Chapter 221 Mohist Engineering Team

There should be no problem with Yan Ju's personal ability, but this does not mean that Yang Chong must recruit him. Loyalty and ability have always been the two most important criteria for employing people, and loyalty is even more important than ability.

So when Yan Ju came to join him, the first thing Yang Chong considered was what Yan Ju wanted to get from him, and what Yan Ju wanted to get from him.

This point must be made clear.

"I have heard of your great name. Whether in Qi or Zhao, you can get more opportunities. But here, you are at most a county magistrate or a captain of a battalion. There is not much I can give you." Yang Chong said bluntly.

The person in front of him was a middle-aged man over 40 years old. For this era, his age was not young anymore. Correspondingly, he had few opportunities left in his life. But precisely because of this, he should cherish his few opportunities even more.

But what kind of opportunity did Yan Ju see in Dong'e City that made him give up Handan and come to Dong'e?

"There is not much that you can give me now, but the future is uncertain. If I go to Zhao State, I might be able to get a high position, but to Zhao State, I am an outsider after all. To my relatives, I am just a loser who couldn't make it in his hometown and had to flee to another country. But it is different in Dong'a. Dong'a is indeed nothing compared to Handan or Linzi, but the future is different. Here, there is hope." Faced with Yang Chong's questioning, Yan Ju chose to be honest.

"What hope?" Yang Chong asked. He heard something unusual in Yan Ju's words.

"The hope that allows me to return home in glory." Yan Ju said frankly.

Returning home in glory? What place did Yan Ju refer to? Of course, it was Qi State. This also means that Yan Ju knew that Yang Chong’s real goal was Qi State, but how did Yan Ju know it?

To this day, Yang Chong has not directly confronted the State of Qi. In Qi, not many people know Yang Chong's identity. The royal family of Qi may know Yang Chong's identity because of his farming family, but Yang Chong's power at the time was too weak, so weak that King Jian of Qi didn't bother to pay attention to Yang Chong. In short, not many people know Yang Chong's plot against the State of Qi. How did Yan Ju know it?
"Besides the name Yan Ju, what other identity do you have?" Yang Chong asked. Of course, he was not afraid of Yan Ju knowing his identity and plan, but fearlessness did not mean that Yang Chong would allow anyone to tell Yan Ju his background, which would be a betrayal.

Not all the people in the six departments of Emperor Yan can be trusted.

"I am a descendant of one of the six military chiefs of Emperor Yan. I wonder if what I said would satisfy my lord?" Yan Ju replied, and his way of addressing Yang Chong had changed from 'Sir' to 'Young Master'.

The military commander? Yang Chong was a little surprised.

Of course Yang Chong knew what the Bingzhu Department was.

The six departments of Emperor Yan were divided into the Lord of War, the Master of Calendar, the King of Medicine, the God of Grains, etc. There were only departments but no halls. The so-called department means tribe, which is a kind of tribal organization based on ancient times. It is loosely organized, unlike the current six agricultural machinery halls, which have a strict organizational system and an insurmountable hierarchical system.

This is also an important reason why the six tribes of Emperor Yan were replaced by farmers. After all, compared to being a leader in a tribe, being restricted by the tribesmen, it is still more restrictive to be a hall master. Being second only to one person and above everyone else, satisfying personal desires in the process of controlling the fate of others is the most refreshing thing in life.

As one of the six tribes of Emperor Yan, the Bingzhu tribe had many members who practiced the art of military strategy. Of course, when the Bingzhu tribe already existed, there was no concept of military strategy, so it would be more accurate to say that the Bingzhu tribe practiced the art of attack between people. This art of attack could be a fight between people or a war between ethnic groups.

"You did not show up when I was gathering my people in Qi." Yang Chong said. Yan Ju was the descendant of the six tribes of Emperor Yan. Yan Ju did not show up when Yang Chong was gathering his people. But he showed up now. Yang Chong had to think more about the motive behind this.

"At that time, I did not know the master, so naturally I never thought of surrendering. The master also knew that the six tribes of the Yan Emperor had already been struggling to survive under the attacks of the Nong family. The Nong family might allow the descendants of the six tribes of the Yan Emperor to remain alive, but they would never allow anyone to reappear in this world under the banner of the six tribes of the Yan Emperor." Yan Ju spoke freely without any shame on his face.

Only people with simple minds can be purely loyal. Yan Ju is not that kind of fool. He is a smart man. He can see many things that others cannot see. So when faced with the call of the six ministries of Emperor Yan, he chose to wait and see. This was not a question of loyalty or disloyalty, but purely out of rational considerations.

What appeal can a power that has been declining for hundreds of years have? Although there is some appeal, it is not much.

"But it's different now. The lord has enough power now. Restoring Qi is no longer a fantasy, but a real hope for a great cause that can be achieved. It is this hope that brings me here." Yan Ju continued, without any feeling of shame for his fence-sitting behavior.

When Yang Chong was still weak, he turned a blind eye to Yang Chong's call. When Yang Chong had enough strength, he came forward again.

This is a very despicable behavior, but Yan Ju doesn't seem to think so.

"You are right and your reasons are very sufficient, but I don't like this reason." Yang Chong said. He could understand Yan Ju's choice at that time, but that didn't mean he had to accept it.

"My lord has great ambitions for the world, so I don't think he will care about my little thoughts." Facing Yang Chong's doubts, Yan Ju still looked calm.

"This reason is not sufficient." Yang Chong looked at Yan Ju. This person who only left a few words in history books was not that simple. Now Yang Chong also wanted to see what he could say from him.

Of course Yang Chong didn't like Yan Ju's behavior, but that was just dislike. He was now recruiting talents for his own use, not looking for a girlfriend. It didn't matter whether he liked this person or not, as long as he was useful.

And now, Yang Chong is considering whether Yan Ju is usable and sufficient.

"The Confucian Xunzi once said that if small streams do not accumulate, there will be no river or sea. Since the Lord has the ambition to become a great sea, he will naturally not care whether my small stream has any intentions. The Lord only cares about how much water my small stream can provide." Yan Ju replied. This is indeed a smart man. A few simple sentences have expressed a lot of confidence, showing his calmness and complimenting Yang Chong to a certain extent. It can be said that he is neither humble nor arrogant.

"It seems that I really have no reason to reject you. Otherwise, wouldn't it mean that I don't have enough tolerance for others?" Yang Chong smiled. Smart people like Yan Ju are indeed rare. As for the issue of loyalty, Yang Chong didn't care.

Only incompetent people would think about gaining absolute loyalty from their subordinates, and only incompetent people need to find the so-called sense of security from the absolute loyalty of others, but Yang Chong does not need it.

It doesn’t matter whether Yan Ju is loyal or not. What matters is that Yang Chong has too many means to prevent Yan Ju from having the thought of betrayal.

In this world, loyalty is an extremely rare thing, and being united based on interests is the bond that maintains the relationship between people.

"My lord, your mind is broad enough to accommodate the State of Qi, so how could you not accommodate a Yan Ju? After all, there are too many people like me in the State of Qi. If my lord abandons me, wouldn't he be giving up most of the State of Qi?" Yan Ju smiled. He knew that his bet was right and his analysis of Yang Chong was not wrong.

When the banners of the six tribes of Emperor Yan appeared again in Qi, he did not respond to the call, but he did not turn a blind eye either. Instead, he kept observing, observing the people of the six tribes of Emperor Yan gathering towards Raoan, observing Yang Chong suddenly becoming the prefect of Jibei County, observing Jibei County using paper to make friends with its masters, building mysterious salt fields on the coast of the sea, and opening up trade routes from Raoan to Zhao, Yan, and Wei with fine wine, and even selling it far away on the grasslands.

But what really made Yan Ju decide to join forces with Yang Chong was the fact that Yang Chong defeated the Qin army in Yecheng. This incident was enough to prove Yang Chong's ability to train troops and his combat capabilities.

Yang Chong was able to train a strong army with the strength of Jibei County in just one year, and was able to defeat the elite Qin army despite being at a disadvantage. Such ability is worthy of Yan Ju's service.
In this Warring States Period, although war cannot solve all problems, it can solve 99% of the problems.

Yang Chong was able to defeat the Qin army with the strength of Jibei County alone. Now he already owned more than 30 cities including Jibei County, Dong'a, Anyang, and Yecheng, with a population of 700,000 and 100,000 soldiers. This strength was enough to plot against the State of Qi.

Yan Ju believed that Yang Chong now had the ability to swallow up Qi State, instead of just having the ambition to swallow up Qi State but not the power to take it down like before.

More importantly, Yan Ju also believed that Yang Chong needed someone like him.

In the future, when Yang Chong invades Qi, there will be too many people like him. Yang Chong can't even tolerate him. What can Yang Chong do when facing those people in Qi who were once loyal to King Jian of Qi? At that time, will Yang Chong hope that those people will surrender to him quickly, or hope that those people will resist to the end? If those people surrender, they are not loyal ministers. Doesn't Yang Chong need such disloyal people?
If those people were all loyal ministers, then if Yang Chong attacked them, he would face endless resistance, which was probably not what Yang Chong wanted to face.

"I like smart people. I hope your intelligence is not just this kind of cleverness of guessing people's hearts, but real wisdom that can be put into practice. The soldiers of Anyang Camp have been recruited, and they are still short of a chief commander. You go there first. If you can train the soldiers of this camp well, when Anyang Camp is formed, you will be the captain of this camp." Yang Chong said.

"Don't worry, my lord. I will never let you down. I also have quite a bit of experience in training troops." Yan Juhui said.

Yang Chong's arrangement for him was not bad, but it was not good either. However, Yan Ju was not disappointed. This was just the beginning. He believed that with his own abilities, he would be able to obtain the position he wanted under Yang Chong's command, or even in Qi State, in the future.

When Yan Ju devoted himself to his career, a group of people dressed in black and white also appeared in Dong'a City.

These people came from the distant Huaisi area, which once belonged to the State of Song and is now divided between the State of Wei and the State of Chu. At the border between the two countries, there are vast mountains and vast water systems. Hundreds of years ago, a world-renowned grandmaster built a city there, a city that only existed in his ideal.

That city is called Mohist Mechanical City, the most mysterious city among the seven countries, a city that is said to never fall.

"Dong'a City, I have been here when I was young. This city was also the western capital of Qi State. After so many years, things and people have really changed. The world has changed too fast." A short and fat old man in the crowd said. He was only over fifty years old, and his hair and beard were half white. In this era, he was already considered an old man.

"The Qi State back then was invincible, not at all weaker than the Qin State today. Unfortunately, it was only glorious for a short time. The prosperity of three generations cannot sustain the decline of one generation." Another person also sighed. He had a very slender figure, and although he was quite old, his back was still straight, and his not-so-strong body still had strong vitality.

Through the efforts of King Wei and King Xuan, Qi State defeated Wei's hegemony and confronted Qin head-on. It was so prosperous at that time. But by the time of King Min, it became arrogant and then self-destructed, resulting in the current closed-door Qi State.

"As the saying goes, it's easy to conquer the world, but difficult to keep it. That's pretty much the truth." As the two were sighing, a man and a woman appeared in front of them.

Faced with the sudden appearance of the man and woman, the taller old man was startled and subconsciously stroked the sword at his waist. The woman was okay, although she was beautiful, but she was just beautiful. But the young man gave him a very different feeling. He felt a restrained sword intent in the young man. That sword intent was extremely chaotic, but in the chaos, there seemed to be a more mysterious sword intent. Although weak, it should not be underestimated. It could actually cause the sword at his waist to resonate unintentionally.

This is a top master in kendo, even as good as the giant.

"Are you the owner of this city?" the old man asked.

"My name is Yang Chong, nice to meet Master Xu, Master Ban and all the senior brothers from the Mohist school." Yang Chong bowed.

These people dressed in black and white are the disciples of Mohism, whom Yang Chong contacted through Confucianism.

The short and fat one is Mo Ban, the master of Mohist mechanical arts, also known as Master Ban. The tall and thin one is surnamed Xu, and his name is Xu Fuzi, and he is known as the Sword Master.

(End of this chapter)