Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1967: The Seven Constellations of the Azure Dragon (Fourteen)
Fusu was confused and asked in confusion:

"Is this true? How come I have never heard of it?"

"That happened too long ago." Meng Tian replied with a smile, "Your Highness, you probably didn't even remember it at that time. After the Imperial Master took over, this matter was basically hidden behind the scenes and no longer known to the public."

"I know this because my brother Meng Yi told me."

Although Meng Yi came from a family of military merit and had led troops, he mainly worked in the internal affairs system and spent much more time as a civil servant than as a military general.

He also had a rich resume, having served in various ministries and government offices, and had also served as an internal historian.

Only he could dig up such old things.

Fusu nodded after listening to it.

If it happened when he was too young to remember, it would have been nearly twenty years ago, and he would have never known about it if he hadn't specifically gone to dig it out.

"It seems that the teacher has made some progress on this matter."

Meng Tian nodded, "I just don't know what the yield of these crops is, and how much higher they are than the commonly grown grains now."

Fusu sighed softly, "The more the better. People's lives are so difficult, so any amount is a good thing."

………………

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, the empire passed the New Year (the tenth month in the Zhuanxu calendar) in a "bustling bustle" and entered winter.

Amid the biting winter cold, the civilians in the northern border of the empire were still struggling on the front lines of many projects, barely surviving with the extra winter clothes and food provided by Fusu.

In Lingnan, where the climate is still relatively warm, the empire's army is advancing westward.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that the soldiers fighting in Lingnan had a more comfortable life than the coolies in the north. After all, Lingnan was not cold, but not cold did not mean it was comfortable.

In fact, the damp, cold and heavy climate in Lingnan brought torture to the soldiers that was no less severe than the extreme cold in the north.

When it's cold, people will at least become numb, and then they won't feel anything. But in Lingnan, the torture is constant and never stops.

In this "lively" winter, the Lishan Imperial Mausoleum, which should have added some liveliness to the scene, is instead a little quieter than usual.

The previously rumored personnel transfers have basically been confirmed, but after it was confirmed, the prisoners in Mount Li have become much more obedient.

Because even though the matter has been decided, there is no telling when it will start.

How could these coolies who work every day have so much energy to get excited about this? With the arrival of winter, life is getting more and more difficult.

So after the initial agitation, they became more honest and low-key.

On the outskirts of the Lishan Imperial Mausoleum is a large complex of continuous buildings, which at a glance almost cover an area of ​​ten or even dozens of miles in radius.

At its peak, the number of prisoners doing hard labor in Mount Li could reach hundreds of thousands. Although the standards of food and lodging for these people were close to those of animals, it still consumed a huge amount of resources.

As a result, the area around the Mausoleum of the Emperor Lishan is almost like a large town, except that there is no city and no commercial activities, or in other words, there is nothing else except a lot of people.

Although there are no city walls and it is not a city, this area does have a "border" - a fairly thick wooden wall.

This wall was naturally built to restrain the prisoners in Mount Li, and a large number of soldiers were stationed outside to prevent them from escaping easily.

Most of the buildings within the village wall were large bunk beds for serving prisoners. Dozens of people could be crammed into one room, which was more crowded than the student dormitories of later generations. In addition, there were various warehouses such as granaries.

However, there are also a small number of "superior houses" built close to the village wall that are obviously much more exquisite and luxurious than other buildings - these houses are prepared for the many officials in charge of the Lishan project.

The gate of the village wall could not be opened easily, so these officials had to live inside so that they could deal with various situations that might arise in a timely manner.

This type of house is basically built near the gate of the village wall. It is not only luxurious but also sturdy, and there are special people standing guard - a large number of soldiers are also deployed inside the village wall.

Although the Lishan Imperial Mausoleum was a tough job, the imperial court was conscientious enough to ensure the personal safety of officials as much as possible.

At this moment, Chen Sheng, a burly man with explosive muscles, and his good brother and think tank Wu Kuang were in one of the officials' houses.

Sitting opposite them was Zhang Liang, with a smile on his face - he had infiltrated the team of officials working on the Lishan Imperial Mausoleum project a few months ago.

The imperial mausoleum is a "bitter place" that all imperial officials are unwilling to come to. It can be called the Ningguta of the Qin Dynasty - the mortality rate is not as high, but there is no hope of promotion in this lifetime.

With Zhang Liang's ability, it would be extremely easy for him to sneak into such a place. He wouldn't even need to rely on the power of Liusha - although there are basically no Liusha personnel in the Guanzhong area now.

"How long will it take before we can leave here?" Chen Sheng asked Zhang Liang in a muffled voice, holding his arms which were thicker than other people's legs.

"No one can tell the answer to this question for now." Facing Chen Sheng's rude attitude, Zhang Liang was very patient and replied with a chuckle, "Although this matter has been put on the agenda, it is not urgent after all, and it will be difficult to get a result in a short time."

"Besides, the farmers don't seem to have come to a conclusion yet, so it's not the time for you two to take action yet."

Even though he was imprisoned, Wu Kuang, who had a mustache, stepped forward and said, "Mr. Zhang, what we brothers are worried about now is not only escaping from Mount Li, but also the whereabouts of Tian Guangxiakui!"

The actual executor of the rebellion plan proposed by A Yan was Chen Sheng. Naturally, this plan could only be implemented after obtaining his consent.

The bargaining chip that persuaded Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang to agree to this plan was the whereabouts of the former knight-errant Tian Guang.

The two agreed to the conditions of the chivalrous leader Tian Yan, which were relayed by Zhang Liang, without much consideration.

One reason is that the two of them really care about Tian Guang’s whereabouts, but they can’t find him.

Since they arrived at Mount Li, the two have been busy trying to find Tian Guang's whereabouts, but they have found nothing and there is no hope at all.

Mount Li is not a large mountain range, and its area is not very exaggerated. Whether crossing Mount Li or going around the mountain is nothing to Chen Sheng and his companions.

But a mountain is a mountain, and with the imperial mausoleum project, the terrain structure of the entire Mount Li is so complex that it is hard to describe. It is easy to find a corner to hide someone, but it would be troublesome to find the person.

Basically, you can only rely on luck and chance. If you keep failing, you will have to carefully "lick" the entire mountain before you can find the person.

If only the two of them were to do this, they might not be able to find Tian Guangshou's death.

Just when the two were at a loss as to where to start, Zhang Liang came to them and said that he might have clues to Tian Guang's whereabouts. Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang were of course unwilling to give up.

The second reason is that they both really wanted to rebel.

Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang were the most staunch anti-imperialists within the peasant family.

To be precise, they hated Luowang the most, and they hated the Empire. To be honest, if they hadn't taken the lives of the 100,000 disciples of the Farmer's Family into consideration, they would not have been willing to accept Tian Yan's strategy of stopping at the right time in the battle of Daze Mountain, and they would have dragged the entire Farmer's Family and the Empire into a life-and-death battle.

Now that they have the chance to leave the farmers behind and rebel against the empire, they are both willing to do it even without the conditions!

As for the danger involved, neither of them cared.

For two people who struggled to climb out of the abyss of death, death is worthy of awe but not fear.

People die and their eggs fall into the sky!
Letting them both submit to the empire's "tyranny" and live in disgrace is more painful than killing them!

Of course, no matter how keen they were on rebelling, they certainly could not give up the conditions they had already promised.

They must find out the whereabouts of the former hero!
Zhang Liang smiled warmly upon hearing this, "I understand that you two are concerned about the safety of Tian Guang Xia Kui, but this matter cannot be rushed either."

"I don't know the exact whereabouts of Tian Guang Xia Kui. The clues I have are very limited. I must cooperate with your faction's Xia Kui 'Tian Yan' and dig deeper into the intelligence we have before we can find Tian Guang Xia Kui."

"It takes time."

Chen Sheng asked impatiently, "How long will it take? What if we still haven't found it by the time we leave here?"

If this matter continues to be dragged on, until they leave Mount Li and formally embark on the path of uprising and raising the banner of justice, won't it end in nothing?
Chen Sheng and his men would definitely not be happy if the conditions they had agreed upon became empty checks that could not be cashed.

Zhang Liang naturally gave a very appropriate response to Chen Sheng's reasonable request:

“This issue is not within my scope of responsibility.”

"If Master Chen Sheng insists on an answer, I will convey it to your sect's leader Tian Yan. It depends on how she responds."

Zhang Liang’s best response is to push four, five, and six.

In this matter, he acted as a middleman, or a broker. His main responsibility was to build a communication channel between Chen Sheng, Wu Kuang and "Tian Yan", and try his best to facilitate cooperation between the two parties.

The former is the primary responsibility, while the latter can be relaxed appropriately.

On this basis, Zhang Liang could try his best to help Chen Sheng eliminate his doubts about whether the conditions promised by Tian Yan could be achieved as scheduled, or he could stay out of it and only be responsible for conveying the information to Tian Yan.

Faced with Zhang Liang's evasion, Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang were indeed helpless.

In theory, the broker cannot directly interfere with or adjust the content of the transaction. After all, he is not the one who pays the bill.

But Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang would not be happy if they let Zhang Liang get away with it.

Although judging from Zhang Liang’s previous words, the day when the plan is actually implemented is still a long way off, the two of them seem to have a lot of spare time.

But whether time is enough or not never depends on its absolute length.

More importantly, the two of them couldn't be sure whether Zhang Liang's statement that he was powerless to do anything about the matter was really helpless or he was just trying to fool them.

If it's the former, that's fine, but if it's the latter...

That means that Zhang Liang, the broker, is not a truly neutral third party, but is on the side of Tian Yan.

If Tian Yan wanted to delay time, he would help him, and the verbal messages passed back and forth could delay the process for at least one or two months, or even two or three months.

As long as 'Tian Yan' fools around two or three times, he can drag on for more than half a year. No matter how idle they are, they can't stand this procrastination.

When the time comes for the plan to be executed, will the two of them continue with the transaction or suddenly fall out?
They both felt unwilling to give up and let the deal go, but if they gave up the deal, they would still suffer a loss, which was not right either way.

Wu Kuang thought about it and did not continue to dwell on Tian Guang's topic. He changed the topic and asked Zhang Liang casually:

"I'm a little curious, how did Mr. Zhang reach a cooperation with the hero Tian Yan?"

Zhang Liang saw through Wu Kuang's intention to dig out information, but he still replied calmly:
"My cooperation with Xia Kui 'Tian Yan' dates back to a long time ago, before I became Xia Kui."

This answer surprised Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang. The former couldn't wait to ask, "So early? What are you working on?"

"Some correspondence that needs to be reported." Zhang Liang replied with a smile, "I have some information that she needs, and she also happens to have some information that I may be able to use. Let's share what we have."

"intelligence?"

This answer made Wu Kuang even more puzzled.

It was normal for Zhang Liang, the third in command of Xiaoshengxian Manor, to have some unique information. But at that time, Tian Yan, who had not yet become the leader of the farmers' heroes and was just the sickly eldest daughter of Lieshan Hall, what channels could she use to obtain intelligence?
Did you get the information from Tian Meng? That doesn't make sense...

Zhang Liang smiled amusedly at this and said, "Tian Yan has been very smart since she was young. She is known as the female Guan Zhong of a peasant family. She is naturally very capable. It shouldn't be difficult for her to get some intelligence."

After Zhang Liang's out-of-the-box reminder, Wu Kuang immediately understood what was going on - he was complicating the matter.

In order to successfully take the throne of the leader of the heroes, Tian Yan confessed many things to them.

After Zhu Jia and Chen Sheng tried their best to verify these things, they were basically sure that she did not lie.

Of course, not lying doesn't mean not hiding anything, and what Tian Yan said was exactly her situation before she got involved in the chaos of the farmers.

It seemed that before the sudden appearance of Shennong Ling and the sudden death of Tian Meng, she had always been a sickly and obedient girl. Under the suppression and control of her father, she never left the house and did not care about anything.

But if you think about it, you will know that she was able to seize power in the chaotic crisis of the peasant family and eventually even ascend to the throne of the leader of the heroes. She must have done a lot of tricks before.

She was never the sickly young lady of Lieshan Hall, but an ambitious person who had concealed her ambitions from everyone.

It is normal for such a person to hold some secret information.

Wu Kuang was so preconceived and obsessed with this issue that he ignored the obvious fact.

However, Zhang Liang was willing to remind him, which didn't seem to mean that he was completely on Tian Yan's side...

Wu Kuang pondered in his heart, and replied, "Mr. Zhang is right... So this time Mr. Zhang is willing to help with matchmaking, is it also for intelligence?"

"Not this time. There is no information I'm interested in from the hero leader 'Tian Yan', and... she is a bit close to Luo Wang. She is no longer a suitable partner for me." Zhang Liang shook his head.

"Then why are you helping?" Chen Sheng asked quickly.

"Because...I'd love to!"

Zhang Liang emphasized the last three words.