"At present, the Tang dynasty is in decline, the realm is fractured, alien races grow overbearing, and the nine states are exhausted. It has been long indeed since our human race achieved any great feat of expanding our borders. Events like the Three Immortals pacifying Yunzhou are already old stories from over three thousand years ago.
"My worthy brother, Wei Yuan, may have opened Qingzhou and Yizhou, but in truth that amounts to merely a few commanderies—still a far cry from the Sovereigns of Men of antiquity. Even so, it stands as a magnificent feat rarely seen in this world today. And why is that? There is only one reason: the Tang dynasty is feeble, and the Nine Kings are inept!
"In this day and age, what is needed is for someone like us to issue a rallying cry, revitalize the human race, first bring peace within before expelling threats from without, and revive the glory of the ancient Sovereigns of Men. Only then will we not have cultivated this lifetime in vain."
Li Zhi's voice was calm, rising only slightly when he spoke of the Nine Kings' ineptitude. Instinctively, he felt that showing any emotional volatility before Zhang Sheng—who seemed one with heaven and earth—would reek of immaturity and cause her to look down on him.
Zhang Sheng raised an eyebrow slightly. "You intend to overturn the nine states?"
Li Zhi said solemnly, "Over a thousand years have passed since the Martial Ancestor laid his world-shaking design. Across hundreds of thousands of years of history, when has any political order ever remained unchanged for a millennium? Standing where we are today, I fear the Martial Ancestor's design has already grown obsolete. The feebleness of the Tang dynasty and the folly of the Nine Kings are clear proof of this.
"If I were one of the Nine Kings, knowing my throne was as secure as a boulder, I would have no desire to govern with diligence either; I would want only to indulge myself for a lifetime. Such is human nature. Short of becoming an immortal, one is ultimately bound by human nature.
"However, I am not Brother Wei. Knowing my abilities are limited, I can only use the occasion of my tribulation to do what little I can for the realm and for the human race. Overturning the nine states is naturally impossible; all I hope to do is give the foundations of the edifice a good shake. If there is to be any follow-up, it will come after I ascend to immortality, or perhaps after I have seen through the Martial Ancestor's design."
Zhang Sheng finally gave a slight nod and said, "Ambitious indeed."
Li Zhi's suspended heart finally settled.
For hundreds and thousands of years, countless individuals had sought to shake the Martial Ancestor's design, yet none had succeeded. To say nothing of succeeding, not even one had been able to truly understand it. Even if one or two mighty figures had comprehended it fully, they could not speak of it. By saying he wished to see through the Martial Ancestor's design, Li Zhi had placed himself among at least the top ten individuals across millennia.
Such a claim would have seemed arrogant in the extreme to anyone else, yet Zhang Sheng had not mocked him for it. Li Zhi's small gamble had paid off.
Zhang Sheng asked again, "How do you plan to begin?"
Li Zhi hurriedly replied, "Looking across the nine states, Western Jin appears weak but is actually strong, and it is territory reserved for Qingming. Among the three western states, only the State of Ji seems strong while being weak in reality, making it ripe for the taking. I plan to send forth troops under the pretext of clearing evil counselors from the court, advancing at the junction where Southern Qi, Wu, and Ji meet, while simultaneously placing a boundary stone at Ji's southwestern corner to pincer the State of Ji from both sides. If Qingming could send troops to assist, it would be enough to shake the King of Ji's foundations, and the Turbulent Era Tribulation would be triggered."
Zhang Sheng said slowly, "An ancient tribulation like this carries immense peril and countless variables. A single misstep will bring utter destruction. The two immortals of your academy may not be able to protect you."
Li Zhi said resolutely, "Rest assured, Master Zhang, I am well aware! In facing this tribulation, what I rely upon is not my mentors, but my resolve to establish a heart for Heaven and Earth!"
"Very well. I will speak to Wei Yuan. The decision is ultimately up to him. But I think he is unlikely to agree to this."
Li Zhi was taken aback. "Why is that?"
Zhang Sheng said, "Wei Yuan holds the common mortals close to his heart. Triggering a Turbulent Era calamity will plunge the people into misery and leave countless folk destitute and homeless. That is why he is unlikely to agree."
Li Zhi was somewhat puzzled. "In the long run, the Martial Ancestor's design is bound to break; a turbulent era will come sooner or later. Furthermore, the calamity I trigger will only be confined to one corner of the nine states. It is like a compromised dam that will inevitably burst, submerging the entire downstream plain. Opening a small breach in advance to slowly release the water will cause far less damage in the long run. It is a choice between prolonged agony and brief pain. How could Brother Wei fail to understand this reasoning?"
Zhang Sheng said, "I do not know what he will choose either, but if you approach him like this, you will almost certainly be rejected. Find a way that does not harm the common people."
With matters having reached this point, Li Zhi pressed no further. He stood up and took his leave.
Upon returning to the Zhenshan Fief, Li Zhi ordered men to bring out a map of the State of Ji and directly used dharmic power to transform it into a sand table. Once formed, the sand table shifted on its own, its southwestern region visibly turning barren and desolate.
This was one of Li Zhi's innate divine abilities: any place his feet had trodden could be manifested as a sand table, drawing upon the power of the Heavenly Dao to directly reflect the true present conditions unless a mighty figure intervened to shroud the heavenly secrets.
At this moment, the eight western commanderies of the State of Ji were sparsely populated and stripped of boundary stones, appearing barren on the sand table. Qingming, however, was reinforced by the Mirror Lake boundary stone, which scrambled heavenly secrets such that even immortals would have to pay a tremendous price to divine anything about it. Li Zhi had tried several times to use his innate divine ability to peer into Qingming's situation, only to nearly suffer severe injuries from the backlash.
At that moment, a scholar appeared beside Li Zhi. Imposing without wrath, he was none other than Master Gu, the head of the Four Sages Academy.
Upon appearing, he asked, "Did the talks fall through?"
Li Zhi recounted Zhang Sheng's words, then added, "That is roughly how it went. Thus, your disciple wishes to reconsider the strategy."
Master Gu looked displeased and let out a snort. "The world speaks of Wei Yuan as a peerless talent, yet who would have thought he possessed such womanish benevolence? What great undertaking could such a man ever achieve? Hone yourself well. Once you ascend to immortality, the Palace of Grand Beginning's title as the foremost immortal sect will, I believe, have to be yielded to someone more deserving."
Li Zhi hastily said, "Your disciple's knowledge is shallow and talent meager; I may not succeed, but I will certainly do my utmost!"
Master Gu nodded in satisfaction. "One ought to have the courage to press forward despite difficulties, to be decisive and shoulder responsibility. But for now, we still need Wei Yuan's help. What is your plan?"
Li Zhi said, "Zhang Sheng never speaks falsely. If she says Wei Yuan will not agree, then he will not agree. This matter no longer has anything to do with personal friendship; it touches upon his bottom line. Therefore, your disciple plans to shift the focus. The eastern route, attacking Ji from Southern Qi, will serve as a secondary prong, merely keeping the main forces of Ji pinned down.
"Our primary direction of attack will be through the southwestern border. That region has always been a frontier, relatively sparsely populated, and the common people there have suffered extreme hardship for years. Most rebel armies originated from there, so in recent years the imperial army retaliated brutally, ruling with harsh tyranny until the populace could hardly survive.
"If I strike inward from there, no matter how widespread the warfare becomes, the suffering of the people can hardly get any worse. Wei Yuan should be willing to agree."
Master Gu's brows furrowed even deeper. "Making the southwest the main axis of attack means deploying the entire army of the Zhenshan Fief across hundreds of thousands of li of Mountain Folk territory. The military expenditure alone will multiply several times over. Moreover, the march from the southwest to the Ji capital is vast and fraught with numerous passes and checkpoints. The dozen-plus commanderies along the way have all suffered the ravages of war, making local foraging impossible.
"It would be far better to launch the main attack from Southern Qi, where reinforcements and grain supplies would flow without end, yielding twice the result with half the effort."
Li Zhi sighed. "But Wei Yuan will not agree."
Master Gu's expression darkened. He scoffed, "If not for the Second Sage's handwritten directive indicating that the Turbulent Era Tribulation can only be triggered with Wei Yuan's involvement, why would we need to cater to the views of such a shortsighted man?"
Li Zhi said, "Since we have our Patriarch's guidance, your disciple believes it is best to abide by it. It will merely cost more time, silver, and gold, and we can afford the expense."
Master Gu's expression eased slightly, and only then did he nod slowly.
In Yizhou, Wei Yuan was reviewing an engineering proposal. The proposal concerned the management of a perched river—a watercourse elevated above the surrounding land. The river carried vast amounts of silt, which accumulated year after year; in the past, its dykes would breach every few years, submerging a thousand li of land downstream.
Now that this river had come under Wei Yuan's governance, former water conservancy officials from the State of Ji had submitted a petition proposing to breach the dykes and release the water, sacrificing more than a dozen counties to lower the risk of a catastrophic flood.
Upon seeing this proposal, Wei Yuan first examined the current overall engineering capacity in Yizhou, then checked the scheduled order of this year's major projects. He then wrote a direct rejection on the proposal, instructing the water conservancy engineers to simply reinforce and heighten the dykes as before, seeing this year through first.
Some officials in charge of water conservancy were puzzled and cautiously asked for the reason. Wei Yuan offered no explanation, and the officials dared not object, having no choice but to carry out his orders.
What these officials did not know was that time brings many changes, that enough time can resolve all problems, and that time was on Wei Yuan's side.
By next year, Yizhou's engineering capacity would reach new heights, freeing up enough resources to thoroughly resolve the perched river problem once and for all.
As it was with the perched river, so it was with everything else.
Chapter 1088