Chapter 638: Ask Marshal Meng to Write Five Letters

Conditions were not what Quan Taifeng and Hui Qingping feared. Silence was.

Both immediately perked up. Quan Taifeng asked at once, "What prerequisite?"

Niu Youdao said, "Both sides have massed heavy forces along the borders and faced each other for so long without beginning the war. What exactly does that mean?"

What did that have to do with anything?

Quan Taifeng still answered, "A full-scale war concerns the fate of states. Naturally no one fights without confidence. They are only waiting until Yan's internal turmoil reaches a certain point. Then it will be time to exploit the situation and attack."

The situation appeared obvious.

Niu Youdao had once thought the same thing. Only after meeting Gao Jiancheng did he realize matters were not like that at all.

A group of secular rulers were using the great situation to build momentum and play a troop of cultivators like monkeys. Put plainly, they were fighting the cultivators for a greater voice.

They could not beat the cultivators through brute force, so they could only use hidden methods.

Naturally, Niu Youdao himself was also trying to snatch chestnuts from the fire amid the chaos. He was not about to expose any of this.

"Elder Brother has reached the key point: waiting until Yan's internal turmoil reaches a certain level. But as far as I know, Yan does not entirely lack the strength to suppress the rebellion."

Hui Qingping frowned. "Younger Brother, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Niu Youdao replied, "I don't want to be a fence-sitter, but at this point there is no need for us to exchange empty pleasantries."

"I cannot gamble recklessly with the lives and fortunes of so many people throughout Nanzhou. I have to see at least some sign that the situation favors me before I can raise troops. Otherwise, I would have a hard time convincing the people below me as well."

"Everyone's interests are at stake, and Dachan Mountain is still watching me."

"Elder Brother, Eldest Sister, the rebels inside Yan are not applying enough pressure. I need you to force out Yan's remaining capacity to strike back before I can send troops."

Quan Taifeng and Hui Qingping exchanged a look.

Quan Taifeng asked, "What do you mean? How do we force it out?"

Niu Youdao said, "Have the rebels go all out and seize another one or two provinces. Force Yan to commit everything it has."

"That gives me two benefits."

"First, I can see exactly how much strength Yan still has and judge whether Nanzhou can truly send troops. That will also determine whether I can persuade Dachan Mountain."

"Second, if the rebels tie down the overwhelming bulk of Yan's internal forces, Nanzhou's army will be able to sweep forward like splitting bamboo."

"Only if you accomplish this will I dare raise troops. Otherwise, I will not gamble on something this serious."

The two fell into thought.

They had to admit that from Niu Youdao's position, these were thorough and reasonable considerations.

Quan Taifeng said, "Little Brother, what remaining strength does Yan have? The forces of the regional lords are all out in the open. You're worrying too much."

Niu Youdao said, "From what I can see, the regional lords do not necessarily lack the strength to suppress the rebels. They simply cannot unite and work together."

"So this is not needless worry. It is caution."

"Elder Brother, Eldest Sister, meet this one prerequisite and I will send troops. There is no point saying anything more."

With the conversation already at this point, there truly was no need for further argument.

And so the matter was settled. Everything would depend on how the situation developed.

In truth, that was also the safest arrangement.

Whichever side the situation favored, it was only natural to lean toward that side. On a matter this large, bare verbal promises were worthless. There had to be visible benefit.

Before the two departed, Niu Youdao raised the old matter again. "We agreed on ten million, yet you only gave me five million. The way you people do business is hardly honorable."

Quan Taifeng did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Hui Qingping sighed. "Younger Brother, you can't simply name any price you like and expect us to pay it. This isn't our personal money. We don't have authority to decide everything."

"Five million is already an enormous amount. How many cultivators go their entire lives without ever seeing that much money? Be satisfied."

"You've received the money, you've received tens of thousands of cartloads of grain, and you're still unhappy? A man can't be too greedy."

"All right, all right." Quan Taifeng raised a hand to stop the matter. "Look at that unhappy face. There's no need to see us out."

Guan Fangyi took the initiative to escort the guests from the villa.

When she returned, she found Niu Youdao standing on the high pavilion, sword planted before him as he gazed over the vast sweep of sky, his expression unreadable.

She climbed the pavilion as well.

His back faced her alone in the wind, the hem of his long robe snapping and fluttering.

She had witnessed what had just happened from beginning to end, yet she found it increasingly difficult to understand.

Niu Youdao seemed different from before.

In the past, she could at least guess at what he was doing. Now, even after listening to both sides lay their intentions out plainly, she still could not fathom what Niu Youdao intended.

Once the various states began their struggle, the momentum was enough to overturn Heaven and earth.

No one knew how many families had been destroyed, how many people displaced, or how many cultivators lived in fear that the great tide would grind them into powder.

Yet the man before her seemed to be steering a tiny boat through raging waves, carrying a group of people alongside towering warships, striving forward against the storm and knowing full well the difficulty ahead.

A mournful qin melody drifted faintly from somewhere inside the villa.

With that music behind his solitary figure, Guan Fangyi suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of tragic grandeur.

As though he knew she had arrived, Niu Youdao waited until she came near and asked, "Zhuang Hong is playing the qin again?"

"Probably."

Niu Youdao shook his head slightly. "When she wasn't free, she lamented. Now she's free and at ease, she still laments. That woman can never be satisfied."

It was only an offhand remark.

After speaking, he held out the five money-house drafts in his hand.

Now this was something Guan Fangyi liked.

She snatched them away, counted them once, and immediately began stuffing them into her sleeve.

Niu Youdao said, "Make another trip to the prefectural capital personally and bring Marshal Meng here. Keep it secret. Remind the Prince not to let outsiders know."

Guan Fangyi immediately complained, "You keep calling me the foremost beauty beneath Heaven. Your words sound sweeter than a song, but in practice you use this old lady as nothing more than an errand runner."

Niu Youdao said, "You're not one of those women who are only pretty and have no brains. The capable have to do more work."

"Also, give three of those five gold notes to the Prince."

Guan Fangyi instantly became unhappy. "Three? That's my money. Why should I give it away? Didn't you already give him all that grain?"

Niu Youdao said, "Very soon, the Prince will have many places where he needs to spend large sums. With three million gold coins in hand, many problems will become easier to solve, and many things will proceed more smoothly."

Something in those words made Guan Fangyi realize a major change was coming.

Her protest dwindled into muttering.

Then she quickly left.

...

By the time Meng Shanming arrived, night had already fallen.

He descended directly into Niu Youdao's courtyard.

His departure from the Nanzhou prefectural capital had likewise been handled with great secrecy. He had first been sent quietly out of the city by carriage, then taken away from outside the walls.

Niu Youdao, who had been waiting for him, stepped forward and greeted him courteously. "Making Marshal Meng travel back and forth like this is truly my fault."

To Niu Youdao, Meng Shanming was now a strategic asset for Nanzhou. He genuinely deserved respectful treatment.

Meng Shanming hurriedly replied with humility, "Master Dao embarrasses this old man by saying so."

Neither indulged in excessive courtesies.

Niu Youdao invited him into his room and motioned for Guan Fangyi, who was pushing the wheelchair, to pour Meng Shanming a cup of tea.

Once Niu Youdao had taken the seat opposite him across the table, he asked, "Has the Prince's side gathered all that grain?"

The grain carts had broken all along the road. Naturally the grain itself had been left scattered along the route and needed to be collected.

"Food that fills the stomach is greater than Heaven. There won't be any mistake. It's all been gathered." Meng Shanming confirmed this first to put him at ease, then asked, "Master Dao, were you never planning to return that grain to the imperial court?"

Niu Youdao smiled. "We aren't rebels. We're part of the imperial court too. Better for the grain to remain in our hands than fall into the hands of outsiders."

Meng Shanming smiled bitterly. "Will the three major sects let the matter pass so easily?"

"At least for now, they don't dare do anything to me. So long as later events prove we were right, we'll meet with a smile and let old grudges dissolve. Naturally it will pass." Niu Youdao gave him a few words of reassurance, then turned to the real matter.

"During the day, people from Han and Song came looking for me again."

Meng Shanming's expression grew grave. He asked tentatively, "To persuade Master Dao to raise troops?"

Niu Youdao nodded faintly with a smile.

Meng Shanming's heart tightened. "What does Master Dao intend?"

Niu Youdao did not conceal anything from him. He recounted in detail, from beginning to end, everything he had negotiated with Quan Taifeng and Hui Qingping.

Meng Shanming's cheeks tightened as he listened. "Could it be that Master Dao truly intends for Nanzhou to betray Yan and join the enemy?"

Niu Youdao shook his head. "The Prince is a member of Great Yan's imperial clan, and Marshal Meng is a pillar of Great Yan. What reason would either of you have to rebel against your own house and state?"

"Agreeing to their terms is only a temporary expedient. The purpose is to have the rebels force the imperial court's hand."

"If the court is not driven to the end of its rope, why would it ever come begging us? And if it does not come begging us, how can the Prince obtain proper name and legitimate authority to command the army suppressing the rebellion?"

Meng Shanming slowly nodded, deep in thought.

Then he frowned again and shook his head. "The imperial court will not loosen its grip that easily."

"Once the situation becomes critical, the three major sects will probably stop at nothing to gather the regional lords' strength and encircle the rebels. Unless they are truly forced into a corner, they will never hand us supreme authority over the rebellion-suppression campaign."

"But even if the regional forces are gathered, every lord has his own private interests. Each man fears that obeying another's command will leave him taking the losses."

"That battle will be difficult to fight. What is being consumed will still be Yan's own strength."

"If things reach the point where that strength has already been badly damaged and only then do we receive command over a collection of beaten remnants..." Meng Shanming could only sigh.

Niu Youdao tapped his knuckles lightly against the tabletop. "Marshal Meng is right. That is why we cannot give the regional lords the chance to exhaust one another. That is also why I asked you here."

"Oh?" Meng Shanming looked toward him. "I would like to hear Master Dao's thoughts."

Niu Youdao said, "The five reinforcing armies are led by Xu Jingyue, Provincial Inspector of Gongzhou; An Xianzhao, Provincial Inspector of Tuzhou; Su Qitong, Provincial Inspector of Haozhou; Xin Mao, Provincial Inspector of Fuzhou; and Zhang Hu, Provincial Inspector of Changzhou."

"All five are Marshal Meng's former subordinates."

"I would like Marshal Meng to write five letters. I will arrange for them to reach those five men as quickly as possible."

Meng Shanming looked puzzled. "Master Dao wants me to persuade them to unite and work together?"

"Too many interests are entangled behind them now. I fear they themselves have little freedom of action. Even if I write, the letters probably won't accomplish much."

Niu Youdao smiled. "That depends on what Marshal Meng writes."

Meng Shanming did not understand. "What do you want me to write?"

A strange, sly curve appeared at the corner of Niu Youdao's mouth. "Write that Marshal Meng is willing to lead Nanzhou's forces into battle, willing to pay any price to pacify Great Yan's rebellion. That alone is enough."

Meng Shanming was still somewhat confused. "That will be useful?"

Niu Youdao said, "Marshal Meng said there are too many interests entangled behind those five men. Put plainly, the senior figures within the three major sects want to preserve the forces they control."

"Once those five receive these letters, they will certainly let their backers know."

"Marshal Meng, think about it. Those people are already at their wits' end. If Nanzhou is willing to pay the price to pacify the rebellion, they'll be delighted beyond measure."

"If someone else is willing to serve as the sacrificial lamb and clean up the mess, can you really expect them to unite and pay the cost themselves?"

"They will inevitably avoid battle."

"And the imperial court's armies will lose again and again!"

[End of Chapter 638]