Chapter 20 Training Private Soldiers (Part 2)

  In addition, in the following days, Wang Yan considered that Wang Xu would soon be independent. So he also often took him to visit all kinds of people everywhere. He had already treated Wang Xu as a complete adult and naturally hoped that he could contact more people. So Wang Xu was really busy!

  As the days went by, the day of the Yellow Turban Rebellion was getting closer and closer. Wang Xu's heart couldn't tell whether it was excitement or worry, fortunately, there was still a lover who shared his thoughts and stayed with him all the time, supporting each other, otherwise, he would be quite lonely.

  "Elegant!" Wang Xu rarely called Xu Shu like this, and at this moment, with just the two of them in the study, he couldn't help but exclaim. This study was specially set up for Wang Xu by Wang Yan.

  "What's wrong?" Xu Shu looked up at Wang Xu curiously while eating fruit and reading a book.

  "Ah!" After a faint sigh, Wang Xu said uncertainly: "It's already November 4th now, and the grand Golden Uprising will erupt in just three months. But for some reason, as time gets closer, I feel more and more uneasy in my heart, with a vague bad premonition. What's going on? Has my courage suddenly shrunk?"

  Xu Shu smiled gently and put down the "Spring and Autumn Annals" in her hand, holding Wang Xu's hand to comfort him: "You're overthinking it, I had a similar situation recently! Just thinking about going onto the battlefield to kill people makes me feel suffocated. As a lady, I haven't even killed a chicken before. But once you understand these things, there's nothing more to say. Some things aren't up to us to decide. Can you really make the world not chaotic just by not wanting it to be? Since we're born in such a chaotic era, if we don't want to be eaten by others, of course, we have to become stronger. You understand these principles better than me, and precisely because you know too much, that's why you like to think wildly, thinking too much will make you suspicious!"

  Saying that, she playfully stuffed a winter jujube into Wang Xu's mouth. "Alright! Don't think about it anymore, many things can't be figured out in just one or two days. And don't overthink things too much, although you're very smart, but there are many things in life that can't be understood just by being clever!"

  Upon hearing Xu Shu's words, Wang Xu smiled slightly and his mood improved a lot. He then pretended to be obedient, making a show of being chastised. "Yes! My loving wife is right, how could I not listen?"

  "Get out!" Xu Shu glared at Wang Xu fiercely, then changed the subject and casually asked: "Seriously, have you made plans for next year's Yellow Turban Rebellion?"

  "Of course!" Wang Xu said with a mysterious smile, winking his eye and saying "Just wait, I'll show you something!"

  After finishing speaking, she got up and walked to a secluded corner of the study, took out a small wooden box. Under Xu Shu's puzzled face, she put it on the desk and said: "Guess what's inside?"

  "How am I supposed to know what it is? Stop being so mysterious and just say it already!"

  "Haha!" Wang Xu smiled and didn't rush to explain. He walked over to the other side of the bookshelf, searched for a while, and finally pulled out a small key from among many bamboo slips. Then he came over and knelt down beside the desk, opening the box as he said, "You'll understand once you see it."

  When the box was opened, Xu Shu suddenly exclaimed: "Ah! Paper? This thing is really rare!"

  "Hehe! Yes, this Cai Lun paper was specially made for me by my father through someone else. In this era, this thing is quite precious! Mainly because bamboo slips and silk are too uncomfortable to use, paper is still the best! Although due to technical reasons, the quality of this paper is not good, it's still passable."

  "What are you going to do with this paper?" Xu Shucai didn't believe that Wang Xu wouldn't be able to find anything to do, and treated the paper as a treasure to hide away.

  Wang Xu smiled and didn't keep selling suspense. He opened his mouth to explain: "The map drawn on this paper is indeed the map of this period."

  As soon as he heard this, Xu Shu looked at him suspiciously. "Are you kidding me? At this time, someone has already drawn a complete map of the territory?"

  "How is that possible?" Wang Xu shook his head and said, "This is what I relied on my own memory to do. Do you still remember when I studied the historical maps of Eastern Han and Three Kingdoms for three whole months? This is the result!"

  "Unbelievable? That's too exaggerated, can you remember the map completely?"

  "Of course, it's impossible to remember everything, you think I have a photographic memory?! I reckon no one can memorize the entire map, I just confirmed the scale, drew the rough outline and main terrain according to military map standards, then marked down especially important cities and regions."

  "After saying that, Wang Xu's tone changed and he said with some pride: 'However, even if it is like this, I dare to confirm that there is absolutely no second person in this era who can create such a national map.'"

  "Aren't you just spouting nonsense? In this era, people probably still don't know what the world is like, and without advanced tools, it's impossible to make measurements. Being able to create regional maps is already quite an achievement. Besides, this isn't even your invention, you're just stealing from the achievements of later scholars."

  Seeing Xu Shu's disdainful gaze, Wang Xu's face involuntarily turned red. He quickly changed the subject and said: "What's the point of talking about this? As long as it's useful now, that's all that matters. In the future, we'll try to collect maps from various regions and continually improve this large map. I think that one day, we can create a truly accurate map."

  As he spoke, Wang Xu carefully took out a map from the box and unfolded it with great care.

  It's not that I'm being overly cautious, it's just that the paper quality is really poor in this era. When I was painting, Wang Xu had to use many tools and even drew on the sand several times before daring to put pen to paper. After all, once the brush is applied, there's no going back. Even so, after Wang Xu's efforts, the paper already has deep creases, and the drawing is quite rough. But I'll just have to make do with it for now; in the future, I'll strive to do better. The paper isn't a concern - as long as I can create a good painting, that's all that matters.

  After Xu Shu roughly looked at the entire map, Wang Xu pointed to the map and said: "You see, the Yellow Turban Rebellion covered eight states: Qing, Xu, You, Ji, Jing, Yang, Yan, and Yu. In 184 AD, there were three main forces of the Yellow Turbans. One was north of the Yellow River, personally commanded by Zhang Jue and his brothers. One was in the Yingchuan area, led by Bo Cai. The other was active in the Ruyang and Nanyang counties, this force was slightly weaker, led by Huang Kui, Zhang Mancheng and others."

  "I know all this too, but what's key is what are we going to do about it?"