Chapter 163: The Navy Barrack
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“What did you say? That new commander knocked out Guard Ding’s son and sent him to the County Administration? He even charged him with rebellion?”
Jiang City, Navy barracks. These barracks situated by the side of the Luo River had all of its lights lit up. Within the main barrack, the few leaders of the Jiang City Navy were sitting around a light. Under the flickering lights, their expressions were not good.
Of course it would not be good. The Navy of Jiang City was their territory. Especially the Vice Commander, Wang Cheng, who was sitting in as captain. He originally thought that after Gao Gong had died, he would naturally become the commander of the Navy of Jiang City. He never thought that Li Yuan from the faraway Zhonghe City would send a commander over and spoil their plans completely.
“Zhou Bao. Is he the fellow who defeated the Elders from the Pei and Luo families in Zhonghe City and also did a favour to Tian Long Taoism’s Wang She?”
Wang Cheng was a forty something well-built man. His cultivation was only at Level Three; however he was a military man who rose from the bottom level to where he was now in the Navy of Jiang City. He had a lot of say in the Navy. There were four others gathered together with him. Sitting closest to him was a man in his thirties, even though he was wearing a military outfit. He had an air of literacy around him. His name was Jiang Xiao, a captain in the Navy of Jiang City. Among the rest of the three of them, there were two who were captains and the last one was a quartermaster.
Even though Jiang City was situated in a strategic location, it was a small city. The Magistrate was just a Level Seven official. The Garrison was also only sub Level Seven. A Navy Commander like Junior Leopard may sound prestigious. However he was just only a Level Eight official. [TL: The officials’ ranks are different from the level system of martial artists]
The Navy barracks did not have many people. Including the flag bearers, those burning fire and those rearing horses, adding everyone up, they would amount to 500 people. As for those that could really be used in battle, there were just over 300 people who were divided into 3 teams and were respectively led by those 3 captains.
“Who cares where he’s from? This is Jiang City, not Zhonghe City. When he’s here, even if he’s a dragon, he’ll become a worm!”
“Zhu Ba, don’t speak nonsense!” When Jiang Xiao heard him, his expression changed and he shouted in a low voice.
“Why, Gigolo? That person hasn’t reached yet and you’re so eager to suck up to the new master!” The man called Zhu Ba squeaked weirdly.
“You should just shut up when I want you to. Let’s listen to what Jiang Xiao has to say!” Wang Cheng said, “Jiang Xiao, speak. How should we handle this matter?”
Wang Cheng trusted Jiang Xiao very implicitly. Even though this Jiang Xiao was born through the ranks, he was different from the other boorish men. His father was a scholar and he learned how to read from his father. He had studied before, however being a scholar meant that it was easy to read but hard to raise a family, his family was extremely poor. His scholar father died because of an accident. Though he can read books, he didn’t have the ability to score in the imperial exams. For the sake of making a living, he joined the army.
It was unexpected that after he joined the army, his luck turned better. He was clever and had a good aptitude. Even though what he learnt in the army was Military Martial Arts, his progress was extremely fast. Adding on to the fact that he knew how to read, he knew alot more than the average soldier. He was far-sighted and had many ideas. He was admired by the superiors, hence within a few short years. He was promoted to be a team captain from a small soldier. He was also a trusted subordinate of the previous Navy Commander Gao Gong. He could barely be considered an advisor. As for the soldiers he brought, everytime he led them to battle, even though he could not be said to rank the highest merits, the casualties were definitely the least. Hence, he was deeply cherished by his subordinates and kept being promoted to become one of the three captains within the Navy of Jiang City.
At the same time he knew how to act. His relationship with the higher-ups was good and his relationship with the few captains was good as well. It could be said that it was very comprehensive. In the whole Navy of Jiang City, apart from Zhu Ba, his relationship with the rest was extremely harmonious.
As for Zhu Ba, he was reputed to be the bravest man in the Navy of Jiang City. His cultivation had also reached Level Three. His surname was Zhu and his left cheek had a red saber scar stretching to his jaw, hence, even when he was just a foot soldier, he was nicknamed as Zhu Ba. Until now, no one was able to recall what his real name was.
“I guess everyone has heard of this Zhou Bao’s name. He did many big things in Zhonghe City. Even when placed in the whole pugilist world, amongst the younger generation, only those few youngsters that are nurtured by the major families and big sects could compare with him!” Jiang Xiao spoke, his gaze revealing a jealous and complicated look.
“No matter how powerful he is, he’s just a kid. No matter how strong his martial arts are, his cultivation is only at Level Three. He’s unable to flip the sky here!” When Zhu Ba heard Jiang Xiao praising Junior Leopard, he was somewhat dissatisfied.
“Martial arts are only one factor!” Jiang Xiao smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Ever since the news came here, I’ve been searching for information on this Zhou Bao. He’s very famous now; hence it’s easy to search. From what I’ve obtained, this Zhou Bao is extremely troublesome. He’s not someone we can deal with. Hence, I suggest that during this period of time, we’d better be more honest and stick to our rules!” Speaking till here, he helplessly looked at Wang Cheng, “Commander, what do you say?”
“Gigolo, you only know how to extend other’s strength and diminish ourselves. How come I can’t see how troublesome is he?”
“You think that he’s very easy to deal with?” Jiang Xiao smiled, his finger lightly tapping on the table, “I can tell you that this Zhou Bao is the most troublesome person to deal with. If you don’t believe me, you can try!”
“I shall try then! It’s just a brat who doesn’t know how high the sky is and how thick the earth is. There’s nothing great about him!” Zhu Ba said with resentment and anger on his face.
“Zhu Ba, shut your mouth!” Wang Cheng shouted coldly. He stared at Zhu Ba who talked until his saliva spat everywhere.
“Jiang Xiao, continue. Tell us in detail about how he is difficult to handle!”
“Yes!” Jiang Xiao nodded, “Firstly, his feats are powerful. Even though it’s said that he’s only at Level Three and is similar to everyone sitting here, don’t forget that when he was in the underground fire vein in Zhonghe City, he blocked many experts who were at Level Four or above. This is not just gossip, it has been completely validated. Hence it can be said that his battle prowess has long surpassed Level Three. To speak bluntly, I’m afraid that even if everyone sitting here were to go at him together, we’ll still not be his match!”
“Nonsense!”
“I’m not speaking nonsense!” Jiang Xiao coldly smiled, “He’s a disciple of the Wu’s and cultivates Tian Long Taoism’s unfathomable martial arts. We’re just normal soldiers cultivating the army’s military martial arts. Can this be compared? Let’s say for example that he’s holding a fine metal blade, and that we’re holding a wooden blade with a layer of silver paint smeared on it, even though the appearance is the same, could the wooden blade in your hands resist that metal blade of his?”
The crowd was silent. Even though Jiang Xiao was exaggerating, the facts were placed in front of them. These people practiced martial arts, there was no reason for them to not know this.
Cultivating the army’s military martial arts, no matter how high one’s aptitude and capability were, one would only reach Level Three. The reason was due to the army’s military martial arts being extremely inefficient and ineffective in purifying the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth. Even if one cultivated it for life, one could forget about making a name for himself.
Seeing the crowd became silent, Jiang Xiao spoke again. “Martial arts is only one factor. Looking at his heritage, he’s a Wu’s disciple and not a normal Inner Core disciple. He’s a Wu’s Elder’s sole disciple, a core disciple. He’s the one with the brightest future within the Wu’s younger generation. He’s also the only one in the last 200 years to become a Wu’s Elder before 20 years old. Even though his cultivation hasn’t reached Level Four, however he has racked up a lot of merits for the Wu’s in Zhonghe City. He’s the Seneschal of the Wu’s in Zhonghe. Even though this seneschal is just in name, who can neglect it? The Wu’s have their branch in Jiang City as well. Look at our Magistrate, Guard Ding. When they meet with the supervisor of the Wu’s, they have to be extremely polite. Zhou Bao as the Seneschal has a much higher position than the supervisor in Jiang City. From this perspective, this newly appointed eighth-grade commander has a much more solid background than our Magistrate and Guard Ding!”
Jiang Xiao leisurely and slowly analyzed, “This is only the second factor. Thirdly, he has money. He’s very rich. With him in Zhonghe, the Wu’s can fish benefits from the underground fire vein that the other 3 families are unable to fish. As for him being the key character in all of this, do you all think that the Wu’s will mistreat him? With the Wu’s financial strength, as long as they split a few of the interests on the underground fire vein, it’ll be an enormous amount of wealth in others’ eyes. Not to mention the fact that he has gotten 19 Fire Way Spiritual Stones from Wang She. These Spiritual Stones, even if you take just one out to sell, it’ll be more valuable than the wealth of everyone combined here!”
The crowd in the barracks was silent once again.
What Jiang Xiao said was right. They had only heard of Spiritual Stones. To them, this was a thing of the legends. Even if they were grouped together to sell themselves, they were not even worth the value of a Spiritual Stone.
“He’s young and has strong martial arts. We cannot compare to that. He has fame in Jianghu and has a strong background. We cannot compare to that. He has enormous wealth and heavenly treasures. We cannot compare to that as well. What do we have to fight him with?” Jiang Xiao said relaxedly, his tone carrying a tinge of helplessness.
“Then, we really have no solution?” After Zhu Ba heard Jiang Xiao’s analysis, he finally started to fear.
“What is called having a solution? What is called having no solution?” Jiang Xiao asked. He glanced at Wang Cheng, “This matter may not necessarily be a bad thing to us. Instead it can be an opportunity!”
“Your intention is to join this fella?” Wang Cheng was a smart person. Upon thinking about it, he understood Jiang Xiao’s intention.
“Commander of the Navy of Jiang City may be a fat lamb to us. However, it’s a joke to a person like him!” These words were somewhat heavy and the expressions of the crowd were not good, but they didn’t speak out any opinion. That was because they knew that even if the words were unpleasant to hear, it was a fact.
“He’s so young. The position to him is just a very small stepping stone. Who knows, he may not even view this position seriously. He cannot just disobey the Admiral’s order. Even if he’s here, I estimate that he won’t do anything unnecessary!”
“Then what is he here for?”
“To rack up achievements and strategize a plan!” Jiang Xiao said.