"What?!"
Wang Chong's body shook in surprise.
Lu Ting had once said that even if Wen Choushu was still alive, he was in his nineties and had an eccentric personality. In other words, even Lu Ting believed that there was a high chance that he was no longer alive. Being able to find Wen Choushu so quickly was definitely unexpected.
"What did the Li Clan of Jing Prefecture say?"
Wang Chong quickly calmed down and asked. Being able to receive news of Wen Choushu was truly exciting, but before confirming his identity, he could not celebrate too early.
"The Li Clan of Jing Prefecture replied that the person they found was very similar to the person Scholar Lu Ting spoke of. They were both in their nineties, had an eccentric personality, liked to collect ancient books, and had a bean-sized mole on his left brow. The Li Clan of Jing Prefecture also investigated. That person claimed to be surnamed Wen and also moved there more than twenty years ago. Although he called himself Wen Guxin, the villagers saw a seal on his body. It was Wen Choushu.
"In addition, his collection of books was astonishing. After he arrived, he bought several large courtyards and even hired people to build three more, all of which were filled with books. When the Li Clan went to buy medicinal ingredients, they went to this old gentleman's house to ask for water and saw his astonishing collection of books. Only then did they notice this person. "
The Eagle bowed.
"Wen Choushu …"
Wang Chong had a pensive look.
People who collected ancient books all had a habit. They cherished the ancient books they collected and would not randomly scribble on them. Instead, they would place a bookmark inside the book and stamp the collector's name on it. If these collectors died and the book fell into the hands of the next collector, they would continue to stamp their name on it. In this way, the previous collectors of the ancient book could be seen through the label and stamp, and there would be traces to follow.
This was a custom and habit of ancient book collectors.
To have Wen Choushu's seal on his waist meant that there was a sixty percent chance that this person was the person he was looking for.
"The Eagle, take Scholar Lu Ting over and personally verify Wen Choushu's identity. In addition, send four experts to guard him. At the same time, select a few scholars from the great clans to assist Lu Ting. I want to know as soon as possible what that Bird Seal Script means, and the meaning of that black seal! "
Wang Chong said in a deep voice. At that moment, his eyes were incomparably bright. The surprise had come too suddenly. The Confucian Sect was finally making a move.
The Eagle quickly led Lu Tingzhi and a dozen other experts on their way. For the sake of safety, the King of Song had sent over another 20 experts, all of whom were top-notch experts that had been carefully selected. The conflict between the militarists and the Confucians no longer only affected the imperial court, but also the entire world.
The King of Song knew this better than anyone else.
Once something happened to the militarists, more than 10 million people of the Tang dynasty would be trapped. This was also the reason why The King of Song gave his full support.
The capital gradually entered a period of peace. After Wang Chong had neutralized the attacks of Qixi and the Three Great Training Camps, Li Junxian and the Confucian Sect seemed to have slowed down their attacks and made no further moves. Wang Chong was also waiting for further news from Lu Tingzhi and The King of Song.
The two sides had entered a temporary period of peace. But both Wang Chong and Li Junxian understood that the other side was preparing to launch a new wave of attacks at any moment. At the same time, something else was taking place in the capital that did not alarm too many people.
With the Bureau of Military Personnel taking the lead and Zhangchou Jianqiong presiding over the joint support of King of Foreign Lands Wang Chong, Gao Xianzhi, Geshu Han, Zhang Shougui, Xianyu Zhongtong, and the other Protector-Generals and Great Generals, a new 'commander base' was formally established in the northwestern suburbs of the capital.
The general base was massive, several dozen mu in size. The Bureau of Military Personnel would pay a portion of the construction costs, Wang Chong would pay half, and the great clans of the capital would pay the rest. To put it nicely, it was a 'sponsorship'. This was yet another new method.
In this way, the problem of the Bureau of Revenue allocating funds could be avoided, allowing the commander base to be built as quickly as possible.
In addition, the main architect of this commander base was none other than the master architect of Wushang's City of Steel and the steel buildings of the northwest battlefield, Zhang Shouzhi, whose name had spread throughout the world. It would take at least several more months for the commander base to be completed. When the time came, many students of the Three Great Training Camps and some officers of the military would be able to enter and study. Unlike the Three Great Training Camps, the commander base would teach a great deal of military strategy and command techniques.
All the instructors were top-class officers from the five protectorates, each of them possessing rich experience in battle. This was one of the characteristics that distinguished the commander base from the Three Great Training Camps.
On the other hand, Wang Chong imparted a higher level of combat ability to them.
Wang Chong's reputation as the new War God and his world-renowned ability to command soldiers made this commander base even more attractive.
At the same time, Wang Chong was working hard to find Li Junxian, but Li Junxian seemed to have evaporated into thin air. But even so, the Confucian school's offensive did not stop. More and more Confucian lectures were appearing in the capital, preaching benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom, promoting the Great Harmony of the world, and the influence of the Confucian school continued to grow.
Wang Chong could sense that the hearts of the people were slowly changing, but the Confucian school's choice was impeccable. Not even Wang Chong, as the King of Foreign Lands, could stop the Confucian school from carrying out these lectures.
But just because he could not stop them did not mean that Wang Chong had no way of dealing with them.
"Xu Keyi, Cheng Sanyuan, I have something for you to do!"
Several days later, Wang Chong summoned Xu Keyi and the others to his study.
"I want you to immediately contact the great clans of the capital and have them complete this task as quickly as possible. In addition, I will initially provide thirty million taels of gold, and I will provide even more to help you complete this task. "
"Ah!"
"Milord!"
Everyone in the room looked in shock at Wang Chong with their mouths agape.
Thirty million!
And it was in gold, and it would continue to increase!
This was a figure that completely surpassed their imaginations. After all, the Imperial Court had only given Wang Chong ten million taels of gold for the Battle of Talas. This ten million taels of gold had been enough to support the Tang Dynasty in its war against Arabia, laying the foundation for its final victory.
But now, Wang Chong had given them thirty million taels of gold, and this was only a portion of it. This was a fortune that many people would never be able to use in their entire lives.
They found it very difficult to imagine just what sort of task would require so much gold.
"Everything is written in the letter! Go! "
"Yes, Milord!"
Xu Keyi took the letter from the table and quickly left.
… …
A few days later, a piece of news from the Jing Prefecture reached the capital. A body-strengthening school led by the Jing Prefecture's Li Clan had been established in the Jing Prefecture. All kinds of martial arts were taught there, and not only was it free of charge, it even provided free breakfast and dinner. At the start, there was only one person, but it quickly grew to seven or eight, and then more than ten.
At the start, it was only in the Jing Prefecture, but these martial arts schools began to sprout like bamboo shoots after the rain, opening from the Jing Prefecture to the neighboring prefectures and then spreading out to other places. In a single week, the number of these martial arts schools had increased to several hundred, and they were opening all over the world. Several weeks later, there were several thousand of these body-strengthening schools, and they were still increasing at an astonishing rate.
These body-strengthening schools had the same style, all of them ancient and elegant, and they had experienced instructors instructing them. At the start, the surrounding people had been skeptical, but when they realized that the body-strengthening schools were providing free porridge, they began to pour in. Not only that, some people quickly realized that the body-strengthening schools had a rule. Anyone who practiced martial arts in the schools for a week would receive ten copper coins.
If one practiced martial arts in the schools for a month, one would receive a piece of silver. The longer one practiced, the more silver one would receive, and after half a year, one would receive a silver ingot.
Such a thing had never happened in the Central Plains before. Moreover, the martial arts schools were surrounded by many people, and even though the requirements for admission were strict, an astonishing number of students were eventually accepted. Based on the expenses of the people, horses, and instructors, the daily expenses were enormous. No ordinary clan could afford this.
But people quickly realized that the martial arts schools seemed to have an endless supply of silver. No matter how much money was spent, it never stopped. It was like the owner of these body-strengthening schools possessed an inexhaustible amount of wealth. And when the owner of these body-strengthening schools was revealed, the entire world was thrown into an uproar.
The King of Foreign Lands!
The owner of these thousands of body-strengthening schools was none other than the illustrious and influential War God of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Chong!
In a flash, the world was thrown into an uproar. Because of Wang Chong's reputation, countless people surged into these body-strengthening schools to learn martial arts and strengthen their bodies. Countless local tycoons contacted Wang Chong, hoping that his body-strengthening schools would be opened in their areas. Some local tycoons and clans even offered to pay for a portion of the daily expenses of these body-strengthening schools.
In a short time, Wang Chong's reputation caused these body-strengthening schools to sweep through the world. For a time, it was a trend to strengthen one's body and practice martial arts.
The number of body-strengthening schools rapidly swelled to tens of thousands, covering almost the entire world!
Flapflap!
One carrier pigeon after another flew toward the capital. In the northwest corner of the capital, in a tea house, a black-robed elder who appeared to be an erudite Confucian scholar extended a hand and caught the carrier pigeon. With just a glance, his complexion instantly turned ashen.
"Bastard!"
The Confucians had opened schools in the capital to promote benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom, while Wang Chong had opened martial arts schools throughout the nine provinces to teach martial arts. He was clearly opposing the Confucians.
"I'd like to see how long you can remain so smug!"
With a wave of his sleeve, the black-robed elder vanished from the tea house.
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