Chapter 169: Give A Fitting Hope
Chang’an and Luoyang will no longer be the center of the Great Han for a very long time. This statement reveals far too much information.
At the very least, big shots like Cao Kun’s father no longer value opinions from Chang’an.
The great affairs of the state are in sacrifice and war. Vassal lords must not encroach on these two. This is almost an iron rule of every dynasty.
Now, Qiu He Prefecture is beginning to meddle with the Great Wall Defense Line, just as rudely as the Chu State sending people during the Spring and Autumn period to inquire about the weight of the Zhou king’s tripod.
“So, does this mean the fierce struggle between the Grand Marshal and the Emperor has come to an end?”
“We can’t stop. If we keep fighting, it will be a lose-lose situation. Once strength is gone, no matter who wins or loses, they will all be losers.
Let’s make it clear first: you’ve already taken Jingkou Pass, so that’s yours. We won’t fight over it. But the passes on both sides near Jingkou Pass, the Cao Clan plans to compete for them.
Once the Cao Clan secures them, all the provisions supply for those passes will be bought from you then. How about that? As brothers, that’s pretty generous, right?”
Yun Ce said, “This time it’s truly generous. However, you also have to tell me why that cunning old butler of your family is being so generous to me?”
Cao Kun angrily said, “I’m the one being generous.”
1 Yun Ce shook his head and said, “I believe you’re being generous to me, but for this level of long-term cooperation, even if you want to be generous, your family won’t agree.”
1 Cao Kun said, “Do you still remember those heads you sent me?”
1 Yun Ce said, “Those were to pay off a debt.”
1 “I know they were to pay off a debt. I used an albatross to send the most beautiful head to Chang’an, claiming it was beheaded by me on the battlefield at Ghost King Mountain.
1 Oh, I didn’t tell you in advance. Don’t thank me. After all, as brothers, helping you ward off disaster is what I should do.”
1 Yun Ce looked down at his own miserable body and sighed, “You could still be a bit more shameless.”
1 Cao Kun laughed heartily, “In this struggle in Chang’an, a great many convicted prisoners appeared. These convicted prisoners were originally to be exiled to the protectorate prefectures. I begged my father to get you a batch. Let me tell you, among this batch, scholars make up thirty percent, young women thirty percent, and according to your preferences, the remaining forty percent are all boys and girls, totaling eight thousand people.
1 Now, isn’t your mood much better?”
1 Yun Ce happily laughed, “Truly a good brother. Nothing more to say. That Yu Zhu prince must have been beheaded by Brother Cao on the battlefield at Ghost King Mountain. If Brother Cao needs it, this little brother and the five hundred warriors under my command are all your witnesses.”
1 Cao Kun rarely spoke seriously to Yun Ce, “No thanks. This is all what you deserve.”
2 Yun Ce said softly, “The Cao Clan doesn’t think much of Iron Enclosure Pass either?”
2 Cao Kun pondered for a moment and said, “Uncle told me to start preparing psychologically for Iron Enclosure Pass being breached. The Cao Clan also needs to start preparing countermeasures for after Iron Enclosure Pass is breached.”
2 “The Great Wall Defense Line is your prepared countermeasure?”
2 “That’s just part of countless countermeasures. Who let Qiu He Prefecture be right behind the Great Wall Defense Line?”
2 Yun Ce fell silent.
2 In this world, there is more than one farsighted person like him Yun Ce. There are also more than just him who knows to prepare for a rainy day. Over the years, though they haven’t developed much technology, their brains are just as smart as Yun Ce’s.
2 He killed two thousand Devil elites on Ghost King Mountain. The only ones who truly value this are Qin Shu and the others who were personally on the battlefield. As for others, in the long thousand-year siege and defense war, killing two thousand Devils is as common as cow hairs—not worth making a big fuss about. Writing too much about it would expose the Great Han’s smallness under the fur robe.
2 The Gui Fang people, because of the collapse of Ghost King Mountain, believe they have suffered heavenly punishment and need to return to the plateau to reflect. Once they find the ones who made mistakes and kill them, their reflection will probably be complete.
2 Taking advantage of there being no Devils on the wasteland, Cao Kun left Yun Ce with quite a lot of materials and then took many empty wagons back to Qiu He Prefecture.
2 Yun Ce’s skin slowly recovered. During the day, it was tanned by the sun, at night roasted by shehuo, and before sleeping, another layer of Peng Zeng Brand Growth Fluid was applied. By the fifth day, his skin had recovered, but the blistered areas were red, the non-blistered areas white, making him look like a spotted dog.
3 The red date horse had no such worries. It liked its newly grown red fur. After its whole body was covered in a layer of beautiful soft new fur, even its inherent wildness seemed to diminish quite a bit. It would occasionally leave the camp to stroll in the Gobi Desert, but it would never go near Ghost King Mountain again.
3 Yun Ce’s injuries had healed. The wounded in the team who could recover had mostly done so. As for those who couldn’t recover, Yun Ce had no limb regeneration technique and couldn’t help them.
3 On the seventh day, just as Yun Ce was preparing to lead the men back to Jingkou Pass, an envoy from Iron Enclosure Pass arrived.
3 He had thought it would surely be a proud person, but unexpectedly, it was a middle-aged military officer Xue Wo with eyes full of anxiety. Upon seeing Yun Ce, he hurriedly said, “A young man like you can achieve merits anywhere. You’d better leave Iron Enclosure Pass quickly.”
3 Hearing this, He Qingfang’s eyes reddened, and she choked out, “We killed over two thousand Devil elites. Three hundred good men fell in battle. The general almost perished in the fire. Where did we go wrong? As Han people, are you driving us out of Iron Enclosure Pass?”
3 Xue Wo lowered his head in silence for a moment before difficultly saying, “Iron Enclosure Pass does not trust outsiders. You should have realized that. You always feel Iron Enclosure Pass is inhumane, yet you don’t know Iron Enclosure Pass has its own difficulties.
3 Over a thousand years, every Han son who fell in battle at Iron Enclosure Pass was a man of iron backbone. Now time is not on our side. We no longer take the initiative to attack and provoke the Gui Fang people, hoping Iron Enclosure Pass can hold out a bit longer, waiting for the Great Han to rise again.
3 Yun Ce said, “So you’re also aware of Iron Enclosure Pass’s decline?”
3 Xue Wo gave a strained smile and said, “The Gui Fang people know it very well too.”
3 Yun Ce said, “Hold to the death?”
4 Xue Wo nodded, “Hold to the death.”
4 “Not considering other methods?”
4 Xue Wo shook his head, “Over a thousand years, all thinkable methods have been thought of and tested countless times. The final results were never good.
4 Although withdrawing and abandoning Iron Enclosure Pass to fight the Gui Fang people closer to the Great Han would be the best method, unfortunately, over the years, Iron Enclosure Pass has become the obsession of Great Han people. It can’t be discussed to abandon it, because once abandoned, the Great Han people’s backbone would break. No one dares to commit such a great taboo against the world.”
4 What Xue Wo said was very fair and must be the truth. Any tiny change, like Yun Ce’s killing of two thousand three hundred Devils this time, is still not enough to improve the overall situation at Iron Enclosure Pass.
4 The lives of those bearing the totem must be very bitter. Once the ideal becomes a bundle, the pace of progress will surely become heavy and slow.
4 Yun Ce recalled first meeting Zhou Chengming; his face always carried a depressed air, as if he never had a happy moment.
4 At that time, Zhang Min said he was worried about Iron Enclosure Pass, fearing it couldn’t hold. For Iron Enclosure Pass, even someone like Zhou Chengming started scheming for tribute, and even untrained cavalry were hurriedly taken away.
4 From Xue Wo’s words, Yun Ce could tell that previously, Gui Fang people had disguised themselves as heroes coming to support Iron Gate Pass. At that time, Iron Enclosure Pass still trusted those self-motivated heroes coming to guard it. In the end, that trust cost Iron Enclosure Pass a heavy price.
4 The next day, Yun Ce led the team to break camp and head south.
5 Xue Wo saw them off thirty li away, finally standing on high ground to watch Yun Ce and the others depart. It was clear that after two days together, he was very willing to trust Yun Ce and them, and hoped they could stay at Iron Enclosure Pass. He even sent a carrier pigeon to Iron Enclosure Pass, but unfortunately, until Yun Ce broke camp and left, there was still no news from Iron Enclosure Pass.
5 “Bright moon of Qin times, passes of Han times. A march of ten thousand li, men not returned. But if the flying general were at Dragon City, Hu horses would not cross Black Mountain.”
5 This was a poem Yun Ce gifted to Xue Wo upon parting.
5 Xue Wo liked it very much. After reciting it over and over, he folded it and tucked it into his chest.
5 Qin Shu had also seen this poem, and He Qingfang naturally saw it too. After reciting it many times, she looked at Yun Ce riding the red date horse at the forefront and said to Qin Shu, “He actually knows how to compose poetry, and so well.”
5 Qin Shu looked up at Yun Ce who was belting out a song and said indifferently, “Nobles… normal.”
5 He Qingfang angrily said, “Don’t push everything onto nobles. I’ve seen nobles, and many nobles are as stupid as pigs, as dumb as oxen.”
5 Qin Shu laughed, “Those aren’t nobles. Those are pigs, those are oxen. The one before us is a true noble.”
5 He Qingfang shook her head disdainfully, spurred her horse to Yun Ce’s side, and said, “General, we lack materials. If we want to build a city in the place designated by the general, the first thing to do is prepare materials. This subordinate is willing to go ahead one step and contact various caravans to see if we can gain their support.”
5 Yun Ce looked at He Qingfang in surprise and said, “You actually know about exchanging trade routes for merchant support?”
6 He Qingfang said, “We have nothing. This is our only path.”
6 Yun Ce shook his head, “No need. This matter has already been arranged.”
6 “That noble from Qiu He Prefecture?”
6 “Exactly. In the future, we’ll exchange output near Jingkou Pass for materials, eventually forming our own caravan to complement Iron Enclosure Pass. This is a method determined long ago.”
6 He Qingfang looked at Yun Ce suspiciously, “It’s already started?”
6 Yun Ce laughed, “It’s already started.”
6 “How many people?”
6 “Eleven thousand people, and they’ve already reclaimed three hundred thousand mu of land. Come spring, plant all sorts of grain. We won’t have to wait until autumn for the first batch of output.”
6 After hearing Yun Ce finish, He Qingfang silently retreated to Qin Shu’s side and said to him, “You’re right. He truly is a true noble.”
6 A faint smile appeared on Qin Shu’s face as he said to He Qingfang, “I think we can have a child now.”
7 He Qingfang laughed along, “I think so too. If we don’t soon, I won’t be able to.”
7 One more chapter
