Chapter 256: Azaleas in Bloom

“After the Secret Intelligence Department discovered the Savage King’s distinguishing features, it was able to corroborate the matter. Only then did we roughly confirm where this Savage King had gone in those years.”

Zheng Fan nodded, while inwardly thinking:

So if the Commandery Princess had been a little more willful back then, a little more domineering, a little more arrogant—if instead of merely whipping him, she had simply cut him down—would there be no savage uprising now?

Of course, one could also say that even without this Savage King, there would have been another one afterward, perhaps an even more formidable one.

There was no way to make assumptions about something like this.

“Marquis, shall this general dispose of these corpses first?”

“No need. It is good to make them a little more vigilant. Saves them from all shrinking away and hiding together.”

“Oh. All right.”

Tian Wujing mounted his horse.

“We’ll head a little farther east, then return.”

What room did Zheng Fan have to question him? He could only mount as well and follow Tian Wujing deeper eastward into the snowfields.

The snowfields were vast. In a sense, they were no smaller than the desert, but like the desert, most of the land was unsuitable for human habitation.

The two rode east for several more days. Along the way, they encountered people from several tribes and even drew pursuit from a patrol of savage cavalry. This time, however, Tian Wujing did not bother fighting. He simply chose to shake them off.

Afterward, the two began their return journey.

Several days later, Zheng Fan and Tian Wujing entered the Tianduan Mountains once more.

A large army naturally could not move as quickly as the two of them. Zheng Fan and Tian Wujing had set out with two horses apiece, and once on the snowfields they had even seized savage horses to replace their mounts. An army would probably need more than three times as long to cover the same distance.

Judging roughly by the timing, by the time the army arrived and entered the snowfields, whatever snow and ice was going to melt should already have melted. It would also be the season when the snowfields were at their most “full of life.”

“What are you thinking about?” Tian Wujing asked.

“Marquis, this general was thinking that the timing you chose for this campaign is extremely clever. When our army enters the snowfields, it will happen to be the most important productive season of the year for the savages.”

It had been the same when attacking the State of Qian. That great campaign had begun in winter and ended in early spring. Compared with the direct killing, the greatest impact had been the destruction of spring planting across Qian’s northern territories.

The Marquis of Jingnan said, “The Marquis of Zhenbei’s estate is the most practiced at using this method. In recent years, the number of heads taken may have fallen considerably compared with several decades ago, but they always choose to send troops at the time most painful for the barbarians.

“War kills people. It is not limited to killing them on the battlefield.”

“This general has learned something.”

This truly was Tian Wujing giving him instruction.

In more modern terms, the idea was that war did not exist in a single isolated form. Once it rose to the level of a national conflict, its effects touched every aspect of life.

Using military action to disrupt the enemy’s production and thereby trigger internal famine might not produce impressive numbers of severed heads, but the actual damage could be even more agonizing than inflicting one major battlefield defeat. In other words, it consumed the enemy’s potential to continue fighting.

“You have already done quite well to understand that. But one thing is strategic momentum, the other is method. Without method to support it, momentum is merely a castle in the air.

“There is no shortage of talented men in the State of Qian’s court. Even that sovereign of theirs is no ordinary man. But precisely because the Qian army does not dare fight in the open field, no matter how well they shape the larger situation, it ultimately becomes no more than drawing water with a bamboo basket. They cannot give it physical form.

“The barbarians have endured the Marquis of Zhenbei’s estate weakening and suppressing them in this manner for decades because, in a direct confrontation, they cannot defeat the Zhenbei Army. The moment the Zhenbei Army can no longer maintain tactical dominance, the strategic effects built upon it naturally cease to exist.”

Zheng Fan turned those words over in his mind. For once, he actually forgot to flatter Tian Wujing.

Tian Wujing watched Zheng Fan thinking and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

For the next several days, Zheng Fan kept asking Tian Wujing questions. Most were confined to military affairs, and Tian Wujing answered them all.

As for matters of family and domestic life, Tian Wujing did not mention them again, so Zheng Fan did not deliberately steer the conversation in that direction either.

At last, the two left the Tianduan Mountains and returned to Shengle City.

The journey there and back had taken more than twenty days.

Several more stretches of Shengle City’s walls had been completed since their departure. Outside the city, orderly military camps had also risen.

The Marquis of Jingnan was strict in his command, and the Jingnan Army beneath him was famous for rigid discipline. That strictness did not merely mean refraining from burning, killing, and looting. Despite being an army that specialized in cavalry warfare, even the way it established camp was meticulous down to the smallest detail.

“Marquis, shall we return to the city first and—”

“This Marquis will return to the military camp first. City Defender Zheng, have three thousand troops organized and ready to accompany the campaign before noon tomorrow.”

Tomorrow?

Zheng Fan desperately wanted to curse, but forced himself to hold it in.

In the end, he could only cup his hands and accept the order.

Tian Wujing rode straight toward the military camp, while Zheng Fan returned inside Shengle City.

Construction on the city walls had already stopped. Large numbers of slaves had been transferred to logistical work, helping support the thirty thousand Jingnan cavalry that had just arrived.

By the time Zheng Fan returned to the residence, he discovered that everyone inside was busy. Since the army would be campaigning from here, the preparations required were immense. Worse, the overwhelming majority of that work had fallen onto Shengle City. On one hand, this represented the organization’s trust in you—the Marquis of Jingnan’s trust in you. On the other hand, it was simply a calamity that had landed on your head, and there was no avoiding it.

The instant he entered the rear residence, Zheng Fan seemed determined not to waste a single moment. Before the bath pool had even finished filling, he was already lying inside it.

Siniang also set aside the work in her hands and hurried over to attend Master while he bathed.

“Master, supporting the army’s campaign this time has cost us far too much. Counting the share of wealth the Marquis of Jingnan distributed to us back in the imperial region, almost all of it is going to be poured straight back into supporting this expedition.”

Zheng Fan wiped his face with a towel.

“There’s nothing we can do about that.”

So long as you still carried the banner of “Yan man” over your head, you had to pay the price for it and fulfill the obligations that came with it.

Fortunately, Siniang had embezzled quite a bit back in the imperial region. Later, the Helian Clan treasure vault had replenished their stores, and the wealth from Prince Fu’s tomb in Chuzhou would soon be secretly transported over by merchant caravans. It was precisely because they possessed this “dirty silver” that Shengle City had not gone bankrupt amid construction on such a vast scale.

For the first time, Zheng Fan suddenly found himself understanding why corrupt officials in ancient times were so fond of collecting “meltage surcharges.”

For this campaign, the thirty thousand Jingnan troops truly had arrived “light.”

No baggage train.

No supplies.

No civilian laborers.

Every last thing had to be provided from Shengle City.

“I just wonder whether we’ll be able to make money from this war,” Siniang murmured, already calculating it in her head.

“Call Liang Cheng in,” Zheng Fan said.

Liang Cheng had returned with his troops several days earlier, considerably sooner than Zheng Fan and Tian Wujing.

Siniang put her clothes back on and went outside to summon Liang Cheng.

“Master.”

After entering, Liang Cheng crouched down beside the bath pool.

Siniang went to brew tea. With an outsider present, it was not appropriate to behave too intimately.

“The Marquis of Jingnan wants Shengle City to contribute three thousand troops this time. We’ll take that one thousand Jingnan Army troops with us.”

“They still belong to us?”

“We’re providing money, grain, and civilian laborers. Does the Marquis of Jingnan still have the face to take those thousand troops back?”

Liang Cheng nodded.

“That is indeed reasonable.”

“Fill out the remaining two thousand however you think appropriate. Also, if the campaign into the snowfields goes smoothly, I expect there’ll be a great deal of spoils—warhorses, slaves, cattle, sheep. Organize the troops left behind separately and have the Blind Man and Siniang handle the reception.

“Right, Siniang…”

“Master, this servant is here.”

Siniang came over carrying the tea.

“You and the Blind Man make sure the reception and transfer work is handled properly. This time we’re going to help the Situ Clan fight the savages, so there’s no need to worry about nearby Situ Clan garrisons making any moves. It doesn’t matter if the local defenses are a little looser.”

“What about the nearby fortified estates and local magnates, Master? We’ve squeezed and raided them rather hard these past few days.”

Tian Wujing’s banner had truly been extremely useful. To avoid having their clans exterminated, those fortified-estate lords and local magnates had painfully surrendered craftsmen and grain, and even had large numbers of civilian laborers forcibly conscripted from them.

After being squeezed this hard, there was no guarantee they would not cause trouble. With thirty thousand Jingnan troops nearby, every one of those estate lords and magnates was naturally as obedient as a good little child. But once the army marched out and Shengle City was hollowed out in turn, who knew whether someone might decide to take a desperate gamble?

“Tell them we’re taking them along to make money this time. Once the army goes out, we’ll need people to receive the spoils. This plate is too large for us to eat by ourselves. Everyone can have a share.

“Call on them to contribute men and effort. Have them keep the route from Shengle to the snowfields open. Then whatever spoils come down from the front, everyone gets to eat together.”

Liang Cheng could not help smiling.

“Master’s move is excellent. First, it lets us draw in the fortified estates and local magnates within a hundred li or so of Shengle. Second, it secures the army’s rear route. If the front happens to—”

“Shut up!!!”

I’m going on this campaign myself, damn it!

Liang Cheng shut his mouth.

“This campaign, according to my estimate, should mainly consist of long-range raids and lightning strikes. We won’t have time to slowly transport large amounts of captured goods back ourselves, so people will be needed to take over and move them.”

“This servant understands. Master may rest assured,” Siniang said.

Zheng Fan had long been accustomed to being stingy. And now that Xiao Liuzi was no longer there as a backup source of blood transfusions and they had begun supporting themselves, he understood more and more how difficult life truly was.

After receiving his instructions, Liang Cheng left.

Siniang began scrubbing Zheng Fan’s back.

Just as she was preparing to follow their usual routine and play with needles, Zheng Fan shook his head.

Then uttered that familiar phrase spoken by old married couples everywhere:

“Wash up and sleep.”

...

When your superior is a useless drunk who does nothing but eat and wait to die, you feel miserable.

When your superior is an absolute workaholic obsessed with his career, you suffer just as much.

After finally getting one solid night’s sleep, Zheng Fan was up early the next morning. With Siniang’s help, he put on his armor, mounted immediately, and rode out to join the three thousand Shengle troops Liang Cheng had already assembled outside the city.

Of those three thousand, one thousand were Jingnan Army troops. The remaining two thousand consisted of Tufa Clan soldiers and Jin troops. Zheng Fan’s own original core force had been left behind at home.

From Zheng Fan’s perspective, this was preserving his strength.

But from the perspective of the Jin soldiers and the Tufa Clan, this was practically City Defender Zheng showing them immense favor by personally sending military merit their way.

The Jin soldiers were especially excited.

They had once been smashed apart by the Jingnan Army, and now they were going out on campaign alongside that very same Jingnan Army. Their confidence in the coming battle could hardly have been higher.

It was the same feeling as getting destroyed by a top player in a game, only for that same god-tier player to invite you onto his team afterward and let you cling to his thigh.

A’Ming had still not returned from Yanjing.

With him absent, City Defender Zheng, who was about to march out, inexplicably felt a little uneasy.

Xue San and Fan Li would accompany the campaign. The Blind Man and Siniang would remain behind.

After all, compared with the battle itself, the continued functioning of their home base was even more crucial.

By midmorning, Shengle City’s troops had already arrived outside the Jingnan Army camp and halted there. Everyone dismounted and sat cross-legged to rest.

Their armor was still somewhat uneven, but with one thousand Jingnan soldiers at the head, these three thousand troops genuinely gave off the aura of an elite force. It was enough to show that Liang Cheng’s recent practice of tempering soldiers through actual combat had indeed produced excellent results.

Zheng Fan sat waiting as well. Liang Cheng and Gao Yi sat beside him, while Tufa Chengji and Tufa Su sat farther back.

Just before noon, the gates of the military camp swung open and Jingnan cavalry began riding out.

When the enormous figure of the Pixiu appeared, together with that suit of gilded armor, Zheng Fan—sitting among his own formation—could feel the heat and excitement spreading through the soldiers around him.

Ordinary people might dislike and fear Tian Wujing.

The leaders of every major faction might view him with suspicion and dread.

But the thoughts of ordinary soldiers were much simpler.

They only knew that Tian Wujing could fight wars.

Follow him, and you won battles.

Follow him, and your chances of surviving rose.

What did they care whether he was a murderous god or a human butcher?

The grunts did not give a damn.

What surprised Zheng Fan was that even the Jin soldiers under his own command had expressions of “worship” on their faces.

Had they actually been beaten until they started enjoying it?

Zheng Fan silently made a note of it.

Once this campaign ended and they returned, he really would have to make the Blind Man strengthen their ideological education further.

These were troops he paid to feed and equip. How could they go around worshiping someone else?

When the time was almost right, Zheng Fan glanced at Liang Cheng.

Liang Cheng raised his saber and shouted, “Mount!”

Three thousand riders swung into their saddles.

At that moment, a Jingnan Army Lieutenant Commander rode over, his gaze landing directly on Zheng Fan.

“The Marquis commands City Defender Zheng to accompany the central army.”

“This general obeys!”

Zheng Fan rode out, leaving his own troops behind and heading toward Tian Wujing.

Truthfully, City Defender Zheng was already accustomed to this treatment.

No matter who served as commander, they always seemed to enjoy transferring him to their side.

Perhaps it really was because he spoke so pleasantly?

“City Defender Zheng, where are the civilian laborers and baggage train?” Tian Wujing asked.

There were obviously far too few of both.

“Reporting to the Marquis: when this general previously sent subordinates into the mountains to clear the army’s route, they also hid grain along the path in advance. It is enough to supply the army during the crossing of the mountain range.”

Tian Wujing nodded.

“Well done. I record one merit for you.”

“Thank you, Marquis.”

Under the noon sun, with the Shengle contingent serving as the vanguard, an army of more than thirty thousand began to march.

And on that same day, inside the Marquis’s residence in Litian City, Dujuan was following Siniang’s stitching and trying to practice needlework herself.

Yet no matter how she embroidered, she found the result unsatisfactory. With such flawless jade already before her, everything she made seemed unfit to be shown.

After a while, she set down the needle and thread.

Noon sunlight spilled through the window and fell across her lovely face.

Her hand rested on the belly that had already begun to swell visibly.

Outside the window, the azaleas that man had planted with his own hands were blooming throughout the garden.

[End of Chapter 256]