War, Defense, and Peace

"My cousin and I were sleeping when we heard a loud 'bang,' and then we woke up to find an old man with a white beard in the room. He cursed and said something about how lucky we were to have escaped using some kind of magic technique, as it would take Li Guang at least fifteen minutes to catch up. Then he meditated for a while, took out a white pill, and wisps of white vapor rose from it before he disappeared!"

Zhang Xuezhou and others were to be interrogated as usual.

Different countries, different times, and many of their ideas are fundamentally different from those of the Scarlet Alliance State.

If Li Guang and Cheng Bushi pursued them, they would have been imprisoned and interrogated by a minor official during their investigation.

Zhang Xuezhou was somewhat relieved that he had met Li Guang once before, and since the trip to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains was so short, Li Guang clearly hadn't completely forgotten him.

"This person is an immortal from the Immortal Court, extremely skilled in deception, intimidation, changing appearances, and using connections to set traps. He has even become a guest of honor for some high-ranking officials in the court," Li Guang nodded and said, "Once you have seen this person, you must immediately report his whereabouts to the Imperial Guards. Anyone who captures him will be rewarded with a hundred gold pieces!"

"These old fogies have lived far too long," Cheng Bushi spat. "They're always stirring up trouble; it's impossible to guard against them!"

"As long as one's heart is free from greed, they won't take advantage of the situation," Li Guang frowned and said, "They've repeatedly succeeded by exploiting the greed and desire in people's hearts!"

"He does have some real skills," Cheng Bushi said. "He cursed you with a sword strike; you'd better be careful!"

I believe in heaven, earth, and myself, but I don't believe these jinxes!

Li Guang shook his head.

His heart tightened when his gaze swept over Zhang Xuezhou.

He used to feel a sense of impending doom whenever he saw Zhang Xuezhou's Deer-Slaying Blade, and now, after the fortune teller's words, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

These people have mouths that carry more weight than anyone else's; a single word from them can be more lethal than Incantation Technique.

Li Guang had no choice but to forcefully dispel this feeling while constantly strengthening his own beliefs.

"You seem to have a good relationship with those demons in the Xieluosi River Holy Land?"

Li Guang was very attentive to the pursuit, but upon meeting Zhang Xuezhou, he became more concerned about certain other matters.

He witnessed Zhang Xuezhou and a little bird demon step into the Xieluosi River Holy Land. The two, one human and one demon, chatted and laughed, showing an extremely harmonious relationship.

This is an extremely rare phenomenon.

If Zhang Xuezhou weren't in human form, he would almost suspect that this guy also originated from the bird demon of the Xieluosi River Holy Land.

"I was captured by the Golden Toad Dharma King before, and by chance, I met a few bird demons," Zhang Xuezhou said helplessly. "But my relationship with the bird demons of the Xieluosi River Holy Land is very shallow; only Lingyu considers me a friend!"

"Was it Lingyu who guided you back then?" Li Guang asked with interest.

"Yes," Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

How could a little bird demon have such a right?

"Her father is the Feiyu Demon King. Although he has no real power, few people dare to make things difficult for her!"

"I really didn't see that coming!"

If Zhang Xuezhou hadn't recounted it, Li Guang would have found it hard to believe that the children of the Feiyu Demon King would look like this.

He couldn't say that Feiyu and Spirit Feather were completely unrelated, but they certainly looked like different kinds of birds, and Spirit Feather was even no different from those scruffy demon birds.

"Could he possibly travel through the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains to the Xieluosi River Holy Land?"

Cheng Bushi listened for a while, and he also became quite interested.

There are other routes to the Xieluosi River Holy Land besides the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. For example, you can also reach the Xieluosi River Holy Land by starting from Yanmen Pass, but only the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains allows for a normal retreat.

They couldn't find the Xiong State's army in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, but it would be equally difficult for the Xiong State's army to search and sweep through the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.

Starting from other routes, not to mention the difficulty of infiltrating, even if one manages to infiltrate normally, a safe retreat is almost impossible.

If discovered by the bird demons, the pursuit along the way will inevitably lead to death.

The vast, boundless grasslands were also the main stage for the Xiong State to roam, and the military value of traveling from Yanmen Pass to the Xieluosi River Holy Land was practically zero.

Cheng Bushi taking risks, but he also had high hopes for this passage, which possessed military value.

"I went there once," Li Guang nodded and said, "Besides killing a few bird demons who like to ambush and a tiger demon, we didn't get anything else. That old bastard Zhu Jiuyin just stayed holed up in the secret place and never came out!"

"Older people don't like to wander around, so hunting down Zhu Jiuyin is a difficult task," Cheng Bushi nodded. "But he probably wouldn't dare to recklessly target Li Jiao right now!"

"Having been frightened once, no demons are coming to assassinate Jiao'er anymore," Li Guang agreed. "As long as there's give and take, he'll be wary. Only if he's constantly on the defensive will he become unrestrained!"

"We can also prevent him from gaining any advantage by maintaining strict defenses. Over time, he will lose interest in our Han Dynasty," Cheng Bushi said.

"If soldiers don't fight, wouldn't that be a waste of their youth? If soldiers and officers don't achieve merit for a long time, their morale will inevitably decline over the years," Li Guang said.

"War will kill people, many people will die," Cheng Bushi emphasized. "This will create a huge burden on the country, and ultimately lead to its collapse!"

Li Guang and Cheng Bushi may represent two different military attitudes of the imperial court.

One focuses on defense, like a hedgehog covered in sharp quills, deterring enemies from approaching.

One approach is to launch an attack and proactively defeat the opponent.

"It's one thing if we have different ideologies, but what's most hateful are those who surrender and advocate marriage alliances; they have not a single spine to stand on!"

"Special measures are needed for special times; being flexible and adaptable is not always acceptable!"

"I do hope they can be flexible, but some people who kneel down may not be able to stand up again!"

"But some people are making a lot of noise, but if you actually send them to the battlefield, they might not be up to the task!"

When it came to refuting the court's third stance, Li Guang and Cheng Bushi still could not reach a consensus.

The two parted on bad terms during their argument, with Cheng Bushi jumping out of the window and riding away on horseback.

Why has this battleground of heroes fallen to such a state?

Li Guang clenched his fists.

Apart from Emperor Gaozu, who initially fought a tough battle to establish the Han Dynasty, subsequent emperors and ministers seemed to have developed rickets and never stood up again.

Some pro-war figures, such as Zhi Du, ultimately met with bad ends. In the current court, only Li Guang represents the pro-war faction, with few influential figures to support him.

During his time in Chang'an City, Li Guang met many people, but he encountered more disappointment than anything else.

With such a pro-peace and pro-defense attitude in the rear, even if Emperor Jing wanted to support him, it would be difficult to get his ministers to work together against external threats.

Emperor Jing did not lack support for his foreign policy; rather, there was no basis for such support within the court.

"Perhaps only when these people die of old age, or when His Majesty purges a group of them, will our Great Han Dynasty be able to regain its former glory!"

Li Guang silently recited this in his heart.

Do you think our Han Dynasty has the ability to destroy the three Sacred Land and the Xiong State, these lackeys?

Feeling dejected, Li Guang prepared to return to the Weiyang Palace and couldn't help but ask Zhang Xuezhou a question.

Zhang Xuezhou was a nobody in the imperial court, but he had seen the Xieluosi River Holy Land and knew more about the land of the Northern Kuru Continent than others.

Although Zhang Xuezhou's answer wouldn't be of any help, Li Guang couldn't help but want to hear what this kind of person thought.

"I know nothing about military affairs, so I don't know the answer!"

Zhang Xuezhou's answer did not express the answer Li Guang wanted, nor did it offer any theoretical analysis or lengthy reasoning.

But this answer satisfied Li Guang.

"Those people in the imperial court are truly clueless about military affairs!"

He remained silent.

Some people think about fighting a war only after the country has become strong, while others want to have more and more confidence, and still others want to fight a war only after eliminating internal strife, or have other ideas.

However, a weak military has its own tactics, and a strong military has its own methods. The worst approach is to simply stop fighting.

Li Guang was very disappointed by this trip to Chang'an.

If the new emperor's external campaigns had no time limit or guarantee, Li Guang felt it would be difficult to waste time waiting indefinitely.