Chapter 93: Ura!

Night had already grown deep.

Yet the cavalry’s hooves still thundered on.

Their speed had not dropped in the slightest.

This cavalry force was the foundation upon which Zheng Fan intended to build his future.

From the very beginning, its equipment had been luxurious.

In some respects, it even surpassed the Zhenbei Army.

Two horses per rider came standard.

That guaranteed sustained cavalry mobility over long distances.

More than a century earlier, during the wars between the barbarians and the State of Yan, barbarian cavalry had once relied on precisely this advantage to set beacon fires blazing throughout all seven commanderies of The Great Yan Dynasty.

Now, the barbarians themselves were no longer what they had been.

But strictly speaking, this barbarian cavalry force had already surpassed the limitations of its ancestors.

The barbarians had never truly defeated Yan.

Yet these men had already crossed through Yan and ridden onto the soil of Qian.

That alone could already be called a historic breakthrough.

“Master, which target are we actually going after?”

“No idea.

“Let’s keep heading south and take a look!”

Along the way, they had spotted several more forts from a distance.

But Zheng Fan had no intention of probing them.

He merely widened the route slightly and rode around them.

None of those forts discovered the cavalry column racing through the night.

After what had happened at the previous fort, Zheng Fan genuinely had no desire to keep frightening himself in the middle of the night.

After pulling down one chicken pot, he had absolutely no interest in eating another duck pot.

At last, a city appeared in the distance.

Zheng Fan raised one hand.

Every cavalryman pulled on the reins together.

“Send out mounted scouts.”

Dozens of barbarian cavalrymen immediately scattered, circling through the surrounding terrain.

Zheng Fan dismounted.

Standing on a low rise, he looked toward the city ahead.

It was not particularly large.

In fact, it was considerably smaller than Tiger Head City.

But it was still a city.

There was no comparison between a city and those little forts and fortified posts.

And since it stood close to the frontier, calling it a strategic military city would not be an exaggeration in the slightest.

Zheng Fan pulled the stopper from his waterskin and drank several mouthfuls.

Liang Cheng stood beside him.

When Zheng Fan handed over the waterskin, Liang Cheng accepted it.

But this time, he did not see Zheng Fan extend his hands to wash them.

“You’re not thirsty?” Zheng Fan asked.

“No.”

“I haven’t seen you eat anything either.”

“I have eaten.”

“You and A’Ming are both remarkably cheap to keep alive.”

Zheng Fan smiled.

He pointed toward the city ahead.

“Your eyesight is good.

“Take a look.

“Are those city gates still open?”

“The gates are indeed open,” Liang Cheng confirmed.

Several wagon convoys seemed to be entering and leaving through the gateway.

Rows of torches burned outside, lighting the area brilliantly.

Beyond the city walls, one could also see a broad stretch of shanties.

Some were nothing more than the simplest tents.

They looked like a slum clinging to the side of the city.

“What do you think?

“Can we do it?”

Zheng Fan asked Liang Cheng.

“We only have four hundred men.”

“Li Yunlong dared attack Ping’an County with one regiment.”

“That was fiction.”

Zheng Fan reached out, apparently intending to rub Liang Cheng’s chin.

He hesitated.

Then instead placed his hand on Liang Cheng’s shoulder.

He squeezed lightly.

“And what are you supposed to be?”

“If Master wishes to test it, this subordinate can lead one charge.”

“No.

“I’m the deadweight.

“I can’t stay behind just watching.

“If we’re going to play, we play together.

“If we’re going to die, we die together.”

“Too dangerous.

“Far too reckless.”

“Is that your honest opinion or something you’re saying against your conscience?”

“Against my conscience.”

“Heh.”

“It’s already night.

“The city gates still aren’t closed.

“And it’s this lively outside.

“If we don’t try charging once, this subordinate really would feel unwilling.”

“After we pulled down that fort earlier, we rode south through its entire defensive zone.

“Not a single soldier came to stop us.

“Yan abandoned its forts.

“Our Green Willow Fortress got converted into a chicken farm.

“At other abandoned forts, locals even hauled the bricks away to build pigpens.

“Qian, at least, still has its forts standing.

“But so far, I can’t see much difference between having them and not having them.

“Still, Ah Cheng— are the two of us getting a little too full of ourselves?”

“Master.

“We remain cautious.”

“Yes.

“We haven’t become arrogant.

“It’s the people of Qian who’ve given us far too much confidence.”

...

Beneath the northern gate of Mianzhou City, torches burned brightly.

Wagon after wagon of goods was being hauled out from inside.

At the same time, batch after batch of cargo was being transported into the city.

Several Qian merchant houses had their convoys waiting by the gate.

A number of stewards stood nearby, urging the laborers to move faster and use their hands and feet more efficiently.

Occasionally, the stewards from different merchant houses exchanged glances.

Each could see provocation and irritation in the others’ eyes.

On a freezing night like this, if only one family had been moving goods in or out, they could have finished quickly and gone home long ago.

But by sheer coincidence, several convoys had all arrived tonight.

The gate was only so wide.

You wanted to enter.

I wanted to leave.

Of course they jammed one another.

Most importantly, Mianzhou City had only so many available laborers.

The more one household requisitioned, the fewer remained for everyone else.

Yet no steward was willing to yield even half a step.

After all, when a convoy steward traveled outside, he represented the face of his master.

How could such a person simply give way?

As for the laborers rushing back and forth if one looked carefully, some of them were wearing the padded coats issued by the Qian army.

...

“Father, the weather has turned cold.

“Why are you still standing up here?”

An elderly man with graying hair and beard stood atop the gatehouse wearing only a thin long robe.

Below him, the gate area bustled noisily.

A middle-aged man approached, removed his own cloak, and draped it around the old man.

“Hmph.”

The old man shook his body.

The cloak fell to the ground.

“Your father may be old.

“My qi and blood may not be as abundant as they once were.

“But I am still an Eighth-Grade Martial Artist!

“A little cold like this is hardly worth mentioning!”

The middle-aged man bent down, picked up the cloak, then forcibly wrapped it around his father again.

“I know.

“I know.

“But this is still your son showing filial respect, isn’t it?

“My own father is standing here freezing.

“How am I supposed to feel comfortable about that?”

“Then what about those soldiers below?”

The old man pointed toward the laborers carrying and hauling cargo beneath the gatehouse.

His voice trembled slightly.

“Are they cold?

“Are they hungry?

“Are they tired?

“They are frontier soldiers of Great Qian!

“Frontier soldiers are supposed to hold blades!

“They are not supposed to serve as coolies!”

“My dear father, stop being stubborn.

“Which household along the frontier doesn’t do things this way?”

“Do you feel wronged for having a father like me?”

“Wronged?

“How could I?

“You’re my real father.

“I’m your son.

“There’s no question of being wronged.”

“Then you resent me?”

“Tsk.

“No one knows a son better than his father.

“Fine.

“A little.

“Think about it.

“You’re an Eighth-Grade Martial Artist.

“You’ve got seniority in the army.

“When I was young, I thought having you behind me meant I’d never have to worry about my future.

“Who could’ve guessed you’d spend all these years submitting memorials upward and reporting your superiors?

“Your own office dropped lower year after year.

“You were once a perfectly respectable Militia Commissioner, and you managed to get yourself demoted all the way down to Patrol Lieutenant Commander of Mianzhou City.

“My dear father.

“You truly are my dear father.

“But earlier this evening, your son ate with the Prefect.

“The Prefect said if you soften your attitude a little and admit you were wrong, some of the stains on your record can be cleared.

“Returning to your former office is impossible, but before you retire and return home, you might still move upward once more.

“Then when your son takes over someday, my position will be a little more comfortable too.”

“So that’s why you came to find me?”

“If Father says so, then yes.”

“You want your old man to go act like a son before those dog-fart civil officials?”

“Father, you really said it perfectly.

“Your own son spends all day acting like a grandson in front of the Prefect.

“By seniority, you acting like his son would be exactly right.”

“Hehehehe...”

The old man laughed.

The middle-aged man laughed too.

“Son.

“Father knows.

“I’ve let you down.”

“Why are you saying things like that again?”

“Father understands the need to plan for the clan and for future descendants.

“But I cannot do it!”

The old man lowered his head and looked at the long spear resting beside his feet.

“Fine.

“I know what you’re about to say again.

“You’re going to say the Yan people may march south.

“You’re going to say Great Qian’s frontier army can’t keep stumbling along in this muddled state.

“But honestly, Father— have you ever actually fought the people of Yan in your life?

“No, right?

“It’s been almost a hundred years.

“We haven’t even seen a hair from a Yan soldier.

“I understand.

“You’re already this old.

“You’ve spent your whole life with martial skill and military knowledge without ever getting a chance to use them.

“You feel unreconciled.

“But...”

The old man suddenly turned and looked directly at his son.

Very seriously, he said:

“There has been no news from the desert barbarians for a long time now.”

“So what...?”

“That means the barbarians are becoming less and less capable of restraining Yan.

“If Yan no longer feels pressure from the north, what do you think they’ll do?”

“Father.

“Those are matters the gentlemen of the imperial court and His Majesty need to consider.

“Why should we worry about them?”

“His Majesty doesn’t understand.

“He does not understand just how rotten our frontier army has become.

“Most of those gentlemen do not understand either.

“And the few who do pretend they don’t.

“Look.

“Look at this.

“I am supposedly the Patrol Lieutenant Commander of Mianzhou City.

“But how many men can I actually command?

“The city garrison soldiers aren’t merely being used as servants and laborers by military officers and the Prefect.

“Even the barracks originally built for them inside the city were torn down and converted into warehouses.

“The soldiers themselves were driven outside the walls to live in tents!

“Soldiers like these.

“An army like this.

“Can it fight?

“What kind of battle can it possibly fight?”

“Father, put your heart completely at ease.

“The Yan people won’t come.

“They’re too busy doing business with us.

“Why would they waste time fighting?

“Look at how lively things are below.

“Two of those convoys returned today carrying goods from Yan.

“Another two are preparing to leave the city and take goods into Yan.

“There’s money to earn.

“There’s a good life to live.

“Why fight?

“You think those Yan barbarians are stupid?”

...

“Anyone else would definitely think we’re idiots.”

Already mounted, Zheng Fan spoke to Liang Cheng, who rode beside him.

Four hundred cavalry attacking a major frontier city.

If you were not an idiot, you genuinely would not do something like this.

“Master.

“What other people think of us does not matter.

“What matters is how we see ourselves.”

“Actually, I think I’m rather stupid too.

“I could stay home living comfortably, yet I insist on chasing excitement.

“Tell me.

“When we charge the gate later, if there’s some divine archer on the wall who puts an arrow straight through my chest, wouldn’t that be a terrible loss?”

“As long as Master enjoys himself.”

“Sigh.

“You people have corrupted me.

“I’m increasingly becoming like the company I keep.”

“Master.”

“Mm?”

“We were designed by you.”

“So?”

“The beam above is crooked, so the beam below follows.”

“You’re becoming more mischievous.”

“That is called becoming like the company I keep.”

Zheng Fan lowered the face guard he had specially ordered added to his helmet.

At the same time he raised the saber in his hand.

In barbarian speech, he shouted:

“I do not permit you to touch women!

“But today— inside that city—

I promise you all the meat and wine you can eat!”

Every barbarian soldier followed Zheng Fan’s movement and raised his weapon.

“Kill!”

Zheng Fan chopped his saber forward.

“URAAAAAA!!!!”

“...” Zheng Fan.

“Which fucking idiot taught them ‘Ura’?” Zheng Fan roared.

“Fan Li.”

(End of Chapter)