discourage their desire to learn and improve. This is not what a qualified Lord should do. The Lord should encourage, help, and guide them; this is the right way.

To be honest, Feng An and Liang Kun already have the demeanor of ministers, but Yun Ce still hasn't shown the demeanor of a lord. Feng An believes that as a retainer, he has a responsibility to teach his lord to be a dignified yet kind lord.

For example, not being surprised by anything strange.

He never utters anything impossible, so that when something unexpected happens, people will marvel at the Lord's foresight.

Furthermore, while the lady can chat with the pregnant women, the lord cannot. A sense of authority is a necessary characteristic of the lord, and he can no longer kick those naked children running around.

This rigid class-based behavior was naturally not what Yun Ce wanted. His ancestors had always required him to integrate with the people. He became an official not to bring glory to his ancestors, but to serve the people properly. Compared to the people, he was a public servant, not a high and mighty official.

Although the ancestral words went a little astray in the process of being passed down, the intention was good and the hope was extremely beautiful.

So when he saw the little kids in the orphanage, naked and playing with pee and mud, he still went up to them and slapped them hard twice on their bare bottoms. After all, you can't bite into mud cakes made from pee and mud, just like you can't eat real cakes.

The first batch of children born in Yun Family Manor are already running around. These children are much better looking and stronger than the children brought by the slaves.

A woman dressed in simple clothes and wearing a hairpin came out of a low thatched hut, carrying a reed basket in her hand. She had just sat down in the shade of a tree when a little boy stuck his bottom in front of her. The woman slapped his bottom in annoyance and then took out some thread to mend his pants.

"Her name is Dong Lan. Her father was Dong Ting, the Assistant Director of the Embroidered Robe Bureau. When the Grand Marshal and the Emperor fought a great battle in Chang'an, her father stood up for the Emperor and was killed by the Grand Marshal. Her whole family was demoted to slaves and sent to the Great Wall defense line as slaves of the armored men. In the end, Cao Kun sent her here."

She is a very good woman.

Yun Ce looked at Feng An and said, "You want to sleep with her."

Feng An cupped his hands and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking, but we still need Your Majesty to intervene and make peace."

"Hey, you're not going to correct me this time for using vulgar language?"

"The result is what it is, so it can't be considered vulgar."

"Very well, since she is nominally my property, I will bestow her upon you, and you will get what you want tonight."

Feng An said helplessly, "If I only wanted to sleep with her, I could do it without the master saying so. The problem is that I want to marry her now."

Upon hearing this, Yun Ce disregarded Feng An's obstruction and strode up to Dong Lan. Before the woman could kneel, he hurriedly said, "One of my retainers has taken a liking to you."

Upon hearing this, the woman's face turned deathly pale. She quickly lowered her head and whispered, "It is my honor." Seeing that the woman was very compliant, Yun Ce immediately lost his joking intention and called out to Feng An, "She's a very boring woman. You should tell her yourself that if she has someone she likes, you should kill him to make her give up on the idea."

The woman's body trembled, and she lowered her head even further.

Feng An walked over to Yun Ce and said, "Please proceed, my lord."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "No rush. I'll watch from the side. If she doesn't agree, I'll order someone to be beheaded."

Feng An said with a bitter face, "Why is my lord making things difficult for me?"

"Because I am your lord. You just said that a lord must have sufficient authority. Look at me, am I not authoritative now?"

When Feng An saw the woman kneeling on the ground and sobbing, he immediately pushed Yun Ce out of the courtyard and closed the door.

Yun Ce's head appeared outside the low wall and he said loudly, "If you want to get things done right now, I can keep watch for you."

Unable to contain himself any longer, Feng An roared, "Get out of here!"

Yun Ce laughed heartily and left.

Feng An has this flaw: he wants to mold Yun Ce into the image of a sage king as described in ancient books. He doesn't consider that if Yun Ce really becomes a sage king, how will his ministers have a good life?

Today, the agricultural commune model of Yunshi Manor has been established. Only when everyone lives a good life can the concept of home be finally formed.

At this time, we cannot implement the harsh laws and punishments introduced by Cao Kun, nor can we implement the hierarchical system that Feng An openly and covertly demands. Since we are currently in the early stages of development, we should strive for equality in status. Only after everyone has become accustomed to equality can we then emphasize the sanctity and inviolability of the law.

The only thing that can punish and kill people is the law, not power. Of course, that's something to be done next; it's not the right time yet.

He had thought the Han Dynasty was a stubborn feudal society, but over the years, Yun Ce had seen it clearly: the Han Dynasty was actually still in a semi-feudal, semi-slave society. Moreover, this set of rules had deeply penetrated people's hearts, and people accepted that the powerful and noble had the power of life and death over ordinary people.

Feng An actually had his eye on a woman named Dong Lan, but he looked down on her status as a slave. He hoped that through his master Yun Ce, he could change Dong Lan's status so that it wouldn't be too different from his, and he could marry her.

This is a very, very conflicted mentality. Yun Ce will not tolerate his bad habits today. If you like someone, you should reciprocate with sincerity. Don't do those messy things.

Even if you're only after someone's beauty, it's best to have sex if there's mutual affection. Otherwise, if one person is conquering and conquering while the other is crying and wailing as if they've been massacred, there's no romance at all.

Thinking of this, Yun Ce also wanted to conquer cities and territories. However, when he returned home and saw the two pregnant women whose bellies were not yet big, the idea that had just arisen immediately vanished.

Change has been happening all along, just not very obviously. It's a gradual process that can't be rushed. We can only take the next big step when the people here have already confirmed that they are one person. Otherwise, if we suddenly tell them now that we, their sovereign, are equal to them, it will scare them to tears.

In terms of strategy, the strategist Gouzi's approach leans to the left, while the civil officials like Feng An and Liang Kun lean to the right.

While a left-leaning approach can rapidly advance a revolution, it leaves behind irreparable loopholes.

The right-leaning approach is too mild. If it is implemented for a long time, it will disrupt the public support that Yun Ce has worked so hard to build up and will lead to the old ways.

Therefore, Yun Ce stubbornly believes that the route he has chosen is the most suitable for the current development, which will subtly influence the people and strengthen their hearts, ensuring that the road paved in this way can last a long time.

That evening, when Yun Ce was about to wash his feet and go to bed, E Ji and Zhang Min each brought in a basin. E Ji grabbed Yun Ce's left foot and put it in her basin, while Zhang Min picked up his right foot and put it in her basin.

It was obvious that Zhang Min had planned to wash Yun Ce's feet all along, while E Ji's idea was clearly impromptu. The reason for this was that the water in Zhang Min's basin was warm, while the water in E Ji's basin was cold, and it was ice water that had just been drawn from the well.

He initially wanted to refuse, but upon seeing the two women's forced smiles, Yun Ce decisively chose to wash one foot in warm water and the other in ice water. Although the sensation of this extreme contrast was not pleasant, Yun Ce decided to endure it anyway.

"You're being so nice today, you even remembered to wash my feet?"

Zhang Min forced a smile and said, "Women in the Han Dynasty cannot serve their husbands during pregnancy, so they usually help their husbands wash their feet. This shows that even when pregnant, women do not forget to serve their husbands."

Yun Ce nodded and said, "That's good. It can enhance the bond between husband and wife."

Eji glared at Zhang Min and said, "To prevent my lord from becoming too aroused, I come here every night to cool him down with ice water."

　Chapter One

　　
　
(End of this chapter)