Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 13 Bloodshed Beneath Prosperity

Thanks to Wu Fei's diligent management, Yongji Pass transformed from a place that was "tattered and shabby" to a prosperous and well-organized place in just six months.

However, the greater the prosperity, the stronger the corruption. As the saying goes, it's not scarcity that's worrisome, but inequality. Conversely, the more wealth is created, the greater the gap between rich and poor becomes. And the more the original order exploits the lowest strata of society.

Exploitation will lead to resistance. What can be done? Wu Fei: The only option is suppression.

In the military camp, a huge guillotine was erected. As the guillotine fell, heads rolled down one by one. These heads rolled from the platform to the ground with their eyes wide open in death. The soldiers, their faces stained with blood, watched this “beheading” process with glee, as if they were watching a movie.

…The terrifying machine of violence is becoming increasingly powerful under the influence of wealth…

From the perspective of soldiers like Zhao Tu, after the slave trade office came under the young general's management, it was because of his kindness that he took over the responsibility of caring for the slaves within the checkpoints from all the merchants, placing them under unified custody. In this process, the slaves were given far better treatment than they would have received from private slave traders. However, this "relaxed" prison did not elicit gratitude from the slaves; the loose bindings only gave them more opportunities to pick the locks. And the daily feasts only strengthened their conspiracies to "yearn for freedom."

In August of the 24th year of the Tianli calendar, during a torrential downpour, hundreds of slaves escaped from Yongji Pass. The escape not only forced Yongji Pass to compensate the slave traders for their deposits, but some of the slaves also set fires, causing damage to some of the city's infrastructure. The pulley systems of two cable-stayed bridge-style city gates were destroyed in the fire.

The slaves destroyed the crucial facilities of the passage in their escape attempt, but this alerted Wu Fei, as it could be a major problem in wartime. The trembling city defense officer later explained to Wu Fei that the West Market was divided into sections, and their garrison was located at those sections, with an additional barbican. He argued that the slave rebellion would at most only allow them to escape south from the city gates, and they wouldn't be able to breach the northern barbican.

The city defense forces of Yongji Pass reacted quickly to the rebellion, suppressing the small-scale slave uprising in just five hours.

Slaves without iron weapons, armed only with clubs studded with nails, were no match for armored, shield-wielding soldiers. These slaves from the southern frontier, who had once displayed impressive strength on the trading platform, did not deliver the muscle-bound, invincible scenes typical of Hollywood liberal protagonists when faced with a shield-lined formation and a hail of spears during the rebellion. Instead, the human wave on the armored reefs resulted in only blood splattering everywhere.

The slaves' bricks and wooden barrels were thrown at the army formation as if they were ants trying to shake a tree.

On the side of Zhao Tu's garrison, who were suppressing the enemy, this was their first time using force, having only tested their skills on pigs before. During the slaughter, the soldiers were completely absorbed in their own battle cries, their attention focused on the feeling of their spears piercing through flesh and blood, then being pulled out with a whoosh, and the impact of breaking bones and tearing flesh. As for the screams and pleas for mercy of the victims, they could not hear them.

From a third-person perspective, the sounds of soldiers' footsteps and the friction of their armor on the street were drowned out by screams, and blood flowed like a river. A blood-red, brutal atmosphere spread like a river.

Wu Fei, who was directing the assessment from the city tower, was such a third party: he could sense that the new recruits of the Wu family army were initially nervous, but once they were certain that their battle formation was invincible, they began to become bloodthirsty.

This sudden shift from "cowardice" to "I was actually very brave" is just like a primary school student's excitement when they first encounter a newbie in an online game.

After the suppression ended, Zhao Xianzhong, in order to live up to the "character" given to him by Wu Fei, prepared to offer his loyalty and planned to kill all the prisoners. However, Wu Fei ultimately ordered that the killing method be "one out of eight".

That is, an eight-sided die, the unlucky one who rolls an eight will be sent to the guillotine.

A few days later, the bloodstains in the city were washed away with clean water, and the bloody order was written in the cracks between the bricks and tiles of every street. Prosperity had returned.

…In prosperity, besides killing, there is also pleasure. …

In the commercial district of Yongji Pass, there was originally only one brothel, catering to the needs of the soldiers in the city. But now, as the soldiers in the city have begun to be purged and their pay is guaranteed, the soldiers who can save money spend less on brothels, but the number of passing merchants has caused the industry to expand dozens of times.

Coachmen and hired martial artists trespass into the poisonous and miasma-ridden southern frontier in search of wealth. Their adventures are similar to those of sailors during the Age of Exploration, thus requiring stress relief.

These days, there are no games, and alcohol is a luxury that can easily lead to trouble. So it's natural to want the city you settle in to meet that need.

The system provides historical lessons: the red-light district industry in the Netherlands was only abolished in the 23rd century (due to strong competition from intelligent bionic robots). Tracing the origins of this industry, we can go back to the time when the Dutch were still "seafaring carriers." In those days, red-light districts were a necessity for sailors. No matter how many movies and games about the Age of Exploration have been made since, one fact remains unchanged: sailors would seek out women as soon as they disembarked, and if they couldn't find any, they would cause trouble. And when they encountered villages and tribes with insufficient civilization during their voyages, in places without a regular army to maintain order, these guys who came out of the cabins completely unleashed their "primal instincts."

Oh, the American soldiers of later generations still retain this "original instinct" of their predecessors from hundreds of years ago, while the island nation, having no means of military resistance, can only create "Shibuya Ward" to control the destructive power as much as possible and prevent it from spreading in a disorderly manner.

…And right now, Yongji Pass is also such a land route node…

In Yongji Pass, while other areas implement nighttime blackouts, the Huaxianlou restaurant in the commercial district remains brightly lit all night. The owner of Huaxianlou is a woman—oh, it's Xiaoqing.

As for this snake woman, after the Battle of Red Serpent Mountain, she was essentially used up by Wu Fei. After Wu Fei removed her from the camp, he didn't intend to keep her. His original plan was for her to take the generous reward of one hundred taels of gold she had received as a spy and return to her hometown.

But for this snake woman, she no longer had a home. Given her status as a servant sold to a samurai family, she quickly found value in gathering intelligence.

Actually, this "job" wasn't assigned to her by Wu Fei; she developed it herself. In this matter, she fully utilized her identity as the young general's maid, perfectly investing her initial capital of one hundred taels of gold in the commercial sector. Of course, one hundred taels of gold wasn't much; her greatest asset was her so-called "young master Wu's maid" status. As long as Wu Fei didn't deny it, she would remain invincible in that business in Yongji Pass.

Wu Fei ignored her, but didn't deny her abusing her power. After all, the information she provided was quite important, helping him understand the increasingly complex distribution of underground forces within the Yongji Pass Commercial City.

Amidst the bright lights and bustling activity of merchants, some would inadvertently reveal the profits from their transport trips and the price fluctuations in various regions. This "useful intelligence" was only noticed by the female slaves who had served in the main camp. They then used this "value" that Wu Fei couldn't refuse to its fullest potential.

As for the various novel "games" at the Flower Fairy Pavilion? They could drain a person's ambition and spirit. —Therefore, Wu Fei did not set foot there.

I overheard the bodyguards discussing before entering the pass: Horned people are tight, webbed people are moist, clawed people are hot, and snake people are cold.

……

Yongji Pass was about to be developed into a medium-sized fortress with a population of four to five thousand, but bloodshed and whipping spread here.

For Wu Fei, who comes from modern civilization, this kind of development is quite dark. But to eradicate this darkness, one must fix the bugs in the Shit Mountain code, because the Shit Mountain code only works because of bugs.

Wu Fei had considered starting a workshop industry, but workshops require a population and roads to transport goods for processing. This is the border region. These conditions are lacking. Therefore, the current increase in population is insufficient for the workshops to absorb the workforce. Only when the population reaches tens of thousands and accumulated wealth further increases can the economic structure of Yongji Pass be upgraded.

At present, the core function of Yongji Pass is as a military fortress, serving the border defense troops.

For a border defense force, what is most important? It is combat effectiveness. Without combat effectiveness, when the enemy invades the border and we are at their mercy, all principles are just empty talk.

This world isn't Earth; the battlefield is rife with witchcraft and monsters. Soldiers, wielding halberds, stand in dense formation, forming a thorny wall. For what? For the people behind them? For the Great Yao Dynasty? Forget it. These grand principles are commonplace for Confucian scholars, yet they themselves never go to the battlefield. The only thing that can make these soldiers willingly fight is a bloodbath.

What is "blood reward"? It means that those who pay "blood labor" can have more power over those who do not pay "blood labor".

To put it more bluntly, right now inside Yongji Pass, those soldiers who followed Wu Fei in the bloody battles outside the pass, if they accidentally kill someone in a street fight, will only pay compensation, be imprisoned or exiled, and won't have to die.

Unless it involves heinous crimes, the crime of murder can be mitigated. This is not Wu Fei showing favoritism, but a principle tacitly agreed upon by the internal group. If Wu Fei does not abide by this principle, it would be an unfair treatment, and the soldiers would not resolutely obey orders on the battlefield.

That explains why those old soldiers dared to make a fuss when Wu Fei banned alcohol earlier! So much so that when Wu Hanluan dealt with this matter, he had to first confine Wu Fei to his quarters before dealing with the underhanded manipulations that caused the trouble.
Because Wu Fei had no blood to burn before, even if he had the title of junior general, it was useless. The old soldiers still called him "Little Sparrow" behind his back. Only after following Wu Hanluan on the southern expedition, fighting several tough battles and paying blood to burn, did he become a junior general.

The punishment for violating the alcohol ban had a profound impact on Xuan Chong (Wu Fei). It taught him that in the military environment, one should never trust an appointment letter; these men, who live on the edge, only recognize their leader, who also wields a knife. From Zhao Tu and others, it's clear that this army's style is "bloodthirsty."

On the front lines of fighting against foreign invaders, where would the land for farming come from if not countless lives were taken? Without the power of a sword, how can benevolence be highlighted?
Now in the slave market, the heads of all the rebellious slaves have been shaving and piled up into a mound. And those slaves who had been executed after being subjected to the "one-eight-fold rationing" all obediently returned to their cages and squatted down after passing by this mound, no longer daring to speak loudly. This was far more effective than Wu Fei increasing the slaves' food rations several months ago.

Xuan Chong set a small goal for himself (Wu Fei): to fight in this world without massacring entire cities.

…two days later…

Wu Fei looked at the mound of human heads. Most people in the city had become accustomed to this horrifying tower of human heads.

Most people didn't react to the Jingguan (a mound of corpses), but Wu Fei sensed a reaction. Xuan Chong raised his hand, and an aura lifted the glass, making it float in his palm. This aura was exactly what he wanted; Xuan Chong felt as if he were "pinching" the glass, which was solidified by the aura, and he could crush it if he exerted force.

Even when he was just holding the cup lightly, Wu Fei could feel the violent aura emanating from him. Tiny cracks appeared on the cup within the aura, making a creaking sound, just like the sound of a glass cracking due to uneven heating.

This has nothing to do with the strength of one's aura. It's just that the aura itself is like this, causing everything that one touches to be damaged. For example, if one touches a table, the wood grain on the table will slowly bulge out as if it had been exposed to the sun, like it's aging.

Wu Fei felt that this "aura" came from the Jingguan (a mound of corpses). —And Wu Fei could sense that Zhao Xianzhong possessed the same aura.

After inquiring, it was learned that this was malevolent energy.

Wu Fei recalled that when he returned to the camp, Wu Hanluan had struck him with a palm strike from a distance, and at that time he was trembling with fear.

Now, I have something like that myself! It seems I've committed far too many sins.

From that moment on, Wu Fei understood that he was completely destined to never cultivate immortality. This was because malevolent energy corresponds to spiritual energy. Spiritual energy is the essence of heaven and earth absorbed in remote, untouched places. In the "Human Path," Confucianism, Legalism, and the Military School all have their own auras. As a member of the Military School, he possessed the malevolent energy of war, which would be generated after any battle.

When a military general possesses a fierce aura, this aura can deflect swords and arrows, and at the same time, it can intimidate the soldiers.

Wu Fei had initially worried about what he would do if he encountered powerful enemies or monsters charging into his central army. If he ran away from the center, the entire army would be doomed if the flag faltered. But could he fight them off? In this world, it wasn't just cavalry that could charge into the center; monsters could too. But now, with the baleful aura, he could at least hold out for a few seconds.

With a crack, the cup, soaked in malevolent energy, shattered completely, turning into countless fragments as if it had been exploded by firecrackers. Wu Fei casually flicked his wrist, and the fragments shot out like slingshots, landing on the wall bricks and sparking a few sparks.

But then, as if remembering something, he asked the system, "Does this malevolent energy affect me?"

System: "No impact at present."

However, before Xuan Chong could even breathe a sigh of relief...

System: "This is because you controlled your emotions before the evil energy entered your body."

Xuan Chong was slightly taken aback. He recalled how he had tried to keep his mind clear when he watched the soldiers behead people earlier, and how he had restrained the thought of "let's just destroy it" when he reflected on the situation.

Xuan Chong then cautiously asked, "System, what if I had been carefree back then? (If I hadn't been so vigilant, I could have completely indulged in the upgrade.)"

The system said meaningfully, "Then..." It deliberately paused for half a second, "Who knows!"

Xuan Chong paused, looking at Zhao Xianzhong's side, who had been circling the Jingguan for several days in a row, still looking unsatisfied, and couldn't help but feel a chill.

Then I remembered the opening paragraph of a certain Taoist classic that I had read, which stated that cultivating the spirit requires a pure heart and few desires, while cultivating the evil requires insatiable desires.

Xuan Chong began practicing climbing, scaling the ten-zhang-high city wall, simply to test whether his "physical fitness tester" was functioning properly.

……

However, half an incense stick later, when Wu Fei climbed to the top of the city wall, he unexpectedly encountered Yao Sangu.

Aunt Yao gazed at herself, then said, "General, you look quite well today."

Wu Fei: "No, I'm just doing morning exercises."

Yao Sangu smiled mysteriously: "General, are you still troubled by the 'Condensing Evil' technique?"

Wu Fei paused slightly: "What guidance does the fairy offer?"

Aunt Yao took out a book, oh, a jade slip called "Treasury". Wu Fei had only ever seen bamboo slips in all his time traveling, never paper, but this was a book.

However, when Wu Fei took the book, he paused slightly, because the texture of the book was... leather.

Aunt Yao smiled mysteriously, "General, why don't you give it a try?"

When Yao Sangu descended the city wall, Xuan Chong opened the jade slip and saw "tadpole script". The way to read tadpole script is to stare at it, and then wait until your eyes are no longer focused. Each eye looks at its own thing, and the tadpole script will be misaligned and form normal characters.

When Xuan Chong tried to cross his eyes, tadpole-like characters began to fly into his eyes. Xuan Chong did not know that after the tadpole-like characters flew into his eyes, his eyes were flashing blue light.

However, at that moment, the system popped up: "Do you need 'translation software'?"

Xuan Chong paused for a moment: "Nonsense, of course we should."

Then, Xuan Chong saw familiar "Chinese translation group-style annotations" appear in his field of vision. Xuan Chong rubbed his cross-eyed eyes, which had just become "wise" from trying to read the tadpole script. The blue light that had been in his cross-eyed eyes turned into eye boogers, which fell out of the corner of his eye with a splat.

……

As the third aunt descended the city wall, the smile that had been on her lips suddenly froze. She looked up at the city wall, and after a long while, she stomped her foot and left angrily.

(End of this chapter)