Taiheiki

Chapter 106 Big Customer

"Ayun, if you're not feeling well, just lie down. There's no need to get up to greet me!"

"Haha! I didn't expect Wei thief Cao to be such a considerate and affectionate man!" A burst of laughter came from behind the curtain. Wei Cong immediately realized that it was not his concubine Ayun. He put his right hand on the hilt of the knife and shouted, "How dare you, thief, hide in my inner chamber!"

"We're old friends, Mr. Wei, why are you being so rude?" The curtains parted, revealing a yellow-robed Taoist priestess sitting cross-legged. Her waist was as slender as a willow, her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her eyes were like stars, a touch of red plum blossom makeup was placed between her brows, and her black hair was tied up with a white jade crown. It was Lu Ping. Wei Cong's face darkened. "It's you, where's A-Yun?"

"Well!" Lu Ping casually pushed aside the blanket behind her, revealing the unconscious Ayun. "I used some medicine to make her fall asleep. She will wake up later. There's nothing wrong with her body. Don't worry!"

Wei Cong snorted coldly, his eyes glancing around, looking for a place where people or animals could hide. Lu Ping guessed Wei Cong's thoughts and said with a smile: "Ali is not in the house, you can rest assured!"

Wei Cong felt a little relieved upon hearing this, but he also felt that his behavior was a bit embarrassing. He sneered and said, "Why did Xiangu Lu come here without telling you today? Like a thief?"

"Lu Xiangu, that's a nice name. Let others call me that from now on!" Lu Ping smiled. "Wei Langjun, when I jumped off the cliff to escape last time, you didn't let your men shoot me with a crossbow, and I also asked Ali to return the bow to you. You and I actually have no grudge against each other, so why do you always have a stern face? As if we were your lifelong enemy?"

Wei Cong felt a little embarrassed after hearing what Lu Ping said: "I am a court official, and you are a wild monster. Naturally, I have to be on guard!"

As soon as Wei Cong said this, he knew he was wrong. He heard Lu Ping laugh and say, "Mr. Wei, do you think I'm the same as when we first met? Are you now a thief official? A lieutenant in charge of suppressing rebellion? Or a general in crimson robes? You should figure it out yourself!"

Faced with Lu Ping's sharp words, Wei Cong was speechless. He sighed and said, "Well, what on earth do you want to do this time?"

Lu Ping smiled, took something out of her sleeve, and placed it in front of Wei Cong: "Do you recognize this? Did you make it?"

Wei Cong took a closer look and saw that it was a ruler-shaped knife. Judging from the temperature of the steel, it must be made in-house. There was nothing to hide about this. "Yes, it was made in my workshop. What's wrong?"

"I knew you were capable, but I didn't expect you could also forge iron!" Lu Ping's face flushed, and she was obviously extremely excited. "I won't hide it from you. The Heji Iron Shop is mine. Weren't your goods seized by the government in Yuhan County? Don't worry, I've also taken care of this matter for you. My people will hand over the money to that merchant named Zhu. You can just send someone to collect it!"

"You belong to Heji Iron Shop? That means most of the ironware I sold was bought by you!" Wei Cong's reaction was also very quick: "You want to rebel?"

"Wei Cong, don't you call yourself 'General Jiangyi'?" Lu Ping didn't answer Wei Cong's question, but asked directly, "Now there's an opportunity to become a real general. Are you willing?" At this point, her face straightened and she said solemnly, "Master Nanhua has issued a decree, ordering all Taoists in Jing and Yang provinces to revolt. I am the chief priest of Yuzhang, Jiujiang, Lujiang, and Danyang counties. After the rebellion, I will be the General Pingnan, commanding the believers in these four counties! If you are willing to join the rebellion, I will give you the position of General Pingnan!"

"Let me be the General of Pingnan!" Wei Cong laughed: "He's just a bandit leader, what do you mean by general?"

"You think we're bandits, but you're not much stronger now, are you? Don't you call yourself a general?" Lu Ping remained unfazed. "At least I have 100,000 followers under my command. That's much more than just a few hundred of you, right?"

"One hundred thousand followers?" Wei Cong laughed. "If you say one hundred thousand just by opening your mouth, then I have one hundred thousand here too. You can't count them one by one anyway!"

"Do you think I'm bragging?" Lu Ping said seriously, "I'm understating it. You have people from these four places under your command, right? You can ask them how many people there believe in Zhonghuang Taiyi. In the past twenty years, whenever there was an epidemic in these places, my sect's masters would spread talismans and water to save people. More than hundreds of thousands of people were saved, so why would it be surprising to have a hundred thousand followers? Besides, the number of iron artifacts my people ordered from there can't be false, right?"

Wei Cong tried hard to recall, and remembered that Huang Ping had mentioned to him that He Ji Iron Shop had indeed placed an order for 8,000 knives next month. Even if he was wrong, the weight of the various knives that had been sold was astonishing. Yes, those things were more like tools and farm implements than weapons, but the iron materials and craftsmanship used were definitely not bad!

"Well, even if you have a hundred thousand men under your command, I'm afraid you don't have any decent weapons, right? What's the point of buying all those scimitars? They can only cut bamboo slips, or at most protect yourself. You expect to use them in battle?" Wei Cong sneered. "Yes, I admit I don't have any decent weapons, otherwise I wouldn't come to you. But don't underestimate the things you sold me. Take the scimitar, for example. What if you attached a long handle to the back of the handle? Wouldn't that make it a spear? And a long-handled sickle can be used not only to cut wheat, but also to chop off heads, right?"

Wei Cong was speechless. Just as Lu Ping had said, the chi-long knives he sold only needed a slight modification to the handles, allowing them to be inserted into wooden handles as long shanks. Then, by sharpening the tip and both edges, they could become spears with a foot-long blade. While this shank attachment method could easily cause the sharp edge to break off when the wooden handle broke during a chopping blow, it was undoubtedly far superior to bamboo spears and wooden lances. As for the long-handled sickles, their use was similar to the long spears of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods: pulling, hooking, pecking, and cutting. They were common among ancient militias in both the East and the West. Considering the quality of the wrought iron, the hydraulic forging hammer, and the surface carbonization quenching techniques used in their manufacture, these instruments might even be more lethal than the ring-handled swords used by the government troops. After all, the long-handled sickles were longer and more easily used by farmers, who usually used them to harvest crops, but now used them to cut heads. With the number of cultists numbering in the hundreds of thousands, the situation was even more formidable.

"How do you think?" Lu Ping said with a smile, "What do you think of my proposal? As long as you give your nod, the power to command 100,000 followers will be yours. With these 100,000 people, it won't be difficult to capture Yuzhang, Jiujiang, Lujiang, and Danyang counties. No, even the entire Jingzhou and Yangzhou will not be difficult."

Wei Cong had to admit that Lu Ping had hit a nerve this time. His biggest need was manpower. If he could capture these 100,000 men, even if they were cut in half to 50,000, he could definitely capture at least Yuzhang, not to mention Jiujiang, Lujiang, Danyang, and Yuzhang. Yuzhang County (Jiangxi Province) was characterized by being surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing a river on one side. To the northeast, it was separated from Zhejiang Province by the Huaiyu Mountains; to the east, it was separated from Fujian Province by the Wuyi Mountains; to the south, it was separated from Guangdong Province by the Dagengling and Jiulian Mountains; to the west, it was separated from Hunan Province by the Luoxiao Mountains; and to the northwest, it was separated from Hubei Province by the Mufu Mountains. Only the north, facing the Yangtze River, and the broken hilly terrain separating it from Anhui Province to the northeast offered relatively easy access. The rivers within Yuzhang County generally converged into Poyang Lake and then flowed into the Yangtze River, making water transportation between the counties within it very convenient.

In other words, if, as Lu Ping had suggested, they could gather a hundred thousand men and quickly capture a county, they could gather boats and ships, seize the lake mouth, and block the Yangtze River's access to the Poyang River system. Then, they could divide their forces and attack the various counties of Yuzhang Commandery by water, defeating them one by one. In three months at most, a month and a half at least, Yuzhang Commandery could be largely pacified. Then, they could either build ships to cross the river and coordinate with the rebel forces in southern Jing to attack Jingzhou from both sides. Or, they could advance both by land and water, downstream, conquering the Wu and Yue regions of Danyang, Wu Commandery, and Kuaiji, severing the Yangtze River, and establishing their capital in Jianye, following Sun Ce's original path. Both strategies had a high probability of success, far superior to simply holing up the tech tree in the mountains with a few hundred men, smelting iron and building populations.

Lu Ping was born into a family of witches and was very good at reading people's expressions. Seeing the change in Wei Cong's expression, she knew that she had persuaded him, so she smiled and said, "Mr. Wei, a real man born into this world should make great achievements and enjoy a great reputation, so as to live up to his life. You have the talent to be a general, but because the emperor is corrupt and the eunuchs are in power, the virtuous are not able to use their talents, and you have become a wanderer in the world. The way of heaven is unpredictable, only virtue can help. The court currently obtains official positions through bribery. Those with much wealth wear crimson, those with little wear blue, and those without wear brown. The prefectures and counties are filled with corrupt and ruthless people, caring nothing for their own enrichment. Furthermore, the Wuling barbarians are causing rebellion. This is Heaven's will for us. Going against it is an ominous omen and unwise. With your wisdom and strategy, how could you hesitate for a moment and miss this opportunity for eternity? "Having said this, she stepped forward and bowed to Wei Cong: "I am but a woman. If you, Lord Wei, wish to become a general, I will serve you with my humble demeanor at your feet!"

"Damn it, you even resorted to the honey trap!" Wei Cong cursed inwardly, forcing himself to look away from the beauty in front of him. He coughed twice and said, "I understand your good intentions, but this matter is beyond my control, so there's no need to mention it again!"

"Lord Wei, do you think what I just said was just empty talk? You don't believe I have a hundred thousand men?" Lu Ping said anxiously, "That's easy. You can send your confidant to go with me to investigate and then make a decision. Also, do you know who went to the county government to report you for selling ironware? That person was originally your subordinate, named Yuan Tian. He was born into the Yuan family of the Chen State and has an extraordinary status. Even if you don't do this, I'm afraid you may not be able to smelt iron here in peace!"

Wei Cong heard the threats and inducements in the other party's words: "Lu Jijiu, I killed the county lieutenant and fled, so I naturally don't care about another crime. You and I are old acquaintances. Today, I will be frank with you. The reason I don't want to accept your suggestion is not because I don't believe you have a hundred thousand people, but for other reasons!"

"So you don't trust me?" Lu Ping asked. "Then I can set up the Zhonghuang Taiyi altar, swear an oath to the gods in front of everyone, burn a talisman, and drink the water. Most of my magic is based on Zhonghuang Taiyi. If I break my oath, I will only destroy my foundation and live a life worse than death, so you can rest assured!"

"That's not necessary!" Wei Cong said with a smile, "Let me put it this way! I only have a few hundred men under my command, while you have a hundred thousand. Even if I become a general, it's just because of me. If you can make me a general, you can naturally kick me out of the general position. I won't do such things as making wedding clothes for others! As for things like oaths before the gods and talismans, I don't believe in them at all, so please don't mention them again!" He paused for a moment and said, "But we can continue this weapons business. You don't need to buy swords, sickles, axes, etc. and then modify them yourself. I can make you iron spearheads and ring-handled swords directly. How many do you want?"

"Really?" Lu Ping's originally disappointed face suddenly showed ecstasy: "That's great, of course the more the better!"

"Alright, then how about 20,000 iron spearheads and 8,000 ring-handled swords? The iron spearheads should be the kind with long, narrow blades and a hoop, about a foot and a half long! And for the ring-handled swords, how about a blade three and a half feet long, with a handle a hand and a half (can be used with one or two hands)?"

"Okay, okay!" Lu Ping was delighted and nodded repeatedly. "That's great. How long will it take to get the goods?"

"The iron we have now is definitely not enough. We need to restart the furnace to smelt iron, and we don't have enough manpower!" Wei Cong said, "How about this? First, send me a thousand strong men, as well as food, salt, two hundred cattle, and various other livestock! If we have enough manpower, it will probably take about two months! I won't take advantage of you. These people and other things can be used to offset the payment for the goods!"

"Two months?" Lu Ping gritted her teeth and said, "Okay, I'll send the things and people you want as soon as possible. You have to speed up the work too. I'll take as many as you can finish, and we'll ship them out in batches!"

"That's easy!" Wei Cong said with a smile, "You should have inquired about the situation here. As long as we have manpower, we can start work immediately! So the sooner you want to get the goods, the faster you have to send the people and the goods I want!"

"Okay, I've brought the payment for the ironware seized by the county magistrate last time, as well as that informer Yuan Tian!" At this point, Lu Ping stepped forward and gently grasped Wei Cong's right hand. "Mr. Wei, you should actually reconsider my proposal! Haven't you heard of the legend of the Xiangwang goddess? In the old Chu Dynasty, witches like me who served the mountain ghost and Xiangjun were also serving the king of Chu's concubines."

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Lu Ping had already left, but the air in the room was still filled with that pleasant aroma. Wei Cong rubbed his fingers together, chuckling self-deprecatingly, and walked over to the bed. The self in the bronze mirror felt familiar yet strange. Before the time travel, if a beauty like Lu Ping had even offered a few words of affection, he would have been completely captivated and willing to be driven by her. It wasn't like this now. The other party was in a position of power, personally seducing him, and had used all the chips he could, yet he could still calmly analyze the pros and cons, using her as a blood bag and cannon fodder. Perhaps this could be considered a sign of growth, right?
(End of this chapter)