destiny eternal calamity

The Great Li is 5,000 li from north to south and 7,000 li from east to west.

In the north lies the Great Wei, stretching four thousand li from north to south and eight thousand li from east to west.

The two countries are separated by the Tianling Mountains, and there have been many clashes around the Longshan and Yinshan Mountains in the Tianling Mountains.

Li Anguo had previously served as a border soldier in Longnan County, south of Longshan Mountain. This area was rich in water and grass, and the Yan River irrigated both banks, making it suitable for military farming.

Longnan Prefecture was once the fiefdom of Long Chen, the King of Dali Town.

Long Chen is the cousin of the current emperor of Dali. He is a Grand Master of the Heavenly Fate Realm and is also proficient in military affairs. He has made countless contributions to Dali.

However, perhaps due to his outstanding achievements, he aroused the emperor's suspicion, and Long Chen was reassigned to Kuaiji County in Jiangnan by imperial decree.

They even went so far as to say: "The Prince of Zhenbei has spent his life on the battlefield. In order to commend his achievements, the court has specially selected a rich and prosperous place in Jiangnan to be his fief, so that he can live out his remaining years in comfort."

Five years have passed since Long Chen accepted the transfer of his title and retired to his hometown. The court and people of the Great Wei in the north are restless and eager to make a move.

Emperor Cao Zhenru of Wei was fond of Buddhism, did not like killing, and was not a person who was ambitious or eager for quick success.

Now that relations between the two countries have eased, he does not want to start another conflict.

Unfortunately, the military generals in the court were eager to make a name for themselves and submitted memorials one after another, suggesting that since there were no great generals in the country, it was time to expand the borders and promote military strength.

Cao Zhenru felt that it was not good to keep suppressing it. In today's world, martial arts are flourishing and martial virtue is abundant.

If he continues to favor the doves in the court, sooner or later the country will descend into chaos once the governors of the various states become disloyal.

After much discussion at the morning court session, it was finally decided to send an envoy to the Kingdom of Li to propose marriage to Cao Hao, the heir apparent of the Mi King.

It would be best if they agreed to leave the country; at least there would be peace on both sides for ten years, allowing civil officials to focus on their careers.

If they refuse, it will be a loss of face for the Great Wei, and the opportunity for the generals to make their mark will have arrived.

This can be considered a gamble by the civil and military officials of the Wei Kingdom.

--split line--

The current Prime Minister of Dali appears to be a lone minister in the court.

However, the Li family, who worked for the Prime Minister's residence, naturally knew that they belonged to the faction of the Fourth Prince, Long Xiao.

According to Uncle Xu, most of the money the Prime Minister's residence took from the clouds was spent on helping the Fourth Prince win over the hearts of the people.

Now that the Prime Minister's residence, or rather the Fourth Prince, wants to abandon the Li family, Li Wei naturally needs to find a new patron.

After eliminating the Fourth Prince and the Crown Prince, the only one left who could oppose them and whom Li Wei had the opportunity to contact was that one person.

Princess Yuzhen, Long Bilin.

Princess Yuzhen was born to the late Consort Wang. She also had a younger sister, Princess Tianyang, and the two were much older than each other.

Consort Wang fell ill after giving birth to Princess Tianyang and passed away when Princess Tianyang was three years old. At that time, Princess Yuzhen was already fifteen years old.

Compared to her elder sister, Princess Yuzhen was more like Princess Tianyang's mother.

She also turned down several marriage proposals, citing the need to take care of Tianyang.

After being granted permission by the emperor to establish her own residence without being married, Princess Yuzhen became even more obsessed with Taoist cultivation and never mentioned marriage again.

At this moment, Li Wei was outside Princess Yuzhen's residence.

Ordinary princes and princesses, even if they were granted their own residences, would only be at the level of a county prince. Only those who were favored or whose maternal families had great influence could be assigned to vacant princely residences.

This Yuzhen Princess Mansion was newly built for Princess Yuzhen, Long Bilin. It is over 600 meters from north to south and over 500 meters from east to west, which is considered large even among princely mansions, demonstrating the extent of her favor.

After he presented his visiting card, a maidservant soon came out to lead him inside.

There wasn't a single man to be seen in the mansion; all that could be seen were beautiful women, even the guards were women.

Li Wei recalled hearing some unpleasant rumors about this older single woman before, saying that she repeatedly refused marriage because she disliked men, and that she might actually be a lily or something...

The maid led him into the princess's residence from the right side, and soon they arrived at an elegant courtyard.

Li Wei looked around and saw that there were some tables and chairs in the courtyard, and on the tables were writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones.

In the courtyard, there were already two men who looked like scholars, dressed in long robes, one old and one young, sitting at a table, writing something intermittently.

"Please answer the question, young master," the maid said, pointing to an empty table.

Li Wei sat down and picked up the test questions on the table.

You are required to write a policy essay on the tax system.

Although he was a martial arts failure in this life, he had read a lot of books by sages and virtuous men.

Therefore, there is naturally no problem with the writing style.

Combining his knowledge from his previous life, Li Wei delivered a highly impressive answer sheet in less than half an hour.

Considering the realities of this world, he didn't write anything about modern tax systems.

He only briefly discussed the deflationary problem of silver, and suggested that the royal family monopolize the issuance of paper money and establish a salt certificate system to levy salt taxes on salt merchants.

Seeing that the two scholars who had arrived before him were still deep in thought and seemed unlikely to finish anytime soon, he got up alone and submitted his policy essay.

A maid took the examination paper and went out.

"Mr. Zuo, how come this person writes so fast?"

The young scholar asked the old scholar beside him.

Upon hearing this, the old scholar glanced at Li Wei, who was dressed as a martial artist, then looked away and continued writing his policy essay.

"A mere warrior, I suppose he simply heard that Princess Yuzhen was eager to find talented people, so he decided to go and try his luck."

"What he didn't know was that Princess Yuzhen had no shortage of martial arts experts under her command; what she needed were strategists like us."

"I doubt that this crude and uncouth man could answer these questions with any skill. He'll just scribble something down, so of course he'll finish quickly."

The young scholar, upon hearing this, also greatly agreed.

"Old Zuo is right. This martial artist will definitely leave with regrets later, hahahaha."

As a martial artist with the Qi Refining Realm, Li Wei could naturally hear the teasing from the old man and the young man.

He wasn't angry; after all, facts speak louder than words.

After a while, the maid returned to the courtyard.

"Please come with me, Young Master Li."

Li Wei was not surprised at all and got up to follow.

"Old Zuo, why did he go inside? Has he been selected?"

As Old Zuo watched the two figures disappear, he became completely unsettled.

He despised military men the most, believing that they were the ones who disrupted the peace of the world.

Only when learned men like myself establish laws to restrain warriors can the world become better.

Therefore, he admired Princess Yuzhen, a ruler who was eager to find talented people, and hoped to become a staff member in the princess's palace.

Unexpectedly, he failed to be selected in the princess's palace three times, while this crude and uncouth warrior seemed to have caught the princess's eye.

"Hehe, the princess's residence is very strict in selecting people; this is just the first round of selection."

Upon hearing this, the young scholar felt that Master Zuo seemed to be being stubborn, but he didn't want to point it out, so he remained silent and continued writing his article.

Li Wei followed the maid and walked a little further before arriving at a pavilion.

The plaque above the main gate reads "Mingyue Tower".

Li Wei entered Mingyue Tower and saw that the gender ratio was no longer dominated by women; it was now balanced.

It seems that talent and intelligence are not like martial arts, which can be selected and cultivated based on innate talent.

In this world, few women are literate, so Princess Yuzhen still had to employ male advisors for matters of strategy and planning.

He had been standing there for a short while when a middle-aged woman dressed in a black robe came out.

She looks very capable.

"Young Master Li, hello. I am Lan Yu, the manager of this Mingyue Pavilion. You can call me Sister Lan."

"Hello, Sister Lan," Li Wei replied politely.

"I've read your policy essay; it's very talented. I just wonder what brings you, a major shareholder from the heavens, to the princess's residence?"