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As the seasons turned, winter gave way to spring, and before anyone knew it, the end of the year was approaching.
One day, Fei Qian was sitting in the courtyard, poring over the seemingly endless bamboo scrolls, when he noticed someone peeking into the house from the gate.
Looking up, Fei Qian was delighted to see that it was Zao Zhi. Overjoyed, he forgot to put down the scroll in his hand and rushed to the gate to welcome him.
The two of them laughed heartily upon seeing each other, their joy evident.
Fei Qian asked, "How did you manage to come, brother? Did your father finally agree to let you leave?"
Zao Zhi smiled and said, "It's all thanks to your letter. My father learned that you're studying under Pang Degong, and with Governor Liu opening the Imperial Academy to recruit students, he finally agreed to let me go. But didn't you say you'd write to me often? I only received one letter..."
"Ah?" Fei Qian thought to himself, 'Can I tell you I forgot?' He quickly changed the subject and turned to introduce the curious Pang Tong, who had followed him out. "Come, let me introduce you two. This is Zao Zhi, Zao Zijing, from Changshe in Yingchuan. He comes from a scholarly family and has deep knowledge of agriculture and sericulture..." He praised Zao Zhi so much that the latter became embarrassed and waved his hands in modesty.
"And this one here is Pang Tong, Pang Shiyuan. Well, that's it... Let's go inside..." Fei Qian, having been thoroughly outmatched by Pang Tong in recent days, was in no mood to elaborate.
"Hey! What do you mean, 'that's it'?" Pang Tong was clearly dissatisfied.
Fei Qian had his strengths, but Pang Tong had his as well.
After suffering a few losses earlier, Pang Tong had become more cautious and insisted on excluding the topics they had previously competed on. As a result, Fei Qian had been repeatedly crushed by Pang Tong in the classics, history, philosophy, and literature over the past few days.
Fei Qian pretended not to hear and simply led Zao Zhi inside.
After all, over the past few days, Fei Qian and Pang Tong had grown quite familiar through their constant bickering, and playful teasing had become commonplace. Moreover, Pang Tong, having finally gained the upper hand, hadn't missed any opportunity to mock Fei Qian with his sharp tongue...
Once Zao Zhi was seated, Fei Qian recalled what Zao Zhi had mentioned earlier and asked, "Governor Liu opened the Imperial Academy? When did that happen?" He had been so immersed in his studies lately that he hadn't paid much attention to outside events.
"It must have been a few days ago. I only managed to convince my father after seeing the announcement that Jingxiang was opening the academy to recruit students..."
As Zao Zhi spoke, he couldn't help but gaze enviously at the mountain of bamboo scrolls piled up nearby. After getting permission from the other two, he carefully picked up a scroll and began reading. Soon, he became so engrossed that he forgot he was in the middle of a conversation with Fei Qian and Pang Tong, quietly absorbed in the text...
Pang Tong smiled, unbothered, and picked up a scroll to read as well. For him, these mountains of classics, histories, philosophies, and literature were more about revisiting old knowledge to gain new insights.
Someone like Zao Zhi, who could lose himself in a book, was someone Pang Tong could easily relate to. Book lovers were generally good people, and Zao Zhi seemed gentle and scholarly—certainly not the type to bully others like Fei Qian...
"The academy is recruiting new students..." Fei Qian murmured to himself, momentarily distracted from his reading.
In Fei Qian's memory, it seemed that Zhuge Liang arrived in Jingxiang around this time and soon began to shine with his brilliance.
Time was running out for Fei Qian...
Soon, a wave of anti-Dong Zhuo fervor would sweep across the land, followed by the coalition of fifteen or eighteen warlords marching to Hulao Pass... Well, that's how he remembered it...
And then, Luoyang would be set ablaze...
Fei Qian suddenly felt a sense of unease and decided to put down his scroll. He glanced at Pang Tong and Zao Zhi, who were both engrossed in their reading, and walked to the backyard with his scroll in hand.
The scroll he held was different—not in appearance, but in content.
Although Pang Tong had repeatedly bested him in the classics, histories, philosophies, and literature, Fei Qian hadn't spent much time on those subjects. Instead, he had been focusing on texts like the one he now held—"The Six Secret Teachings" (*Liu Tao*).
"The Six Secret Teachings" is divided into six sections—Civil, Military, Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, and Dog—each detailing different aspects of warfare. This set of scrolls was one of Pang Degong's most treasured possessions.
Pang Degong followed the teachings of Huang-Lao Daoism, which encompassed not only philosophical theories like "The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao," but also military strategies from renowned figures like Jiang Ziya (Tai Gong Wang).
"The Six Secret Teachings", believed to have been written during the pre-Qin period, is a comprehensive work on military strategy attributed to Jiang Ziya.
The text advocates principles such as "the soft overcomes the hard," "concealing one's intentions," and "maintaining calm and mystery." It also references the "Yellow Emperor's Book" and uses dialogues between King Wen of Zhou, King Wu of Zhou, and Jiang Ziya to discuss theories and principles of governing the state, managing the military, and conducting warfare. For Fei Qian, this text provided an invaluable window into understanding the operational patterns of ancient warfare.
"The Six Secret Teachings" is vast and profound, covering a wide range of topics.
For example, the "Dragon" section is divided into thirteen chapters, including "The King's Wings," "On Generals," "Selecting Generals," "The Commander-in-Chief," "The General's Prestige," "Encouraging the Troops," "Secret Tallies," "Secret Letters," "Military Momentum," "Unconventional Tactics," "The Five Notes," "Military Divination," and "Agricultural Implements." These chapters cover everything from troop formations and selecting commanders to military discipline, issuing orders, transmitting messages, and preparing military equipment...
Mastering such a massive text required a tremendous amount of effort from Fei Qian...
For Fei Qian, it was only through studying texts like "The Six Secret Teachings" under Pang Degong that he gained a comprehensive understanding of how ancient warfare operated.
Ancient warfare, due to the limitations of tools and resources, was vastly different from modern warfare. Many modern tactics, such as "island hopping," would be suicidal in ancient times...
Unlike modern warfare, where enemies are killed from a distance with the pull of a trigger, ancient combat often took place within a hundred meters, sometimes face-to-face...
A person might easily accept seeing an enemy's head explode like a watermelon through a sniper scope, but facing the spray of hot blood in close combat is another matter entirely...
Moreover, the difficulty of supplying troops in ancient times was immense. While modern armies can rely on trains, ships, or even air drops, ancient armies had to rely on their own two feet or the legs of their horses.
However, one thing remains the same: war is about resources. Without money and provisions, everything else is as fleeting as a mirage.
In the end, it all comes down to resources—money and provisions.
Suddenly, Fei Qian had an idea. He returned to his room and found several scrolls on agriculture and sericulture. Carrying them over to Zao Zhi, he placed them beside him with a smile and said, "Brother, I specially found these scrolls on agriculture and sericulture for you..."
"Really? That's wonderful!" Zao Zhi was overjoyed. While scrolls on the classics, histories, philosophies, and literature were easy to find, texts on agriculture were rare. Hearing that these scrolls were about farming, Zao Zhi was ecstatic and thanked Fei Qian profusely. He picked up one scroll and began reading with delight.