荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

“What?!”

Wang Chong trembled in surprise.

Lu Ting had once said that even if Wen Choushu was still alive, he would be more than ninety years old. Moreover, he had a reclusive personality. In other words, even Lu Ting believed that there was an incredibly high chance that this person was no longer alive. To so quickly find Wen Choushu was truly surprising.

Wang Chong quickly calmed down and asked, “What did the Li Clan of the Jing Prefecture say?”

To find news on Wen Choushu truly was rather exciting, but he couldn’t get too happy until they actually confirmed his identity.

“The Li Clan of Jing Prefecture sent a letter saying that they found a person extremely similar to the person Academic Lu Ting spoke of. They’re both people of more than ninety years with a reclusive personality and a fondness for collecting ancient books. Moreover, they both had a bean-sized mole on their left brow. In addition, the Li Clan also found that this person had the surname Wen and moved there twenty-some years ago. Although he called himself Wen Guxin, a villager saw a seal he carries around with him that said ‘Wen Choushu’.

“In addition, the library in his home is astonishing. When he arrived, he bought several large courtyards and even hired people to build three more, all of which he used to store books. The Li Clan took note of this person when they went out to purchase herbs, asked for some water from this old gentleman’s estate, and noticed this incredible library,” Old Eagle said, his body bowed.

“Wen Choushu...”

Wang Chong was pensive.

Collectors of ancient books usually had a certain inclination. They deeply cherished the books they collected and would not randomly scrawl on them. However, they would place a bookmark inside the book which had the name of the collector stamped onto it. If the collector died and the book fell into the hands of another collector, the collector would also stamp their name on the bookmark. In this way, they created a record of the people who had owned this book through the generations.

This was a habit and custom held by ancient book collectors.

If this person had the seal of ‘Wen Choushu’ on his person, there was at least a sixty percent chance that this person was the one he was looking for.

“Old Eagle, take Academic Lu Ting over to see if this person is actually Wen Choushu. In addition, dispatch four experts to guard him and have a few scholars from some of the great clans assist Lu Ting. I want to know as soon as possible what that Bird Seal Script is and just what that ink symbol means!” Wang Chong sternly said, his eyes shining brightly. This development had come as a great surprise, and it seemed like there was finally going to be some progress with the Confucian Sect.

Old Eagle quickly departed with Lu Ting and ten-some experts. For safety’s sake, King Song dispatched another twenty-some experts, all of them personally-selected elites. The conflict between the Confucians and militarists had not just affected the Imperial Court, but the entire empire.

No one was clearer on this than King Song.

Once something happened to the militarists, the more than ten million people of the Great Tang would be in danger. This was why King Song had given his full support to this matter.

Meanwhile, the capital gradually entered a period of peace. After Wang Chong had neutralized the attacks in Qixi and the Three Great Training Camps, Li Junxian and the Confucian Sect had seemingly slowed their assault and had not made any further advances. As for Wang Chong, he was waiting for news from Lu Ting and King Song.

Both sides had apparently made a temporary truce and made no hostile actions against each other. But both Wang Chong and Li Junxian understood that their adversary was just building up for a strike and could begin a new wave of assault at any time. At the same time, a new development took place in the capital, though this did not alarm very many people.

Under the leadership of Zhangchou Jianqiong and the Bureau of Military Personnel, King of Foreign Lands Wang Chong, Gao Xianzhi, Geshu Han, Zhangchou Jianqiong, and Xianyu Zhongtong had joined together to set up a ‘commander base’ on the northwestern outskirts of the capital.

The commander base covered a vast area of several dozen mu. The construction expenses were divided between the Bureau of Military Personnel, Wang Chong, and the noble clans of the capital, with Wang Chong paying half. In another new development, these noble clans paying construction expenses were honored as ‘sponsors’.

In this way, the commander base could be built as quickly as possible, circumventing the need to request an allocation of money from the Bureau of Revenue.

In addition, the primary architect of the commander base was none other than the renowned master craftsman responsible for building the City of Steel at Wushang at the steel walls used on the northwestern battlefields, Zhang Shouzhi. The commander base would need several months to complete. When the time came, many students of the Three Great Training Camps and some officers in the army could enter this place to study. Unlike the Three Great Training Camps, however, the commander base would teach strategy and practical tactics for the battlefield.

All the instructors were selected from amongst elite officers of the five protectorates, all of them with rich battlefield experience. This was one of the traits that differentiated the commander base from the Three Great Training Camps.

And Wang Chong would teach an even higher level of strategic thought.

Wang Chong’s reputation as the new War God and his renowned ability to command made this commander base an extremely attractive prospect.

Wang Chong was also trying to track down Li Junxian, but Li Junxian had apparently vanished like a puff of steam. But even so, the Confucian school’s attack had still not stopped. More and more schools manned by Confucians lecturing on benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom were popping up in the capital to promote the idea of the Harmonious World, and the Confucians’ influence was getting stronger and stronger.

Wang Chong could sense that the minds of the people were slowly changing. And the method the Confucians had chosen was impervious. Not even Wang Chong, the noble King of Foreign Lands, could stop the Confucians from lecturing their ideals.

But just because he couldn’t stop them didn’t mean that Wang Chong had no way to counter.

“Xu Keyi, Cheng Sanyuan, I have a task for you!”

Several days later, Wang Chong summoned the two of them to his study.

“I need you to immediately get in touch with the great clans of the capital to get this task done as soon as possible. In addition, I will give thirty million taels of gold for initial capital and provide even more capital later on so that this task can be completed.”

“Ah!”

“Milord!”

The two of them dropped their jaws in shock as they stared at Wang Chong.

Thirty million taels!

And this was in gold, and even more would be coming!

This number had completely exceeded their expectations. One had to realize that the Imperial Court had only given ten million taels of gold to Wang Chong for the Battle of Talas, and this had been enough for the Great Tang to eventually win in the war against Arabia.

But now, Wang Chong was giving them thirty million taels, and this was only the initial sum. This was a wealth that many could use for the rest of their lives and still not spend it all.

They found it very difficult to imagine just what sort of task would require this much gold.

“I’ve written everything in this letter! Go!”

“Yes, Milord!”

Xu Keyi took the letter from the table and quickly left.

......

Several days later, news from the Jing Prefecture arrived in the capital. A ‘body-strengthening school’ built by the Li Clan had been set up in the Jing Prefecture. It taught various martial arts and charged no fee. On the contrary, the school offered breakfast and dinner for free. There was only one student at the start, but this quickly expanded to seven, then ten, and then more.

Jing Prefecture was only the beginning. These martial arts schools began to pop up like bamboo after rain, expanding from Jing Prefecture to the neighboring prefectures and commanderies and onward. In a single week, the number of body-strengthening schools had increased to several hundred, spread throughout the entire empire. After several weeks, there were several thousand such body-strengthening schools, and this number was still continuing to increase at an astonishing pace.

These body-strengthening schools were all built in the same simple style and were established in serene environments. In addition, they all had experienced instructors. The common people were initially dubious about this venture, but when they learned that these body-strengthening schools were offering free meals, they rushed to participate. Not only that, these people soon realized that these body-strengthening schools had an additional policy. If one trained in martial arts in these body-strengthening schools for an entire week, they could obtain ten strings of copper cash.

If one continuously practiced martial arts in the school for a month, one could obtain a piece of loose silver. The more time one spent, the more silver one could obtain, and after half a year, one could obtain a silver ingot.

Such a thing had never happened in the Central Plains before. Moreover, many people lived around these schools, and even though the requirements were strict, in the end, the schools still recruited an astonishing number of students. The money needed to feed these people and pay for the instructors amounted to an absolutely enormous daily expenditure. This was not something that any ordinary great clan could bear.

But everyone soon discovered that the stream of silver coming from these body-strengthening schools was apparently endless. It was as if the person backing these body-strengthening schools was unimaginably wealthy. And when the owner of these body-strengthening schools was finally revealed, the entire empire trembled.

The King of Foreign Lands!

The owner of these thousands of body-strengthening schools was none other than the illustrious War God, Wang Chong!

This news set off an earthquake, and countless people were drawn to the body-strengthening schools by Wang Chong’s name so that they could learn martial arts and strengthen their bodies. In addition, countless influential families and factions from other areas got in touch with Wang Chong, hoping that he would open a body-strengthening school in their own area. Some of them were even willing to bear a portion of the daily expenses.

It took very little time for these body-strengthening schools to become popular, and a craze for strengthening the body and cultivating martial arts swept through the empire.

The number of body-strengthening schools swelled to tens of thousands, and they were found in almost every corner of the empire.

Flap flap!

One messenger bird after another flew into the capital. One of these birds flew into a tea house located in the northwest corner of the capital. A black-robed elder wearing the robes of a Confucian scholar extended a hand and received this messenger bird. As he glanced at the message, his face instantly turned grim.

“Bastard!”

The Confucians were establishing schools in the capital to propagate their ideals while Wang Chong was setting up schools throughout the empire to teach martial arts. This was clearly in opposition to the Confucians.

“Let me see just how long you can remain smug!”

With a sweep of his sleeve, the black-robed elder vanished into the tea house.