Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 633: I need a Town Martial Office martial artist to impersonate someone from the Heavenly Punishment Sect!

Chapter 633: I need a Town Martial Office martial artist to impersonate someone from the Heavenly Punishment Sect!

The next day, Zhang San was escorted out of the tribe over ten miles by Xing Luohou before they reluctantly said goodbye.

The two of them were like brothers, seeing each other off step by step, unable to bear parting.

Xing Luohou even gave Zhang San many valuable gifts.

Zhang San also expressed that upon his return to Longwang Road, he would immediately handle the trade relations for Xing Luohou.

When Zhang San arrived at Longwang Road, he first met the Grand Commander-in-Chief Xu Sanxian and Officer Xu of the Town Martial Office.

"Are you General Ningyuan Zhang San from the Lingwu Army of Longyun Path?"

"Are you Military Chief Zhang San, the person in charge of the northern stronghold of Longyun Path?"

At that moment, in Linji City on Longwang Road, Zhang San finally met two important figures of Longwang Road.

The three of them had just sat down when Zhang San smiled and replied, "Indeed, it is I. I can’t believe that such a minor figure as myself could be known by you both."

Grand Commander-in-Chief Xu Sanxian said, "How could you consider yourself a minor figure? The great fame of the Lingwu Army is known to everyone. Moreover, there’s a rumor that within the Lingwu Army, a female family member surnamed Hu shot and killed the Tujue Khan Wugu Li with a single arrow."

Zhang San was stunned; this was the first time he had heard this news.

But hearing about the death of Wugu Li wasn’t a surprise to Zhang San.

After all, the followers of Ding Kucha had cursed him, and even though it was not certain he would die at that time, it seemed there might be a connection now.

"Although you are currently referred to as Military Chief, there is actually no Town Martial Office stronghold in the entirety of Longyun Path. The only stronghold is the one you are responsible for, making you virtually no different from an Officer. In fact, you might even be in a better position than us Secret Officers who tirelessly run around all day. Recently, there are rumors that Chief Li wants to expand the position of the clear Officers in the Town Martial Office. It might be that the next time we meet, we’ll have to call you ’Officer Zhang.’"

Zhang San smiled and waved his hand, laughing towards Officer Xu, whose mask had two empty holes, oddly on his cheeks, "You flatter me too much. I actually came here to ask for you both’s assistance on a matter, but with such high praises, I hardly know how to start."

Both secretly sneered.

Isn’t this you starting already?

"General Ningyuan, please speak frankly."

"We are all one family in the Town Martial Office, feel free to speak."

Only then did Zhang San lower his voice and said, "On the surface, I and Khan Xing Luohou of the Tujue are good brothers. They lack resources north of Longwang Road and live hard lives. Entrusted by others, I hope to establish trade so they could buy more food and even some ironware to better their development."

Upon hearing this, Xu Sanxian frowned.

As the Grand Commander-in-Chief of Longwang Road, his greatest fear was the development of the barbarian tribes to the north of Longwang Road.

Now you want to facilitate their development, aren’t you putting my life at risk?

Though his facial expression was unreadable due to the mask, Officer Xu spoke first, "This matter might be difficult to handle. The ability to open trade actually lies with the Governors of the border areas. Moreover, once trade is involved, it’s inevitable that some people will privately sell prohibited items to the Tujue."

Hearing this, Xu Sanxian suddenly paid attention to the wording Zhang San had just used and asked, "General Zhang, you just mentioned ’on the surface.’ What about in reality?"

Hearing this, Zhang San chuckled and whispered so softly that only the three of them could hear.

"In reality, in the forests north of Longwang Road, there are copious amounts of precious medicinal herbs that are excellent cultivation resources, but the Tujue lack alchemy techniques. If we buy low and sell high, not only could Great Sui make a huge profit, but we could also weaken the Tujue martial artists."

"At the same time, Khan Xing Luohou might not seem very clever, but he is quite adept at governance. If we allow him to develop here over a long period, he could become a major threat to the Great Sui in the future. It would be best if we could control them through their food supply. As long as they rely on us for food north of Longwang Road, once we cut off the supply, who do you think will suffer?

Hearing this, Xu Sanxian quietly nodded his head.

This is indeed ruthless!

It was supposed to be a matter of trade, yet military strategy is being employed?

This tactic of removing the firewood from under the pot, if actually employed, would likely throw Tujue into instant panic.

"Of course, General Xu Sanxian is no outsider. I have another idea: taking advantage of the opportunity to open trade, I plan to select some people from the Town Martial Office to secretly join the Heavenly Punishment Sect and then secretly sell some of the Great Sui’s martial arts secrets to the north, making a huge profit. Initially, sell them to the tribe where Xing Luohou is, and then further north, so that the entire Tujue population can buy the Great Sui’s Cultivation Technique Secrets, especially the Technique Secret Manuscripts, which they lack most."

Hearing this, Officer Xu couldn’t help but ask, "The martial path of the Great Sui is an integral part of the Imperial Path. If martial arts manuscripts fell into the wrong hands, not to mention that Kaihuang would undoubtedly behead us if he found out, it would also greatly aid the development of the Tujue martial artists. I fear that..."

Zhang San smiled and waved his hand, "If they were truly effective martial arts manuscripts, then naturally they would help them. But what if the manuscripts we sold were mostly fake? Besides, translating from the Great Sui’s language into Tujue script could inherently cause some loss of meaning and misunderstandings. So, it would be normal for the Tujue cultivators to feel that something is off when practicing. But imagine years from now, when a group of martial artists and cultivators who relied on incorrect cultivation manuals have grown in strength, Officer Xu, do you think it poses more harm or benefit to the Great Sui?"

Officer Xu, thinking about ten years later, when Tujue martial artists are displaying martial styles that might resemble those from the Great Sui, but would likely fail at critical moments, which would cost them their lives.

Curiously, some would be practicing the genuine manuscripts, so their strength would greatly increase, leading others to believe it was merely lack of skill rather than flawed manuscripts.

Moreover, such manuscripts wouldn’t likely be cross-referenced against identical manuals by others.

As a result, Tujue would increasingly believe in the superiority of the Great Sui’s manuscripts.

And the more they practiced, the more they would die!

Ruthless!

Extremely ruthless!

Furthermore, this would indeed make a tidy profit from Tujue!

At that moment, Officer Xu finally realized why, when he had previously seen Officer Niu, the latter’s praises for Zhang San had already reached the level where "it would be quite normal for him to become a Deputy Chief in the future."

With this strategy, as soon as his capabilities catch up, it would not be surprising if Kaihuang created an office specifically for Zhang San.

"But why not carry out this task ourselves within the Town Martial Office, instead of selecting some people to join the Heavenly Punishment Sect and do it under their name?"

Zhang San noted that the people of Longwang Road are rather naive.

"Officer Xu, think about it! If the Town Martial Office were to sell the manuscripts directly, would you, as a Tujue martial artist, dare to buy them?"

"But if you are from the Heavenly Punishment Sect, being pursued daily by the Town Martial Office, and you now have a manuscript taken from the corpse of one of their martial artists, selling it at a high price, wouldn’t the Tujue find that more believable? Besides, this also serves as a blow to the Heavenly Punishment Sect."

Officer Xu nodded repeatedly, then said, "But I don’t have any suitable candidates here. Officer Zhang, do you have any recommendations?"

Officer Xu did not even notice that he had already started treating Zhang San as if he were a fellow officer.

"Speaking of which, I do know someone from Longyun Path. This person, originally from the Wind Divine Hall, embezzled quite a bit of money, though his heart isn’t bad, just a bit greedy. Now that the big war has started, it would be perfect if this White Fatty gets discovered and has to flee Longyun Path, run to Longwang Road, and then somehow join the Heavenly Punishment Sect on the way and handle this matter."

Officer Xu hadn’t expected that Zhang San had even the candidate ready.

"Since Officer Zhang has a suitable candidate, then here on Longwang Road, we’ll just wait for your news."