Chapter 1051: The Battle Is Here

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Of course, it was mainly because of the nature of the women’s school. It was not deviant. Letting women be sensible, polite, and knowledgeable was also in line with the current trends.

In addition, Mr. Xian Yun and Mr. Hu Shan had clearly expressed their support, so some scholars did not say anything.

All of this was within Yu Youyao’s expectations. The consciousness and thoughts of the commoners, as well as the hierarchy of society, progressed slowly with the development of society. If they were forcefully instilled, it would only cause social unrest and tragic consequences. The commoners would still suffer.

Knowledge was the first power of production.

With knowledge, anything was possible.

Instead of wasting time, it was better to let them learn more knowledge and techniques.

The money that the nobles had sponsored far exceeded their budget.

It had also greatly exceeded their expectations.

After thinking about it, Yu Youyao bought a mountain and built the Women’s Mountain Courtyard. There was originally a manor on the mountain that occupied a large area. After repairing it carefully and changing the layout, it could be used temporarily.

The Women’s Mountain Courtyard had just been established, and there was still a lot to do.

Yu Youyao did not plan to spread it too big. Otherwise, it would be easy to make mistakes. It was better to wait until the Women’s Mountain Courtyard was on the right track in the future to consider the expansion.

Ms. Ye did not stay idle either. Every day, she was busy sorting out books, creating teaching plans, recruiting female teachers, and so on.

Madam Huang, General An Yuan’s wife, and the others were all pulled over by her to help check the various learning materials donated by various parties.

Just as Yu Youyao was so busy with the Women’s Mountain Courtyard that her feet did not touch the ground, news came from the capital—

Yu Zongshen had passed away from illness!

Before he died, he left his last words. “Don’t bury me in the ancestral grave after I die. Burn my body clean and sprinkle my ashes into the sea of Quanzhou. I’ll be at ease!”

After his death, he held a pomegranate flower tightly in his hand. The fire-like pomegranate flower became the last light of his life.

Pomegranate flowers bloomed from the end of March to April every year, symbolizing the pursuit of trueness, kindness, and beauty in life.

Yu Zongshen had once gone south to Quanzhou in March. During the season when the pomegranate flowers bloomed, he had encountered pomegranate flowers that were as bright as fire. It had brightened his entire life, but it had also dimmed his entire life.

Along with the news of Yu Zongshen’s death, there was also news that Duke Duan had died in battle, Hebei had fallen, and that Thief Liang had pointed his sword at the capital.

Yu Youyao sighed softly and couldn’t help but think of Yin Huaixi.

She wondered how the front line was doing.

It had been more than three months since December last year when the army of the Northern Barbarians had pressed down on the border. Both sides had probed and fought several times, with casualties on each side. Yin Huaixi did not face the enemy head-on, and the Northern Barbarians did not dare to attack rashly.

For a moment, the battle fell into a stalemate.

The soldiers had enough of this kind of back-and-forth battle, as if they were children playing house. They all asked to fight.

The corners of Yin Huaixi’s lips curled up as he said calmly, “We don’t lack supplies. Those who should be anxious are the Di people who were affected by the snow disaster and had no choice but to kill sheep, slaughter cows, and chop down horses. The 600,000-strong army of the Northern Barbarians attacked the Great Zhou with the intention of cutting off all means of retreat. It’s at its peak. Our military strength is inferior to the Northern Barbarians to begin with. It’s best to avoid them.”

General An Yuan was an impatient person. “Are we going to keep avoiding them?”

Yin Huaixi shook his head. “Wrong. Avoiding them is only a temporary plan. There’s a saying that goes, ‘A husband fights with courage.’ In one go, they will weaken and exhaust themselves. If we want to defeat the Northern Barbarians, we have to break through their momentum first. The Northern Barbarians lack supplies. Seeing that their rations are depleted, once they panic, their morale will definitely decline.”

General An Yuan agreed deeply. “When Wang Jian attacked Chu, because he didn’t have the confidence to win, he had never sent out his troops. It was a competition to see who was more anxious. Later, King Chu was anxious and ordered Xiang Yan to send out his troops. Xiang Yan had no choice but to send out his troops, so Wang Jian found their weakness and lost. When people are anxious, it’s easy to reveal their flaws.”

Yin Huaixi nodded. “That’s only one of the reasons. Secondly, when the new and old soldiers in our army alternated, many new recruits trained hard for three years but lacked practical experience. We used this opportunity to train the new recruits and practice the various tactics we’ve developed in the past two years to target the weaknesses of the Di people.”

General An Yuan’s heart skipped a beat. “Is there a third reason?”

Yin Huaixi did not deny it. “Although there are many large and small tribes among the Northern Barbarians, the Zhamo and Har tribes are the strongest. This time, the four tribes have joined forces and elected the leader of the Huqiang tribe, Rada, who never revealed his true strength, as the Khan. We have to figure out what kind of person he is. Only by knowing ourselves and the enemy can we win a hundred battles.”

The style in which a general commanding a battle could often be deduced from his personality. Only by understanding him could one find his weaknesses and set up corresponding tactics.

Of course, the Northern Barbarians were not fools.

They knew very well that the rations were depleted, and the stalemate in the war was very disadvantageous to them. However, the Northern Barbarians had suffered many casualties, so Rada Khan might want to find out more about King Yue Fei.

This was one of the reasons.

Second, although Rada Khan was elected as the Khan, the voices in the tribe were still not uniform.

This also created a considerable obstacle for Rada Khan.

Third, the magical military formation of the Great Zhou Army was unpredictable and could restrain the Northern Barbarians. Every time they thought of a way to deal with it, the formation would change again on the battlefield, making them a little helpless.

All kinds of reasons caused the original attack plan to be delayed repeatedly.

However, no matter what, the Northern Barbarians really couldn’t afford to wait.

Three months was already the limit.

A loud horn sounded from afar, breaking the silence of the morning.

That was the Di people declaring war.

After three months of stalemate and consumption, the Northern Barbarians finally panicked.

“They’re here.” A smile appeared on Yin Huaixi’s lips. He was confident that he would win the battle from a thousand miles away. “Continue fighting!”

The two armies faced each other at Diyu Pass.

Yin Huaixi swept his gaze around and was the first to see Rada Khan. Rada Khan was wearing heavy armor and was armed to the teeth. On his tall horse, he was like a majestic mountain with a heavy aura.

After that, he shifted her gaze to Meng Duo, who was still a general in the opposite army. He was much more depressed than before.

Yin Huaixi drew his knife and raised his voice. “Do you dare to fight me?”

King Yue Fei of the Great Zhou openly challenged the Northern Barbarians on the battlefield.

The Northern Barbarians army was in an uproar as they clamored for battle.

However, Meng Duo’s expression changed slightly. There was a faint pain where he had been shot earlier. He was carrying a bow on his back. This bow was a symbol of his strength.

His arms, which were hanging by his sides, trembled slightly.

Thanks to King Yue Fei of the Great Zhou, he could no longer draw this bow.

Yin Huaixi stared at Meng Duo and said in a roundabout manner, “Just like me, you were once the commander-in-chief of an army. In terms of strength, you’re enough to fight me. However, in case you think that the strong are bullying the weak, I’ll let you have three moves. After three moves, it doesn’t matter if you live or die.”

As the commander-in-chief of an army, it was indeed a little inappropriate to challenge a general.

However, Meng Duo had also been the commander-in-chief in the past, so he naturally had the strength of a commander-in-chief. Yin Huaixi had given up three moves to avoid an unfair victory, which would make it difficult to convince the crowd.