Chapter 1541: Marshal Meng Has Grown Old

"Put another way, this is what you call good intentions bringing good reward. His Majesty can't fault me for it, and it stands up perfectly well at court. You're jealous now, but why didn't you buy back then? Besides, with your wife's temperament, even if I'd told you to buy, would she have been willing to open her purse?"

Yin Chu drew his neck in. Fair point. Given the circumstances at the time, when the war could have reversed at any moment, how many people would have dared throw their money into that water?

After being lectured like this, he could only accept his fate and sigh. "Looks like I simply don't have the Marshal's or Superintendent Shao's fortune for getting rich."

"Fortune?" Gao Pin turned and stared at him with a sneer. "Don't tell me you still think this was luck."

Yin Chu was taken aback. "If it wasn't luck, what else could it have been?"

Gao Pin said, "I didn't think much of it at first either. It wasn't until rumors of moving the capital began circulating and the value of my properties exploded that I realized something was wrong. I went back over Superintendent Shao's past and sorted through what he'd done. The answer was sitting there in plain sight."

"He had been planning the wars against Qi and Wei years in advance. Then he suddenly ran off to become a schoolteacher. How many people laughed at him back then? Who can still laugh now? Look carefully at everything that man has ever done. Is Superintendent Shao someone who acts on a passing impulse? What sort of 'cover' requires buying that many properties?"

"Looking back now, once Qi and Wei were occupied, the old Jin capital really was no longer suitably placed. Add in the barrenness of the surrounding region and the need to transmit government orders efficiently, and Wei Capital became the only sensible choice for relocating the capital."

Yin Chu sucked in a breath. "He had already guessed that the capital would move?"

Gao Pin nodded. "That man's vision reaches farther than yours or mine, and so does his planning. Making a fortune on the side was nothing more than something he did in passing. That's why I say it's a waste for him to hide in the Imperial Academy teaching students."

After sighing over this for a while, Yin Chu could not resist another sour remark. "He didn't bring anyone else along. He brought the Marshal alone into the profit. That shows he was still willing to give you face." The implication was obvious. He was still talking about his own son's problem.

Gao Pin nearly spat in his face. "He brought me along to get rich, my ass! He plainly calculated against me and used me."

Yin Chu stared. "How so?"

Gao Pin said, "When those properties shot up in value, I thought he had done me a good turn too. Later I thought it over and realized something was wrong. Back then, he had no idea he would marry a princess, and no idea he would become Superintendent of the Imperial Academy. Think about it. Owning that much property easily makes people jealous. It makes you a target for everyone. What nonsense about buying property to steady people's hearts? He was plainly dragging me into the water with him."

"With one letter, he put me right where he wanted me. For the sake of steadying people's hearts, like an idiot I bought many times more property than he did. When the sky falls, the tallest man holds it up. If someone was going to become the target of every eye, I would be standing in front of him. Even if trouble reached his head, he had rendered great service. However much he lost, it could never hurt him too badly."

"I nearly let him fool me into feeling grateful. He almost sold me and had me counting the money for him afterward. That bastard is too sinister. Instead of coming over here to face the enemy, he hides in the capital playing schoolteacher. Infuriating!"

Yin Chu nearly burst out laughing. After smacking his lips, however, he still could not keep the envy from his voice. "If being fooled and used like that comes with this kind of reward, who wouldn't volunteer? Marshal, you own more fertile farmland than anyone can count, dozens of grand residences, at least two hundred prime shops from what I hear, and all sorts of businesses that make money simply by sitting there. There are so many I can't even remember them all. At this point, calling you the richest man in Jin wouldn't be much of an exaggeration, would it?"

Gao Pin raised an eyebrow. "Do you know what Shao Pingbo did with those properties? I've been paying attention, so I know. He sold most of them at the original price to his students, so those students would have no worries behind them and could devote themselves to serving the court. That's what a clever man does. Learn something from him. A man whose eyes are always fixed on money will never make real money."

Yin Chu's eyes lit up. "Marshal, are you thinking of following Superintendent Shao's example? In that case, for my side, could you perhaps..."

Gao Pin cut him off. "What are you thinking? We're not the same as him. We both hold military authority. Do you really think it would be appropriate for me to buy people's loyalty that way?"

"To tell you the truth, I have so much property now that even I'm frightened by it. Richest man? It's too hot to hold. Understand?"

Yin Chu thought about it and nodded. "The Marshal is already one of the Three Excellencies. There is nowhere higher to promote you. Any further and His Majesty would have to make you a prince. If you're this rich on top of that, there won't even be anything left His Majesty can reward you with."

Gao Pin sighed. "You have military achievements in hand. You won't lack rewards. What you receive will be enough to keep your household clothed and fed for the rest of your lives. But what about everyone else? After a war like this, who knows how many people will become widows and orphans? A little court compensation won't be enough to sustain them. There are some things where it isn't suitable for me to play the benefactor. Better to let the court do it."

"I've already submitted a memorial to His Majesty. Those properties were purchased in the first place as part of the court's effort to steady public confidence. They merely passed through my hands. It would be improper for me to line my own pockets with them. So the court will now buy most of those properties back from me at the original price and distribute them as part of the compensation for the fallen. With property that continues to produce income, those widows and orphans will have an easier life in the years ahead. His Majesty has already approved it."

"Of course I won't turn over every last property to the court. His Majesty can't very well make it look as though he's swallowing the whole lot either. I'll keep some. That way I can still look after the families of old brothers who die in battle. I'm keeping the wharf too, both to leave myself one source of income and to give the personal guards crippled in the war some livelihood for the rest of their lives. Beyond that, my ability is limited. I can't look after everyone."

Yin Chu silently nodded. Giving away wealth on that scale truly was painful. But many things in this world were complicated, and greed was not necessarily a blessing. In the end, he could only sigh. "Marshal has put a great deal of thought into this."

...

Inside the central command tent, a group of generals emerged after finishing their council. Meng Shanming sat in his wheelchair, with Luo Da'an pushing him.

Meng Shanming raised one hand. The wheelchair stopped facing the setting sun. Directly ahead stood the towering Xiping Pass, bathed in the last glow of evening.

Provincial Inspector Zhang Hu of Changzhou and a group of other generals formed a line behind the wheelchair. Half of them were old subordinates of Meng Shanming who had later become regional lords in their own right. All gazed toward the magnificent sight beneath the sunset.

Provincial Inspector Xu Jingyue of Gongzhou said, "Gao Pin should be inside Xiping Pass right now. A pity the pass is easy to defend and hard to attack. Otherwise we'd certainly take him down!"

Meng Shanming knew that Huyan Wuhen had once shared equal fame with him, and Huyan Wuhen's defeat at Gao Pin's hands had left these old subordinates of his feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

He said slowly, "Perhaps Huyan Wuhen's defeat can be traced back to Xiping Pass."

Provincial Inspector Xin Mao of Fuzhou asked, "Marshal Meng, what do you mean?"

Meng Shanming said in an unhurried voice, "At the beginning, Huyan Wuhen probably didn't take Gao Pin seriously. He overestimated himself and underestimated Gao Pin. When he saw how difficult Xiping Pass would be to storm, and how enormous the losses would be if he forced the attack, he gave up. At that point the war was still contained within Wei territory. He was probably confident he could control the situation."

"If he had known what the war would ultimately become, if he had known he would spend so long attacking Gao Pin without being able to break him, he certainly would not have abandoned Xiping Pass. So long as he could block Jin's reinforcements and coordinate with the Qin army outside the pass in a pincer attack from within and without, the price might have been high, but Yin Chu, isolated and without relief, could not have held Xiping Pass forever."

"With Xiping Pass in hand, reinforcements could enter at any time, while the pass itself would in turn pin down large numbers of Jin troops. The final shape of the war might have been entirely different. A throat of the realm that armies must contest, and yet he gave it up... At the time, even I didn't expect Gao Pin to adopt Jin Jue's method and actually grind the State of Qi to death. Huyan Wuhen's suicide probably carried this bitterness deep within it as well."

Zhang Hu pondered before saying, "Huyan Wuhen's decision at the time can't really be called wrong. To fight to the death over Xiping Pass and burn through a huge number of troops would have meant fighting at any cost. Afterward, when he faced Jin's army again, his manpower might have been stretched too thin. It really was more worthwhile to defeat Jin's army directly. Of course, if he had known what came later, naturally he would have fought desperately to take Xiping Pass first."

The generals began offering their own views, one after another.

For a moment it felt like the old days, when all of them had served beneath Prince Ning. Only now everyone had changed. They were more mature. Meng Shanming had grown old. And Prince Ning's command had become the command of Prince Ning's son.

As the discussion continued, Luo Da'an suddenly turned and gestured for everyone to be quiet.

The men fell silent. Only then did they realize Meng Shanming had tilted sideways in his wheelchair and fallen asleep, breathing with a faint snore.

His thin body rested in the sunset. His grizzled beard stirred gently in the wind.

The generals immediately ordered the soldiers moving nearby to lower their voices. Someone fetched a blanket, and several men carefully spread it over Meng Shanming and tucked it around him.

Several generals then joined hands and gently lifted the wheelchair with the old man still in it, carrying him quietly into his tent.

When they came back out, the men exchanged looks.

Zhang Hu gave a soft sigh. "Time spares no one. Marshal Meng has grown old."

Outside the central command tent, Guan Fangyi strolled beneath the sunset, hips swaying, a round fan moving lazily in her hand.

In this world of men, she looked like a single red flower among green leaves, strikingly conspicuous. Soldiers stole glances at her from time to time.

Ordinary soldiers were not so discerning. To them, Guan Fangyi was still very beautiful. The foundation of her looks was there, after all.

At the very least, she appeared far younger and prettier than the thirty-year-old women back home bent over farm work. Even young women who spent their days doing rough labor did not have skin so fine and delicate. To many of these soldiers, this was beauty they could never hope to touch in their entire lives...

...

"Qingqing was killed."

Inside a room, Niu Youdao removed Yin'er's false face and told her this one sentence.

Yin'er froze. Anger quickly spread across her face, and the strange silver markings rapidly began to surface.

Niu Youdao immediately pressed one hand against her shoulder and hurriedly circulated his power to dissolve the aberrant demon qi surging through her body. With his other hand, he thrust a roasted chicken leg in front of her. "You heard wrong."

Yin'er immediately became confused. "Not Qingqing?"

"No." Niu Youdao shook his head.

Yin'er instantly relaxed. She snatched the chicken leg from his hand and happily began gnawing on it.

Once he had brought the aberrant demon power in her body under control, Niu Youdao let out a quiet breath and released her.

This was not the first time. He was simply repeating the test. Before they had even reached Qiyun Sect, he had tried it several times already. In effect, he had verbally killed Shang Shuqing several times over.

By now he could basically confirm that this girl was not the type to remember things for long. She could be fooled with the same trick again and again.

That was not a bad thing. Under the present circumstances, it was a good thing. What he feared most was her failing him at the crucial moment.

If another situation like the one with Yuan Se occurred, and she stood there staring blankly even after taking several slaps, that would be a fine mess indeed.

Then Niu Youdao turned his head and found Yun Ji staring at him with an exceedingly strange expression.

A faint embarrassment crept over him. He picked up the false face and put it back on Yin'er.

[End of Chapter 1541]