Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 189 Before heading south.

In the northern ice palace, Pu'e looked at Zhao Cheng's graying temples reflected in the mirror.

The Wisdom and Courage System indicates that Zhao Cheng's loyalty level is now 24, a significant increase (from less than 10% to 24), meaning that his ambition to usurp the throne has weakened.

However, Zhao Cheng's change in attitude left Pu E with mixed feelings.

Zhao Cheng's submission at this moment was forced by circumstances, or more precisely, by a certain local "NPC" in this world. To think that a divine general she had exchanged for could be forced into this state was truly beyond her expectations.

“Wu Fei?” Pu E murmured the name. Zhao Cheng had chosen this role a long time ago.

Pu E's impression of Wu Fei was that when he was at a disadvantage in terms of tactics and skills against Zhao Cheng, he stubbornly dragged out the time in order to force Zhao Cheng, a man of exceptional talent, to compromise.

Therefore, Pu'e felt that Wu Fei was less capable than Zhao Cheng. Since Pu'e didn't want to use Zhao Cheng because of "personality clashes," she would have no choice but to consider Wu Xiaoque, whose attributes were inferior to Zhao Cheng's and whose personality was even more incompatible.

But what Zhao Cheng said today shocked her: Wu Xiaoque seemed to have other "attributes".

Based on Zhao Cheng's words, the Wisdom and Courage System reassessed Wu Fei. Besides his military skills and tactics, Wu Fei also possessed extremely high attributes in politics and economics; and the combination of these high attributes resulted in a performance that left Zhao Cheng, with his singular military focus, feeling a sense of utter disappointment, like the "rolling Yangtze River flowing eastward."

Xuan Chong's current actions are infuriating more than 90% of the strategists who are his enemies.

Xuan Chong: This generation doesn't necessarily need to determine a winner or loser. We should build high walls, store up grain, advance technology, and stabilize our geopolitical position. Then we can trust in the wisdom of future generations!
Most strategists want to determine the winner in their own game. But Xuan Chong wants to drag the game out to the next game, which is a matter for the future and something that strategists cannot control.

Even the most capable general will become ineffective with age. In the current climate of upheaval, Zhao Cheng, at 35, is still young and vigorous, and can currently look down on most of his opponents.

But Wu Xiaoque was four years younger than him, had more energy, and was constantly pushing for reforms and technological productivity changes. Zhao Cheng felt he couldn't outlast her.

Zhao Cheng couldn't hold on any longer, and Pu E couldn't take it anymore.

…Self-inspection…

Pu'e, now in the Ice Palace, realized what was happening and asked her system, "Check if this person is really just an NPC! Are there any signs of dimensional interference?"

The Wisdom and Courage System: "Based on the existing information we have reviewed, before your arrival and the disturbance, Wu Fei's character trajectory was no different from that of other characters in the timeline, which should be the local consciousness."

Pu E: "Don't talk to me about 'should'! Just tell me whether it is or not."

The Wisdom and Courage System states: "Due to the observation effect, the trajectories of all characters will change after you enter this spacetime; it is currently impossible to determine whether the target character (Wu Fei)'s deflection trajectory is affected by disturbances from other situations besides yours."

Pu'e opened a "novel," which was a general outline of the plot of this world. She then found the character Wu Fei. In her novel, Wu Fei's name appeared only three times. After Wu Hanluan became the Lord of Corruption, the Wu family split into North and South. The Southern faction severed ties with the North, but continued to guard the southern border of the Great Yao.

If you look at the map showing the distribution of spheres of influence later in the novel, Wu Fei's territory is just a tiny bit in the southern border region, with the New Union rebels to the north and the Black Tide to the south.

However, the new rebellion was wiped out by the divine general (Wu Hengyu) who dropped her (Pu E) during her appearance show, and the sphere of influence was inherited by the Wu family; then Wu Fei had a technological advantage, launched a southward attack and destroyed the "Li Huo Sect" faction, and then snowballed all the way south; after Wu Hanluan suddenly died, the situation of him becoming the Lord of Rot and occupying Zhenzhou did not occur, and it became Wu Fei's territory.

The Wisdom and Courage System also noticed that Wu Fei has now obtained a hidden divine weapon, the Chi You Weapon.

Pu E: "It looks like the character 'Wu Fei' was controlled by a time traveler, doesn't it?"

The Intelligent and Courageous System: "Wu Fei's situation is indeed suspicious."

Seeing the system's apparent acceptance, Pu'e was exasperated: she thought she was playing a single-player game, but it turned out to be an online game.

Pu'e: "Who dares to do this? Don't they know this is the time zone I've contracted?"

The Wise and Brave System: "After the Sixth Dimensional War, our side is in a semi-independent state. It cannot be ruled out that some beings in this space-time are interfering."

Pu E: "Who would interfere? This is my own spacetime territory!"

Zhiyong: "Yes, this is our spacetime territory. According to the rules, we have the highest authority here, and other spacetime forces in the surrounding area have signed spacetime treaties with us. However! When we spacetime wanderers deal with 'variable consciousness,' we may intentionally or unintentionally circumvent some treaties. These loopholes that we create to avoid sanctions may be exploited by certain beings, who may then insert themselves into our spacetime."

"As long as we do not have conclusive evidence, we cannot prove that Wu Fei's current trajectory disturbance was caused by forces other than us."

This "loophole" was created by Pu'e during her past travels.

Pu'e's actions during her past time travels: "Unless you can't prove that I 'implanted' consciousness into a topological parallel universe, you can't say I 'implanted consciousness.' My (Pu'e's) topological timeline is fictional, not a real historical timeline."

Pu'e roughly understood that some of her past cleverness had caused some higher-level spacetime rules to punish her.

Pu'e murmured, "So when exactly did it start?"

Zhiyong: "I don't know."

…Xuan Chong: In my memories of this life, at exactly when did I realize that I, Wu Fei, was a transmigrator from Xuan Chong's time?…

Zhao Cheng sought out Pu E because he wanted to know if she possessed the means to prolong life. He still had many things to do.

For Zhao Cheng, if he could prolong his life, there would be no need to rebel.

However, for some reason, Pu'e rejected him. Pu'e was now caught red-handed cheating on an exam; she dared not resort to any more supernatural or bizarre actions.

Pu'e had already reduced Wu Fei's lifespan. If she were to help Zhao Cheng extend his lifespan several times over and crush him, Pu'e couldn't imagine what unexpected developments might occur next.

Who knows, maybe that celestial-level interstellar warship in the south will be repaired and then fire a cannon at us.

After returning from Pu'e's place, Zhao Cheng's loyalty dropped to seven percent once again. He began to think about his future.

Due to the issue of official status, Zhao Cheng has always been solving problems by subtraction, which can be applied using the following formula.

Haotian's forces - Anti-Zhao forces = Zhao Cheng's forces.

As a subject, whenever Haotian supported an anti-Zhao force, Zhao Cheng's forces would "reduce" the opposing forces to resolve the problem of disunity and internal strife.

Five years ago, Zhao Cheng was opposed by the native dragon descendants of Haotian. Zhao Cheng chose to open up territory in Shazhou, while Yan and Bo were "reduced" out.

Now, among those who have pledged allegiance to the Hao Kingdom, a force opposing Zhao Cheng has emerged.

Zhao Cheng had no choice but to send them to "Yongzhou" and then "remove" them again. However, both of these "reductions" were to provide someone with experience.

You should know that these people who pledged allegiance to Zhao Cheng originally came for him. But since Zhao Cheng didn't need them, they started to do evil things in Hao Kingdom.

..."Those who are not willing to submit" find it difficult to submit to others...

In the summer of the fourth year of the Tianyou calendar, a famine struck the Xia Prefecture region, leaving the land barren and desolate. Upon returning from the sandbar, Zhao Cheng gazed upon the withered grass covering the Xia Prefecture farmlands and the ruins of its villages. He clutched his chest.

Why are only remnants of earthen walls remaining in the village? Because the army needed firewood when it passed through, so the roof beams were dismantled. Note: Yue Fei's army's saying "We'd rather freeze to death than dismantle our houses" is extremely valuable.

After the houses were demolished, the people didn't come back. Yes, they came back to save up and rebuild their lives. Would they let the houses be demolished again when the next military campaign came? Now a planting season has passed, and not a single person from Xiazhou has returned.

Zhao Cheng was now frantic with worry. He, who had always been pushing his troops to the limit, was now forced to dismantle his army and reorganize it into agricultural soldiers for land reclamation. This policy drew strong criticism from Zhao Cheng's troops. When they seized Xia Prefecture, the Hao army had engaged in large-scale looting. But now, he was expected to fill the void left by the looting? That was extremely unacceptable.

Besides, everyone here fought their way to the top with swords, and they wanted to enjoy the feeling of being in charge while others farmed. Now that they've laid down their swords and started farming, what happens when the other armies who haven't laid down their swords come and take control of their land?
Farming in Xuanchong is strictly regulated, and the grain handed over to the war zone is even counted as war merit. Zhao Cheng has recruited too many soldiers here, and without exchanging enough blood money from Zhao Cheng, how could these soldiers be willing to turn swords into plowshares!
This led to the situation where Zhao Cheng's occupation of Xia Prefecture was rendered useless, yet a pity to lose.

And even before Zhao Cheng occupied this place, various lords from Da Yao's side had already plundered it. The entire Xia Prefecture was like a woman who had been repeatedly kneaded and squeezed, having lost her chastity.

In the eyes of the heroes, so many rich and fertile lands await heroes to establish their power bases. Who, then, would have the patience to gently embrace and cherish Xiazhou?
Zhao Cheng was certain that his war machine could not be stopped. Many voices within the government argued that the "military agricultural colony policy" was not urgent; they needed to secure supplies and a large population first. Some suggested attacking Zhenzhou first, arguing that it currently had a large population gathered there.

Benevolent governance is only effective when the people are with you. Now that Xia Prefecture is in decline and the people have all fled, what use is benevolent governance?

Zhao Cheng dismounted and entered the village, finding a house he could still stay in to rest. Under the starlight-dappled roof, Zhao Cheng looked at the map. "Should we attack Zhenzhou?" Zhao Cheng hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: Judging from the fighting strength of the Wu family army demonstrated in Yongzhou, if he couldn't mobilize 200,000 soldiers, he wouldn't be able to take Zhenzhou.

Zhao Cheng figured that attacking Zhenzhou now would truly fulfill Wu Fei's wishes.

Inside the earthen house, the gathered thatch was burned to ashes. A soldier standing nearby said to the people outside, "Go and gather some firewood. This thatch burns very quickly."

…This fire, there's no way to sustain it…

The battle report from Yongzhou was also with Xuan Chong. Compared to the upheaval throughout Hao Kingdom, the Wu family army didn't make a big deal out of it, but Xuan Chong kept it in mind.

Yongzhou and Xiazhou, a series of cities, are the "iron gates" of my hometown, Zhenzhou. Outside the iron gates are a group of beggars with thieving hearts, who may be trying to pick the locks.

Indeed, in Xuan Chong's eyes, the Hao Army and the other major vassal states are now nothing more than beggars. The Hao Army has been fighting for so long, and the number of its warriors, both the Jade Warriors and the Taiyue Luan, is dwindling; clearly, they can no longer afford to feed them. Furthermore, the appearance of large, colossal terracotta warriors on the battlefield is becoming increasingly rare—they're all being used as guardian beasts to ensure peace and stability.

As for Da Yao, things weren't much better.

Conversely, in Zhenzhou, even the peasant corps under his command have begun to be equipped with engineering weapons, including ox-drawn cannons, and a group of fire rhinoceros cavalry has been trained.

Currently, no force large enough to invade Zhenzhou has emerged west of Zhenzhou. As long as Zhenzhou remains united, Zhao Cheng cannot infiltrate it.

That's how the Battle of Yongzhou was conducted. It didn't require any highly skilled generals; simply sending a newly graduated sergeant to transport high-quality reinforcements, and having this obedient recruit cooperate with the local military commander, was enough to send the Hao army thrashing.

Xuan Chong's approach is to solve problems through addition. The faction that staunchly supports Wu Fei + the faction that is less staunchly supportive of Wu Fei = the Wu Family Army faction.

By reserving some space for "progress and meritorious service" for those pragmatic members of the less supportive faction, Xuan Chong was able to eliminate the factions that did not support him. This effectively reduced those who did not support him to a minority.

In the Battle of Yongzhou, Xuan Chong employed two local surrendered generals and appointed a new general to oversee the long-term defense. After winning this "wheelchair-level" battle thanks to the city's strong defenses, he generously rewarded these meritorious officials, immediately sparking a wave of factionalism within the government.

…climb…

After receiving the tea bricks from the rear, Su Ming, the prefect of Yongzhou, initiated trade in Yongzhou for his family. During the trade, some letters were also sent over.

Su Ming looked at the people in the Water Faction who he wasn't very familiar with before and began to explore their connections. After hesitating for a moment, he wrote a letter to Xuan Chong.

Little did he know that his letter had already been read by the security bureau when it arrived.

The Security Bureau received instructions from Xuan Chong: if Su Ming only has people sent by Xuan Chong, then Su Ming belongs to Xuan Chong's faction; if Su Ming has his own people from his hometown, then he may belong to another faction.

Therefore, the security bureau is highly vigilant about Su Ming's contact with his hometown people.

In almost half a day, the Security Bureau presented the situation to Xuan Chong. Xuan Chong simply smiled at those who wanted to curry favor with Su Ming and take shortcuts.

Xuan Chong replied to Su Ming, telling him to take care of his work and to say, "If any of your friends come to take advantage of you, get rid of them; those who want to get close to you now are just trying to steal your credit. If you really need people, give me a list of your classmates from when you were in sergeant school, and I'll interview them and send them over."

Although in hindsight it was a case of "the wheelchair is in the game," Su Ming proactively offered his services, willing to go to an unfamiliar place to develop his career. This was his hard work and dedication.

Now that everyone knows that Yongzhou is a wheelchair-bound area, do you think other people will take advantage of this situation?

That's quite the shrewd plan; no wonder you're from a business-oriented place.

Xuan Chong thought to himself: I see no loyalty from you Shui Ren in making this choice. Why should I arrange a wheelchair arrangement for subordinates who don't show loyalty and aren't willing to take risks for me? —Yongzhou's location is crucial, and Su Ming's loyalty is paramount. If Su Ming gathers a group of disloyal fellow villagers, affecting the loyal Su Ming, then Zhao Cheng might have an opportunity to "stir things up."

Xuan Chong sent a message to Su Dahe: "Your son's position can't be filled by anyone else, but I do have a job here. The profit is a bit low, and the risk is a bit high. Ask the people in your water area if they're willing to do it?"

A few days later, after Su Dahe told his fellow villagers about the situation, they believed he had forgotten his roots and severed ties with him. —Upon receiving the Security Bureau's report on this intelligence, Xuan Chong shook his head dismissively: "Tch, a businessman!"

...restlessness...

While Xuan Chong was working to unite the outside world, some minor disturbances occurred among his core supporters.

These core supporters were subjected to a barrage of "ramblings" from the former disillusioned members of the Northern Route Army, and began offering their nagging advice.

A simple-minded boy named Wu Leng ran over, looking worried, and said, "Cai and Heng are both generals from outside the capital. We shouldn't be too kind to them, or they'll become too powerful to control."

Wu Leng was nominally Xuan Chong's cousin, and Xuan Chong, seeing his untimely interruption, showed a rare look of disgust.

Note: Xuan Chong is usually very shrewd with outsiders, and he hides his dislike for them.

The persuader was also stunned when he first saw Wu Fei's "likes and dislikes" expression.

Xuan Chong threatened, "Who told you to say these things?" Clearly, the foolish child was frightened and blurted everything out. Seeing that the child had told the truth, Xuan Chong gave him a "you can still be saved" look.

Seeing Xuan Chong's expression, Wu Leng felt relieved.

Xuan Chong added a few more guys to his blacklist in his mind, then, in an angry tone, he lectured the unfortunate fellow: "How could the Yongzhou region rebel? Cloth, salt, iron, and oxen all rely on us for trade; and they're on the outskirts, they're our Great Wall! You've dismantled your own Great Wall, and you're going to build your own?"

The silly child muttered, "It's not that it's not possible."

Before he could finish muttering, he received a flick on the forehead. Xuan Chong scolded him harshly, "So you feel wronged because you didn't get the credit! After being instigated by a few sarcastic remarks, you come to me acting like a villain. You're being used as a tool by others!"

Xuan Chong pinched his ear and pulled him to the edge of the table: "When have I ever needed your credit? Is it worth making you feel threatened and wanting to come to me to compete for it?"

Xuan Chong pointed at the map: "Did you listen in your strategy class? Now that the north is just beginning to settle down, people are restless. I don't want to mobilize a large army in the north. Let them guard my territory and do their part. You want to take it? With your impetuous nature, do you think you can handle this hard work? You go and take the lead. Without me watching over you, I'm afraid you'll get carried away in three months and start drinking and making mistakes!"

Wu Leng, a towering two-meter-tall figure, dared not move after being reprimanded by Xuan Chong. Xuan Chong felt a similar sense of satisfaction in reprimanding him as he did reprimand Wu Hengyu. Of course, after he had his fun, he would give him a treat.

Xuan Chong tapped his brow with his finger: "When we conquer the world in the future, I'll definitely take you all with me! Will you be shortchanged? —The way you are now, I need to think about it."

The silly boy's eyes lit up, then he scratched his head and said, "My lord, I was just itching to stay at home, so—" He slapped his mouth and said, "Just forget what I said before!"

Xuan Chong: "Itchy? I'm itchy too, and I'm getting ready to move around. Before you do, make sure the house is settled, and don't wreck it, or I'll take you with me."

The silly boy wanted to ask more, but Xuan Chong glared at him and went back.

Xuan Chong remembered that he still had a "southern expedition" mission to complete, so he wouldn't accompany Zhao Cheng.

(End of this chapter)