Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 114 - 109 This is Chief Minister Yan’s Intention (Uniform Subscription Bonus - )

Chapter 114: Chapter 109 This is Chief Minister Yan’s Intention (Uniform Subscription Bonus Chapter)

Lin Xiang Min surveyed the crowd, apparently seeking the advisors’ opinions.

The reactions of the advisors varied greatly, some showed surprise, others astonishment, and still others bowed their heads in deep thought.

But one thing was common among them: as advisors, they were undoubtedly expected to devise strategies for Governor Lin, weighing pros and cons, and making the next move correctly.

Li Hongyun also couldn’t help but frown slightly as his brain began to work at high speed.

He had seen the lay of the land at Puning Port, and he had also glanced at the nearby river embankment from a distance.

During the process of playing a soldier and repeatedly attacking the city with General Deng, there had also been cases of sudden heavy rain, which was enough to show that it was now the rainy season and the river levels were surging.

If they were to breach the dam, indeed they could flood Puning Port.

But the problem was... what then?

If Puning Port were an earthen city, flooding it might facilitate breaching it. But Puning Port was a wooden stockade, and though there were indeed lower-lying areas inside, the enemy could just as easily move to higher ground or stockade buildings—it wasn’t likely to cause much damage.

And once the dam broke, once the flood was unleashed, the Sheng Army certainly couldn’t swim over to attack; it also wasn’t clear that it would reduce the difficulty of the attack by much.

Besides, there were farms nearby—if the river were breached, the unrecoverable overflow would likely cause severe, unpredictable consequences.

If the fields were flooded and the people were left homeless, who would they really be flooding—the enemy or their own people?

After a brief moment of thought, Li Hongyun deemed it a purely nonsensical suggestion.

Yet he was somewhat puzzled. According to historical records, Lin Xiang Min was considered a capable official, even knowledgeable in military affairs.

Could Governor Lin himself not see how absurd the plan of breaching the dam to flood the enemy was? Why did he still ask the advisors?

Had a demon altered his character into that of an incompetent? Or was he knowingly asking a question to which he already knew the answer?

Li Hongyun couldn’t grasp the situation at hand, so he wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.

It was better to let the other advisors take the first shot. If Lin Xiang Min directly called on him, then he could speak, and not a moment too soon.

After a moment of silence, one of the advisors spoke up.

"May I ask Lord Governor, whose idea was this plan to breach the dam and drown the enemy?"

Li Hongyun couldn’t help but internally commend that indeed, there were no incompetents among the advisors.

With that question, the advisor effectively indicated that the plan was unreliable and completely unlike one Governor Lin would have conceived himself. Since Governor Lin asked, it suggested there must be other reasons at play.

And sure enough, Lin Xiang Min sighed softly and said, "It was a secret message delivered by someone on behalf of Elder Yan, mentioning it briefly."

At this, the faces of all the advisors subtly changed.

They fell silent once more.

Li Hongyun desperately wished he could jump up and kick these enigmatic fellows, but he couldn’t; instead, he had to wrack his brain.

"A secret message from Chief Minister Yan Maoqing ’mentions it casually’?" On the surface, it seemed nonchalant, but surely that wasn’t the case, otherwise Lin Xiang Min wouldn’t have made a show of gathering all these advisors to discuss countermeasures...

"It’s like when a leader casually mentions something while delegating a task to you—if you really think the leader is just talking off the cuff, and it doesn’t matter whether you do it or not, then your career is essentially over.

"So, it’s certain that breaching the dam to drown the enemy is Yan Maoqing’s idea, and moreover, he seems quite determined, wanting Lin Xiang Min to follow through with it.

"But why...?

"It makes no sense.

"It’s clearly a plan that can only backfire. Whether it drowns the enemy is uncertain, but if it floods the crops and drowns the people, this is a massive blunder to answer for. The risk and benefit are absolutely disproportionate.

"Is Chief Minister Yan trying to doom Governor Lin?

"That’s impossible. Governor Lin is on his side, a trusted aide, who even sends gifts and opera troupes regularly.

"Is Chief Minister Yan giving blind orders?

"That’s unlikely as well. Chief Minister Yan has been in control of state affairs for decades; he may be corrupt, but he’s not brainless. Even if he doesn’t understand military affairs, or hasn’t seen the layout of Puning Port, he should know to respect the opinions of professionals in warfare. Random commands can really get people killed. He wouldn’t issue such a foolhardy order like some micro-managing master.

"It’s impossible that Chief Minister Yan is colluding with the enemy. That would be even more absurd.

"This matter must be of significant importance to Chief Minister Yan, and it might not even relate to fighting the bandits. Moreover, since it’s a secret letter and not an official order, it suggests that the goal is likely unspeakable.

"The intention behind it needs to be guessed.

"Why on earth...?"

Li Hongyun sank into contemplation.

Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Lin Xiang Min looked at Li Hongyun, "Mr. Xu, what do you think of this matter?"

"Hmm?" Li Hongyun was caught off guard by the question.

How am I supposed to look?

I... I watch while sitting...

And why does he call me Mr. Xu when my surname is clearly Li...

But after all, he was quite astute and reacted quickly, realizing that Lin Xiang Min called him Mr. Xu definitely because this staff officer had a name of his own.

Moreover, judging from Lin Xiang Min’s attitude when speaking to him and the place he was seated, it was clear that he was a staff officer of significant status, held in high regard.

But the downside of being held in high regard was that he could no longer slack off.

Seeing that everyone’s gaze had turned towards him in unison, Li Hongyun had no choice but to wing it and forcefully said, "Lord Governor, since this matter is related to military affairs, why not summon General Deng to discuss it further?

"Although this is the Grand Secretary’s intention, if the flooding to defeat the enemy doesn’t work and ends up inundating the fields instead, causing people to be displaced and His Majesty to become wrathful, I’m afraid the Lord Governor would not be able to bear such blame."

Li Hongyun himself knew his answer wasn’t great, but considering trials could be repeated infinitely, it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

Sure enough, Lin Xiang Min seemed unsatisfied and furrowed his brow slightly, "According to your suggestion am I to ignore Elder Yan’s opinion? Although I might be able to delay it temporarily, I cannot hold it off forever.

"After the dyke is destroyed and the enemy flooded, whether His Majesty will dismiss me is uncertain; but if I do nothing, Elder Yan’s dismissal of me is certain. By then, forget about suppressing bandits, everything will cease to be."

Li Hongyun was at a loss for words: "This..."

Another staff officer spoke, "Since Lord Governor is aware that Elder Yan’s will cannot be defied, we can only act accordingly."

Yet Lin Xiang Min still shook his head, looking quite disappointed, he waved his hand dismissively, "Enough, enough, all of you leave, let me think this through some more."

The staff officers exchanged glances and, in the end, had no choice but to stand up, take their leave, and exit.

Li Hongyun followed everyone out in a daze, but then a white mist enveloped him, and everything reverted to the original state.

...

Seeing the identity options appear before him again, Li Hongyun finally realized what had happened.

"Did I fail?

"It seems I did not provide the correct answer..."

Li Hongyun was indeed stumped.

His answer was a kind of play-it-safe response, any discerning person could see that the scheme to break the dyke and flood the enemy was unreliable and he could likely end up taking the blame. Thus, he simply and honestly pointed out the grave consequences of such actions while subtly hinting that the plan was militarily unfeasible.

But Lin Xiang Min was evidently disappointed with this answer, as if it was something already known.

And when another staff officer suggested carrying out the plan, Lin Xiang Min seemed even more disappointed.

It seemed nothing was workable, neither implementing the plan nor doing nothing.

Delay it might work for a while, but Elder Yan was no fool, and seeing Lin Xiang Min’s inaction, he would definitely get angry, leading to the same result.

Li Hongyun felt his brain was empty, unable to move forward.

The soldier’s route was blocked, with no military supplies; the staff officer’s route was stuck too, not helping Lin Xiang Min solve the current problem meant everything else was just talk.

What was to be done?

Just as Li Hongyun felt his brain was being scooped out, the sensation of awakening surged through him.

The day’s fun had come to an end.

...

At 6 a.m., Li Hongyun and Chu Ge woke up on time from bed.

"Chu Ge, have you tried the staff officer route?" Li Hongyun asked.

He was utterly baffled, full of unresolved puzzles, and eager to discuss them with someone. The astute Chu Ge was an excellent candidate.

Chu Ge nodded slightly, "Mhm, I tried. So, you skipped the advanced mission as well and directly went to explore the new instance?"

Li Hongyun chuckled, "Of course, and you did the same, didn’t you?"

It seems expert players think alike.

The advanced mission was time-consuming and didn’t necessarily offer much progress, one could undertake it at any time, but to explore an instance early to strive for the first clear had its advantages.

The player who puts out a strategy first would also obtain a larger share of the income when it came to splitting the ticket revenues.

"How did you answer Lin Xiang Min’s question?" Li Hongyun asked again.

Chu Ge paused for a moment before saying, "Actually, I haven’t figured out the correct answer either, but I have some guesses.

"Let’s do our research on the historical records separately, and then catch up later.

"I have a vague feeling that the answer to this problem is not simple, it may even be the key to breaking this trial."

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