Chapter Forty-Five: The Eccentric Liang Fu

Li Zisheng, upon seeing Feng Hai holding the Turks, had already anticipated the final outcome. With Feng Hai accumulating two points ahead of everyone else, he would likely advance directly to the final round of assessments to compete for the highest ranking.

In the second round, Wang Zheyuan stepped forward. This time, as in the previous simulation, Wang Zheyuan commanded the Turks. The result was unsurprising—he won a sweeping victory, following closely in Feng Hai’s footsteps by securing two points and earning a place in the final assessment.

However, the remaining students in the academy were not so fortunate. Those ranked as Earth and Human class scholars, as well as the students from the Martial Academy, all ended up commanding the Tang army. In the end, they suffered regrettable defeats and lost their qualification to continue in the competition.

By this point, the military camp could be said to have achieved a resounding victory.

The last participant was Li Zisheng.

Unquestionably, Li Zisheng was once again assigned to the Tang army. In everyone’s eyes, his defeat was a foregone conclusion; there was almost no doubt he would lose. Even if Li Zisheng was gifted in literature, in the context of warfare, a handful of trivial poems were utterly useless.

In the minds of the soldiers, the reason for the Tang Empire’s current dominance over all nations was its invincible military, forged by countless brave souls who were willing to shed blood and sacrifice themselves. Only through such valor had the might of the Tang dynasty been established. Scholars, in their view, were mere dependents.

Thus, among the military men, Li Zisheng was nothing more than a jumping clown who did not belong on such a stage. That he wasn’t already cowed by the soldiers’ imposing presence marked him as a man of unusual courage among scholars.

Li Zisheng’s opponent was Liang Fu. During Li’s earlier match with Shi Kai, he hadn’t discerned anything remarkable about Liang Fu, who had seemed to win only by a narrow margin. Yet, Li Zisheng couldn’t shake the feeling that Liang Fu held something back—an ace concealed from view.

This time, commanding the Tang army put Li Zisheng at a severe disadvantage. If his opponent, like Feng Hai before him, adopted a reckless strategy—willing to sacrifice countless Turkic soldiers for victory—Li Zisheng would be hard-pressed to withstand the assault and would be forced to surrender.

His only path to victory was to make the opponent wary of such a reckless approach, to force him to abandon a suicidal strategy.

But how to make the opponent give up the fight? At this point, his only hope was to exploit the terrain and wage a guerrilla war.

“Little one, you’d best admit defeat now, or you’ll end up in tears looking for your mother. Trust me, I’m only trying to help,” Liang Fu said, standing opposite Li Zisheng, his face extremely serious, as though he genuinely meant his advice without a hint of insincerity.

Hearing this, Li Zisheng was momentarily taken aback, then unconsciously smiled. Liang Fu was certainly a strange character.

Still, Li Zisheng would not underestimate his opponent just because of a few words—on the contrary, such a display required greater vigilance, for there was surely more beneath the surface.

“Very well, let the assessment begin,” announced the bearded general.

Both men took their positions on opposite sides of the sand table, each lost in thought, considering their strategies.

Li Zisheng glanced at Liang Fu across the table. Even as an eight-year-old child, commanding the disadvantaged Tang forces, he did not take his opponent lightly. It struck him that if Liang Fu was not a fool, then he must be a man of deep cunning.

And Li Zisheng was certain Liang Fu was no fool.

He focused all his attention on the simulation before him. Though commanding a force of a hundred thousand Tang soldiers, the disadvantages were immense.

During the Battle of Wulong Slope, constant torrential rains had soaked the Guanzhong region. The Tang troops, exhausted by their long march, suffered further from disrupted supply lines and dampened weaponry, severely diminishing their combat effectiveness.

The mountain paths of Lingxi and the rivers of Lingwu were slick and treacherous, making movement difficult and dangerous. For the Tang side, winning this battle would be an almost insurmountable challenge.

Emperor Taizong had claimed victory through psychological warfare—sowing discord between the two Turkic Khagans with stratagems and diplomacy, forcing their retreat. Yet in this simulation, the Turks were unified under a single commander, making the disparity even greater.

“A hundred thousand soldiers…” Liang Fu murmured, lost in thought, making no move as the spectators grew anxious, wishing they could take his place.

The academy’s scholars were baffled. With such a clear advantage, why didn’t Liang Fu strike while the iron was hot? Their impatience grew.

But among the soldiers, not one displayed the slightest anxiety. Instead, they watched Liang Fu’s contemplation with calm assurance.

This oddity drew the attention of the academy’s director.

“General, could the candidate from the Huiyue army be him?” the director asked gravely, glancing at the bearded general.

“That’s right. It’s him,” the general replied without hesitation.

The director’s expression shifted between joy and worry. Joy, because Li Zisheng was certain to lose; worry, because Liang Fu posed a threat to the academy’s students.

“The academy’s slots are exceptionally precious. To have lost so many is a heavy price. I can only hope Wang Zheyuan and Feng Hai can redeem the situation,” he thought, comforted by his faith in those two. The waste of one precious slot on Li Zisheng pained him greatly.

If the academy’s students were utterly defeated, his own standing with his superiors would plummet. Watching Liang Fu, his mood was dark, but a glance at the bearded general left him with no choice but to shake his head helplessly.

He silently prayed for Wang Zheyuan and Feng Hai to win the final round.

Li Zisheng’s brows furrowed deeply. Though he had analyzed the pros and cons of the battle, he saw no clear way out, and his frown only deepened.

After a long period of thought, Liang Fu suddenly seemed to reach enlightenment, a slow smile spreading across his lips as he gazed at the sand table with genuine enthusiasm.

Li Zisheng noticed at once.

“So if I launch a direct assault, I can win outright,” Liang Fu said at last, his words so abrupt they startled the onlookers.

The scholars in the academy were dumbfounded. Was this man an idiot? Only now, after all this time, did he realize such an obvious truth?

But to Li Zisheng, those words carried a meaning all their own.