Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 93 Modern People with "No Shame"

Half an hour after the ambush at Yongshui, Tang Du'ao, his face bruised and swollen, was awakened by a basin of icy river water, his entire armor stripped off.

Wu Fei asked leisurely, "Who are you?" Two breaths later, only the sound of the river water lapping against the stones could be heard.

Undeterred by the lack of response, Wu Fei turned to look at another large net: "What kind of deer is that?" Still no response.

But the deer beside it made a "plop" sound and kicked violently. Its antlers creaked and scraped against the ground and stones as it struggled to break free of the net. This was because the Nine-Headed Phoenix, like a crow, was tearing at the nine-colored deer's fur, its nine heads taking turns pecking at it like rakes.

As Wu Fei's mount on his journey north, Jiu Feng faithfully demonstrated its obedience to its master in everything it did.

Wu Fei waved his hand generously: "Set up a pot to boil water, and save the deer blood for me. Take off the deer antlers for me; I want to give them to the commander."

This prompted Tang Du'ao to speak up, and he hurriedly shouted: "You madman, you do nothing but burn cranes and boil zithers! My deer is a rare species from the immortal abode."

Hearing the shout, Wu Fei nodded and then sent someone to ask his personal guard. —That was exactly what he wanted; otherwise, his soldiers wouldn't have dared to speak. They then approached him and stared at each other for a moment. Wu Laifeng pulled back the tent flap, and Wu Fei watched him quietly. After a long while, Wu Fei suddenly stepped out of the tent and shouted loudly, "Treat General Tang Du'ao well! Do not show him any disrespect!"

Then he shouted loudly to the people next to him, "Untie General Tang's deer as well, and have someone take care of it."

Twenty paces away from the tent, in the open ground, lay a group of Guan soldiers squatting; especially the personal guards brought by Tang Du'ao, all of whom looked up in this direction. These pseudo-Guan soldiers craned their necks to watch Wu Fei greet Tang Du'ao with clasped hands. Although they hadn't even had a chance to watch this scene before being whipped back (Wu Laifeng whipped them the hardest, clearly unhappy with Wu Fei's courteous treatment of Tang Du'ao, and the kid was venting his anger), this scene planted a seed of doubt in their hearts.

The soldiers speculated: Did their commander (Tang Du'ao) already know the Yao army generals?
In fact, Wu Fei had already obtained intelligence that this person was named Tang Du'ao, a scion of a prominent family in Yongzhou. He had been fond of practicing martial arts since childhood, and people were amazed by his talent. He was appointed as a captain.

Wu Fei also obtained a crucial piece of information: the nine-colored deer was a celestial beast cultivated by the "Wangheng Sect" of the Yongzhou Immortal Sect. To be precise, it was a fifteenth birthday gift given to him by his master on the mountain.

After witnessing his true abilities in this battle, Wu Fei couldn't help but sigh: "What a self-proclaimed genius, packaged by powerful families and put in charge of military affairs! Don't use your hobby to challenge our profession! If you really want to master the military system, you'll be able to do it right away. I've spent so many years memorizing the texts and applying them in practice before I can even go into battle. And you replace me with this 4+4? Doesn't that make me look stupid? How many Wu Hengyus are there in this world?"

Just as the team finished collecting their spoils and was preparing to leave, Jiu Feng let out a long cry as if its feathers had been puffed up. Wu Fei looked up and saw a sliver of sword light on the distant horizon.

Immediately, Wu Fei's murderous aura solidified, and he pointed to the horizon: "Hey, come here." — Wu Fei's tone was very soft, but the murderous aura acted as a medium, transmitting Wu Fei's rebuke to the horizon without any loss.

The sword aura on the horizon, struck by the baleful energy, was clearly severely damaged. The sword light sank and fell for a while before stabilizing and turning away.

…fairy spirits…

After stabilizing his spiritual energy, Tang Meng, a Golden Core cultivator, looked with lingering fear at the suddenly spreading wave of murderous aura on the now-concluded battlefield. He murmured, "What a ruthless general! This man's killing intent has been recognized by heaven and earth; a hundred years from now, he will be a ferocious god!"

He took a moment to regulate his breathing, struggling to expel the malevolent energy that had seeped into his spiritual power. At this moment, his spiritual power was as if it had been hit by a shotgun, with countless tiny fragments of malevolent energy embedded within it.

That is, he only made a brief appearance on the outskirts of the battlefield and did not get too deeply involved in the battle. If he had gotten any closer, he would have been mistaken for an enemy by the main army and reprimanded by Wu Fei, which would have cost him more than twenty years of cultivation.

…Back to the mortal realm…

After reviewing the information about Tang Du'ao's military operation, Wu Fei commented in his mind: "Good heavens, no wonder they rushed over in such a hurry, it turns out they're related. I wonder what the generals of Yongzhou were thinking, letting this impatient guy be the vanguard? Wait, are they trying to create a 'sending deer yesterday, rescuing them today' story? Heh."

Wu Fei, Gongshu Wang, and the other cultivators like the Third Aunt have been here for a long time, and they are gradually losing their fascination with the mystique surrounding cultivation.

He was fully aware of the destructive power of military aura on the spiritual energy of immortal cultivators. For cultivators, military aura and spiritual energy are incompatible, and Wu Fei had just poured a ton of water into the steel furnace of a Golden Core cultivator, causing it to expand and explode.

Now that Wu Fei has just won a battle, he is not just a ton of water; the murderous aura he possesses is equivalent to a lake.

…and so the battle came to an end…

Five hours later, on the night of the great battle, Wu Fei's soldiers were not vigilant and some prisoners escaped.

Back in Lu City, Wu Fei understood: it was now impossible to capture any city in Yongzhou. Twenty days ago, Yongzhou's forces hadn't been fully mobilized and assembled; at that time, Yongzhou was like a peeled chestnut—fragrant, but too hot to handle. While his own forces were small, he could still manage to snatch the chestnut from the fire. But now, Yongzhou was on high alert, like a coconut. The puppet regime, with military support from Guotai, was beginning to strengthen its forces in Yongzhou.

Because Tang Du'ao underestimated the enemy and suffered heavy losses due to his reckless advance, the Governor of Yongzhou will not mobilize a large army to attack in the short term.

However, Wu Fei wouldn't be idle. Compared to Wu Hengyu's domineering assaults, Wu Fei often preferred to use tactics like "subduing the enemy without fighting," which meant playing dirty tricks.

Furthermore, because Wu Fei has a modern mindset, he sometimes goes to extremes when it comes to using underhanded tactics!
Note: Modern thinking tends to show compassion towards those who cannot speak out; for example, "massacre" is always wrong, and requisitioning grain should ideally leave a sliver of food for all the people. However, when dealing with those who can speak out, both verbally and physically, modern people are utterly shameless. In the past, during the development of internet culture, the various behaviors of keyboard warriors broke the tacit understanding of the "cultured class." Such behavior was considered utterly baseless in ancient times.

As an outstanding right-winger, Wu Xiaoque completely disregarded the opinions of intellectuals.

…The operation is as follows…

After retreating to the south bank of the Yong River, Wu Fei began to see off the various noble families on the north bank of the Yong River. He declared that he was a benevolent and righteous army, and that his entry into this place was out of necessity. He said that he had met Tang Du'ao and they hit it off immediately, as if they were old friends. He also expressed his desire to befriend the young masters in the north.

This statement naturally drew scorn from the intellectuals, who began writing articles to curse him.

First, they cursed the southern barbarians, and then they exposed Wu Fei's so-called past, namely that he destroyed bamboo forests in the south, which was an insult to civilization.

Articles flooded in like a tidal wave of sharp blades, and any warrior of this era would surely be filled with rage after reading them. This was because they weren't just cursing his ancestors for eighteen generations, but also accusing Wu Fei of having incestuous relations with a different race in the south.

However, Wu Fei, being a gentleman on the internet, activated his skill: "Too many words, tiring to read."

Wu Fei only needed to make sure someone would talk to him. Then he announced that he and Tang Du'ao were already close friends, but according to the customs of his hometown, he needed to give some money to let him go back.

To the scholars of Yongzhou, Wu Fei's speech was like a 21st-century idiot spouting nonsense, only able to respond with "Let me ask you, let me ask you" when questioned, which naturally drew more criticism.

The scions of wealthy families in Yongzhou said, "How dare you, with your money-grubbing ways, ask about the price of Shi Lin Fanghua? It's utterly laughable."

Then, Tang Du'ao was released, while Wu Fei claimed that he had received the money.

…from the opposite perspective…

When Tang Du'ao returned home, he heard various rumors and immediately concluded that his family had indeed given money to that southern barbarian. However, his family members questioned him, "Have you really reconciled with the enemy general?" Tang Du'ao vehemently denied it, and his elders replied, "We didn't give that southern barbarian a single penny."

When Tang Du'ao went out, he was asked by other family members, "Brother, did you really become sworn brothers with that southern barbarian warrior?" Tang Du'ao denied it once, twice, three times, but people kept asking. What made him devastated was that his servant brought back a message: "Everyone outside is saying that the Tang family paid money. So they brought him back."

Tang Du'ao: "Didn't you say you didn't pay?" Servant: "But everyone outside is saying it."

Tang Du'ao sat at home in a daze, facing endless criticism. A month later, he set himself on fire at home.

…The performance art continued the next day here…

Upon learning that Tang Du Ao had committed suicide by self-immolation, Wu Fei rode the Nine Phoenixes and, in front of the merchants coming and going on the opposite bank, began scattering paper money—that is, ghost money cut from large tree leaves—box by box, while burning paper deer, all the while crying.

Wu Fei: "My good brother, I advised you not to go back long ago. We each serve our own masters. But you are not of one mind. You can still live here, but if you go back, you will be slandered."

Wu Fei's performance art was witnessed by many fishermen and merchants along the river for three consecutive days. With the help of some other factors, the news quickly spread throughout Yongzhou.

As Wu Fei's former merchant spies intensified their efforts, detailed versions of the story soon appeared on the north bank of Yongzhou.

New version of the story: Tang Du'ao and Wu Fei were already acquainted, but Tang Du'ao, upholding his integrity, had no intention of surrendering after being captured. Despite Wu Fei's persuasion, he refused to betray his benefactor. Wu Fei then used the fact that "many noble families in Yongzhou have already submitted to Da Yao" as proof, providing correspondence between them.

After Tang Du'ao returned, many scholars in Yongzhou feared that he would reveal the list of people in Yongzhou who wanted to surrender to Da Yao, which they had learned from Wu Fei. Therefore, these families took the opportunity to force Tang Du'ao to his death.

The shrewd people in charge of the various aristocratic families in Yongzhou cursed: This is a rumor, a complete and utter rumor.

But the common people below were willing to listen and spread the word. After all, the noble families packaged themselves as mysterious immortals and refused to let ordinary people see them. So the story of the fairy being humiliated became a popular tale.

As for the true identity of this aristocratic family residing in Yongzhou, with their hearts set on the Great Yao, and who they were deliberately disguising, Wu Fei, performing his act, did not reveal the answer.

Wu Fei: Not everything needs to be thoroughly investigated. Even something as seemingly trivial as lying on ice to catch carp wasn't thoroughly investigated. As long as someone sees it, just spread it.

Modern media studies suggest that if a person who constantly spouts nonsense sits in a position of significant influence, their pronouncements will be passively analyzed by both their likes and dislikes. The only way to break free from this cycle of being led astray by lies is to decisively silence the liar, reducing their volume to nothing.

But now, the people from Yongzhou can't beat Wu Xiaoque.

…Incompetent rage dividing line…

Governor Ji Fei of Yongzhou exclaimed, "Shameless words! How could there be such a shameless person?" Meanwhile, the eunuch who had come from the Prince of Bo's household was leisurely sipping his tea.
There's a lot of mixed news in Yongzhou right now, with all sorts of rumors circulating that "so-and-so is actually loyal to Da Yao," causing widespread panic. Although he has already given orders to completely ignore such shameless talk, claiming it's all just gossip from the other side.

Unfortunately, the news reached the Bo King's side, and as a result, the Bo King sent someone to inquire. What's worse, the Bo King's messenger told him that there were people in the court who had heard rumors that Ji Fei himself was on the side of Da Yao.

Startled and covered in a cold sweat, Ji Fei emphasized to the envoy, "I am not, I did not."

However, the envoy looked at him intently, his meaning clear: words are no guarantee. Thus, Jifei was left with no choice.

A few days later, Ji Fei launched a massive crackdown in Yongzhou. He rigorously investigated aristocratic families suspected of using divination, scrutinizing the members of each family. Numerous ruthless officials went to the surrounding countryside, arresting scholars one by one and imprisoning them. Initially, Ji Fei didn't want to go too far, only arresting and questioning some before releasing them. However, these scholars turned their anger towards him. In his fury, his advisor chimed in, "My lord, why not arrest them while simultaneously framing them, and ultimately execute them!"

As a result, he, who was already estranged from the aristocratic families, could no longer care about integrating into the local "refined" atmosphere. There was no other reason than that only if the governor of Yongzhou was a lone minister, could the suspicious Prince Bo feel at ease.

Note: When the rites and music system collapsed, military power was strong, and black could be turned into white. How much truth is in historical records?

…opposite to it, on the south bank of the Yong River…

While he was causing chaos in the north, Wu Fei was guiding a large number of people to migrate to the south bank of the Yong River and Zhenzhou.

Through investigation, Wu Fei discovered that under the deliberate control of these powerful families, ordinary people in Yongzhou lacked iron tools for farming, with only one iron tool available for every ten households on average. Furthermore, the powerful families did not allow water storage on the upper reaches of the Yong River, which prevented the Yong River from irrigating a series of canals upstream, resulting in a large amount of wasteland upstream that could not be cultivated.

After the King of Lelang wreaked havoc in Zhenzhou, a large number of household registrations were missing, and there was an urgent need for a large number of people to fill the gaps.

As for the local powerful families on the south bank of the Yong River, they don't have time to oppose Wu Fei's actions of impounding water and carrying out military reclamation upstream. They are embroiled in a host of troubles.

After conquering the city, Wu Fei did not massacre the inhabitants, but he did incur a large debt for each of the city's powerful families. Through these debts, Wu Fei spent some time extorting money from each family, and eventually all of them fled. However, only the direct descendants fled; a large number of collateral descendants remained in the area.

In response, Wu Fei conveniently relocated the aristocratic families on the south bank of Yongzhou. Among the large caravan of immigrants, many dejected aristocratic families gazed at their homeland, forced to wear straw sandals and head south into the territory of Zhenzhou.

If the core cohesion of these aristocratic families' direct descendants were still intact, Wu Fei's relocation order would have caused fierce resistance from these families in the localities; however, since Wu Fei had betrayed the core members of these families, their internal cohesion was also gone.

If Wu Fei had previously massacred the entire city, then these local aristocratic families would have re-elected their core members!

Wu Fei spared their lives, allowing these core family members to leave with their debts. Then, however, he seized them and forced them to return to their hometowns to collect the debts.

It's worth mentioning that the wives and daughters of these noble families released from the city were seized by the Wu family army (and distributed among the soldiers). They returned with this shameful state of affairs. This meant that for the past few months, they had the title but no real influence.

Historical Case Study: Modern History. After the Boxer Rebellion, foreign powers did not choose to directly destroy the Qing Dynasty, but instead allowed this shameless dynasty with its spine broken to continue. As a result, the East was unable to unite and do anything that a great power should do for ten years, allowing Britain to dominate the Yangtze River and extract profits from dozens of dreadnoughts every year.

Wu Fei followed roughly this process: first, he insulted the local powerful families, then gradually weakened them, and finally destroyed them.

A bloodless land ownership transfer was completed on the south bank of Yongzhou. A large amount of aristocratic family assets were incorporated into the military reclamation department under Wu Fei's command, while numerous collateral branches of the original aristocratic families were mixed up and relocated to Zhenzhou, completely severing their ties with the original land.

December 32, south bank of the Yong River.

Wu Fei began to plan the land, erect boundary markers, and distribute the land to the people on the south bank of the Yong River, and also recounted the household registration.

Because a large number of households that had been hidden by powerful families in Yongzhou were allocated land, Wu Fei's account books showed that after 6,000 households were relocated from southern Yongzhou, the official household registration on his side actually increased from the original 120,000 households to 180,000 households.

Many of the soldiers who were assigned to the city's women had reaped some rewards after their hard work, and thus settled down in the area.

(End of this chapter)