Chapter 450- Kong Zi
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
Zhaoqing Prefecture, Cangcheng County.
8th month, 14th day, Zhao Yan led the Leizhou Garrison Division and arrived at Cangcheng County at the stipulated time. He brought along vast amounts of grain and resources.
If they were not transporting items, the Garrison Division would have probably arrived a day earlier.
After Zhao Yan took charge of the Leizhou Garrison Division, he did not dare to act slow. Apart from coordinating with the officials to take down criminals, he would clean out bandits and suppress resistance. On normal days, he would seriously trained his division.
He felt exceedingly grateful toward the Lord. From a normal soldier, he worked his way up and the Lord eventually promoted him to the rank of major general. If he did not do well, he would not feel good about himself.
Passion and love for the army filled this steel blooded male.
During normal days, he trained his troops like crazy. He would teach what he had learned in the special forces training camp to his division.
Based on his words, although the Garrison Division was a regional protection force, they could not look down on themselves. They must train themselves like a war unit, prepared for battle at all times.
After such tiring training, the soldiers in the division naturally let out cries of pain.
However, their respect for their major general grew by the day. Apart from those who were there to grab food and wait for death, no one in the military was willing to let others look down on them.
The members of the Garrison Division were all former war prisoners. They were all born the same, so why could not they enter the war armies and enjoy higher pay and better equipment?
They were unhappy!
Members of the Garrison Division were unhappy. They trained hard day and night. From hunting bandits and raiders, they raised their rank and combat strength.
They eagerly awaited the day when they could return to the main battlefield and display their strength.
Hard work always paid off.
Their chance had arrived!
When they received the military order, the entire division's blood boiled.
The training levels of the Leizhou Garrison Division were not far off from the war troops. Their combat strength, although it could not compare to the war troops, could still allow them to fight on equal grounds with the alliance army.
The same day, Baiqi inspected the Garrison Division outside of the city.
He had a rarely seen smile on his face.
Gaining the recognition of the commander-in-chief, the entire Garrison Division's blood boiled. Facing the upcoming war, they were not afraid. Instead, they looked forward to it.
Most recently, the Military Affairs Department had started to implement the military reward system.
Before this, the titles that Lin Yi and the other generals received was a trial Ouyang Shuo conducted. In the future, major generals, colonels, majors even lieutenants and sergeants would receive rewards for meritorious deeds.
They would award anyone who performed well.
The Military Affairs Department had already sent out the news that the military reward system would be effective from the Battle of Zhaoqing onward. Although the battle had changed greatly, it became a good chance for them to gain favor.
Needless to say, Du Ruhui sneakily spread out this news.
In truth, how would this whole system get past Ouyang Shuo? In regards to their specific progress, Ouyang Shuo was clearer than anyone.
The preliminary idea was still on his desk, waiting for his approval.
Setting a military reward system was not a small matter. Not only did it involve the welfare of the military, it also affected other areas like rank.
Rewards would come in the form of gold, positions, and ranks.
As for nobility, Ouyang Shuo did not have the power to confer that.
The money portion had to do with the military expenses, so they could not decide it so easily. The moment they decided, they could not change it easily. Otherwise, Cui Yingyu would probably kill Du Ruhui.
The salaries of the soldiers already made the commoners extremely envious. If the additional rewards were too high, it might make others unhappy.
If it was too little, it would have no point.
After all, without temptation, how would the soldiers risk their lives?
Hence, Ouyang Shuo thought of a middle ground. They would mainly use monetary rewards and only use rank rewards when necessary.
In truth, to majors and above, glory meant more than money. For example, when Lin Yi received his title of Huwei General, many other generals grew red with envy.
Hence, to set up a reward system, they needed to set up a rank system as well.
They could not work out all the small details in a short amount of time.
It was obvious that Du Ruhui threw down a smoke bomb.
His actions naturally aimed to raise the morale of the troops, his intentions benign. Hence, Ouyang Shuo did not oppose the spreading of the new. He could only rush them to perfect the reward system before the war ended.
He did not want the soldiers to lose their trust him.
When Du Ruhui received the news, he frowned and begged for mercy.
Unfortunately, Ouyang Shuo remained unmoved.
What was this called?
Smashing your own foot with a rock.
Since the Lord had already given the order, the entire Military Affairs Department could only work overtime. They had to consider frontline matters, while also rushing to complete the system.
As he had no other choice, Du Ruhui had to borrow additional people from the Army Military Academy. If not, they would not have enough manpower. Luckily, Sun Wu was nice, sending over ten teaching staff to help out.
The next day, the news that the alliance army was travelling down south spread to the command force.
Their actions had exceeded Baiqi's expectations; they were a week faster than he had anticipated.
It seems like they were really anxious!
In the tent, Baiqi stared at the map of Zhaoqing Prefecture, as his eyes focused in thought.
On the map, the three points where the Shanhai City troops were housed in were marked with red. They were on the west, while the left flank troops were located in Yaogu County, the middle Cangcheng County, as well as the east of Genglou County.
The three counties formed a triangle, with the two others less than two hundred kilometers away from Cangcheng County. If they rushed, they could reach each other within two days.
Above the three red dots was Tianshuang County.
A huge black arrow stretched from Tianshuang County to Cangcheng County.
Their actions meant that Baiqi had to make a choice. Should he continue to defend the three counties or focus his forces all in Cangcheng County?
For the entire morning, his eyes never left the map.
……
In the afternoon, military orders were sent to the various divisions through the relay.
It was obvious that Baiqi had already made a decision.
The order was for the 4th division of the Dragon Legion, as well as the Leizhou Garrison Division housed in Cangcheng County, to move to Yaogu County.
The Dragon Legion 2nd division housed in Yaogu Region would leave and move outside of Genglou County to hide and wait for further orders.
With that, he strengthened the troops of both Yaogu and Genglou County, while the command force only had the Tianshuang County city protection division.
Is Baiqi attempting another empty city plan?
The military order specifically mentioned that the three counties must erect the flag of their main general.
Cangcheng County naturally erected the flag of Baiqi, Yaogu County erected the flag of Xuanwei General Mu Guiying, while Genglou County erected Han Xin's flag.
Undeniably, this was another one of Baiqi’s schemes.
As for whether the alliance army would fall for it, only time would tell.
8th month 15th day, Shanhai City.
Just as the flames of war on Zhaoqing battlefield experienced a short rest, Shanhai City welcomed a prominent figure.
The Knowledge Saint Kong Zi brought his disciples on a learning journey all the way to Shanhai City. A day prior, Han Feizi of Legalism had sneakily reached Shanhai City.
The two heavyweights of Confucianism and Legalism had finally gathered.
Everyone knew that the most intense aspect of the philosophers’ debate would be the debating segment.
During this half a month, the philosophers followed the plan. First, they entered the book collection house for a week to understand the various achievements of each school of thought and faction in the various dynasties.
One had to say, they learned a lot.
Especially Confucianism, it changed and progressed a lot as time went on.
Following which, the philosophers' forum would begin.
Various school of thoughts and factions could head to the forum to describe their own thoughts and main goal. The prerequisite was for the contents to be new. If it was the same as the old thoughts, they did not need to go up.
The most attractive one was Wei Yang.
As one of the representative figures of Legalism and the person who affected the Warring States, Wei Yang, with his new identity as the director of internal affairs, headed to the forum.
His experience in Shanhai City had taught him a lot. All of his previous views were changed or improved because of his experiences.
In his last life, Wei Yang had always said that people should either be farmers or soldiers; there was no third option. Everything was to serve their country.
Focusing on agriculture and less on commerce was his strategy. The cruel punishments were his way of rule.
Everything in Shanhai City went against his strategy.
The commercial system of Shanhai City was something that opened up his eyes. Interestingly, Shanhai City's agriculture was similarly prosperous. Promoting both commerce and agriculture seemed possible.
His way of thinking naturally changed.
Of course, his core Legalism thinking still remained rock steady. What changed was the methods and strategy; the way he pushed out.
Undeniably, his words had won him plenty of praise. Confucian scholars like Meng Zi all had solemn expressions when they left.
The next day, it was Meng Zi's turn.
Interestingly, he described the ethical relationship between aboriginals and players, which extended to the legal problem of player Lords.
One had to say that Gaia really created a bunch of monsters.
Think about it, Meng Zi and the others were all smart people in history. Now, Gaia had given him five thousand years of knowledge and also let him live in such a wonderful world.
It made him stronger and stronger.
The first battle between Confucianism and Legalism ended in a draw.