Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 1 Ordering Troops
The clanging of gongs; the booming of drums; and the whistling of horns—

In this military camp that reeked of horse manure, Xuan Chong, who had just gotten used to his identity as a son of a military family, straightened his iron helmet and, in a fit of frustration, lightly and heavily, pounded the saddle with his fist.

Sensing his unreliable master's unreasonable patting, Longma turned its head and snorted a strong breath at Xuanchong, warning him, "Don't touch me!" Then it turned its rear end around and threateningly pawed the ground with its hind hooves, kicking up dust behind it.

Oh, even if this dragon horse doesn't use its hooves, its protruding teeth, like those of a wild boar, are quite intimidating.

Xuan Chong could only step aside, take out his slingshot from his waist, aim at Longma's sour face, and then immediately fire at the ground. With a "thud," mud flew everywhere beside the horse's hooves, and Longma immediately lowered its head and cowered. Xuan Chong put down the slingshot, snorted coldly, "You know what's good for you!", and then took out a handful of beans from his pocket to appease it.

As for the reason for his bad mood, a month ago he took over the task of cracking down on the illegal sale of alcohol in the military camp, but due to improper handling, he almost caused a small-scale riot in the camp.

The matter eventually reached the headquarters, and the general's punishment was that he was confined to his quarters to reflect on his actions.

In the tent behind Xuan Chong, where he was reflecting on his actions, there was a large scroll of silk. He needed to memorize its contents to prepare for the examination; otherwise, if he failed the test in half a month, he would be publicly punished with a military rod. He had just been interacting with his mount because he was getting a little anxious from memorizing the text, so he went outside for some fresh air.

Xuan Chong stroked the bean-eating dragon horse and cursed, "You beast, you're so carefree."

……

Xuan Chong is a time traveler, oh, and this time his time travel isn't some random one; he has a system and cheat codes. By the standards of the online novel era, this is quite "perfect".

However, Xuan Chong himself was very confused. He came from an era with cell phones and food delivery, but not all his memories were complete. For example, he had vague memories of the specific year he transmigrated in his previous life, his family situation, and even what the national flag looked like.

The system indicated that it came from the 40th century and was here for "educational practice." Although it had forgotten some things, it was certain that the 40th century, as the system called it, was far too distant.

Xuan Chong opened the system interface in his view again and asked a question.

The system once again recited the script: "Your memory is hazy, which may be because some of your knowledge involved prohibited content during the time travel. In order to protect the cultural ecology of this dimension, it has been sealed."

Xuan Chong: "Does the prohibited knowledge refer to 'one sulfur, two nitrates, three carbons', 'hot air injection in a reverberatory furnace for steelmaking', or the 'pulley theorem' based on Newton's laws, and 'triple expansion reciprocating steam boiler'?"

Xuan Chong secretly felt smug. Those popular science videos he'd watched in his previous life hadn't been for nothing. Although he didn't fully understand the specific technical processes, given enough manpower and materials, Xuan Chong was confident he could figure it out within five years. This! Could it be considered forbidden knowledge that disrupts the culture of this dimension?

The system did not respond and instead sent a "You're bragging" emoji.

The system still offered a perfunctory explanation: "Prohibited information refers to 'beep beep beep' messages as regulated by the 'Law on the Protection of Minors.' Any information you can think of right now has already been approved."

Xuan Chong: "What does 'di di di' mean?"

System: "Beep beep beep, that means blocking."

Xuan Chong nodded, then revealed his true intentions, saying, "Alright, can you help me memorize some military texts? Well, I mean, I'll write down some cheat sheets for you."

System: "No."

Xuan Chong: "Other systems can do that, some can even scan the sect's cultivation technique library for the protagonist, can't you just help me memorize it?"

System: "Hmm, system malfunction, insufficient storage card capacity."

Xuan Chong: "Damn it, this text content is less than ten thousand words. And you're telling me there's not enough memory?"

However, the system then froze.

…World Introduction Divider…

Well, after learning the details of this world, Xuan Chong realized he might have been a little arrogant. This plane possessed strange and secret arts such as "Taoist magic" and "witchcraft."

The Great Yao Dynasty, the very place Xuan Chong traveled to; indeed, Xuan Chong was quite surprised that this dynasty used square characters. Although there were subtle differences in the strokes, the structural principles of the character's radicals were the same. The character "爻" (yao), which describes the crisscrossing horizontal lines of a hexagram, has its origin in the character "肴" (yao), which is derived from the knife marks on roasted meat—not commonly used in the 20th century. But here, it is a key symbol for "Daoist" calculations.

The "Benefiting Livestock Talisman" used in the army to raise horses, the "Dust-Raising Technique" used to conceal the movement of cavalry during battle, and even the "Thunder Slash Curse" attached to the beacon towers are all Taoist arts.

Xuan Chong had just stopped reading and started hammering the horse; it was about the method of divination related to the malevolent energy in the army and the corresponding mountains and rivers.

The humans of this world categorize everything in the world into "yin" and "yang" lines using a highly data-driven approach. They then use formulas from classical texts to deduce and manipulate the divination system to guide the manifestation of unusual phenomena.

…Ten days later…

After Xuan Chong finished memorizing the entire 9,000-character military treatise in his uncle's tent (the central command tent), he was spared the beating, but he would still be confined for a period of time. Therefore, Xuan Chong requested a batch of books to continue reading.

When Xuan Chong first arrived in this world, he was not used to the vertical seal script. However, as he wrote and recorded on the sand table, he gradually got used to reading the font arranged in this way and began to enjoy reading more books.

Back home, they naturally supported Wu Fei's desire to read, and sent him military classics and commentaries on the Classic of Mountains and Rivers.

Xuan Chong (Wu Fei) gradually discerned the essence of the Da Yao dynasty through his extensive reading of books and classic texts.

The Great Yao belongs to the Eastern "ritual system" dynasty. —Our own system emphasizes "non-feudalism".

Xuan Chong's military family has five marquises, among whom his uncle's lineage is the Marquis of Ting, with a fief of seven hundred households.

According to the European feudal system, this was at least a count. Counts could forge their own weapons and armor on their own territories, and only needed to fulfill obligations to the kingdom such as "following in battle" and "paying taxes." They could do whatever they wanted within their own territory.

In a dynasty governed by ritual, such freedom was not possible; civil and military officials had to abide by the rituals and could not overstep them in any way.

For example, his current uncle, Wu Hanluan, is a marquis who can have three hundred servants, but cannot keep more than one hundred retainers.

What are "retainers"? They are people treated with courtesy by nobles. In the grand scheme of things, those from humble backgrounds are expected to "repay the kindness of a nobleman with the loyalty of a nobleman." In other words, having many servants is a way of showing favor and power, but not a demonstration of loyalty. When a nobleman falls on hard times, the servants who were usually bound by favor and power will scatter like birds and beasts, while the scholars who were treated with courtesy and demonstrated righteousness will follow him to the death.

Therefore, after reflecting on his mistakes behind closed doors, Xuan Chong gradually came to understand this principle: in feudal times, when those in power talked about "equality," it was not a favor to those in lower positions, but rather an "investment in those below" that could make other higher-ranking officials wary.

Knowing this taboo, Xuan Chong felt a pang of fear for his past negligence.

At this point, the military family he had transmigrated into was a clan of generals, which was allowed to maintain workshops and preserve a certain number of archers, cavalry, and armor. This number was determined by the number of people on the military register, but if the workshops produced far more armor than required, they would be accused of treason.

In the early stages of his transmigration, Xuan Chong fantasized about gathering all the craftsmen in his family who made armor and swords, and embarking on a grand undertaking to smelt steel and iron. He was certain that this would be overstepping his bounds. Of course, no one would be willing to go along with his madness. If he actually succeeded, well, his whole family would be branded with "爻" (yao) characters on their skins by the executioner and subjected to branding irons.

Legend has it that three hundred years ago, the emperor of the Great Yao Dynasty summoned the Marquis of Qi to court and then ordered him to be boiled alive in a cauldron. His crime was overstepping his bounds: conscripting ten thousand men to mine copper in the mountains to forge weapons.

After Marquis Xiang of Qi was boiled alive, all the feudal lords trembled in fear, and for a hundred years no one dared to overstep their bounds! The military strategists controlled the army, the Legalists governed the punishments, and the Confucians governed the people, and the world was in perfect order.

……

After the confinement period ended, a messenger arrived at Xuan Chong's confinement camp and struck a wooden clapper. Xuan Chong, who was reading inside the tent, immediately dressed and came out to receive the order.

After a few breaths, Xuan Chong confirmed with his personal guards that he had been released from confinement and summoned by the general. He hurriedly ran to the stable next door, slapped the horse's rump to signal the beast to be alert, and then found a "strengthening pill" in the gourd he carried with him and stuffed it into the mouth of the dragon horse, which was already open.

Longma swallowed the "bean ball" like a child munching on a candy bean, snorted happily, lowered its nearly 1.8-meter-long body to allow Xuan Chong to mount the saddle, white smoke rose from its hooves, flapped its still-growing dragon wings on both sides, raised its hooves, and galloped towards the army's main tent.

The horse's hooves struck the ground, creating clouds. These clouds, much like the airflow that lifted a ground-effect vehicle in the previous life, allowed the dragon-horse to fly two meters off the ground.

The rapid acceleration made Xuan Chong marvel at how wondrous this world truly is.

Upon arriving at the central command tent, they saw a cultivator carrying a magic sword. This elder brother, who had come down from his sect for training, casually tossed a lightness talisman, which landed directly on Xuan Chong, who was on horseback. Xuan Chong, touched by the talisman, immediately felt as if he had lost the pull of gravity, and like a feather, he floated lightly off his horse. Helped off his horse by magic, Xuan Chong clasped his hands in thanks to his elder brother, but the elder brother made a hand seal and transmitted a message: "Little Sparrow (Wu Fei's nickname), the commander is waiting for you in the army."

Xuan Chong was unhappy about being called by his nickname, but he still thanked him and hurried to the central command tent.

He stepped into the large tent, which was covered with leather, with weapons such as axes and halberds placed on both sides. Wu Fei's uncle, General Wu Hanluan, put down the scroll in his hand.

Xuan Chong glanced at the dossier. In the army, bamboo slips were generally used to record the positions of various military officers and the laws and regulations of the army, because bamboo slips were convenient for copying and distribution.

Taoist techniques are generally recorded on spiritual materials such as jade discs and tortoise shells, while materials such as geomancy (maps) are often found on cloth and silk.

The documents on the leader's desk are very important.

Xuan Chong glanced at the dossier and noticed that the scroll of silk had just been pulled out, meaning that it seemed a 'new map' was about to be drawn. Considering the recent scramble for provisions by the army and the ban on merchants selling salt to the south, it was clear that the strategy towards the southern barbarians was changing.

The sickly-looking but pot-bellied Wu Hanluan stared at his nephew, who was standing on tiptoe and peering at his desk. He snorted coldly, then unleashed a palm strike. An invisible force swept out, sending the unsteady Wu Fei sprawling on his back.

Wu Hanluan put down the silk scroll in his hand and raised his eyes: "Entering the tent without bowing, do you want to be flogged?"

Wu Fei quickly got up, straightened his kneeling posture, and stammered, "This humble general dares not," but in his heart he thought, "Ten strokes of the rod and I'm bedridden for three days, a hundred strokes and my leg is broken. Every cloud has a silver lining. If my leg is broken, I can lie down and rest."

Wu Fei: "This subordinate knows his crime and is willing to accept military punishment." But his performance was as emotionless as a "young idol's acting." Oh, you could refer to the sluggish tone of a primary school student reading aloud in the morning.

Clearly, this lack of emotion was disrespectful to the audience. Therefore, the responsible director went on set and issued a warning.

Wu Hanluan immediately drew his sword, and the murderous aura emanating from him terrified Xuan Chong. Although he knew his uncle was just trying to frighten him, he still took a few steps back. At the same time, he prepared to run out of the tent. However, Xuan Chong couldn't rush out because two soldiers at the tent entrance had already blocked his way with their crossed axes.

Wu Hanluan stared at his clueless nephew until his legs trembled and he sheathed his knife. He sighed and said, "Yuan Chang (courtesy name), I know you want to learn the Dao, but you don't have the right affinity!"

Wu Fei quickly replied, "Uncle, I know. I have poor aptitude; all I can do in this life is fight and kill."

Xuan Chong, as a time traveler, had already inquired about this, and the answers given by each family to his questions were similar to what this uncle had said: In the Great Yao Dynasty, the number of disciples that the Taoist sects on each mountain could recruit was limited.

For some reason, I was turned away by various Taoist sects. To put it bluntly, the reason was that my "spiritual heart was not pure."

Xuan Chong cursed those quacks: If you don't want to confess, just say so. What's with all the excuses?

…Xuan Chong is eyeing those immortal sects. He'll definitely try something big when the opportunity arises…

Various sects, powerful families, and the imperial court have complex and ambiguous relationships. For example, the Wu family actively sends people to the neighboring Qinghua Sect. And every time there is a campaign in the south, the sects also send Wu family disciples down the mountain to assist the army.

(Similar to the story in Investiture of the Gods, where Huang Feihu encounters Huang Tianhua coming down from the mountain during a battle.)

Xuan Chong's understanding was that his cousin, Wu Hengyu, must have been bribed by his uncle to stay at the mountain gate. He, on the other hand, was deemed "unqualified," so he was only given a temporary stint at the gate, sweeping the grounds for two years before being expelled to serve as a gunman—this was unfair!
Xuan Chong was initially very anxious about not being able to seek immortality after his transmigration. However, as he gradually learned more about the relevant information, he slowly accepted it. In particular, after realizing that he had missed the best time to cultivate immortality, he started to give up. Although he knew that he was being a bit "willful" now, he couldn't get rid of the dissatisfaction in his heart because he hadn't been able to do what he wanted to do.

So Xuan Chong asked the system, "System, they say I can't cultivate immortality, what do you think?"

System: You are not qualified. Don't go down this path.

Xuan Chong thought to himself, "What do you mean by 'not qualified enough'? On what grounds?"

This Wu Fei, who was transported to another world, has an older sister and a younger sister. He was taken in as a disciple by a female sword immortal in the sect. He also has his uncle's son in front of him, and his cousin has also successfully established his foundation in the sect.

Xuan Chong was extremely unhappy, and a frustrated voice kept roaring in his heart: "I am a transmigrator, I have a cheat system, I want to cultivate, I want to establish my foundation and form my core!"

As a time traveler from the era of "ordering takeout with a mobile phone," Xuan Chong, who used to stay up all night reading novels, had a strong yearning for cultivating immortality.

Even though the Taoist Golden Elixir cultivators in this world do not possess the mythical power of "moving mountains and releasing seas," and each school has skills to counter immortal techniques, such as the military school, which can gather evil energy to counter spiritual energy. Historical records state that some immortals, after having their three flowers removed, were no different from ordinary mortals when facing the powerful bows and crossbows of a large army.

Even in this plane, the "ascension" of the Daoist sects doesn't lead to the Immortal Realm; it seems they leave this planet in an energy state to go to other planets—what are known as small worlds.

Wu Fei: But it's true that you can live for hundreds of years. -- It's all because I was led astray by some monkey since I was a child: of the three thousand great paths, as long as you live forever, that's all that matters.

And now, his "life pursuit" has been interrupted by the NPCs in this dimension. Well, it's not the worst start, but the feeling of having his pursuit of things turned onto a different track is very unpleasant.

……

Wu Hanluan sheathed his sword, picked up the cloth, and asked Xuan Chong, "Do you know where you went wrong?"

This refers to the investigation last month into the sale of bootlegging liquor within the military.

Xuan Chong raised his head: "Nephew handled it improperly. At that time, nephew should have secretly investigated without making a sound, while outwardly greeting them with a smile."

Wu Hanluan coldly replied, "You've made progress."

Xuan Chong answered this way because his uncle's personal guard had revealed some information to him in the past few days—that the soldiers involved in the case had all been transferred out of the military camp within the past month. In other words, when Wu Hanluan placed Xuan Chong under house arrest, he first stabilized these people and then dealt with them discreetly.

If Xuan Chong can't figure out the answer after having such a standard answer, then he's just a giant baby.

Xuan Chong understood that his dereliction of duty in investigating alcoholism in the army and his subsequent imprisonment were not due to his "iron-fisted impartiality." The illegal brewing of liquor in the army first and foremost depleted military rations, and secondly, it led to fights and brawls. This was something Wu Hanluan deeply abhorred; if he hadn't understood his uncle's attitude, Xuan Chong wouldn't have acted so rashly.

After reflecting on his actions, Xuan Chong began to examine the consequences of his behavior: his biggest problem was that he wasn't ruthless enough and was still thinking about following procedures, which made these scoundrels who sold alcohol in the military feel threatened and had time to deal with them, thus spreading rumors in the military!
Unlike the atomized society of my previous life, the military is characterized by numerous kinship ties and bonds of brotherhood. Punishing one person can affect a whole group. When enforcing discipline, it's crucial to cut off these troublemakers before they realize what's happening, and then stitch them up. A moment's delay will result in massive bleeding, making stitching difficult.

So when he messed up his drinking ban a month ago, Wu Hanluan's first priority was to quell the situation by confining himself to his quarters before dealing with the matter slowly.

……

Wu Hanluan was quite displeased that Wu Fei was still thinking about cultivating immortality during his confinement, but when he asked him again about his attitude towards what happened a month ago, Wu Hanluan was very satisfied with his "attitude of admitting his mistakes," and even somewhat surprised that his nephew had improved so quickly!
Wu Hanluan's comment: Knowing the problems in one's actions and no longer being stubborn is the greatest advantage.

Since ancient times, it has been said that fathers and sons go to war together; one's own team still has to rely on one's own family.

Wu Hanluan: "You've read military books, let's test you today."

Xuan Chong raised his head: "Please, General, muster my troops."

Wu Hanluan nodded and flicked out the bamboo token in his hand. The token flew out of the tent like a green arrow and hit the third drum between a row of drums, making a muffled "thud". The white jade bird originally carved on the drum suddenly came to life and fluttered into the sky. Then a subordinate supervisor walked in.

Wu Hanluan said, "Old Zhao, go to the command platform and beat the drum."

The soldier surnamed Zhao clasped his hands together and said, "Understood."

Wu Hanluan looked at his nephew with a gaze that clearly said: Let's see what he's made of.

Xuan Chong, the time traveler, raised his head. Although there was some tension in his eyes, he had memorized the relevant "Military Review Notes," which was similar to the traffic regulations of the 21st century, for three months, so passing the exam shouldn't be a problem.

This is not a cultivation novel.

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(End of this chapter)