Chapter 184: Riding The Tide Of The Era, Planning For The Decisive Battle
In the City Lord Mansion of Lelang City, crows and magpies on the roof ridge were fighting over territory.
Xuan Chong and the Sect Master of Qinghua Sect “frankly exchanged views,” “gained a deep understanding,” and “mutually proposed constructive considerations.”
Of course, the soldiers guarding outside the door heard the old Sect Master fly into a rage and roar in breakdown: “General, do you really not care about the people under heaven!”
However, immediately after was their own Military Master deafening response: “We bear responsibility for the people under heaven. But the people under heaven are not just your Immortal Sect! For the sake of human suffering and the state altars of the common people, can’t the sect make a little sacrifice for the greater good? Must you seek the great prosperity of the Daoist Sect at this time of turmoil under heaven?!”
The officers and soldiers outside the door heard this and were moved, saying: “Our lord is truly a sage! As for that old man from the Immortal Family, after receiving enshrined master offerings from the human world for so many years, when the world faces calamity, he refuses to pluck a single hair for it—truly too wicked.”
…Sharp-tongued…
The Sect Master of Qinghua Sect looked at this Military Strategist before him and calmed his Dao Heart. His Dao Heart was originally very strong, but now he had encountered this “demonic heart.”
This newly appointed Military Master of the Wu Family was formidable; with a light flip of his upper and lower lips, he uttered cutting remarks that could turn an old ox into a stubborn donkey.
This old immortal, as a cultivator, naturally stood on the transcendent position of one who had left the worldly life, advising those struggling bitterly in the mortal dust to let go of their obsessions.
But this Military Strategist seemed to know his script and turned it around, starting to advise him to do good, to let go a bit, and not to have obsessions.
At the desk, Xuan Chong, spouting cutting remarks, sighed: “One who has not endured others’ suffering should not advise others to be good.” But then he jubilantly thought to himself: “Cutting remarks are meant to be said to Yin Yang people—hurt you? Hurt your mother’s head.”
At this point, Xuan Chong felt indifferent toward the Immortal Family; the two sides were not of the same path to begin with, and the nature of spiritual energy and killing intent being hard to fuse made the two sides creatures fixed in two different ecological domains.
Equivalent to humans and orcas, both having their own suffering in their respective environments.
In his previous life, Xuan Chong had heard various versions of chicken soup for the soul. So if you advise me to “let go a bit,” I counter by advising you to “let go a bit,” slinging the boomerang back—that’s the harshest retort to these mentors.
In this way, the Military Strategist and the Immortal Family sat facing each other across the desk; Xuan Chong poured a cup of tea for the elder, fulfilling diplomatic etiquette.
“Impressive, impressive.” The Sect Master of Qinghua Sect gazed at Xuan Chong, seemingly praising but actually threatening. “It seems Military Master Wu is confident in acting alone under
Xuan Chong looked at him: “It’s not that I’m confident, but is this Your Excellency’s attitude toward cooperation? You sit too high. Too detached, too disdainful of people!”
Speaking of transcendence and detachment from the mundane, actually now Xuan Chong as a transmigrator is the most detached. Especially with this identity as a “student”, after Xuan Chong inquired with the system, he learned that after the task for this plane ends, it means class is over for him.
In fact, Xuan Chong still had a cooperative attitude during the negotiation. Xuan Chong’s hand pressed on the desk. He was always prepared to take out the map, using the spiritual veins of the Southern Border as chips to discuss, but the other side was clearly possessed by demons.
Xuan Chong furrowed his brows: “What about the cultivators’ Dao Hearts? They can’t even tolerate a bit of sarcasm?”
The threat of the “Evil Moon,” which is currently the target of all in the Xi Ren Realm, he himself did not possess more information than the Immortal Sects; he only knew that this celestial body called “Evil Moon” relied on information intrusion into Xi Huang Star, always scraping away matter from Xi Huang Star. Moreover, the matter scraped by the “Evil Moon” had a tendency.
If the Qinghua Sect’s attitude is good, Xuan Chong is willing to collaborate with the Immortal Sect to bear responsibility together, but!
Xuan Chong faced the old stubborn who had lived for several hundred years, feeling annoyed in his heart: “You come up acting all high and mighty, thinking you shouldn’t bear responsibility, acting like you’re some savior. Your shamelessness reminds me of those white skins from my previous life who came running over seeking to resolve the economic crisis.”
The Qinghua Sect Sect Master understood Xuan Chong’s words, but he found it hard to accept such rebuke from a Military Master!
…From the Immortal Sect’s standpoint, Xuan Chong is indeed mad…
A military strategist who came from the Southern Border was only allowed to have the Wu Family send disciples to the sect back then out of consideration; among the disciples in the Qinghua Sect, most inner sect disciples’ backgrounds were higher than that of the Wu Family. Back then, the Wu Family had flattered this sect by enshrining spiritual treasures and strange beasts to enter the sect. Now, taking advantage of the great chaos under heaven, they dared to rebuke the sect in return—what an outrage!
Qinghua Sect, as a sect that has stood unbroken for thousands of years, its background foundation will not tolerate a family that has existed for less than a century stepping on it like this!
Skilled in using troops to conquer under heaven, so what? Conquering under heaven is possible, but to stabilize under heaven, it still requires the support of various local forces.
The Wu Family now has so many forces, but the most staunchly supportive ones are just those rootless blind followers, while the various local noble families and great clans! Not a single one is truly aligned with them.
In Immortal Sects, veteran cultivators, each hundreds or thousands of years old, have very strong influence over the various Noble Families in local areas.
Therefore, this Sect Master does not allow the Wu Family to oppose the Immortal Sect in this way. Even if there is some Imperial Aura, in the end, it will not win “the hearts of the people”.
…Different paths, no need to conspire…
The Qinghua Sect Sect Master believed he could influence the Wu Family’s bases. It was just like Xuan Chong in his previous life when the White Eagle thought that after “cutting off technology communication,” it could press the development pause button on the East, and thus maintained a high-pressure stance.
Meanwhile, the bases that Xuan Chong had locked onto were fundamentally not the noble families and social strata everywhere. When the organization of soldiers underwent modernization, when wooden ox and flowing horse trains similar to railways opened. And now the workshop industry of iron smelting had also developed a mass production process for forging iron. All iron sand began to be produced using “great alchemy” technology. After the Wu Family clan school expanded enrollment, the first batch of military household disciples all had teacher-training qualifications.
Now Xuan Chong is preparing to implement some modernization.
Back then, when the Beiyang had the conditions, they all pondered how to modernize; now our own conditions are also nearly sufficient. When it’s time to move forward, how can we reverse course?
What are the bases of modernization? They are the vast manufacturing factories built by industrial capital.
Modern governors need to establish schools for a sufficient supply of talent; they need to organize armies to protect industrial capital; they need to improve docks and railways to facilitate the logistics exchange of industrial capital. All of this does not rely on noble families in the localities to supply talent, but rather provides talent through cities.
The people within his future core circle might still be given titles such as “Great Architect,” “Captain,” and “Sitian Cheng,” which inherit the Da Yao ritual system. But their experiences will inevitably be those of “students,” “workers,” and “army” such root-and-branch people.
Xuan Chong: “Only people with this kind of background will have their interests aligned, and thus can consider issues from the perspective of developing modernization industries.”
Note: Unlike Xian Daoren’s putting new wine in old bottles, Xuan Chong is brewing new alcohol and putting it into old bottles.
Xuan Chong’s most core bases have a large number of lowly people, but uniquely lack the noble families bound to the land!
Noble Families bind not only land, but also population. Noble Families in the pyramid system are overly stable, so stable that even when productivity develops to the postmodern era, they still create a stratum of lowly people “unworthy of enjoying modern industrial products” when ranking classes.
All modernized countries must eventually make cuts on “land” in the end.
This is not a problem of “public or private farmland.” Rather, it is very important that there is “no society formed with farmland as the center of wealth.”
Therefore, Qinghua Sect thought they had grasped the chip to take down Xuan Chong’s bases, but this is precisely the target that Xuan Chong’s future policy will suppress and purge!
Now, the purpose of Xuan Chong doing this!
Xuan Chong: “This is history class, so we have to do something that follows the tide of history! In this world, I’ve done quite a few absurd things, but I still have to turn in my answer sheet.”
…final rupture…
Xuan Chong looked at this prestigious sect sect master and gave him one last chance, boldly proclaiming, “What big words! I am actually also a cultivator, of course, a heterodox path cultivator; based on observations of the interaction influence of celestial body information on this world, I derived the formula. It can calculate the location where the next evil moon will erupt!”
Xuan Chong meant: Don’t think only you can divine under heaven, I have weather forecasts here too. Cooperate if you want to cooperate, otherwise forget it.
However, the term “heterodox cultivators” stimulated Qinghua Sect. The sect master snorted coldly: “Since you claim to be of the heterodox path, so be it. This old man came in vain.”
After Qinghua Sect’s sect master left in anger, before he had walked two li away, he sensed the soaring killing aura from Lelang City behind him.
Xuan Chong looked at the sect master who was piloting his spiritual boat into the distance and slowly said: “You didn’t come in vain. Whether enemy or friend, hasn’t it been determined?”
Xuan Chong’s face was full of murderous intent. In this plane, after entering the military strategist path, his acting style was becoming increasingly decisive.
When having a strategic advantage, take advantage of poor relations to settle things completely. That way, he could still explain to surrounding forces: “As everyone knows, our side was quite sincere. The problem wasn’t with us!”
After sending off this immortal, Xuan Chong immediately issued orders: First, establish schools in each prefecture; second, announce the establishment of Liangtian Pavilion (university).
He then ordered each corps to sing encouragement-to-study songs while marching. Lyrics: “Why go deep into mountains to seek the Dao? Entering deep mountains means abandoning parents; ordered around as menial laborers. Liangtian Pavilion accepts students; explore the Nine Heavens and listen to the Nine Hells. Studying the Dao should benefit the world with a heart to save, not the petty path of iron-heartedness!”
Since the sects still held hostility toward Chong Land, Xuan Chong naturally wouldn’t yield and decided to directly sever their orthodox lineage and uproot their foundations.
Xuan Chong: “Military songs directly rebelling against the emperor are too transgressive. Directly rebelling against the Daoist sects should be fine, right?”
Two days later, following Xuan Chong’s order, troops everywhere began spreading the new tune. This spread much faster than countryside nursery rhymes.
Wu Yun Immortal Sect’s sect master paled dramatically, pinched his fingers to divine, and saw torrential human realm auspicious qi beginning to gather from all directions to Xuan Chong’s location; meanwhile, the auspicious qi of Daoist sects under heaven was severed out of thin air. No matter what, their auspicious qi would greatly diminish!
Qinghua Sect had originally wanted to give the Wu Family a lesson, but Xuan Chong immediately slapped the cost of turning hostile right in his face.
On the other side, Yang Sanniang pondered slightly. She murmured: “The will of this realm is starting to counterattack, huh?”
The blessings emitted by the Evil Moon are information; the auspicious qi born from the beliefs of all beings in Xi Ren Realm is also a kind of information; it is a concept anchored by the “belief” in the minds of vast numbers of intelligent lives.
Every time the human world suffers, the Daoist sects flourish greatly because the beings of the human world, in their suffering, choose to believe in the “ethereal” immortal path, with massive information radiating and converging on the “Daoist sects.” If this “anchor” is truly removed, what would happen if the Daoist sects lost their auspicious qi suppression?
…Xuan Chong: Sigh, I have no cultivation aptitude…
Just as Chong Land began using the “encouragement-to-study” song to forge new thought, dire news came from the cultivation world: in Ji Prefecture, the terrifying news spread of Heavenly Tribulation annihilating the thousand-year-old sect Shang Qiong Hall.
Although this sect participated in blockading Chong Land, it was only a mid-tier sect; Xuan Chong hadn’t used the “Shock Heaven Bow” to shoot their sect gate. Yet this small sect couldn’t withstand the Great Tribulation.
Tian You Calendar Year 3, Month 4: Shang Qiong Hall suffered a great demonic evil tribulation. Evil Moon hung in the sky, blood rain fell on the sect gate for fifteen days straight, pines and cypresses withered and died, mountain rocks shattered, and spiritual birds and beasts turned into skeletons.
Immediately after, at the next full moon, the entire mountains and rivers where the sect was located were uprooted from below and severed from the earth vein.
The powerful informational power infused from the Evil Moon polluted this spiritual energy land, ultimately physically severing its gravitational connection to the planet. Then, following the “informational” attraction produced, it performed a massive shift of the entire mountain where the sect was located toward the Evil Moon celestial body in the sky.
The common folk within hundreds of li around Shang Qiong Hall thus watched the Qiong Mountain they had been accustomed to for generations rise from the ground, float into the sky, and shatter into numerous fragments. A terrifying sense of substitution as if witnessing “dismembered corpses” arose in their minds.
In the following months, multiple famous mountains and great sects in the Central Plains also successively suffered similar tribulations.
Likewise shrouded by the Evil Moon over the entire sect gate, many disciples couldn’t escape in the blood light. Then moonlight shone solely here, and under the moonlight, various blue crystals grew on the mountain, the crystals growing and segmenting the mountain body, ultimately sucking the mountain body into the sky, the entire sect annihilated; only a few true transmission disciples who had left the sect survived.
…System persuading Xi Ren Realm: Be good, don’t fear the pain. Change comes with a price, your health bar is thick…
In Tian You Calendar Year 3, the Evil Moon’s nonstop slaughter was also closely related to Zhao Cheng. Zhao Cheng fully took Yuhuazhou, his blade edge pointed at Heluo Prefecture and counties, only six hundred li from Yao Capital, and this six hundred li was flat open plain.
Such sieges and conquests caused the human realm to change rapidly, which was also the main reason for the severance between the great spiritual mountains and Xi Ren Realm.
In Yuhuazhou’s Cold City, Zhao Cheng stationed troops to guard the Star Gazing Platform. Now under his command were 200,000 spear-wielding soldiers, over 10,000 armored troops, a thousand war chariots, and eighty war beasts, making it one of the top forces currently.
However, just like when Xuan Chong took Southern Border back then and faced the transformation from “plunder” to “occupation,” Zhao Cheng faced the same issue: for the soldiers, following you Great General Zhao into battle might have started for survival, desperately fighting with a blade in hand; but now you have territory, with noble families submitting everywhere, so shouldn’t you consider “future matters” for everyone?
This involved the allocation of fields to generals under Zhao Cheng in the future, as well as official ranks everywhere.
Zhao Cheng initially bypassed complexity by “selecting people to enlist,” instantly expanding to over 10,000 troops. Xuan Chong, on the other hand, initially sought institutional preparation and blood rewards, seemingly taking a longer path.
But in truth, Zhao Cheng still couldn’t avoid this question. The work he needed to do now was what Xuan Chong had accomplished at the start in the role of Wu Fei.
Zhao Cheng looked at the maps of territories everywhere; every place now was rife with heavenly disasters and man-made calamities, locusts and floods everywhere! How could such low-value land be allocated to his subordinates?
When “named offices” aren’t enough to go around, don’t divide them! Because once some get them and others don’t, it’s time to disband.
Sitian Cheng reported the latest under heaven situation to Zhao Cheng from the Star Gazing Platform. Zhao Cheng drew in a sharp breath: in just three short months, the Evil Moon was like a gluttonous taotie devouring voraciously, extending tentacles to roll up the most nutrient-rich (information-dense human culture) mountains and rivers of Xi Ren Realm for devouring.
Da Yao literally meant mountains and rivers shattered. Scattering a dou of seeds on farmland yielded less than four dou.
After the places he conquered also shattered, Zhao Cheng didn’t forget to send “spies” to observe the opponent’s side.
However, the intelligence gathered was that Zhenzhou was recovering extremely quickly; all agriculture and sericulture were running fully and properly, and the major cities were densely populated, not at all like places that had suffered a great disaster.
Zhao Cheng’s hair stood on end; he could understand Xuan Chong’s operations. His time was very tight.
…Zhao Cheng: This is what is meant by victory over the imperial court!…
In chaotic times, population is as fluid as international capital in Xuan Chong’s previous life.
Why wasn’t Xuan Chong fighting wars or seizing territory now? Because other places were at war, populations were fleeing outward.
Xuan Chong: As long as I don’t fight at this time, population will flow to me. And only in this time window will there be population movement.
This time window was when Da Yao’s ruling power declined, local military groups hadn’t yet solidified their bases, during the time they were contending for bases.
It was during Zhao Cheng’s process of brutally beating the various vassal lords that massive populations became displaced.
And as long as he (Xuan Chong) seized this opportunity to attract as many displaced people as possible here, then in the future, he would surely win!
Zhenzhou, after the “Mad Soldier Uprising” and “Plague Chaos,” had all local noble families cleansed empty, unprecedentedly weakened; during this process, the native population also greatly declined; Xuan Chong took the opportunity to vigorously resettle refugees with military reclamation, and vital energy recovered rapidly.
But once this window period was missed, the situation would be despair.
For reference: Liu Bei took Hanzhong, but Cao Cao migrated all of Hanzhong’s households away, causing even Zhuge Liang’s governance later to lack follow-through power!
And Cao Cao, when he was rising early on, constantly massacred cities, but he was the first to stabilize the situation, and his population was not small; later, Wei’s national power was able to steadily suppress Ji Han and Eastern Wu.
Xuan Chong’s greatest advantage now is that his “Bases area” stabilized the earliest.
From Xuan Chong’s perspective: so why take the risk of sending troops to seize territory, then abandon his current ironclad advantage? — Once war breaks out here, starting conscription and grain levies, the refugees will stop coming.
If Xuan Chong sends troops now, Zhao Cheng still has room to maneuver; both sides’ Military Strategists are at the same level, or even Zhao Cheng could win a move through seasoned tactics, but now with Xuan Chong not sending troops, Zhao Cheng truly has no room to maneuver at all!
So, Pu E, this layperson, thinks that “Divine General showdown” is mutual passionate brawling.
In reality, after Zhao Cheng and Xuan Chong fight, it’s like two AIs in chess, mutually building up Power to avoid clashes, only for the final Decisive Battle!
Yuhuazhou, General’s Mansion, a black jade Tiger Tally-shaped screen placed in the center of the Main Hall, Zhao Cheng sitting in the hall discussing the current Situation with the Generals on his left and right.
Zhao Cheng looked at the Map and couldn’t help but sigh; in the Shu Tian Calendar year 28, he had the best opportunity! But he missed it, and it was completely lost.
However, just as Zhao Cheng was helpless, half a month later Noble Family Disciples came to join him, even some from Xuan Chong’s territory fell into his net.
After receiving these Noble Family Disciples from the stable places in the West, Zhao Cheng was somewhat confused!
He couldn’t figure out why Wu Fei would be “tyrannical” at this time, unable to hold onto Chong Land’s Bases?
…Xuan Chong’s strategic thinking is full of the imprint of his era…
This operation of “standing firm first” and then stockpiling momentum earlier than others is exactly the Previous Life G2 rivalry.
Strategists of second-rate countries worldwide hope for G2 rivalry, replicating the previous version of the Eagle-Bear conflict; they wish G2 would fight directly. But G2’s top leaders all know clearly that in the process of global accelerating flow of Technology, Industry, Power forcing sides to choose, whoever strikes first is the fool.
During the Eagle-Bear rivalry, the anticipated Future Warfare was like Red Alert, wasteland, Metro situations, namely nuclear bombs paving the way followed by Armor Charge; the key elements of War Victory lay in “Energy” and “resolute will,” which were also the two fiercest points in the Mao Bear and White Eagle confrontation at the time.
Namely, refusing to yield to each other on the Culture battlefield, and constantly placing pieces in the World Island center’s major oil district.
The Bear lost on both fronts, so it surrendered without fighting.
As for the Future Warfare foreseen by G2! That is New Energy self-sufficiency, enhanced Star Wars plan, Satellites conducting electromagnetic mutual interference, atmospheric Information confrontation, precise guided firepower washing the ground followed by Drone patrols, Robots occupying.
In such War, the victory elements are not determined by “resolute organizational belief and will under wasteland” or “quantity of fossil Energy occupied,” but by “completeness of the Industry Technology Supply Chain.”
When the global Supply Chain collapses (similar to Da Yao), at that time Technology is also in great flow (population flow).
So during the flow, neither side will plunge itself into a War requiring “Mobilization potential,” because once Mobilization potential is activated, the Technology Power in flow won’t come over.
Only after the Supply Chain is completely restructured, with all international old Supply Chain’s technical parties fully settled, will there be the Great War.
