Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 955 – Li Mu Talks Freely
10th month, 12th day, noon, Chuanbei Province Tongren Prefecture.
Chuanbei Province was located on the highlands on the southwest region of China. During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was a part of the southern barbarians. Its geography was high in the west and low in the east, with most of its land being high mountains. As a result, it was said to have 80% mountain, 10% water, and 10% paddy.
The civilians living in Chuanbei Province, apart from the Han Race, were people of the Miao Race and the mountain barbarian race.
The province had rich resources, and it had massive coal storage with many different types of high quality of coal. Hence, it was called the southwest coal ocean.
There were five prefectures in Chuanbei Province. From north to south, they were Tongren Prefecture, Guiyang Prefecture, Xingyi Prefecture, Duyun Prefecture, and Guzhou Prefecture. The leader of Chuanbei City-State was West Gate Big Official, and his territory Fenggang City was located in Tongren Prefecture.
At noon, West Gate Big Official personally led his 70 thousand troops toward the east to the border of his territory. Any further and he would enter Changde Prefecture of Xiangnan Province.
Talking about Changde Prefecture, one had to mention one Lord – Gu Hengxiao. Although he was not really famous, he had a God General under him – Li Mu.
Using the strength of Li Mu, Gu Hengxiao occupied 3/5th of the houses in the prefecture. The land connected to Tongren Prefecture, which was Zhu Hengxiao’s territory – Laifeng City.
The arrival of the Fenggang City Army made the Laifeng City troops really nervous.
A day ago, the two War Fighting Legions of Pill Sun City went down south to attack Xiangnan Province. They chose to first attack Changsha Prefecture before attacking Changde Prefecture. As a result, the current Changde Prefecture had not been wrapped up in the flames of war.
Even then, it was really jittery within Changde Prefecture.
For the Fenggang City Army to suddenly arrive here at the border, it obviously raised doubts in their hearts.
Weirdly, West Gate Big Official did not directly a start war. Instead, he simply smiled at the Laifeng City General and said, “I am the Lord of Fenggang City, West Gate Big Official. I’m under Great Xia now and have something to discuss with your Lord. Please report it to him swiftly.”
When the general heard this, he did not dare to take matters into his own hands and sent someone to inform his Lord.
Very quickly, Gu Hengxiao received the news. He was astonished, and he immediately called Li Mu over to discuss. He asked, “General, what do you think they are up to?”
In the morning, out of the Lords that pledged their allegiance to Great Xia, Laifeng City was not one of them. Due to the Guilin battle from before, Li Mu had some problems with Great Xia.
With this thorn in his heart, Gu Hengxiao was naturally not going to stay too close to Great Xia.
However, the changes in these two days had messed up his mind. First, there was Caiyun City ditching them and revealing their plan to swallow up the City-State. Next, there was the pledging of loyalty in the morning, which buried the two City-States.
Furthermore, the Pill Sun City Army could attack at any moment. Being in such a spiral, with his ability, he had lost control of his own fate.
He was an ordinary Lord, and he had only summoned Li Mu because of his good luck. However, based on the current climate of the wilderness, even Li Mu would not be able to save Laifeng City.
When Li Mu saw that, he did not directly reply. Instead, he only asked, “In your eyes, without Great Xia interfering, can we stop Caiyun City and Pill Sun City?”
“No.”
Due to setting up the City-State really early, there was very little internal conflict, which was why there were 13 territories left in the province.
Out of them, there were some that were allies of Great Xia and some that were pawns of the Yanhuang Alliance. Aside from that, there were some neutral powers, and the three sides bit at one another.
With that, how would they be able to fend off the attacks of Pill Sun City and Caiyun City? If Great Xia did not come out to interfere, it was only a matter of time before Caiyun City unified the entire Xiangnan Province.
Li Mu said, “Since that’s the case, you only have two roads to choose. You either join Caiyun City or you join Great Xia. Which side are you ready to choose?”
Li Mu’s words were true. Along with the Yanhuang Alliance and Great Xia Dynasty showing off their strength, there was no more living space for small and medium-sized territories like themselves.
To them, it was either they joined a side or get totally thrown out of the game.
“This….”
Gu Hengxiao was put on the spot.
Logically speaking, he was naturally unwilling to join Great Xia. However, to ask him to join Caiyun City, he naturally could not do that either. Who was Caiyun Zinan? He was just a person who was a little stronger than him, so why would he be willing?
“If general chooses, who would you choose?” Gu Hengxiao asked.
Li Mu answered simply, “I would choose Great Xia.”
“Oh?”
This surprised Gu Hengxiao, as he knew that Li Mu had problems with Great Xia. It was not only because of the Battle of Guilin, but it was also because the person who destroyed Zhao was Baiqi, who was in Great Xia.
“Has general let go of it?” Gu Hengxiao asked.
Li Mu nodded, but then he shook his head, confusing Gu Hengxiao. He explained, “I have thought it through. The Battle of Changping was a fair fight. As a general, I should not treat Baiqi like that. But I just could not help but feel unhappy about losing to him. I wanted a chance to fight another battle against him.”
During the Battle of Changping, Li mu had not risen up in Zhao and was unable to join the battle.
Gu Hengxiao understood and asked, “Can general explain why you recommend me to go to Great Xia?”
“Today, the Great Xia Dynasty has pretty much claimed the southwest and is showing signs of unifying the entirety of China. Caiyun City is just a chess piece of Yanhuang Alliance and could be destroyed at any moment. Comparing the two, naturally you choose the stronger one.” Li Mu explained.
What Li Mu did not say was that only an empire like Great Xia would let him develop. Only then could he crush the battlefield and make a name for himself.
Moreover, only a mighty Lord like the Xia King would be able to accept so many talents.
God Generals like Baiqi, Han Xin, and Huo Qubing were all so famous in the wilderness. On the contrary, Li Mu and Wuqi were really low profile.
Wuqi had the chance to command a huge army, while Li Mu was cooped up in Changde Prefecture.
The depressed and bitter feelings in his heart were not something that Gu Hengxiao knew about.
A light flashed in Gu Hengxiao’s eyes, but he did not agree immediately. Instead, he said, “Apart from Caiyun City and Great Xia, we can join Pill Sun City. Why did general not mention that?”
Li Mu replied, “Lord, you have mentioned before that the Yanhuang Alliance is for nobles, and it is not suitable for commoners. Furthermore, it’s really bad internally in the alliance. To put it bluntly, if we join Pill Sun City, I might have a chance to show my ability, but you would be shelved.”
When Gu Hengxiao heard that, he felt a chill run down his spine. Thinking back to how Xunlong Dianxue was treated, Li Mu’s words were not totally false, and it might actually happen if he joined them.
The current problematic situation was only targeting him and not a God General like Li Mu. Thinking about this, Gu Hengxiao was touched, touched by Li Mu’s loyalty.
Li Mu continued, “Great Xia is totally different. Based on what you said, Great Xia is just rising up and needs talents. Furthermore, they care a lot about reputation, and they would definitely find a place for you. If I’m not wrong, West Gate Big Official is coming here to recruit you on Great Xia’s behalf.”
“A new dynasty rising would definitely give birth to new nobles, and it is the best chance to build a name and a career. As a result, people like West Gate Big Official are willing to join Great Xia and not the Yanhuang Alliance.”
As expected from a God General, Li Mu thoroughly analyzed the issue.
Ouyang Shuo had shown his ability to accept everyone, be it commoners or aristocratic families. Hence, they were all able to sense the opportunity within, so they willingly join Great Xia.
Even aristocratic family children and the entire family was something that Ouyang Shuo was confident in affecting with the ability of Great Xia now. He could merge them into the Great Xia system.
At the same time, to restrict the aristocratic families, Ouyang Shuo was also developing new aristocratic families. Apart from using historical people as the core of the dynasty, he was developing Mulan Yue, Black Snake, Meng Zhida, and the like.
Even including the Lords from when Great Xia merged with other territories, these people and their families were the new nobles of the dynasty.
To be able to see all this proved that Li Mu was not a simple person.
When Gu Hengxiao heard that, he felt his blood boil. He was finally persuaded and said, “Okay. Since that’s the case, general, you can follow me to meet West Gate Big Official.”
“Yes!”
Li Mu cupped his fists, heaving a sigh of relief in his heart.
…
At 3 PM, West Gate Big Official finally met Gu Hengxiao and his group. He smiled as he greeted, “Brother Gu, long time no see.”
Gu Hengxiao cupped his fists and said, “Long time no see. You sent so many men, so it’s easy to misunderstand.”
“I was reckless.” West Gate Big Official smiled and admitted it, “I did not come over here planning to start a war. Instead, I want to give you an opportunity.”
Gu Hengxiao had seen through West Gate Big Official’s purpose, but he acted like he did not know anything on the surface. Smiling, “Brother West Gate, I’m in such a bad spot. There’s a tiger behind me and a wolf in front. What opportunity do I have?”
When West Gate Big Official heard that, he was delighted.
Gu Hengxiao describing Caiyun City and Pill Sun City as a tiger and a wolf made his stance really clear.
At this point, West Gate Big Official did not beat around the bush. He took out a letter and passed it to Gu Hengxiao, “This is a letter the Xia King told me to pass to you. Please think about the contents of the letter.”
Gu Hengxiao’s eyes focused. He knew that this was the main matter, and he reached out and accepted it.
Since they were so frank, Gu Hengxiao did not have anything to hide. He opened it up, and the more he saw, the more complicated his expression grew. There were emotions; he felt touched but also some sadness.
Looking at it, Gu Hengxiao did not immediately reply to West Gate Big Official. Instead, he turned around to Li Mu and said, “General, take a look!”
“Yes!”
Li Mu respectfully accepted the letter.