At the beginning of the eighth month, King Qi sent out a [Gathering Order] for all counties to gather at Leling City on the first day of the ninth month. Everyone then knew that the Yan Kingdom had already returned Leling City to the Qi Kingdom. Shanggu Commandery and Yuyang Commandery that originally belonged to the Yan Kingdom had already been given to the Qi Kingdom. This time, the Yan Kingdom paid a great price to obtain the full support of the Qi Kingdom.
At night, Hua Kai learned from the [Family Mystic Realm] that the Hua Family had already sent the [Gathering Order]. All the families in Guang County had received the [Gathering Order] from the Qi Family.
"Kai 'er, I think this is a great opportunity. Right now, our Hua Family already has 47 Qi Refining Realm cultivators, and over a thousand Qi Transforming Realm cultivators. If it wasn't for the fact that we still haven't had a Xiantian Realm cultivator, we wouldn't be any weaker than the Yao Family.
This time, the Donghu Army will definitely not be a match for the Qi Kingdom. With King Qi as the commander, the Hua family will definitely be able to achieve great things! "
Hua Zichen had been fighting in the Yan Kingdom for almost two years. No one in the family knew better than him.
After he finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement with the current situation of the Yan Kingdom.
"If the Hua Clan's caravan speeds up, it won't be a problem for them to return home in 20 days. When the time comes, the Hua Clan will lead all the affiliated forces and shock all the aristocratic families in the Qi Kingdom. When the war ends, the Qi Clan will at least give us a share of Guang County!" Hua Xing agreed to send out all the troops.
"Tell me about the situation at home!
If we go all out, how many troops can the family send? We have to consider the safety of the family after the main forces leave. "Hua Kai asked his Fourth Uncle, Hua Zihuan.
"If the caravan comes back, we can send at least 40 Qi Refining Realm warriors, 800 Qi Transforming Realm warriors, and 8000 Natal Opening Realm warriors. In the past few years, you have already given the family more than 500 pieces of [Golden Silk Soft Armor]. We can form an elite light cavalry of 500 people.
There are more than 20,000 refugees outside Fort Wah Ka. We can organize up to 10,000 militias. This way, we can form an army of 20,000 people, not including the affiliated families. "Hua Zihuan thought for a moment and said.
No one would have thought that the Hua family had already become so powerful. If they included their subordinate forces, the Hua family could at least form a 30,000 strong army. But now, what about the Han family and the Li family?
They might not even be able to form a thousand-man team.
"Then it's settled. Inform all the vassal clans and villages to fully respond to Prince Qi's summons. Try your best to bring along the young refugees of Guang County!
Leaving them behind was more or less a hidden danger. The Hua family would be responsible for all of the provisions for the expedition. Starting tomorrow, they would quickly arrange for the merchant group to set off as soon as they returned home.
By the way, Fifth Uncle, do you still feel like you're about to break through? "Hua Kai asked.
Hua Zichen had been in the Mortal Realm for more than three years now, but even though all three of his attributes had improved by leaps and bounds, he was still unable to enter the Higher Heaven stage.
"I feel like I'm almost there!
Once this war is over, I'll go home and rest for a while. There are battles every month in the Yan Kingdom, and it's very disadvantageous for me to break through to the Higher Heaven stage! "Hua Zichen said gloomily.
The Higher Heaven stage was all about cultivating the heart. Hua Zichen had been in the Yan Kingdom for nearly two years, and every time he met with Hua Kai in the [Family's Secret Realm], his eyes would be bloodshot. In this state, he was still a scholar of Confucianism and Daoism, and it was very disadvantageous for him to comprehend the world's origin.
After ending the conversation with his grandfather and the others, Hua Kai went to the crystal pillar of the Family's Secret Realm and checked the family's status panel.
Fort Wah Ka: Rank 7 Aristocratic Family
Prosperity: 3428
Combat Power: 2416
Agriculture: 2109
Animal Husbandry: 478
Commerce: 4910
Culture: 505
Overall Strength: 13846
Allies: Erdos Tribe (Rank 5), Yao Family (Rank 7), Lu Family (Rank 2), Four Seas Merchant Association (Rank 4)
Vassal Clan: Jia Family (Rank 9)
Enemies: Bu Family of Linzi City (Rank 7), Tian Family of Zhao Country (Rank 3)
Capital: 52 purple coins, 82043 taels of gold, 67521 taels of silver, 1023 bone coins
Luck: 6598
Portable Storage: 3 cubic meters
Hua Kai did not notice that the Hua family had another enemy. The system said that it was the Tian Family of Zhao Country. Did that mean that the remnants of the Tian Family that escaped from Qi City had established a branch in Zhao Country?
For the system to evaluate the Hua Clan as a hostile power, there was definitely no ordinary enmity between them. When it came to the conflict between the Hua Clan and the Tian Clan, there really wasn't any direct conflict. Hua Kai thought for a long time and concluded that the greatest possibility was that the Tian Clan had found out about the Hundred Longevity Pill that the Hua Clan had given to King Qi.
If that was the case, the Hua family had to be careful. The Tian Family still had a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator. Hua Kai told his Fifth Uncle and grandpa to be careful. If they were attacked, they would hide in the space immediately. They did not have the ability to deal with a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator yet.
After two years of development, ever since the establishment of the "Shuiyun Club" restaurant in Guang County City and the establishment of the livestock market business district, Hua Kai started to introduce all kinds of new food and alcohol products, and the family's business value started to increase rapidly. Now, it had become the highest of the Hua Family's six main attributes.
Hua Kai did not deliberately let the family members enter the [Family's Secret Realm] for the past few years, but the family's combat strength still exceeded the 2,000 mark. The family's overall strength had exceeded 10,000. The prosperity, combat strength, agriculture, and business value had all reached the target of 2,000 points. Now, they only needed two vassal clans and a Connate Stage cultivator.
This time, Qi had mobilized the entire country to fight in the Yan Kingdom. The possibility of the Hua family's vassal clans being promoted to a Noble Family was very high. Hua Kai did not expect that the final obstacle of the sixth main mission would be a Connate Stage cultivator.
This year, the return of the Guang County Business Group did not attract much attention. All the families were focused on the battle in the Yan Kingdom.
On the 20th of September, all the families in Guang County gathered. The three major powers made everyone realize the strength of the Hua family.
The Han family, as the ruler of Guang County, only managed to gather 5 Qi Refining Stage cultivators to go to the Yan Kingdom. The Zheng family also managed to gather 3 Qi Refining Stage cultivators. Together with the 20 plus vassal clans, they had a total of 600 people. They drove 20 carriages to Leling City to join the army of Linzi City.
The Li family was even weaker. He, the Lu family, Wang family, and more than 10 vassal clans gathered 300 people and chose to follow the Hua family.
But when they saw the Hua family's lineup, all the powers took a deep breath.
The Hua Kai sent out close to ten thousand soldiers, especially the 500 elite cavalry above Qi Refining Stage. They were enough to fight against tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers. Adding on tens of thousands of auxiliary soldiers, they had a total of over twenty thousand soldiers as they headed north.
The Jia family, Huang Jia, Ren family, and Tai family that followed the Hua family all sent out thousands of soldiers. More than 80 families formed an army of twenty thousand soldiers to follow the Hua family. It was hard to believe that this was the power of a Family of Ninth Grades.
The total number of soldiers in Guang County was more than forty thousand people. This was more than the population of Guang County two years ago. When the Qi family of Linzi City received the report from the Han family, the entire city was shocked. The Qi family immediately ordered the Hua family to be in charge of the Guang County army.
On the 1st of September, more than four hundred thousand soldiers from Leling City gathered.
Among them, Linzi City had a total of 150,000 soldiers, while each of the six states and five counties under its jurisdiction had dispatched over 20,000 soldiers. Each of the eleven counties directly under the State of Qi had dispatched close to 10,000 soldiers. The Prince of Qi had ordered the army to be divided into six groups and advance towards the State of Yan.
The Guang County army belonged to the third group, led by the Meng family of Linzi City. They were the main force to attack the Donghu army of the Yan Kingdom.
Hua Kai was not worried about the result of the war. If King Qi could not chase away the Donghu army that had been fighting the Yan Kingdom for two years, then the Qi family might as well give up their position. For this war, the Qi family had bet their country's fate.
Hua Kai had been paying attention to the situation of the Hua family in Jixia Academy. In the 10th month, when he learned that the Fifth Uncle had met up with the Hua family, he was relieved. As the commander of the third group, the Meng family would not let the Hua family suffer.
At the start of the 10th month, the Yan Kingdom sent news of victory. The Qi Army had entered the Yan Kingdom and won many battles with the Donghu army. The Guang County army participated in a battle of more than one hundred thousand people. The Hua family performed well and killed many Donghu soldiers.
When they received the news that the Qi Army was progressing well, the atmosphere of Jixia Academy became much livelier.
One day, Hua Kai handed the draft of the last three chapters of Water Margin to his teacher, Saint Ceng Can. After Ceng Can finished reading, he slowly closed the manuscript. Hua Kai sat and listened to his teacher's opinion.
"Do you know why I took you in as my personal disciple?" the saint asked.
Hua Kai had thought about this question before. His teacher was very attentive in teaching him. Every time, he would answer all of Hua Kai's questions carefully. Ceng Can would spend more than four hours each day to teach Hua Kai. He believed that no saint would be so patient with his student.
"I don't know!" Hua Kai replied.
"When I was young, my teacher regarded me as the one who had the highest chance of breaking through the Saint Realm and entering the Divine Transformation Realm. My teacher took good care of me.
Then, Qin Zheng appeared. He did not respect the Hundred Schools of Thought and saw everything as a tool. Under his leadership, the Qin Kingdom slowly grew from a small country to the largest country in the world. The people of the Qin Kingdom respected him like a god. The army implemented a merit system, and they became stronger and stronger in the war. "
When Hua Kai heard this, he knew that the saint also had feelings of jealousy. As a saint, he had a high status but was far inferior to Qin Zheng. Qin Zheng dared to put himself in the most dangerous position to fight against the heavens. He did not cultivate the Heavenly Dao but the more down-to-earth human dao. In other words, it was his own way of the emperor. With his family and country as the foundation, he saw everything as his opponent.
"I am very happy that you did not purposely raise your level. The path of cultivation is not so much following the heavens but rather going against the heavens. In the end, what you cultivate is still your own body.
The world will be in chaos. If Qin Zheng is the ruler, the people will be harmed. Him choosing to take action for the sake of the Qin Kingdom is actually a chance given to us by the heavens. If one day, the Hundred Schools of Thought are no longer around, you must stay true to your heart. Time will bear witness to everything! "Ceng Can said slowly.
Hua Kai looked at his teacher in shock. He could not help but recall the memories of the Hundred Schools of Thought in his previous life. Could it be that the Qin Kingdom really wanted to eliminate all the ideas of the Hundred Schools of Thought?
His teacher had obviously sensed that the Qin Kingdom would unify the world and that he would be the last seed left behind by the Hundred Schools of Thought?
"Teacher, all ideas should not be unchanging. Only ideas that are beneficial to the people are good ideas.
Things that are right are not necessarily good. Time will eliminate all unreasonable existences. The ideas of the Hundred Schools of Thought have evolved over thousands of years. We should feel lucky because we are standing on the shoulders of giants! "