Chapter 1650: Understanding What Is Not Understood

"The water for this pot of tea is the most particular thing. I've heard that those particular people have their water hauled from far away, the freshest water..."

In the drill ground, newly recruited soldiers and those undergoing promotion training, totaling over eighteen hundred men, were conducting drills. Once finished, these new recruits would depart alongside the officers receiving promotions, dispersing to various locations.

These people gathered at Huoshan, every one armed with firearms; they seemed numerous, but once scattered, they became inconspicuous...

Wang Yan sat in a chair, watching the crowd on the drill ground conduct various military exercises. Beside him, Liao Jingfeng was tending a stove to boil water for tea, chattering endlessly, while Liao Miao Xuan assisted him.

Seeing Wang Yan smiling and not responding, Liao Miao Xuan secretly tugged her father's hem: "Father, stop talking; the Master seems disinclined to listen."

Before Liao Jingfeng could speak, Wang Yan said with a smile, "Old Liao hasn't finished speaking yet; how can I interrupt?"

"Aiyo, then the fault is mine. Once a person reaches a certain age, they chatter endlessly without stop. It's just that during this period of wandering and hardship, it was exceedingly difficult for my daughter and me to survive the journey to Huoshan. You are a living Bodhisattva who saves people from suffering; being by your side, I cannot help but want to talk more."

"Old Liao, you know how to speak, and what you say is interesting." Wang Yan laughed heartily. "But if the tea is bad, saying anything is useless."

"Rest assured, my lord. It is precisely because I, Old Liao, roast tea well that I have lived peacefully for so many years and raised my daughter properly to this size. If the Taiping Army hadn't attacked, our lives would actually have been quite good."

"Master, do not listen to my father's nonsense. He lost silver gambling and was about to pawn our wok; we two had food for one meal but none for the next."

"Hey, how can you expose your own father's shortcomings like that?"

"I cannot let you deceive the Master. Just now you said the Master was a living Bodhisattva who saves people from suffering."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile: "Little Liao speaks correctly. Old Liao, look, your own daughter is considerate and thinks for you. She fears you speak too fully, and in the end, the tea will not taste good."

"The little girl fails to recognize the true deity; how could she know that you, Master, are a living Bodhisattva? She simply does not care whether it tastes good or bad."

"Then what do you think I care about?"

"In the Master's heart resides family, nation, and the world; you wish for us poor folks to live like human beings."

"Do you feel like human beings now?"

"Far more than 'like'; we are simply human!"

Wang Yan laughed loudly: "Human capability sometimes reaches its limit."

"With many people, we are not poor! I hear that many among these folks come from the Shu region, and there are also many speaking with a Guanzhong accent. The Master is developing wonderfully now. This is already nearly half of Shenzhou; if we manufacture more muskets and cannons, unify Shenzhou, and drive out the foreigners, the Master will be 'Ten Thousand Years, Ten Thousand Years, Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand Years'."

"You can even distinguish the Shu and Guanzhong dialects?"

"Huizhou is a famously renowned tea-producing region under heaven, and the Tea Merchants' Guild is located there. Every year, merchants from other places flock there to discuss business, so I can understand a bit of every region's speech."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile and said nothing.

At this time, Guanzhong and Bashu were indeed among the most stable regions, of course, speaking only in general terms regarding whether large-scale rebel forces existed within their borders. But in reality, Guanzhong had swordsmen and mountain bandits, while Bashu had the Guolu; similarly, there were other types of bandits.

Yet to say this place was particularly good would also be untrue. After all, with fighting in the south, taxes could not be collected; the Liangjiang region was a key area for taxation, and lacking revenue from there naturally meant the burden was shifted elsewhere. In such times, no one could fare well; no one could escape the whirlpool of war.

Clearly, Wang Yan intended to set his sights on the west; he had long been infiltrating the Guanzhong and Bashu regions, recruiting locals from these two areas on one hand while dispatching people from other places to organize and lead on the other.

He had already established significant momentum; his personnel were undergoing fission and continuously eroding local authority. Even though his manpower was growing rapidly, stability was currently maintained, so who could say anything? The Qing Court's control over local areas was drastically weakening, while the power of Han officials was drastically increasing; central control over the localities was likewise diminishing.

The forces represented by Wang Yan, Huoshan, and the Shunfeng Escort Agency were unstable factors, but merely factors; after all, they had not yet rebelled, and they even sent silver to officials at all levels for smoothing things over. Everyone cooperated very happily...

"Do you not wish to return to your hometown in Huizhou?"

Old Liao shook his head: "My daughter and I depend on each other for survival; wherever we are, that is home. To be honest with you, Master, I hear many people muttering about wanting to return to their roots to die, but tell me, if home were a place where one could take root, why would anyone need to flee? Even if one could return, who would dare go back?"

"I have heard from those who entered that between the Heavenly Kingdom and the Court, today this place belongs to the Heavenly Kingdom, so they drag out all the Manchu bannermen, officials, and wealthy families inside to kill them, then arrange people to handle affairs. Tomorrow, when the Court retakes the place, they drag out and kill another batch of those who served the Heavenly Kingdom; some even massacre the entire city to prevent the Heavenly Kingdom from increasing its troops and to avoid wasting grain."

"At such a time, where is there still a home? Is home still home? Master, you are a great figure; tell us, when will this war finally end?"

"Great figures are not gods; we cannot be omniscient. However, since the Heavenly Kingdom has already established a state and fixed its capital, victory or defeat cannot be determined quickly; it will take at least ten or eight years."

"I heard someone say there is a Lord who distributed five loaves and two fish to those listening to his sermon, and several tens of thousands of people ate together; after eating, more appeared, after eating, more appeared, and it never ran out! Master, do you say this matter is true?"

"Could it be true?"

Before Wang Yan could speak, Liao Miao Xuan curled her lips and said, "Master, they are all muddled old fools. If that so-called Lord were truly that powerful, why hasn't the Heavenly Kingdom unified the world? Regardless of who is good or bad, after unifying the world, the living commoners would at least enjoy a period of good days. Only they would believe such things. Enough, Father, stop talking; the water is boiled, hurry and brew the tea."

Old Liao snorted in displeasure, sighed that a grown child obeys not the father, and then began brewing tea for Wang Yan.

Under the anxious and expectant gaze of the father and daughter, Wang Yan drank the tea, rolling it three times and swirling it three times in his mouth to savor it.

"Rich orchid fragrance, mellow upon entry, with an endless aftertaste." He nodded satisfactorily, slurping the tea liquid. "Having drunk tea for several years, I suppose I have learned how to drink tea. Compared to the original Melon Slice tea, the flavor is indeed somewhat better. Perhaps you can research further afterward and improve the tea-roasting craft."

"Then you overestimate me. It is just that this wok has been used for many years and has absorbed the flavors. My tea-roasting skill has been passed down generation by generation; asking me to improve the craft is beyond my capability."

"Previously, tea leaves were simply sun-dried; large-scale tea roasting only began after the Song Dynasty. Old Liao, you are an expert; surely sun-drying tea also has its particulars? The experience within this has likewise been passed down generation by generation. Just find a way to add some other elements to replicate the flavor of your iron wok; it is nothing more than trying more."

Wang Yan waved his hand. "Enough, Old Liao. If you have nothing else, ponder these matters. Later, I will have someone arrange a steward position for you to manage tea affairs. As for Miss Little Liao, I lack someone to serve tea and water; you shall stay here with me. In your daily life, study reading and writing; seeing how sharp-tongued and clever you are, you may yet accomplish something in the future. On our side, women can also work."

"We both know this; thank you, Master," Liao Qi expressed gratitude. "However..."

"No need to refuse or claim inability to handle the task. I have always believed that given an opportunity and provided one's mind is normal, anyone can become Emperor. Look at those stewards under my command; many could not even write their own names before, yet now they do very well, do they not?"

"Proceed with confidence. Given the current situation, the tea is already in such a state; how much worse could losses possibly be? Conversely, if you achieve some results during this period and make the tea better, it will command a higher price in the future. As for Miss Little Liao, I know your worries. Old Liao, even if I wanted to make her my mountain-stronghold Lady, she would have to agree, would she not? Do I look like an unreasonable person to you?"

"My father simply thinks too much; Master, please do not take offense at him," Liao Miao Xuan hurriedly spoke soothing words.

"Do you father and daughter know how to read?"

"We have learned a bit recently..."

"Then you must learn more. You need not do anything else; recently, focus solely on learning to read and study books. Only thus can you accomplish more. Old Liao is the same; only by reading and studying can you systematically record the skill of tea roasting to pass it down afterward."

Outside, war raged, fighting so fiercely that heaven and earth seemed dark. Huoshan was engaged in construction, with massive building projects that were truly impressive. Huoshan was no longer beautiful; thus, it could not fail to progress. Although at this time, aside from the powerful, no one paid attention to the environment or landscape, Huoshan, having lost these, used this very loss to initiate industrial development.

Downstream of the Pi River flowing through Huoshan lay the discharge of wastewater from steel and chemical industries; the barbaric development of industry caused enormous damage to the environment. The river water, originally not very clear, was now terribly filthy...

Furthermore, the air in Huoshan itself was no longer fresh; due to limited treatment capabilities, various substandard gases were emitted, forming a scent named 'advanced.'

The good news was that Wang Yan, this great leader, breathed the same sky's atmosphere as the common people...

"I recall that just over a year ago, this place of yours was a landscape of green mountains and clear waters, a paradise hidden from the world. How, in just over a year... Last time I visited, I felt nothing much, merely that there were more refugees and the county was somewhat chaotic; I did not expect that now even breathing feels uncomfortable."

Wang Yan, however, took a deep breath: "If you were to go to those foreign countries, I imagine the experience of breathing would be much the same. They say the foreigners are advanced and have beaten the Qing until they could not fight back. Do you still find the smell unpleasant?"

Slapping away Wang Yan's hand that was lifting her chin, Su Zixuan said: "Not unpleasant; not unpleasant in the least; it smells simply wonderful!"

Wang Yan took the opportunity to embrace Su Zixuan and sat down. Before he could speak, a young girl entered from outside carrying tea. Seeing the intimacy between Wang Yan and Su Zixuan, she let out a startled cry, turned, and tried to flee, nearly overturning the tea cup. Who else could it be but Liao Miao Xuan?

It was only Wang Yan speaking out in time that steadied Liao Miao Xuan, preventing those two Yongle Dynasty covered bowls from shattering on the ground.

Seeing Liao Miao Xuan place the covered bowl on the table with lingering fear, Su Zixuan hugged Wang Yan's neck and laughed coquettishly: "Is this your little wife?"

"How wonderful."

"You stinky man, where have you placed me?"

"Putting on an act." Wang Yan pinched Su Zixuan's buttocks, then looked at Liao Miao Xuan, whose face had turned crimson. "Go attend to your duties; I must teach her a lesson."

Thus, amidst Su Zixuan's wanton laughter, Liao Miao Xuan hurriedly trotted out, sensibly closing the door behind her...

Ambitious people often suppress their true nature and control their emotions; over time, their emotions become void and their nature distorted, leading to certain psychological issues. Usually, this remains unseen, but when they feel safe and relaxed, they begin to indulge.

Su Zixuan was exactly like this. Before deep interaction, her teasing of Wang Yan might have been a probe or playful flirtation, but after truly connecting, it became a release—a huge contrast, wanton yet not dissolute.

In short, very moist.

"Then what am I?" After their intimacy, Su Zixuan asked words unfitting her status.

"With the Three Palaces and Six Harem so vast, is there no place for you?"

"Do you really want to be Emperor?"

"Even if I do not become Emperor, as long as there is a place, who can control me?"

"You make a valid point." Su Zixuan was speechless. "Your recent moves have been significant."

"Tell me, what moves?"

Su Zixuan lightly patted the restless Wang Yan. "Testing me? In these past two months, you've sold a thousand muskets to the Heavenly Kingdom and the Manchus, while keeping at least two thousand for yourself. Furthermore, last year, right after the war with the Heavenly Kingdom ended, you sent your brother Zhao Erhu to Ba-Shu, where he has caused quite a stir. Aren't these two matters enough?"

Wang Yan shook his head and sighed softly. "I told Second Brother to keep a low profile while making big profits."

"By 'low profile,' you mean gathering over two thousand men, each armed with firearms, annihilating the largest bandit gang there, then boldly entering Chengdu to drag out and execute the officials and wealthy families backing those bandits? I'm afraid you don't know—the Emperor is furious."

"You have the sequence wrong. They entered the city to loot first, then went out to join that bandit group."

"So what?"

"So it was the bandits who did it, not us. I am a Grade One Official General and the Provincial Military Commander of the Wan Army, an official appointed by the court; I could not possibly do such things. Did you not know that?"

"Then what about the Hunan-Hubei region? You provided intelligence to the Heavenly Kingdom and betrayed the Xiang Army. Lord Jiang was so enraged he couldn't leave his bed for half a month, vowing to kill you."

"He suffered defeat on the battlefield and is trying to shift the blame onto me. That bastard... he's even a Grand Councilor..."

Seeing Wang Yan's cynical expression, enough to make even a dog shake its head, Su Zixuan was left speechless and choked up. "I work for the Heavenly Kingdom, right beside the Heavenly King himself. Although there is no evidence, you did betray the Xiang Army, causing them heavy losses. Why pretend with me? You claim not to care about reputation, yet you leave absolutely no traces when you act."

"Maintaining caution, striving for completeness, while preparing for the worst—this is the foundation of doing things, and it also trains the capabilities of one's subordinates. Clearly, the matter in Hunan-Hubei was handled well. However, Second Brother disappointed me; he lacks creativity, simply copying my methods outright without adapting strategies to local conditions. But it doesn't matter; the Emperor is just angry for a moment. What else can he do?"

"What about the Hunan-Hubei side then? As far as I know, your cooperation with Lord Jiang has always been quite good."

"Because they've been winning quite smoothly lately and haven't shown enough respect to the Shunfeng Escort Agency, I had to make Lord Jiang and the others realize their true standing."

While speaking, Wang Yan rummaged through a blue-and-white porcelain scroll jar on the floor, found a letter signed 'Jiang,' and handed it to Su Zixuan. "I was unaware that Lord Jiang wanted to kill me. In this letter, he speaks very sincerely and earnestly, calling me a hero the likes of which he has never seen in his life."

After reading the letter, Su Zixuan was left speechless and choked up; she didn't know what to say. The lower limits of these great figures seemed to refresh her horizons time and time again.

"As the saying goes, 'A smile dispels old grudges; a laugh washes away enmity.' Lord Jiang is a man of understanding..."

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