Chapter 489 – City Siege
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Modlawls123
Zhao Fu didn’t like literati because he felt that they only had academic skills and no life skills. Moreover, because this was a period of war and chaos, they weren’t very useful.
However, since ancient times, the literati weren’t to be offended. Back then, in order to unify thinking, the First Emperor of Qin had burned all books except those relating to medicine, agriculture, and a few other fields.
He had also ordered for the Confucian scholars to be buried alive, but that had been incited by alchemists. When Great Qin had established its empire, they had recommended dividing and conferring the empire, but because that was what had caused the Warring States Period, how could the First Emperor of Qin agree? Afterward, because of the alchemists’ greed for money, they had slandered and vilified the Emperor, forcing him to bury the Confucians. However, most of those who had been buried alive were alchemists, and very few Confucians had been dragged in. In total, there had only been 400 people.
Moreover, 400 wasn’t much compared to some of the other Emperors – when Zhu Yuanzhang had established the Ming Dynasty, in order to solidify the foundation of his rule, he had killed many meritorious ministers and Generals and butchered dozens of cities, killing hundreds of thousands of people. And yet, very few people thought that he was a tyrant.
In fact, many ‘enlightened lieges’ had killed many more people, yet they were still considered virtuous rulers.
As for the First Emperor of Qin, even though what he had done wasn’t as bad, it had been firmly recorded in history because he had offended the literati and scholars. After all, history was written by such people.
If they spoke badly about you, no matter what you did, your reputation would be tarnished for thousands of years. Those who didn’t know the full story would only hear about the idiom ‘burn the books and bury alive the Confucian scholars,’ and they would think that the First Emperor of Qin had burned every book and killed all of the Confucian scholars.
As such, literati and scholars weren’t to be lightly offended, and every Dynasty did its best to treat these people well.
However, it wasn’t good for there to be too many literati and scholars, such as the Song Dynasty. Even though there were all sorts of different ideas and the quality of life and the economy were quite good back then, it was the most humiliating period in China’s history. The Qing Dynasty had only given up land, but the Song Dynasty’s Emperor’s princesses and imperial concubines were made slaves or killed. Without a doubt, it was the most humiliating period of China’s history.
As such, what use was there in having so many literati and scholars? So what if the quality of life and the economy were excellent? If the military was too weak, a nation would still suffer humiliation and despair. After all, one established one’s place in the world with one’s might, not one’s mouth.
Because of the various reasons, Zhao Fu felt quite wary towards Li Muqing. Of course, Zhao Fu didn’t despise literati and scholars – after all, they were the ones who passed down culture and history.
“I want to personally meet Great Qin’s Legatee; can you help with that?” Li Muqing said as she smiled. Hearing this, Zhao Fu thought about this before replying, “That’s not possible. Right now, the Legatee isn’t willing to meet many people, but if there’s anything you would like me to pass on, I can do that for you. Also, why do you want to meet the Legatee?”
“Oh…” Li Muqing replied before saying, “It’s not much. I just want to see what sort of person he is. Also, please don’t misunderstand – I don’t intend on becoming an imperial concubine. If he can establish a powerful nation, he should also ensure the continuation of literature and the arts, so I want to have a look at the Great Qin City.”
Zhao Fu knew that things would be as simple, so he replied, “But of course – literature is the foundation of a nation. The Legatee will definitely ensure its continuation.”
Hearing this, Li Muqing smiled happily and said, “That’s great! I don’t have any other matters, so I’ll be staying with the Ying family. If the Legatee wishes to see me, I’ll be happy to oblige.”
Zhao Fu nodded, indicating that he understood. Following this, Li Muqing, Liu Ruyan, and Pan Yuling left, leaving only Feng Shiyu. She glared at Zhao Fu and reminded him, “Remember to tell your Legatee that I’ve come to the Ying family. He has to acknowledge me quickly, or I’ll make sure you regret it.” After saying this, she brandished her little fist, seeming as if she was going to beat Zhao Fu up, before leaving.
Afterward, Zhao Fu dryly laughed and paid her no mind before returning to the Heaven Awaken World.
By the time Zhao Fu returned to the Great Qin City, all of the Generals and soldiers were ready, so they officially set off towards Westpan City.
A few hours later, Zhao Fu and the army arrived outside of Westpan City. Looking at the city ahead, Zhao Fu didn’t bother with any tricks or schemes, and he ordered the soldiers to charge. They would destroy the villages outside first before surrounding Westpan City.
After all, because they already had such immense strength, using schemes was quite troublesome. As such, Zhao Fu decided to use Great Qin’s martial might to conquer Westpan City. Great Qin’s 400,000 soldiers rushed forward like a black flood that wanted to destroy everything, and the ones charging at the front were the Cavalry.
At first, the Kobold villagers looked quite confused because they had become accustomed to living in peace. With their strength, even system main cities didn’t dare to attack them.
Great Qin’s countless Cavalry didn’t care at all – they had only one task, which was to kill anyone who resisted.
They held their spears as they rode on their warhorses and rushed ahead with unstoppable momentum, stabbing their spears through Kobolds’ chests. Immediately, blood flew everywhere, and pained cries sounded out as countless Kobolds’ lives were ended.
The Kobold villagers immediately retaliated – after all, they were Outlanders and innately quite suited to fighting. The Kobolds held spears, sabers, and clubs as they rushed towards Great Qin’s Cavalry, but the conclusion was quite tragic.
First, they were only villagers, not actual soldiers, and their cultivation and equipment were far inferior to those of Great Qin’s soldiers. More importantly, there were only a few thousand of them against Great Qin’s 400,000 soldiers.
No matter how ferocious the Kobolds were, they were incredibly weak in front of Great Qin. They desperately threw spears, but they found that Great Qin’s soldiers were able to knock them away easily, and the spears were unable to deal any damage.
Soon, the Kobolds were quickly devoured by the black flood, after which everything became peaceful again, leaving the corpses silently lying on the ground.
Even though the Kobolds were quick to resist, they were also quick to surrender. They respected power, and after seeing that it was impossible to win and hearing that those who surrendered would be spared, many Kobolds obediently kneeled and chose to surrender.
After quickly and easily dealing with the villages, Great Qin’s soldiers tightly surrounded Westpan City.
Westpan City went into a state of emergency, and Kobold soldiers held their weapons and stood on the city walls, seriously looking at Great Qin’s countless soldiers and prepared to fight.