Chapter 175: Character

At that moment, Zheng Fan genuinely felt as though Heaven’s mandate had descended upon him!

If Li Fusheng were not still above him if the Marquis of Zhenbei and Marquis of Jingnan were not above Li Fusheng if the Yan Emperor were not above them if Eunuch Wei were not still around if Zheng Fan did not possess only twenty-five hundred men if there were not so many damned “ifs”—

Garrison Commander Zheng might genuinely have exchanged one meaningful glance with the Blind Man and immediately found someone to drape a yellow robe over his shoulders.

Still, Zheng Fan had always been cautious.

He immediately asked, “Could this be a trap?”

Liang Cheng shook his head.

“They aren’t capable of playing that kind of game.”

Feign surrender.

Lure the enemy deep inside.

Then counterattack.

That sort of trick still depended on the quality of the people trying to perform it.

Qingshan County possessed local garrison troops, some routed soldiers from the previous day, and a mass of county civilians.

Could people like these really execute something as sophisticated as false surrender?

It was like the stratagem of “feigned defeat.”

Ancient armies used it far less often than stories suggested.

Because many times a false rout simply turned into a real one.

Hearing Liang Cheng’s judgment, Zheng Fan relaxed.

He had never intended to attack this city.

But now that the people inside had already opened the gates surely he could not refuse to enter.

What was he supposed to say?

No, go back inside.

Keep defending.

I’ll return and attack next time.

Zheng Fan was not Li Fusheng.

He did not possess that man’s overwhelming urge to kill.

Immediately, the cavalry began advancing.

The entire formation pressed forward.

“This humble subordinate is Kong Mingde, Registrar of Qingshan County!

“Greetings, my lord!”

“This humble subordinate is Zhang Hongqi, Lieutenant Commander of the Imperial Guards!

“Greetings, my lord!”

One was the local Registrar.

The other a Lieutenant Commander from the Imperial Guards.

The man in front, tied up like a rice dumpling, was presumably the County Magistrate.

A cloth had been stuffed into the Magistrate’s mouth.

He struggled constantly, making muffled sounds.

His eyes blazed with fury.

Whenever he looked at the two men beside him or at the Yan soldiers his expression was filled with hatred.

Zheng Fan pointed at the County Magistrate.

“Cut him down.”

The Magistrate’s struggles instantly became even more violent.

Zheng Fan smiled.

Though even he felt smiling at that moment was somewhat inappropriate.

No matter what else could be said, the County Magistrate had clearly been tied up and dragged outside because he had intended to defend the city rather than surrender.

He had backbone.

He had integrity.

He was a man worthy of respect.

He had probably already resigned himself to death.

Most likely, he had been waiting for someone to remove the cloth from his mouth so that when the Yan tried persuading him to surrender he could spit on the ground and roar:

“Pah! Yan dogs! I, so-and-so, would rather die than surrender!”

Instead—

Zheng Fan skipped the entire scene.

Liang Cheng stepped forward.

One saber stroke and the County Magistrate died.

Truthfully, integrity might have been the only thing the man had left.

If he had truly intended to defend the city, yet still relied on routed soldiers to man the walls and could not even control the local powers inside Qingshan County then this County Magistrate’s actual administrative ability had clearly been rather poor.

Kong Mingde and Zhang Hongqi remained kneeling.

Both trembled violently.

Clearly, skipping the expected script made both sides somewhat uncomfortable.

“Master, do we enter the city?” Liang Cheng asked.

“Go in.

“Then come straight back out.”

“This subordinate obeys.”

What happened next left the people of Qingshan County completely dumbfounded.

The Yan cavalry charged into the city with overwhelming momentum.

Then, rode in a circle through the streets.

And under the stunned gazes of everyone around them rode straight back out again.

The commoners stared.

The defenders stared.

Kong Mingde and Zhang Hongqi stared as well.

Zheng Fan rode over to the two men.

Naturally, they understood that this young man was the leader of the Yan force.

Both hurriedly lowered their heads.

Zheng Fan unfastened the saber hanging from his waist.

Then threw it directly onto the ground before them.

“My surname is Zheng.

“My name is Zheng Fan.

“I don’t know whether either of you has heard of me.

“Whatever.

“You two happen to look pleasing enough today.

“I’ll give this saber to the pair of you.”

Zheng Fan pointed at Kong Mingde.

“You—are now County Magistrate of Qingshan.”

Kong Mingde looked down at the saber.

Then looked up at Zheng Fan.

For a moment he was completely stunned.

But he recovered quickly and kowtowed.

“Many thanks, my lord!”

Zheng Fan pointed at Zhang Hongqi.

“You—are now Garrison Commander of Qingshan County.”

“Many thanks, my lord!”

“Send someone to Chuzhou City.

“Tell Wen Sutong that you have already submitted to the Great Yan.”

“This humble subordinate obeys!”

“This humble subordinate obeys!”

After saying that Zheng Fan waved one hand.

The soldiers followed him around Qingshan County and continued on their way.

Kong Mingde and Zhang Hongqi remained kneeling for a long while.

Eventually the two exchanged glances.

Each saw the same confusion in the other’s eyes.

What exactly were these Yan people playing at?

Truthfully—

Zheng Fan did not know either.

Yes.

He had just said this place was suitable for development.

But he had never imagined taking the city today.

The Yan army had not even left a single soldier behind in Chuzhou City.

How could Zheng Fan possibly divide troops to garrison Qingshan County?

If he truly dared leave men here leaving too few would be useless.

Leaving too many would guarantee severe punishment from Li Fusheng.

That would be disobedience of military orders.

On a battlefield it would not matter who valued Zheng Fan or whose man he was.

That kind of mistake could not be excused.

He had briefly considered leaving one Demon King behind to keep an eye on the city almost like beginning the process of organizing the place in advance.

But first the situation here could still change.

The city might even change hands again.

To Zheng Fan, each of the Seven Demon Kings mattered more than an army of ten thousand.

Second they were still continuing south.

Everyone had agreed to travel and play together.

Leaving one person behind now would feel wrong no matter who it was.

Worse the one left behind would spend every day worrying whether Zheng Fan might suddenly die somewhere far away and take them with him.

Most importantly whether Zheng Fan would ever actually be assigned to Qingshan County in the future remained completely uncertain.

So all he could do was behave like a complete bachelor casually appoint two officials and then simply walk away.

Fortunately appointing those men was not a major problem.

Given the practical style of Yan’s senior leadership, they would certainly understand.

After all if someone opened a city to surrender, surely you could not simply pretend nothing had happened and ignore them completely.

Still because of this delay, by the time Zheng Fan’s force caught up with the main army, it was already deep into the night.

The moment Zheng Fan entered camp he received word that Li Fusheng had been furious because his unit had taken so long to return.

There was nothing Zheng Fan could do.

He had no time to rest.

He immediately went to the main army camp.

After reporting his arrival, he entered the command tent.

Li Fusheng sat on a carpet inside.

The instant Zheng Fan appeared he cursed, “You bastard!

“You’re only returning to camp now?

“I ordered you to watch Qingshan City.

“Don’t tell me you went and captured the damned place!”

Zheng Fan froze.

Then asked, “My lord... you already know?”

“Hm?

“What do I know?”

“This subordinate captured Qingshan City.”

“............” Li Fusheng.

Li Fusheng remained silent for a long while.

Then finally said, “Explain everything.”

Zheng Fan recounted what had happened.

Naturally, he skipped all the earlier discussion about sleeping dragons, developing the territory, and so on.

After hearing the story—

Li Fusheng slapped his thigh.

Then sighed.

“Garrison Commander Zheng... your damned luck really is unmatched.”

“Truthfully, it was because my lord shattered the courage of the Qian people in the previous battle.

“They fear the military might of my lord’s soldiers.

“That is why they lost the will to defend and surrendered directly.”

“Enough pretty words.

“Even if capturing that city makes almost no practical difference, I’ll still record the merit under your name.”

“Many thanks, my lord!”

“All right.

“Enough.

“Let’s discuss something serious.”

“Something serious?”

“We received a military report tonight.

“Li Bao’s half-command, over in Beihe Commandery, routed eighty thousand regional troops personally led by the Military Commissioner of Beihe Commandery.”

As Li Fusheng spoke anger appeared across his face.

Because of the Chuzhou City affair, his force had been delayed for several days.

As a result, they still had not even left Chu Commandery.

They had not entered Beihe Commandery yet.

Meanwhile, Li Bao’s troops had already fought their way into Beihe Commandery and even fought a major battle there.

“Qian’s regional troops are trash to begin with,” Zheng Fan said.

The regional troops of Qian were, generally speaking, better at farming than fighting.

An army like that possessed almost no real combat power.

Worse—

Beihe Commandery’s regional troops had already undergone a selection.

Whatever soldiers and officers still possessed some real quality had been screened out and handed by the Beihe Military Commissioner to his son-in-law, Old Fifth Han, to take north.

Those men had been part of the Qian force Li Fusheng shattered two days earlier.

That alone showed what sort of dregs remained among Beihe Commandery’s regional troops.

“They’re all trash.

“I fought thirty thousand pieces of trash.

“Li Bao fought eighty thousand.

“So in the end—he still stole the bigger spotlight!”

Ah.

So that was what bothered Li Fusheng.

Internal competition.

“What is Lord Li Bao’s army doing now?” Zheng Fan asked.

“They didn’t stop to rest.

“They kept moving south.”

Hiss.

That hurried?

Zheng Fan immediately remembered what the Blind Man had said that afternoon.

Then he combined it with the fact that Li Bao’s command like Li Fusheng’s was only half of a full command.

It looked increasingly likely that the Marquis of Zhenbei and Marquis of Jingnan were holding nearly two hundred thousand troops somewhere inside Chu Commandery.

Waiting.

Hiding.

Waiting for Qian’s Three Frontier armies to return south.

The only forces truly continuing deeper south from Chu Commandery were Li Fusheng’s half-command and Li Bao’s half-command.

Their purpose was simple.

South.

South.

Then farther south.

Drive a blade straight into the Qian heartland and force the Qian Emperor to issue urgent decrees demanding that the Three Frontier armies return.

That was the grand strategy.

On the smaller scale—

Li Fusheng and Li Bao were racing.

Whoever reached Upper Capital first would be number one.

This was not merely a matter of pride.

It carried deeper political consequences and implications for their future development.

Now that the Zhenbei Army had marched south, there was no possibility all of it would simply return to Beifeng Commandery afterward.

At least half would inevitably remain in the newly conquered lands.

To put things realistically between a harsh desert and rich southern territory, any idiot knew which place offered the better life.

The Commanders themselves might not care.

A man like Li Fusheng might even prefer the desert, where he could exterminate tribes without restraint.

But what about the men beneath him?

Sometimes when you stood as a leader you did not represent only yourself.

You also represented the collective interests of everyone behind you.

Unfortunately—

Li Bao’s force truly lived up to his name.

Fast as a leopard.

Catching him now was probably impossible.

“My lord.

“This subordinate has a plan.”

“Oh?

“Let me hear it.”

Clearly, Li Fusheng had already discussed the matter with his own officers before summoning Zheng Fan.

They must not have found any good answer.

That was why he now wanted Zheng Fan’s opinion.

After all during the battle two days earlier, Zheng Fan’s military insight had gained Li Fusheng’s approval.

Zheng Fan drew in a deep breath.

Then slowly exhaled.

This time there would be no telepathic consultation from outside the field.

He had to rely on himself.

Fortunately he genuinely did have an idea.

“My lord.

“We can move even slower.

“And by moving slower—we can reach Upper Capital before Lord Li Bao.”

“Slower?”

Li Fusheng stared at Zheng Fan in confusion.

“My lord.

“Lord Li Bao’s force has already entered deep into Beihe Commandery.

“Sooner or later, he will enter Xishan Commandery as well.

“But once he reaches Xishan Commandery, even the most foolish Qian officials will understand what Lord Li Bao intends.

“So they will certainly gather every battle-capable unit from the Capital Region and surrounding areas.

“For their own face—for the face of their Emperor—they will do everything possible to stop Lord Li Bao from driving straight through Xishan Commandery toward Upper Capital.

“The Qian absolutely cannot allow Great Yan cavalry to appear outside the walls of Upper Capital.”

“You mean...

“I deliberately trail behind slowly and let Li Bao face all the Qian pressure by himself?”

Qian possessed enormous numbers of troops.

The paper strength recorded in its military registers was large enough to terrify a man.

Naturally, the real number was far smaller.

But compared with Yan, Qian still had plenty of soldiers.

Many of those armies could not fight.

But surely at least a handful were capable of putting up some resistance.

No one doubted that.

The eighty thousand regional troops Li Bao had just shattered were merely Qian rabble.

They meant very little.

But as Li Bao continued deeper south, the Qian court could immediately gather whatever elite forces remained in the region and build a defense across Xishan Commandery or even Bianzhou Commandery.

Without Li Fusheng coming up behind him or helping share the pressure—

Li Bao might genuinely find it very difficult to break through the Qian defensive line.

Of course, if the Qian were truly so useless that Li Bao broke through anyway then there would be nothing to say.

“Garrison Commander Zheng.

“The Zhenbei Army has six commands.

“We compete constantly.

“No one accepts inferiority to anyone else.

“But on a battlefield—we have never done anything that pleases the enemy while hurting our own.”

Li Fusheng’s voice and expression both turned stern.

Clearly, Zheng Fan’s suggestion had touched one of his absolute taboos.

Zheng Fan immediately answered, “My lord.

“With Lord Li Bao’s troops ahead drawing the Qian’s attention, the few genuinely battle-capable forces around the Capital Region will all be pulled toward him.

“Only then will our army have the chance to identify a gap in the Qian defenses—pierce straight through—and strike directly at Upper Capital!

“To make Upper Capital tremble before our spearpoints—that is the true purpose of this southern advance.

“This subordinate believes Lord Li Bao understands the greater cause perfectly.

“He will willingly screen our army and hold the Qian forces in place so that we can ride south toward Upper Capital.

“Indeed—perhaps Lord Li Bao has been marching so urgently precisely because he intends to open distance from us and create this opportunity.

“What noble intentions!

“What deep understanding of righteousness!”

“Hm...”

Li Fusheng fell into thought.

Inside his mind appeared Li Bao’s face along with the mouth that smelled of garlic from morning until night.

Li Fusheng had long admitted that he himself was a rough man.

He had also admitted he was not especially clever.

But whenever he stood before Li Bao—

Li Fusheng always possessed a strong sense of intellectual superiority.

Among the Zhenbei Army’s Seven Commanders the most simple-minded was Li Bao.

He loved eating most.

Loved hogging food for himself.

Loved stealing military merit.

Loved stealing opportunities.

Loved grabbing absolutely everything.

And whenever he grabbed something he made sure everyone saw just how ugly his table manners were.

Yet Li Fusheng still sighed.

“Exactly.

“Exactly.

“I have always admired Li Bao’s moral character tremendously.”

(End of Chapter)