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"Report..."
As he sat with brows furrowed in worry, suddenly a visitor hurriedly strode in, his wooden clogs clicking sharply against the cypress wood floor, a sound as cheerful as the chaotic bounds of a fawn, lifting the spirits of those who heard it.
Sure enough, the moment the visitor entered, he knelt down with a face full of joy and reported loudly, "To inform the Great General, the troops from Jiafei, Hojo, and Imagawa in Tokaido have decided to form an alliance and send ninety thousand men to aid the capital!"
"An alliance between Jiafei, Hojo, and Imagawa?"
Ashikaga Yoshiaki was taken aback momentarily before recovering, his expression fluctuating between worry and joy.
The so-called alliance of Jiafei, Hojo, and Imagawa referred to the strongest forces in Tokaido: Takeda of Jiafei, Hojo of Sagami, and Imagawa of Junhe. An alliance between these three daimyo meant that even one of them had the potential to claim the capital, but their mutual conflicts in Tokaido had so far prevented them from extending their reach to the central and Kinai regions. Now with the alliance, their combined strength would undoubtedly make them the strongest in Fusang...
What’s more critical was that the allied forces of the three regions were dispatching ninety thousand soldiers under the pretense of aiding the capital, legitimately moving troops into the Kinai region. Once they successfully repelled the enemy, would they truly hand back the capital and willingly retreat to Tokaido?
There’s an old saying in Huaxia: "It’s easy to invite the gods, but hard to send them away."
But if Ashikaga Yoshiaki were to refuse the support from the alliance of Jiafei, Hojo, and Imagawa, could the capital’s thirty thousand soldiers truly withstand the Danma’s eighty-four thousand demons and their horde?
If he were to refuse their support and the capital fell, the Ashikaga clan would undoubtedly become the eternal sinners of Fusang, cursed and despised by all nations!
As Ashikaga Yoshiaki hesitated, two more visitors quickly entered.
From their footsteps—one light, one heavy—Ashikaga Yoshiaki could tell that they brought one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
"To inform the Great General, Oda Nobunaga, the protector of Owari, has led eight thousand soldiers to Zhuque Gate and requests tactical guidance from the Great General."
"To inform the Great General, the enemy leader has sent a letter of challenge, proposing a decisive battle at Tanigawa in seven days!"
Ashikaga Yoshiaki rose abruptly, slamming his palm down and shattering the short table before him, raging, "The enemy leader has gone too far; prepare a letter of challenge in response immediately. I accept the fight!"
"Someone! Command Oda Nobunaga to enter the residence for an audience at once!"
...
Lead-colored clouds enveloped the sky, and the snow continued for days.
Yang Ge sat in the warmth of his military tent, one hand holding a bowl of steaming meat soup, sipping it bit by bit, while the other flipped through a rare ancient tome.
Outside the tent, there were heavy footsteps, muffled clanking of armor, irate curses in Dongying’s harsh dialect, and intermittent wails of despair, together painting a repressive picture of a rampaging beast tide.
But Yang tuned out all these disturbances, focusing on savoring the soup in his hand, perusing the book... finding only the noise outside to be a slight irritation.
Soon, Zhou Fu burst into the tent, bringing with him a chill.
At the sound of his footsteps, Yang, without turning his head, lifted his bowl toward him and suggested, "You’ve come just at the right time, try my cooking... ’Zi Shu’, you guys come in as well and have a bowl of soup to ward off the cold."
"Yes, boss!"
Responding from outside, ’Zi Shu’ and others lifted the tent flap and filed in, crowding around the steaming iron pot on the stove, each adeptly grabbing a bowl and serving themselves.
What was a spacious military tent suddenly became crowded with thirteen more bodies, tangibly shrinking the space. ’Zi Shu’ and the others did not even have a place to sit.
Yet the human warmth made the tent much livelier, even the cold, evil Qi emanating from the treasured sword on the tent wall settled down.
However, Zhou, with lips turned black from the cold, stood out of place in the center of the tent.
He glanced between the leisurely Yang and the subdued chatter of the Twelve Earthly Branches, unable to comprehend how they could remain so composed.
Confused, he asked, "Boss, how can you still sit here so calmly?"
Yang looked at him curiously, "Why shouldn’t I be able to sit?"
Zhou’s eyes widened, about to voice his concern, but before he could speak, he saw ’Zi Shu’ and the others looking over, and his voice faltered, "Don’t you feel it? The camp is nearly in uproar!"
Yang struggled to force a smile, "Isn’t that why you’re running around in the camp, scolding those rabid dogs? Besides, the supplies haven’t been cut off yet, what trouble can they even cause?"
Hearing this, Zhou was at a loss whether to feel honored or overwhelmed, protesting, "Boss, I don’t mean to be modest, but aren’t you overestimating me a bit? At best, I’m just a shepherd, how could I possibly control these man-eating hounds?"
```
Yang Ge’s mouth curled into a smile, and the stiffness in his eyes softened considerably.
He waved at Zhou Fu, "Come over and have a seat to talk!"
Zhou Fu, pleading, moved forward and sat by the charcoal brazier.
Yang Ge put down the book in his hand, personally ladled a bowl of steaming hot meat soup, and stuffed it into Zhou Fu’s hands, "You’re the one leading troops, you understand military affairs better than I do, you should be clearer about how we should deal with the mutiny, right?"
Zhou Fu took a gulp of the thick meat soup, and mumbled vaguely, "Didn’t I ask you to patrol the camp with me... I mean, can’t we attack the city in advance? As long as we take down the capital, won’t everything else follow suit?"
"Furthermore," the Art of War by Sun Tzu says, ’War is the way of deception.’ We’ve agreed to battle with Ashikaga seven days from now, but who talks about honesty on the battlefield? If we strike now, we can catch them unprepared..."
Yang Ge waved his hand, "I didn’t ask about military strategy, I’m asking you if you’ve really exhausted all means in dealing with the mutiny? You seriously have no solutions left?"
Zhou Fu pondered and hesitated before nodding, "There are still methods, but they only treat the symptoms, not the cause. If this continues, I’m afraid we won’t last until the day of the decisive battle, and these rabid dogs will turn on us."
Yang Ge said, "Don’t worry about whether they turn on us or not; you just apply all you’ve learned to suppress the mutiny. If you can suppress it, good, if not, you’ve done your best, right?"
Zhou Fu was stunned for a moment, then realized, "Did you anticipate the servants’ mutiny?"
Yang Ge replied, "I’m not some half-immortal who can predict the future, how would I know if they were going to mutiny?"
Zhou Fu’s mind was almost malfunctioning, "So what do you mean by this...?"
Yang Ge glanced at him, thought for a moment, and then answered, "I just don’t fear their mutiny."
The more Zhou Fu heard, the more confused he became, "Why aren’t you afraid of their mutiny?"
Yang Ge counter-questioned, "Why should I be afraid of their mutiny?"
Zhou Fu opened his mouth to answer, but before he could speak, a realization struck him, and he exclaimed, "Right, in this icy and snowy weather, even if they mutiny, where could they possibly go? Would they dare to turn their knives on you?"
Yang Ge clapped his hands, "See, you’ve figured it out now, haven’t you?"
Zhou Fu hadn’t figured it out; he just felt his brain was malfunctioning even more, "Then why have you been telling me to suppress the mutiny all this time?"
Yang Ge looked at him in bemusement and answered, "Isn’t this for your benefit?"
Zhou Fu said, "For my benefit... truly for my benefit!"
While talking, he understood everything and silently lifted the meat soup, taking big gulps.
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Yang Ge picked up his book again, "It’s good that you’ve understood. Just do your best to whatever extent you can. Such a good opportunity doesn’t come often."
Zhou Fu said quietly, resignedly, "Next time something like this happens, could you let me know in advance? I’ve been so worried these past few days I’ve been sleeping with one eye open, dreading that the moment I wake up, there will be war raging outside the tent..."
Yang Ge replied, "If I told you in advance, would you still rack your brains like this to find a solution? What you’ve been doing these past few days has been quite good. Next time you encounter a situation like this, won’t you be prepared and ready to act?"
Zhou Fu conceded, bowing respectfully, "You’re incredible!"
Yang Ge’s mouth curled once more, "Instead of learning from the good, you learn Yang’s dirty talk!"
Zhou Fu finished the remaining meat soup in the bowl in one go and then spoke, "Today’s only the fourth day, even if these rabid dogs have nowhere to go, no solution at hand, the cold and hunger will surely affect their combat strength, are you really planning to drag this out until the seventh day?"
Yang Ge, without turning his head, said, "I don’t necessarily have to wait until after seven days, but for now... it’s definitely not the right time!"
Zhou Fu set down the bowl, "Alright, you have a plan, I’ll go patrol the camp again."
Yang Ge gestured with his hand, "Go on... Oh, by the way, you reminded me earlier. Tell the guards to keep a close watch. We might not want to steal the enemy’s chickens, but we can’t let them steal ours."
Zhou Fu had an epiphany, "I’ll go increase the guard right away!"
He turned and hurried out of the tent, and upon seeing this, the twelve members of the zodiac hurriedly set down their bowls, bowed to Yang Ge, and followed in Zhou Fu’s footsteps.
Yang Ge put down the book, leisurely started cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks they had left behind, and murmured to himself, "The right time hasn’t come yet..."