Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 210 The "Sacrifice" of City Building

At sea, a fleet of twenty dilapidated wooden ships, each weighing around 300 tons, anchored beside the island. The horned people bound the giant beasts on the island and towed them into the water.

These behemoths resembled Triceratops. A triangular wooden yoke secured all three horns. Thickened ropes were then tied around the outside of the horns to prevent the yoke from slipping out, similar to a screw being driven in and a nut being fitted underneath. Reins were then attached to these wooden yokes, looping around the bow of the ship on either side.

The horned men, like putting reins on cattle and horses, drove them into the water to tow the warships.

When Triceratops enters the water, its knees will inhale a large amount of water, forming bulges, just like a bullfrog puffing out its belly. The water flows into the storage cavities of its hind legs and sprays water from the center of its hooves, helping the giants to move rapidly in the sea.

These behemoths were originally very docile, herbivores that evolved to migrate to the sea to avoid being hunted. However, as the power of the evil moon in the sky permeated them, they gradually transformed into war beasts. They then became engineering weapons used by the Horned People to conquer cities and fortresses at sea.

The Horned People used these giant beasts when they raided the Feathered Clan city-states, breaching many of them and plundering their territory. Now, twelve such beasts have appeared, all thanks to the previous blessing from the Evil Moon. This is because many of the young beasts were forcibly grown to adulthood, and these prematurely grown beasts are different from the original species; they are bloodthirsty.

The Triceratops moved forward like cattle and horses, while the silver horn on the bow of the ship used electricity to stimulate the Triceratops to rush towards the predetermined target, "Dingling City".

The ten-meter-long sea monster rose and fell in the waves, its hooves spraying water backward like vortexes.

Standing at the bow of the ship, battered by the waves, Silverhorn sensed the behemoth's ferocity. He knew the beast would grow increasingly hungry, and he would become increasingly difficult to control, while his men, having exhausted their fresh water supply, would require blood to sustain them.

Silverhorn had his sights set on the newly built city of Dayao to the north several days ago. Most of that new city was still under construction.

Now, Silver Horn has received intelligence through the blessing of the gods that the Yaoren Legion has left their new city; therefore, upon receiving the news, Silver Horn's leader led the Horned People to this place to "eat".

The winged fishermen patrolling the sea immediately reported: "The smelly sampan is here!"

…A seagull sent a message: it had taken the fried dough sticks…

On the construction site of the new city, rammed earth walls are being built piece by piece; the coastal new city is called "Dingling City" on the map of southern Xinjiang, but here in the native land of the Feather Tribe, it is called Yangzhao City to be more down-to-earth, because it gets sunlight earlier than other Feather Tribe city-states every day, hence the name Xuan Chong.

In November of the second year of the Tongzheng era, Xuan Chongzheng erected a monument in the city. The inscription on the monument standardized the "charter" of this city.

Unlike the dual political system of lords and subjects in the winged city-states, Xuanchong established three power structures: the city lord, the port lord, and the village elders' council. It also incorporated strategic planning in military, economic, and cultural spheres.

Xuan Chong precisely divided power into three parts based on interest modules, and then deployed methods to "exert influence" on each part of power.

1. The city lord controls the military. Each generation of city lords must receive military training in Fenxing City before returning to Dingling City to assume the position!
Each city lord, upon completing their studies at the military academy, would leave their mark on two graduation certificates using the city lord's seal they carried, and then return home with a certificate symbolizing their "qualification in military capabilities." This necessary procedure was equivalent to "drawing lots from the golden urn."

Of course, Xuan Chong did not expect to tightly bind this isolated overseas power with "formalistic legal principles." Xuan Chong recruited the lords of foreign cities such as Dingling to learn military technology in order to provide a foundation for their "rule."

The specialization of the discipline of "military affairs" relies heavily on communication. In other words, the military in peripheral areas that lack "communication" often lags far behind.

Rizhao City currently has only four to five thousand native inhabitants, and its maximum population within the next hundred years is estimated to be one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand. Coupled with racial and class divisions, the social circle is too small to produce a systematic pool of military talent; therefore, it must rely on the social circle of Fenxing City.

If they sever ties with the Great Yao and fail to integrate into the Feather Clan's aristocratic circle, their military system will degenerate into a level befitting a tribe of their size within two generations. —This is the case with Tsarist Russia, because its own aristocratic circle was too small, and it heavily relied on exchanges with Central Europe to ensure that the iteration speed of its military theoretical system was no weaker than that of Turkey.

Xuan Chong also granted the city lord a noble title, a guaranteed entry into the military academy. While the city lord's children attended school, they could recruit students from humble backgrounds in the southern border regions to join their governing bodies, thus ensuring continued military progress.

Xuan Chong put himself in Dingling City's shoes. Dingling City was isolated overseas and, compared to other cities in the region, was in a state of "many outsiders and few in number." How could it maintain its "civilization level" and not lag behind other surrounding areas? The only solution was to rely on its connection with the Yongji Pass General's Mansion.

The situation is similar to that of Seberang Perai. Without the advantage of communication with Europe, not only would its military, but also its industrial economy and political governance would be overwhelmed by the local forces.

2: The business team in Dingling City needs to be organized.

The significance of Dingling City to Lingnan now is that Lingnan's trade routes will not only extend to the northern interior of Lingnan, but also reach the sea. At that time, a large number of Lingnan merchants will inevitably travel south along the route, eventually spontaneously forming an unofficial "Lingnan Street" in the south.

Xuan Chong: "Instead of forming an 'unofficial' settlement on someone else's territory, while the military can still reach it, I keep my word and will now officially establish 'Yaoren Street' and let them sit at the table and talk."

If "Yaoren Street" is not officially recognized, then Yao merchants will become "cash cows that only quietly generate gold coins" in the future.

Xuan Chong: "We must let them speak! Even if the City Lord's Mansion won't listen, we can still make them listen to the Southern Frontier Military Group in the north."

When the military group of the city lord's mansion infringes upon the interests of merchants and travelers within the Dingling Ocean region, and the Southern Frontier military group is forced to resort to military means, it becomes essential to have its own informants. (Dingling Ocean is a description of the southern ocean region in ancient Chinese texts.)
3. In terms of local culture, the establishment of village elders' associations does not require the use of the bloodline of the Yao people as the core.

In Dinglingyang, the local people have no interest in farming, and even when Xuanchong tries to conscript men, he can't find many households to work in.

Xuanchong will recruit local winged people to farm, and organize these winged people into clans according to the ritual system of Da Yao.

Based on his limited understanding of social sciences, Xuan Chong believed that in the development of industrial and commercial cities, conflicts would arise between the "local" and the "outside," meaning that conflicts would also occur when outside merchants came to the area.

In the future ruling class of Dingling City, the "military" and "commercial" elites will favor the outsiders from "Da Yao Shang Guo", while the village elders will favor the Yu people who plan for the local area.

Xuan Chong: "The contradictions are objectively real. The army is still here, and everything can still be suppressed. Just like when Zheng He went to Southeast Asia, the tribes there were very obedient. But later, after the contradictions were instigated by outsiders, xenophobia and massacres occurred."

But why weren't they massacred when the Western colonizers weakened? Was it because they committed fewer atrocities? No! It was because they left behind a "Western-style judgment model." This led to a situation where, whenever a local conflict arose, they immediately sought Western-style adjudication and believed these rulings to be correct. Consequently, in the process of "resolving conflicts," they unconsciously assigned the task of "making sacrifices for the greater good" to the Chinese merchants in the north.

Based on past experience, if you prioritize the overall situation and fail to establish a decision-making mechanism, then the logic of that mechanism will be to "sacrifice you" to lubricate the machine's operation.

In his previous life, the world's densest fleet was stationed there, its military strength comparable to that of the fleet during the reign of Zheng He (the Hongwu Emperor). Yet, Luzon still recognized the ruling of a second-rate court thousands of miles away—this is a deficiency in soft power.

Xuan Chong complained, "Those law students, those who study the culture of other districts, have been drawing salaries without working for decades, and they haven't produced a single thing on this project!"

The purpose of preserving clan culture in Yangzhao City is to establish a major judicial mechanism. Even though the General's Mansion in Yongji Pass is thousands of miles away, it must maintain its cultural authority in adjudication.

The "education" from top to bottom: Xuan Chong built a Wenyuan Pavilion here to collect and store the articles and classics of Da Yao, and then selected civil officials, giving priority to those who were willing to study the classics of Da Yao.

The bottom-up "folk custom": All local clans must cultivate land to support a sufficient population, then hold a sacrificial ceremony to heaven. Following the ceremony, clans will engage in a "competition." For example, activity one: each clan sends someone to carry stone lions through the streets! Whoever prevails will be given the authority to organize the "enforcement team" on the commercial street that year.

Activity Two: Dragon Boat Race. Whoever wins will be the one to decide the rules at the dock.

These activities either relied on having enough young men within the clan to gain the upper hand, or on the young men uniting to win. This reflects the clan's true power in the local area. —For later international relations studies, the most troublesome issue is how to discern the influence of local forces in a given region. The sacrificial ceremony to heaven provides a concrete representation of local power, facilitating the operation of "rule by man."

Xuan Chong: "By competing in the sacrificial ceremony, we can avoid unnecessary bloodshed, maintain internal harmony, and prevent outsiders from taking advantage of the situation."

The victor at the "Heaven Worship Ceremony" will be awarded a "Dragon Head Stick" as a token by the Xuan Chong General's Mansion; the "Dragon Head Stick" can legally and legitimately force a merchant guild to leave by name.

In the future, a large number of ships will be stationed in Yangzhao City, including those from Da Yao and those from the Feathered People city-states; but ultimately they will all be profiting from Da Yao's interests, because the Feathered People did not have this sea route before. This sea route was opened because of Da Yao's southward transport of silk and porcelain.

People who break the rules will inevitably appear, and the severity of the matter will not differ between the Feather Clan and the Yao Clan. However, if the Feather Clan breaks the rules and is not punished, then the Yao Clan merchants will definitely not follow the rules either!

Rather than letting the locals eventually find out the rules of the Feathered Clan, it would be better to first instill a set of Great Yao Roots in them.

The history teacher is grading and marking the students' exam papers, which show the formulas for "cultural export," "military export," and "economic control."

…Consolidating the core base, cunning allies…

In the rebuilt castle of Griffin City, Prince Lurger also received news that some of the Horned People were heading east.

Standing before the sturdy oak table, he gazed at the exquisite map inlaid with gold thread, pointing to the location of Sunrise City: "You mean, these horned beasts are heading for our allies?"

A noble attendant nearby said, "A group of horned people went north with the Silver Horned One. The Golden Horned One seems to be leading another group of ships to attack the city-states near us."

Prince Lurger tapped the table with his long fingernails and said, “Kau, speak to our allies. As for what they might do if they ask for help? (He paused,) concealing his own calculations, he said seemingly calmly, “Tell them that our fleet is searching for the Golden Horn.”

The Griffin City's distinctive military unit, setting it apart from other winged races, is its tamed griffins. However, the Yao people are currently capturing large numbers of griffins in the Griffin Forest using the Ghost Chariot and the Immortal Binding Lock, which has led to some xenophobia among the Griffin City's nobles. In their culture, taming griffins is a glorious and honorable act of nobility. The Yao people's actions are too utilitarian, lacking the necessary respect for such "noble" creatures as griffins. (This cultural difference is akin to the cultural clash between companion creatures and domestic animals in a past life.)

The nobleman named Kau accepted the order and then went to the city-state's eagle cage, where he mounted his horse.

After flapping its wings, the griffin stirred up a gust of wind and soared into the sky. Its wings were golden, shimmering in the sunlight, for they were silk wings.

In the clouds, Kau looked at his griffin wings and felt a good sense of the Great Yao.

Just as horseshoes need horseshoes, the Winged Race, after a long period of magical civilization development, also installed artificial aids to enhance the "lift" of mounts like griffins.

For example, fabric inlaid with gemstones might be added between the griffin's wings to enhance its control over the surrounding air. Under the magical control of the gemstones, the surrounding air would solidify like jelly, making it easier for the wings to exert force and ascend.

This fabric is made of fine cotton, with high-grade fine cotton embroidered with mithril threads to increase the magical transparency between the gems. However, cotton is relatively heavy, and the wings will bear the weight after getting damp from rain.

However, since silk arrived in the winged city-states, it immediately replaced the old cotton and feathers; silk was lighter and didn't need to be mixed with mithril threads, and naturally possessed magical conductivity. Even when it rained, it wouldn't become too heavy due to moisture. It was the perfect material that the winged people dreamed of. Thousands of years ago, only a few pieces of silk occasionally reached the southern border; but now, with the arrival of the Great Yao Merchant Guild, the influx has increased tenfold, but it's still far from enough for the upper nobility to arm their elite troops.

Xuan Chong had not fully anticipated that the silk he imported would be a necessity for the upper class of the Feathered Tribe.

This is why, despite his previous procrastination, the Feather Clan nobles still harbored a dovish stance towards Da Yao.

…military deception…

Returning to Xuanchong's perspective, Xuanchong did indeed send his main force to the north, which is the situation of the "Dingling City" defense gap that Yinjiao knew about.

Xuan Chong did this because the army had been away from home for too long, and a large number of troops really needed to return; the sea route north of Dingling City was still unstable and could not support so many people to return, so they had to return along the land route opened up in the thorny area.

The thousands of troops, in large and small vehicles, were carrying a large amount of supplies, making it appear as if the main force was withdrawing and returning to the north.

In reality, Xuan Chong left some elite troops in the south, just waiting for Yin Jiao to come and deliver himself to the enemy with his small boat force—Yin Jiao thought the Yao people's forces were fewer, but in fact, there were enough left to fight them.

The four-headed ghost carriage is currently fast asleep in the northern jungle after stealing the griffins' nest.

Xuan Chong is currently fighting the Horned People, and his concern is not a lack of combat power, but rather that the sea is too vast and information is difficult to obtain.

Therefore, as long as fishermen provide information about the vast ocean, this battle will not be difficult.

For the past month, Xuan Chong has been stationed in Dingling City, focusing on internal affairs. He has gathered a group of Yuzu fishermen who have devoted themselves to relaying messages at sea, and the fog of war has been lifted.

Silver Horn thought he had caught the mouse off guard at sea, while Xuan Chong was like an orange cat crouching at the entrance of its hole, waiting for the mouse to peek out and take the risk.

After the rammed earth foundation was half-built, the drums sounded; the cavalry captain in the stable put down the materials he was holding, and the captain of the halberd soldiers who were playing dice in the army also threw down his cards and hurriedly walked towards the White Tiger Hall where the banner was located.

Xuan Chong began to deploy troops based on the new military situation. Addressing all the officers, Xuan Chong promised: "In this battle, every five bandits will earn one merit point."

The group paused for a moment, because eliminating the horned people had been very easy before, with twenty horned people equaling one merit point; now the rate had suddenly increased, and no one knew what this "happiness" meant.

As expected, Xuan Chong said the next sentence: "However, I have one condition. That is, for every merit point you obtain, you must leave a child with the winged woman I have chosen here."

Everyone's faces showed bitterness. Xuan Chong said, "Don't worry, I'm not asking you to stay here permanently. I've already written home about it, and they'll send some guys to stay here for ten years. You just need to leave your offspring and then go back. As for what happens in the next ten years or so, if your offspring are successful and go to Fenxing City in the north to study, you need to keep an eye on them."

The generals looked at each other and then said, "Yes."

Having followed Xuan Chong in his campaigns for so many years, I am aware of Xuan Chong's strategy of "leaving bloodlines in foreign lands," and therefore I am now aware of the need to leave a successor for Da Yao in this place.

(End of this chapter)