Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 240

"Speed ​​up the pace a bit and eliminate all of Situ Wanli's remaining followers as soon as possible." Xiao Yan'er was ruthless: "We can create the illusion that they committed suicide or fled out of fear of punishment. We can't leave anyone who opposes me becoming the head of the hall!"

"Yes," Zhang Er acknowledged the young master's order, then frowned. "But these people occupy important mid-to-high-level management positions in the Four Mountains Hall. Even if we can temporarily fill the gaps at the higher levels with our own people, the shortages at the mid-level are too great..."

"Is that a problem?" Ji Yan glanced at Zhang Er and said indifferently, "The Gonggong Hall has trained many disciples who can read and do arithmetic. We can just borrow some from the Gonggong Hall. The six halls are now closely connected, and they won't be stingy and refuse to lend us anything."

“If we actively infiltrate the Gonggong Hall into our Siyue Hall, they will likely continue to side with the Gonggong Hall, which will be a hidden danger.” Zhang Er subconsciously resisted the order.

"Do as I say!" Ji Yan didn't want to explain too much to Zhang Er and wanted to impose his will on him.

“Yes…” Zhang Er pursed his lips and stepped back, looking at the emerald green jade pendant named ‘Yan Wuji’ that Ji Yan had specially hung outside.

Xiao Yan'er's biggest concern right now is to become the head of the Four Mountains Hall as soon as possible so as to demonstrate her abilities to Lu Wei. Everything else is secondary, since the source of her power is more important than the power itself.

Of course, none of the lower-level managers in the Four Mountains Hall want a little girl to be their hall master, so replacing them with disciples from the Gonggong Hall's academy would solve the problem.

Having made prior arrangements, Ji Yan had accompanied Lu Wei to visit the academy several times, so most of the disciples at the academy knew that she and Lu Wei had a close relationship.

Those people may not respect me now, but if I become the head of the Four Mountains Hall, they certainly won't dare to refuse!

As for the issue of the students' loyalty to Gonggong Hall, Ji Yan was not worried at all. She didn't care about that: Siyue Hall was ultimately too small; it was just a stepping stone.

The new head of Gonggongtang is Physician Nianduan. How long can that old lady serve as head of the hall?

In the future, I can discuss the issue of a new leader for the Gonggong Hall with Brother Xia Kui.

If Gonggongtang will belong to them in the future, wouldn't it be better if these people were loyal to Gonggongtang?

Chapter 275 Two Meetings

The first meeting Lu Wei convened after becoming the leader of the Xia clan was held at Xiaogeng Manor, east of the Tomb of the Six Sages.

This place is nominally the residence of the successive leaders of the Heroic Clan in Daze Mountain. However, since the previous leader, Tian Guang, was always wandering around and would find various places to spend the night even when he returned to the headquarters, Lu Wei had only recently stepped into this mountain villa, even though he had been a member of the Farmer's Clan for nearly fourteen years.

The resort is quite large; after all, it's a farmhouse with a prestigious reputation. Compared to the headquarters of Gonggongtang, the simple decorations and materials used here are very 'solid'.

The manor is regularly maintained by a large number of disciples, even if the chieftain cannot stay there.

These staff members were originally from the Tian family. After Lu Wei arrived, he naturally replaced them all. However, the new staff were not just selected from the Gonggong Hall. In order to show the chivalrous leader's impartiality, Lu Wei, the new guardian disciple of the manor, gathered people from all six halls equally.

During the recruitment process, there's a chance we might accidentally poach some core members from the Six Halls, like Fan Kuai from the Shennong Hall. That's just how it is.

The residence of a chivalrous leader naturally needs some skilled people to serve him. If you don't contribute and I don't contribute, do you expect the chivalrous leader to do everything himself all the time?

Moreover, Lu Wei also recruited Lü Chen into Gonggong Hall. Judging solely from the quality of the pearl grass and the time he joined the Farmer's Clan, Lü Chen is far more important than Fan Kuai.

There was a lot to discuss at the meeting, but its greatest purpose was to widely spread the prestige and virtue of the new leader among the disciples.

Lu Wei's reputation was already known to most of the disciples of the Farmer's School many years ago after he participated in farming in the State of Zhao. In recent years, Gonggong Hall, as the head of the six halls and the strongest hall master of the Farmer's School, has also been intentionally promoted.

Thanks to their good reputation for their past management of disguises, most of the disciples were able to accept the outcome quite calmly when they suddenly learned that a new leader of the martial arts world had been born and that the leader was Lu Wei.

The specific arrangements for each hall will be made in detail when Lord Xia Kui personally inspects each hall.

Only two people from each hall could attend the meeting directly at the table, but there was an outdoor lecture later, where more disciples gathered.

Physician Nian Duan of Gonggong Hall was absent because she had to treat a patient who had been seriously injured by wild beasts in the mountains. Instead, Lü Qing and Dian Qing, who continued to serve as the general manager, attended the meeting. They were Lu Wei's old subordinates and only needed to be spectators.

As a hall that had remained relatively intact amidst the chaos, the people who came to Shennong Hall were naturally the hall master Zhu Jia and the steward Liu Ji.

The Zhu family were old acquaintances and needed no introduction. Liu Ji used to be quite close to Gonggongtang, but they gradually drifted apart. This man, who should have become Emperor Gaozu of Han, now had no chance.

The peasants will be the main force of future peasant uprisings. The chaos within the peasants in the original timeline continued even after the Qin Dynasty unified China. Liu Ji in the Qin Dynasty world may have had the opportunity to rise to power during the chaos within the peasants. After Lu Wei becomes the leader of the knights, the peasants will become more stable. The head of the Shennong Hall is a high-ranking official, and if he does a good job, he may be granted a title in the future.

As for the concern that Liu Ji might take his place... it seems that, at present, even worrying about Xiao Yan'er is more important than worrying about Liu Ji: a person's position determines the goals they can see and the direction they can strive for. Liu Ji's current goal of "a true man should be like this" is at most to become the head of Shennong Hall in the future of the Zhu family.

Speaking of Xiao Yan'er, the representatives from the Four Mountains Hall are Zhang Er and Ji Yan. Currently, Zhang Er holds the main position and Ji Yan the secondary position. Only when the matter is settled and the hall master is appointed will the other halls realize that this seemingly naive young girl is the true creator of the new Four Mountains Hall.

Ji Yan now compiles her daily operations at the Four Mountains Hall into a booklet and reports to Lu Wei. This attitude is commendable, but the reason behind it is something Lu Wei should pay close attention to.

The people from Lieshan Hall were A-Yu and his assistant. The two of them brought two large investigation manuals that attracted attention: these were the early investigation results of Lieshan Hall that A-Yu would report to everyone later.

Because of the issues surrounding the fake Tian Meng and Wu Chen, the Lieshan Hall was subject to arbitrary questioning and investigation. Even though it was clear to everyone that Lu Weixia Kui was trying to seize power in the Lieshan Hall with his own confidants, who could object to it on any grounds?

The case of the fake Tian Meng involves the deaths of three hall masters and a former leader of the knights, so no amount of rigorous investigation is too much.

The people led by Chi Youtang Tian Hu were also his hall's chief stewards, an old man from the Tian family. This was a helpless move after losing his elder brother as the brains of the group.

Although the wrongdoings committed by Lieshan Hall were not done by Sanada Takeshi, and the Tian family was unaware of the intricacies involved, they were still part of the enemy. In terms of the greater good of the peasantry, the Tian family, which originally controlled half of the peasantry's territory, has now seen its prestige plummet. Even if Tian Meng were to be resurrected, it would be difficult to resolve this situation, let alone Tian Hu.

He was indeed reckless in his actions, but he didn't have the guts to lead the Chiyou Hall against the entire peasant family.

Moreover, in the past two years, the internal conflict within the Chiyou Hall between the Tian family and other surnames has intensified...

Kuiwei Hall's crimes should have been second only to Lieshan Hall's. Fortunately, Wu Kuang's timely exposure allowed Kuiwei Hall to offset some of its sins. However, an investigation is still necessary. Tian Mi is now being interrogated by Lu Xiaokui personally. The most important thing for Kuiwei Hall is to select a new leader.

The people who came to Xiaogeng Mountain Villa to attend the meeting were Wu Kuang and Chen Ping.

The two were each other's biggest rivals, but they got along quite well in front of each other in the various halls. This was because Chen Ping often yielded to Wu Kuang in the Kuiwei Hall, which made Wu Kuang feel good.

Before his face was tattooed, Wu Kuang was known for his elegant demeanor in the Kuiwei Hall, which is why he was able to marry Tian Mi, a beautiful peasant woman. Chen Ping, on the other hand, was handsome, a natural advantage in interpersonal relationships. Generally speaking, in most interpersonal interactions, people with pleasing appearances, regardless of gender, can always gain favor before they even speak.

Although Chen Ping's skin lacked the ruggedness of a farmer's man, he was very righteous. Wu Kuang, after spending time with him, deeply felt that Chen Ping was an upright and honorable young man. Furthermore, considering that he would eventually become the hall master and need a deputy, he naturally wouldn't want to antagonize him.

However, what Wu Kuang didn't know was that the more Chen Ping yielded to the disciples of the Kuiwei Hall, the more the disciples would want Chen Ping to become the new hall master...

With everyone present, Lu Wei appeared followed by Fan Kuai and Lü Chen, who were ostensibly the new leader's confidants.

Zhu Jia and Lü Qing, seated on either side, both felt something was amiss when they saw Fan Kuai and Lü Chen, but neither showed it on their faces.

Lü Chen had been subdued long ago, so there's no need to elaborate. As for Fan Kuai, he wasn't a crazed battle maniac, but he was still enthusiastic about martial arts.

Lu Wei's ability to snatch the giant sword from Fan Kuai's hands three times in a row without leaving his hands immediately made Fan Kuai admire the chivalrous leader from the bottom of his heart. In addition, Fan Kuai had initially served the Zhu family, and now Lu Wei was the Zhu family's superior. Serving him was not considered changing sides, so Fan Kuai's speed of switching sides was very neat and without hesitation.

This is the power of reputation...

There's no need for much self-introduction; most of the people present are actually his confidants.

After a brief speech, Lu Wei gestured for the representatives from each hall to speak in turn. The first few halls were fine, and they didn't have anything special to describe. When it was A Yu's turn, the investigation reports in the two notebooks started with a stern tone, which startled everyone because the investigation pointed directly to the Tian family!

Tian Hu's face was very unpleasant, but in the end, A Yu's harsh criticism of the handling plan was relatively conservative, seemingly indicating that she wanted to let the Tian family off the hook.

Lu Wei had seen the results of Lieshan Hall's investigation beforehand, and the total number of books was not two but three.

However, the meeting today was not about assigning blame, and the timing was inappropriate, so he made slight modifications to the investigation results at the end.

Among the representatives below, Tian Hu's complexion improved somewhat, while Chen Ping, sitting opposite him, lowered his head, knowing that the Chi You Hall was about to be taken down by Lu Wei from behind.

This was already a highly probable event, and Ayu's report further confirmed it.

------

Almost simultaneously with the meeting of the Farmers, Yan Dan, the Grand Master of the Mohist School in the city of Mohist Mechanisms, also summoned several leaders to announce the decision to promote Yan Yun, the wife of the former Grand Master, to the new leader.

The Mohist school should have had nine leaders, but since Yan Dan first became the leader, this position has remained vacant.

In a sense, the Mohists and the Agriculturalists were very similar: both were places where the highest authority wanted to place their own people in these important positions with voting rights.

The Mohist school previously had seven leaders: Master Ban, Master Xu, Gao Jianli, Kuang Xiu, Dao Zhi, Da Tiechui, and Paoding. With the addition of Yan Yun, one more leader is still missing.

However, most of these eight people were staunch anti-Qin faction members, and Yan Dan's actions would not be restricted by his subordinates.

Yan Yun appears to be just an ordinary person who has recently learned some basic martial arts; it is her identity that gave her the opportunity to be promoted to commander.

In recent years, the Mohist school has secretly taken in many disciples whose families were destroyed because of the Qin state, but overall the number of usable people is not as good as before. At this time, promoting Yan Yun can stabilize those remnants of the Yan state who were sent to the Mechanical City by the 'former Grand Master' before the fall of the Yan state in Jicheng.

In fact, if Yan Dan were willing to reveal his true identity, he could reliably utilize those people without promoting Yan Yun, but he couldn't... or rather, he didn't dare to do so.

The identity of 'Yan Dan' carries too many constraints and karmic ties; it would be best if this identity were to die...

Even when facing his wife and daughter, he couldn't tell them the truth on a 'moment of impulse'.

The appointment was announced in a formal and official manner, and the leaders present generally had no major objections: they were aware of the situation of the Mo family, and the Queen of Yan had always been gentle and friendly, so making Yan Yun the leader was just a formality.

Yan Yun greeted the group with a gentle smile as the leader of the Mo family, but her heart was icy cold.

She wasn't someone with a high reputation in the martial arts world. Even though she had secretly learned Yin-Yang techniques, among the leaders present, she could probably only defeat Master Ban and Master Xu. But back in Yan Yi's mansion, she had to use her acting skills to ensure her survival as a child, and ultimately planned everything, using the opportunity presented by the Yin-Yang School to personally carry out her revenge.

In terms of forbearance, she was no less capable than her nominal husband, Yan Dan, who was now shrouded in a black cloak and dared not show himself!

Even Yan Dan couldn't see through his queen. To avoid suspicion and being recognized while in the Mechanized City, he never saw his wife and daughters unless it was absolutely necessary for Mo family affairs.

'Only by staying away from them can I avoid bringing danger to them.'

Yan Yun was unaware of and didn't care about Yan Dan's convincing ideas. She only had two plans in mind: one was to successfully complete Lord Dongjun's orders, and becoming the leader of the Mo family would undoubtedly make it much easier to complete the mission.

Secondly, after completing the mission, he took his daughter to find the only remaining family members outside...

Chapter 276 High Moon and Dawn

In the living quarters of the Mechanized City, the disciples of the Mo family at all levels have been very busy these past few days, supposedly carrying out a major maintenance of the Mechanized City's mechanical arts. Even her mother has been involved, so seven-year-old Gao Yue has been locked in her room alone.

Living alone is a bit boring, but I've gotten used to it.

Although she was a princess of a country, Gao Yue fled to the Mo family with her mother when her country was attacked by the Qin state at a very young age.

Memories of my homeland are only fragmented; the clearer memories mostly originated in the city of the mechanical palace.

The Mohist disciples were all very friendly to her, but Gao Yue herself felt a sense of alienation from the outside world because of Yan Yun.

None of the princes and princesses of this era had an easy time; they all eventually faced their tragic moments, including those from the Qin state.

He formed a hand seal and slowly gathered his energy. His Yin-Yang technique had improved somewhat today, but the progress was still minimal.

With a sigh, Gao Yue moved from the bed to the edge and sat down, her brows furrowed with anxiety: ever since her strict master taught her this mysterious spell a few years ago, she had never been able to use it completely.

Gao Yue had been diligently practicing this spell, but each time she could only make progress at a very slow pace. Although her mother had never urged her, Gao Yue knew that her mother would only be happy after she mastered this spell.

"The key to casting spells lies in the combination of techniques and Yin-Yang magic. The same Yin-Yang magic can produce different effects depending on the technique used." Gao Yue pondered the key points taught by her master and looked down at her small hands: "Powerful Yin-Yang disciples can combine different Yin-Yang magic techniques to cast spells as needed, which requires the caster to be very proficient in basic spells."

"But Master also said that disciples who can practice forbidden spells and seals have always been known as the most outstanding geniuses in the Yin-Yang School. Therefore, even if they are beginners in forbidden spells, they will not follow the rules and let rigid rules hinder their performance. They will always combine forbidden spells with their own characteristics."

"My natural talent is suited to learning forbidden spells, but I am slow to master other Yin-Yang techniques. Therefore, I can start learning forbidden spells directly, but due to a lack of foundation, I can only use hand seals in a conventional way."

"But those standard hand gestures always feel awkward when casting spells. According to the knowledge of Yin and Yang, this is not a suitable way for me to perform... Perhaps I can be a little more flexible?"

Muttering to himself, Gao Yue reformed his hand seals and began a new round of attempts...

...

In a small town in the Qin Dynasty, two hundred miles away from Xianyang, a dusty-faced beggar child squatted in a corner, his big, round eyes fixed on a steamed bun shop.

Whenever a customer came to buy steamed buns, the aroma from the steamer would make the little beggar, who had been hungry all day, rub his hands together in anticipation.

But you can't be impatient at times like this, because your reputation isn't good. If you're discovered beforehand, the shop owner will definitely beat you away with a wooden stick.