NOVPUBCould Chen Xi really not understand the difference between Liu Bei and Yuan Shao? When Liu Bei first arrived at Mount Tai, his strength compared to Yuan Shao’s occupation of Jizhou was no different than that of China versus The United States after the end of the Second World War. Furthermore, what was more similar was that Mount Tai had the support from Xuzhou...
However, the most impressive point about Chen Xi was that he managed to become self-sufficient before the support from Xuzhou was cut off, and then experienced explosive growth in pursuit of Yuan Shao. The prosperity of Mount Tai doubled each quarter as it chased after the prosperity of Jizhou. As it stands now, it had finally surpassed Yuan Shao in terms of overall prosperity. To be honest, this fact alone was enough to scare most people to death.
"It’s not just ’not bad’; it’s incredibly strong. It’s just that you are stronger, and that’s why none of us are interfering with the plans you have made in terms of governance. The main reason is that you are far better than us in this regard," Li You said with a sigh, not even mentioning his tactic. After all, Chen Xi made sense, and with Yuan Benchu as he is now, if we were to show an aggressive stance, it would indeed be very troublesome.
"Let’s not talk about that anymore. Who is the appointed military advisor for the Western Route Army for this expedition?" Chen Xi asked, turning his head.
"The military advisor for the Western Route Army should be Liu Ziyang, but it’s probably just a formality. After all, it’s a feint, and the main forces are General Guan and Fengxiao’s armies. However, I suspect Liu Ziyang self-nominated as military advisor for other reasons," Li You said, pointing to Liu Ye.
"He self-nominated as a military advisor? Damn, he wants to avoid administrative duties, doesn’t he? Who will handle the administrative work related to accounting if he leaves?" Chen Xi couldn’t help but blurt out.
"You do it," Lub Su, who had been eavesdropping but hadn’t spoken until now, interjected. Suddenly, Chen Xi felt darkness descend upon his coming months.
"It’s not that you can’t do it. Ziyang has other important matters to attend to," Lub Su said with dissatisfaction upon seeing Chen Xi’s darkened expression.
"What about Zijian? I thought Zijian was away on some business before, but it’s only now that I notice Zhongkang sitting next to Yide, with no empty seats at all. This means Zijian isn’t on Mount Tai. What’s going on?" Chen Xi asked, grabbing onto another issue, as if he couldn’t have possibly just noticed.
"Zijian has already set out on campaign. He is the vanguard of the Western Route Army, and he also has to make contact with Zhang Yan, which is why he led his own legion to set out," Li You explained calmly.
"I…" Chen Xi opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.
Vanguard? Does the vanguard need the power of an entire legion? This is preparing a vanguard troop for an army of a hundred thousand! Even if it’s leading the vanguard for an army of a hundred thousand, wouldn’t five thousand men be enough? Hua Xiong has an entire legion, including both infantry and cavalry, totaling seven thousand men!
It’s understood that Hua Xiong’s legion could be considered the most powerful in the entire Mount Tai, with both its cavalry and infantry boasting extraordinarily high combat strength.
"Due to some unexpected developments, Zhang Yan formally sent word expressing his willingness to integrate the entire Black Mountain Yellow Turban force into Mount Tai. Moreover, if we can provide the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans with a life similar to that of the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou, he is willing to offer his own head upon arriving at Mount Tai," Lub Su explained with a wry smile, wondering what was happening with the Yellow Turbans.
"The generous offer is oft the prelude to the slaughter." Chen Xi sighed and said, "So Lord Xuande sent someone to negotiate. Hm, have the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans been cornered?"
"Juo Yi went. The Vanguard Death Squad deliberately allowed itself to get ambushed by Zhang Yan, and then turned around to decimate the Yellow Turbans, killing almost ten Channel Commanders, all adept in Qi Refining to Gang." Lub Su said with a bitter smile, "More than twenty expert Martial Artists who have mastered Qi Refining to Gang led thirty thousand men in an ambush on the Vanguard Death Squad, and they were routed within one quarter hour."
"Strategy also depends on whom you use it against. Against elite troops like these, regular surprise attacks, ambushes, night raids, well, anything unexpected is not very useful. Against them, why not simply set fire to everything? It’s such nice, refreshing weather for a fire," Li You said, glancing at Lub Su.
Lub Su looked at Li You speechlessly. When this incident was recounted to Jia Xu, his response was also to simply set fire to the whole mountain. With just the Vanguard, everyone became ghosts; why bother fighting when Zhang Yan didn’t think it through?
"Have you noticed something not quite normal about the number of Martial Artists among the Yellow Turbans who have mastered Qi Refining to Gang? Given the Yellow Turbans’ background, isn’t it strange? And if we’re talking about learning through life-and-death combat, why haven’t the soldiers under our command been able to break through?" Chen Xi furrowed his brow and asked.
"Is there some sort of secret? Logically, to cultivate the first strand of Inner Qi, one only needs to be well-fed, but we found out there is a hidden element of spiritual will only after meeting this criterion," Lub Su said, frowning.
"It’s probably not just that. It must relate to the Yellow Turbans themselves." Jia Xu had already begun to deduce on his own. A large amount of relevant information instantly yielded results. "It is not so much a question of why there are so many Martial Artists among the Yellow Turbans who have achieved Qi Refining to Gang. The real oversight is that we failed to notice something. This era is exceptionally brilliant."
Lub Su was taken aback, but Chen Xi remained utterly calm. In his memory, this was already a brilliantly dazzling era without making a particular impression on him.
"Ever since the Yellow Turban Rebellion began more than ten years ago..." Jia Xu said with narrowed eyes, "what the Yellow Turbans did must have been thanks to Zhang Jiao. Both the spiritual talent of Wen Ru and mine were also awakened from that period. Think about the other people. The entire realm’s intelligent and talented civil and military figures all emerged from that moment ten years ago. After the complete collapse of the Yellow Turbans, this world became much stranger."
