Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 192

Gao Jianli calmly observed: 'Moreover, these people clearly possess the aura of an army, and an elite one at that!'

'As expected of the Gonggong Hall, the number one of the six halls, the disciples of the Gonggong Hall are far superior to the disciples of the Shennong Hall and Siyue Hall who escort supplies in Shouchun City.'

After a while, the departing leader disciple returned with a gray-clad man who looked to be about twenty years old. The man's bare arms were not very thick, but they were clearly muscular.

Gao Jianli and Dao Zhi could immediately tell that those muscles contained terrifying power: 'At least no less than that of a giant iron hammer...'

The four-star grass ornaments around the young man's waist represent his extraordinary status in the Gonggong Hall.

"Manager Yan!" The disciples present greeted the newcomer with clasped hands and a salute, a tactic used to create momentum.

"Gao Jianli? Dao Zhi?" Yan Bing's gaze swept over the two Mo family members surrounded by their subordinates, especially noticing the Water Cold Sword in the hand of the man dressed as a musician in a long robe. He nodded: "Not bad."

"May I ask your honorable name, fellow farmer?" Gao Jianli inquired neither humbly nor arrogantly.

“Yan Bing, like Mr. Gao, is a native of Yan.” Yan Bing had barely finished speaking when he immediately returned to the main topic and added, “I heard from my disciple that you two have come to pay your respects to Hall Master Lu. It is quite unfortunate that you have come.”

"I wonder what Brother Yan means?" Gao Jianli raised an eyebrow slightly.

"The hall master is out and we do not know when he will return. Although I have heard of the reputation of the two masters of the Mo family, there is no one in the hall who can make decisions right now, so we cannot entertain you. Please leave."

Yan Bing's words were very clear. In fact, there are definitely people in charge in Gonggong Hall now. A Yu, A Shan, Lü Qing, and Xue Nu can decide whether Gonggong Hall should show some goodwill to the two Mo family members.

However, the four of them shared the same opinion: there was no particular benefit in receiving the Mo family, and a musician and a thief were obviously of limited use, plus Qin Qi had an official bounty on their heads, so it was not advisable to let them enter the headquarters at will.

With everyone in charge agreeing, Yan Bing's stance became clear when he took charge of the matter.

...

After being turned away at Gonggong Hall, the two Mo family members had no choice but to go to Shennong Hall. The Zhu family confirmed Lu Wei's departure to the two of them, but no one knew exactly where Hall Master Lu was at the moment.

The long journey could not be in vain, so Gao Jianli tentatively suggested that he visit the other hall masters with the Zhu family to discuss the Azure Dragon Plan, but the Zhu family's choice was the same as that of the Gonggong Hall: to politely decline.

Yan Bing of Gonggong Hall argued that Hall Master Lu Wei was absent and therefore unable to decide on the hospitality arrangements. The Zhu family, on the other hand, stated that the Heroic Leader was also absent and therefore unable to decide on the implementation of the Azure Dragon Plan...

"They're all shifting the blame; the farmers have no sincerity whatsoever in this cooperation," Dao Zhi complained, frowning, on the way down the mountain.

“The six halls are in disarray. If the Farmer’s Clan cannot reach a consensus, they will definitely worry that if they send their disciples out to cooperate with the Azure Dragon Plan, their sphere of influence will be encroached upon by the other halls.” Gao Jianli also shook his head: “The Farmer’s Clan’s internal structure is like a plate of loose sand. The existence of the Hero Leader is very important if we want to bring them together.”

"But the leader of the Farmer's Clan has disappeared. The Grand Master's intention was to support Lu Weixian of the Gonggong Hall to take charge of the Farmer's Clan. But now Lu Weixian is also missing. The Zhu family's strength is clearly no match for the Tian brothers. Isn't the Farmer's Clan in a dead end?"

Dao Zhi toyed with the Instant Wheel in his hand, feeling quite annoyed by the setbacks of the journey: "Besides, even if we find Lu Wei, it probably won't be that easy to persuade him."

"Success depends on Heaven, but planning depends on man. For the sake of the people, we must always give it a try." Gao Jianli said calmly, "There are many upright people among the farmers. They just lack a qualified leader to lead them in resisting the tyrannical Qin!"

------

News of the arrival of the two Mo family members reached Chungu Town, but Lu Wei was no longer there, and no one in Chungu Town knew his whereabouts.

In fact, after meeting with Xinghun, the Hall Master is still near Daze Mountain.

In Junjinxuan, which shares the same location as Zuimenglou, Lu Wei and Chen Ping were drinking in the back hall.

Since there are still no windows, candles must be kept burning in the back room of Junjinxuan even in broad daylight.

"After the fall of Wei, the Qin army marched south. Although Chu was a powerful state, according to various intelligence reports, it could not hold out for long. The world would be unified within three years."

Chen Ping pondered and said, "The Shennong Hall and Siyue Hall of the Farmer Clan originally had close ties with the Chu region, but the Siyue Hall suffered heavy losses in Daliang City, and the Zhu family also saw that the situation was not good and withdrew from Shouchun to Dazeshan. Should the Farmer Clan go into hiding next?"

Because of his lack of knowledge about Changping Jun's Azure Dragon Plan and the disappearance of the Farmer's Hero, Chen Ping made some incorrect judgments, but overall, they were not far off.

The Qin state will indeed unify the country soon, and the peasant family will indeed need to lie low. However, the unification will be delayed by a year due to the Azure Dragon Plan, and the Zhu family did not withdraw from Shouchun because they sensed something was wrong.

"After the farmers have gone into hibernation, what should they do next? Brother Chen Ping, what advice do you have for me?" Without saying much small talk, Lu Wei simply asked with a smile.

"I'm afraid this depends not on the farmers, but solely on that King of Qin." Chen Ping was not optimistic about the situation ahead: "Although the anti-Qin forces of the six states have become more united because their states have been destroyed, their strength has also been greatly weakened."

"The bloodlines of the powerful and noble are indeed noble, but the ultimate goal of overthrowing Qin is to defeat the Qin army on the battlefield. Among the various schools of thought, only the Agricultural School has the potential to achieve this."

"Therefore, the remnants of the six kingdoms will definitely try to win over the peasants, and since Master Lu has the strongest Gonggong Hall under his command, he will undoubtedly become the focus of attention for a while."

"This spotlight should have been on your leader, but his identity is well hidden and his whereabouts are unknown. Lord Lu, please be careful."

Chen Ping finally issued a warning to Lu Wei.

The six states will turn their attention to the peasants, and the Qin state certainly will too.

This does not depend on the farmers' attitude, but only on whether the farmers actually have the ability to rebel.

When the world was in chaos, the peasants could remain neutral, but once the Qin army was stationed outside Daze Mountain after unification, the peasants had no choice at all.

Of course, all of this is predicated on the Qin state focusing all its energy on internal governance.

Chen Ping felt that the wise King of Qin would naturally do so, as the newly unified country needed to first stabilize and digest the situation.

However, the fact is that the Baiyue people in the south and the wolf tribes of the grasslands were almost immediately identified as the next targets of war after unification.

Especially during the Baiyue Wars, the forests there were said to be cannibalistic...

Chapter 215 The biggest enemy

Chen Ping's ability to deduce a plausible picture of the world's situation from limited intelligence has never been in doubt.

However, he ultimately misjudged several crucial aspects of the future trend:

First, the war will not stop even after unification.

The Qin state took no more than ten years from conquering Han to conquering Qi. However, the war against the Baiyue, starting from when Wang Jian attacked Chu and occupied part of the Baiyue territory, would continue until the year of the First Emperor's death, when it finally calmed down.

The Qin army initially dispatched 500,000 troops, and later sent reinforcements multiple times. In the end, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of casualties, it expanded the territory it directly controlled to the South China Sea.

Such achievements were immeasurable. However, not many years after this battle, the Qin Dynasty collapsed.

The losses inflicted by the war against the Baiyue were not the main cause of Qin's demise, but they were certainly part of the main cause.

Secondly, internal strife within the Farmer's Clan has been a major problem surrounding the six halls of the Farmer's Clan for over a decade. Until the next leader of the Knights-Errant officially takes office, the Farmer's Clan will not be united... at least not on the surface.

Among the six hall masters, Lu Wei, Tian Meng, and the Zhu family, who had just realized this, were all tacitly and deliberately maintaining this situation.

Besides the hundreds of thousands of direct disciples, the number of ordinary people influenced by the Farmer School is far more than just tens of thousands.

If the remaining forces of the six states wanted to utilize the peasantry, they would have to resolve the internal strife within the six assemblies. If the Qin state were to annihilate the peasantry without cause, the burden of popular resentment would not be easy to bear.

Instead of leaving it there, the farmer's problems remain just that—farmer's problems.

In other words, farming is essentially a troublesome entity nowadays, and it's more beneficial to avoid getting involved with it than to get involved with it.

Thirdly, the anti-Qin organizations after the fall of the six states were mostly small-scale operations, and Qin King Zheng did not pay much attention to them.

To attack the Mohist city, which had been under construction for hundreds of years, the Qin state only hired one of the Quicksand Army and nine hundred Black-Armored Soldiers... But to capture just Gai Nie and Jing Tianming, Ying Zheng dispatched three hundred elite Dragon Tiger Cavalry from Xianyang in one go...

After the fall of the Mechanized City, although the Qin state continued to issue bounties, it did not seem to care much. The subsequent activities in Sanghai City were mostly for the Mirage and Confucianism. Encountering the remnants of the Mohist school was purely coincidental.

It wasn't until the Mohists seized the Black Dragon Scroll and the Thousand Machine Copper Plate that Meng Tian's Golden Fire Cavalry and the Yin-Yang School launched a larger-scale encirclement and suppression campaign. However, at the critical moment, faced with the military situation in the north, Meng Tian still gave up the readily available opportunity to seize the rebels and led his army back to Xianyang to prepare for a northern attack on the Xiongnu.

This shows that the Qin court's real energy was always spent on northward and southward expansion and internal power struggles, while the remnants of the six states and the various schools of thought were of little importance to the King of Qin.

The organizations that organized the Jianghu (江湖, the martial arts world) and various schools of thought in the Qin state were mainly the Luo Wang (罗网, the Net of Heaven and Earth) and the Yin Yang School (阴阳家, the School of Yin and Yang).

Although the nominal leader of the Yin-Yang School is the mysterious Donghuang, the two main protectors of the school are both Lu Wei's men. This means that the entire Yin-Yang School is essentially doing the work for the benefit of the sect leader.

As for the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven), maintaining a delicate balance between the Qin state and anti-Qin forces to seek its own interests is a dangerous act. This organization was born in the same way it will perish!

All of the above are deep-seated trends that Chen Ping could not see.

"On the surface, it seems that's true, but reality is often much more complicated than it appears." Lu Wei looked relaxed, showing none of the anxiety Chen Ping had predicted. "Brother Chen Ping, why don't you quietly observe the changing situation?"

“What Hall Master Lu said is exactly what Ping was planning.” Chen Ping also knew that his vision was limited by his status, and he could only be considered a frog in a well.

The world that the head of Gonggong Hall can see is certainly broader than the world that I see, but even Head Lu is just a slightly larger frog in a well.

Even the most powerful King Ying Zheng of Qin was limited in his vision by the Qin state and subject to the 'heaven'.

From this perspective, everyone is like a frog at the bottom of a well, only the size of the well opening they see differs.

The frog in the well is not inherently laughable; what is laughable is its ignorance and self-satisfaction.

As stated in the Daoist text "Autumn Floods" by Zhuangzi: "A frog in a well cannot be told about the sea, for it is confined by its limited space; a summer insect cannot be told about ice, for it is bound by its season; a narrow-minded person cannot be told about the Dao, for he is bound by his teachings."

Maintaining a humble learning attitude is a phrase that Chen Ping constantly reminds himself of.

"The Taoist Heaven-Man Sword Competition is this year. Are you and Brother Xiao He going to return to Mount Taiyi soon?" Lu Wei continued casually.

“Since I have no career yet, I should naturally keep in touch more. Senior Brother Xiao, you don’t need to return.” Chen Ping picked up the wine pot and poured a full glass for the Hall Master before pouring wine for himself. But he had only made halfway through his action when he heard the bell at the front desk of Junjinxuan ring: a guest had arrived, and it was a guest from intelligence.

The two people in the back room both possessed excellent internal strength, and the people outside hadn't concealed their footsteps, so they had already noticed them.

However, because the sound of the shoes on the ground sounded like a woman's, Chen Ping guessed that the other party was just there to buy jewelry. Lu Wei could also sense that the person's footing was steady and not like that of an ordinary person, confirming that the other party was a martial artist.

Female knights-errant are quite rare in the martial arts world. Considering the location, the hall master believed that the other party was most likely from the Drunken Dream Pavilion. However, this was irrelevant to him, so he didn't care much.

There is no need to have any connection with Zuimenglou now.

After silently apologizing to Lu Wei, Chen Ping got up and went to the front hall. Upon seeing the newcomer, he stared in astonishment.

If it were Hall Master Lu who saw Boss Chen like this, he would definitely maintain a smile and appreciate the wonderful acting skills of the disciple from the Human Sect, while becoming even more vigilant.

However, as for Hua Ying, although she was also very meticulous, she was still young and could not compare to the old fox.

"Mr. Chen, you seem quite surprised. Do you perhaps know me?" Hua Ying, the elegant and poised guest, took two more steps closer to the counter. She was quite pleased with Chen Ping's obvious surprise and even slight blush.

After all, the owner of Junjinxuan was handsome and seemed quite naive. Naturally, Huaying wouldn't find his idiotic state repulsive.

"This...the Flower Shadow Girl of Drunken Dream Pavilion is a beauty of unparalleled grace and charm. She makes a living here, so I have seen her from afar a few times."

Chen Ping tilted his head slightly, bowed respectfully, and then coughed twice to make himself serious. He asked knowingly, "Miss Huaying, have you come to Zuimenglou to purchase ornaments?"

“Of course…no~” Hua Ying laughed sweetly, teasing Chen Ping in her heart while maintaining her composure and taking control of the conversation in her own way: “In the future, we will definitely have to cooperate with Jun Jin Xuan on the purchase of jewelry, but the main reason I came here is to investigate some information with Boss Chen.”

"Intelligence..." Chen Ping slowly looked troubled. Before Hua Ying could ask, he took the initiative to say, "Although Jun Jin Xuan does run an intelligence business, I'm afraid it won't have the intelligence that Miss Hua Ying wants."

“Jun Jinxuan studies merchant intelligence, and Huaying came here because she knew this.” Huaying bent down to look at the ornaments displayed in the front hall, and with a smile, took off a silver hairpin and examined it carefully: “Merchants travel all over the world, so they must pass through many places.”

"What does Miss Flower Shadow mean?"

"Huaying hopes that the merchant caravans that have dealings with Junjinxuan can help Zuimenglou find someone." Reaching a full-length bronze mirror in the corner of the front hall, Huaying put on a hairpin and admired her own beauty: "The target is Lu Wei, the head of Gonggongtang!"

"..." Chen Ping's gaze lingered on Hua Ying's figure. Hearing the name, he showed no surprise, only curiosity: "The Hall Master of Gonggong Hall..."

"But as far as I know, Zuimenglou is also a farmhouse..."

Before he could finish speaking, Hua Ying interrupted him with a light chuckle: "Since Boss Chen works in intelligence, he should understand that the most taboo thing in the intelligence industry is asking too many questions."

He was just a young man after all, and he only learned the basics of how others researched intelligence.

Hua Ying inwardly made a flippant assessment of Chen Ping, but her face remained impassive: "Regardless of whether Jun Jinxuan can find Lu Wei's whereabouts, Mr. Chen can enjoy one free performance at Zuimenglou next time! Of course, if he does find him, Hua Ying will also provide a satisfactory reward."