Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 44 The Still Stable Great Yao Empire

The main camp of Wu Hanluan in Donghua County, the place where the army's grains are replenished.

Although this place was filthy, it was a gold mine in the eyes of some in the army. One by one, naked men emptied buckets of "gold" from the latrine and fed them into the belly of the golden bull. Then the golden bull clattered and walked out, traveling dozens of miles away to the newly reclaimed land outside the camp.

On these lands that were attached to the army, all kinds of crops grew well, especially vegetables, which were lush and green, and could grow a new crop every seven days. These vegetables would be sent to the kitchen to be processed into vegetable soup.

This is a cycle. Wu Hanluan's army rarely gets sick. Even if someone feels unwell, after taking a "Purification Powder" and squatting on a toilet in the army, all the diseases will be expelled with diarrhea.

However, there is a secret about this filth-dispersing powder and the entire army's five grains cycle, a secret that even Wu Fei and Wu Hengyu do not know.

In the main camp, all the manure buckets are connected at the bottom!
Occasionally, when the soldiers were relieving themselves, they would notice whirlpools in the latrine buckets, but no one would investigate what was underneath them. But Wu Hanluan knew.

This is actually a kind of "trick".

Three hundred years ago, a large-scale disappearance of people occurred in Dongyi County. The Demon Suppression Division lost more than a dozen skilled men before discovering that the ghostly locust trees in front of each village entrance were connected to the ghost realm. In the end, a large army was called in to eradicate the ghosts.

The situation within the Wu Family Army was similar; the whirlpools that occasionally appeared in each dung bucket were all connected to a place called "Golden Bucket Realm".

This Golden Martial Realm is what Wu Hanluan calls it.

Forty years ago, when he was twelve years old, he was sickly compared to his younger brother. Many famous doctors concluded after their treatment that he would not live past thirty. However, overnight, it is said that he prayed to a god in the mountains and his illness suddenly disappeared.

However, as if in a state of natural balance, his brothers and sisters began to die one after another from illness.

Returning to the topic, ever since then, when Wu Hanluan relieved himself, his penis was a little longer than average, and he would be looking down and scrolling with his fingers. — He had connections with the "Golden Dou Realm".

Because the "Golden World" was too filthy, Wu Hanluan never told anyone else about it, not even his beloved wife and son.

Without a doubt, the Golden Dou Realm is powerful, and all evil and filth will be absorbed by it.

For example, the evil entity that previously hindered the army's advance could only be trapped by the military strategist's Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation. To suppress it, one would need a rare object like an evil-repelling stone, or expend manpower to build a "yin village" or "yin city." However, after Wu Hanluan's Golden Dou Realm opened to the evil entity, it silently absorbed all of them.

…And once tainted by filth, all malevolence will dissipate…

For example, on the east side of the camp, the ghost carriage had been unruly for several days in its cage, but what about now?
The two enormous flying monsters were pressed onto the execution platform, their nine heads locked in shackles, with large pits dug beneath them filled with filth dumped from the army's dung buckets.

In the midst of the beast's nine heads' utter panic, hundreds of soldiers pulled with all their might, like in a tug-of-war, dragging one of its heads into the cesspool. The ropes in the cesspool tugged powerfully, pulling the ghostly head down until it finally disappeared into the chaotic, yellowish filth. Meanwhile, the body spread out on the platform shook violently, its wings flapping in an attempt to break free.

When the large bird's head was pulled out, all its ferocity vanished. Aside from being extremely dirty, it became benevolent and began grooming the feathers of the other heads that had been constantly fighting.

After being cleaned, this bird head no longer resisted, while the other bird heads that had not been soaked in the "golden juice" looked incredulous. However, the military order had been given, and every bird head had to go through this "underworld".

And so, three days after entering the camp, the ghost was tamed. No one noticed, however, that there seemed to be tiny insects in the ghost's pupils.

Wu Hanluan understood that the Golden Dou Realm had a side effect: all the animals released back from the Golden Dou Realm would bring back a plague.

After the ghost carriage was tamed, it flew south in a circle under Wu Hanluan's orders, while on the south bank, Changcheng was brightly lit...

…The perspective shifts to the south…

Inside Yongji Pass, Wu Fei read a letter from home, in which he was assured that everything was well. The letter then requested urgently needed supplies, the most important of which were medicinal herbs, followed by earthenware jars.

Wu Fei immediately made arrangements, issuing orders through various channels, demanding that no expense be spared in the procurement.

Wu Fei paused and muttered, "After the great battle, there will surely be a great plague. Hmm, Uncle has considered things very thoroughly. But then I noticed the following qualifiers, 'Don't let other families get there first,' and 'Bandits are rampant in the Yunmengze region, so don't be complacent.'"

Wu Fei unfolded the silk cloth, looked at the map, and was puzzled and confused.

After a cup of tea, Wu Fei pointed to the area on the map where the evil dragon and the aquatic creatures were entrenched: "Could it be that these traitors are planning to spread a plague?"

Because they were separated by thousands of miles, Wu Fei didn't know what his uncle's army had encountered in the host country, but he still did his best to make arrangements.

…a thousand miles away…

Inside a red mansion in Changcheng, the servants of a wealthy family were discussing matters with the personal guards of two other large camps. But after finishing their discussion about wine and women, they began to plot.

The servants of the wealthy family cautiously explained their assigned tasks, while the personal guards laughed and said, "Leave it to us. But we need information from Changcheng about the Wu family army camp in the north."

Previously, the powerful clans in the city had deployed the Wu family army to the remote and desolate north, hoping to "eliminate all three evils" or at the very least, to ensure that both sides were completely weakened in the ensuing conflict. No matter how naive or childish this idea may be, some outstanding individuals who had been considered "intelligent" since childhood had already begun to design according to this plan.

Now that the ghost carriage has been subdued, the Wu family army has firmly established itself on the north bank, while the southern merchants under its command have become bandits, causing harm to all sides.

The scholars of Changcheng were deeply indignant about this, so they decided to contact the two major camps in the south. Since the north allowed its soldiers to act as bandits, why couldn't the south do the same? In particular, the northern camp had a number of villages gathered there, which they could now plunder.

…The dividing line between a novice and a master…

In January of the 28th year of the Tianli reign, a major epidemic broke out in Changcheng.

The plague was fair; everyone in the city, rich or poor, was infected with dysentery, especially the wealthy. Every day, sick servants were abandoned outside the city.

The desirable position of servants in powerful clans, which in some novels from Xuan Chong's previous life promised "free food and lodging and lifelong employment," was actually only available in peaceful years. In years of disaster, it was a case of "if you can't make it, someone else can." Servants in large clans were often recruited during years of disaster.

Of course, right now, the servants of wealthy families are either sick or collapsing, and those masters who used Five-Stone Powder for entertainment are even more doomed. They often die suddenly after drinking. And the children in the mansions are dying young.

On the contrary, some of the poor and lowly, after running out of the city, came to the soup kitchen set up by the Southern merchants outside the main camp north of Changcheng. They drank a bowl of herbal soup, suffered from diarrhea for two or three days, and then recovered. They then headed north into the main camp to perform corvée labor for the army.

This major epidemic left nine out of ten houses in Changcheng deserted. Just months before, people were supposed to be celebrating together, but now they had all left the city to avoid the ravages of the epidemic. Due to physical separation, some secret plans were thus thwarted.

As for the two armies sent to suppress bandits in the south, they were not spared either. The rampant plague decimated their fighting strength, and even the elite family troops suffered from vomiting and diarrhea. Due to the ravages of the plague, the people gathered in the two southern camps quickly scattered, and the army was demoralized and lacked firewood and food supplies, so it had no choice but to retreat south and withdraw from the battlefield. For a time, only the Wu family army camp on the north bank remained near Changcheng.

The capital was furious and reprimanded the local governor for his inadequate divination, which led to the disaster.

Meanwhile, an imperial edict was sent to Wu Hanluan's military camp, commending him and rewarding all members of the Wu family for their merits. Incidentally, in the edict, Wu Fei was officially granted the title of Lieutenant General for his meritorious service in guarding the southern border.

…in the Yunmeng Marsh…

On atop a towering, floating building, inside a giant wooden ship, a woman gazes at Changcheng, shrouded in the miasma of plague in the distance.

As the core of the banditry as defined by Da Yao at this time, Yu Li did not take advantage of this opportunity to lead his aquatic tribes to take Changcheng. Instead, he watched warily as two ghost chariots hid in the dark clouds in the sky.

As a descendant of the spirits of the lake, she possesses strong spiritual insight and learned from the source of the evil aura that this great plague was actually related to these two evil birds!
……

At the end of the year, Wu Fei personally escorted a batch of supplies northward to supply the main camp. Twenty wooden oxen and flowing horses carried forty tons of goods, or 1,300 shi (a unit of dry measure), to the main camp. These supplies included sulfur, saltpeter, and medicinal products, which were currently in short supply for the army.

Wu Fei only stayed in the camp for one day. As a checkpoint commander, leaving his post without permission would be grounds for attacks from the local powerful clans if it became known. Of course, the war at Yunmengze was still ongoing, and given the court's reliance on the Wu family army, they would likely not bother with such a trivial matter. It was simply that Wu Fei's personality dictated avoiding trouble.

Inside the tent, Wu Fei met his uncle, as well as Wu Hengyu, who was clearly a show-off.

In the battles between the Wu family army and Yunmengze over the past few days, Wu Hengyu has repeatedly led from the front, displaying considerable domineering prowess. His tactic is simple: he uses himself as the center, charging into the enemy's heart to create chaos, while his other soldiers then follow suit, attacking wherever the chaos ensues.

If the enemy doesn't want to be scattered, they can only reinforce their lines and stick together. But if they adopt a turtling formation, the same number of troops will be surrounded from all sides! At that time, under the Taurus charge, their fate will be like a walnut trying to lift a hammer—they will collapse even more completely.

Wu Fei's comment: This tactic has some characteristics of "a brute teaching a scholar a lesson," provided, of course, that the man himself is such a sharp "spearhead." If he isn't sharp enough, then he's like Sun Quan.

When the supplies were delivered to the camp, Wu Fei saw Wu Hengyu riding on horseback. No one dared to look him in the eye. Clearly, after several battles, he had become extremely powerful.

Wu Fei was quite envious of this. Back then, even after winning the battle to defend the granary, he still had to guard against the captains of the conscripted peasant soldiers who would vie for credit and pursue the enemy without permission. It wasn't until Zhao Tu arrived and beheaded several people that this chaos was finally resolved.

Wu Hengyu joked with Wu Fei in front of the military warehouse.

He rode on his horse, holding the spearhead, and brandished it near Wu Fei's face, glancing at him knowingly and asking, "Who is this? Why didn't you announce yourself when you saw this general?"

Wu Fei immediately raised his hand, grabbed the tip of the spear, and flicked it aside. Note that because Wu Hengyu did not use any force, it was very easy.

Wu Fei looked up at the conspicuous bag and said irritably, "Don't delay my work!"

The supplies being stored at this time needed to be categorized. For example, saltpeter and sulfur had to be stored separately in special dry earthen cellars. — During this storage process, Wu Fei was also monitoring the army's current warehouses.

Wu Hengyu, who had gotten the better deal, chuckled: "The storage is perfectly fine here, you're just being nosy. Hurry up, your father is waiting for you in the camp."

……

In the main camp, Wu Hanluan was touching the wooden ox and flowing horse. The three-zhang-long vehicle, the large sail that fluttered in the wind, and the single wheel at the bottom with a width comparable to a tank track gave the wooden ox and flowing horse the quality of "big is beautiful".

Wu Hanluan had heard about the tactic of using wooden oxen and flowing horses to charge into enemy lines by borrowing the wind from the battle report of Yongji Pass, so he asked Wu Fei to bring these items. After seeing them today, he realized that they were of great use.

After Wu Fei entered the tent, Wu Hanluan inquired about the details of the wooden ox and flowing horse. Upon learning that this object shared the same origin as the compass chariot made by the ancient "Feng Hou," Wu Hanluan looked at the jadeite on the chariot's front, which resembled a steering wheel, and exclaimed, "It still needs a precious jade to communicate with the flow of heaven and earth."

Then, Wu Hanluan took out a precious jade disc from Donghua County and asked, "What do you think of this?"

Wu Fei paused, raised his hand and stroked it, discovering that the "Yin Yang Calculation" Dao power inside was flowing smoothly, indicating it was a spiritual material. He looked up and asked, "This thing is usable, where did it come from?"

Wu Hanluan: "About 800 li to the south of this place is Huaiyu Mountain, which produces a lot of precious jade. Nobles in this place compete to wear it."

As for the other items, Wu Fei could guess that they were mostly gifts from local prominent families.

In this world, jade is not merely a gemstone, but a strategic resource. It is used in Taoist cultivation, worn in Confucianism for its emphasis on balance and harmony, and even in rituals to communicate with spirits. Of course, Wu Fei's current unorthodox practice also requires jade.

At that time, the jade mined in southern Xinjiang was not of high quality; due to its brittleness, it could not be processed into large objects. Wu Fei had heard that a sword carved from pure jade, once its patterns were completed, could be indestructible, and he had attempted to imitate it using jade. However, when the power of the divination exceeded a certain amount, internal cracks appeared, and it subsequently collapsed.

Therefore, in Wu Fei's Gewu Laboratory, jade is merely a palm-sized spiritual object embedded in various devices and connected together.

Wu Hanluan said to Wu Fei, "You have done a great job in the Southern Frontier, but the Central Plains are rich in natural resources. Don't be content with a small corner of the country and become a local tyrant."

During the conversation, Wu Fei confirmed one thing with his uncle: he had a new source of income from spiritual materials. The production of war chariots like the wooden ox and flowing horse needed to be increased.

Wu Fei looked at his uncle with confusion and tentatively asked, "Isn't the imperial court going to investigate? (Unauthorized construction of war chariots is a serious crime.)"

Wu Hanluan glanced at Wu Fei, his meaning clear: "Even if we investigate further, haven't you already overstepped your bounds?"

Wu Hanluan: "The world is in chaos. It is not that we privately manufacture weapons, but that we have captured foreign weapons and then copied them."

While Wu Fei hesitated, Wu Hanluan said leisurely, "Could it be that you don't think you're the only one who can use unorthodox puppetry techniques to create war chariots that can move with the wind?"

Wu Fei was slightly taken aback, then realized: That's right, after coming to this world, he had seen a lot of things related to divination and confirmed that he was not the kind of person who was "exceptionally talented". Many of the ideas that came to him in a short time had already been tried by people here.

Wu Fei asked Wu Hanluan, who then opened the silk map and clicked on the "giant sailboat" on Yunmeng Marsh, which looked like a map menu button.

As Wu Fei's gaze focused on this object, an illusion appeared in his eyes: on the misty Yunmeng Marsh, a large treasure ship forty feet long was flying in the air with its sails raised!

This celestial vessel is the very vessel belonging to the traitorous retinue that was in Yunmeng Marsh.

(End of this chapter)