Chapter 9 What is in Mind

  In the year 615, it was a year of many events!

  In the eleventh year of Daye (615), in the first month, Emperor Yang increased the number of officials in the Secretariat by 120 people and used scholars to supplement them for compilation. He also built a fourteen-room library in front of the Guangwen Hall, with silk curtains hanging from the door and two flying immortals on top. Outside the door, there were underground mechanisms installed. When someone approached the library, palace staff would step on the mechanism first, causing the flying immortals to automatically descend, roll up the silk curtains, and open all doors and bookcases. When leaving, the main gate and bookcases would automatically close.

  Emperor Yang loved reading and writing. Since his time as the Grand General of Yangzhou, he had appointed nearly a hundred scholars in the palace academy, ordering them to compile books constantly. This continued for twenty years after he became emperor, resulting in the completion of thirty-one books totaling over 17,000 volumes. He also ordered the Secretariat Director, Liu Xuanying, to collate and correct the 370,000-volume collection stored in the Xijing Jiazhendian Hall, obtaining over 37,000 corrected imperial copies, which were then stored in the Dongdu Xiwendian Hall. Fifty additional copies were made and distributed among various government offices in Chang'an and other parts of the Eastern Capital.

  Emperor Yang, due to the uprisings of people from all over the country and the severe escape of households, in the 11th year of Daye (615), ordered the people to live in cities, and the land was granted according to proximity. All counties, counties, post stations, villages, and strongholds were built with walls, implementing a policy of fortification.

  In the eleventh year of Daye (615), in February, Wang Xubao from Shanggu (now Yi County, Hebei) led a rebellion with over 100,000 followers, proclaiming himself Mantianwang and establishing the state of Yan.

  In the eleventh year of Daye (615), in February, Wei Tonger rose up in Shanggu (now Yixian County, Hebei Province) with a force of over 100,000 and called himself Lishan Fei. He allied with the Turks to the north and fought battles across what is now Hebei and Shanxi provinces.

  But all of this is none of Li Yuanba's business! During the break, he went out with Han Lin to enjoy the spring scenery, but for Li Yuanba, it was a painful and pleasurable experience... Han Lin was beautiful and talented, and every time they went out, they would discuss poetry and literature. For Li Yuanba, this otaku, it was very painful! You know, otakus may have a broad range of miscellaneous knowledge, but that's relative! Games and adult videos are their strong suits, but poetry and literature are orthodox... Do you want him to recite poetry? Randomly or specifically? Randomly? He doesn't know which one to recite... Specifically? Which one? How about a simple one, with yellow orioles and white egrets, something he learned in elementary school, now taught to preschoolers - "Absolute Verse": "Two yellow orioles sing in the green willow, A line of white egrets flies across the blue sky." Is this the first two lines or the last two lines? This is the sorrow of an otaku! He's even forgotten the complete poem and its name, let alone the society... Occasionally he remembers some commonly appearing single sentences, but where are they from? Honestly, I don't know!

  This made Han Lin, a talented woman, both angry and amused, and also shocked! He can't recognize the characters he writes... ...He says these broken characters are too complicated! Simple ones, even those who are confused and deceived, can answer a few... ...There is no talent, but sometimes they can come up with a sentence or two that can be passed down for centuries, such as: About love, "Body without colorful phoenix wings, heart with spiritual connection" ; In heaven, I wish to be a pair of winged birds, on earth, I wish to be a branch of connected pines... ...Other than that, it's basically like this, single sentence or half sentence! However, he also came up with a majestic and powerful atmosphere, which is not inferior to the great masters: "Northern scenery, thousands of miles of ice and snow, millions of miles of flying snow. Looking at the Great Wall inside and out, only vastness remains; The river above and below, suddenly lost its momentum. Mountains dance like silver snakes, plains gallop like wax elephants, wanting to compete with the sky for height. Must be a sunny day, watching the red and white dressed, exceptionally charming... ...Inspiring countless heroes to bow down. Unfortunately, Qin Emperor and Han Wu are slightly inferior in literary talent; After a pause: All have passed, looking at the current era.

  When this poem came out, Han Lin was shocked! What kind of deep literary accomplishment and broad-mindedness must one have to create such a magnificent poem? It's as if he saw nothing and heard nothing! Unfortunately, it seems like something is missing. No matter how much you ask this fool, he won't say anything. When asked urgently, he shouted: "Good sentences are naturally born, wonderful hands occasionally get them! I just happened to think of these few lines! That's all!"

  Han Lin wanted to teach Li Yuanba how to read and write, but this kid thought that in this era, even if he learned to recognize characters, what's the use? Moreover, we are now a combination of official second-generation and rich second-generation, and in a few years, we will be imperial relatives! If you want to know, just ask someone to recite it for me... At worst, I'll let Simplified Chinese perform a change of dynasty! You guys know more characters than I do anyway...

  "But now it seems that the signs of chaos have already appeared, if you don't pay attention to military intelligence and secret messages at that time, you will miss the opportunity to be the commander-in-chief..." As soon as this sentence came out, the explosion of the otaku occurred!

  "Hah! Do you know who I am? Being immune to swords and guns is nothing! Look at these twin hammers, they're the Golden Drum Hammers, a divine artifact! Kill me? In the face of my unparalleled martial power, all plots and schemes are just paper tigers! There are only two people in this world who can kill me!"

  "Who...?"

  "One can't come out, the other won't show up......" The voice continued in a barely audible tone: "Unless someone even more awesome than me comes to cross over, but I think that probability is very low. With so many worlds, why would they all pile into this one?"

  "Huh? What are you muttering about? What's going on?"

  "Oh, nothing, just know that no one in this world can kill me!"

  "Humbug!"

  "Hey, don't go! Where are you going in such a hurry? Come this way! Hey, not that way! Alright, I'll send you back! It's always like this..."

  It was supposed to be on March 3rd, and the wedding had to be rushed. Who knew that Li Yuan's reckless association with Yang Guang, a Jianghu good man, would finally anger him! On the court, it almost said that some people were suspicious, and whether they also wanted to rebel? It is said that there are already heavenly messengers preparing to get up and chat with Li Yuan... ... Li Yuan's full heart of grievances: I'm about to have a happy life, you bastard, why did you make such a rotten thing for me? Do you want to die?! Directly speaking harsh words, whoever disturbs my happiness, I will slap him to death! Li Yuan was also scared, I don't even have a rich and powerful base yet! Am I doing it so obviously? This three is both confused and reckless, Li Yuan had to take out his father's dignity and discuss with Li Yuan to postpone the wedding for a few months, waiting for the wind to die down before handling the marriage... ...

  "Alright! I'll give my father some face, find a day in May and you have to get it done! You see, Second Brother is almost having an heir, can't let your beloved Third Son still not marry a daughter-in-law? How embarrassing...” Li Yuanba's words made Li Heng's head swell with anger! The descendant of the second son isn't even born yet, is that okay?! Shouldn't I find another one for Shidi?! But this marriage thing will only take two or three years, and the daughter-in-law is only 14 or 15 years old, should be a bit older soon... Putting aside worries, can only first fool this family's troublemaker and then talk about it later. Just agree to everything for now, one step at a time, mainly just need to get past this first major hurdle!

  Li Yuan was doomed to be disappointed! In early April, the imperial envoy read out the imperial edict, Emperor Yang appointed Li Yuan as the Grand Marshal of Shanxi and Hedong, with the power to appoint and dismiss officials in various counties. He also ordered Li Yuan to lead troops to suppress the peasant uprising that was active in the area around the Yellow River!

  The imperial edict has been issued, and Li Yuan received it with great joy. Leading the army to suppress bandits is a good job in this era! Not only can he gain military merit and fame, but also take the opportunity to build up his own army and train soldiers, a great thing that brings multiple benefits at once!

  Li Yuanba is an otaku, no need to doubt that. Although he had mentally prepared himself for leading troops and killing people, at first he was excited, but afterwards he felt apprehensive... He didn't even dare to slaughter a live chicken in his past life!

  Li Yuan brought his entire family, including all three thousand soldiers, to take up their posts! This was a military campaign, so naturally they had to wait until the front lines were stable before bringing over the women. But Li Yuan insisted on bringing along his wife, who hadn't even moved in with him yet, and strongly requested that he be allowed to guard the army's grain supplies from the rear. In his own mind, he was convinced of his own martial prowess and thought it only natural that he should occupy the most important position in the army... Li Yuan had no choice but to humor him and appoint him as a supply officer for the reserve troops. Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin exchanged amused glances - this guy hadn't even been to boot camp, yet he dared to call himself the greatest warrior under heaven? Li Yuanji spoke up bluntly: "Third brother, every single one of our top soldiers has come from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and some are even naturally gifted or nearly invincible! None of them dare to claim they're the greatest warrior under heaven - what makes you think you can?"

  "Huh? What's your opinion? Or would you like to try this unbeatable giant hammer in my hand?" Li Yuanba swung the giant hammer, creating a suffocating gust of wind that scared Li Yuangi into silence. In fact, neither of them knew that Li Yuanba was one of the top masters in this world...

  The army marched to the Longmen area and set up camp. At this time, there were more than 800,000 peasant uprising troops in Hejin, and their leader, Wu Duaner, was a top-notch master who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts, only one step away from entering the realm of the grandmaster! Unfortunately, none of his subordinates had high-end martial power. Wu Duaner had practiced the family's secret technique, the Purple River Heavenly Net True Qi Formula, since childhood and had entered the innate realm before the age of 40 due to his extraordinary martial arts talent. In the year 611, he made a name for himself as the King of Tianluo in Hejin! It was during Yang Guang's reign, after he had conquered Goguryeo, that he began large-scale construction of palaces and canals, leaving the people on the brink of survival. At this time, Hejin was already sparsely populated, and Yang Guang's actions had left it in a state of desolation, with not even one person left in ten households. After all, it was his hometown, so Tianluo Wang angrily raised his banner and started a rebellion! Those who responded to him were mostly peasants who could no longer make a living, while those with skills had all gone out to find their own way, looking down on these peasants without background, so Tianluo Wang basically had no usable generals or soldiers.

  Li Yuan and his men arrived at Longmen, taking advantage of the imperial edict to gather soldiers from the surrounding areas. In just fifteen days, they gradually formed an army of 100,000 men!

  On a day at the end of April, Li Yuan used the strategy he had discussed with his three sons to force Tianluo Wang to lead more than 83,000 insurgent troops to engage in a decisive battle with them in Huozhou.

  The two armies faced each other, and Li Yuan rode his horse to the front of the formation, shouting loudly: "Please ask Tianluo Wang to come out and have a conversation!"

  The enemy army suddenly emerged with a cavalryman, on top of which sat a general in armor, his entire body shrouded in a layer of purple gas visible to the naked eye, almost liquid and churning restlessly! With the purple gas swirling around him, he pointed his long spear at Li Yuan: "Li Yuan! You used cunning strategies to plot against me, but unfortunately! Now I will mobilize all my forces and vow to fight to the death with you Yang Guang's running dogs! Today I want to experience your family's true martial arts skills and see if they can withstand my heavenly net energy!"

  "Huh?" Li Yuan stroked his long beard and sneered, "The renowned Tian Luo Wang actually took to the battlefield personally at the start of the war. Don't you have anyone else who can be used?! Hmph, a mere Jianghu person like you doesn't even qualify to fight me!" With that, he turned his horse around and returned to his camp.

  A cavalryman suddenly appeared outside the formation, shouting: "I am Cheng Jia, the Dragon Gate Guard General. You, Wu Duaner, killed my entire family, and today I will avenge them and die!"

  A scholar immediately stepped forward and said to Li Yuan, "This man is a native of Hejin. At the beginning of Tian Luo Wang's rebellion, he was the county magistrate of Hejin. Later, his whole family was slaughtered, and he himself was appointed as the commander of Longmen. These two men are his brothers!"

  After Cheng Jia burst out, two more riders followed and killed the camp. The sorrowful voice was full of resentment: "You scoundrel! Come and take my life!"

  "Hmph! Country dog, tile dog!" Tian Luo Wang slowly urged his mount forward, the four horses approaching about thirty feet before suddenly accelerating. With a sweep of his hand from left to right, he shouted: "Tian Luo Slash!" A purple streak shot out from the tip of his spear and flashed across the Cheng brothers. The Cheng brothers were cut in half at the chest, their upper bodies falling to the ground like malevolent spirits crawling out of the earth: "You treacherous dog! Even as ghosts, we... will not let you off..."

  The horse turned around, walked back a few yards, and Tianluo Wang shouted loudly: "Is there anyone else who wants to experience Wu Mou's skills? Haha...". At this moment, the morale of the rebel soldiers soared, and the shouts and war drums shook the sky!

  "Who will go and destroy this man's prestige?" At this time, a person walked out from behind Li Shimin: "Tang Wang Daren, Tianluo Wang is known as the number one person under the master in the Jianghu. Currently, our army does not have a master-level expert. I'm afraid no one in our army can withstand this man! However, I observe that only Tianluo Wang himself can come out to fight, and his subordinates are all mediocre people. I humbly suggest that our army use absolute numbers to overwhelm them completely, and then use several innate experts to entangle Tianluo Wang!" Li Yuan glared: "Who are you? Isn't this showing that our army has no one?" Li Shimin stepped forward and pulled the person behind him, bowing to Li Yuan: "Please calm down, Father. This is my wife's brother, Zhangsun Wuji! I think it only takes Third Brother to come out to kill this man!"

  Li Yuan disapprovingly said: "Hmph! This person is only one step away from becoming a Grandmaster, and you want your third brother to take action? What's the intention behind this?" Seeing Li Shimin still wanting to speak up: "Withdraw! Come, order the entire army to launch an all-out attack! Jiancheng, have your men entangle Tianluo Wang, deplete his true energy, and when the time is almost ripe, have the archers immediately shoot him dead!"