Chapter 5: Curveball, New Route Starting from Father-in-law!
What’s the most painful thing about playing games?
Your home base getting robbed.
Lu Cheng’an is facing this situation now. He was farming well, and suddenly his base burned into ashes. How was he supposed to continue playing?
The first time, after the Han Princess was slandered, feeling indignant, disgraced the royal identity, she bravely died with determination in the Han Princess’s Mansion.
The second time back to the capital, died for unknown reasons.
Lu Cheng’an also didn’t know how she died. Let’s not talk about being the leader of a political entity, even if you are a gang boss, you should know the principle that you can’t give things away for free.
Giving away for free twice in a row, even if Lu Cheng’an’s skills were heavenly, he couldn’t enjoy the game without a main storyline.
He desperately climbed up, what was his core purpose, wasn’t it to marry the Han Princess?
Without the Han Princess, the meaning of playing the game disappeared. He could only suicide his own character, but every operation took a lot of time.
The first time managing Le’an Prefecture, he worked hard, had to maintain good relations with the surrounding aristocratic families, and crazily complete various chaotic daily activities.
The second time, he had to consider when to bribe officials properly, figure out how to play war flag board games on the battlefield, chase after enemy troops like crazy, after finishing, he had to consider how to effectively distribute benefits, and promote himself.
He was entangled in political struggles just like in the game. When the leader, the Han Princess, dies at will, who can bear such responsibility?
This can’t go on like this.
By fighting like this, the Han Princess will definitely die naturally when the time comes.
Lu Cheng’an thought hard, maybe it was the END line of the game. Before this, he didn’t expect a breakthrough method. The Han Princess had to die even if he didn’t want to.
So, he was thinking about where he had neglected.
“The Princess of Qin has his uncles and father in the court.”
“The mother of the Princess of Jin has senior relatives in the military.”
Lu Cheng’an pondered and said, “There is a big gap between the Han Princess and them, that is the influence of the relatives. Without close relatives to assist, it is the biggest disadvantage and also the biggest advantage of the Han Princess.”
“The disadvantage is that when the Han Princess needs to use people, there really is no one available, and the advantage is that the relatives are a double-edged sword. They can indeed help you, but it also means they have the ability to usurp your power.”
“And the influence of both sides’ relatives is too strong. When the late emperor was not dead yet, there was a fulcrum between the Princess of Qin and the Princess of Jin to balance each other.”
“But when my father-in-law died, the struggle for power between the two sides, like untamed horses, couldn’t stop anymore. As the competition for power between them gets closer and closer, it is inevitable to fight to the death.”
(Tn: Lu Chang’an regards Princess Han as his waifu, and his father-in-law was the late emperor)
“In other words, the real person who suppresses the ambitions of both sides is my father-in-law. He held down the ambitions of both sides, and his most correct approach is to solve the problems here before his death. This concerns imperial power, with my father-in-law’s ability to manipulate power, he couldn’t have overlooked it.”
Lu Cheng’an felt dizzy, “This version of the plot is not the same as the one I played before. I have to consider.”
“Is it that my father-in-law had no one to use to suppress both sides, or did my father-in-law want to eliminate one side first, but didn’t have the opportunity or time to operate, so he died first?”
“In short, after both sides gain power, what they most want to do is to kill the legitimate heir, the Han Princess, so that they can have the opportunity to ascend the throne smoothly.” Lu Cheng’an suddenly realized something, “Why don’t I follow my father-in-law to work first and see the situation in the court?”
“What I lack now is information. Every strategy needs to be based on information for the next move. The most important thing in any game is intelligence.”
“The root of the problem lies in the death of my father-in-law. If my father-in-law didn’t die, the balance between the Princess of Qin and the Princess of Jin could still be maintained, and the later my father-in-law died, the more development time our Han Princess faction would have.”
The more Lu Cheng’an thought, the clearer his mind became.
For the third time, he was still a member of the Han Princess faction, but he didn’t take the route of being a retainer or a military officer. Instead, he chose to establish relationships in the capital in the first year and participate in the imperial examinations again in the second year.
He wanted to make a name for himself in the imperial examinations, shine in the palace examination, no matter what, he had to say shocking words, leave an impression in front of his father-in-law, the earlier he stood firm in the court, the earlier he could form a new faction for the Han Princess, and the more opportunities he would have to help the Han Princess ascend the throne.
[Start the game!]
Lu Cheng’an chose to become a retainer of the Han Princess’s Mansion in the first year, and he immersed himself in studying at the Han Princess’s Mansion. After a year of diligent study, in the second year, Lu Cheng’an participated in the imperial examinations again.
[In the eighth year of Zhengying, after a year of study, someone in the court recognized your high achievement, and you were ranked first, entering the Imperial City to meet the emperor.]
A scene of Lu Cheng’an entering the Forbidden City appeared before his eyes. Along with him, there were more than ten other scholars who participated in the palace examination.
[During the palace examination, the reigning Emperor Zhengying, Su Yiming, proposed a topic on ‘pacifying the border’.]
[Please state your opinion.]
Lu Cheng’an fell into contemplation. This exam question, to put it plainly, tested a person’s strategic awareness. Putting it here, it could be considered a strategy for pacifying the border. Among the famous essays on pacifying the border that he knew of, the most classic one should be by the famous general of the Northern Song Dynasty, Wang Shao.
There is also Zhuge Liang’s ‘Strategies of the Walled City’, which is also a classic in strategic essays.
Lu Cheng’an looked at the information provided above. Currently, the treasury of the Great Cheng Dynasty was in a deficit due to the violent consumption by the reigning Emperor Zhengying, who was busy with construction projects. What he needed for the essay was actually a solution to the gradually active remnants of the Wala tribe in the north. After more than ten years of recuperation, this group of remnants driven out of the Central Plains already had a population of over ten thousand people.
War requires money. Judging from this crimson consumption status, the Great Cheng Dynasty definitely couldn’t afford to fight.
So what Emperor Zhengying needed was a method that could undermine the combat effectiveness of this group of Wala remnants without expending a single soldier.
There was a solution. That was to open up mutual markets, to open markets at the border and engage in barter trade with the Wala remnants.
The reason why this group of Wala remnants raided the border was because they lacked clothing and food. With the opening of mutual markets, they could exchange their food, drinks, and warm clothing for the opponent’s weapons and warhorses.
This would be enough to undermine the combat power of this group of Wala remnants.
The principle of being prepared for danger in times of peace applies everywhere.
This group of Wala remnants displayed such strong combat power because they lacked clothing and food. If they didn’t rob, they wouldn’t survive the winter, and they would definitely fight desperately. However, they also had fatal problems. Due to their population issues, they didn’t dare to push too hard.
Because if they pushed too hard, they were afraid that the Great Cheng Dynasty would mobilize its national strength to exterminate their tribe completely.
Opening mutual markets, exchanging goods for goods, and weakening the opponent’s immediate combat capabilities. On the other hand, through this non-violent trade, the opponent would lose the cruel environmental pressure, have a greenhouse existence, reduce their vigilance, and gradually shrink their combat power, while also bringing economic benefits to their own side.
After a long time, this group of Wala tribes would naturally lose their combat effectiveness.
The next step, Lu Cheng’an’s proposal was to seize the opportunity to seek justice for the border residents and take down this Wala tribe with a reputation.
In fact, whether to exterminate or not depends on the mood, because there is no benefit in exterminating these people. The bitterly cold land outside the Great Cheng Dynasty is naturally not wanted by them, and war costs money. To go to war just to seek justice is simply the behavior of a profligate.
From the perspective of the ruling class, this is unnecessary and damaging to their own interests.
But considering from the perspective of their own ethnicity, seeking justice is more important than anything else. So in the final proposal, Lu Cheng’an added a sentence.
‘The border residents have long suffered from the tyranny of the barbarian tribes. Pacifying the border is not enough to appease their anger.’
Why should you beat our people and swagger around, and still enjoy a good life?
Lu Cheng’an would consider the interests and losses from the perspective of the country. But it doesn’t mean that Lu Cheng’an is a person without personal emotions.
Being punched and still trying to befriend the other party, there is no reason for this.
And in this game, he, Lu Cheng’an, would take the route of curveballing to save the country. First, he would follow his father-in-law’s path, and when he became successful, he would find a way to support the Han Princess’s ascension.
With so many ways to play, he didn’t believe that he couldn’t pass the level even once.
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