Chapter 519 — Sharing the Cooked Dragon Fish, a Guest Comes on a Starry Night

"A revolution in the art of war is imminent!

" the Duke of Wei suddenly exclaimed.

Hearing this, the Heavenly Strategist General and the others nodded one after another. Shen Mu, together with the countless scholars and the adepts of the Daoist and Buddhist sects and the Little Jade Capital, had been messing about with this so-called Primordial Spirit Council. The adepts laughed and frolicked, taking it for great fun, but the shock it dealt to these generals who commanded armies was beyond compare. Since ancient times, the battlefield changed in an instant, and maintaining contact between an army in the field and the reinforcements, provisions, and the emperor behind it had always been a great problem.

In the past, the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping had built flying vessels, causing tower ships to fly through the air, and had created land-going boats and laid down roads, allowing the various regions to travel back and forth swiftly. Apart from benefits to the people's livelihood, the purpose was to transmit messages. It was precisely by virtue of this geographic advantage and superiority in the air that Jingping's dominions had grown ever larger. Yet as Jingping's borders widened and its lands grew ever more vast, the time needed to transmit messages grew ever longer, and the time required for armies to reach the frontiers grew longer as well.

Shen Mu had improved the alchemical furnace of the tower ships, which could increase their speed, but every message sent devoured a formidable quantity of alchemical ingredients in the furnace. If a tower ship set out from the capital for the True Heaven Palace in the Western Lands, the journey would take several days, and the alchemical ingredients consumed would probably be enough to fight a small campaign.

To move troops on a large scale, one still had to rely on exotic beasts for transport, supplemented by infantry on foot; moving troops by tower ship cost far too much. But with the Primordial Spirit Council method of Shen Mu and the others, one only needed the primordial spirits to fly together and gather, and messages could be conveyed, allowing one to grasp events a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand li away. For war, this method could almost decide the fate of a campaign!

"Your Majesty, Chancellor Shen's use of the word 'conference' betrays a mind bent on rebellion! " An old minister fell to his knees with a thud and cried aloud: "'Conference' means the court assembly; a court conference is when all the civil and military officials of the court come before Your Majesty.

Chancellor Shen presumes to use the word 'conference'—this shows his wolfish ambition! May Your Majesty execute him!

" Emperor Yanfeng was speechless. The other generals indignantly berated the old minister, who knocked his head on the ground, thumping loudly and playing the loyal subject.

After a moment, Emperor Yanfeng waved his hand and said calmly, "The word 'conference' is not the sole preserve of the court. Grand Secretary Yu, you have read too few books.

When attending court, one does naturally speak of a court conference, but the word may also be used elsewhere.

In the past, when Heavenly Blade wrote the ci 'One Line Sky', he said in the preface that he 'conferenced with friends at the Wei River.

' Heavenly Blade was a giant of the literary world, a hundred times more learned than you, and his broad and majestic writings have been passed down and praised to this day. He was not an emperor, and no one accused him of rebellion for using the word 'conference. ' An old word used today.

" The emperor helped Grand Secretary Yu to his feet and said amiably, "Grand Secretary Yu, you are old. I shall not have your head cut off.

You are permitted to retire to your native place. " Note: The word "conference" appeared in the Records of the Grand Historian more than two thousand years ago; it may have been formed even earlier, and it is not a borrowed term. The other ministers thought to themselves in wonder: "His Majesty is in a good mood today; no heads rolled. Grand Secretary Yu lost only his office, not his head. He is in luck! " "Everyone, say nothing for a moment—quiet! " Shen Mu's voice came, calling out: "First, let me test whether the primordial spirits can communicate with one another!

Can you all hear me? " From within the Imperial Academy Hall, all sorts of clamoring voices answered, more than one: "Yes! Clearly! " Shen Mu asked: "When you drive the technique, do you feel any discomfort in your primordial spirit?

" The many primordial spirits in the hall were in an uproar. Suddenly one person's primordial spirit vanished with a bang, only to reappear a moment later—terrifying to behold.

There were also spirits that flickered in and out of sight, and some that drifted back and forth.

Laughter arose from every side, and the Imperial Academy Hall was filled with a chaotic din that left one dizzy. Shen Mu recorded the various anomalies, clapped his hands, and said, "All right, the meeting is adjourned!

" Everyone withdrew their primordial spirits, vanishing from the Imperial Academy Hall, and so ended the first Primordial Spirit Council in history.

Emperor Yanfeng turned his head to the court historian behind him and asked: "Did you record it?

" Holding a thick volume of records, the historian hesitated: "Your Majesty, this Primordial Spirit Council was merely Chancellor Shen playing about with a crowd of scholars. In total only a few words were spoken, and most of them were nonsense.

Must this be recorded as well? " Emperor Yanfeng sighed, and he heavily tapped the scroll on which he recorded the great affairs of state, saying with deep meaning: "If a thousand or a hundred years from now, people read the history of Jingping and search through all the official records, and nowhere find any mention of the first Primordial Spirit Council, later generations will point their fingers at your back and curse you!

Not only must you record it, you must draw it—paint the Primordial Spirit Council!

" Cold sweat broke out on the historian's forehead. He hastily set down the record of Shen Mu and the others' first Primordial Spirit Council, including the few words they had spoken, and thought with grievance: "These words are obviously nonsense.

Would later generations really curse me over such a trifle?

But if I do not record it, His Majesty will have my head. . .

" An hour later, Shen Mu returned from a thousand li away, and the other scholars also hurried back to the Imperial Academy, all shouting and bustling in a great uproar. Shen Mu summoned experts versed in numerology and divination, and on the basis of the anomalies he had recorded, they deduced the flaws in the technique. Before long, the technique approached perfection, with no more primordial spirits leaping free of their bodies. Shen Mu then climbed onto the roof of the Imperial Academy Hall with many scholars to correct the erroneous rune engravings. They toiled for half the day, after which a few fleet-footed ones ran out and tested again the out-of-body gathering of primordial spirits.

This time there were no strange primordial spirit phenomena. Emperor Yanfeng never left; he waited quietly until nightfall, and since the emperor remained, the civil and military officials dared not withdraw and had to stand there. When Shen Mu finished, he had the archivist of the Heavenly Records Tower set down the technique and the runic engravings. Only then did Emperor Yanfeng step forward and say: "Grand Chancellor Shen has rendered merit to the state.

How should I reward you? " Shen Mu stretched lazily and smiled: "If Your Majesty wishes to reward me, then reward everyone in the Imperial Academy with a dinner. This technique was not my sole creation; it was created by gathering everyone's wisdom. " "Excellent!

" Emperor Yanfeng ordered: "Summon everyone from the imperial kitchens, and have them bring their ingredients.