Chapter 36
Chapter 36 – Looming Danger
February 24th, 181 A . D . , Julu County .
Sima Xin returned back to his home base and immediately requested an audience with Guo Dian, he wanted to report the incidents he had been through right away .
Guo Dian agreed to meet him and invited him in . He then received the report .
Sima Xin framed Zhang Jiao and his men with his report, stating that the Taoist sect they were in was a part of an evil cult, which also had been planning to rebel against the Han Imperial Court .
Because the messenger group was discovered, the 20 men that were with Sima Xin were all killed . Only he managed to come back alive with a couple wounds on his elbow and shoulder .
Sima Xin also mixed in the fact in the report that Zhang Jiao had two military camps that housed over 2,000 men, which was abnormal for a small physician family .
Only n.o.bles with the imperial official status could afford to hire over 1,000 soldiers because of the limited rations and expensive weaponries . For a non-n.o.ble to be able to upkeep all those soldiers, Zhang Jiao should have a shady business that the government didn't know or they had a mysterious backer .
Guo Dian frowned after he read the scroll report . He didn't believe in the report of a child, even though he was a son of his acquaintance .
He wanted to affirm the source of this information, so he dispatched another scout team to obtain more information about the Zhang family and their military activities .
. . .
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March 10th, 181 A . D .
The scout returned with shocking information . The Zhang family indeed had over 2,000 troops in the middle of training, they also had moved eastward to Anping County and settled their base there .
One of the two camp also had unusual soldiers that were as discipline and well-built as imperial elite troops . The scout a.s.sumed that they were the elites of the Zhang family .
Moreover, there were other several sources indicated that majority of the troops had a bounty on each of their head . They were ex-thieves and ex-bandits .
Most importantly, the leader of the elite camp proclaimed himself as an immortal . The person was the only successor of the Zhang family, Zhang Tong .
And Hua s.h.i.+ whom Guo Dian suspected to be an evil cultist pract.i.tioner, was also Zhang Tong's fiancé . Both of them lived together in the same manor .
The overall report appeared to be similar with Sima Xin's report, but with more proofs and details .
Guo Dian made the decision . He sent a letter to Liu Yan, the House Governor of Ji District, asking him to borrow his troops for reinforcement against the rebel bandits .
If Liu Yan agreed to send reinforcement, they would take at least a month for the army to arrive here in Julu District .
Guo Dian made a plan . He would rally his men in September to October when the harvest season arrived so he could get provisions and grain for cheap . He could also enlisted volunteers and drafted more soldiers into this campaign with small budgets .
The preparation should lasted for a month or two after he acquired the necessary funding . By the end of October, Guo Dian would march with his troops to Anping County to subjugate the potential rebels, hoping to obtain more achievements and promotions from this war .
War was expensive, but the career promotion was worth it . By increasing the t.i.tle by one rank could increase his income by 500 to 1,000 gold a year .
One the next day, Guo Dian sent out his decree . In October, they would go to war!
…
…
Sima Xin also received his summon from Guo Dian . Because of his achievement from reporting the rebel activities, he would be promoted into a hundred men commander . Sima Xin could now lead a hundred soldiers of the imperial army .
His soldiers would be a.s.signed to him later after the conscription in June had been completed .
Sima Xin was elated . The promotion meant a better life for him . And with more subordinates, he had more confident dealing with fellow otherworlders .
He used this chance to randomize a new quest . He had a hunch that the system always gave him missions that related to his lifestyle and environment .
And his hunch was correct .
…
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**Main Mission No . 19**
Guo Dian will march an army against Zhang Jiao and his men in a few months . Go and a.s.sist them .
Your best friend, Zhang Tong will be there . Kill him if you can and you will get additional rewards .
Clear Condition: Kill at least one hundred Yellow Turban soldiers
Failure Condition: Guo Dian is killed or the campaign fails .
Clearing Reward:
- 10,000 lifespan for completing priority mission
- 10,000 lifespan per one general of the Yellow Turban killed .
- 1,000 lifespan per every 100 additional soldiers killed after completed the clear condition .
- 1,000,000 lifespans if Hua s.h.i.+ or Zhang Tong is killed .
- One shopping pa.s.s .
Mission Failure: Your location will be revealed in the HUD map for all otherworlders .
System Note: You must kill the soldiers yourself to complete the clearing condition .
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…
Sima Xin smiled . A chance for payback arrived sooner than he expected .
Sima Xin then checked his status . He completed his last mission by killing a handful of yellow cloth men, so he should have more lifespans to buy more ammunition .
…
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**Status**
Name: Sima Xin
Age: 16
Lifespan: 15,479 Years
Shopping Pa.s.s: 1
*Skill List*
[Supreme Nightsight] Cannot be leveled up
- Host can see in the dark .
- Host's vision can be zoomed in or out . The maximum distance is two kilometers
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…
Sima Xin killed six yellow cloths men, resulting him gaining additional of 6,000 lifespans .
Sima Xin opened the shop menu and bought a hundred bullet package, which costed him 15,000 years of lifespans, leaving him 479 years remaining .
His heart bled, but he was confident that the investment would be paid off once he completed the next mission .
…
…
March 15th, 181 A . D .
Administrative Bureau Secretary officials finalized the budgets for the mobilization . It was expected that Guo Dian would have enough fund to conscript over 20,000 civilians into militias by this October .
However, Guo Dian viewed it as excessive for dealing with a 2,000 men bandits . So he allocated budget for enlisting 3,500 militias . With 1,000 armored infantry and 500 light cavalry that Guo Dian had as his private troops, they would have 5,000 men prepared for this battle .
Using 5,000 Men to attack 2,000 bandits was more than enough . The rest of the leftover money would naturally fill the pockets of his and other officials .
After Guo Dian announced his budget and future plans, the officials understood his intention . They grinned form ear to ear . Serving an understanding governor was the best .
. . .
April 2nd, 181 A . D .
The reply letter form Liu Yan arrived . They would send an experienced general with 3,000 men to aid him in this battle . Zou Jing and his troops would come to Julu later on September .
Hearing that Liu Yan sent him a veteran general, Guo Dian was elated . He became more confident that there was no way in h.e.l.l that they would lose the next battle against bandits .
. . .
April 15th, 181 A . D .
A disturbing news from the spy in Nan Pi arrived . Zhang Jiao visited the Yuan family in Nan Pi and formed a business cooperation .
Zhang Jiao and his caravan went back to his village with 12,000 gold, which was astronomical sum even for the governor like Guo Dian .
The details about the deal was unknown . The Yuan family had deep background and processed elite teams of counter-intelligence agents and many talented servants . They couldn't get more information .
Guo Dian frowned in worried . What was the connection between the Yuan family and the bandits . Were they colluded in this together or it was just a business deal .
Although Guo Dian was concerned about the Yuan family, his greed outweighed his concerned . The 12,000 gold that Zhang Jiao had was not a small sum .
This war had become more meaningful and could be profitable to him .
However, it was too late to reallocated the budget now because the cake had been splitted among the officials . There was no fund left to conscript further troops, unless he used his own money .
. . .
June 1st, 181 A . D .
The scout team came back from spying the Anping County and Zhang Manor . More concerning news arrived .
Zhang Jiao went to Nanpi again and came back with not just gold, but weapons and armors . Several craftsmen and Yuan family guards also escorted Zhang Jiao's caravan back home, too .
Blood was drained from Guo Dian's face . They indeed colluded together .
If he attacked Zhang Jiao and his men, would he offend the Yuan family?
He was about to cancel the raid campaign, but then he saw the details of the report . Within Zhang Jiao's caravan, there were over 50,000 gold in them .
This caused Guo Dian's eyes to almost pop out of the sockets . His county annual income taxes and tributes was only 20,000 to 30,000 gold a year . This number was a.s.sumed that the year had a b.u.mper harvest .
Guo Dian's greed overwhelmed him, and he wanted to risk for it even if he offended the Yuan family . The gold he could plunder was enough for him to buy a high ranking position in the imperial court . Then even Yuan family would be helpless against him .
Guo Dian was no longer afraid of the consequences of his actions .
