Start with a photographic memory and build a memory palace

Chapter 61: A True Man Who Perseveres

……

"Meng Ben Camp is yours!"

Wu Wen patted Yang Ergou's shoulder encouragingly.

"Master, don't worry, I will do my best and will not embarrass you!" Yang Ergou promised solemnly.

"Yeah!" Wu Wen nodded slightly.

Master Zhu Jiu also showed a satisfied smile.

Then, Yang Ergou left and went to Mengben Camp.

At noon.

It's time to eat.

Wu Wen was eating leisurely in the tent.

At this time, Yang Ergou walked in.

Seeing him covered in dust and looking dejected, Wu Wen asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"

"Master, I lost!" Yang Ergou replied with a sigh.

"What's going on? Sit down and tell me slowly!" Wu Wen pointed to the seat.

Yang Ergou sat down and said slowly: "I went to Meng Ben Camp. Although those people knew my identity, they didn't say anything. But their attitude and eyes clearly told me that they were very dissatisfied with me."

"Of course I wouldn't just stand there like that. I told them at the time, if you're not convinced, come up and fight me. Whoever beats me will be given my position as leader. But..."

"In the end, you lost?" Wu Wen said with a smile while eating.

"Yeah!" Yang Ergou nodded and continued, "When I said this, a man jumped out. His name was Ma San, and he was also an old man from Mengbenying who had followed General Luo."

"I fought him for more than ten rounds, and I was about to win, but in the end he used a dirty trick, and then I lost!"

"Then, you ran back in shame?" Wu Wen continued with a smile.

"Yeah!" Yang Ergou nodded ashamedly.

“Hahaha!” Wu Wen chuckled twice and said, “It’s no big deal. If I lose, I lose. I can win it back next time.”

"But, I said, whoever beats me, I will give the position of leader to him." Yang Ergou sighed.

Wu Wen's expression changed, he looked at him seriously and said, "Remember, your position was conferred by the King of Qi, not everyone can take it."

"If you dare to give it, then go ask that Ma San, does he dare to accept it?"

"But I have already said it, and I lost the fight. How can I lead them?" Yang Ergou said.

"Ergou, you are still too straightforward. Sometimes people need to be a little thick-skinned. Even though you lost, you can win it back."

Wu Wen smiled and said, "Do you know the saying, 'No fight, no acquaintance'? There is a kind of relationship between men that is built through fighting."

He continued earnestly, "Compared to Ji Junxian, you don't have his intelligence and tact. If you want to convince those people in Meng Benying, you have to find another way."

“With those people, don’t reason, just fight. It doesn’t matter if you lose, just keep fighting.

At the beginning, when you lose, they will look down on you or even despise you, but if you lose many times and keep playing, then your indomitable and unyielding spirit will make them admire you.

In this way, you will become one with them, until one day you can defeat them and make them all your defeated enemies. At that time, they will be convinced by you and willingly obey your orders. "

Hearing this, Yang Ergou seemed to be thinking about something, and then he immediately perked up: "I know!"

Standing up, he headed towards Mengben Camp again.

On the side, Master Zhu Jiu looked at Wu Wen and said with emotion: "Ah Wen, I didn't expect you to know so much. It's really an honor for Yang Ergou to meet you!"

Wu Wen looked at him with a smile: "Master Jiu, I was just fooling him!"

"What?" Master Zhu Jiu was surprised.

"The method I mentioned may be useful, but its main purpose is to train Yang Ergou. First, it is to hone his will, and second, it is to improve his strength through fighting."

"Oh!" Master Zhu Jiu nodded slightly.

—

Night. All is quiet.

Xiangzhou City, inside the city lord’s palace
The Zhanbo tribe leader Wu Lian was discussing matters with several tribesmen, among whom were Zhan Feng, Zhan Yu and Zhan Lei, who had gone to recruit Wu Wen during the day.

"Chief, Wu Wen did not agree." Zhan Feng reported.

"How could this be? Didn't you explain the pros and cons to him?" The Faceless Chief frowned.

"We did tell him, but he didn't seem to care. He even denied that he had inherited the secret skills of our clan," Zhan Yu added.

The faceless chief was silent for a moment, then slowly said: "Then let's wait and see."

At this time, a tribe member couldn't help but ask: "Chief, why are you so persistent in getting Wu Wen to join our tribe?"

"Yes, Chief, he secretly learned the secret skills of our tribe. Logically, we should have captured him, but not only did you not do so, but you wanted to pull him into our tribe. What's the reason?" Another tribesman also looked confused.

The clan leader Wu Lian looked deep in his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Because he is from the Central Plains."

He paused and continued to explain: "Although our Zhanbo tribe has come to the Central Plains and taken refuge under the command of King Qin, we have a place to stay temporarily.

But in the end, the people of the Central Plains here always regard us as outsiders and are wary of us. This is not conducive to our people's reproduction and survival in this Central Plains."

“If Wu Wen, a Central Plains native, could join our tribe, the situation would be completely different.

He can not only serve as a bridge for us to communicate with the people of the Central Plains, but also help us better integrate into this environment and eliminate the Central Plains people's vigilance and prejudice against us.

This is very beneficial to the survival and development of our tribe.”

After listening to the chief's speech, everyone admired his foresight and nodded in agreement. At the same time, they secretly thought that they must do everything they can to get Wu Wen to join their Zhanbo tribe.

—

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

As winter turns to spring, the temperature gradually warms up.

The army that had been stationed for a long time was finally ready to set off.

Originally, after Liu Heita was defeated, all the places under his command should have submitted a letter of surrender to the Tang Dynasty, and then Li Shimin would lead the army to go through the motions to show acceptance.

However, a variable occurred in Shandong.

This man was named Xu Yuanlang, and he was also one of the leaders of the uprising army at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

Xu Yuanlang is a rather strange person. How strange is he?

Although he was the leader of the rebel army, he was like a fence-sitter and had no firm stance at all.

At first, when the Wagang Army became famous, he led his troops to join Wagang Li Mi.

With Li Mi's defeat, Xu Yuanlang immediately surrendered to Li Yuan with the territories of several states under his command. He was appointed as the governor of Yanzhou and was named Duke of Lu.

This could have been a happy ending.

However, in the second year of Wude, when Dou Jiande launched a massive attack on the Tang Dynasty, Xu Yuanlang immediately surrendered to Dou Jiande and led his troops to attack Luoyang with him.

However, before reaching Luoyang, Dou Jiande was captured alive by Li Shimin when passing through Hulao Pass.

Immediately afterwards, Xu Yuanlang asked for surrender to the Tang Dynasty.

Li Yuan did not hold him accountable for his past mistakes and continued to appoint him as the governor of Yanzhou. He only demoted his title of Duke of Lu to Duke of Lu County, which was considered a light punishment for him.

Originally, things should have ended here.

However, when Liu Heita raised his army and swept across Hebei, he defeated the Tang army several times.

Seeing how powerful he was, Xu Yuanlang immediately rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and joined Liu Heita.

But the result was that Liu Heita was defeated by Li Shimin again.

Now, Xu Yuanlang was in complete trouble.

Logically speaking, with his personality, he should have chosen to surrender this time. However, for some unknown reason, Xu Yuanlang, a serious fence-sitter, suddenly became tough this time. Not only did he not surrender, but he also wanted to confront Li Shimin.

Therefore, the army, which had originally planned to return home after just a formality, now had to go to Shandong to quell the rebellion.

……

(End of this chapter)