"Drive... drive..."
After staying in Xujia Village for five days, Xu Haifeng ignored his parents and brothers persuasion to stay, and led the large team to continue on to Beijing. This time, another new core figure joined them - Jiang Kongming.
This Jiang Kongming was the original Jiang Hongwei, also known as Crazy Jiang. After several days of recuperation, not only did he fully recover, but under the constant stimulation of blood wine, his special talents gradually emerged. He didnt have superhuman strength or physique, but his wisdom was astonishing. Memorizing everything at a glance was childs play; his greatest skill was his vast knowledge. No matter what he saw, he could point out its shortcomings and come up with a solution, as if there was nothing in the world that could stump him.
Since learning of General Xu Haifengs identity, he has taken the liberty of changing his name to Jiang Kongming and had someone make a white feather fan, which he holds in his hand every day, occasionally fanning it. When asked by Xu Haifeng, he excitedly said that in his previous life, his dream was to become a military strategist like Zhuge Kongming, and now that heaven has given him this opportunity, he absolutely cannot miss it. Although Xu Haifeng does not understand what kind of person Zhuge Kongming is worth admiring so much, he still follows his wishes and does not interfere.
On this day, it was time to rest again. Looking at the route, they could reach the capital in two more days. Xu Haifeng ordered the camp to be set up and after everything was ready, he went to Jiang Gongmings tent. At his request, Xu Haifeng appointed him as the military advisor of the Black Flag Army and even opened a high-level tent for him. Anyway, the Black Flag Army was his word, and no one would bother him no matter how he messed around. From then on, every day after Xu Haifeng finished his duties, he would come to Jiang Gongmings tent to listen to his explanations of military tactics, new weapons, and other new knowledge, which was quite rewarding.
With his personal bodyguards, he made a round of inspection and found nothing worth noting. Seeing that the military advisors tent had been pitched for some time, he lifted the flap and entered.
Just as he entered, he saw Jiang Kongming sighing and looking dissatisfied. Xu Haifeng was surprised and said: "Military advisor, why are you sighing? Is someone being disrespectful to you?" This Jiang Kongming is different from the others, although they are all Blood Wine Warriors, but his ability to be independent and self-reliant is particularly strong. When Xu Haifeng speaks to him, he is also very polite, which forms a sharp contrast with how he treats other people in a casual and dismissive manner.
Jiang Kung-ming saw Hui Hai-feng and hastily stood up, bowing his body: "It turns out that the master has arrived, please sit down quickly." Jiang Kung-ming was unwilling to call Hui Hai-feng General, but insisted on addressing him as Master. As for such trivial matters, Hui Hai-feng also listened and followed suit.
"No need to be polite, General, please sit down." Xǔ Hǎifēng said with a humble tone, then asked: "I dont know why youre not satisfied, General?"
Jiang Kungming also didnt stand on ceremony and sat down with a big thud, saying: "The student has no dissatisfaction, but suddenly thought of things from his past life."
Xu Haifeng knew he was referring to that so-called 21st century world, although he had never seen it before, but after listening to Jiang Kongmings description, he was also full of longing and asked: "Military strategist, are you thinking of old friends from the past?"
"No, no." Jiang Gongming shook his head and said: "These past few days, Ive been able to recall some books I saw before. If I had this ability to remember everything at a glance in my previous life, why would I have lived such an unremarkable life?"
"Oh, I see." Xu Haifeng understood what he meant. Based on his observations over the past few days, Jiang Kongmings potential unleashed by the Blood Wine was not physical strength, but rather intelligence. According to Jiang Kongming, every day he could recall some memories from his past life, and these memories were not disordered. Every time he drank the Blood Wine, Jiang Kongming could remember everything he did for a period of time, even down to the minute, including being able to recite entire newspapers that he had only glanced at.
And this time span is gradually increasing, from the initial one day to now being able to recall a years worth of memories every time he drinks the Blood Wine. If it goes on for a while longer, Jiang Kongming fears that hell even be able to remember things from when he was just born.
"Students in the past had many hobbies, and their favorite was reading some strange and unusual books. Later, they barely managed to get into a third-rate university, and after graduating, they stayed at the city library to work. In thirty years, the number of books Ive read is countless. However, due to my limited talent, most of them were forgotten after reading. But today, with this divine gift, it actually made me remember all of them. Looking back, its as if everything was vividly in front of my eyes, truly a miracle." Jiang Kongming sighed.
If it were someone else, Xu Haifeng would definitely laugh at him for boasting about his knowledge. You have to understand that books are extremely precious in this world, and ordinary people can hardly see them. According to Jiang Kongmings words, he has read more than 200,000 books. Its likely that the total number of books in the world is still an unknown number, let alone collecting all of them, which would require a tremendous amount of manpower and resources, making it an impossible task.
However, Jiang Kongming is not a person of this world, so what he said may not be false. Just thinking that this person has read so many books, let alone the quality, its already making peoples scalp numb. Moreover, with the help of blood wine, he can remember all the contents, this person is simply a living encyclopedia, no wonder he performs so outstandingly, its simply omnipotent.
"Thats Mr. Fus profound fortune and heavenly blessing." Xǔ Hǎifēng smiled and said.
"Otherwise." Jiang Kongming sipped the fragrant tea, revealing a look of intoxication, and said slowly: "In these few days, I have carefully thought about it. Masters blood must contain some special component that can change the DNA arrangement of the human body, triggering the hidden potential of the human body. However, the specific effect is different for each person. As a student, I was seriously ill and should have been doomed to die, but thanks to Masters gift of blood wine, I unexpectedly turned disaster into good fortune. After all, it is still Masters kindness and virtue that I will never dare to forget. In the future, I will do my best to assist Master, so that Master can achieve his grand plan."
"Thanks a lot, General." Although Xu Haifeng didnt understand the first half of Jiang Kongmings words at all, he still understood his declaration of loyalty.
"Sir, no need to be polite. I have a request for you, and I hope you can trouble yourself to do me this favor." Jiang Gongming said with a slight bow.
"The generals orders must be obeyed."
Jiang Kongming lightly waved his feather fan, and at this moment, he had a refined and elegant demeanor, with a hint of an ethereal quality: "The commanders of the troops are ordered to enter the capital, that is a common occurrence every day. But has the master ever thought, how many people can lead their own army into the capital?"
"Hmm..." Xu Haifeng was shocked in his heart, this question he had never thought of. According to convention, generals who were ordered to enter the capital could only bring their own personal guards, but he had never heard of any general leading an entire army into the capital. The fact that he was so special made him wonder if there was some kind of plot. However, the order to lead his troops into the capital had been personally delivered by his sworn brother, Feng Zhong, and it was unlikely that he would try to frame him. With the power of the Feng family in the military department, it would be easy to frame a small general like himself, so why go to such great lengths.
"My lord neednt worry, this matter is not without precedent." Jiang Gongming threw out another sentence.
Xu Haifeng was taken aback and thought to himself: Since there is a precedent for this, why did you still come to scare me?
Jiang Kongmings intelligence was remarkable at this moment, and he knew that Xu Haifeng was dissatisfied just by observing his words and expressions. He smiled slightly and said: "According to historical records, there are only two situations in which a general leads troops into the capital: one is to eliminate evil, and the other is to support the king."
"Overthrow the traitor? Support the king?" Xǔ Hǎifēng asked in confusion.
Jiang Kongming said seriously: "Thats right, what is meant by removing the wicked is that there are treacherous officials and rebellious sons who have seized power in the imperial court, and the military power within the capital is also in the hands of treacherous officials. The emperor issues an edict ordering the generals who hold military power to lead their troops to capture the rebels. As for supporting the king, that refers to when there are rebellious soldiers or foreign armies besieging the capital, and the citys military strength is insufficient, so they can only defend themselves and wait for reinforcements. The emperor issues an edict ordering generals from various places to lead their troops into the capital to rescue him."
Xu Haifeng suddenly realized: "So thats it, then what about us... strange, what situation do we belong to?" He analyzed the current situation in his mind. Supporting the king was not necessary to mention, and there seemed to be no military situation showing that Kyoto was in crisis. As for eliminating traitors, who exactly were the treacherous officials? This problem didnt seem to be something a small general like him could handle.
"Neither is," Jiang Kongming replied calmly.
"Neither?" Xu Haifeng had just taken a sip of tea and almost spat it out: "Didnt you say there were only two possibilities?"
"I heard that in three months, it will be the birthday of Xiongnu King Modu Chanyu. He invited envoys from various countries to go to the capital to celebrate his birthday. Is this true?" Jiang Gongming suddenly asked.
"Yes, this is well-known throughout the world." Xu Haifeng was extremely uncomfortable with Jiang Kongmings habit of changing the subject at will. Could it be that the single Yuanshous congratulations were related to his own entry into the capital? Or perhaps the single Yuanshou wanted to send troops to attack the Great Han, and Emperor Xian of Han had foreseen this and knew that the capital was in danger, so he invited Xu Haifeng to enter the capital ahead of time. If it were really like this, then it would be too unbelievable.
Jiang Gongming smiled and said: "Your Excellency doesnt need to guess, Id like to ask you to go ask one person, and it will definitely solve this problem."
"Who?" Xu Haifeng asked again.
"Lin Wanxian." Jiang Kongming put down the jade cup he was playing with and said to Xu Haifeng, "Please inform Miss Lin that I have decided to follow Master for this life."
Xu Haifeng was perplexed and asked with a bitter face: "Could it be that you, Military Advisor, following me also has something to do with it?"
"This has nothing to do with the matter at hand, its just a scale weight, perhaps it can help you fulfill your long-held wish, my lord." Jiang Gongming laughed again, but Xu Haifeng couldnt help feeling that his laughter this time was somewhat ambiguous.
Its pointless to ask him anything else, this Jiang Kungming has been acting strangely since he changed his name. However, the fact is that no matter how shocking or unconventional his methods are, the results always turn out to be the best. This has led Xu Haifeng to gradually develop a habit of following his plans without questioning their reasoning. After all, Jiang Kungming would never do anything to harm his own interests.