Chapter 1409: Minister O (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
As long as radiation is ignored...
Emmm...
The question is, can this thing be ignored?
"I'll order four wooden fish later, and I'll give you one."
Not only should Shen Tang and the other two be required to chant the wooden fish, but Ji Moqiu could also join in. Then, she chided Qi Shan, asking why he was forcing people to do things he didn't want to do. She thought he was already tainted by the mud, and now he wanted to taint the High Priest as well. Wasn't Yuan Liang forcing the virtuous into doing something wrong?
Qi Shan received a subtle glance from her master. She pointed blankly to herself, then looked at Gu Chi for clarification. Was she sure he had only been regent for two or three years, and not away from her master for twenty or thirty years?
He suddenly felt a sense of "things have changed, but people are no longer the same".
But Gu Chi, that bastard, even used telepathy to send him a private message: "Hehe, Yuan Liang, don't you feel like your white moonlight has returned from three years abroad, only to find that your ambiguous CEO has found a substitute behind your back? It's that weird feeling of everything being familiar yet strangely unfamiliar."
The custom-made wooden fish even requires a separate order from Jimo Qiu.
Qi Shandao: [Speak human language.]
It was becoming increasingly difficult for him to communicate with Gu Chi.
Gu Chi said in a high-pitched voice: "You're not a third wife anymore~"
Qi Shan understood this time.
This is also thanks to Gu Chi, who has been comparing himself to a wife and concubine for over a decade, vying for titles every day. Doesn't he ever look at himself and Chu Yao, who have ever competed with him? The less talented he is, the more he likes to compete.
If you understand this sentence, you will naturally understand the meaning of the previous sentence.
While suppressing the urge to kick Gu Chi, Qi Shan glanced at the High Priest, then inwardly sneered. He said nothing, but it seemed he said everything—he didn't believe Ji Moqiu could have much influence over him.
Not to mention that Ji Moqiu is introverted and lacks any sharp edge, making him completely unsuitable to assist the lord in expanding territory. Even if he wanted to, the lord wouldn't confuse public and private matters. What could he use to replace him? A substitute? Has Gu Wangchao gone crazy from writing too many love stories about lovesick men and women?
How can he replace him?
There is only one Qi Yuanliang in the world. Even with the skills of a scholar, one cannot replicate him. So how can there be a substitute? He is the Zifang/Duke of Zhou/Duke of Ge, personally acknowledged by the emperor. Is Ji Moqiu the one? Gu Wangchao is jealous and doesn't know his own brain.
Gu Chi: [...]
Just kidding, but my colleague immediately got all red and broke down.
In the past, Qi Shan wouldn't have paid any attention to her.
Knowing that Qi Shan was not someone to be trifled with at this moment, Gu Chi still went up to whisper something: "A tree grows its nest when it is in a hole, and a gust of wind blows when it is not in a hole."
The rumors about the Lord and the Ji Mo clan are not entirely unfounded.
In terms of beauty, she is indeed blessed with natural advantages.
Even the most capable and loyal ministers are susceptible to whispers in the ear of a concubine.
Qi Shan: "..."
"...What are you two whispering about? What's all this rambling?" Having been a corporate boss for over a decade, Shen Tang was a master of slacking off herself and had developed a keen eye for catching her employees doing the same. Without even consciously sensing the air, she knew these two were having a private chat behind her back. What could be so secretive that she, as their mistress, couldn't hear? Surely it wasn't about her?
Qi Shan pushed away Gu Chi's provocative face with one hand, her expression unchanged: "Nothing much, we agree with Young Master Ji Mo's proposal."
Is our lord the kind of foolish ruler who would abandon public duty for private gain?
Beauty is worthless in the face of imperial ambitions and conquest!
Shen Tang: "..."
She didn't really agree with it; it was too unethical.
But if they objected to it face-to-face, they couldn't give a reasonable excuse.
Just as Shen Tang was racking her brains to find a tactful way to express herself, she met Ji Moqiu's clear, bright eyes. The latter's smile was always compassionate and kind: "Your Highness, do not worry. By the standards of that time... there is nothing in this world that is within the limits of radiation."
Even a single flower or blade of grass would be lethal to the old humans, but it's nothing to the new human race.
Ji Moqiu offered a tactful reassurance. "To achieve the level of stone Your Highness desires, it would likely require moving most of the mountain range to the front lines. Mining only a portion for deployment and support shouldn't be a problem."
His words greatly soothed Shen Tang's conscience.
After considering the situation, Shen Tang made a decision: to reply to Bai Su and send a group of elite soldiers to mine the ore. Given the radiation intensity of that mountain range, ordinary soldiers would probably be unable to handle the work.
"In that case, I won't strike the wooden fish."
My actions don't even qualify as immoral.
Before the smile could even appear, Gu Chi pressed down on his lips and asked, "Does Wang Chao have any objections? Or is there something you'd like to send over?"
Unexpectedly, Gu Chi retorted indignantly, "A modern-day Jia Wenhe!"
Now it's his turn to break down.
Using the Lord as a control group to heal the Lord's guilty conscience—that used to be his job. Is Ji Moqiu trying to take away his livelihood? Absolutely outrageous, a blatant betrayal of the Heavenly Gang!
Shen Tang looked blankly at Ji Mo Qiu.
I wonder what merit this high priest, with his beautiful face, has to be called the "modern-day Jia Wenhe"? He doesn't deserve such a title.
In terms of moral character, the high priest is at least above average.
Ji Moqiu didn't understand either, but he clearly sensed that Gu Chi and the other man had some issues with him, which was enough to make him feel extremely uneasy. Over the years, his relationship with the two important officials had been relatively peaceful, especially since Qi Shan had been quite lenient towards him because of the Su Shang incident.
Why the sudden change of attitude today?
Even after the two men took their leave, Ji Moqiu remained preoccupied.
"What is the High Priest thinking about, so lost in thought?"
Before Gong Xi Chou went on his expedition, the two brothers took turns guarding Shen Tang's safety. Later, Gong Xi Chou accompanied Lin Feng's delegation to the Qu Kingdom and returned to his avatar Zi Xu to take orders, leaving Ji Mo Qiu to be responsible for Shen Tang's main body. Given the high priest's meticulous nature, even being distracted at work would be a "major incident" that shouldn't happen.
Ji Moqiu did not respond immediately.
He didn't want to tell the truth, but he also didn't want to lie.
After a long pause, he finally decided to be honest: "Qi Zhongshu and Gu Yatai... it seems that you two don't like me very much?"
Shen Tang: "..."
Is this considered tea talk?
If it were someone else who said this, Shen Tang would most likely suspect that the other person was tattling behind their back and slandering Gu Chi and the other person. But the person who spoke was Ji Moqiu, a person who had no conflict of interest with Yuan Liang and the others. Naturally, he would not bother to deliberately slander the two of them.
They are most likely stating a fact.
Why do you say that?
Ji Moqiu said, "Intuition."
The young man lowered his eyelids and reflected, "Although I don't know why, it's certainly not wrong to apologize first. With your magnanimity, you two wouldn't hold it against me. But I'm afraid it would be presumptuous of me to come here so abruptly."
Shen Tang knows his officials best. Recalling the details just now, he guessed some of the truth and said with a smile, "There is no need to apologize. They probably think I was biased and their emotions affected you."
This is also one of the main reasons why Shen Tang did not consider establishing an empress.
She doesn't even have a male favorite yet, and the court officials are already incredibly jealous. If another male favorite were to appear, it wouldn't be a simple case of jealousy; it would involve power struggles. The already complex court situation would become even more complicated.
Kangguo is not only composed of the will of countless individuals, but also of countless small interest groups. These individuals and groups are intricately connected, and each individual has their own moral compass. Despite the ministers' enthusiastic urging for marriage, if she were to actually harbor such thoughts, public opinion would likely be quite different.
Because everyone has a heart, no one can guarantee that the presence of one or more "men" around Shen Tang will not affect her every decision. This worry will subconsciously breed so-called "jealousy."
Shen Tang was too lazy to deal with redundant troubles.
It would be better to distance yourself completely from the beginning.
In this way, not only can the hearts of the ministers be appeased, but it will also make it easier for Shen Tang to maintain a fair balance, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
"...Yuanliang is a sensitive and delicate person by nature. In the past two or three years, he has been overseeing the country, constantly scheming against his ministers and bickering with the Censorate. He has been away from me for so long, so it's normal that he doesn't feel very secure." Although the emperor and his ministers have communicated frequently, and even met through DingTalk during the later stages of the Southwest War, it was still not face-to-face communication. "It's only natural for a subject to feel anxious about the fate of such a unique ruler as myself. The emperor is too good. Perhaps if I don't keep an eye on him for even a day, he might prefer other colleagues. Yuanliang must be thinking the same thing. I pity him."
Ji Moqiu: "..."
Qi Shan, who had gone away but returned: "..."
Gu Chi: "...A cat-themed Omega?"
From an outsider's perspective, the Kang Kingdom's court is indeed in serious trouble from top to bottom. What kind of ruler is constantly harassing his ministers?
Over the years, Gu Chi still admires Shen Tang the most for his thick skin, which is so thick that it's as thick as the corner of a city wall!
Qi Shan: "..."
He couldn't understand it, but his intuition told him it wasn't good news.
However, Qi Shan's hidden thoughts were exposed by Shen Tang's words, and he didn't know how to face his master for a while. At his age, he should be more composed. Why should he argue with Ji Mo Qiu?
Upon hearing the noise, Shen Tang almost jumped up in embarrassment.
He roared, "Wangchao, can't you learn something good?"
Did you learn these things just by eavesdropping on her every day?
The relaxed atmosphere was short-lived. Shen Tang, who had finally managed to surface from the sea of government affairs and catch her breath, was buried under even more work. Apart from some good news from Bai Su's side, there was still no news from the other two groups.
The vanguard scouts have obtained the latest map.
Shen Tang and the others compared the old and new maps and found that there were significant differences.
"...These people are making quite a fuss, drastically altering the terrain of key roads. Are they trying to force us to concentrate our forces, borrow a route through Yudi, and head all the way to Yuanfu County?" According to the scouts' reports, the original two roads have already been destroyed by the enemy, and our repair efforts will require us to enter the unfamiliar terrain of the Yudi Mountains. From the terrain, our side is vulnerable to ambushes.
The enemy is digging a pit for us to fall into.
The Yudi Mountains resemble a pheasant, with varying heights and elevations.
As Ji Moqiu previously stated, the radiation levels of any plant in this world would have been fatal in the old days, especially in remote, harsh mountainous areas where radiation intensity was far higher than in densely populated towns, making accidents more likely.
The Yudi Mountains are one of them.
This area is characterized by steep mountains. It is said that a small country once established itself here, with most of its people living in the high mountains. However, production could not keep up with consumption, leading to a decline in national strength. In the end, the country was wiped out by a band of roaming bandits. The country that occupied it also considered it a useless piece of land, as the cost of transformation was disproportionate to the actual benefits. Most of the time, it was simply used as a defense border.
Shen Tang had tried to raid before, but there wasn't enough time to develop the area or spare troops to defend it. He only had time to send people to survey the terrain and create maps. However, the power system in this world is unscientific, and the terrain is frequently modified, so the speed of mapmaking cannot keep up with the speed of terrain updates.
Qin Li said, "I'm afraid it's not that simple."
Maps are drawn on a flat surface, and much information is not as clear as it would be through the scholar's method, such as the elevation of various places. Qin Li noticed some changes in the elevation of the Yu Di Mountains: "Previously, although there were differences in elevation in the east, west, north, and south, they were only within a few dozen feet..."
This time, however, it was discovered that the height difference had increased.
The terrain shows very obvious signs of human intervention.
Qi Shanjing reminded him to move his gaze up from the map, finally settling on a river: "Is the drop in elevation increasing? Does Gong Su mean they want to use water to attack? Perhaps they also want to target the water source."
The army is not afraid of the enemy sabotaging its supplies, but it must be wary of the enemy tampering with its water sources, which is one of the biggest weaknesses of the Kang Kingdom's army. To ensure stability, it is necessary to send troops to capture this location, ensuring the cleanliness of the water source and preventing the enemy from flooding the seven armies.
Qin Li said, "That's not all."
For many years after its founding, the Kang Kingdom allocated a large budget each year to repair waterways, tidying up the chaotic river network and ensuring that areas with concentrated populations and major agricultural prefectures did not lack water. In addition, with the reasonable allocation of resources by the Imperial Observatory, all regions flourished.
The situation was different in regions outside Kangguo.
The land was ravaged, and the river systems were in disarray, their course determined by the ruling nation. In regions plagued by natural disasters and lacking sufficient river tributaries, each nation desperately sought to divert water sources to its own territory. The Yudi Mountains region was even more water-scarce than imagined; any army entering its territory would inevitably face a shortage of drinking water. If the war dragged on, the enemy could use the terrain to their advantage, effectively choking the army and forcing them to retreat without a fight…
The army, accustomed to the abundant water resources within the Kang Kingdom, easily overlooked this when fighting elsewhere. The enemy's adjustment of the terrain's elevation was not intended to flood them, but to cut off their water supply.
Shen Tang asked, "How deep is the groundwater in the Yu Di Mountains?"
If groundwater could be used temporarily, there would be no need to divide troops to seize this place. As long as the forces could be concentrated and the speed of breaking out of the Yudi Mountains was fast enough, there would be no need to face the problem of water supply. Qin Li's answer was not optimistic. The soldiers had to dig 32 zhang underground before they found water, and the amount was not large. The possibility of enemy interference could not be ruled out. In ordinary areas, digging 15 or 16 zhang underground would be enough to dig a well.
The shallower ones are less than ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) deep.
Shen Tang mentally estimated the daily water consumption of his people, sighed, looked up at the top of the tent, and asked, "If the groundwater isn't working, what about the clouds in the sky? Maybe they can send rain as an emergency measure?"
Qin Li said, "There haven't been any clouds for the past half month."
Shen Tang rested her chin on her hand and said, "Tsk, they've thought things through quite thoroughly."
They must have specifically studied the operational details of all the battles fought in Kangguo, eliminating all possibilities from the ground to the sky.
In addition, there is another place to contend for.
Qin Li pointed to a spot on the map.
This place is a bridge, extremely long, with a very deep ravine between the two sides, connected only by a single pier. It also offers a relatively open view in the surrounding area; the enemy has erected a towering watchtower, providing excellent observation, making it a crucial area to capture.
If we can't seize it, we must find a way to destroy it.
ヾ(■_■)
Sigh, the daughter of a relative (my mom's best friend), whom I used to hold, I'll call her my cousin, she was only 17 years old, and she passed away from pneumonia last night.
We only added each other on WeChat before and didn't chat much. I heard that Xianggu writes novels and wanted to ask about her pen name or something (I didn't tell her). A while ago, I saw her like Xianggu's post on WeChat Moments saying she was looking forward to opening a limited edition from the Pop Mart blind box she bought.
When a person is deeply saddened, they truly sink, like noodles that cannot be scooped up.
I was incredibly sleepy in the middle of the night, dozing off for about half an hour to an hour in a half-awake state, when I woke up from a nightmare. The dream wasn't particularly terrifying; I just dreamt that my parents suddenly called Xianggu into their bedroom to whisper something, and then returned the gold jewelry they had bought for them to her for safekeeping. At first, I was a little confused, but then I realized what was happening and broke out in a cold sweat (it's a local custom that when parents pass away, the children who bought the gold jewelry keep it). I vaguely heard my mother say that the old lady next door wasn't feeling well (the old lady was an elderly woman who used to live next door in our rented apartment; Xianggu had to borrow money for her university tuition and living expenses, and when other relatives didn't help, she gave her a 1000 yuan red envelope). Then I woke up completely. Thankfully, it was just a nightmare. The old lady is over ninety years old, and she was still quite healthy when I visited her on New Year's Day this year.
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