Liu Xuande would never be a succubus of the Eastern Han Dynasty!

Sheng Xian's route is the safest and there is no need to worry at all.

Master Lu and Liu Bei were responsible for moving south. The former took the waterway to Wucheng County, and then captured Yu, Qian, Fu and other three counties in succession, facing the main force of the Mohists.

The latter traveled by land and was responsible for Youquan and Haiyan counties.

Liu Bei rode forward, with the "tiger" Sun Jian on his left and the "mechanical girl" Mo Tong on his right, leading 1,500 elite soldiers from Wu County.

As for the 500 people brought from Shouchun County, due to the long journey, they were stationed in Wu County and were responsible for the safety of the city.

"Master Xuande, there's a woman on horseback chasing us!"

"Oh? Who is it?"

"It's the Lu family's daughter, Lu Qi!"

"call out--"

A white horse galloped from the flank and followed Liu Bei steadily.

"I'll go with you."

Lu Qi's lark-like voice rang out, and she also changed into her family's armor. She looked heroic, like a female general.

"Ha, that's interesting."

Since Sun Jian entered the city today, he didn't know the current situation. But when he saw Mo Tong and the "daughter of the Lu family" who was chasing him, he immediately knew that Xuande had "hooked up" with a few decent women in the city again.

He consciously stepped aside and thought to himself: my daughter was born not long ago, should I let her participate in this?

Sun Jian loves his daughter dearly, so the son-in-law he is looking for must be at least level 5A, right?

The five A's of a man refer to: appearance, personality, ability, background and ambition.

He naturally knew that there were very few people who possessed all five qualities, but wasn't there one right in front of him?

Liu Bei.

This guy hasn't even reached adult age, but his five items are not bad, and each one of them is even excellent.

Moreover, he is tolerant.

Those who hold high positions but are not arrogant to those below them are extremely rare in this era, let alone someone who treats Sun Jian with such courtesy!

Sun Jian was born into a poor family. Although he became a county magistrate with the help of his clan's resources in his early years and lived a relatively good life, deep down in his heart he always had a desire for war.

He is only in his early twenties now, which is the right age for him to ride a horse with a sword in hand and perform unprecedented feats!

But he suffered from the fact that things didn't go his way in life, he had no background and didn't know how to curry favor with others, so he naturally became depressed and frustrated over time.

Until Liu Bei appeared.

This young man is obviously too young, but his abilities and temperament are extraordinary. He not only knows how to govern, but also knows how to respect others. With such good looks, even immortals would probably find it difficult to reach his level, right?

Sun Jian was known as the 'Fierce Tiger of Jiangdong,' but he was far more shrewd than a tiger. When he saw the changes in Shouchun County, when he saw Liu Bei's appearance, when he saw Liu Bei's sincerity towards him, he understood one thing...

If you want to leave this place and go to a higher stage to achieve success in this life, then you can only do it by walking with this person!

"Why are you following me?"

Before Liu Bei could speak, Mo Tong beside him asked first.

"…This isn't a matter concerning one person or one family, but rather a matter concerning the entire county," Lu Qi said frankly, perhaps suggesting she simply didn't want to hide it from Liu Bei. "As one of the aristocratic families of Wu County, our Lu family also needs to convince the public with our 'merits'."

Although the Lu family is powerful, it is far from being able to completely control Wujun. If it wants to gain a foothold before other families and act as the "head of the family", it must have sufficient prestige.

Military merit is one of them, and it is extremely important.

The reason why aristocratic families are aristocratic families is that they originated from imperial power and official positions. They depend on the Han system for their existence, and naturally they also need the Han system to strengthen themselves.

"You guys are really going around in circles," Mo Tong curled her lips. "Aren't you bored of scheming and fighting all day long? If you have the time, why not unite and strive for a win-win situation..."

"Miss Mo, this is different."

Lu Qi was a traditional girl. She smiled and explained, "Looking back at ancient books, alliances between people can never last long. Only by uniting all under one family can we achieve a win-win situation."

"What a joke! That's only a superficial win-win situation," Mo Tong stuck out her tongue. "Instead of exhausting ourselves to maintain this shattered win-win situation, it would be better to overturn everything and start over again, returning to the ancient times of our ancestors, where there was no distinction between high and low, and no suffering."

"Why, Miss Mo, do you expect us to be like those barbarians, with no clothes to wear, no food to eat, and living in pain all day long?"

"...Alright, my path is completely different from yours, so don't continue."

Mo Tong felt a little lost, but also angry, so he turned to Liu Bei and asked, "What about Xuande? Which of our opinions do you agree with?"

Liu Bei replied with a smile: "I agree with both, but I also disagree with neither."

"Can you say something we can understand?"

"But it is common sense, my friend."

“…Common sense? But that’s not our common sense!”

"Alright, alright," Liu Bei nodded and replied, "To achieve a win-win situation for everyone, we don't need a single family to rule over everything, nor do we need to return to ancient times... We just need to liberate productivity and eradicate human selfishness."

"How difficult is this?!"

"correct."

Liu Bei leaned over and reached out, patting Mo Tong's head. He smiled and said, "We may find it difficult to solve the latter problem, but the former can be achieved through the Mohist mechanical techniques... Therefore, the dreams of all mankind lie in your hands, Miss Mo. You should encourage them."

Mohist Chronicles: Chapter 37: King Hongwen of Youquan County

Late at night, outside Quan County.

The main enemies responsible for attacking this side are bandits and refugees.

At the beginning, they all hid in the county town, pretending to deliver intelligence to Wu County, but in fact they were hidden assassins. They used the weapons and equipment provided by the Mohists and launched a surprise attack, killing the county lieutenant and many high-ranking officials in the county town.

Unfortunately, the then magistrate of Youquan County, Zhu Huan, was from the Zhu family, one of the four surnames in Wu Commandery. He had made great contributions in pacifying the Shanyue people and was transferred from Kuaiji Commandery to be the magistrate here.

Zhu Huan was a brave and skilled warrior. After being hit by three swords and five arrows from the bandits, he managed to fight his way out of the bandits' encirclement with just his sword.

Then, that night, he led Zhu's elite troops back and, while the bandits were busy looting people's property, defeated them all in one fell swoop and made them flee.

But these people were just the vanguard of the bandits. When the bandit leader Yan Baihu attacked Wucheng County, he heard that the plan here had failed, so he immediately ordered his brother Yan Yu to lead 3,000 soldiers to attack Youquan County again.

The dusk was as dark as ink, and three thousand bandits set up camp on the riverbank three miles outside Youquan County.

The tents are scattered according to the terrain, resembling a crouching tiger.

The chief Yan Yu's main tent was covered with tiger skin. In front of the tent stood several totem poles made of human bones, with the dried heads of refugees hung on top of the poles.

Five hundred cowhide tents were fan-shaped, each holding six people, and outside the tents were piled with wine jars and grain bags looted along the way.

In the stables and baggage camp, three hundred war horses were tied to wooden stakes soaked in tung oil, ready to be ignited at any time for fire attacks.

The campfires were like stars, illuminating the ferocious faces of the bandits.

They sat around the fire, cutting the half-roasted wild boar meat with daggers, and the fat dripping into the fire made a sizzling sound.

Some people were gambling, some were sharpening knives, and some were tying captives to trees and branding them with tiger-head tattoos with red-hot pliers. Screams and laughter intertwined into a symphony in the night.

A burly man with scars all over his face was sharpening an axe. The axe blade was stained with the blood of the refugees he had robbed and killed along the way.

The burly man grinned, revealing his ugly canine teeth: "Tomorrow when we take the city, I'm going to chop off a hundred heads!"

"Humph, you vulgar person, don't try to snatch the young man from me."

Beside him, a one-eyed man squatted on a treetop, spying on the city wall with a bamboo telescope. Under his eye patch was a centipede-shaped scar. It was said that he was blinded by an arrow shot by the defenders and then gouged out his eyeball with a dagger.

In the main tent, Yan Yu, the leader of this group of bandits, sat on a tiger-skin chair, playing with a bronze tiger talisman in his hand.

There was a scar on his face that stretched from his brow to his chin. When he smiled, the scar twisted like a centipede. "Mr. Bai, I'll let the brothers sleep well tonight. Tomorrow's siege will depend on you."

Mr. Bai stood in the shadow outside the tent, the moonlight illuminating half of his elegant face.

He nodded slightly, and the hand that stretched out from his long sleeve was surprisingly made of iron, with delicate gears embedded in the knuckles, and the Mohist word "universal love" engraved on the palm.

"The mechanical bird has brought information - from the Quan County Magistrate, Zhu Huan. He is from the Wu Commandery Zhu family and is a brave warrior. However, he has a stubborn and self-willed personality and tends to act impulsively. This trait can be exploited."

"Combining the officers and soldiers of Quan County and the Zhu family's private soldiers, we have a total of 7,000 men. However, all the high-ranking officials in the city have been assassinated by our men today. Even if Zhu Huan were a military genius, without the cooperation of his subordinates, he would ultimately die on the spot. This is our chance to win."

"To sum up, tonight we will send people to pour this poison into the river. Tomorrow, when we capture the city, we will only need to use fire as bait, supplemented by insults, to lure them out of the city."

"Under normal circumstances, the defenders would never rashly leave the city to fight, but Zhu Huan no longer has any trustworthy advisors around him, and he is stubborn and self-willed, so he certainly won't listen to the advice of a stranger."

His voice was like the friction of metal. "When the defenders bring water to extinguish the fire, our army will surely win a great victory."

Yan Yu laughed loudly and slammed the table and stood up: "Great! Sir, this is a brilliant idea. I, Yan Yu, admire it! Come on, bring some wine!"

The attendant brought a jar of strong liquor with the words "tribute wine" printed on the seal of the jar - this was the spoils of war taken during the massacre.

-

The next day in the city.

County Magistrate Zhu Huan sat on the main seat, discussing how to defeat the enemy with many officials below the stage.

"...The enemy is already at the gates of the city, and they're being aided by the Mohist devices. We just experienced turmoil yesterday. How about... surrender?"

"Submit your mother!"

Zhu Huan was a fiery-tempered man who hated the very thought of surrender. He immediately retorted, "We still have 7,000 soldiers in the city, while the enemy only has 3,000 men, a bunch of uneducated bandits. We are not to be feared at all!"

"What's more, the crisis in Wu County has been resolved. The governor will definitely send troops to support other places next. We have no worries at all."

"That's it."

The newly promoted official immediately echoed Zhu Huan's words, saying, "As for the Mohist mechanism? Humph, it's just a bunch of worthless gadgets. No need to be wary."

"Report——!"

The messenger pushed open the door and entered, kneeling down and saying, "The enemy army has led their troops to attack us, and the bandit leader has personally come to the city and said, 'The county magistrate...'"

"What did you say about me?"

"You are a coward, sir, and you dare not leave the city to fight!"

"?"

"Bastard thing!"

Zhu Huan was already injured, and upon hearing this, blood oozed out, his entire face turning abnormally red. He slammed the table in anger and said:

"How dare you speak foul language in front of me? Come, take this man and behead him in public!"

"???"

The messenger was dumbfounded and hurriedly said, "Sir, sir, that was what the thief said, not me. Spare my life, sir, spare my life—"

Some officials wanted to speak up to stop him, but when they saw Zhu Huan on the stage, who was in a flushed state, they retracted their heads.

Then, the left and right personal guards stepped forward and dragged the messenger out of the palace.

Zhu Huan was still furious, but he had commanded a military force after all, so he knew that the enemy was trying to provoke him, and he was determined not to be fooled.

However, another official came running in from outside, sweat dripping down his face and said, "Sir, sir, there is a riot in the city!"

"Many common people, for some unknown reason, have been devouring people on the road. Hundreds have been injured... and the situation is still escalating!"

"...Damn it," Zhu Huan gritted his teeth, quickly realizing that this was the work of the enemies outside the city. "Behead all these rioters on the spot!"

"I want to see who else dares to cause trouble in the rear!"

"My Lord, County Magistrate, no!"

Upon hearing this, someone immediately knelt down and said, "This must be the villain's plan to make you lose your composure..."

Zhu Huan turned his gaze towards him and said, "Humph, who are you? Why do I need you to point fingers at me? Behead this man immediately!"

"..."

As another person was dragged out to be beheaded, the whole place fell silent and no one dared to answer.

Zhu Huan sat in the main seat, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

Yesterday, those bandits assassinated all of his confidants, and even he himself was injured. He was driven out of the city like a stray dog.

Now, these low-class bandits actually dared to curse in front of the battlefield and disrupt the rear. How could Zhu Huan, who came from a prominent family, tolerate this?

"Come here," Zhu Huan shouted, "Prepare the troops! I'm going out to kill them all!"

Mohist Chapter: Chapter 38: Look carefully, this is how a forced march is done!

On the third day of Liu Bei's army's march, Sun Jian hurriedly pushed open the curtains and entered with intelligence. He clasped his fists and shouted, "Master Xuande, the scouts report that something has happened in Youquan County!"