Chapter 29: State of Zhou!
Commander Yue, Liu Xuan, and Charles sat at the three empty spot, Charles immediately noticed the food on the small table in front of him. There were steamed fish, white rice, and vegetables which made Charles's eyes light up! Steamed fish was something of a rarity to him, he had managed to have a small bite of it when he was still in the farm but other than that he had never eaten meat before. Charles was about to eat before he realized something odd. He looked around and saw that everybody did not even touch their food! They were instead staring at the senior man that had greeted Commander Yue when she came in. All of them were staring at the senior man, so Charles decided to do the same.
The entire hall was silent, only the sounds of the senior man's utensils hitting the porcelain plate as he was eating were heard. After a few minutes the senior man finally finishes his food and drinks his wine and says: "Alright, you may speak now." Immediately a man with a large beard shouted "Lord Zhou, the capital is in chaos and the nation has been split apart into individual states! What do you think we should do!" Lord Zhou kept silent as he looked at the large man while still keeping a smile on his face. Everyone in the room was waiting for his answer. "You want to know what we should do Ou Gen?" Lord Zhou asked, and Ou Gen nodded while gritting his teeth. "We will do, nothing!" Lord Zhou casually replied.
The whole room became stunned, do nothing? When all the states in the nation are going to war with each other for the throne, and we do, nothing?! A female general stood up and shouted: "What do you mean by this Lord Zhou?!" everyone also started shouting as well asking what Lord Zhou meant by nothing. Commander Yue and Liu Xuan were deep in thought while Charles was confused by what was going on. "Silence." Lord Zhou spoke, and instantly everybody fell silent while sweating. "My, my, when did you all become such rowdy children? You should think before asking like dear Yu Yue. Yu Yue dear child, tell me why did I say we will do nothing?" Lord Zhou smiled as he looked at Yu Yue.
Everyone in the room shifted their eyes to Commander Yue to see what she would say. After a minute of thinking Commander Yue finally spoke: "I believe it's to do with the current state of Zhong Zhou am I right Lord Zhou?" "You are certainly correct Yu Yue, now please continue." Lord Zhou replied. "Understood, right now our state's economy has been greatly affected due to this warring states period. Most of our money had come from other countries by trading what our artisans made to them which had made our economy prosperous, but with every state going to war with each other we cannot trade peacefully anymore. If we were to trade at one party, the other party would think of us as helping the other and consider us their enemy. With our main source of money disappearing the state of Zhong Zhou will start to break down." Yu Yue explained.
Everyone in the room was shocked by this; they knew the state's primary income was the trade with other states but was losing it that bad to the point that it would cause the entire state to crumble? "Yu Yue has explained the state of the economy very well; I shall continue with what will happen from here on out." Lord Zhou said as he cleared his throat "Because we had not regulated how many people can become artisans in the state, four out of ten people are artisans while the rest are farmers, food sellers, and soldiers. We had also relied on buying food stocks from other states due to the lack of farmers we had, but now that we do not need to have so many artisans we will have to force them to become farmers or soldiers."
Suddenly everyone realized how bad this was. If the artisans of this state who had prided themselves on their beautiful works of art were told that they were to either become farmers or soldiers they would be furious! They might even riot against us! That would be a big blow to the stability of our state! "So, the best option would be to bid our time for now. Though I do not think that it will be very long from now." Lord Zhou spoke as he closed his eyes and smiled. Everyone was confused by what Lord Zhou meant when suddenly the door opens, and a messenger runs in! "Lord Zhou! Generals! Commanders! I am here to report dire news!" The messenger shouted with a fearful look. "You may speak messenger, report!" Ou Gen replied with a frown. The messenger quickly reported: "I-I am here to report that, The State of Chu on the north of us, The State of Shu on the east of us, and The State of Yu on the south of us have all declared war on us!"
Suddenly a sense of dread circled the room as the messenger said each state. All three states that surround them had chosen to go to war on us?! If the west of Zhong Zhou wasn't the road to another nation but another state would they have also gone to war with us!? Everyone turned pale and as they thought to themselves 'We are doomed.' "We shouldn't give up just yet everyone, keep your heads up!" Lord Zhou shouted, and immediately everyone looked at Lord Zhou, he was still smiling with a cheerful face even though the messenger had just reported that all three of the surrounding states have declared war on us!
"Those three states are nothing! They are only here to take away the gold they had given us over the years! We shall not surrender to such barbarians! This is the time to show our strength! I declare that the State of Zhong Zhou shall now become the State of Zhou, starting from this day the State of Zhou shall go to war with these three states and show our might to them! It is finally time for all of you to prove your worth! Show me, show our people and show the entire nation that the State of Zhou will not fall! Let us fly our banners high in the battlefield and win against these barbarians!"
Everyone in the hall stood up and shouted: "Yes, Lord Zhou!!!"
Everyone left the hall except Commander Yue, Liu Xuan, Charles, Lord Zhou and Ou Gen. Ou Gen walked up towards the three of them and looked at Charles. "This is the new 100-man commander?" He asked as he stared at Charles. "Yes, I've chosen him to replace Er Hong." Commander Yue replied "Find another candidate; a 10-year-old boy will not do! We are about to head into a war with three states, and you want to let a young child lead our men into battle?!" Ou Gen shouted. "I believe that Charles has potential to become a good commander, trust me on this Ou Gen." She replied. "I know you are smart Yu Yue, but I will not stand here as you send such a young boy into battle! I do not want our soldiers to walk into death because a young boy decides to do something stupid!" Ou Gen shouted. "Enough with your bickering." Lord Zhou said as he walked towards them.
"How about this Ou Gen, let's do it this way. Duel with young Charles over here, if you think his strength is sufficient then take him in and train him in the ways of war." Lord Zhou suggested. "Duel him? I am afraid that this boy will crumble in just a few seconds!" Ou Gen replied. "He was the one that had beaten Er Hong." Commander Yue commented. Ou Gen's eyes widened for a second before going back to his stern look. "That is still not enough to be able to stand against me." Ou Gen replied. "Ou Gen give the boy a chance, we are already low on the number of commanders we have at our arsenal. If Yu Yue has truly found a good candidate, then we should support her decision. Even if the candidate is just 10." Lord Zhou said. "Lord Zhou you favor Yu Yue too much, but you make a point. Charles, follow me." Ou Gen said as he walked out of the hall to the courtyard.
"I only told Charles to follow me, why have you 3 tagged along?" Ou Gen asked as he held his glaive in his right hand. "I'm just here to make sure you don't kill Charles." Commander Yue replied. "I have to accompany Commander Yue!" Liu Xuan replied, "I am here to see Yu Yue's commander fight you!" Lord Zhou replied. Ou Gen sighed as he looked at Charles who had taken a ChangDao sword "Remember to treat this as though your life is on the line, so attack me with all you got!" Ou Gen shouted, and the duel has begun!
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