Outside Baocheng County, Lu Jiande and his retinue stood beneath the walls, looking up at the band of farmers defending the ramparts.
A fierce, burly man suddenly burst out laughing. "The ones standing up there really are just a bunch of farmers. They don't even have complete suits of armor, and most aren't even at Body Casting. And this great talent of yours held the city with people like this?"
Lu Jiande narrowed his eyes slightly, observing the farmers on the wall.
Most of these farmers had sallow, malnourished faces, showing no trace of Body Casting whatsoever. They were ordinary peasants of the commonest sort, lacking even the strength to serve as militiamen. Yet the look in their eyes was completely different from any farmers Lu Jiande had ever seen. Every single one looked upon death as returning home. Even when the Dharma Idol experts beside Lu Jiande released their auras, pressing them to their knees, the fierce defiance in their eyes did not waver in the slightest.
"Big Brother, these fellows saw our banner and still haven't opened the gates. Doesn't look like they intend to recognize you as Grand Cabin Master. A bunch of mud-legs—shall we slaughter them all?"
Lu Jiande suddenly felt curious. He wanted to know what method the person inside the county seat had used to make these peasants view death so fearlessly all of a sudden.
The so-called common folk were fundamentally ants. When the ruling elites brought a foot down, the result was carnage and devastation, and the survivors scattered in all directions. In an era where supreme might resided in individual cultivation, describing them as a disorderly rabble was almost an overstatement.
Yet if ants could unite as one mind, fearless in the face of life and death, so that when a superior brought down a foot, tens of thousands of ants threw themselves forward regardless of their lives, even the superior would be taken aback to some degree.
Still, ants were ants. No matter how their resolve shifted, as long as their size remained the same, it was still just a matter of crushing them underfoot. Among the generals flanking Lu Jiande were several gods of slaughter who had massacred more than one city; naturally, they harbored no fear of peasants with fierce glares. In fact, the fiercer the resistance, the more thrilled they grew at the slaughter.
Lu Jiande ordered a man to shout toward the walls. A dark-skinned young farmer on the ramparts shouted back, "The master said that except for a big official named Lu, no one is to be let in!"
Several generals were infuriated. A barrage of vicious spells blasted toward the battlements.
These assault spells from the generals packed immense power; a single strike would have wiped out everyone on the wall. But Lu Jiande raised a hand and pressed down gently in midair, dissolving every spell into nothingness. The farmers on the ramparts looked on blankly, utterly unaware that they had just brushed past the Gates of Hell.
Lu Jiande said, "Interesting. You all remain outside. I shall go meet this master."
Several generals moved to dissuade him, but Lu Jiande waved a hand and said, "It matters not. A tiny county seat cannot trap a flood dragon."
Just as he was about to head toward the city, he saw that the county gates remained firmly shut. Lu Jiande frowned slightly and said, "I am Lu Jiande. Why haven't you opened the gates?"
The gates remained utterly motionless, showing not the slightest sign of opening.
Right at that moment, the earth trembled. An elite cavalry force in gleaming armor wheeled out from behind the county seat, numbering several thousand riders! The military qi of this cavalry surged with chilling sharpness, faintly manifesting into the shape of a massive horse-chopping saber!
Lu Jiande's pupils constricted sharply. For such an elite imperial heavy cavalry detachment, with military qi so conspicuous, by all rights he should have sensed them from a hundred li away. How had they charged right before his eyes before he detected their military qi? It was as though this army had materialized out of thin air from the ground.
The leading general sported a thin mustache, his pupils gleaming pale gold. On the battle flag behind him was embroidered a crimson character: "Lu"!
Lu Jiande was greatly astonished, recognizing the general before him as none other than the renowned Golden-Eyed Lean Tiger, Lu Wenzhao, one of the State of Ji's foremost fierce generals. Several times in the past, Lu Jiande had surrounded him with overwhelming numbers, only for Lu Wenzhao to lead his cavalry and break out by force every time.
Never in his wildest dreams had Lu Jiande expected to run into his old nemesis here today. Lu Wenzhao spotted Lu Jiande at a glance, surveyed his sparse retinue, and grinned savagely. "To think the heavens favor this general so! To deliver such monumental merit straight into my hands! Brothers, capture the rebel ringleader, and everyone will be promoted three ranks!"
The elite imperial cavalry charged in, while Lu Jiande fought a running retreat. Both sides had multiple experts accompanying their forces, and battle instantly raged from the ground into the sky, tearing heaven and earth asunder!
Several hours later, after more than half of Lu Jiande's several hundred personal guards were killed or wounded and two Dharma Idols fell, he finally managed to break away under his subordinates' desperate protection. Lu Wenzhao's side suffered grievous losses as well, losing two Dharma Idol generals of their own. Lu Wenzhao himself traded mutual blows with Lu Jiande, suffering severe injuries, while only a thousand-odd of his cavalry remained—fully seventy percent had perished.
Covered in blood, Lu Wenzhao arrived before Baocheng County. By now, a Daoist spell had burned a large hole through his command flag, leaving only half of the character "Lu".
On the wall, the young peasant took out a piece of paper. He looked at the character "Lu" on the paper, then down at the command flag below. It looked somewhat similar, yet also not quite the same. After thinking it over carefully, he had them open half of the city gate.
Lu Wenzhao had intended to enter the city to rest and regroup, but for some reason, looking into the pitch-black maw of the gateway sent a shiver down his spine.
He took a deep, lingering look at the two characters "Baocheng" on the gate tower, then changed his mind and retreated directly, leaving behind even the bones of his fallen soldiers.
Inside the county yamen, the lean Lao Ba returned dressed as a head constable, muttering all the way, "A county this big, and we can't even find a single dragon robe? Forget a dragon robe, there isn't even half a bolt of yellow cloth! How is Big Brother supposed to ascend the throne like this?"
Bald Lao Liu strolled out from the yamen and said, "What were you just blabbering about? What dragon robe? What ascension?"
"I was thinking, haven't we already taken a city? So I figured we might as well have Big Brother hurry up and take the throne, and we can consider Great Tang overthrown. Big Brother will be the Emperor, and the two of us will be founding fathers of the dynasty. You'll be the Grand General, and I'll be the Chancellor. I even picked out the dynastic title—we'll call it Wei! From now on, Big Brother will be Gaozu of Wei, and when he has a son to inherit the throne, that'll be Taizong of Wei!"
"What a load of nonsense! I told you to go paste the Spirit-Alarming Talisman at the city gate—did you put it up or not?"
"Put it up ages ago! Scared those government troops outside out of their wits! Once they finish clearing out in a bit, there'll be horses and armor all over the battlefield for the taking—we'll make another fortune. Big Brother's empty city stratagem really is something."
"Stop running your mouth. Go inside and report back first. Big Brother is still waiting!"
The two entered the county yamen and saw Wei Youcai sitting behind the desk. With one hand clacking on an abacus and the other holding a brush, he was calculating the money and grain to be distributed to each commoner in the city, his expression growing gloomier with every calculation.
The lean man said, "Big Brother, no need to fret! Two groups showed up outside the city for who knows what reason and started fighting amongst themselves. There are tons of dead horses out there now—definitely enough to feed everyone until spring turns into summer!"
Hearing this, Wei Youcai finally broke into a smile. "With winter food secured, there are still nearly two months before spring plowing, and everyone will have nothing to do. I was thinking, why not open a few academies and bring in everyone who can move, to teach them how to read?"
Lao Liu rubbed his bald head and said, "Why go through all that trouble? I worked so hard to learn a bunch of characters, and I don't feel any different! Feels like all that suffering was for nothing."
Lao Ba said, "Sixth Brother, you know seven or eight hundred characters at least, but while you recognize each one on its own, you have no idea what they mean put together. You're truly one of a kind—an absolute fish that slipped the net."
Lao Liu immediately flared up. "Watch your mouth! Showing no respect to your Sixth Brother! How am I a fish that slipped the net? Am I that stupid, that greedy, that foul to eat?!"
Lao Ba replied, "Sixth Brother, if you aren't, what are you getting so worked up for?"
Lao Liu was at a loss for words.
Wei Youcai said, "Alright, alright, stop bickering and hurry up and set up the academies! If there aren't enough teachers, the two of you can fill in as well."
"Big Brother, why bother with all this?" Bald Lao Liu still didn't understand.
Wei Youcai said, "Once you know characters, you can parse sentences, read books, and think through principles on your own. When more people can think through principles, those principles will become clearer and clearer the more they are contemplated. This region will gradually prosper, and people will be able to take their fate back into their own hands, rather than needing sages to do the thinking for them."
Lao Ba, half-comprehending, said, "Big Brother, there's no rush on this, right? Why don't we ascend the throne first and enjoy the thrill of being Emperor? Look, I even found a dragon robe—with just a few slight alterations, it'll look the part."
With that, the lean man pulled a yellowish-red garment from his bosom. It was, shockingly, a Buddhist kasaya.
Chapter 994