Chapter 288: Military Advisor

Strictly speaking, there were two military advisor positions in the Wenyang tribe.

One was the military advisor in the barbarian language, called "Kaluoye," meaning "the person who helps plan." This position had a long history and was passed down from generation to generation in the tribe, belonging to a temporary position. As long as troops were sent to war, anyone could be chosen by the commander as a "Kaluoye," even the Left and Right Haye were no exception. The other was the use of the Han term "Military Advisor" directly, specifically set up for Guo Shao.

Eleven years ago, the Wenyang tribe had a great battle with the Yongning tribe. At that time, the Zouye—that is, Le Luo Luo's father, Le Gu—was already plagued by illness, although he had not yet reached the point of being unable to get out of bed. Concerned about the survival of the tribe, he personally led the main force to go on an expedition, engaging in a fierce battle with the enemy at Deer Ridge. After several days of stalemate, his chronic illness flared up; his body turned red and hot, his joints swelled like peaches, and he couldn't even lift his sword.

To stabilize people's hearts, Le Gu erected the "Kuna Flag" in front of the tent, publicly claiming that he wanted to contemplate a strategy to break the enemy, and all orders were conveyed by his personal Han slave, Guo Shao. It was called conveying, but actually, many times it was Guo Shao who commanded on Le Gu's behalf. The generals originally had doubts, but after that, the command was not chaotic, the offense and defense were orderly, and they broke the enemy's night raid, so the military morale was stabilized.

Later, they defeated the Yongning tribe, and the enemy army retreated. Le Gu rewarded the meritorious, not only exempting Guo Shao from his slave status but also rewarding him with treasures and slaves, and also newly established the Han-style "Military Advisor" position for him, meaning to distinguish it from the temporary "Kaluoye," as a permanent position in the tribe, planning military affairs during wartime and participating in tribal affairs during peacetime, with a status equal to the Village Elder; below the Village Elder, all must treat him with courtesy.

For a time, the Military Advisor's status was transcendent, and Guo Shao, from a servant who had only been in the barbarian tribe for a year, leaped to become a powerful figure.

Just as Le Gu was vigorously supporting Guo Shao, his old illness flared up again. This time, the illness was more severe than ever before, and Le Gu didn't even have time to leave a single instruction before he fell directly onto the bed, unconscious. The Left and Right Haye quickly took over tribal affairs and excluded Guo Shao. Guo Shao was also very sensible and did not fight hard. Except for the slaves under his tent, he almost never saw outside guests. Later, the Left and Right Haye had stabilized their power and received Le Gu's personal order, letting the two jointly take over tribal affairs. Only then did Guo Shao go to visit Le Gu for the first time.

At the beginning, the Left and Right Haye were still wary of Guo Shao. Later, seeing that he had no other actions besides visiting the sick, and never talked about political affairs with Le Gu, only telling some anecdotes and interesting stories from the Han lands, and even rarely spoke a few words to Le Luo Luo, the two then set their minds at ease.

For this "Military Advisor" personally appointed by the Zouye, the two still gave a certain amount of respect. Whenever there were major matters to discuss or activities like the Blood Vine Festival or the Mountain God Sacrifice, Guo Shao was allowed to attend, but he rarely spoke. If there were some trivial tasks without real power to distribute, such as reviewing bamboo slips, supervising the construction of sacrificial vessels, or dealing with black merchants, he would obey and undertake them, and do them very seriously. However, overall, this "Military Advisor" with a very high position only had an empty title left and had no presence. It was just like today's meeting; among the barbarians, whether it was eye contact or whispering, they didn't count Guo Shao in at all. Anyway, Guo Shao wouldn't express his opinion, so letting him come was just going through the motions.

So when Guo Shao opened his mouth to sneer, everyone was startled.

Da Da Damu was shocked: "Why does the Military Advisor say this? Is there any problem with the Han envoy's talk of marriage?"

Guo Shao sneered:

"What kind of family status is the Liu family of Hedong? Even if there is a Langya Wang who recognizes her as an adopted sister, at most she can only be a noble concubine; becoming a primary wife is absolutely impossible! But the key point is not here. The knife that truly kills is his so-called timber business!"

"Since ancient times, the Han have been strong and the barbarians weak, which has been the case for a long time. However, the reason why barbarians can survive and not be destroyed is not because their weapons are strong or their armor is solid, but only because of the overlapping mountains and the dense forests, where large armies cannot roam and cavalry cannot gallop!"

"Thousands of trees are enough to avoid shadows; thousands of gullies and ravines are enough to maneuver! If I win, I go out of the gorge to attack and plunder; if I lose, I retreat into the old forest! Although the Han army is strong, once they go deep, they are like rhinoceroses and elephants entering a swamp, sinking deep into the mud! Their paths are not as familiar as mine, they don't walk through the forest as fast as I do, they don't endure the miasma as long as I do, they don't distinguish poison as skillfully as I do, they don't avoid beasts as cleverly as I do, and their night battles are not as agile as mine! Coupled with the heavy transportation of grain and the huge military expenses, their advantage lies in quick battles and cannot last long. We only need to avoid their edge, and after a long time, we can wait for the enemy to collapse on their own!"

"Wang Yang's strategy is to make us trade with the forest, cutting down trees to make money, just like a cunning wolf using millet to lure a flock of chickens to destroy their own fence! Once the forest is cut down, the mountain shape is exposed, and we will have nothing to rely on! A tiger losing its forest, a fish leaving its deep pool, will surely be controlled by others! In addition, we don't understand the ways of timber. By then, in order to seek profit, we might actively invite Han people into the barbarian lands to identify wood; or Han people might borrow the name of visiting wood to tour our mountains and rivers. Then our tribe's reality, the dangers of the mountains and rivers, will all be peeped at! Once there is a gap, and weapons are added, we will have no forest as a barrier and no geographical advantage. How can we defend ourselves?"

"Therefore, I say Wang Yang's strategy is very poisonous! The matter of trade must not be carried out!"

As soon as Guo Shao said this, the eyes of the barbarians shot toward Wang Yang like knives and arrows.

This person actually has some insight...

Wang Yang had read *Collection of Qu Jiongqing* before. Inside, there was a letter "accusing" the Censor-in-Chief, the general idea being that Longquan Pass was the western fortress of the Great Ming, and there was no other danger to rely on, only Mount Wutai could be relied upon. And "the danger that the mountain relies on is only the dense forest accumulated over generations, the streams, valleys, and cliffs are layered, and the Hu horses cannot drive straight in," and also said that the forest is vast, which is convenient for the army to set up ambushes, so the country issued a strict order to prohibit woodcutting, and at the same time allocated rent and taxes to support monks, so that they didn't have to destroy trees to open fields, so the forest of Mount Wutai could be so dense. But now there are treacherous merchants who, in the name of official procurement, bribe officials and evade prohibitions, cutting down a large number of trees. If this continues, it will be a disaster for the country, and he hopes the government will strictly investigate.

Qu Ruji (that is, Qu Jiongqing, Jiongqing is an official title, another name for the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices) focused on the same theme as Guo Shao, and those who planned the border defense in the Ming Dynasty also built jujube and elm trees near the border to resist the Hu soldiers. However, Wang Yang saying he had insight did not refer to this. Seeing the military value of the forest was nothing, but he finally pointed out that Han people would borrow the name of visiting wood to investigate the reality of the mountains and rivers. This was one of the four follow-up moves hidden in Wang Yang's timber trade, which was actually exposed by him in advance.

Actually, Wang Yang didn't want to destroy the Wenyang tribe, but Wang Yang's philosophy of governing barbarians, just as he said to Xiao Baoyue—only knowing how to relocate Hu without knowing how to govern Hu is to raise bandits; only knowing how to govern Hu without knowing how to teach Hu is to leave worries; only knowing how to teach Hu without knowing how to transform Hu is to be expedient; only knowing how to transform Hu without knowing how to control Hu is to be perfect. Although perfect, it is not beautiful. Transforming and being able to control is the way to be perfect and beautiful.

What is called transforming and being able to control? Harmony leads to vitality and great harmony in the world. Chaos leads to turning the hand and covering it, turning it into ashes.

Those who have benevolence in their hearts should hold a knife in their hands. To have benevolence without a knife is like planting orchids in thorns, covered in wounds, and finally being devoured, and the orchid cannot be preserved. Bodhisattvas lower their eyebrows, Vajras glare. Without compassion, there is no way to carry the Dao; without thunder, there is no way to suppress evil. Yin and Yang combined create all things; this is the supreme principle of heaven and earth and cannot be changed.

If the trade strategy is part of "transforming," then the "killers" hidden in the timber trade belong to the category of "controlling."

One of Wang Yang's hidden killer moves was pointed out, but he was not panicked. His expression was without the slightest abnormality. He looked at Guo Shao and asked:

"You are a Han person, right?"

Guo Shao's tone was cold and stern:

"So what if I am a Han person? I entered the barbarian tribe long ago, and my heart is the same as the barbarians. All these years, I have been doing my best for the Wenyang tribe, and I have long regarded this place as my birthplace! All my actions have been witnessed by the tribe! Your treacherous scheme has been exposed; don't try to change the subject."

Wang Yang smiled warmly:

"Don't be anxious. The more reason is debated, the clearer it becomes. Right and wrong have their own public opinion; it's not something that can be formed just by someone talking to themselves. I am just asking if you are a Han person; you don't need to be anxious to express your loyalty."

Guo Shao was expressionless: "Who is anxious? I think it is you who are anxious. Since you say right and wrong have their own public opinion, then good, don't drag things out, just talk about right and wrong."

"My question is related to right and wrong. When did you arrive at the Wenyang tribe?"

The barbarians heard Wang Yang's question and felt strange, not knowing why he asked this question at this juncture, and why he said his question was related to right and wrong.

Guo Shao's face was expressionless, but he was already angry in his heart. He didn't want to bring up this topic in public, as if a person had left his hometown to work in another place, and after many years had been recognized by the locals, who regarded him as one of their own. As a result, a fellow villager came and repeatedly mentioned his origin, as if to remind the locals that he was different from them. In his eyes, this was an insult, an insult deliberately committed.

He kept a wooden face and did not answer Wang Yang.

Wang Yang didn't even press him, and smiled:

"Since you don't want to say, so be it! Then let me ask the next question: where is your hometown?"

Guo Shao continued to endure and continued not to answer.

Wang Yang continued to skip and continued to ask.

"Are you from Jingzhou? What was your original name?"

"Not saying your name, then what about your status? Before you entered the barbarian tribe to serve, you always had your own status. What was your status?"

"This is also inconvenient to answer? Fine. Then why did you leave the Han—"

Guo Shao slammed the table in anger: "You—"

Guo Shao exploded in unbearable anger, but he stopped after saying one word. He glanced at the surrounding gazes and Wang Yang's calm and peaceful appearance, and felt a chill in his heart.

He put down his finger and tried his best to calm his tone:

"How my past experiences are, what does it have to do with you? What does it have to do with today's dispute? You dare not respond to the harm of the timber trade, but only focus on my background, trying to sow discord. Do you think anyone will be fooled?"

Wang Yang smiled and said:

"Don't be excited. I just have doubts in my heart that cannot be solved, so I asked you a few questions; I have no intention of sowing discord. Fine, I won't ask anymore, let's talk about the matter. You just said three things, all of which are plausible but false, and alarmist—"

Guo Shao had a bad premonition. This premonition started earliest when he exposed Wang Yang, and Wang Yang didn't have half a nervous or guilty look; it grew when Wang Yang asked him a series of questions; and finally reached its peak at this moment—

At this moment, Wang Yang paused slightly, his fan opened like snow, the cool breeze rippling slowly from his wrist, his gaze glanced indifferently at Guo Shao, and he said slowly:

"Now, I will refute you one by one." ===== CHAPTER 289 =====