Chapter 296: Water

To the east of Shengle City, savages, rebels, and the various forces still loyal to Situ Lei as Emperor were locked in battle, the situation seesawing back and forth in a complicated deadlock.

To the west of Shengle City, however, half a year of construction and the steady expansion of its influence had begun bearing fruit. Merchant caravans now arrived in an endless stream, and the city’s commercial reach was finally beginning to take shape.

Shengle was not a great city. Its location was remote, and the surrounding region was hardly densely populated. Without the “golden finger” advantages Zheng Fan possessed as a transmigrator—without all those novel products that did not exist in this world—it would have been almost impossible to keep a place like this running, much less develop it on such a scale.

It was basically the equivalent of playing a management game in later generations with cheats turned on.

And over the past few days, ever since the first batch of vanguard officers arrived demanding grain and laborers, the whole of Shengle City, inside and out, had entered a state of feverish excitement.

Field exercises and drills became more frequent than usual. Warhorses, weapons, and equipment were inspected and replenished. Many workshops reduced ordinary production and began prioritizing strategic reserves for the army.

Every single day of that shift meant silver flowing away like water.

Merchant caravans waiting outside for goods began gathering together, arguing and protesting because they could not obtain their orders.

Faced with these beloved moneybags, the Grand General’s Residence chose the extremely hard-line response of simply “blocking” them.

Feng Siniang had already snapped several charcoal pencils in frustration.

With war approaching, Shengle City—which had only just grown into something resembling a proper economy and was still not particularly large—had begun tilting heavily toward the military.

The direct result was a drastic decline in every other source of income.

At the root of the problem, Shengle’s military-first system was simply too far ahead of itself.

Once the army, that gold-devouring beast, truly started moving, there was almost nothing it could not swallow.

Outsiders might know that Shengle had more than ten thousand troops, but most would probably assume they were ten thousand miscellaneous soldiers cobbled together from here and there.

In reality, however, the pay, treatment, weapons, and equipment of Shengle’s army were all being brought toward Jingnan Army standards.

Back then, even the Emperor of Yan had relied on trampling the great clans and harvesting their wealth and grain before he could mobilize several hundred thousand iron cavalry for that great war.

So if Zheng Fan’s treasury now began collapsing under the weight of military preparations, there was really nothing strange about it.

The problem was that Siniang and the others could not even curse anyone for causing it.

Because the culprit was their own Master, who had relied on his face and connections several times to drag back more troops and, in the process, blown the original military establishment far past anything it had been meant to sustain.

And the chief culprit himself was currently sitting inside a tiny commoner’s house.

The little boy named Liu Dahu accepted a piece of sponge cake from Zheng Fan with both fear and shyness.

Then he ran to a corner and began eating it in tiny bites, displaying an unexpectedly “quiet and refined” manner.

The old woman enthusiastically brought out tea.

She was advanced in years and had lived through enough to know that the gentleman sitting before her was no ordinary person.

“Old Madam, no need for tea. We work for the Grand General’s Residence. We only came by to ask whether your household is still lacking anything.”

“A man!”

The old woman answered without the slightest hesitation.

“...”

Zheng Fan was speechless.

“My daughter-in-law has a hard time holding this family together. She has to care for an old woman like me and raise this little one too. What this household lacks is a man to serve as its pillar.”

“Do you have someone in mind?” Zheng Fan asked with a smile.

“There’s one. This old woman thinks he’s quite good. He knows his manners, he knows how to work, and he serves at the city gate.

“He looks decent too. My daughter-in-law has taken a liking to him.

“But the man is all thunder and no rain.

“Sir, you tell me.

“This old woman has wanted to find someone to help shoulder the household with my daughter-in-law for a long time.

“She may have already given birth once, but she’s still a fine-looking woman. Plenty of men have their eyes on her.

“But this fellow?

“He comes over every single day to lend a hand, yet never says yes or no.

“Now everyone else thinks our household has already taken him in.

“If he changes his mind at the end and refuses, won’t that delay my daughter-in-law’s future?

“Tell me, isn’t that the truth?”

Zheng Fan nodded.

“It is.”

“Exactly! People have to live their lives honestly and steadily.

“The year before last, there was fighting around here all the time. Life was hard.

“But over this past year, ever since Lord Zheng became our Protector, things have finally settled down.

“My daughter-in-law is a woman, but even she can enter the workshops and work. Every month she earns a decent amount of silver and grain.

“The child can go to school without paying money.

“Even when this old woman needs medicine, it barely costs anything. The physicians at the medical hall are polite too...”

“Protector” was the old official title the people of the Jin lands habitually used.

Zheng Fan felt a little embarrassed listening to her.

He knew perfectly well that this visit had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. There had been no rehearsals like there might be in later generations.

The old woman spoke smoothly, yes, but she was not reciting lines someone had taught her.

“Sir, you tell me. For ordinary commoners like us, isn’t this kind of peaceful life all we really hope for?”

“Yes.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

For a moment, he experienced the happiness of being a genuine “parent-official” to the people.

“My son had a poor fate. He fell ill and died young.

“But my daughter-in-law, there is truly nothing bad I can say about her. She has a good heart and a good face.

“Now that life has finally become decent, why shouldn’t she hurry up and settle down properly?”

“Mm.”

“I think that man hears me call the boy by his full name, Liu Dahu, every time he visits.

“Ah. This old woman has thought it through.

“If the Liu family didn’t have the fate to keep its line going, then so be it.

“I treat this daughter-in-law as though she were my own flesh-and-blood daughter.

“Sir, could you speak to that man for me?

“Tell him Dahu doesn’t have to keep the surname Liu.

“He can take that man’s surname instead.

“This old woman asks for nothing else.

“I only want him to treat my daughter-in-law well.

“Would that be all right?”

“I’ll find him later and talk to him.”

“Good! This old woman can tell your office isn’t a small one. If you speak, he’ll definitely listen.”

“Oh? Then I’ll borrow your auspicious words.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“Then I really do have to ask. How did you figure it out?”

“Our Shengle City... Ah, it isn’t that things have become worse.

“The streets aren’t as lively as they used to be, sure, but as long as people are willing to work, nobody lacks food or daily necessities.

“You don’t even see beggars along the roads anymore. Not one for the past half year.

“Everyone’s busy. Workers are working. Officials are serving.

“Even all those lords inside the yamen are so busy they’re dizzy from dawn to dusk, afraid that one careless mistake will get them flayed and hung over a chair.

“These days, inside Shengle City, anyone who looks as leisurely as you do at first glance—and even walks with that swaggering air—how could he possibly be anything other than a truly important nobleman?”

What she meant was simple.

There were no idle people in the city.

Everyone was worked half to death.

And Zheng Fan was so relaxed that one glance was enough to tell he could not possibly be ordinary.

“Hahaha.”

Zheng Fan laughed and turned toward A’Ming.

“Is it really that obvious?”

*Am I so lazy that it stands out that badly?*

A’Ming gave no answer.

He merely raised his head and looked at the sky.

“You, sir, this old woman can tell at one glance that you were born to wealth and honor.

“You’ll definitely become an even greater official in the future.

“Riches and prosperity await you.”

“Oh? Then I’ll gladly borrow your auspicious words.”

Zheng Fan stood, preparing to leave.

Seeing that, the old woman hurriedly said, “What’s this? You won’t stay and eat before you go?

“The workshops have been terribly busy these past few days. My daughter-in-law comes home later than usual.

“This old woman can cook personally. How about I fry you some eggs to go with wine?”

“No, no. I still have business to handle.

“If I arrive too late, I might get flayed.”

“Oh! Then you’d better hurry. Hurry!”

“All right. You stay seated, Old Madam.”

“Sir, you mustn’t forget what I asked!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t forget.”

After saying goodbye to the old woman, Zheng Fan and A’Ming stepped outside.

Jin Shuke had been waiting beyond the door the entire time.

The moment he saw Zheng Fan look his way, he immediately hurried over.

“General.”

*I guessed right. I guessed right. Brother Little Yu really isn’t an ordinary man!*

“You introduced this household to him?”

“Uh...”

“Speak.”

“Reporting to the General, the widow I introduced to Brother Little Yu lives in the western part of the city. She also has one elderly person above her and one child below.

“But Brother Little Yu ended up taking a liking to the widow in this household on the eastern side of the city.

“She also has an elderly person above and one child below.

“This subordinate thought it over.

“The widow on the west side has a daughter.

“This widow on the east side has a son.

“At first, I thought Brother Little Yu was a Jin man and might be different from us barbarians.

“We barbarians would love nothing more than to pick up a cheap son and have the boy take our surname.

“But Jin men don’t seem to enjoy raising another man’s child as much.

“That was why I introduced Brother Little Yu to the widow on the west side, the one with a daughter.

“Who would have guessed Brother Little Yu’s tastes are exactly the same as this subordinate’s?

“He also likes it when the woman comes with a son—”

“Cough. Cough.”

Zheng Fan coughed and cut him off.

“All right.

“Don’t tell him I came here.”

“Yes. This subordinate understands.”

A’Ming asked, “Master, do you want to help arrange the wedding?”

Zheng Fan immediately shook his head.

“Too much is as bad as too little.

“If we meddle too deeply in another person’s private life, we’ll only make him resent us.

“Let him decide for himself.”

Then Zheng Fan pointed at Jin Shuke.

“You’re a clever one.

“An old soldier?”

“Reporting to the General, this subordinate was already with you back at Meijia Fort.”

“That wasn’t easy.

“Not many of the brothers from the earliest days are still around.”

“To have followed the General is our honor.”

“Go report to Liang Cheng.

“I’ll give you a Thousand-Man Commander’s post.”

“Many thanks, General!”

Jin Shuke dropped to his knees in overwhelming excitement.

“All right, all right.

“Go.”

“Yes. This subordinate takes his leave.”

Only after Jin Shuke’s figure disappeared did Zheng Fan continue walking with A’Ming.

“He’s a sharp one.

“The Blind Man asked the Sword Saint whether he wanted a promotion. The Sword Saint said no.

“But at the very end, he added that this Jin Shuke fellow was extremely conscientious in his duties.”

A’Ming nodded.

“We can hardly refuse to give the Sword Saint face.”

“Exactly.

“Still, I really couldn’t tell before.

“Among the barbarian soldiers, he’s actually one of the quickest to develop some sense.

“He somehow managed to lick the Sword Saint comfortably enough to earn praise.

“Tsk, tsk.”

Then Zheng Fan asked, “Are the military provisions prepared?”

“They’re ready.

“Preparations in the other areas are underway as well.”

“Make the preparations first.

“Then we’ll see.”

“Master is waiting for the First Prince to suffer a defeat?”

“With Li Fusheng and Li Bao, those two Chief Commanders, following him, even if the First Prince were a pig, he wouldn’t lose too disastrously.

“Besides, look at the Emperor of Yan’s sons.

“Which one of them is easy to deal with?

“The only one who got crippled, Third Brother, still managed to fall because he was playing with conspiracies and schemes.”

“Then what do we do?”

“We prepare first.

“As for the rest, we’ll see whether that Savage King can bring us a pleasant surprise.

“Better to be prepared than caught helpless, right?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, right.

“Have we sent troops toward the Tianduan Mountains?”

“Actually, when the First Prince’s army arrived, A’Cheng already increased the number of scout cavalry watching the Tianduan Mountains to three times the usual level.”

If even the First Prince could think of the savages copying Tian Wujing’s old maneuver, then Liang Cheng had naturally considered the possibility long beforehand.

“To tell the truth, that trusted officer the First Prince sent over the day before yesterday—he was an Assistant General, at least.

“But when he drank with me, the way he flattered me was unbearable.”

Perhaps Zheng Fan had already developed calluses from being licked in every possible way by the Demon Kings.

These low-level bootlicking methods now actively repulsed General Zheng.

They simply lacked class.

“This subordinate heard about that too.

“He returned this morning.”

“The First Prince is being almost too warm toward us.

“But the composition of his army is extremely mixed.

“If he cannot straighten them out once they move forward, internal problems really may appear.”

Whenever Zheng Fan had gone on campaign in the past, he had either followed the Zhenbei Army or the Jingnan Army.

Those campaigns had been pure.

There had been none of this rotten nonsense.

When it was time to fight, everyone concentrated on fighting.

The atmosphere had been excellent.

This time, however, the First Prince was leading a collection of miscellaneous local troops.

Problems from within his own army would inevitably consume a great deal of his attention.

“Right, Master.

“Third Master had a special suit of armor forged for you.

“He said yesterday that it would be delivered today.

“It should already have reached the residence by now.”

“I don’t want some special suit of armor.”

Until he possessed Tian Wujing’s strength, General Zheng refused all battlefield behavior that amounted to showing off.

“You’ll understand once you see it.

“It looks exactly like ordinary armor.”

“Really?

“Then let’s go back and have a look.”

When they returned to the residence, Xue San was already waiting in the courtyard.

A suit of armor had been placed on a chair.

Zheng Fan walked over and ran a hand across it.

To his surprise, the armor had even been deliberately aged.

Someone had artificially added scratches and scuff marks from blades and spearheads.

That detail pleased Zheng Fan immensely.

Unremarkable.

The less noticeable, the better.

That had always been Zheng Fan’s battlefield principle.

“Master, put it on and try it.”

Xue San jumped onto another chair beside him.

He intended to help Zheng Fan don the armor personally.

Once Zheng Fan had put it on, he discovered that it was considerably lighter than ordinary armor.

The inside was also soft and comfortable, without hard edges digging into his body.

“Master, this suit was forged from the very best material I could get.

“It seems to be called Brightstone.

“I have no idea what its actual composition is.

“I never saw anything like it in our original world.

“But the hardness of this armor is excellent—far beyond normal iron armor.

“They say the Marquis of Jingnan’s gilded armor contains a great deal of this material too.

“I nearly worked myself to death gathering enough of it.

“And I added a padded inner lining as well.

“Not only is it soft, but even if an arrow or blade somehow breaks through the outer armor, that extra layer should still protect the body and reduce the injury.”

“You put a lot of thought into it.”

“There’s more! There’s more!

“Master, look here.

“At the place where the heart-protecting mirror would normally go, I made a hollow compartment.

“From now on, the Demon Child’s stone can sit right here!”

He had even thought of that.

A’Ming, standing nearby, could not help shaking his head.

Curiously, he asked, “Master hasn’t advanced in grade, has he?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? What’s that supposed to mean?

“You think I, Xue San, am like the rest of you, only remembering to work after Master advances?

“My heart is thinking of Master every moment of every day!”

“All right, all right.

“I understand your sincerity.

“You worked hard.”

“Not hard at all.

“It’s what I should do.”

“How is weapons production progressing?”

“Siege crossbows, siege wagons, traction trebuchets, things like that—I’ve already taught the methods to one batch of craftsmen.

“They’re teaching apprentices now.

“It probably won’t be long before we can form a proper engineer corps.

“The only problem is that many workshops have had no choice but to suspend ordinary production during this period.

“Our losses are actually pretty severe.”

“There’s no helping that.

“We have to arm ourselves first.

“Otherwise, no matter how many other goods we accumulate, they’ll only become someone else’s dowry.”

“Yes. Master is right.”

Xue San immediately affirmed him.

Zheng Fan removed the armor.

He liked it very much.

Zheng Fan had always known that he did not possess one of those heaven-defying protagonist fates.

The true main character of a battlefield was the kind of person who could leap around amid sabers, spears, and clouds of arrows without anything happening to him.

Zheng Fan, by contrast, seemed to get injured almost every time he entered battle.

If not for A’Ming and the Demon Child taking arrows for him, the grass over his grave would probably already be swaying happily in the wind.

“Master, that fellow Ding Heng is quite skilled with a great saber.

“Should I have him come spar with you?”

Recently, Shengle City had attracted another group of jianghu figures.

Xue San had selected some of them for his own use.

At present, Xue San already had roughly a hundred scouts under his command.

“Good.

“Have him come tomorrow.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Right.

“Where’s the Blind Man?

“Still not off duty?”

“Master, the Blind Man seems to be in the rear residence studying the Jade Figurine Token.”

“What is he studying that thing for?”

To Zheng Fan, the prophecy from the Jade Figurine Token had been little more than a hindsight prediction.

Any fool could see that after entering the pass, the savages had already gained momentum.

Now it simply depended on whether Great Yan could use its national strength to suppress them again.

A’Ming answered, “The Blind Man said he wants to study the principles behind the Jade Figurine Token so we can use them later.”

“Use them for what?”

Xue San immediately jumped in.

“Oh, Master, isn’t it the same old routine?

“Things like ‘The stone man has only one eye,’ or ‘When Shengle rises, Zheng Fan shall be King.’

“The Blind Man thinks that in the history we know, those people were all playing with feudal superstition and tricks meant to fool people.

“But this world genuinely contains so many things that defy ordinary understanding.

“So we have to adapt to local conditions and keep pace with the times.

“If we’re going to do it, we should make something higher-end.”

Among all the Demon Kings, the one most interested in rebellion was probably the Blind Man.

And he did not want to rebel for glory or wealth.

He simply thought it was fun.

Purely a hobby.

“Forget it.

“Let him research whatever he wants.

“I’m going inside to see the child.”

After parting from Xue San and A’Ming, Zheng Fan entered the bedroom.

Siniang was extremely busy these days.

She was almost never inside the residence during daylight hours.

Sometimes, even at night, Zheng Fan could not bring himself to ask her to do needlework anymore.

So at the moment, there were only two children in the room.

One child could be seen.

One could not.

“Tian Tian.

“Come here.

“Godfather’s here.”

Tian Tian was the pet name Zheng Fan had given the Young Marquis.

Tian Wujing had never replied to Zheng Fan’s letter or provided any specific answer.

But Zheng Fan knew that both the child’s formal name and his proper childhood name had already been reserved by the Emperor of Yan and the Marquis of Zhenbei.

So for now, he simply used this.

“Wah-oh. Wah-oh...”

The little fellow actively crawled toward Zheng Fan.

He was not shy around strangers at all.

Whether Zheng Fan or any of the Demon Kings came over, he always demanded to be held.

Zheng Fan sat on the edge of the bed and played with him for a while.

Then the little fellow twisted around.

He seemed to be looking for the stone where the Demon Child was hiding.

So he ended up pointing his soft pink bottom directly at Zheng Fan.

A wicked impulse rose in Zheng Fan’s heart.

He lightly slapped the little bottom.

*Tian Wujing, I’m spanking your ass!*

Then he gave it another gentle slap.

*Tian Wujing, so you have a day like this too!*

Hahahahaha!

[End of Chapter 296]