Heavenly Jewel Change Volume 6 (Chapter 36 - Chapter 54)

Shangguan Bing’er said curiously: “Why wouldn’t I have any problems?”


Zhou Weiqing said: “Didn’t you see that one of the examinations is a face to face interview? With our Bing’er’s top beauty, that should be a full marks! As for the other two, you can just casually get any marks and you will still pass. Sigh, as for me, with this face of mine, I doubt I will score high. As for the written military examination, I’ll be happy if I do not get 0 marks.”

Shangguan Bing’er giggled, hitting him on his shoulder: “Do not put yourself down, how would you know without trying. Come, let’s try the military examination first then, since you aren’t confident.”

The written examination on military affairs was in the east side of the square, while the personal combat ability examination was on the west. The central portion of the square was where the interviews were held; this would prevent the noise from the combat examination from affecting the written examinations.

As the two of them entered the written examination area, they noticed that there were only a few empty seats left. Someone passed them a copy of the examination, and the teacher in charge told them no communication was allowed as soon as the tests started, and they could hand in their paper after they had finished. At the front, there were over a dozen teachers reading some completed papers. Clearly, the papers would be graded there and then, so the results of the examination could be received as soon as possible.

There were stationary provided on the table, and Zhou Weiqing sat there and looked at the paper, and he was given a pleasant surprise. If the examination were to be on details of military command like the formation of troops, he would definitely score a big zero. After all, in his younger years when his meridians were still blocked and he did not have his Heavenly Jewels Awakened, Admiral Zhou did not hope for him taking over and inheriting his duties. As a result, he had not been taught anything about the military. However, the question in the paper was not about the normal military knowledge, but an example of a battle situation.

The question was as follows: An isolated little city has been surrounded by enemy troops. Currently, there are only 5000 troops guarding the city, and several hundred thousand citizens, with many young and old dependents. The enemy troops number a hundred thousand, and they have completely surrounded the city. Reinforcements can only arrive in at least 3 days. Under such a circumstance, the enemy has driven citizens from the surrounding villages and used them as the vanguard in attacking the city. As the general in charge of the defence of the city, what would you do?

The examination consisted of only this one single question, and the rest of the paper was blank for their answer.

Zhou Weiqing hesitated for a moment, then started writing furiously, his pen flying over the paper. Perhaps because of the constant creation of Consolidating Equipment Scrolls recently, even his handwriting seemed a lot better.

Before long, he had completed a long section of words. He did not even read through it again, instead standing up in satisfaction, looking at Shangguan Bing’er at the side who was still writing, he headed to the front to hand in his paper.

The teachers at the front were busy grading, but since there was only one question, and these teachers were all experienced members of the Fei Li Imperial Family Military Academy, the grading was done pretty quickly. Zhou Weiqing had only queued for a short while before it was his turn.

The teacher who took his paper was a male of around 50 years of age. As soon as he read the first line, his brow furrowed. On Zhou Weiqing’s paper, the first line was: Kill! Kill! Kill!

As the teacher read on, he saw the following: If I were the general of the little city, I would unhesitatingly issue the order to kill. The civilians outside are the citizens of our country, but so are the citizens and troops in the city wall. At this time, any hesitation might cause the city walls to be destroyed, and countless of lives lost. At that point, would the enemy let those civilians they used as the vanguard go? Perhaps they might, but as the general in charge, I cannot take that risk, take the gamble, betting the lives of several hundred other civilians and my thousands of troops.

To defend the city, that is my first duty. The civilians who were forced to become the vanguard are innocent, alas, if I do not kill them, as a soldier, I have failed in my duty. Perhaps, the little city I am guarding is just a small one of no major consequence to the overall picture of the war, but as a general, I cannot think like this. I must do what I can to complete my task of defending the city, and to do so, I will not hesitate to kill and fight with all my might, down to the very last soldier.

If the enemy’s attack isn’t able to destroy the city, then during the night, I will pass on my duties to my vice commander, and go alone out of the city to attack the enemy, to take responsibility and revenge for the civilians outside. I will kill as many as I can. However, before I do so, I will ensure that the city has sufficient fuel and combustibles, and give my vice commander a final command. As soon as the enemy breaks into the city, then light up and burn the whole city, and fight to the death with the enemy. Even if the city is broken and everyone perishes, we will not leave them with a single grain of food, nor leave them with any living humans to use on the next city. Casualties are unavoidable in war, and I can only do the best I can to provide the best possible outcome in the final war. As to regards on how many people will die, I can only do my best to reduce it, but beyond that, I cannot do anything.

Looking at Zhou Weiqing’s answer, the teacher’s face grew ugly, feeling a sense of blood from it, he couldn’t help but cry out angrily: “Nonsense! This is absolute nonsense!”

Looking up at Zhou Weiqing, he said: “This is your ideal answer? I cannot imagine, if you truly become a general, how many people would die because of you. Your answer, gives me the images of mountains of corpses and blood. A general who doesn’t care about life, who can kill and cause destruction and doesn’t care about civilians, such a general would never be loved by the troops and civilians. Aren’t you afraid of a mutiny?”

Zhou Weiqing shrugged and said: “Mutiny? Why would there be one? Couldn’t I tell them those civilians are enemy troops in disguise? If I am the general, my duty is to protect the country, not just those particular civilians. I believe that no general in the world will be able to save every civilian. I do not need their love, I just need to ensure most of them stay alive. There are always sacrifices in war. What, should I have surrendered instead?”

The teacher cried out angrily: “Even surrendering would be better than your answer. No matter what your excuses are, I will give you a zero for this answer. In fact, from my perspective, I definitely do not hope that a young man with a character like yours will enter the academy and eventually go on the battlefield.”

Zhou Weiqing’s lip curled in scorn. “Pedantic fool.” Towards this exam, he had never expected much anyway. Zero, so be it. Besides, as long as he managed to get full marks for another paper, he should be able to pass. He was rather confident in the personal combat ability examination.

Just as the teacher was about to put a zero on the paper, all of a sudden, a clear voice sounded out. “Wait!”





Chapter 40 Fei Li God General (2)


Zhou Weiqing lifted his head, and his brow furrowed instantly. A youth walked up to the teacher, picking up Zhou Weiqing’s paper. That youth was none other than the one he had met two days ago, the black clad youth who had been with Difuya, Ming Yu.