Chapter 10: The First Meeting with Li Shimin

  The spring breeze in March is like a pair of scissors, cutting off pieces of willow leaves and flying catkins!

  Fang Yi Ai stood quietly in front of the door, gazing at the vast sky. The Tang Dynasty was still the same, but Fang Yi Ai was no longer the original Fang Yi Ai. Ling Long leaned against the door and quietly looked at the second young master, who had not smiled for two days.

  "Second Master, is there something on your mind? Can you tell Linglong about it?"

  "Linglong, actually it's not a big deal, just my father told me he would choose a suitable wife for me, in other words, an arranged marriage. I'm quite resistant to the idea of arranged marriage, but at the same time, I don't want to make my father sad." Fang Yilai said with a bitter smile.

  "Second Master, you don't have to be like this. You should understand that this is your fate. Your marriage doesn't belong to you alone, because it involves the interests of the entire Fang Manor!" Linglong stood behind Fang Yili and smiled softly, with a hint of sadness in her smile.

  Fang Yi turned around, grasped Linglong's shoulders and smiled: "Linglong, do you know? I've always wanted to be my own master. I don't want my marriage to be mixed with politics. So I asked Father for a few years' time. In these few years, I will work hard to make myself stronger, strong enough not to need an alliance by marriage, so that I can choose a free marriage."

  "Second Master, why must you be like this? What's wrong with marrying a noble lady?" Linglong advised, suppressing her heartache.

  "Linglong, did you really think so?" Fang Yiai asked with a playful tone.

  Linglong smiled lightly, her smile was so poignant and beautiful. "Second Master, why must you tease me? I'm just a humble servant, even if you can choose your own marriage freely, the old master will not let you marry me. It's not that he doesn't want to, but the entire Tang Dynasty won't allow it, and neither would I agree, because doing so would harm you."

  Fang Yiai shook his head, although he didn't want to admit it, but Linglong's words were all correct. Secular notions are an unbreakable lock, only time can solve this problem, if one dares to challenge this lock, they will be swallowed up completely. Fang Yiai stopped talking because he was afraid that Linglong would become even more heartbroken.

  In the afternoon, Fang De walked over with a smile and said: "Second Young Master, the Old Master wants you to go to the study for a moment!"

  Fang Yi nodded and let Linglong return to the house, while he himself went to Fang Xuanling's study. After entering the study, he saw Fang Xuanling sitting in a chair at his desk, smiling and drinking tea. There were four people sitting in the study, Du Ruhui was someone he knew, but the other three were strangers - one looked very refined, one very handsome, and one very fat.

  Only then did that short-mustached old fellow glance over and chuckle, saying: "Xuan Ling, this is your family's Qilin child Fang Jun, isn't it?"

  "Hello Uncle, I'm Fang Jun. Who are these few?" Fang Yi'ai was very puzzled, who exactly were these people? Judging from their appearance, their status must be quite high.

  "Ah, young master, no need to be formal. We just came this time to take a look at you," said the elegant old man with a warm smile. "We've all studied the Chu-Han Xiangqi chess you invented. To be honest, I'm now fascinated by that chess and can say that every move reveals the essence of military strategy."

  "Could it be that you are Li Jing, Li Bo Bo?" Fang Yi Ai was somewhat excited now. Wasn't Li Yao Shi just Li Jing?

  After seeing Li Jing nod, Fang Yiai also wanted to ask Li Jing for an autograph, but thinking that this was the Great Tang Dynasty, he endured it. Seeing Fang Yiai worshiping Li Jing like this, that fat uncle was unwilling, staring with his cow eyes and shouting: "Xianzhong, don't I, old Cheng, deserve respect?"

  "This, I don't know which uncle you are, I really don't know." Fang Yiai was speechless towards this fat uncle. "I don't even know who you are, how can I show respect to you?" After hearing Fang Yiai's words, that old handsome man laughed so hard he was bent over, pointing at the fat uncle and laughing: "Old scoundrel, you're embarrassed now! The other person doesn't even know who you are, let you brag all day, now you've lost face!"

  Fat Uncle heard this and suddenly got angry, stood up and slapped Fang Yu Ai's shoulder heavily, instantly Fang Yu Ai was in pain, gritting his teeth. Fat Uncle was very satisfied with Fang Yu Ai's reaction, and said evilly: "Xian nephew, do you think there are still a few people surnamed Cheng in the Great Tang? Which one can compare to me? Not that I'm boasting, except for Qin Er Ge, others are just a pile of ash in my eyes, I blow them away."

  Fat Master boasted, Fang Yu Ai pondered, seeing Fat Master's shameless demeanor, Fang Yu Ai felt a little afraid, could this be the old demon Program? Fang Yu Ai pitifully said: "Are you the venerable Lu Guo Gong, the famous Three-Board Axe Program Zhijie of the Great Tang?"

  "Haha, my clever nephew is indeed smart, and your figure isn't bad either. I have high hopes for you! How about it, do you have a girlfriend yet? If not, consider my family's daughter. You know, others have come to me with their faces upturned, but I haven't agreed to any of them!" Cheng Yaojin said these words shamelessly, without caring about Fang Yilai's reaction, and pointed at the old general provocatively: "How's that? Old Cheng is impressive, right? You see, my nephew guessed it in one try."

  The old man was very displeased in his heart, this old scoundrel was too shameless, just your shameless kung fu is a symbol, as long as you see the back of this skin's kung fu, you can think of Cheng Zhijie, unexpectedly this guy doesn't think it's shameful, and he's even proud of himself. The old man didn't know how to describe this old scoundrel, he couldn't beat him in a fight, and scolding him didn't work either, it was like hitting a bronze wall with an iron rod. The old man really didn't want to argue with this old scoundrel anymore, so he turned his face and showed a gentle smile, saying: "My dear nephew, actually my identity should be easy to guess, I'm from the same clan as the Medicine Master!"

  Fang Yu heard the old general's words and, combined with Cheng Yaojin's attitude towards him, suddenly guessed who he was. He quickly knelt down on the ground and shouted: "Your humble subject Fang Jun pays his respects to Your Majesty the Emperor of Great Tang, wishing Your Majesty eternal prosperity and longevity rivaling that of Heaven!"

  The people in the study room were stunned when they heard Fang Yu's slogan. This kid was really different from others, while everyone else was shouting "Long live, long live, long long live", he actually came up with a "Heavenly blessing, eternal enjoyment, longevity rivaling heaven". Fang Xuanling was speechless at his son's performance and could only glare at him with a smile, scolding: "You little brat, what nonsense are you spouting? Don't you hurry to apologize to His Majesty?"

  Li Shimin waved his hand to stop him, saying: "Xuanling, why must you be so formal? Today we are just gathering as friends. There is no Emperor of the Tang Dynasty here today, only a Li Shimin." After finishing this sentence, Li Shimin pulled Fang Yilove up and smiled, saying: "My virtuous nephew, your slogan is quite special, it sounds very smooth, haven't you often used this to deceive people before?"

  "Your Majesty, how dare I? I swear this is the first time I've said these words." Fang Yi'ai was covered in cold sweat. These were Wei Xiaobao's famous last words, and everyone who heard them had died, truly living to be as old as the heavens. Li Shimin saw Fang Yi'ai's fearful appearance and patted his shoulder, laughing: "Nephew, I've already said that today there is no Tang Emperor here. You can just call me Uncle Li."

  "Ah, then I'll just have to obey humbly." Fang Yiai struck the snake with her stick. Being able to get along well with the Emperor of Great Tang was something that couldn't be begged for, "I don't know why Uncle Li and all the uncles called me over?"

  "Please sit down, young master." After Li Shimin and Fang Yu'er sat down in their chairs, he continued to say: "Young master, we have all studied the chess game you invented. I think it contains profound military strategic ideas. I'd like to ask, why does the cannon only work when there is a piece separating it?"

  "Uncle Li, actually the prototype of this cannon is the bow and crossbow. Think about it, if the bow and crossbow leave human hands, can they still shoot? Moreover, there are many things that Chu Han Xiangqi can display, but I think the most important thing is coordination." Fang Yiai said briefly.

  Li Shimin and others were thinking about Fang Yuai's words, the more they thought, the more they felt that it made sense. Bows and crossbows are just inanimate objects, without people, they can't do anything. Li Jing thought a bit deeper, he was interested in the coordination mentioned by Fang Yuai, so Li Jing stroked his beard and smiled lightly: "Xianzhong, can you explain to us in detail what is meant by coordination?"

  "Actually, coordination is very complicated. To put it simply, it's the coordination between troops. First, we need to understand the purpose of the war. If our goal is just to eliminate the enemy's effective strength, then we can attack their weak points and surround them without rushing to attack. When the enemy sends reinforcements, we can ambush and kill them halfway. This is called 'surrounding the point and attacking the reinforcements.' To achieve this, all branches of the troops need to work together seamlessly. If any one branch has a weakness, the attacking troops will be surrounded by the enemy. That's why coordination is key. On a smaller scale, it comes down to individual soldiers. There's a saying that you should 'give your back to your comrades.' On the battlefield, as long as you coordinate with your comrades and do your job well, they'll take care of the rest. This is what coordination means - reasonable division of labor can achieve unique effects!"

  After listening to Fang Yu's explanation, Li Jing, a military strategist, applauded enthusiastically and said after a while: "Xianzhong, I now have some understanding of the coordination you mentioned, but I always feel that the tactics of besieging and relieving you mentioned are not perfect. When you block the enemy, the enemy can completely retreat, that is to say, the enemy is still in a state of free action. I think you should have other ideas, why don't you talk about it?"

  "Pharmacist uncle, you are a wise man, so you should know that winning the war with the least cost is the most important thing, and the lives of soldiers are more valuable than anything else. Of course, if you want to take the initiative into your own hands, there is another way, which is to expose your most important things to the enemy, let them launch a full-scale attack. And when the enemy attacks, we will send a large army to encircle and slowly form a big circle, then cooperate with the middle guard troops to directly wipe out the army trapped in the circle, this is the center-opening flower tactic, but this tactic will cause great casualties." Fang Yiai said with a smile.

  "It is better to hear one good word than to read ten years of books." Li Jing smiled with great pleasure and said to Li Shimin: "Your Majesty, I think I have finished asking questions."

  Li Shimin nodded and smiled, asking: "Wise nephew, what is a general and what is a marshal?"

  "The soul of the army, for a general to be with soldiers through thick and thin, so that when executing military orders, soldiers will have no complaints or regrets." Fang Yiai said slowly, "The commander is the spirit of the whole army. For a commander, the first thing to think about is what the purpose of war is, whether it's to intimidate or to annihilate. If it's to intimidate, then one must be swift and decisive in killing the enemy, even if it means sacrificing some soldiers' lives, because the goal is to make the enemy afraid. If it's to annihilate, then a more cautious approach must be taken, with effective preservation of living forces as the top priority."

  Fang Yi Ai didn't know if what he said was right or wrong, but anyway, he saw Li Shimin's eyes shining brightly and said: "It seems that our trip today is not in vain!"

  Li Jing's uncle smiled and nodded, saying with a hint of playfulness: "Your Majesty, the rest is up to you to decide!"

  "Alright, young master, from tomorrow on you will go to the academy to study." Li Shimin thought for a moment and patted the dazed Fang Yaoli. Before Fang Yaoli could react, he saw Fang Xuanling walk over and kick him, laughing and scolding: "You stinky little boy, what are you still standing there for? Don't you hurry up and thank His Majesty!"

  Fang Yiai was very displeased with the old man's violence, but still knelt down and respectfully said: "Thank you for your reward, I am grateful!" Fang Yiai spoke very sincerely, but in his heart he was quite disdainful. What's so great about going to school and reading books? No matter what, I'm a transmigrator, do I need to learn those trivial things?

  Several big shots chatted for a while and were about to leave. When they left, Cheng Lao Yaoguai patted Fang Yilai's shoulder and said with a grin: "Hehe, my good nephew is really not bad. Think carefully, my Ling'er looks like a celestial being, and she's absolutely compatible with you." Fang Yilai heard this and was furious, while Fang Xuanling had no way to deal with this old man. Li Jing just laughed and scolded: "Old man, stop embarrassing yourself, hurry up and leave!" Cheng Yaoguai pouted at Fang Xuanling and threatened: "Brother Xuanling, I'm very sincere, don't let me down!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and followed Li Shimin, disappearing without a trace. As soon as the old demon disappeared, Fang Xuanling finally exploded, shouting to Fang De: "Fang De, from now on, if this old demon comes to our door, just say I'm not here!"

  Fang De smiled wryly and shook his head, saying that this would work? Cheng Gongye was notorious for being unreasonable.

  Fang Yi'ai is still confused now, he really wants to ask these big brothers what they are doing today, except for interrogating this young man, nothing else has been done.

  Gazing at the sky of Great Tang, in the gentle breeze, a sense of confusion!