I blurted out, "You just want to take advantage of me, don't you?"
Liu Laoliu glanced at He Tiandou with displeasure: "Why are you asking him this? I knew he wouldn't say anything nice."
I was now under the low eaves, forcing a smile as I said, "Sixth Brother, Master Liu, I was wrong, okay? Why—"
Liu Laoliu said, "Besides wanting to take some benefits from you..."
I'm speechless—
"The real purpose is to maintain the balance of the human realm axis. Think about it, once you get along well with these four, borrowing a few hundred thousand soldiers won't be a piece of cake, will it?"
I asked, confused, "Why would I need to borrow troops? Did you already know about Li Shishi's arrest back then?"
Liu Laoliu waved his hand: "That's not how it is. Our initial thought was that these four emperors might encounter some unexpected events after they returned home. For example, what if something went wrong when Li Shimin was overthrowing the Sui Dynasty, or what if Zhao Kuangyin's coup was suppressed..."
I exclaimed in surprise, "Yes, what should we do?"
"That's when you need help from your peers. Li Shimin could borrow troops from Zhao Kuangyin to destroy the Sui Dynasty, and if Zhao Kuangyin ran into trouble, he could borrow people from Zhu Yuanzhang to settle things. Anyway, they were all emperors, and everyone would need each other sometimes. In this way, the four people who were originally supposed to be emperors would essentially be united as one force. If anything unexpected happened, they would be able to help each other, and you would have strong guarantees for whatever mission you were assigned. History wouldn't be changed. Isn't that more useful than giving you a hundred or two hundred cookies?"
I suddenly realized, "You've been planning to let them cheat across dynasties all along? So what's happened to those four now?"
Liu Laoliu said, "Fortunately, there were no major setbacks. Those who were meant to become emperors became emperors, and those who were meant to unify Mongolia unified it. Ah, these outstanding individuals are truly outstanding, there's nothing to say about them."
I suddenly realized something and said, "Wait a minute, even if something happened to them, how would the Tang Dynasty soldiers go to help the Song Dynasty? You're not planning to have me drag them seven at a time, are you?" I decided that if he dared to say that, I would smash his face with a brick!
Liu Laoliu laughed and said, "Don't always think too highly of yourself. We have our own methods. After the four emperors left, Lao He and I opened up a military road between the various dynasties."
The words "the Way of War!" immediately struck me as a flurry of spherical lightning bolts, filling the world with a chilling atmosphere. The wind howled, the trees rustled, and a storm was brewing. I couldn't help but shudder and exclaim, "There's a murderous aura here!... What on earth is this 'Way of War'?"
Liu Laoliu said, "It's very simple, it's just a passage between different dynasties."
He Tiandou showed me the map: "This is a route map. Each dynasty has a fixed location where people can pass through."
When I took a look, I saw countless country names listed haphazardly, with winding routes connecting them. Kaifeng, the capital of the Song Dynasty, once again became a transit point.
I exclaimed with delight, "This is fucking amazing! From the Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the routes were roughly the same—the military roads of the Qin Dynasty were also connected, right?"
Liu Laoliu nodded and said, "Originally, I wanted to solve the problem on the human realm axis, but I didn't expect you to use it first."
I carefully examined the blueprints and exclaimed with delight, "That's great! If everyone from Fatty to Wu Sangui lends me a little something, I'll be close to 8 million!"
Liu Laoliu said seriously, "This thing cannot be abused. No matter how many soldiers you have, it cannot change the historical context. You cannot use this to settle personal scores and destroy Jin Wuzhu."
I said, "I understand. If I don't destroy him, I'll have 8 million people surround him for a few days and see if he's scared."
Liu Laoliu said, "Besides rescuing Li Shishi, you have another mission this time: Originally, 1127 was the year the Northern Song Dynasty fell, but it seems that Wanyan Wuzhu is a bit late. After you rescue Li Shishi, get Emperor Huizong and Wanyan Wuzhu to reach an agreement that Wanyan Wuzhu will take over the Northern Song Dynasty for a few days. Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong will symbolically take a stroll in Wuguo City (the place where the two emperors were originally captured), which is equivalent to being captured. Then they can apply for political asylum in any dynasty and enjoy the rest of their lives."
I said disdainfully, "So that's why you guys were so eager to help me. Turns out you had side jobs for me to do."
But it's better to be helpless than to be at this point. I said, "I will go and borrow troops from your esteemed emperors."
Liu Laoliu shoved the blueprints into my hands and said, “I’ll remind you again, don’t make too much of a commotion. The military road won’t be officially open for another three days. The troop transport locations for each dynasty are all on the map. I’ll need to give you a final password before you can enter. As for those who promised to lend you troops, have them assemble their forces and set off from the military road in three days. I’ve calculated it; the furthest place is a five- or six-day journey to the Song Dynasty, meaning you only have three days to prepare. As for how many troops you can borrow, that depends on your abilities.”
I carefully put away the blueprints and a large bag of blue potions, then, remembering how the two old charlatans had been working day and night for the past few days, I asked, "Have you been busy with this all this time?"
To elicit my gratitude, Liu Laoliu stretched lazily and said "yes" in an exaggerated manner, while He Tiandou said "no." The two didn't speak together, but looked at each other blankly. Knowing that He Tiandou was the more honest one, I asked him, "What are you two doing up so late at night?"
He Tiandou took out a set of DVDs, looking embarrassed: "We're... watching 'Prison Break'."
I glared at Liu Laoliu, who in turn glared at He Tiandou. Then he handed me a compressed disc and said, "Why don't you take one and show it to Li Shishi? If she can learn something from it, wouldn't that save us a lot of trouble?"
Leaving the He Tiandou family, I was brimming with pride and eager for more. That brat surnamed Wan (Yan), you dared to hit me, call my wife an ugly monster, and threaten me! Little did he know, the most powerful emperors in all of Chinese history were my sworn brothers. Just as Wu Yong suggested, I won't hit you or curse you; I'll just intimidate you with an army of 8 million. I'll show you how many eyes Prince Xiao has, let you know what it means to win without bloodshed, to subdue the enemy without fighting, and to witness what it means to summon a thousand troops!
Chapter 148 A Dream of the Tang Dynasty
But once I got on the bus, I calmed down. It's easier said than done; actually gathering that many troops is no simple matter. While we had people throughout the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, administering medicine to these people was an incredibly difficult and arduous task.
When it comes to borrowing troops, the first person that comes to mind is Li Shimin from the Tang Dynasty. And I have a unique advantage when it comes to asking him – Qin Qiong and the others are busy nurturing talent.
However, I didn't alert anyone for the time being, only discussing it with Qin Qiong. Qin Qiong was very excited when he heard that dozens or even more army groups would be fighting together in the near future. I told him about the plan to borrow troops from Li Shimin, and Qin Qiong thought for a moment and said, "It's not a big problem. His Majesty governs the country with benevolence and is a sentimental person. If it's just a siege without attacking, borrowing five or six hundred thousand troops shouldn't be a problem. However, even though you have medicine, the Emperor isn't so easy to see."
I chuckled and said, "That's why I came to ask for your help. Help me think of a solution."
Qin Qiong laughed and said, "That's not difficult. I am, after all, the Duke of Yi of our Great Tang. I can just give him a note. But I have one condition—I have never seen such a large force of 8 million people before. When the time comes, do you think I should be assigned to some kind of vanguard or something?"
I laughed and said, "Even if Second Brother hadn't said anything, I would have had to ask you to come and help."
Qin Qiong said no more, found paper and pen and wrote a letter of introduction, folded it and handed it to me, saying: "You have to submit this at the right time. Don't submit it while I'm in court with the Emperor, or you'll be exposed. We usually have court in the morning and nothing in the afternoon, so choose that time. As for how to give His Majesty the medicine, that depends on the situation."
As I collected the note, I said, "If you recommend someone else to meet the Emperor but don't go yourself, won't the Emperor become suspicious?"
Qin Qiong said, "Back then, we fought together to conquer the world. We got used to being brothers, and we often did this for things that weren't too important. Cheng Yaojin was even more extreme than me; he usually only used a two-finger-wide piece of paper to pass messages to the emperor."
I laughed and said, "It's a good thing you didn't follow Zhu Yuanzhang."
Qin Qiong saw me onto the driveway: "Don't forget our promise."
I said, "Don't worry, I'll have my second brother lead the Ming Dynasty soldiers."
Once I entered the timeline, I was troubled again about where to go first. In the end, I decided to go find Qin Shi Huang first, and then visit each of the historical sites one by one.
After a journey of more than 10 hours, I arrived at the outside of Xianyang Palace in one go. In the main hall, the fat man was handling state affairs with his ministers. Qin Shi Huang sat high on the throne, wearing a pearl crown, his expression stern. Li Si stood closest to him, and the ministers reported on state affairs in an orderly manner. The most discussed topic was the war situation among the six states. Wang Jian and his son Wang Ben had each led their troops into the six states to fight on two fronts. Although progress was slow, overall it was going well.
As the husband of the King of Qi, the King of Wei, and the Grand Marshal of this dynasty, I was largely ignored when entering and leaving the main hall. The guards, aside from saluting me, didn't even bother to ask me a question. After I entered, I wandered around the back a few times before the fat man finished his business and announced the end of the court session.
After everyone left, the three of us finally sat down comfortably in a row on the steps. The fat man said, "Why are you here again?"