Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 216

However, the conversation naturally turned to Zhang San's upcoming study abroad trip, and it didn't feel awkward at all.

Lu Wei, who had truly traveled thousands of miles, and Zhang Liang, who had read countless books, had just as many topics to discuss besides the Qin state.

Following Zhang Liang, they continued up the path behind the mountain. After chatting with great interest about the snow in Yan, the two arrived at the back gate of Xiaoshengxianzhuang.

Before finding Fu Nian, they encountered a young, elegant man in the corridor. The man greeted Zhang Liang with a smile as "Junior Brother Zhang," then gave Lu Wei a careful look before leaving.

"After the sect leader found a good teacher for Senior Brother Tian An, the teaching work was still the responsibility of Senior Brother Tian An. However, because we are of the same generation, he is still a senior brother of another sect of me and Senior Brother Tian An according to age."

Zhang Liang explained to Lu Wei, who then smiled and said, "This Tian An has the appearance of a Confucian scholar and gentleman, unlike the arrogant playboy I imagined."

“After all, he’s a member of the imperial family. Once he gets the title he wants, he won’t make any mistakes in etiquette.” Zhang Liang nodded, then immediately changed the subject: “In the past, when Zigong was discussing others, Confucius said, ‘Is Zigong virtuous? As for me, I don’t have time for that.’ My senior brother also often teaches his disciples: ‘Constantly reflect on your own faults, and don’t discuss the faults of others.’ Let’s not talk about this person anymore. Let’s go see our senior brother.”

“Zifang is absolutely right.”

Upon arriving at the reception room, Fu Nian had just finished burning pine incense, the timing was perfect.

"Brother Lu has arrived, please have a seat."

Fu Nian rose and sat down with Lu Wei, exchanging clasped hands and facing each other. Zhang Liang brewed fragrant tea for the two of them and knelt down beside them.

Three seats had been prepared in advance in the hall, indicating that preparations had been made in advance.

He first apologized to Master Lu for the late meeting, and the two chatted about various trivial matters. Then, Fu Nian went straight to the first topic, which was surprisingly the Qin-Chu war, something Zhang Liang was unwilling to discuss:

"The war between Qin and Chu is a matter of great concern. I've heard that a considerable number of disciples from the peasant families in Chu have joined the Chu army. I wonder what Brother Lu's opinion is on this war?"

Zhang Liang had been smiling and remaining silent the whole time, but upon hearing his senior brother's words, he couldn't help but think to himself, "When Li Xin was defeated, I took the initiative to discuss the Qin-Chu war with you, senior brother. You believed that this war had nothing to do with Confucianism."

Fu Nianhui is interested in war? That's obviously a false proposition! However, since the question has been asked, Hall Master Lu can also answer:

"This battle involves the safety of millions of people, and I dare not speak rashly. However, Dazeshan's attitude is that he does not want to be involved in national disputes."

"The various schools of thought in ancient China focused solely on the study of the orthodox doctrines and scholarship, which is indeed the case."

Fu Nian nodded, then changed the subject: "But..."

------

The defenses of the Mo Family's mechanical city were weakened to the extreme due to the departure of the Grand Master and several commanders.

Moreover, since Master Ban has been gone for a long time, even the mechanical arts only have limited permissions for disciples to operate.

Currently, the only leaders in the city are Kuang Xiu, who is focused on playing the zither, and Master Xu, who is focused on forging swords.

These two individuals are relatively average in terms of strength among the leaders.

After obtaining the Azure Dragon Bronze Box in Chenying City and parting ways, Dongjun Yanfei of the Yin-Yang School arrived at the Mechanical City. Given the current situation of the Mohist School, and with Yan Yun as an inside agent, entering the Mechanical City wouldn't be difficult with a little effort.

The trusted confidants of the Yan Kingdom that King Dan of Yan arranged to enter the Mechanized City were now under a different guise, and he himself could not reveal his identity when moving them. Therefore, all of these people came under the command of Yan Yun.

Yan Yun may appear delicate, but her biological father is Yan Xing, a former general of the Yan Kingdom with a good reputation, and she herself is the Queen of Yan, whom Yan Dan later married in a proper ceremony.

Using the guise of righteousness, she has unique methods of controlling her subordinates, and she subtly shows signs of becoming the new leader of the Mohist school by leveraging the power of loyal people in the Yan state.

These Yan people in the Mechanized City were all, on the surface, arranged by the 'former' Grand Master, to become legitimate disciples of the Mohist school and enter the Mechanized City.

After Yan Dan, they would naturally pledge allegiance to Yan Yun.

However, Yan Yun knew that the current Grand Master's identity was still that of Yan Dan, which was very dangerous.

She has many secrets related to the Yin-Yang School. Yan Dan was too busy after faking her death to examine her carefully, but once he became suspicious, there was still a high possibility that Yan Yun would be exposed.

She acknowledges her true identity as a disciple of the Yin-Yang School, and is infiltrating the Mohist School on the orders of Dongjun.

Since the mission of the undercover operation had no specific requirements, Yan Yun proceeded with his daily tasks in a shaky manner, based on his own understanding.

Ultimately, she lacked confidence. Even with her calm and composed demeanor, she still breathed a sigh of relief after Yan Fei arrived: "The Mechanized City is currently vulnerable. I know the locations of those two commanders. I can lead Lord Dongjun to kill them!"

"No, your mission must continue."

Yan Fei gently shook her head: "I came here for... where is your daughter? Bring her here."

"Yes." Yan Yun was taken aback for a moment before obediently agreeing and quickly brought her playing daughter over.

The five-year-old girl was very sensible and quiet. She tilted her head, seemingly vaguely recognizing the aunt in front of her mother.

"Their title is Princess Gaoyue, but what are their real names?" Yanfei asked calmly, looking at the revenge tools that had grown considerably.

"Yan Dan didn't name her, so I named her Ji Yue on my own," Yan Yun said, tidying her daughter's slightly messy hair.

"Ji Yue..." Yan Fei's brows furrowed visibly: This is... isn't this related to the Moon Goddess...?

"Does Lord Dongjun think this name is bad?" Yan Yun asked cautiously.

"'Ji Yue' represents misfortune in the Yin-Yang school, let's change it." Regaining her expression, Yan Fei shook her head and raised her hand to press down on the little girl's head: The little girl has the talent of Yin-Yang arts, but her natural talent is rather average.

However, Yanfei had modified her when she was young, so that Yan Dan's daughter could at least learn the Six Soul Terror Curse.

"Please bestow a name upon me, Lord Dongjun," Yan Yun said sensibly.

"Just call me Gao Yue normally. As for my real name, we can choose it later."

"The next few months will be uneventful. During this time, I will teach you more advanced Yin-Yang techniques. You must learn them well."

"We will certainly live up to Lord Dongjun's expectations!"

Looking at Yan Dan's wife and daughter kneeling before her, Yan Fei felt neither joy nor sorrow: as the intensity of her revenge deepened, her hatred gradually faded.

After Yan Dan dies, this past will vanish like smoke, and everything he has done in the past eight years will have no meaning except for being transformed into Yin-Yang techniques stored in his body in the future.

On the contrary, the Moon Goddess attained the Five Virtues of Mutual Generation several years earlier than herself. After completing her cultivation of the Yin-Yang Arts, she went from always being slightly superior to her opponents to now needing to catch up...

The wasted time needs to be made up!

Chapter 243 The Hundred Schools of Thought

Yin-Yang arts originate from the constant transformation of Yin and Yang, which are mutually complementary. In terms of the methods of application, they can be divided into five types: techniques, formulas, incantations, rules, and laws.

Yan Yun and Gao Yue are both of average talent and cannot understand the profound Yin-Yang arts. Moreover, living in the Mo family, it is more important for them to hide the fact that they know Yin-Yang arts than to know the arts themselves.

Although Yan Yun is a bit older, she can still slowly learn from the basics. She had learned some techniques from Da Siming before, so she can gradually adapt to learning them now.

Before Yan Dan's death, Gao Yue was merely a tool. Yan Fei's modifications, which began shortly after her birth, were primarily aimed at enabling Gao Yue to withstand the pressure of the Yin-Yang Eight Curses implanted within her.

To use the Six Souls Curse silently, a medium or close-range physical contact with the target is required.

Gao Yue can do both of these things as long as she can reunite with Yan Dan.

The Six Souls Terror Curse is highly stimulating and can put a certain burden on the user's body. Even an elder of the Yin-Yang School needs to study it carefully before he can use it. If Gao Yue were to learn it little by little with her original talent, she would probably never reach the level of using forbidden curses before she dies.

Even if we take into account Yan Fei's transformation and only focus on practicing forbidden spells, it will still take at least twenty or thirty years.

Lord Dongjun doesn't have time to wait until Gao Yue is in her twenties or thirties to learn this spell seal; she wants to use a more special method to accelerate the process.

Of course, any quick fix comes at a price, and Gao Yue must bear that price.

If she can survive, she can not only complete Yanfei's revenge, but also get rid of the identity of 'tool' and become a promising disciple of the Yin Yang School. But if she can't survive, the father and daughter will most likely have to face death together.

After teaching Yan Yun a few basic techniques with a blank expression, Yan Fei instructed him to practice diligently to perceive the wonders of Yin-Yang magic. Then, she took Gao Yue into the house and began another teaching method:

"Moon, give me everything you have."

Standing close to the little girl, Yan Fei's eyes glowed with a faint purple light as she muttered incantations. At the same time, she activated the fifth level of Yin-Yang Technique, Soul Transformation Technique!

"Yes." Gao Yue's expression froze for a moment, then she obediently followed the instructions of the ethereal voice...

...

At Xiaoshengxianzhuang, Fu Nian's initial remarks on the first day of his invitation were quite grand. However, as the conversation deepened, Zhang Liang and Lu Wei quickly grasped his intentions: Master Fu wanted to use his interaction with Hall Master Lu to further instruct Zhang Liang on how to let go of national and personal grievances.

It seems that the young Zhang San had done or said something that angered Fu Nian recently, and was becoming increasingly worried about his junior brother's education.

Zhang Liang was deeply moved by his senior brother's good intentions and immediately expressed his desire to travel and study for two years, putting aside his anti-Qin thoughts and focusing on his current studies.

Sect Leader Fu agreed.

In the meeting the following day, when Zhang Liang was not present, Fu Nian finally revealed to Lu Wei the real reason for inviting him:

"Brother Lu's farming family has some connections with the royal family of Qi. Are you aware of the changes in King Qi's mind over the past two years?"

In the back garden of Xiaoshengxianzhuang, peach blossoms are in full bloom, exuding the fresh scent of spring.

"Brother Fu Nian, are you referring to the Qi Kingdom's plan to rebuild its military and seemingly intend to wage war?" Lu Wei raised his hand to catch a falling peach petal, but the petal twirled between his fingers and slipped away, heading resolutely towards the soil of his beliefs.

“Indeed, yesterday I seemed to be inquiring about the situation of the farmers in Chu, but I was actually more worried about Qi.” Fu Nian said seriously, “This spring, Qi cut off the route for Qin envoys to visit and started fighting on the border again. For Qin, this is an excuse to attack Qi after attacking Chu.”

"For the past ten years or so, the King of Qi has been extremely respectful to the King of Qin. From the time Qin destroyed Han to the time it attacked Chu, it always used fabricated pretexts before launching military campaigns. But only with Qi could the Qin people not attack it on moral grounds."

"Admittedly, Qi probably could not have survived alone after the destruction of the five states, but Sun Tzu's Art of War says: 'The art of war consists of five elements: first, the Way; second, Heaven; third, Earth; fourth, the General; and fifth, the Law.'"

"The King of Qi has no reputation for great evil, but now he is both obedient to the King of Qin and disrespectful, which only shows his fickleness. In terms of morality, he cannot be of one mind with the officials and the people. If he is an enemy of Qin in this way, I'm afraid he will not have a good end."

Fu Nian disapproved of King Jian of Qi's actions. While it was understandable that the Qi army was taking precautions in the current situation, their previous subservient attitude towards Qin, coupled with the sudden and unjustified severing of ties and the intention to resist Qin by force when all five states were on the verge of collapse, would certainly raise doubts among the people about the court's stance.

However, if Qin were to break its promise and attack, the King of Qi might still have the possibility of being loved and sympathized with by the people, and the people of Qi would be more determined to resist.

Fu Nian glanced at Lu Wei again as he said this: "If Qi really resists Qin by force now, given the relationship between the peasant families and the Tian clan, wouldn't they try to persuade the peasants to join the Qi army?"

"Brother Fu Nian, so you were worried about my situation~" Hall Master Lu put down his hand that had caught the peach blossoms: "Even though the news of the disappearance of the Farmer's Hero will not spread widely throughout the martial arts world, Brother Fu Nian should have already heard about it."

His tone was very certain. Although Fu Nian had never left Sanghai City since taking over as the head of Xiaoshengxianzhuang, and Confucianism was not the absolute mainstream doctrine at present, Fu Nian was well-informed about certain special information by relying on the Confucian network of relationships distributed from the court to the countryside. He was even more knowledgeable than Lu Wei in all his years of unscrupulous management.

"I've heard that Tian Guangxiao's disappearance led to the fact that the Shennong Order, which is issued every ten years, was not awarded last year," Fu Nian said calmly.

"After Tian Guang, although the Tian brothers, known as the Fierce Tigers, are famous in the martial arts world, in terms of power, Gonggong Hall is the most powerful hall in the Farmer's Clan. Even if I, Lu, am not talented, I did not obtain the title of the Farmer's Clan's number one expert by boasting."

The patriarch's confidence this time did not displease Fu Nian; on the contrary, he greatly admired Lu Wei's responsible attitude towards the affairs of the farmers.

Mencius said: "The world belongs to all people, not to one person. Only the virtuous can possess it."

When applied to the context of the Hundred Schools of Thought, this statement means that the leadership of each school should be given to the most outstanding talent in that school, and this should not be refused, regardless of whether the person is willing or not.

Taking Xiaoshengxianzhuang as an example, Fu Nian believed himself to be the rightful leader of the Confucian school. In his position, he was responsible for the administration; a leader in a high position who truly dedicated himself to his duties often found no enjoyment, only responsibility, and faced numerous involuntary rational choices.

His junior brother Yan Lu was not suitable for this, nor was Zhang Liang.

Apart from these two, the other Confucian peers either lacked sufficient knowledge or had inappropriate personalities, and were not even considered for the position of sect leader.

The affairs of the peasant family should naturally be decided by the peasant family itself. Fu Nian had no intention of interfering in practice. However, in his eyes, it would be more beneficial for both the peasant family and the Confucian family if Lu Wei took over as the leader of the peasant family as soon as possible.

People with the surname Tian are distributed throughout the state of Qi. On the surface, the Tian family of farmers has little connection with the current royal Tian family of Qi. However, it is the largest branch of the Hundred Schools of Thought. Moreover, the 100,000 disciples in Daze Mountain account for a significant proportion of the total population of Qi. It would be impossible for them to have no connection at all.

With this connection established, the State of Qi could, to a certain extent, pay a price to have the Tian family, a peasant clan, serve the State of Qi. Therefore, within the territory of Qi, the Qi government would always intentionally or unintentionally support the Tian family clan while excluding other clans.

This is a key reason why only the Lieshan Hall, Chiyou Hall, and Kuiwei Hall had all their forces in Qi, while the Gonggong Hall expanded towards Yan, the Siyue Hall towards Wei, and the Shennong Hall towards Chu.