Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Nora
Ouyang Shuo returned to the Lord's Manor and prepared himself to meet a special guest—Zhao Kuo, who they currently held in the Lord's Manor. They currently held him in a courtyard that people rarely visited, a place at a corner of the manor.
When Ouyang Shuo entered, Zhao Kuo was drinking in the patio; his beard currently in a mess.
After he experienced failure in the Battle of Lianzhou, Zhao Kuo seemed older and sadder. He did not look as handsome and as confident as before.
A hero's heart had totally fallen into the abyss.
When he saw Ouyang Shuo, Zhao Kuo held the wine flask and walked over. He was drunk, and his voice was hoarse, “Lianzhou Lord?" His voice contained a tinge of teasing and a sense of giving up.
Currently, Zhao Kuo was a man that lacked purpose and will.
"That's right!"
Ouyang Shuo did not care. He sat down on the stone seat and looked over at Zhao Kuo.
"You, you came here for what? To humiliate me? Or are you ready to behead me, behead me~" Zhao Kuo stuttered, as he vented the frustration and anger in his heart.
Zhao Kuo did not care about life and eath anymore.
More specifically, although he currently lived, it felt like a living death to him.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head, “If you want to give up on yourself, I won't stop you. But if your father learns that his son is useless, what would he think?"
His father was the famous general Zhao She, the ancestor of the Ma family.
Ouyang Shuo noticed that when he mentioned Zhao Kuo’s father, the latter tightened his grip over the wine flask. Obviously, his father held a special place in his heart.
After the Battle of Changping, Zhao She had also appeared in the wilderness. Despite this, he did not go to Pill Sun County to look for Zhao Kuo. Needless to say, he did not recognize Zhao Kuo and was not willing to meet him.
This was a huge pain in Zhao Kuo’s heart, as he desired his father’s recognition.
Zhao Kuo's face was ashen white, as he said, “What can I do? At most, I'll just die."
"Well, you can die. Only, there are thousands of ways to die. Which one will you choose? Dying for your sins or dying from alcohol?"
"You!" Zhao Kuo's face flushed red and he shouted, “You can kill me, but don't humiliate me!"
Ouyang Shuo shook his head, “You're wrong. I'm not humiliating you. Your current actions are just throwing away the face of your father. You're just asking for ridicule."
Sometimes, one had to be harsh to solve such problems.
Zhao Kuo had already given up, so Ouyang Shuo needed to use words to ignite his spirit.
Otherwise, how would Zhao Kuo be of any help to him?
"Ah!" Zhao Kuo stood still as he raised the wine flask and took a swig. The wine that spilled out soaked his shirt, but he did not care. He was merely drowning away his sorrows.
After a long while, he raised his head and looked at Ouyang Shuo, “I'm the general of a losing army, so what can I do?"
His words contained endless feelings of bitterness and sadness.
Ouyang Shuo kept silent. After all, Zhao Kuo was also unlucky—his first opponent was Baiqi. In the end, he had lost, which left his reputation ruined.
Additionally, he would be remembered and humiliated because of the Battle of Changping.
"I have a position that can let you make a comeback."
Ouyang Shuo threw out the bait.
"Oh? Keke, is the Lianzhou Lord trying to recruit me?"
In Zhao Kuo's eyes, disbelief could be seen.
"You lost because you chose the wrong position. You are knowledgeable and know a lot about the philosophy of war. You're good at advising but not at leading troops to war. The Lianzhou Lord's Manor has the Military Affairs Department, which oversees military matters. Under it is the War Division that is in charge of war planning and coordination."
Ouyang Shuo gave Zhao Kuo a brief description of the territory’s military structure.
When Zhao Kuo heard such words, his eyes brightened. However, he felt a little unhappy about Ouyang Shuo's evaluation. He felt that he had the ability to lead men to war.
Ouyang Shuo saw Zhao Kuo’s hesitation, so he threw out another bomb, “The Military Affairs Department and the army aren't directly related. Instead, they depend on one another."
Once Ouyang Shuo made this point clear, someone as smart as Zhao Kuo could definitely understand his meaning. If one mentioned the enemy of Zhao Kuo, it had to be Baiqi.
The Military Affairs Department and Baiqi had a relationship where they cooperated but also acted against one another.
When Zhao Kuo heard this, he was really interested as expected.
After Ouyang Shuo stopped speaking, Zhao Kuo knew that Ouyang Shuo wanted him to express his views.
Zhao Kuo sighed and threw down the wine flask, which broke it apart. He straightened his shirt and bowed, “Losing general Zhao Kuo greets the Marquis!"
Ouyang Shuo helped him up and said, “General, go wash up and prepare for the feast tonight! Every festive season, one will think of their family. If Zhao She knew that you have picked yourself up, he would feel happy."
When Zhao Kuo heard these words, his voice choked.
Ouyang Shuo slowly left.
He let Zisu to prepare new clothes for Zhao Kuo. He also arranged two maidservants to help him wash up.
After he left the courtyard, Ouyang Shuo used the Lord’s gamemode interface to check out Zhao Kuo’s stats.
Name: Zhao Kuo (King Rank)
Dynasty: Warring States (Zhao)
Identity: Shanhai City General
Occupation: Advanced General
Loyalty: 70
Command: 75
Force: 45
Intelligence: 75
Politics: 58
Specialty: well-read (Raises strategy crafting efficiency by 25%)
Evaluation: Zhao Kuo has studied the philosophy of war since a young age. He loves to talk about military methods.
Gaia's evaluation of Zhao Kuo was not too high. However, he was certainly more than sufficient to lead the war division. With Zhao Kuo’s assistance, Du Ruhui would carry less of a burden.
After he checked Zhao Kuo’s stats, Ouyang Shuo remembered that he had not checked out Sun Bin and Bianque's stats.
Name: Sun Bin (God Rank)
Dynasty: Warring States (Qi)
Identity: Shanhai City General
Occupation: Special level General
Loyalty: 80
Command: 99
Force: 50
Intelligence: 88
Politics: 55
Specialty: Destruction is the only outcome (Raises morale by 40%). Race horse (raises movement speed by 30%). Surround Wei to save Zhao (raise defense by 20%). Adapt to the enemy (Raise damage by 25%)
Cultivation Method: Sun Bin Fist Technique
Equipment: Nil
As expected, Sun Bin was exceptional at command. His command stat was even higher than Baiqi’s.
However, the aspect that surprised Ouyang Shuo was Sun Bin’s possession of a self-created fist technique. No wonder that despite being paralyzed, his force stat could still reach 50.
After Baiqi, the territory had acquired one more god rank person.
Name: Bianque (God Rank)
Dynasty: Warring States
Title: One of the five huge medical physicians in olden China
Identity: Shanhai City resident
Occupation: God rank physician
Loyalty: 70
Specialty: Careful planning (Raises territory trade profits by 1%)
Evaluation: In terms of medicine, Bianque is the ancestor. His techniques were precise and accurate. Future generations followed his methods and ways.
Bianque was known as the ancestor of Chinese traditional medicine. He created the diagnosis method and also the treatment method.
The five greatest physicians of the olden times were Medical Ancestor Bianque, Medical Saint Zhang Zhongjin, God Doctor Hua Tuo, Medicine King Sun Simiao, and Medical Scientist Li Shizhen.
Of the five, Zhang Zhongjin and Sun Simiao were saints. They were listed among the twenty four saints. Sun Simiao was the medicine Saint, and Zhang Zhongjin was the Saint Doctor. The other three were god-level historical people.
The five of them were the representative figures of Chinese medical studies.
Hence, Medical Ancestor Bianque moving into Shanhai City was not enough to consider that medical studies had moved into the city. He needed either Zhang Zhongjin or Sun Simiao to move in.
After lunch, nighttime soon arrived.
The various generals and officials all rushed over to Shanhai City.
Out of the civil servants, there was Tianfeng House prefect Cui Shousi, Mulan House prefect Mulan Yue, Broken Blade House prefect Zhou Haichen, and Beihai City City mayor Gu Xiuwen.
Of course, there was also Shanhai House prefect Wei Ran.
Apart from the feast, the various houses rushed back to the Lord's Manor to talk to the lord. Especially Zhou Haichen, who had not talked to Ouyang Shuo before he took up his appointment.
There was one other civil servant invited, the Yongye County County Magistrate Shen Zhui.
This message was very clear. Anyone could guess that Shen Zhui would be put to huge use after the New Year.
Then, there were four major generals.
Apart from them, two others were invited, Daiqin and Lin Yi.
Of course, Baiqi, Du Ruhui, Sun Bin, Fan Lihua, and Zhao Kuo were naturally invited.
Daiqin being invited was also a sign. After all, when Du Ruhui persuaded Daiqin to surrender, he had promised Daiqin to put him to good use.
Then, Lin Yi's arrival was similar to Shen Zhui.
Obviously, Lin Yi was going to receive an important appointment.
The many generals did not gather here just to attend the feast.
Before the New Year, the Military Affairs Department followed Ouyang Shuo's order to make three divisions from the prisoners.
During his return, he would obviously settle the choices of the three major generals.
Hence, although the military meeting after the New Year had not even started, it had already gained a lot of attention.
Shen Zhui and Lin Yi, these two young men were naturally the focal point of attention.
If one included the specially invited Jiang Shang and Sun Wu, as well as the three heads of the civil servant system, the people who came to join this feast could be said to be of historical proportions.
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