Peace Order

Chapter 1798 - 80: Legend!

"Eight hundred years of accumulated burdens are too heavy; without the most thorough suffering, true greatness cannot be achieved."

"Without experiencing a pain that pierces to the marrow, there will be no true peace."

Gongyang Suwang realized what the king in front of him intended to do.

Jiang Wanxiang said, "Gongyang Suwang, you mentioned that within the Confucianism Academy, each Palace Master pursues their own goals and learns the ideologies of other schools. But has the Master ever studied the chronicles?"

"Do you know the various reforms during the resurgence of previous dynasties?"

"Do you know why they couldn’t complete them? Do you understand why those scholars who possessed talents as vast as the heavens and earth, who were compassionate to all life, couldn’t succeed even though their reforms hit the crux?"

Gongyang Suwang looked at the king before him: "Like a sword."

"The blade points at oneself, extremely difficult."

Jiang Wanxiang said, "Indeed, because they are [inside], inherently the high and mighty nobility, reforming like a person wielding a sharp blade, yet swinging it at oneself, how can it be accomplished?"

"Mr. Wen Zheng, Half Mountain Duke, how many so-called great scholars tried to reform, only to stop at the first touch of pain? After all, it’s just for these reasons."

"Reforming without completeness is never true reform."

Jiang Wanxiang picked up a chess piece, murmuring:

"Scholars are useless, book-reading people, book-reading people..."

"Too weak, not determined and fierce enough."

"Only the brutal and thorough force can achieve complete [change]; only by pulverizing all that is ancient can the world temporarily restore clarity, awaiting the next era of great contention."

"And now, this opportunity has come."

Gongyang Suwang watched Jiang Wanxiang, glimpsing the tide within this emperor’s chest.

Jiang Wanxiang placed down a chess piece, stood up, and laughed: "Do you still remember when we were sixteen or seventeen? Master, of course, you are much older than me; when you were sixteen or seventeen, I was sixteen or seventeen, we were young then."

"We looked at the world and felt that our elders and the old generation were utterly decayed, felt that they didn’t understand our great ambitions, felt they were merely puppets sculpted by this era and the world, without any spirit."

"We were different."

"We had dreams."

"Now I belong to the old generation; life is but these few days, and what needs to be done must be done, otherwise, if the dreams of youth rot, it would be too late."

"After this battle, I will decide victory or defeat with Prince Qin."

"If he wins, nothing more needs to be said."

"If we win..."

Jiang Wanxiang’s voice halted, silent for a long moment, then he exposed a faint smile:

"I would die too."

Gongyang Suwang sighed, the Qilin seemed to understand.

All living beings long to survive.

There are no exceptions, just some see other things as more important.

Jiang Wanxiang picked up a chess piece, silent for a while, showing a fatherly smile, and asked Gongyang Suwang, "Master, how do you see my son Jiang Gao?"

Gongyang Suwang replied succinctly:

"A gentle young man who, in times of peace, would be a benevolent ruler."

Jiang Wanxiang laughed: "He is also young."

"If I win, then please watch over the peace he would establish!"

"The old generation will inevitably burn out like flames; I will ignite the fire of this era, encompassing all the old powers, all the noble clans, the lingering great scholars, and those decayed forces to wage war with Prince Qin."

"Let me, bearing the shadows and distortions of these eight hundred years of the world along."

"To fight fiercely with Li Guanyi; regardless of victory or defeat, those decayed forces will be slashed by Prince Qin’s blade in this great battle, just the outcome will depend on whether the blade fractures or not."

Gongyang Suwang said: "Emperor Ying indeed has grandeur, but wanting to use Prince Qin’s sharpness to complete his ambition, aren’t you afraid of being bitten back?"

Jiang Wanxiang said: "Bite back, so what?"

Jiang Wanxiang expressed his decision, calm and unhurried:

"Using Prince Qin to sweep the world."

"If I succeed, then I die, Prince Qin dies, the old noble clans, those decadent forces shall accompany Prince Qin and me in burial, and I’ll go to drink and gamble with Prince Qin for the mankind and Gao’er, leaving a vast world."

"If my plan fails, then I die; the old world, the nobles, those decadent forces shall accompany me in burial, while Prince Qin lives on, completely shattering this turbulent world and the shadow of eight hundred years, leaving a most rightful nation."

"Regardless of whether the blade fractures or not, regardless of who wins or dies, it will certainly be one."

"A world of exhilaration."

Gongyang Suwang remained silent.

Jiang Wanxiang said: "You read chronicles, but it’s still not enough."

Gongyang Suwang said: "Your Majesty, please enlighten."

Jiang Wanxiang laughed: "If I were to say, chronicles speak only one sentence."

"What sentence?"

"Only through sword and blade can peace be achieved!"

"Gentle whispers can’t reform the world, Master."

"Only a brutal, direct, and thorough battlefield can crush the stagnant scum, reshape the spirited peace; this time, let me take this old era to embark on this grand dream."

"Whether or not I succeed, my dream will be realized, so from this perspective, I’ve already stood on the Land of Invincibility, I can already see the peaceful days of the future, all I need to do is step onto that battlefield, to complete this grand dream."

"There will be no better thing than this in the world."

"Will heaven favor me too?"

Gongyang Suwang picked up a chess piece, for some inexplicable reason, couldn’t place it down.