Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 196: First, distribute the benefits; then, establish the system; finally, determine the conquest.
The Wu family army's main camp rested for three whole months at this location, which was temporarily designated as "Tingzhutan".

Xuan Chong explained to Wu Zaixing, a student on duty in the staff: "Currently, we have enough 'nutrient blocks' to supply us. What the army lacks most right now is intelligence, which we must patiently collect. We're just sitting here anyway, so let's build some defensive positions here. I plan to set up fortified districts here, with each district equipped with a population of one thousand."

The army stopped on the beach, and the soldiers unearthed a very important stone tablet. It was left by people 1,400 years ago, and the most knowledgeable and reliably acquainted soldiers immediately translated its contents.

The above describes a place called the Thorn Tree Kingdom in the southern forest. There are several powerful leaders there, the most powerful of whom is called the Eighteenth Duke, also known as the Unyielding One. Next are the Lonely Upright Duke, the Soaring Sky Master, the Cloud-Sweeping Old Man, and the Crimson Ghost. And of course, there is also a Pink Wood Mother.

After confirming the contents, Xuan Chong muttered, "Where have I heard this before?" He then asked the system, "Isn't this a bit... off? Do you think I've never read Journey to the West?"

…The system skipped a line of small text…

War was inevitable, and as the entire army experienced the effects of the "grass-returning liquid" over the past few days, their killing intent grew stronger. The merchants who had accompanied them south were also excited. Without Xuan Chong issuing any orders, these merchants voluntarily transported wine jars and sealing wax.

Because "Cao Huan Dan Ye" is stored mixed with strong liquor, sealed with wax, and then sealed with mud, it can be stored for a long time.

Before Xuan Chong had even prepared a list of supplies, merchants who sensed the potential profits proactively and meticulously helped him with the logistics and procurement plans.

If it weren't for the fear of angering Wu Xiaoque, the merchant would have said, "Just focus on attacking south. Don't worry about the storage of goods or the transportation chain."

Of course, the merchants dared not make such "decision" and could only wait like eunuchs.

The merchants watched eagerly, hoping to obtain some military intelligence, but due to the strict military laws of the new Wu family master, they dared not try too hard to find out.

It is said that Xuan Chong is now a "tyrant" in the southern border region. The trading posts in the villages along the way south were all moved there after being forcibly given "redemption loans," and about 60% of them are merchants! In the eyes of the southern merchants, the charges arranged by "Wu Yuanchang" are even a bit like nitpicking. Even spending money to inquire about the army's shortages is considered spying! And hoarding strategic materials without timely reporting is considered hoarding and speculation!

If it weren't for Wu Xiaoque's ability to give a slap and then a treat, everyone would have rebelled long ago!
The corn in Xuanchong is too thick now, and the dates that have been opened up along this trade route are too sweet.

In this time of great calamity, the number of demons and monsters mixed in with the human world is increasing, but so is the amount of spiritual energy mixed in; within the Great Yao, the armed forces of various warlords and lords have all developed "extraordinary characteristics." The difference between the peasants and the regular army of the Great Yao now lies in whether they have cultivated rudimentary internal energy.

When Wu Hengyu was alive, the Wu family's Southern Route Army was not favored, so a large number of Northern Route Army factions chose Wu Hengyu when the Bohai region split into North and South.

Because Lingnan was a wild and undeveloped region, the military's martial arts techniques were too rudimentary. They merely imitated the forms of tigers, pythons, and cranes to build their skills. These techniques were only designed for rapid initial progress. Soldiers would reach the first or second level of the Acquired Realm within three or four years, which was sufficient for the Wu Han Luan era.

However, in recent years, all sorts of demons and monsters have appeared. (Narrator: If Xuan Chong hadn't obtained the electromagnetic cannon to bombard the mountain gate, in a few years, all sorts of "strongmen" would have joined the battle within the Great Yao sect.)
Xuan Chong focused on science and technology, modernization, and large-scale industrial production. However, in his conscious purge of powerful families, he broke with the sect and lost this soft power!

Now that the mountains and rivers have collapsed in various places, spiritual energy has revived in the human realm. Some of the personal guards of the feudal lords in the Great Yao have all gained martial energy. They had been cultivating for seventeen or eighteen years and their cultivation techniques had a high upper limit. They are now at the seventh or eighth level of the acquired realm.

For example, in Ningzhou, the thirty elite Imperial Guards assembled for the Zhengtong Emperor were all armed with six-stone bows, capable of striking deep into the brickwork of the city wall from four or five hundred paces away, creating ladders for climbing. This level is one-third of Wu Hengyu's stats!

Of course, it's not that three people can defeat Wu Hengyu. Xuan Chong said, "Even if three people with only a third of my strength are wielding the same iron hammer as me, I can still beat them all! The only thing limiting my performance is my stamina bar."

However, the Lingnan army lacked experts at the eighth or ninth level of the Acquired Realm, and even experts at the third or fourth level were rare. Xuan Chong's side was compensating by developing iron armor and firearms technology.

But now this weakness is clearly going to disappear. First, the Chi You ship provided medical facilities capable of performing human energy modification surgery, and after encountering the tree spirit domain on the southward journey, it provided resources for reshaping the roots and meridians.

In other words, if you had completed the "Southern Expedition" mission earlier, your military stats would have increased dramatically.

Of course, after comprehensive evaluation, Xuan Chong did not regret doing the "Northward Conquest" mission first, because the resource point in the south could be obtained even if it was delayed.

The intangible prestige gained from the "Northward Conquest" mission is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Even though the world may vilify Wu Xiaoque to this day, one thing cannot be denied: Wu Xiaoque was a legitimate general promoted by the Emperor, and the world recognizes this title.

Now, the local lords are no longer attacking Wu Fei from the perspective of barbarians, but rather by saying that the Lingnan region is barbaric, with little food and few people, and therefore incapable of accomplishing anything.

This very shortcoming is now quietly changing as Wu Fei continues his southward conquests and acquires resource points!
It's important to understand that before the opening of trade routes to the Americas in the Middle Ages, Western Europe was impoverished, while the Mediterranean region was the heart of Europe.

While the Guanzhong Plain in Shaanxi was a poor region at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was the most prosperous place in the world during the Tang Dynasty, when the Silk Road was unobstructed in Central Asia. Before the Pacific Ocean became impassable, Silla and Japan, as the periphery of civilization, were not much more developed than the southwestern, uncivilized states.

…Open a road…

That evening, Xuan Chong recruited all the middle-level managers and, along with some business representatives, discussed the matter.

Xuan Chong began to communicate with the leaders of the various factions within the organization.

Xuan Chong emphasized that the biggest obstacle to their interests at present is the power of the tree kingdom of Thorn Ridge.

The business representatives who had come to the small meeting did not utter a single objection; they wholeheartedly supported it. This was exactly the effect Xuan Chong wanted, and he immediately demanded that everyone sign a guarantee.

After collecting everyone's pledges, just like a teacher collecting homework, Xuan Chong added, "We must all be of one mind and one heart."

In addition, there's the issue of profit distribution. Xuan Chong stated: "We need a gradual, long-term approach."

If merchants and soldiers were allowed to choose their own "profit acquisition" strategy, it would inevitably be the "treasure-hunting by rogue cultivators" model from the novels I read in my previous life: arriving in a place, seizing as many opportunities as possible, and then leaving the rest of the time behind.

Xuan Chong said this would not work. The southward trade route must be maintained. While it would be very satisfying to plunder everything in the short term, it would cause the loss of key resources and allow a large amount of short-term profits to flow into one's own forces, which would pose a threat to the regime.

Xuan Chong: So the purpose of the war is not unlimited plunder, but to force the dominant force in this area to confirm its presence here through one or two battles, and then proceed slowly and steadily. The main task is to maintain the trade routes and stations here in the future and to collect intelligence. Therefore, the military settlements and households in these station areas are to receive more than 60% of the profits.

Of course, local dividends are dividends, but as the central government, Xuanchong cannot allow these military leaders in remote areas to lack nothing!

In the future, a "martial arts academy system" will be established in Lingnan and Zhenzhou, and standard quotas will be reserved for the children of these trade route outposts.

Xuan Chong established rules and regulations for all those who had fiefdoms here: never use resources for evil purposes, or their fiefdoms will be dismantled!
Note: What is meant by "heretical path"? Xuan Chong defines it as "the extreme use of a single resource".

This refers to the use of surplus resources in various ways without regard to cost, in the absence of communication.

For example, the shamans in southern Xinjiang use "grass elixir" in a very evil way, which is completely out of step with civilized society.

Various methods of implanting wild animal organs into warriors' bodies! When Xuan Chong was excavating the local city-states that had already disappeared, he discovered some skeletons with traces of such modifications and mutations.

For example, implanting a tiger's heart into the chest and a crocodile's skin into the back. While the herbal remedy itself is a sacred medicine, this indiscriminate use, regardless of whether it's vegetarian or not, is truly sinister.

The old shamans in the tribes of southern Xinjiang also preserved such usage records, but categorized them as "forbidden arts".

For the ancestors of this place, who had perished in the ruins of the city, after the fourth and fifth generations, limited by their vision and unable to find other paths to progress, they all tended to use this "forbidden technique" to enhance their power, ultimately losing their human form, humanity, and even reason.

The upper echelons of these city-states lost the ability to maintain their civilized systems because they could not control their animalistic instincts.

These misguided city-state leaders, in their pursuit of power, destroyed the social structures that had allowed them to establish themselves in the thorny thicket. Ultimately, the city-states became animal pens, and everyone was destroyed by strange forces emanating from the local area.

In my previous life, I was born in an Eastern civilization, and my attitude towards archaeology was to clarify history, rather than to explore and search for treasure in ancient tombs.

Xuan Chong: The civilizational power overflowing from the native land of Da Yao repeatedly established itself here, only to disappear again. The archaeological approach should be to learn from this experience!

Xuan Chong wanted to establish his own foothold in the southern frontier. He needed to avoid the mistakes of his predecessors.

It's important to understand that the Western Regions were occupied during the Han and Tang dynasties, but after their fall, they were assimilated into the local population. However, a significant number of paternal lineages remain, indicating that they weren't completely wiped out. Rather, the severing of communication forced the utilization of local resources to become more localized. Only those established through expanded communication will not become localized.

In my previous life in Central Asia, all the closed villages were indigenous. However, the big cities became increasingly liberalized, aligning themselves with American values. And once the US began to impose sanctions on a Central Asian country, that country immediately reverted to its original indigenous state.

In summary, why are the urban liberals in Central Asia liberals? Because they know that the "diversified use" of local resources on the international stage can bring enormous value, far exceeding the value brought by the backward use of resources in closed local areas.

"If there are no benefits, who will gravitate towards so-called civilization!"

The same applies to the future policy of Xuanchong; it is essential to maintain connections between this conquered region and the interior.

In these outposts, Xuanchong must make sure that the people stationed there know that their local resources only have the greatest value when they are close to the center.

Xuan Chong looked back to the north and took a deep breath.

As the center of the world, Da Yao has detailed records of cultivation methods suitable for various physical constitutions and bottlenecks, making it easier for aristocratic families to break through obstacles and avoid detours. This is the foundation of aristocratic families.

Da Yao is conservative and closed-minded. The family's methods of honing talents, such as medicinal baths and Five Animal Frolics from a young age, are all kept within the family group and are never passed on or shared with outsiders.

Xuan Chong, on the other hand, aimed to be inclusive and create an "Imperial Academy System," personally teaching beginners how to guide qi into their bodies. He also aimed to summarize martial qi cultivation techniques and develop methods for using tree sap to expand meridians and enhance physical strength.

Once the people in these systems along the southern border have witnessed the "diverse and stable improvement methods without side effects," they will no longer use surplus local resources to pursue those "unscrupulous" paths that "regardless of the cost."

Evil practices such as welding human heads to trees or replacing hearts and torsos with wood are destined to perish.

…as the drums sounded, a larger meeting was convened…

After the planning and allocation were completed, as the bugle sounded at the military parade ground, it was announced: no armor is required for the parade ground inspection.

Once all the soldiers had arrived, Xuan Chong, facing their eager gazes, announced two things. First: based on the skeletal abnormalities found in the archaeological remains, a thorough investigation must be launched into the unauthorized use of herbal remedies. Second: I, Xuan Chong, have already instructed the physicians to devise the best method for expanding the meridians!

With the widespread use of rubber products, syringe injections also became common. Combined with acupuncture, the eccentric doctors of the Wu family army determined that it was far more effective than medicinal baths. Medicinal baths were like flooding. However, by directly extracting the medicine with alcohol and then administering it via acupuncture and drip irrigation, the same amount could be used on twenty times the number of people.

The most common use of the herbal pill now is to expand the meridians, which has no effect on the Xuan Chong technique of fixing the body.

However, it is very effective for laborers who grew up in the soil, whose bodies are rough and whose meridians are not in good condition.

The current system of rewards and punishments for military merit established by Xuanchong is widely recognized as good in the southern border region because it can grant land titles.

However, for the talents who came from other parts of the world, they did not recognize the merits of this "partial peace"; because in their eyes, the fields here had no future, and only the fame and position established by the Wu family army after conquering the world in the central land of Da Yao were worthy of the "great talents" to come and join them! Now, Da Yao is producing many heroes, and the local scholars who were suppressed by the etiquette and laws of Da Yao in the past all believe that they are great talents, so they collectively look down on Xuan Chong, who is "willing to be second-rate".

Narrator: No matter how much a small factory boasts about its high profits, it can't attract talented people who want to take the civil service exam. Xuanchong is like that small factory now, while the talented people who emerge from the chaos of war are all aiming for a stable life.

During Xuan Chong's time in power, the reasons for the growing alienation of local powerful families and other traditional forces were both primary and secondary. While the main reason was the reforms, the lack of perceived personal advancement also played a role.

Because those ambitious scholars felt that there was no future in working for Xuan Chong as there was in working for Wu Hengyu.

Now, under Xuan Chong's rule, the elite talents from the traditional families in Donghua and Longyou have all left. Some have gone to join Wu Hengyu, while others have gone to other forces in Dayao.

But they left too early.

Resources that can enhance one's cultivation level are considered hard currency everywhere. The gap between aristocratic families and ordinary people in this era of spiritual energy revival is enormous. But what if resources could be acquired in large quantities through conquest and plunder, lowering the barrier to entry for many ordinary people to begin cultivating?

If the powerful families within the Great Yao were to find out, they would surely be restless and unable to eat or sleep! Because the very source of their confidence has been exposed.

The corners of the world occupied by the Wu family cannot be considered as a peaceful retreat; they belong to a powerful force poised to make its move.

Only through honest and legitimate accumulation can one be qualified to play the game of "strategic composure"...

Another month passed. After more than 340 soldiers completed a leap in their martial arts skills overnight through the acupuncture techniques of the physicians, 25 of them, who were already practicing martial arts or were from powerful families in Lingnan and affiliated with the martial arts, broke through their bottlenecks and were able to attach their martial energy to their weapons.

The fervor in the army was growing stronger, and everyone was beginning to feel that Commander-in-Chief Wu Yuanchang had been stagnant for too long.

East side of the First Battalion.

Soldier A: "They're just those wooden figures, easy to kill! If I had been in front back then, I could have taken care of a few too!"

Soldier B: "Heh, you? The other day, after you shot a few arrows, you were cursing, 'You can't even get through a wooden stake!' That's not how it is!"

Soldier A: "Aren't those wooden stakes just weak points? If they come again, sir, I'll coat the arrowheads with sulfur, that'll definitely work."

These soldiers were all excitedly discussing their next battle.

…sharpening knives, ready to slaughter pigs and sheep…

General Xuan Chong, disguised as a commoner, traveled among the various camps to gather opinions, wanting to hear the soldiers' true views on the southward march.

Xuan Chong was particularly concerned about the changes in the hearts of those peasant soldiers at the bottom of society! After all, this time when he went south, he was gathering people's hearts from the bottom up, which was different from Zhao Cheng's approach of winning people's hearts from the top down.

Most of the soldiers conscripted over the years were farmers, extra children from their families; initially, they relied on their courage and determination to gain wealth and status. However, once they acquired land, only a very few wanted their sons to follow in their footsteps and serve in the Wu family army.

Because the ceiling of aristocratic families is too high, those team leaders selected by martial families, such as Zhao Xianzhong, have worked for the martial family for several generations before finally producing someone like Zhao Xianzhong who has the talent to cultivate martial arts.

Especially after these soldiers witnessed the battlefield and realized that their own military skills were mediocre, making them mere foot soldiers, stepping stones on the battlefield, they began to reflect. "I'm lucky to have survived this life of bloodshed. But if I were to accumulate merit to become a general, I would surely be melted down by the steam and monstrous breath of the battlefield, leaving not even bone fragments!"

The ordinary soldiers thought: "I've risked my life enough for this generation; the next generation must study hard!"

Xuan Chong deeply realized: "If a soldier doesn't want to be a general, it means that the army he belongs to is not a good army."

From now on, these ordinary soldiers see an opportunity for continuous upward mobility; as long as they participate in battles and save up "contribution points," they can exchange them for these Herbal Elixirs for their sons in the future.

These soldiers thought to themselves, "Let our son Xiu hone his skills, then he can join the army and continue to earn merits. Wouldn't that be a piece of cake?"

When even the most humble people have the motivation to "advance through military merit for generations," then the seeds of national destiny have already been sown.

Xuan Chong looked at the lush jungle, this resource area, and knew that it couldn't be exploited by one generation and then left. When resources are suddenly acquired from the outside, it's difficult to share the profits with the lower levels. But leaving it here for generations of people to mine slowly will make the system dynamic.

…adjust internal and external intelligence gathering processes…

Xuan Chong rode a large peacock that circled over Thorn Ridge about sixteen times.

Xuan Chong, carrying equipment salvaged from the Chi You ship, remotely surveyed an area several hundred kilometers to the south, discovering several areas with abnormal carbon dioxide distribution. He then used hexagonal silicon carbide mirrors suspended beneath a hydrogen balloon to observe the orderly hedgerow structure and the herringbone-shaped waterways in that area.

Although there are no carriages in sight, the orderly layout suggests that this is the stronghold of the Thorn Tree People.

(End of this chapter)