Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 230 All backup plans are ineffective
By June, Zhao Cheng had used every means at his disposal to target the Zheng Kingdom.

Zhao Cheng's frequent use of these ineffective underhanded tactics was like a fish caught in a large net. Its violent struggles seemed to threaten to capsize the small boat with the net, but in reality, Xuan Chong held the boat firmly in place.

As Xuan Chong fully mobilized and prepared for battle, with multiple corps advancing towards their assembly points and Zhao Cheng preparing for a decisive battle, rumors began to circulate in Xiangzhou and other places.

These rumors were quite convincing: the Chen army was being decimated in Yongzhou, a thousand miles away. Furthermore, Zhao Cheng had clearly raised his banner and appeared in that direction (false information).

However, just as the ambitious people of Xiangzhou heard this news and were calculating when Duke Chen would appear in the north to have a king-to-king duel with Zhao Cheng,

Xuan Chong did not rush to the front lines, but instead quietly began inspecting grain and other aspects in Zhenzhou and Xiangzhou, and made a series of personnel adjustments.

In Lelang City, the current central city of Zhenzhou, Wu Xiaoque repeatedly "lost her temper" during inspections.

This is because the inspection revealed some detailed issues such as "old grain being stockpiled while new grain is consumed first".

Xuan Chong stated: This is clearly a case of local powerful families infiltrating and exerting influence in the military food supply chain; we must crack down on this severely.

Under intimidation, the security bureau began targeted raids to further clean up the premises; they actually uncovered some "spies," though these "spies" were innocent, as they hadn't done anything wrong, merely reselling some grain. They were simply caught violating regulations.

Previously, the money and grain of the Kingdom of Zhen were stored in the treasury and transported through commercial channels; but now that there is war, they are flowing out in a rush and being deployed in large quantities along the marching stations. As the operations have been spread out, flies have also been attracted.

Zhao Cheng was quite willing to spend money on spies. He used a large sum of money to place some people in the supply chain of Xuanchong.

However, Xuan Chong knew very well that the "spies" sent by Zhao Cheng were not people with ideals or beliefs. Once these people reached certain levels, they couldn't resist the urge to embezzle the money they had their hands on.

Xuan Chong's grain reserves were scattered across various stations, denying these spies the opportunity to make significant contributions.

A spy can destroy a small grain warehouse, but it won't have much impact on the war situation, and it won't be a great achievement; but doing so will cost him his own life.

So, when they were supposed to be spying on supplies, they couldn't resist using inferior goods when they got to their posts; and when they were gathering intelligence at the wagon depot, they deliberately overstated the losses.

The "spies" who are now willing to work for Zhao Cheng are all people who "take risks for personal gain." Therefore, they often deviate from their duties for personal benefit.

Just like in Xuan Chong's previous life, those people who were brought in by the West to cause destruction, didn't they all have some private profit-making projects?
That said, when it comes to infiltrating with people of ideals and beliefs, Xuan Chong really has no way to deal with them. For example, during the Battle of Xubu, the most efficient transport teams were actually the motorcades of "public spies." Xuan Chong couldn't investigate these "spies" who risked their lives for a cause.

…eliminating traitors…

Therefore, in late June, Xuan Chong instructed Wu Lu to mobilize the Security Bureau and the Commerce Bureau to carry out the operation.

The Commerce Bureau made a group of arrests first, then the Security Bureau also brought some people from the Commerce Bureau in for questioning, and then produced a second list to continue making arrests.

Because the Bureau of Commerce had too many external contacts and too many vested interests, it inadvertently implicated a group of people. These people were unaware that they were in trouble until they arrived at the Security Bureau, where they learned that their wives and children had accepted gifts from the powerful families who had been dragged into the scheme by spies.

If the Security Bureau hadn't invited them for tea, the arrested aristocratic families would have immediately sought them out through their connections. —The Security Bureau won't use force against its own people in the Commerce Bureau; they'll just keep them under control.

Only a few guys who "voluntarily betrayed the country for personal gain" sensed that the end was near. They confessed without being asked, shouting loudly, "I want to see XX. I have rendered meritorious service to the Wu family army. I am one of our own."

However, when these people saw that it was Young Master Wu Lu, they all wilted and began to explain their situation.

Wu Lu assured them: "As long as you confess everything, everything will be fine; it's just a matter of 'negotiating a loan'; you will be sent to garrison the southern border, and your merits will not be reduced. Your children and wives will still be provided for. But if you don't cooperate, then you will be punished for 'treason'."

The commerce bureau's internal personnel involved in the case gleamed with hope upon seeing this glimmer of hope.

Wu Lu then dropped a fatal blow: "I have a quota. The first 10% who confess and provide important information will be rewarded without any fault."

As soon as Wu Lu left, someone shouted, "I want to do good deeds! I want to report this!"

…outside the prison…

The major families sensed that a storm was brewing.

Of course, some people were very lucky because they had already implicated Wu Hanluan, a former official of the old Donghua County camp.

Wu Xiaoque was always very merciful when it came to her own family, and she wouldn't punish minor offenses severely. However, just when the powerful families thought they could pull strings, they felt like the sky had fallen.

The Security Bureau is not headed by Wu Fei, but by Wu Fei's successor, Wu Lu.

"Young people don't know how to be gentle when they do things."

This time, a major case broke out in Wulu, and after a thorough investigation into multiple issues, more than a hundred related personnel from Donghua County were all demoted and transferred to the south.

After Li Zhao (Chapter 177, who was the first to pledge his loyalty after Xuan Chong resolved the plague) was transferred from his post in Donghua County, everyone speculated about the extent to which the Martial Furnace would be taken.
Following Xuan Chong's announcement, an official appointment arrived, appointing Su Dahe as the Prefect of Donghua Commandery. Who was Su Dahe? He was Su Ming's father, the same Su Ming who had been the subject of rumors these past few days for "suffering a great loss in the north."

This decision surprised everyone, and Su Dahe immediately abandoned his family's other businesses and led his men to the city to accept the appointment.

From the moment Su Ming took office, Wu Fei treated him more like a confidant than a trusted confidant.

Besides supporting Su Ming in cultivating prestige among the soldiers in Yongzhou, the Su family also guided the development of their businesses in Yongzhou. They were granted distribution rights for tea, iron, and silk, and cultivated a considerable number of personnel there. Therefore, after removing these local Yongzhou aristocratic families, the Su family quickly filled their positions. They were the most successful in transforming their faction within the northern route of the Wu family army.

All of this was observed by various parties, who anticipated what was to come. In particular, Liu Ran, a veteran general formerly known as Wu Hanluan, was stationed in the Donghua County camp.

…panic…

The Liu family, which had become related to Li Zhao through marriage, was filled with unease.

The family head, Liu Ran, even heard people advising him to defect to Zhao Cheng; frankly, he was somewhat tempted, but after seeing Su Dahe rise to power, he immediately understood what to do and promptly reported those who had advised him to defect to Hao Kingdom to the Security Bureau. (Su Dahe was a local; with this local involved, any attempt at collusion was impossible.)
Then he went to the security bureau in person to confess, and to his surprise, Xuan Chong was already waiting for him. —When others make mistakes, they "call out to so-and-so." But when he stepped into the cell, he actually saw Xuan Chong, and he panicked.

Xuan Chong: "You are an elder in the family. My uncle trusted you a lot back then. I trust you a lot now too."

The man immediately burst into tears, declaring, "My lord is so benevolent; I would gladly die to repay him!" (He saw Xuan Chong waiting for him, and he knew all too well that Xuan Chong had been watching him closely. On one side was the prospect of sharing a golden cup, on the other, the relentless threat of a drawn blade; a moment's delay would have meant certain death.)
Xuan Chong's appointment of Su Dahe as the Prefect of Donghua County was a political statement, implying that, in the course of this thorough investigation, old friendships were still being considered.

Su Dahe was originally a member of the Wu Family Army's northern faction, yet Wu Xiaoque promoted him because of his past loyalty to Wu Hanluan. You, who were originally aligned with the Wu Family Army's southern faction, are now not considering your "past relationship" and are instead coming over to honestly explain yourselves.

While having Wu Lu use knives to rectify internal affairs, shouting "A new emperor, a new court!", Xuan Chong also had everyone rush to him to plead for mercy. This tactic was far more sophisticated than when Wu Hanluan had him cure his alcoholism in the camp years ago.

Wu Lu's sweeping investigation of internal traitors, which could have led to a mutiny, was firmly suppressed by Xuan Chong.

Looking at Xuan Chong, Liu Ran sensed that he was unfathomable!
Xuan Chong was well aware that he was now relying on the "modern warlord" organization to fight this battle; theoretically, for a "modern warlord" to be at its strongest, its internal members, after completing the screening of internal members, would control all positions in politics, law, military, and economy.

Those like Liu Ran who remain in their old positions might be a target of resentment from the old monarch, who might suddenly turn on them during a national war (Mi Fang vs. Liu Bei). This is because the old monarch's core circle has limited manpower and cannot constantly ascertain everyone's loyalty.

However, under the new party-controlled system, the situation where Liu Ran is waiting for an opportunity to make a move is no longer the case.

Rather, with the new party warlords allocating national resources, they had long harbored resentment towards those in positions held by the old faction.

The new warlord organization's discipline included holding meetings at fixed times and locations, and reporting according to regulations; its internal division of responsibilities and discipline was extremely strict. Meanwhile, at the old camp in Donghua County, the sluggishness in dispatching was always due to Liu Ran's system.

Liu Ran herself was unaware, feeling that the game of power excluded her. Little did she know that whenever Wu Ju went to the meeting, every time he pointed out a problem, it was related to him; he had so many problems that they could fill a whole filing cabinet.

Within the Security Bureau, his file cabinet was kept in a dedicated team that was responsible for organizing it. While organizing it, people were also assigned to keep an eye on him, monitoring his every move.

Xuan Chong wasn't going to give Liu Ran a chance to test his humanity! If he didn't show his final loyalty, he would die.

While Xuan Chong was having tea with Liu Ran, he pointed out all his family businesses and the various chains of interest that his members had established with local powerful families. He even detailed the current positions of the people he had promoted.

Liu Ran returned from Xuan Chong's place with a deathly pale face and her whole body soaked in sweat. After returning home, she obediently declared her support for the new law. The next day, when she returned to her post, she dismissed all her own people and replaced them with people from the new party, as Xuan Chong had requested.

From this point on, all the maximum destruction that Zhao Cheng attempted to initiate using his "spies" failed!

Xuan Chong not only defended against it, but also took the opportunity to further optimize the internal structure.

…From the perspective of the east, the battle between Zhenhao is being observed by a third-party observer…

In May, after Wu Hengyu captured Yuzhou, everything was in chaos. Although supplies were plentiful, the various armies were clearly distracted, and the merchants behind the army were entangled in various interests after the army entered Yuzhou.

If they had simply massacred the city, there wouldn't have been so many difficult choices; however, the entire Bohai army had undergone a round of "modernization" reforms during the Xuanchong campaign. Having tasted the benefits of modernization, they would absolutely not revert to it.

Even if Bo State didn't have the industrial capacity to absorb labor like Chen State, it could still absorb a large population even through plantation farming. The vast undeveloped areas north of Yan State couldn't be managed by self-sufficient farmers. Capitalism is far more efficient at exploiting people than feudalism in its downward spiral.

The fundamental contradiction in the military is that there aren't enough meals to go around. Those who take more than their share of the food might be ostracized by the group; but if someone overturns the meal, it's a fight to the death, and then the group falls apart.

Therefore, even if Wu Hengyu ordered the massacre of the city, no one would carry it out.

As for the disputes caused by the various wealthy merchants within the organization, Wu Hengyu would arrest and release them repeatedly, because arresting people would paralyze some of the supplies.

Right now, Wu Hengyu desperately needs someone like Wu Fei to help him resolve the complex issue of distributing benefits. —Only after separating from his brother did he realize how good his brother was.

However, Zhao Cheng is currently at war with the State of Zhen. After some thought, Wu Hengyu did not rush to rescue him, but instead sent people to understand the battle situation in various regions.

Now, as the ruler of a region, Wu Hengyu is no longer the same person who used to "not care how many enemies there are, but only where they are".

Now, with the Hao Kingdom's army pressing in, he should logically go and help in the war immediately; however, for various reasons, he decided to wait—waiting for a more favorable opportunity, or perhaps for his cousin to ask for help.

Over the years, when heroes of the world dared not look him in the eye, he discovered, with the help of someone (Xian Daoren), that Wu Fei had harbored the intention of establishing his own sect from the very beginning.

The Map of Mountains and Rivers, a map once trampled underfoot by the Great Emperor, now appeared beneath Wu Hengyu's feet. He looked at the two intertwined blocks of color in the western part of the world, one to the south and one to the north, and nodded. Then, he focused his gaze on the northwest, separated from his own territory by the Tai Long Mountains, revealing the land of the three prefectures of Wei. This was the barrier that Zhao Cheng had conquered to protect Yuhua Prefecture.

He couldn't unravel the complex web of collusion between merchants and the military within Yuzhou.

He was preparing to reopen the battlefield. However, Wu Hengyu overlooked the fact that while his main combat troops could be rapidly mobilized from south to north through the Great Cave Heaven, the strategic shift of the logistics system could not withstand such drastic changes.

…Let's turn our attention back to June 18th…

In Xiangzhou, the decisive battle has already begun; however, for the sake of overall continuity of the campaign, we will continue to narrate the Battle of Yongzhou.

When Cai Baijing held out for ten days, which was the eighteenth, a steady stream of reinforcements arrived from the southern road, and the encirclement was broken.

Cai Baijing received a replenishment of his blazing sun crossbows and began exchanging fire with Hao's forces. A steam engine spun a coal flame, heating the scorching steel balls to 1000 degrees Celsius, which were then fed into an asbestos-covered ceramic "external magazine." This external magazine was then attached to the mounting point on the crossbow shaft—a design resembling a conformal fuel tank on a 21st-century aircraft.

The Flaming Sun Ballista launched the Breaking Formation Arrows 150 meters away and 100 meters high using a rappelling method.

The flying projectile then unfolded its "X"-shaped glider, which was made of paper. The wing material made a rustling sound as it swooped down and rushed into Haojun's position.

The terracotta warriors, hiding three hundred paces away, raised their heads, watching the crossbow bolts falling from the sky.

The scorching hot projectile struck the ground, and the probe structure inside the wooden shaft struck the primer. The fifty grams of gunpowder loaded inside the crossbow shaft ignited. Just before ignition, this gunpowder was pushed into the center of the mounting point, which resembled a conformal fuel tank. Then, the central explosion pushed out the burning steel ball, instantly turning it into a ground-exploding shell.

Several ghost soldiers within a three-zhang radius were struck by metal projectiles at a thousand degrees Celsius, causing numerous cracks and leading to their eventual casualties. The clanging sound of shattered ceramics echoed across the battlefield.

The exchange of crossbow fire continued for six days. Undeterred, Hao's army persisted with a fierce attack. Little did they know, plumes of steam and smoke began to flank them from both sides.

A total of eighteen war kui, along with eight thousand reinforcements, began to maneuver in a pincer formation, bypassing the enemy's vanguard's retreat by forty kilometers, and set up large camps in the northwest and southeast corners of the Hao King's territory, preparing for an encirclement.

Such a posture was a sure-fire way to defeat a weary army that had been stalled in front of a small town for ten days.

During the stagnation of Haojun, logistics and supplies were completely exposed; in Xuanchong Military Academy, there were already a large number of mature simulation plans for military situations where all "intelligence" was exposed.

Su Ming changed into a new military uniform and stared at the sand table. He had already received the news that his father had been transferred to the south to serve as the prefect of Xiangzhou.

Su Ming knew that his father's position as prefect was only temporary. Firstly, his father was old and couldn't hold the position for long. However, he was still very grateful to his lord, which showed that he trusted him completely.

In war, what generals dread most on the front lines is that their rulers, misled by sycophantic ministers skilled at writing scathing critiques, will harshly criticize their soldiers. This leaves the bleeding troops exhausted. Sure enough, later on, some began to doubt his loyalty.

It's true that Xuan Chong's trip to the front lines to do ideological work with him was already quite sincere, and now he's gone this far, telling Su Ming and all the soldiers on the northern front: Focus on fighting and don't get distracted.

Therefore, in Su Ming's territory, everyone was united, and no member needed to worry about anything outside the battlefield. Merit and rewards would not be affected by third-party interference. Thus, with the military system operating independently and rapidly, the massive Zhan Kui, a powerful weapon, was successfully deployed to its designated battle position with the cooperation of over five hundred soldiers. (In contrast, twenty years ago, when the Yao Army used the Iron Lion, a single Iron Lion or a large Yao required the mobilization of a thousand laborers.)
Su Ming looked at the map, pointed to the location of the Hao King, and issued the order: "Encircle and annihilate the enemy's main force in Xingzhou, and capture the false Hao King alive! To repay the Emperor's kindness!"

The surrounding soldiers immediately swore an oath: "Capture the false Hao king alive to repay the emperor's kindness!"

On June 28, Su Ming's troops clashed with Hao Jun's terracotta warrior army. The two sides engaged in battle on the south side of Ao Guang City.

Just before the two elite forces were about to clash, Zhan Kui encountered the giant terracotta warrior, much like a duel between generals.

When the Zhan Kui (a type of terracotta warrior) numbered 012 crossed paths with the giant terracotta warriors, and faced the charging terracotta warriors, at a distance of twenty paces, the Zhan Kui roared and unleashed a torrent of metal that smashed the giant terracotta warriors to pieces, and then its tracks mercilessly crushed them.

(End of this chapter)