CH 160

"Tell me in detail about what happened today." Li Wenying said.

So Fang Yun recounted the events that had transpired earlier.

After listening, Li Wenying praised Fang Yun and everyone else, stating that rewards would be given out within three days, and then he left.

Everyone continued to clean up the battlefield until the eastern sky began to brighten, and only then did they return to the camp. As per usual, morning drills were waived after a night patrol, but Fang Yun got up as usual, had his meal, and went to the camp's library to study military strategies.

After the midday rest, the uninjured soldiers of the camp continued their drills. However, there were less than a hundred of them, so General Wei simply let them all go back to rest.

The room where Fang Yun had been the day before was the gathering place for the third team, but today it had become the rest area for the entire camp, with hundreds of people crowded in, even the injured from other teams came to join in the fun.

The atmosphere was a bit tense at first, but soon everyone started discussing the rewards and the imperial examination, and the mood became lively.

There were five hundred people in the camp, and only one hundred and sixty-three survived this time. Among them, over a hundred people decided to go home and study again, to take part in next year's imperial examination. The remaining people, unwilling to give up their merits, decided to serve in the army and prepare for the examination at the same time, waiting until they were fully confident before taking the examination.

Soldiers couldn't just retire, but this time everyone had made merits and had the qualifications to retire, but their military merits would also be wiped out. Those who didn't retire would inevitably be promoted, even the most ordinary soldiers would be promoted to squad leader within a year, commanding fourteen people.

Hong Cheng, the squad leader of a squad, was the happiest. He already had merits, and with the merits from this time, he could not only be directly promoted to team leader, but also, because of this great merit, he would be eligible to become a formal military officer with the rank of Deputy Lieutenant, starting from the ninth rank.

The day passed peacefully.

A new day arrived, the sky was overcast, and it was pouring rain, but the people of the camp were not affected at all, because the State Army Merit Evaluation Department sent people to reward them for their merits, and General Yu Xingshu's personal soldiers came to find Fang Yun.

In the pouring rain, Fang Yun and the personal soldier each held an umbrella and went to the general's tent.

The rain was too heavy. Even with an umbrella, the soldier's clothes below his waist were wet, while the rainwater on Fang Yun's clothes naturally flowed down, leaving only a puddle of water at his feet. His clothes were clean and dry, without a trace of water.

Fang Yun put the umbrella aside and said, "Fang Yun pays his respects to General Yu."

General Yu Xingshu of Dinghai looked quite helpless and got straight to the point, "Your spear is too sharp, no matter where it is placed, it can pierce through everything and stand out. I discussed with Jianmei yesterday, even he didn't expect that you would achieve such great military merits on the second night of your enlistment, saving tens of thousands of people and preventing an important port of the human race from being destroyed. This is enough for you to be promoted two ranks. After you pass the imperial examination, this merit will be submitted to Jing Kingdom by the Holy Academy. You might be the first person in the history of the Ten Nations to become a fifth-rank official immediately after becoming an Imperial Scholar."

"It's a coincidence." Fang Yun didn't take credit, but he thought it was strange. Cai He was a legitimate Imperial Scholar, and he was now only a seventh-rank county magistrate, four ranks away from a fifth-rank prefect.

Yu Xingshu said with some envy, "You have real military merits on the 'Merit List' in the Holy Academy. The merit of saving the Jade Sea Port is almost equivalent to the lifetime military merit of an ordinary Imperial Scholar. However, your identity is too unique, this merit will not be announced publicly, and will be announced at the appropriate time."

Fang Yun asked with surprise, "Is that Merit List part of the 'Wooden Law Code', the Treasure of Literature of the Semi-Saint Legalist Shang Yang?"

"Exactly. Shang Yang's laws are known for their severity, so the merits of every person of the human race will be recorded, and there can be no slightest mistake."

Fang Yun nodded, knowing that Shang Yang was severe, had been called a cruel official, and had even opposed the Confucian and Diplomat schools. Later, Shang Yang studied Confucianism as a secondary study and discovered that overly severe laws left hidden dangers for the Qin State. Although he still opposed the Diplomat school, he no longer opposed Confucian thought, and rebuilt the foundation of becoming a saint, and was conferred the title of Semi-Saint.

Before Shang Yang's reforms, in order to gain the trust of the people, he had a piece of wood erected at the south gate of the market in the capital of Qin State, and announced that if anyone moved this piece of wood to the north gate, they would be rewarded with ten gold. No one believed it, so Shang Yang issued a notice to increase the reward to fifty gold. A person, with a try-it-out attitude, moved the wood to the north gate and immediately received a reward of fifty gold.

"Establishing Trust with a Piece of Wood" and "Shang Yang's Piece of Wood" became famous throughout Qin State and formed the basis for Shang Yang's reforms. The Treasure of Literature that Shang Yang obtained after becoming a saint was the famous "Wooden Law Code", which was not only a set of laws, but also an extremely severe merit system, which became the basis for the Holy Academy to examine the talents of the human race.

It is said that Sage Confucius once thought that Shang Yang's Wooden Law Code was too harsh and lacked benevolence, but later he personally set the Wooden Law Code as the foundation of the Holy Academy's laws, and no one was allowed to change it arbitrarily.

Since then, the status of the Legalists has been elevated, becoming a prominent school, and all disciples of the Legalists respect the broad-mindedness of Sage Confucius.

Yu Xingshu said, "You have extraordinary talent and can gain experience in the court before becoming a Grand Academician, but after becoming a Grand Academician, unless you study the art of power from the Eclectic school, the Holy Academy is your foundation, and it is the right way to suppress all scholars on the Wooden Law Code with your military merits. The Left Chancellor and Jianmei are both Grand Academicians. Although the Left Chancellor has great power, he is always helpless against Jianmei, and has even been scolded by Jianmei in court without retorting, because Jianmei has more military merits on the Wooden Law Code than him."

"I understand." Fang Yun said.

A strange expression flashed across Yu Xingshu's face. He coughed lightly and said, "I have been serving as the General of the Eastern Sea for many years. In a few days, I will be going to the Holy Academy to report on the matters of the Eastern Sea, and I will take a detour to the River of Enlightenment."

"I wish you success in your enlightenment, General." Fang Yun no longer tried to dissuade him.

"It's just a try, just like how students would visit the shrine of the Military Marquis or the shrines of various Semi-Saints before the imperial examination." Yu Xingshu said.

Fang Yun wondered if Yu Xingshu was equating the River of Enlightenment with the shrines of the Semi-Saints.

Then Yu Xingshu continued, "We originally thought you would remain unknown in the army, but we didn't expect you to make such a great contribution. Since even the army can't make you ordinary, we can only change your name. From now on, you will appear as the heir of the Military Strategists, named 'Fang Bing'. This name is very common, as long as you don't expose yourself, no one will associate you with Fang Yun."

Yu Xingshu looked helpless.

"Alright, from now on, I will officially change my name to Fang Bing, and my identity will be the heir of the Military Strategists." Fang Yun remembered the name Fang Bing.

Yu Xingshu nodded and said, "I have received two pieces of information. The first one is from the Jing Kingdom. The first disciple of the Poet King will personally deliver the Poet King's Qixi poem as a congratulatory gift for my Jade Sea Prefecture's Qixi Poetry Meeting. At the Qixi Poetry Meeting, if our people from Jing Kingdom can produce good poems, they will not cause trouble. If we can't produce good poems, the Poet King's first disciple will definitely step in to suppress our scholars."

"Those people still haven't given up?" Fang Yun pointed at the sky, implying the Semi-Saint of the Miscellaneous School and several Great Scholars of the Vertical and Horizontal School.

"Even Chen Saint can't stop them, let alone you." Yu Xingshu said.

"Sigh..." Fang Yun sighed deeply. Since he had already been involved in the struggle of the Path of the Saints, he could only take one step at a time, either win or lose.

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"The second piece of information is from the Dragon Clan. The Dragon King, Angry God, is vengeful and will launch a revenge operation soon. But don't worry, we will be fully prepared."

The hateful look in the Dragon King's eyes when he left surfaced in Fang Yun's mind.

"There's one more thing. Liu Zizhi has returned from the capital to mourn for Liu Zicheng."

"Thank you for the reminder, General."

With so many things intertwined, Fang Yun felt a storm was brewing. If he could get through this, he could safely participate in the Mid-Autumn Poetry Meeting where scholars from ten nations gathered, and then enter The Holy Land. If he couldn't get through, he could only continue to study military books in the army.

Just as Fang Yun was about to leave, he saw Yu Xingshu seemed to have received a letter from a carrier pigeon. However, because it was in code, he couldn't see the words on the pigeon, and could only guess from Yu Xingshu's expressions and actions.

After a while, Yu Xingshu sighed lightly and said, "Since yesterday, the Yangtze River has been flooding, and the water level has risen sharply. There has been heavy rain in various parts of Jiangzhou. It seems that the flood season is coming. There are countless rivers in Jiangzhou, and we never lack water in spring. But in a little over a month, it will be the autumn harvest. If there is flooding, the farmland will be submerged, which will inevitably reduce the yield. The civil officials in various places are about to organize manpower to hold a flood prevention poetry meeting. I have to guard against sea monsters and river monsters in Jade Sea City, so I can't go to the Holy Academy or the River of Enlightenment."

"I wonder if there's anything I can do to help?"

Yu Xingshu shook his head and said, "If this year's heavy rain doesn't cause a disaster, it won't make a difference whether you're here or not. If there really is a disaster throughout Jiangzhou, you alone can't do much. However, the letter says that only Jiangzhou is experiencing heavy rain, while other states and the Jing Kingdom across the river have no rain. I hope it's just a natural phenomenon, not the Dragon Palace meddling. Otherwise, with Chen Saint in seclusion, things will become extremely troublesome."

Fang Yun knew that he was busy with official duties, so he said, "If the General has any orders, I will obey. If there's nothing else, I will take my leave."

"Alright, tomorrow you will change your name to 'Fang Bing' and go to a different battalion. No one in the entire battalion of three thousand people will recognize you. You don't need to patrol outside the city to avoid trouble. Spend these days preparing for the Qixi Poetry Meeting. You can't let the people from Jing Kingdom outdo us."

"Yes, sir!" Fang Yun said.

Fang Yun left with an umbrella and returned to his barracks. The people here had already received their respective merits and were in high spirits.

Everyone had been evaluated for their merits. Some people would be discharged from the army in a few days, while others would be assigned to various places in the army. The sorrow of parting was brewing in the room, and everyone was slowly talking about the major events or interesting things that had happened in the army to alleviate their sadness.

The Eastern Sea Army was not a prefectural army, so they were not allowed to drink. The men didn't even have the chance to get drunk. They decided to have a meal in the canteen the next morning and then go their separate ways.

The heavy rain continued to pour down. The night passed, and by dawn, it still hadn't stopped.

When he woke up in the morning, Fang Yun stood at the door of the barracks, frowning at the world in the white rain. If it continued to rain like this, once the Jade Belt River and Ping Lake overflowed, Jade Sea City would definitely be flooded, causing great trouble for the residents.

Suddenly, the sky brightened abruptly, and Fang Yun squinted subconsciously.

He saw a round patch of clear sky appear directly above Jade Sea City. The dark clouds were all pushed away, and the round clear sky was rapidly expanding. In no time, it had expanded to cover the entire sky above Jade Sea City.

Jade Sea City was clear, but a mile outside of Jade Sea City, it was still raining heavily, with the rain falling on people's heads causing great pain. (To be continued.)