Exchange and Transformation

Chapter 25 1.25 Chapter Exchange and Transformation

As soon as Wei Keng finished fighting, Bai Linglu had already reported the spoils of war. She emphasized two key points: zero casualties and complete annihilation. The battle was brilliant. Bai Linglu had already believed that Wei Keng would win, but she was still pleasantly surprised by the result.

As the saying goes: scoring ninety-nine on a test measures the ability to achieve ninety-nine points, but scoring one hundred, perhaps the "upper limit" has not yet been measured.

At this time, the prisoners in the valley began to line up, their weapons and helmets already discarded.

Wei Keng separated the soldiers and officers.

Now there was a matter that gave Wei Keng a severe headache. These prisoners were all speaking Minnan, and it was a dialect within the Minnan language family. To Wei Keng, it was completely Martian. Only some of the officers could understand his Mandarin. Oh, they called it the Northern Official Accent.

Since they couldn't communicate through speech, they resorted to writing for textual communication. To Wei Keng's surprise, the literacy rate of these people was only thirty percent, and they only knew common and simple characters like "Red Orange Yellow Green, car, person, bird, fish." When writing anything slightly more complex, such as "drive away" or "sweep," which have double radicals, they couldn't understand.

Wei Keng wanted to issue orders, such as telling the coachman to drive the horse carriage, and for all personnel to receive food. These matters still had to be relayed through the mid-level officers.

This made the separation of officers and soldiers among the prisoners a bit troublesome.

To capture an army, one must confiscate weapons and then dismantle its organization. Sometimes, dismantling the organization is more important than confiscating weapons. Although this unit didn't show much organizational strength when it was being attacked, Wei Keng was still extremely cautious. He provided food and water to every soldier and diligently tried to memorize some of their simple vocabulary by recording it with the system's language function.

Two hundred people escorting one hundred and fifty people might seem very stable, but Wei Keng was still a bit overly cautious. After making all preparations, he added several layers of security. Wei Keng's three teams held heavy sniper rifles aimed at the heads of the bio-beasts, fearing they might suddenly lash out and cause unnecessary casualties.

However, just as Wei Keng was fearful, the prisoners were no less terrified. As they lined up, all the prisoners secretly watched Wei Keng. When Wei Keng's gaze swept over them, they immediately lowered their heads like students facing a teacher in a classroom.

Zeng He and Fang Hong were arranged in an emptied horse carriage, walking at the very front of the convoy. Their battle beasts were in the horse carriage at the very back.

Zeng He looked out the window at Wei Keng, her face pale, and murmured, "They are all~ all~ all the same kind of people."

Fang Hong put down the document regarding Wei Keng's prisoner redemption policy in his hand and held her hand, saying, "Don't worry, as far as we can see, we are not in danger yet."

He carefully folded the document and placed it on his chest, as it contained important information.

At this moment, Fang Hong's focus was on: Wei Keng's Unified Script writing was flawless, with no trace of the writing habits of Complex Script. It was impossible to tell which region he was from.

Unified Script is simplified Chinese characters, while Complex Script is what Wei Keng saw as traditional Chinese characters.

Simplified Chinese is the most refined form of Chinese characters, with no further room for reduction, possessing stability in its transmission. It is the script circulated in various regions today, hence it is called Unified Script.

Traditional Chinese characters have a lot of room for structural variation, which actually leads to differences in various regions. For example, the Hong Kong Traditional and Taiwan Traditional of the 21st Century are very different. Now, it's not just Hong Kong and Taiwan. As the upper class gradually became aristocratic, the original provinces of Jiang, Zhe, and Ji in East Asia began to develop their own traditional character systems, the Complex Script systems, to ensure their own circles in the process of knowledge transmission.

In other words, it is now very difficult for someone from one city to blend into another city without revealing themselves, because the writing habits of Complex Script are different. Moreover, in some regions, certain characters in Complex Script are not necessarily more complex than those in Unified Script. Some characters might have emerged that are similar to Japanese kana. Therefore, when writing standard Unified Script, one might still reveal their origins.

Wei Keng's group now speaks the orthodox Northern "Standard Speech," which is Mandarin, and their written language is also standard Unified Script.

To Fang Hong, this was very suspicious.

Now that Jian City regards Wei Keng as some kind of Gene Colony, even if the Gene Colony was born locally, how could its language and writing system be so out of sync with the local one? What secrets lay behind this?

Jian City. The carrier pigeon had flown back overnight.

However, when the letter was received, the city lord did not yet know that the exploration force he had dispatched had been completely wiped out.

In the letter, Fang Hong emphasized that there were a large number of sharpshooters in the mountains, constantly killing their livestock, seemingly trying every means to prevent him from advancing further. He suggested sending more troops, and so on.

Of course, at the end of the letter, there was also the result of the latest discussion between Fang Hong and Zeng He regarding the situation. They planned to make a rapid penetration under the cover of night, hoping that Jian City would dispatch aerial forces to provide some aerial cover in the morning.

The city lord carefully read the letter.

Fang Hong and Zeng He had stayed outside for a full fifteen days, and now they were finally actively requesting aerial reconnaissance. They probably couldn't bear it any longer.

Thus, under the unstable light of the electric lamp, he signed the document.

Ten minutes later, this document was sent to the Flying Dragon breeding tower two hundred meters away. The flying dragons, with a wingspan of thirty meters, actually had a bit of bat DNA in them, so four hundred kilograms were hung on the steel pole. When the lights were turned on, the breeding staff inserted a water pipe into the flying dragon's mouth. Gulp, gulp, the thick, porridge-like fermented substance was poured into the flying dragon's stomach through the pipe.

These flying monsters opened their eyes in excitement.

As the steel pole in the tower extended fifty meters out of the tower when the tower gate opened, the flying dragons, hanging from the steel pole, felt the cold air outside the window. They released the steel pole, fell, and spread their wings. At thirty meters above the ground, they adjusted their flight posture and took off with a whoosh.

The city lord stood on the tower, taking advantage of the Fourth Watch Night Wind, pulled out an Iron Candy Box from a nearby cabinet, took out a betel nut wrapped in leaves, and stuffed it into his cheek. He chewed while watching the three flying dragons leave.

While he was still pondering the situation of the so-called ambushes by many sharpshooters mentioned in the letter, two minutes later, he no longer had to think about it. When multiple gunshots rang out, the three flying dragons had already crashed onto the mountaintop.

The scene shifted to the mountaintop south of Jian City.

When those dark, large things flew out of the city, Wei Keng saw them. These things were not fast, nor were they flying at an altitude of hundreds of meters. Even if Wei Keng only had an ordinary rifle, he could intercept them, let alone the big sniper rifle he had.

As expected, when the flying dragons were preparing to fly directly over the mountains outside the city, under the marking of the system's red dot, Wei Keng at four points immediately pulled the trigger. These three things that wanted to fly out spiraled down in the dark blue starry sky before dawn.

And this "Black Dragon Fall" was performed live for the audience on the highest tower of Jian City.

Mayor Zeng, sitting in the "front row of the audience," spat out a mouthful of brownish-red saliva mixed with betel nut dregs, which flew down the tower, resembling a pool of blood.

Eight days had passed since the Pocket Battle.

Wei Keng, who had fully prepared for the counter-encirclement and suppression, found that Jian City, this "hot pot," was not as spicy as he had expected. The reconnaissance team on the Jian City side discovered that the enemy had not sent out any more troops, and among the people entering and leaving the city gates, there were only some merchants.

"That's it?" Wei Keng confirmed to himself repeatedly.

"When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy camps, we harass; when the enemy is tired, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we pursue." Wei Keng recited the essentials of guerrilla warfare again. However, the reality was that he had followed the formula by harassing them in a standard manner, and after a small attack that wiped out a team of 150 people, the battle was over.

Wei Keng (Technical Team) was currently debugging the heavy machine gun.

This was a traditional Maxim water-cooled heavy machine gun, classic, truly classic.

It was a pity that he couldn't manufacture this thing himself at the moment.

The system outlined the equipment needed to forge heavy machine guns. Rows of forging, drilling, and boring equipment would require a large auditorium to house them. These models made Wei Keng recall images of the Machinery Manufacturing Bureau during the Self-Strengthening Movement.

Currently, he could only produce grenade launchers, cannonballs, and rifles with bayonets, along with rail steel. Therefore, he was inseparable from the captured heavy machine guns and the staggering two hundred thousand rounds of ammunition.

Of course, the more valuable harvest from this battle might be the captives. After undergoing a certain degree of education and reform, these captives were now divided into seven or eight groups and put to work.

Although these captives couldn't be involved in machinery manufacturing or mixing acids and alkalis in the small chemical plants, they could transport salt, carry bricks from the ruins, and pick up scraps.

To quickly bring the captives into his rhythm, Wei Keng managed them with great effort.

On the small square, on the platform, Wei Keng, who was grasping ideological reform work, held a tuning rod and said, "Everyone, sing with me.

A moment of despair leads to sighs (ji xi xi ji em mian wan tan), A moment of misfortune leads to fear (ji xi ge pie em mian dan han), Even if hope is lost, every day is vast and boundless (na pa xi ki mang wei li zui mang mang), Soulless and embodied, like a scarecrow (mo hun wu te qi qiu diu cao lang), Life is like waves on the sea (lin xing hou bi xi hai xiong eng ei bou long),...

Wei Keng sang a line, and they followed with another. After singing three or four times, they were basically in sync.

Singing was an ancient and very effective collective activity.

When a group of strangers could follow your rhythm in a chorus, it was implicitly understood that you could issue some commands within the group.

After singing together, Wei Keng began to register and file everyone, and then started selecting captains for the captive squad. Oh, Wei Keng's selection criteria were simple: whoever shouted the loudest while singing with him just now. Now that they were chosen, there was no mistake.

Then, according to the labor tasks required by each squad, tools were distributed, and each captain and vice-captain was given a rifle, as well as crossbows. Well, this rifle was a single-shot rifle forged by Wei Keng himself.

On the chorus stage, Wei Keng looked at each person holding a gun from his hand and silently encouraged himself, "As an ordinary person, I have social phobia, which is exclusivity. But as someone of mediocre talent, I should be able to overcome this mindset and enter society."

Wei Keng handed over the firearms to the captains he had chosen.

A future began to be forged.

These people, who had just been defeated and captured, were armed after only a week of interaction. Wei Keng himself felt he was too bold. But logically, Wei Keng accepted the implementation of this rule.

According to social psychology, after a battle ends and the victor sets the rules, the defeated party will silently obey, attempting to align with the victor to achieve social integration. However, if the victor appears unwilling to integrate, the defeated party's obedience will weaken over time.

Perhaps Wei Keng should worry if giving weapons to the captive captains would lead to a backstab?

But thinking about it from another perspective, these people who shouted the loudest while singing with Wei Keng were chosen as new captains. After receiving weapons, they had risen above their former status as captives. Their goal was likely to prove themselves, follow the victor's orders, and solidify their newly acquired class.

In order to infiltrate and exert control over these 150 people.

Wei Keng felt that this small amount of risk was worth taking. Humans were more stable than animals; as long as they were provided with a stable food supply and their internal organization was disrupted except for himself, that would be enough.

After assigning the captains, within a short span of two to three days, Wei Keng quickly received the results he desired.

These captives worked diligently transporting salt. The brick transport was also incredibly fast, making the Dragon Horse carriages race like miniature steam engines. It was like young people entering a new unit with great enthusiasm. Wei Keng had to print special pottery coins so they could exchange them for fresh fish. Yes, Wei Keng hadn't eaten any of the fish caught these past few days; he had given it all to these newly recruited long-term laborers.

Wei Keng couldn't help but sigh, truly, "Treat people with trust, gain from sincerity."

What originally required fifty people to supervise one hundred and fifty people now only needed ten people, following the ten newly selected team leaders.

Furthermore, every evening, under the oil lamps, Wei Keng taught them Pinyin, simple mathematics, geography maps, and the ancient history of human civilization beneath their feet. Wei Keng found that his control might be even stronger than before.

Some of these captives gradually became bolder and started asking him many questions. Their attitude towards asking questions had shifted from fearful obedience to respectful obedience.

The captives moved stably along their designated tracks. After winning the battle, the last stone in Wei Keng's heart was finally put down. Wei Keng remarked, "Groups that are still speaking in society are much safer than those that are not. (Excluding online social interactions)."

September 28th.

Two weeks after the captives were captured. Zeng He felt it was absurd these past few days. The group that had defeated him escorted him to a camp, where he discovered there were likely thousands of same-faced people. He was so shocked that he dared not speak for days.

However, this panic gradually subsided.

These same-faced people had indeed arrived not long ago, but they had constructed complete trenches and earthwork constructions. And they all seemed to be chatterboxes.

Over the past few days, about ten same-faced people had chatted with him about everything from astronomy and geography to sketching and painting. As they talked, they gradually became familiar with each other.

As for Fang Hong, he seemed to have made friends. They were arguing heatedly, their faces flushed, about when Betelgeuse would explode, debating events tens of thousands of years before and after.

Oh, right, these people also enjoyed big choruses.

As if on cue, a loud singing started outside again: "The great river flows east, the stars in the sky point to the Big Dipper, hey --"