Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 18 Leading the Army
Wu Fei (Yuan Chang) and Wu Hengyu met.

This was the first time Xuan Chong had met him since his transmigration. The original body's "memories" from before the transmigration weren't in his mind, but only in the visual data provided by the system. After searching, Xuan Chong confirmed that his "self" and this cousin were "birds of a feather" in their childhood, climbing beams together, beating dogs together, lighting fireworks together, and wielding wooden swords together.

Now, seeing Wu Hengyu staring straight at him, Wu Fei couldn't help but feel a little flustered.

After staring at each other for a while, Wu Hengyu walked over like a tiger descending a mountain, while Wu Fei stood guard like an antelope with its horns pointed at its back.

Well, Wu Fei's vigilance was completely useless; he was knocked down with a single slap from the tiger.

Wu Hengyu seemed to be greeting him, then "lightly" threw a straight punch at Wu Fei's shoulder, instantly piercing through Wu Fei's block. Before completely crushing Wu Fei, the force softened, and he stopped.

Wu Fei hurriedly took two steps back, trying to dissipate the force. However, it was no use; even after Wu Hengyu withdrew his fist, the force remained on Wu Fei's shoulder for quite some time.

……

Xuan Chong was very surprised. How could this force remain on his body? What kind of physical law was it?
The system replied: "This system is the 'History Department.' Please ask the 'Physics Teacher' about these questions. My database only contains history information, so please do not ask irrelevant questions."

The system has now mocked Xuan Chong's inquisitive nature more than once, with phrases like "Did your math teacher teach you PE?" or "Did your physics teacher teach you history?" constantly popping out of the system's narrative. It seems that even in the 40th century, these weren't exactly compliments.

Xuan Chong: Tch, if you won't teach me, then don't!

Xuan Chong didn't get bogged down in the details. The reason he asked was that he wanted to use this phenomenon to incorporate it into the aura patterns on his armor. According to the tadpole script system given to him by his third aunt, there was indeed such a "force stagnation" phenomenon. If he could understand it and make use of it, then... well, you know.

…Right now, it's useless…

Wu Hengyu said critically, "Que'er, you've already commanded an army, but why is your spirit still not as good as the cook's?"

Wu Fei immediately retorted, "How can you compare to me? You ate well and slept soundly on the mountain! Tsk tsk, you came down the mountain all alone. Why didn't you bring back a fairy sister-in-law?"

Wu Hengyu's gaze had already turned hostile.

But Wu Fei, oh no, Xuan Chong, fully demonstrated his "stubbornness." He kept glancing at the fist the size of a sandbag, his feet moving back and forth with feints and real steps. If the fist landed again, he would immediately turn and run. But now! When the enemy retreats, I advance; when the enemy camps, I harass.

Wu Fei: At home, with the elders watching, you blockhead dare to hit people?

Wu Hengyu darted over in a flash, and before Wu Fei could react, he put his arm around Wu Fei's shoulder and locked him in a tight grip. He smiled as he looked at Wu Fei, who was wincing in pain, and said, "Come on, Father is waiting for you. Let's go inside and talk."

Wu Hengyu felt that Wu Fei was really a case of "when the cat's away, the mice will play," but this kid who used to follow him around getting into trouble as a child would behave after a beating. Sure enough, as soon as he clenched his fists and made a cracking sound, his cousin's expression became shrewd and wise.

Wu Fei and Wu Hengyu didn't have much of a grudge; in fact, you could say they had a pretty good relationship.

Between blood relatives, arguing and even throwing punches are hardly conflicts. The real conflicts are those where people smile to your face but tattle and play dirty tricks behind your back.

As long as conflicts within the same clan are settled face-to-face, and both sides still live under the same roof, exchanging witty banter and playful insults at home, there will be no lingering grudges. —Those life-or-death struggles are often instigated behind the scenes. And neither Wu Fei nor Wu Hengyu has any women instigating them to fight each other in the inner quarters.

In the Wu family ancestral hall, Wu Hanluan was not wearing military uniform this time, but dressed in plain clothes.

This time, Wu Fei and Wu Hengyu did not formally ask the soldiers for instructions as they would in the army, but instead, as family members, they paid their respects to their elders.

Regarding the handover of defenses at Yongji Pass, Wu Hanluan stated that he had received the pass preparation work submitted by Wu Fei, and the people sent there would follow suit. The invoices signed by the Wu family and merchants using Wu Fei's methods would also continue.

Wu Hanluan pointed to the family's accounting office, indicating that Wu Fei would still have to handle the year-end accounts. Wu Fei could only acknowledge the responsibility, since it was he who had proposed using merchants to gather intelligence on local products and population to help plan how to solve the army's food problem during the march.

The customs office controlled by Wu Fei is now a cash cow for the Wu family to support their army.

…Confidential matters require secret discussion…

The two heirs of the Wu family returned at the same time, and the servants began to busy themselves. Fires were lit in the kitchen, while the front hall was swept every three hours. Water was drawn from the three wells in the house by wooden buckets.

After the family banquet, Wu Hanluan took two male members of his household to the library and explained the current situation facing the Wu family. He produced a document from the imperial court ordering the Wu family army to relocate to the lower reaches of the Lei River.

"Is the imperial court about to mobilize a large army?" Wu Fei said, flipping through a large pile of bamboo slips. These slips contained information gathered by Wu Hanluan's spies in various cities. Although there was no indication yet of changes in the prices of iron and grain, the horse administration in various regions was already making significant moves.

Xuan Chong's history textbook states that feudal dynasties had limited ability to implement economic policies before wars; their control over grain, iron, and salt was sluggish, but their control over horse administration was the most responsive. After all, the officials in charge of military taxes were the "Sima" (司马).

Wu Hanluan unfolded the silk map, pointing to the Lei River, five miles east of Tianchi City. The lower reaches of this river flow through the entire prefecture. A rebellion had occurred here during the reign of the late emperor, at which time the court dispatched a large army to suppress it. The court's "Investigation Bureau" has now confirmed that the group that rebelled back then is now regrouping. Furthermore, their activities have also been detected in the neighboring Zhuzhou.

Upon hearing this, Wu Fei nodded at first, then paused slightly, because when searching through his previous memories, he found that this rebellion was quite outrageous.

The rebellion in the lower reaches of the Lei River was a so-called "union" that defied the dynasty. At the time, the rebels called themselves the "Union Army." When faced with the army of Da Yao's suppression, they politely sent envoys from the city. The envoys arrogantly declared: "We will use the title 'Sir' to address the officials of the surrounding prefectures and the generals who are leading the suppression; we will abolish all titles of nobility, such as kings and lords." They argued with conviction that "everyone is equal."

Of course, in the end, this communist army ran out of ammunition and food while defending the city. The so-called "equality" eventually turned into cannibalism when food was scarce.

Wu Fei: Good heavens! In the era of cold weapons—no, there were still firearms, it should be said that in the era of a stable dynasty—they jumped this far, playing the "republic," and even politely saying to the dynasty's marquises, "Sir, we should do this and that." Which idiot went crazy and time-traveled to play house? Hmm, if they really wanted to enter the modern era, their historical steps should be like Huang Chao's: "I let my flowers bloom and kill all flowers." After conquering the city, they uprooted the powerful families according to the records in the family genealogies.

…As a student, if you encounter something you don't understand, you should start raising your hand…

Xuan Chong: "System, system, look at this thing!"

In response to the students' overreaction, the system stated: "The erroneous input of the wandering spacetime force into this spacetime has been punished!"

Xuan Chong: Hmm? — Unlike before, Xuan Chong heard an unusually stern tone from the system, as if a teacher were describing a situation where a student was caught in an internet cafe.

System: "I have nothing else to say. (A tiny note at the bottom of the screen: The question is beyond the scope of this topic.)"

Xuan Chong was stunned for a moment, then shivered a few seconds later! He thought of a possibility: maybe some transmigrator was about to show off their skills, but then their cheat ability was deleted halfway through!

Come to think of it, what normal person would act so ahead of their time in an era of cold weapons? This time traveler might be just as overconfident as he was when he first arrived (Xuan Chong), perhaps even more so, planning to whip up a machine gun and sweep through the world within a month. That's why he was so brazenly arrogant. And what happened? He got punished.

Those who waved their so-called "civilization" and "cooperation" failed to grasp the core needs of local forces to build a base, nor did they create military victories to shake the foundation of the old ruling system. Instead, they prematurely declared victory by simply changing the names of the ruling individuals and the system, much like Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor.

Xuan Chong (shrugs) is both sympathetic and speechless: This is definitely going to go awry. The system can't cover for you. The time-space cheat can be punished, so...?

Xuan Chong glanced at the system and began to reflect on his situation over the past three years. He was certain that in this era, he had been "realistic" and "diligent in his studies," and had not developed the bad habit of seeking everything systematically. He was not overly reliant on the cheat system. Hmm! (Self-affirmation)
…Just as Xuan Chong was reflecting on his actions, another wisp of blue was kicked out of his body…

Twenty feet away from Wu Fei and Wu Hengyu's study, Xian Daoren, as Wu Hanluan's advisor, should have been an outsider, cultivating his qi and practicing magic in his own residence.

Meanwhile, he unfolded a painting in the room. The painting depicted an old man and two young men sitting and talking around a chessboard. Every frame, the expressions of the old man and the young men changed, and the chess pieces being placed on the board in front of them also changed. He was trying to persuade a stubborn person at the invitation of his junior sister.

Now, the Taoist priest held a pen stained with blue ink and touched the forehead of the youngest boy in the painting with the tip of the pen. Strangely enough, the originally thick blue ink disappeared immediately after entering the painting.

Just as Xian Daoren was engrossed in his painting, the boy in his work suddenly frowned, his brush tip caught in the air, and in that instant, a large amount of ink leaked out, ruining the entire painting.

The Taoist priest stared at the painting, which looked as if it had bled and been soaked with ink, his face turning deathly pale. Then, he suddenly spat a mouthful of blood onto the painting. He quickly threw the painting into a copper basin beside him, and all the paint on the painting seeped into the basin, turning the scroll into a wet, white sheet of paper.

Xian Daoren then opened the eye between his eyebrows. This large eye looked around the room with an expression that did not belong to Xian Daoren, then fixed its gaze on the paint. Afterward, the color of the paint was withdrawn from the large eye.

After closing his eyes, Xian Daoren let out a long sigh. He opened the compass and kept turning it, as if he had failed to get a phone number and was repeatedly dialing it.

…the study remains a secret…

"Yuan Chang?" Wu Hanluan called Wu Fei out of his reverie.

"Ah, oh." Wu Fei logged back in.

Wu Hanluan did not pursue Wu Fei's distraction, but asked, "This time, we are ordered by the imperial court to send troops to Zhuzhou and Shuizhou. You told me before that the difficulty of this battle is that our army is fighting on foreign soil here."

He then unfolded the silk map and handed it to Wu Fei, saying, "Yuan Chang, tell everyone here."

Wu Fei: "As a guest army, we need local guides. Furthermore, all military supplies must be prepared before April. Because in May, Zhuzhou will experience torrential rains, and some lake and marshland areas will expand. Bandits from the rebellious areas will certainly take advantage of the reed marshes to harass our army's supply transport; and on the water side, although the river won't swell dramatically, the current will be rapid, making it difficult for the army to cross the river by boat. Also…"

After Wu Fei listed ten points, he was interrupted by Wu Hengyu: "How do you know so much?"

Wu Fei glanced at the old man: "Merchants consult the almanac every year when they go out to sell their goods. As a leading general, you need to quickly understand the local customs and culture, which requires dealing with these money-grubbing people."

Wu Hengyu opened his mouth, wanting to make a sarcastic remark about "the stench of money," but the words stuck in his throat. Realizing they were meaningless, he swallowed them.

Wu Hanluan: "The more you calculate, the more victories you will win; the less you calculate, the fewer victories you will win; if you don't calculate at all, you will not win. Yuan Chang, I'm entrusting you with the preparations before the expedition."

Now it was Wu Fei's turn to open his mouth as if to say something, but he held back in the face of his uncle's unquestionable gaze, lamenting inwardly, "How am I supposed to handle the food, drink, and sanitation for three thousand people, as well as the massive team-building event?"

The brief meeting in the study came to an end.

Wu Hanluan: "Tomorrow in the main camp, I will select the generals and officers of the three armies. What positions are you willing to assume?"

"I am willing to lead the vanguard!" Wu Hengyu declared.

"I am willing to lead the rear guard," Wu Fei said.

The two men simultaneously received the order, glancing at each other as they spoke in unison. It was as if, as children, they were simultaneously reaching for their chopsticks at a plate of chicken, only to find, after a brief struggle, that they had each taken the head and tail, leaving the other alone.

In the central command tent, the two tacitly agreed that Wu Hanluan would be in command.

Wu Hanluan looked at Wu Hengyu: "The vanguard needs to clear mountains and build roads, conduct reconnaissance and fighting. Can you take on this task?"

Wu Hengyu pledged: "I am willing to sign a military pledge."

Wu Hanluan nodded, then turned to Wu Fei and said in an unquestionable tone, "Yuan Chang, you will lead the central army in this battle!"

There was a moment of silence in the study as Wu Fei stared blankly at the heavy responsibility that had suddenly been bestowed upon him.

A moment later, Wu Hanluan added, "You are a prudent commander. If the vanguard of the army suffers a setback, you will be there to support Hengyu."

After the two left Wu Hengyu's study, Wu Hengyu punched Wu Fei again: "Don't hold me back."

Wu Fei replied curtly, "I am acting in accordance with military orders."

Wu Hengyu paused, wanting to say something more, but ultimately hesitated because he was wary of Wu Fei's so-called military orders, and arrogantly said, "Let's see what you have to offer to inherit the position of 'Master of War'."

At this moment, Wu Fei touched the feeling of Wu Hengyu's fist hitting him. Hmm, this time, it was quite decisive. The impact on his shoulder ended immediately, without any excess force remaining on his body. He did not feel any pressure from the force.

Wu Fei shrugged, feeling much lighter than before entering the study. If the pressure he had felt before was like the sweltering heat and humidity of summer, now it felt incredibly dry and refreshing. There was no dust or grime on him.

…After Wu Hanluan informed his family members, he then informed the other staff members…

Inside the inner hall, Wu Hanluan looked at the pale-faced Daoist Xian and asked, "Master? What's wrong?"

Xian Daoren: "It's nothing, just a slight error during the deduction."

Wu Hanluan nodded: "I have a batch of tonics to replenish qi and blood in my storeroom. If the mage doesn't mind—"

Xian Daoren quickly replied, "Thank you for your kindness, General. It's just a minor injury, nothing serious."

Wu Hanluan frowned: "But I have something to trouble you with, Master. Is the Master in good health?"

Xian Daoren quickly assured him, "Please give the order, General." — As for Wu Hanluan's tonics, Xian Daoren dared not eat them at all, so he quickly changed the subject and accepted the order directly.

(End of this chapter)