Seven Seas Beacon Fire

There was an unusually peaceful situation between the two sides—not only between their capital ships, but also between their escort vessels.

The Federation fleet left behind was like a magnet, pushed away from this sea area by another magnet.

The two battleships of the Federation Army ultimately did not stay behind to fight to the end for the second and third class on the shore. After all, they were the noble first class. For the sake of the overall balance of power between the two sides at sea, it was normal for them to "endure a moment's anger" (straightforward reading).

The Federation forces were forced to retreat, while the Ming forces did not choose to engage in battle. Theoretically, the Ming forces could now muster a few more combat-capable battlecruisers equipped with 280mm guns to cooperate with the two Haiqi-class battlecruisers and try to keep the two Federation battleships in place.

But Yang Yuchen was not prepared to do so.

He, as the commander, knew better than anyone how outwardly strong but inwardly weak the Surabaya Fleet was.

First and foremost are the most important super-dreadnought battlecruisers in the fleet, equipped with 330mm naval guns. These are the largest and strongest capital ships in the entire Surabaya Fleet. These battlecruisers participated in the Battle of the Sulu Sea and the Battle of the Java Sea. The first battlecruiser squadron of the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy fought the entire battle in both major naval battles.

The 330mm naval gun is a type of artillery that fires high-speed, heavy projectiles. As those familiar with physics know, with a fixed amount of propellant, the lighter the projectile, the higher its initial velocity; and the heavier the projectile, the lower its initial velocity.

The former, when developed to its extreme, became the fin-stabilized discarding sabot armor-piercing projectile, commonly known as the steel needle, which later appeared in another world. It represented the ultimate muzzle velocity of artillery shells in the gunpowder era. Some artillery and ammunition tested could increase the muzzle velocity to over 1800 meters per second.

Leaving aside this special type of ammunition, ordinary ammunition, based on the shell weight coefficient, tends to prioritize initial velocity for lighter shells and sustained velocity for heavier shells. (Of course, there are also 'low-velocity light shells' like the 240mm naval guns of the Leitanians in the pre-Dreadnought era, which weighed 140 kg and had an initial velocity of 690 mps.) To make heavier shells achieve greater velocity, a more powerful propellant is required.

To put it bluntly, all high-speed, heavy-projectile artillery in the world is more or less toxic, or rather, toxicity is a common practice.

The Ming army's 330mm naval gun was just like that. With a caliber of 330mm, it achieved power that surpassed the British 13.5-inch gun and reached the level of some 14-inch naval guns. It relied on "great power to create miracles". However, this type of artillery had a fatal flaw, which was the barrel life. The barrel life of the Ming army's 330mm naval gun was only about 200 rounds. After two brutal naval battles, the barrel life of the guns on these battlecruisers was now generally only about 30 or 40 rounds.

Such a barrel life is not to say that it is not enough to support a naval battle, but it is like playing a Tarkov-like game. Although in most cases you know that an encounter can be resolved within two magazines, if you only have two magazines of ammunition left, you certainly wouldn't dare to splash water carelessly.

The explosions of several capital ships in the Royal Navy during World War I were not only due to insufficient armor and poor damage control, but also because the British liked to carry excessive amounts of ammunition on their warships, with ammunition magazines almost full. This willingness to carry extra ammunition, even at the risk of explosions, was because more ammunition would allow commanders to adopt more proactive strategies.

After all, Li Yunlong's tactical style would definitely be different if he had only 17 shells when attacking Ping'an County versus if he had 17,000 shells.

However, Yang Yuchen noticed and kept in mind the numerous factors that were immediately apparent, such as the gun barrels with limited lifespan, the lack of replenished ammunition, and the damage to the hull caused by the hurricane.

The current fleet is indeed not capable of engaging in a battle casually. If they were to force their way through, they could indeed take down those two Colombian battleships, but the cost on their side would likely be greater than if the Colombians had lost two battleships.

Yang Yuchen has always been a very calm commander. As a general who was once considered the most promising candidate to succeed as the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty's Royal Navy, Yang Yuchen always appeared calm and composed to outsiders.

He was not blinded by the illusory victory before him. He knew very well what he needed to ensure now was to bring the Surabaya Fleet back to port safely. In the process, he could complete some "side missions", but none of the side missions should affect the progress of the "main mission".

Therefore, they could choose to provide some artillery support to their allies on the shore, using their own cannons to teach the federal troops on the shore a lesson, showing them what it means to "turn the tide".

Therefore, he chose to send his strongest capital ships to drive out the Federation forces, hoping they would back down. This tactic seems to have been very successful, betting that the Colombians wouldn't dare engage. In fact, if the Federation's two battleships had truly chosen to fight to the death, or even been prepared to sink on the beach, the Surabaya Fleet would have been rather clueless, and might have even abandoned their bombardment altogether.

The reason is simple: the main force of the Sishui Fleet, which is invisible to the two Federation battleships, could probably be renamed the Beggars' Fleet without any incongruity.

During the hurricane, more than one battleship was damaged, and a significant portion of the damage had a considerable impact on its combat effectiveness.

Some ships had already been hit by torpedoes on their bows, and after emergency repairs, they were never fully recovered. Now, the entire bow has been bent out of shape by the waves during the hurricane, or has suffered structural fractures.

Some warships—especially the early dreadnoughts—had bridges that were not as tall as those of later ships and had simpler structures. As a result, the main gun rangefinders and related fire control equipment located on top of the bridge were destroyed by the huge waves. Some ships even had seawater backflow into their forward turrets due to the violent waves. Although the water that had entered the turrets was pumped out, the seawater had already dampened a lot of the propellant in the forward ammunition magazine.

Furthermore, in Surabaya port, all the ships could not be effectively maintained for a long time because there was no large dry dock. As a result, the bottoms of these battleships in the tropical port of Surabaya were covered with barnacles.

Although divers are frequently organized to go underwater to remove these barnacles while in port, this cleanup is only a drop in the ocean. By the time the cleanup reaches the stern of the warship, the parts that have already been cleared from the bow have already grown new barnacles.

The engine room had not received reliable maintenance for a long time; the hull was covered with barnacles; the 330mm gun barrels were nearing the end of their service life; and the 280mm naval guns were insufficient in firepower...

Given the current situation, the entire fleet is indeed at a disadvantage in engaging the enemy. After all, the entire fleet is like a beacon in another world in the 21st century. As long as it doesn't actually go into battle, it can maintain a semblance of deterrence. Otherwise, what if people find out that after the Tobu really went into battle, they couldn't even take down a slippery army?

Yang Yuchen was well aware of this, so after he managed to drive the two Federation battleships away from the waters off Dongdu without firing a single shot, he breathed a sigh of relief and also made sure that several battleships in his fleet sent sincere greetings to the Federation forces on the shore.

The battleships responsible for bombarding the shore were all dreadnoughts equipped with 280mm guns. These battleships, which began construction 10 years ago, are not exactly outdated now, but their performance is indeed somewhat mediocre. In particular, the 280mm guns are increasingly inadequate in naval warfare when facing the new generation of battleships, even the 50-caliber 280mm guns.

However, the situation is completely different for the army. Due to the diminishing marginal effect of the explosive power of shells as the caliber increases, there is essentially no difference for ground troops whether they are hit by 280mm artillery or 380mm artillery. In fact, the difference in scale between the craters dug by the two shells on the ground is very small.

Before sunset, the garrison of Dongdu had already sent Yang Yuchen the locations of several important supply depots and artillery positions of the Federal Army via coded telegram. This was naturally the work of the Jinyiwei intelligence agents previously sent to Dongdu. After the codebook was changed, even if the Federal Army wanted to decipher it based on previous experience, it would take at least a few days. And tonight, the Ming army's artillery shells would be delivered to the Federal Army's doorstep at the front line.

The defending forces dispatched several assault teams that sneaked through the sewers of Dongdu across the federal-controlled districts and reached the rear of their lines, where they then dropped Erguotou incendiary bombs around the key positions.

In the darkness of night, flames are the best beacons. The 280mm guns on these dreadnoughts all adopted the Leyte-style horizontal wedge breech, which inherently had a faster rate of fire in naval battles than the 12-inch and larger caliber main guns with threaded breechs. Especially in the first few rounds of shelling, because the shells and propellant had already been moved to the stern of the turret and the reloading chamber, the rate of fire was almost reduced to 20 seconds per round.

With a chilling whistling sound, these 280mm high-explosive shells tore through the air and crashed down on the heads of the bewildered Federal Army troops. The first-class personnel at sea had not notified the second-class personnel on shore during the retreat, so when the Ming army's battleships opened fire in the distance, these second-class personnel thought that it was their own warships coming to provide them with fire support as usual.

In the previous battles, these second-class citizens liked to rely on the artillery support of the first-class citizens at sea to advance along the coastline from north to south, first separating the garrison in the Eastern Capital city from the sea. Now, these second-class citizens gathered in the coastal area have soon suffered a fatal blow.

As the small mushroom clouds rose from the falling 280mm shells, several light cruisers began to fire their 150mm guns. These medium-caliber naval guns, with their faster rate of fire, would be considered corps-level heavy artillery in the army. At this moment, the shells they fired turned into raindrops, evenly spraying the target area.

If artillery is the god of war, then the army's heavy artillery is at most a god in the Douluo Continent. Compared with the true gods of war in the navy, it is indeed not enough.

At this very moment, inside the Central Bank in the heart of Dongdu City, Li Yaguang, who was in charge of directing this arduous and extraordinary battle, looked through his binoculars at the distant scenery that resembled boiling oil. After days of worry, he finally broke into a hearty laugh.

Beside him, an officer who appeared to be wearing an ordinary military uniform smiled and said, "But after tonight's exhilaration, the general will have to face the enemy's fiercest counterattack for some time to come."

Li Yaguang lowered his binoculars and looked at the Imperial Guard beside him who had arrived by submarine. He laughed with great pride, "For us, the most difficult time is over. Whether this city can hold out depends not on how strong the enemy's counterattack is, but on whether we have the determination to continue to hold it. With this boost of confidence today, the Federation devils will never be able to take this city!"

Li Yaguang knew what the Jinyiwei meant by the counterattack. The Jinyiwei had informed him of the situation of the fleet at sea beforehand. After returning to the mainland, the first thing the fleet would do was to carry out maintenance and major repairs. In particular, some of the warships had already suffered serious damage in the naval battle, and after emergency repairs, they had braved a typhoon. It would take even longer to restore their combat effectiveness.

Over the next month or two, the restoration of the main force of the Ming Royal Navy to its combat capability will be an ongoing process, but this process is one that can be foreseen. Furthermore, the Ming Royal Navy's strength will be replenished every moment. With this ebb and flow, the Federal Third Fleet will no longer be able to operate with the same impunity as before.

Now, even if the Federation Army had more warships on the shipyard, it would be useless. The transoceanic expedition had gradually reached its limit in terms of the consumption of the Federation Army. In fact, the Colombians were not fully prepared to swallow up the edge of the World Island in the Pacific region. At this moment, Li Yaguang was more confident than ever in defending the city.

"But at least today, I think we can have a small celebration."

Li Yaguang shook his head at the Imperial Guard: "It's not time to celebrate yet. We have no time to celebrate until we drive the enemy out of our territory. Tell the troops at the front to take advantage of this opportunity to launch a counterattack. I want to push the front line back to where it was two weeks ago!"

Chapter 118 The Ghost Behind the War

University of Chicago, Illinois

As one of the most prestigious universities in the Commonwealth of Columbia, the University of Chicago has a relatively short history compared to most other top North American universities. Among the 14 founding members of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, only Stanford University was founded later than the University of Chicago.

Even today, the University of Chicago boasts a relatively short but undeniably impressive history.

This top federal university was built entirely by the will of one man, Rockefeller. His legendary life needs little introduction. After becoming the first trust in federal history in 1882, Rockefeller founded the University of Chicago in 1890.

The University of Chicago was originally a church school founded by the Federal Baptist Church, which shared the same name as the University of Chicago, but it closed down in 1886 due to financial problems.

In the official description of the University of Chicago, the university was founded as follows: With the westward migration of population and industrial development, the federal midwest, far from the developed East Coast, urgently needed a first-class university to keep pace with the development. The visionary and philanthropic federal oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller envisioned that a university on par with Harvard and Yale would be born here.

Of course, the main reason Rockefeller chose to establish the University of Chicago was not just because he aspired to create an institution that could rival Harvard and Yale.

The power of money is immense. As someone standing at the top of the entire federal wealth pyramid, Rockefeller could accomplish almost anything he wanted in the Federation, as long as it didn't involve conflicts with the Morgan financial group.

For example, in building this top-tier university from scratch, the University of Chicago successfully recruited eight incumbent university presidents and nearly 20 department heads to resign and teach in Chicago at the very beginning of its establishment, which was unprecedented in the history of education.

When the first president of the University of Chicago visited Clark University, a renowned center for psychology research at the time, he poached two-thirds of the faculty and half of the graduate students before leaving.

This is an institution built on a money empire, and its purpose is to create more money for Rockefeller. Knowledge is the most valuable asset, and money is the most powerful weapon.

In the president's office at the University of Chicago, the second president of the University of Chicago, Harry Pratt Judson, was enjoying afternoon tea. He was slightly nervous today. Usually at this time of week, President Judson would occasionally invite some outstanding students to his office for afternoon tea.

This is a method that Principal Judson learned from a friend over the past two years. That friend is also an educator who established a private elite academy on a mountain in the suburbs of Chicago. He often uses this method to get closer to his students, and Judson has benefited greatly from it.

As the second principal after succeeding the first principal, William Rainey Harper, Judson knew he faced a tremendous challenge because William Rainey Harper had been so successful. Fortunately, over the years, he had also proven his abilities and lived up to Mr. Rockefeller's expectations of him.

The reason he was a little nervous during afternoon tea today was, of course, because the person sitting across from him and sharing afternoon tea with him was none other than Mr. Rockefeller himself.

Principal Judson now somewhat understands the mindset of the students who share afternoon tea with him.

"So... according to Professor Miller and his team's research, the United States has no chance of winning this war?"

"To be precise, we can't win that much, but at least we can take the Kingdom of Japan," Principal Judson said. "The professors at the Oriental Institute believe that it's time to consider ending the war. Once the Surrey Fleet successfully breaks through the encirclement, the benefits the United States can gain from continuing this war are no longer as tempting as the costs we have to pay."

"Is this the consensus of the Institute of Oriental Studies?"

"Yes, to be precise, this is the opinion of the vast majority of experts at the Oriental Institute. As for the few who disagree... sir, as you know, they not only work at the Oriental Institute, but also work for Mr. Morgan."

Rockefeller nodded: "Mr. Morgan certainly wouldn't want to see the war end like this. He would probably prefer the war to continue for another ten years. Just the orders for the armor steel for the Navy's warships alone have made Mr. Morgan's steelmaking group a fortune."

The Oriental Institute that Rockefeller mentioned to Principal Judson was, on the surface, just an ordinary museum researching Oriental art and culture. However, both Principal Judson and Rockefeller knew that the Oriental Institute they were talking about was not the same as the Oriental Institute on the surface.

From the late 9th century onwards, the Colombian Federation's desire for external expansion grew stronger and stronger. For this newly powerful nation in the New World, the direction of expansion was either to the west to seize the edge of the World Island or to the east to directly try to intervene in European affairs.

This represents the direction of development for the Federation of Colombia.

The University of Chicago initially only had a business school and a law school. At the beginning of this century, the Oriental Institute was also successfully established (the Oriental Institute in history was established in 19[1], but this one is earlier). This was Rockefeller's think tank, which was designed to enable the Rockefeller Group to cooperate in advancing towards the East.

“Mr. Morgan always wants to earn more; after all, they…have huge ambitions.” Principal Judson’s wording was quite euphemistic, while Mr. Rockefeller’s reaction was much more direct—a disdainful smile appeared on his face: “Jew are like this.”

Principal Judson didn't respond because of Mr. Rockefeller's words. Whether you interpret them as such of unscrupulous businessmen or as such of Jews... it seems there's no difference; both clearly express dissatisfaction with Mr. Morgan and the Morgan financial group.

The principal knew very well that Rockefeller's dissatisfaction with Morgan ultimately stemmed from money.

Why did Mr. Rockefeller support the establishment of the Oriental Institute? Naturally, it was because the Rockefeller and Morgan financial groups had made their respective choices in earlier years. Regarding the two expansion routes of the Colombian Federation—"westward expansion" and "eastward expansion"—the Rockefeller and Morgan financial groups each invested in one. However, it was clear to everyone that the East was the true source of the opportunity.

The economic scale of the East Coast of the Union was far superior to that of the West Coast, and the wealth of Europe was unmatched by Asia at that time. Undoubtedly, heading east was more lucrative. Therefore, in the war with the Iberian bullfighters, the Morgan family made a fortune from the war profits. Did Rockefeller not know which was more profitable? Compared to the Morgan family's generations of accumulation, Rockefeller, who was more inclined to "start from scratch" (relatively speaking), had an extremely keen business sense. However, even today, the Rockefeller family is still slightly inferior to the Morgan family, let alone in the past.

Therefore, the Rockefeller Group had no choice but to "invest" in the West. After the outbreak of this war, the Rockefeller Group and the Morgan Group originally kept to themselves. The Morgan Group made a fortune in Europe, while the Rockefeller Group was also making a fortune in the West.

However, with the war in Europe coming to an end and the defection of Yingzhou in Asia, a huge opportunity was presented to the entire United States. At this time, the Morgan financial group did not hesitate to get involved, and the tacit understanding that Rockefeller and Morgan had maintained was broken.

John Pierpont Morgan Jr., the son of J.P. Morgan Sr., inherited his father's business acumen, which allowed the Morgan family's glory to continue. However, it is clear that the young Morgan did not consider that the business world is not just about fighting and killing, but also about human relationships and social dynamics.

"So, sir, are you planning to push the United States to end this war?" Principal Judson asked. "Is there anything the Oriental Institute can do?"

Rockefeller took a sip of his coffee and asked, "Does the principal have any good suggestions?"

"From the perspective of the conglomerate, the Morgan Conglomerate is undoubtedly more powerful than your Rockefeller Conglomerate, sir. However, from a personal perspective, your control over the Rockefeller Conglomerate is incomparable to that of Mr. Morgan Jr. over the Morgan Conglomerate. Sir, when you visited the Oriental Institute's museum last time, you must have heard the curator's explanation of the differences between Eastern and Western monarchs, right?"

Rockefeller nodded: "Eastern monarchs tend to have more power than Western monarchs... It seems that this is true except for the monarch of Yingzhou, especially the emperors of the Eastern 'Celestial Empire,' who had almost absolute power before their constitutional reforms. In the West, however, the situation of 'my vassal's vassal is not my vassal' is more common."

"Yes, your position in the Rockefeller Group is equivalent to that of an emperor in the East, while Mr. Morgan Jr.'s position in the Morgan Group is equivalent to that of an emperor in the West. In particular, the Morgan Group itself has a special mission... I think Mr. Rockefeller, you can go and pay a visit to those 'elders.' Although those 'elders' do not have huge assets, in the group that Mr. Morgan Jr. belongs to, he cannot ignore the opinions of those 'elders.'"

"Do you think I can convince those old fogies to support me instead of Morgan? I'm not Jew!"

"Mr. Rockefeller, after the United States took over Yingzhou, although we were indeed not fully prepared, the military actions that followed demonstrated a high degree of recklessness. In fact, any truly rational person should know that it would be impossible to completely swallow and manage Yingzhou in less than 20 years. Neither seizing the Silla Peninsula in the north nor taking those large islands in the south is a reasonable choice for us. And President Wilson and the current cabinet members are clearly not fools..."

“I understand what you mean. You mean someone is pushing this behind the scenes? Is it those Jews?” Rockefeller suddenly understood a lot: “Ten years ago, those guys seemed to have tried to buy a piece of land in South America to rebuild their country. Could it be that they have their eyes on the eastern edge of the World Island?”

Principal Judson nodded slowly: "It should be said that they are not yet completely determined to seize those lands and establish their country on them, but obviously, many people around Mr. Morgan have such thoughts and such expectations, so they let the young men of the United States try it for them. You just need to visit those elders and tell them that such a plan is now impossible to achieve, and then the elders' enthusiasm for the war will naturally be greatly reduced."

Rockefeller remained silent for a long time after hearing the principal's words. He was thinking seriously. After finishing his coffee, he looked up at Principal Judson and said, "How confident are we? The current situation is that even if we can't take those places, as long as the war continues, the Morgan Group can keep making money. Arms money is the easiest to make. There's an Eastern saying—'When the cannons roar, gold flows like water.'"

"I think the probability of success is still very high." Principal Judson smiled slightly. Sure enough, Mr. Rockefeller still liked to consider things from an economic perspective. For example, Mr. Rockefeller's desire to end this war was not because he was an anti-war activist, nor because he believed as a patriot that it was in the interests of the Colombian Federation, but simply because, under the current circumstances, the Morgan Group could make more money than the Rockefeller Group in a state of war.

If this continues, Mr. Rockefeller's hope that the Rockefeller Group could surpass the Morgan Group will naturally become a pipe dream.

That's how business warfare works.

Seeing you make money is more painful than seeing me lose money.

Therefore, he said with certainty, "After all, Mr. Morgan simply wants to expand his capital, but for the elders, the means of making money ultimately serve the purpose of restoring the country. There is a fundamental difference between the two."

.....

Chapter 119 Fifth Salvation

"Excellent! This kind of good news is just what we need to celebrate with our drinks!"

Holding the battle report sent back by the navy, Li Zongdi excitedly slammed his hand on the desk in front of him. The heavy nanmu desk vibrated from the impact. Such a rude act would have made even the palace maids shake their heads in shame if it had happened in the Ming Dynasty court. However, now the Prince of Jin was surrounded by soldiers or members of the Datong Party who valued practical results over etiquette. Everyone was happy for the good news from the front and only regretted that they could not slam their hands on the table with the same joy.

"Now half of the navy's forces can be considered to have broken free of their shackles. Given time, our navy will be able to roam freely in the entire Western Pacific like a dragon entering the sea, no longer bound by constraints!"

The speaker was a refined-looking middle-aged man. As he spoke, he casually gestured on the map on Li Zongdi's desk: "Although I'm not very knowledgeable about military affairs, the current situation is obvious. At most two months later, more than 80% of our navy's main warships will be able to restore their combat readiness. Borneo is only about 1000 nautical miles from our southern port of Leizhou, but from Borneo to the mainland of the United States..."

The middle-aged man stopped there, because the situation was already very clear: the Federation's original advantage was based on the absolute superiority of its naval forces in the Western Pacific region, which it had established after the Battle of the Java Sea. They had used this advantage to offset the losses incurred from crossing the entire ocean.

But this advantage has now disappeared. Even though the United States is now stronger than the Ming Dynasty in terms of national power and industrial output, the vast ocean in the world is enough to bridge the gap between the two.

After the Surabaya Fleet successfully broke through the encirclement, any discerning person knew that unless the Victorian Empire was willing to bring all of the Royal Navy's capital ships to the East to assist the Federal Army in fighting to the end, the oldest country in the East was now at least in an invincible position.

Of course, everyone here is well aware that compared to the glorious history of this land, this "invincible land" is somewhat self-aggrandizing. After all, everyone knows that the Kingdom of Japan can no longer be taken back—at least not in the next few years. As for Old Port, before the main enemy is dealt with, the recapture of Old Port will inevitably remain an unachievable task for a considerable period of time.

While one could certainly convince oneself that Yingzhou was merely a vassal state and Old Port was just a pacification commissioner, ultimately, if the nation now possessed greater national strength, its industrial scale had multiplied several times, its economic situation was extremely good, and its navy had more than 30 super-dreadnoughts, then certainly no one would be willing to end the war under the current circumstances.

However, everyone now understands that while a nation cannot easily relinquish the foundation of its national defense and security—namely, the first island chain surrounding the mainland—it also cannot continue this war indefinitely—otherwise, the example of the Kingdom of Letania is right before our eyes.

Li Zongdi nodded in deep agreement. He knew very well that although the country's most difficult period had temporarily passed, it did not mean that they could be greedy for more. However, it was clear that the series of victories achieved in the short term had made some people complacent.

"During the reign of Emperor Yongning of the Ming Dynasty, the nation suffered humiliation since the defeat in Java. Now, His Highness Prince Jin has been in power for less than half a year, and the situation has been completely transformed. We are fortunate to assist the Holy King in this new dynasty. Now, we must seize the opportunity, reorganize our army, and launch a naval landing to reclaim the Yingzhou Islands..."

Li Zongdi watched as a somewhat familiar-looking official, who didn't seem very old, was showering praise on the officials while speaking passionately. Curious, he quietly asked a civil official beside him, "If I remember correctly... is that the eldest son of the former Minister of Rites, Fu? Was he like this before?"

The civil official shook his head with a helpless smile: "Reporting to Prince Jin, Fu Shengshu has always been like this. He compares himself to Zhong Hui and is quite arrogant. He says that he will spend his life assisting the Holy King."

???

Li Zongdi was utterly bewildered. What era was this? Why was he resorting to such eccentric tricks to attract attention? And he even compared himself to Zhong Hui... Zhong Hui's ideal was indeed to assist a wise and virtuous ruler, but if Zhong Hui discovered that the ruler he was assisting was not a wise and virtuous ruler, he might have wanted to become that wise and virtuous ruler himself.

Why learn this when there are so many other options?

If Li Che were here, he would definitely be able to see that Fu Shengshu's personality is actually the same as many people on the internet in later generations who pursue novelty. For example, in military circles, when discussing which general of World War II you like the most, some people feel that if you say Zhukov, Manstein, Rommel or other generals who are too famous and too well-known to the public, it seems to lack "prestige". So they deliberately find some generals who are not well-known to outsiders, but who are indeed quite capable.

However, the reason why generals like Zhukov and Manstein were recognized as the top commanders of World War II was that they surpassed the professional level of most of their contemporaries in almost every aspect. Apart from MacArthur, most of the well-known generals had better overall abilities than some lesser-known war gods.

This person in front of him is probably like that. Li Zongdi thought to himself, "If you want to learn from Zhuge Liang, why don't you learn from Zhong Hui?"