Magistrate Dong had a strange expression on his face as he said, "In order to discuss your merits and rewards, the officials began arguing at the morning court at 7: 30 am today and only ended an hour ago. During this period, even Grand Secretary Li couldn't get any news, let alone us. "
"For the entire day?" Fang Yun asked.
Magistrate Dong smiled helplessly and said, "Don't mention it. The people on both sides argued until their faces turned red. The Empress Dowager asked them to leave the court and they refused to eat. The guards couldn't stop them either. The Empress Dowager couldn't watch the officials starve, so she, the king, and the officials had lunch in the throne room and argued while eating. "
Fang Yun blinked and said with a smile, "That scene must be very unique. I don't dare to imagine it."
"Yes, I really don't dare to imagine it. In my memory, there was indeed a day of arguments in the court, but they all went to the side hall for lunch at noon. The officials argued while eating in the throne room. Such a thing is really unprecedented. This matter will definitely be reported and become a laughing stock of the Ten Nations, "Magistrate Dong said.
Fang Yun secretly laughed and asked, "Was it a fight between the civil minister and the left prime minister again?"
"Of course. The civil minister wanted to give you the title of Earl of Zhou and let you recruit a powerful private army to protect yourself. The left prime minister refused and the Empress Dowager kept silent. As for the king, he ate and slept and even peed on the throne once. "
"How did it end up being resolved?"
"In the evening, the Empress Dowager suddenly flew into a rage. She first blamed the civil minister and then the left prime minister. She then scolded the officials and said that she supported the left prime minister. She didn't want to make you a fifth-rank Earl of Zhou but a sixth-rank Earl of Zhou. Just when the left prime minister thought that they had won, the Empress Dowager changed the topic and said that you had made a great contribution. She made you a pillar of the nation, a model student, a model scholar, and a model scholar. She then asked the minister of the Ministry of Rites to draft an imperial edict and finally left with the king, saying that she was changing his diapers. "
Fang Yun tried hard to imagine that scene and said, "Isn't the king three years old? Why does he still need to change diapers? "
"He's three years old. However, you're right. Maybe he's not feeling well. "
Fang Yun realized that Magistrate Dong was talking about the king as if he was talking to a superior official.
"The Minister of Rites is a good person. I'll give him some pointers. But the imperial edict has the fate of a country and is of great importance. It needs to go through the cabinet, and Minister Zuo is the head of the cabinet. Why did he agree so quickly? "
"Prime Minister Zuo is well versed in politics. Since Empress Dowager has said so, he must compromise. If he did not compromise this time, he would risk the Empress Dowager flipping the table. The most important thing was that all the rich and powerful families in Jingguo were helping him. Today, you have the upper hand, "Magistrate Dong said.
Fang Yun nodded.
"Other than that, I'm afraid it's because the Left Prime Minister's arrangements in the army have been completed, so there's no need to fall out with him at this time. But I didn't expect that the Empress Dowager would use the Holy Temple to deliver the imperial edict and official seal. I'm afraid she did it to ease your mind, "Magistrate Dong said.
Fang Yun knew that the Holy Temple could transfer small items, but it would consume a large amount of talent. Generally speaking, the gains did not make up for the losses. Even the Notre-Dame was rarely willing to do so.
"If I have the chance in the future, I must personally thank the Empress Dowager," Fang Yundao said.
"It's good that you have the heart. The Empress Dowager really treats you well. The title of nobility is just a basic reward. After a while, the capital's reward will appear. This time, there will probably be a literary treasure. Alright. I have to go, "Magistrate Dong said.
"Why are you in such a hurry? Stay for a while longer and wait for the rain to stop." Fang Yun politely urged him to stay.
"No, Governor Zhang has left. Governor Lu is about to take office. Jade Sea City is not peaceful. "Magistrate Dong said and left.
After sending Magistrate Dong off, Fang Yun returned to his room to read.
Nunu was also tired from playing and went into Fang Yun's study. She shook her body lightly and shook off all the water on her body. Then, she lay on the ground and listened to Fang Yun recite the Sacred Scripture.
Although Fang Yun was preparing for the State Examination, because he had already grasped the meaning of the scripture and the theory of policy, he did not practice hard. He just wrote a piece every day and asked Scholar Pang to revise it.
In order to complete the Talent Demonstration, Fang Yun did not read other books. He only read the Art of War.
When he was tired, he would practice some words and then close his eyes to think about how to complete the Talent Demonstration.
Fang Yun attached great importance to this' Crossing the Sea by Deception '. Not only was it very useful, it was also because this was his first Talent Demonstration. If he failed, it would definitely leave a shadow in his heart and the effect of the Thirty-Six Stratagems would be greatly reduced.
If he could complete all thirty-six Talent Demonstrations of the thirty-six stratagems, not only would it mean that he would be able to grasp the stratagems, it would also mean that the entire book would be integrated with the Sage Path of Wisdom, increasing its power continuously.
Fang Yun decided to study for three days before entering the Talent Demonstration.
On the second day, Fang Yun studied the Art of War as usual. But since morning, countless people had sent congratulatory gifts to him, including almost all the famous people in Jade Sea City.
Some of them sent small items worth one tael of silver while others sent a hundred taels of silver or a few hundred taels of silver.
If it was just the families born and raised in Jade Sea City, it would not be much.
Jade Sea City was the commercial center of Jingguo. Since it was established, there were shops opened by the various families of Jingguo. There were also merchants or shops from other countries who sent gifts.
The number of people who sent gifts was so great that the street in front of Fang Yun's house was completely blocked. Everyone had no choice but to slowly clear the way.
There were thousands of gifts of different sizes. Because there were too many, they had no choice but to place them in the courtyard, causing the courtyard to have four small hills.
The gatekeeper kept a record of these people. Favors needed to be reciprocated. If the gift-giver had a joyous occasion, the Fang residence would definitely reciprocate.
Fang Yun looked at the endless stream of people and had a headache. If he were to deal with all of this, it would not be enough even if he spent an entire day.
At night, Yang Yuhuan and the others estimated the total value of the gifts. It exceeded thirty thousand taels of silver. Even a famous family would not be able to earn so much in a year. This family could not use it at all. Just the porcelain alone was enough to fill an entire study room.
Fang Yun did not care and continued to study the art of war and think about how to complete the Talent Demonstration.
After three days, Fang Yun felt that the time was right. He laid out a new piece of paper and slowly wrote.
When he wrote the last full stop of the Deception Strategy, Fang Yun's vision turned black again.
Fang Yun opened his eyes. It was the same as the first Talent Demonstration. He had become a heavily injured general and could not even use his talent. He had to think of a Deception Strategy to deceive the barbarians. He had to make them think that his army was strong and had sufficient food. This way, the barbarians would not dare to pursue and retreat.
As it was his second time entering the military camp, Fang Yun knew the entire military camp very well. However, he was not careless because of this. He asked to join the army again and received the same test. He had to use the Deception Strategy to hide the fact that the Jing army had no food and their morale was low.
After Fang Yun knew that nothing had changed, he immediately gave out orders and explained them in detail. He practically guided the generals step by step.
The first step was to let the barbarians think that the Jing army had sufficient food.
The eagle demon generals of the barbarians flew in the sky and could see part of the situation in Fang Yun's military camp. The Jing army camp immediately sent eagle demons to fight.
There were a total of ten large granaries in the military camp. Outside the granaries, there were armored ox carts that transported food. Many soldiers entered the granaries.
The granaries were very empty and there was very little food. However, after the soldiers entered the granaries, they used tools to dig the soil under the granaries and put the soil into cloth bags. Finally, they sprinkled some food on top of the cloth bags. This made people think that the entire bag was full of food.
The first batch of people transported the fake food out. Occasionally, they would purposely leave some food on the ground. However, no one cared.
The eagle demons in the sky saw everything.
Those people transported the fake food to the armored ox carts. They returned to the granaries.
It was different from the previous time. This time, there were two people carrying the cloth bags. The cloth bags were full of food.
These two people carried the food for the second time. At first, there was no difference. However, after taking a few steps, their hands "suddenly slipped." An entire bag of millet suddenly fell. The yellow millet scattered all over the ground.
The two people casually cleaned up. Leaving the ground full of rice grains, they carried the large bag of millet away, as if they didn't care about these losses at all.
In the process of transporting the food. The grain escort officer used chips to calculate the amount of food. Soon, he accumulated a very high number. It was enough to feed this army for five days.
In the process of transporting the food, there were all kinds of intentional waste and carelessness. All of them showed that the military camp had enough food.
In the process, Jing Jun's eagle demons flew out from time to time to obstruct the eagle demons' investigation. It was exactly the same as usual.
When all the food was transported, an eagle demon in the sky returned to the barbarian camp.
Fang Yun smiled. This method was derived from the famous general Tan Daoji's "singing chips and measuring sand." However, the singing chips and measuring sand was done at night to deceive the enemy's spies. Fang Yun's "substituting soil for rice" was done in the daytime in front of the eagle demons. It was more difficult.
In the process of faking the food, Fang Yun also picked some stronger soldiers and asked them to eat more in the tent. Then, they wore neat heavy armor and walked around the military camp to maintain order.
Some of the soldiers gathered in some places to practice. They were sweating all over.
The other soldiers also received the order to pretend to be strong.
In this way, in the eyes of the eagle demons, Jingguo's army not only had food, but also had high morale. Moreover, they were not in a hurry to retreat. They were not afraid of the barbarians at all.
The plan to deceive the enemy seemed simple, but in fact, it had to consider all kinds of details. If there was a problem with any detail, it could be seen through by the rebels. This was especially so in the battlefield between the human race and the barbarians. The plan itself was not difficult, but the process of execution and the things to pay attention to were very difficult.
Therefore, in the confrontation between Fang Yun and the soldiers, Jing Jun packed up and left the military camp. Before leaving, he burned it. He did not care at all, but in fact, he was covering up the traces of digging sand.
The way the army retreated was very ordinary. It was not fast or slow. Therefore, the barbarians sent a small team to follow them.
When it was close to noon, the scout team and the eagle demon in the sky finally became impatient and retreated.
Fang Yun heaved a long sigh of relief. In the whole process, the strong army could be disguised as the weak army, and the weak army could also be disguised as the strong army. As long as he could deceive the enemy and achieve his goal, it would be a good plan to deceive the enemy.
Fang Yun originally thought that the Talent Demonstration would end after they retreated, but nothing changed. He continued to be carried forward by his bodyguards.
"The Talent Demonstration is not over yet? This is not right. Could it be that this plan is too unique, so the test has to continue? Or is the Talent Demonstration much more difficult than I thought? "
Fang Yun was puzzled, but there was nothing he could do now. He could only follow the troops to the carriage.
Not long after, it was noon. Fang Yun was in a more difficult situation. There was not much food left, and the soldiers might mutiny.
。 (To be continued …)
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