Li Jun gritted his teeth and helped Ji Su into Mo Rong's tent. A soft "pfft" of laughter suddenly came from the darkness, but it was immediately stopped. After a moment, Meng Yuan, Lu Shang, and Lü Tian tiptoed over.
Just as the three were about to approach Mo Rong's tent, the tent door was suddenly opened again. Li Jun seemed to have been pushed and walked out with a silly smile. He met the three of them and they were all stunned.
"Ah, we've been discovered! Run!" Lu Shang grabbed Meng Yuan and Lü Tian and ran, leaving Li Jun standing there in a daze. After a while, he muttered to himself, "Damn it, we've been kicked out."
There were two people in Mo Rong's bridal chamber that night, but both were women. Although there were two bridal chambers and two brides, Li Jun, the groom, spent the whole night outside the tent counting the stars.
What a beautiful night!
※※※
Thoughts raced through Liu Guang's mind, his killing intent growing stronger, and his eyes narrowing more and more.
Only Ximen Rang looked at him without fear, showing no intention of backing down.
“If he had stabbed me just now, I’m afraid my fate would have been even worse than his,” Liu Guang said. “Ximen Rang, I heard that when the deposed king invited me to the Chen Kingdom, you strongly advised against it.”
"At that time, if the Grand Marshal had not been accepted, the late king would not have been deposed." Ximen Rang glanced at Qin Qianli. "But what's done is done. The most important thing now is how to let the people of Chen live a peaceful life. To achieve this, the Grand Marshal is indispensable."
Ximen Rang's words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the anger in Liu Guang's heart. He was silent for a moment, then said, "Men, take Qin Qianli into custody and order his family not to leave Luoying."
His voice was soft, but it sounded incredibly heavy to the ears of the assembled officials. Wei Da took the lead, and one after another, the officials of Chen knelt down and said, "Thank you, Grand Marshal."
"I must thank Physician Ximen. Physician Ximen, would you be willing to share a drink with me tonight and pass this pleasant evening?" Liu Guang strode through the assembled officials, not yielding to their deep bows as usual, for he understood that there was no need for such humility anymore. Those who could not tolerate him would not tolerate him no matter how he acted; those willing to serve him to the death would serve him without needing any pretense.
As dusk fell, Ximen Rang arrived at the Grand Marshal's Mansion on the west side of the palace as promised.
"Continuing from the topic of the day, Doctor Ximen believes that to repel external threats, one must first pacify the internal situation. How should this be done?" Liu Guang's face no longer showed any anger as he asked.
"Grand Marshal, in terms of resources and population, Chen has the strength to rival Lan and Heng. However, since its founding, it has been confined to this place. Not only can it not compare with the two powerful states of Lan and Heng in their heyday, but it is even inferior to Su. It can only fight with Hong. The reason is nothing more than 'exhaustion'."
"The State of Chen has never produced any famous generals, possessing only hundreds of thousands of soldiers, more than enough to defend itself but insufficient to attack others. However, successive rulers have relied on the wealth of their state, waging wars everywhere, only to suffer repeated defeats. It is like a strong person who is afraid to shed blood, but if he sheds blood every day, he will eventually break down. The current problems of our State of Chen are not the result of a single day or night, but rather the result of more than a hundred years. Therefore, the grand strategy now is to secure internal stability before dealing with external threats. Once our strength is restored, with the full force of the nation's army and the wisdom of our great marshal, sweeping across the world will be just around the corner."
Liu Guang nodded, but then shook his head and said, "If it were twenty years ago, I would have followed Doctor Ximen's advice. But now I am over fifty and cannot wait another twenty years. Besides, those two brats, Li Jun and Ling Qi, and that scoundrel Ma Jiyou will not sit idly by and watch me stabilize the country. What a pity, what a pity, why didn't I come to Chen State and meet Doctor Ximen twenty years ago!"
Ximen raised his eyebrows and said, "The Grand Marshal is in good health. It's not too late to talk about getting old in another thirty or fifty years."
Liu Guang laughed heartily, and after a while said, "Among the officials of Chen State, I knew Huo Kuang the first. It is a pity that he died in the army last year. I felt very sorry for him, thinking that I had lost my right-hand man. Today, after hearing what Doctor Ximen said, I realized that Heaven has not abandoned me. Doctor Ximen, if you have anything else to say, please say it."
"This humble official knows nothing of military affairs, and what I say is merely the opinion of a scholar. Please listen attentively, Grand Marshal," Ximen said. "Xue Wenju is a rare veteran general in our country, but he is good at defense rather than offense. Why did the Grand Marshal send him to attack Ma Jiyou?"
"Well, no one else knows about this; I only told Doctor Ximen." Liu Guang sat up straight and stroked his beard. "Now I'm surrounded by powerful enemies on three sides. No matter which side I attack with all my might, the other two will inevitably seize the opportunity to attack. Doctor Ximen naturally knows Ma Jiyou, a famous general of Hongguo. Li Jun of Yuzhou has deeply inherited Lu Xiang's skills and has been full of cunning since the establishment of the Peace Army, second only to Ma Jiyou. But both of them have weaknesses. Although Ma Jiyou can lead independently, his achievements are too great and threaten his master, a timeless truth. Lu Xiang died because of this, and I was expelled because of it—a lesson from the past. Li Jun is young and impetuous; his rise is rapid, and his fall will be sudden. Moreover, he also has internal and external troubles and is currently unable to take care of himself. Only this Ling Qi..."
Ximen Rang held his breath slightly, watching Liu Guang frown as if he was thinking about something. After a while, Liu Guang continued, "This Ling Qi was originally the prince of Huai Kingdom. He was only eleven or twelve years old when I destroyed Huai Kingdom, yet he was able to escape from the chaos of war and then raise an army to restore the kingdom in just twenty years. Whether it is his talent, intelligence, or his patient character, he is extraordinary. Moreover... I suspect that he secretly orchestrated the political turmoil in Heng Kingdom, firstly to eliminate the new king of Heng Kingdom, and secondly to force me to leave. If I am not mistaken, he is my most formidable opponent."
After a long pause, Ximen Rang finally let out a long sigh and said, "Is the Grand Marshal not personally dealing with Ma Jiyou to guard against Ling Qi?"
"It's not just to guard against him. His deployment of 300,000 troops at the border doesn't necessarily mean he intends to fight me to the death. Given his reserved nature, he would never act so ostentatiously unless everything is already under his control. Therefore, these 300,000 troops are definitely a feint. But a feint can be real, and a real can be feinted. If I'm not careful, these 300,000 troops will come to attack. Ma Jiyou fears my reputation, and seeing that I sent Xue Wenju, who is good at defense but not offense, to confront him, he will definitely think I'm bluffing. He has already achieved his goal of capturing the Yuhu region and has no intention of attacking again. I expect him to defend Wutai City to the death. Weighing the two, I will deal with Ling Qi's feint in the open, while secretly using a scheme to break Ma Jiyou's defenses." Liu Guang smiled again as he said this, "If I only wanted to take Ma Jiyou's life, it wouldn't have been difficult. But I want to make Ma Jiyou work for me."
Ximen Rang remained silent for a while, and instead of asking how to get Ma Jiyou to serve him, he said, "Does the Grand Marshal intend to take Hong Kingdom?"
“Indeed, Doctor Ximen has a good eye.” Liu Guang chuckled. “Others only think that I will first pacify Yuzhou and then conquer the other countries, and that dealing with Ma Jiyou is just to reclaim Yuhu. But they forget the most basic military strategy of avoiding the strong and attacking the weak. If we can get the help of Ma Jiyou, who is well-versed in the strengths and weaknesses of Hong, it will not be difficult to conquer Hong. I don’t even need to personally take action.”
"What's next? If we take Hong Kingdom, we'll border the powerful northern neighbor, Lan Kingdom. Lan Kingdom has a strong and well-equipped army, and its soldiers are brave and tenacious. Lu Xiang suffered greatly at their hands during his lifetime. Now, Lan Kingdom's Grand Marshal Wu Wei once defeated Lu Xiang and killed him. He seems to be poised to succeed Lu Xiang as the top general of the North. I'm afraid he won't just sit idly by."
“Wu Wei is indeed a talented general, but he also has weaknesses.” Liu Guang squinted, his thoughts wandering far away to the Lan Kingdom in the far north. “He is good at strategy but not good at adaptability. Therefore, if we fight him from a distance, he is a formidable opponent. If the two armies clash, I will surely be able to capture him.”
"So, the Grand Marshal intends to continue the war indefinitely?" Ximen Rang's tone changed slightly, and there seemed to be some dissatisfaction in his words. Although he admired Liu Guang's arrogant demeanor when he was instructing famous generals, what he cared about most was the livelihood of the people of Chen.
"No, Doctor Ximen, please rest assured. Since I came to Chen, Chen has been my homeland, and the people of Chen are my children." Liu Guang smiled. "Doctor Ximen, you should know that although Chen has an army of 800,000, I have never deployed more than 300,000 troops at once, because I do not want to burden the people and waste resources. After this matter is temporarily settled, I will reduce the army and strive to keep the number of soldiers below 500,000."
"As for other strategies to stabilize the people, I can only ask Doctor Ximen for help."
After Liu Guang finally uttered these words, Ximen Rang sat with his head bowed for a moment, then looked up and said, "How dare I disobey?"
Liu Guang's face broke into a hearty smile again. He picked up his wine glass and said leisurely, "It is said that tonight is Li Jun's wedding night. He is in high spirits tonight, but I'm afraid he is not as happy as I am."
Ximen Rang lowered his eyelids and remained silent. He knew Liu Guang was referring to him. Compared to gaining a woman, what these ambitious generals would be happier about was gaining a useful talent.
For someone with the ambition to serve a king, wouldn't it be more gratifying to find a wise ruler to whom they are willing to die for?
Suddenly, Qin Qianli's face popped into Ximen's mind. In the dark and cold prison, Qin Qianli was leaning against the wall. What was he thinking about?
What a beautiful night this is...
Section 03
Because it is still late winter, according to the hexagram, the yin energy is still heavy and the yang energy is just beginning to emerge. The East Sea is surging with tides, but there are no storms like in spring and summer. The wind on the Qionglu Grassland blows the sails of the ships so high that they are like white clouds in the sky.
This type of seagoing vessel was a dual-purpose sail and oar ship, with a smaller carrying capacity than a typical large sailing ship, but it could still travel at a relatively high speed even on windless days. The navies of various countries in China, including the Japanese, were mostly equipped with such warships.
The sailors on the ship climbed the tall mast and looked around. The blue sea and sky blended into one color, and apart from seabirds, there was nothing else to see.
The Japanese warship, known as the "Rain Maru," is sailing from Sekigahara Island, the southernmost of the six Japanese islands, towards the mainland. At the end of last year, three Japanese factions joined forces to plunder the mainland, but the operation ended in heavy losses. However, considering the Japanese's years of incursions into the mainland, this was merely an accident. Thus, before the old wounds had healed, a new round of incursions began.
They had no choice but to begin. The six islands of Wa (Japan) comprised millions of households, belonging to hundreds of large and small factions. Although they had a nominal overlord, the "Great Lord," the heads of each faction acted independently, disregarding him. Centuries of civil war had consumed vast resources but cultivated a specialized fighting class known as the samurai. With Kiyota Keikichi's rise to prominence amidst the chaos, many samurai who had lost their land and lords became ronin (masterless samurai). These warriors, who made their living through battle, gathered on the southern islands of Sekigahara and Ootake, which had not yet fallen under Kiyota Keikichi's control, causing a surge in the number of Wa pirates based on these islands. Under pressure from Kiyota Keikichi's massive army, the Wa pirates had no choice but to await their annihilation on these two islands if they could not find another way to survive.
Kiyota Keikichi also intended to force his rivals on these two islands to become the vanguard of his conquest of the Central Plains. Therefore, he was in no hurry to eliminate the opposing forces on the islands, but rather to maintain pressure, forcing them to expand towards the Central Plains. In his calculations, it would not be difficult for these people to seize parts of the Central Plains, and he could then use the pretext of punishing them to formally launch an attack on the Central Plains. Whether it was Kiyota Keikichi or his opposing forces, their ultimate goal was to break free from these six small islands and seize the vast mainland.
The Japanese pirates on the Rain Maru were not afraid of encountering any danger in the waters near Sekigahara Island. A thousand years ago, the divine wind shattered the invincible army of the Four Seas Khan. Since then, apart from sporadic skirmishes between barbarians and Japanese, the Japanese pirates had almost never encountered any foreign enemies on their homeland. Therefore, the lookout sailors were only conducting perfunctory observations.
"This thing is really amazing."
Tu Longziyun put down the long tube in his hand and said to Ren Qian, "Sister Mo Rong truly deserves to be called the world's number one craftswoman. She can actually create such a wonderful thing."
Ren Qian also put down the long tube in his hand. This device, made of a hollow iron pipe and two uneven pieces of glass, was a reconnaissance tool made by Mo Rong for the Peace Army. She named it "Thousand-Mile Mirror." Although the glass itself wasn't very translucent, it was sufficient for spotting large objects like ships. Therefore, they discovered the Rain Maru before the Japanese lookouts even saw them.
"Commander Tulong can give the order now." Ren Qian forced a smile, his mood much heavier than Tulong Ziyun's.