Chapter 466: Reorganization

Count Pingye had returned to Snow Sea Pass, back among his soldiers and people, and they welcomed him with cheers.

The Princess who returned with him had remained inside her carriage when they entered the city and never showed her face, but descriptions of her had already spread throughout the soldiers and civilians of Snow Sea Pass.

A Princess. What an exalted existence.

And she was entirely different from the Princesses of the Yu imperial clan in Jin. The Jin imperial line had declined so badly that women of the royal house had long since lost much of their value. Princesses still fared somewhat better. In earlier years, Yu Clan Princesses could at least marry sons of the Three Great Families, though never sons of the direct line.

But Ladies of the Imperial Clan, County Princesses, and other noblewomen below the rank of Princess often lived difficult lives. They had to preserve the dignity expected of imperial kin while simultaneously enduring real financial hardship, leaving them trapped in an awkward and humiliating position.

That had directly led many collateral branches of the Yu imperial clan, from princely residences to Duke and Marquis households and all the way down, to openly place prices on marriage arrangements for their eligible women and effectively “sell” them outward for bridewealth.

Back then, even wealthy landowners and merchants in Jin could, if they had enough silver, marry a woman of imperial blood from some “noble household” around the capital and thereby raise the prestige of their own family, borrowing a little reflected nobility for themselves.

Anything that could be bought with silver had a price. And once the price was fixed, the halo surrounding it naturally faded.

As a result, over the sixty-odd years this had continued, the people of Jin had long since stopped being impressed by so-called noblewomen.

Yet today, faced with the fact that their own Count had brought home a Princess of Chu, every soldier and civilian in Snow Sea Pass wore a proud smile, as though sharing in his glory.

“So you see, even after a woman marries and follows her husband, if she wants to live with dignity, she still needs a powerful maternal family behind her.”

Zuo Jiqian sat beside the window of a restaurant, watching the crowds below as he made this observation.

The Princess had technically betrayed her state by leaving it, yet precisely because Great Chu remained Great Chu, her status and standing remained intact.

There was some self-mockery mixed into Zuo Jiqian’s sigh.

Once upon a time, the Zuo Clan had also been a prestigious great house. Back then, he himself had knelt before the Marquis of Jingnan alongside Count Zheng.

At that time, he and Zheng Fan had stood on equal footing. If anything, Zuo Jiqian had faintly ranked above him. Both had been Garrison Commanders, though Zheng Fan’s prospects were obviously far greater.

Then fate played its tricks.

One campaign of cavalry trampling the aristocratic clans reduced Zuo Jiqian straight from Garrison Commander to prisoner. He was exiled into the penal troops, locked in a cage like livestock, tagged and waiting to be sold.

Worse, he had not even sold well. None of the other Garrison Commanders wanted him, fearing he would be difficult to control. A large group of surviving Zuo Clan members also remained around him, meaning anyone who accepted them would effectively be bringing an entire little faction into his camp.

In the end, only Count Zheng had possessed a large enough appetite to take him.

Years had passed since then. From repeated southern campaigns into Qian, to the Jin capital region, then Shengle, and now Snow Sea Pass, Zuo Jiqian had personally watched Count Zheng rise.

Whatever jealousy he might once have felt had long since vanished.

When another man lives only a little better than you, you may envy him. But when he is already in the heavens while you remain on the ground, all you can do is look up.

Drinking today beneath the lingering rains of recent days, Zuo Jiqian could not help becoming sentimental.

Jin Shuke narrowed his eyes.

“Old Zuo, we’re military men. Why start drowning yourself in sour feelings? The city is lively today for one simple reason. Our Count brought home a Princess, so every shop in Snow Sea Pass is holding a temporary sale to celebrate with the people.”

Zuo Jiqian smiled and let the melancholy pass.

Jin Shuke and Zuo Jiqian were not alone at the table. Four others sat with them.

There was Gao Yi, the Lieutenant Commander of the thousand cavalrymen whom the Marquis of Jingnan had once sent to Shengle as a gift.

There was Ding Hao, one of the earliest men to follow Count Zheng.

The remaining two were Keyan Dongge and Xu Youcheng.

During the months Zheng Fan had spent inside Chu, the Blind Man and Liang Cheng had reorganized the military and civilian system of Snow Sea Pass, adapting it to the territory’s future needs.

Five men formed a five-man file. Ten men formed a squad. Every hundred men were commanded by a Centurion. Three hundred-man units formed one **Standard**.

Five Standards formed one **Battalion**. Above the Battalion stood the **Command**.

Jin Shuke now held the rank of Guerrilla General and commanded the Second Command, which contained three Battalions.

Keyan Dongge was also a Guerrilla General and commanded the Third Command, likewise with three Battalions.

Both Jin Shuke and Keyan Dongge were barbarians. The Keyan Tribe had contributed the largest single body of tribal fighting strength accepted by Snow Sea Pass in recent months, while most of the older barbarian troops already under Zheng Fan had also been divided between these two men.

Jin Shuke was unquestionably one of their own. His identity as a fellow barbarian also allowed him to counterbalance Keyan Dongge’s influence over the Keyan Tribe.

Ding Hao had been appointed Assistant General and commanded the Fourth Command, which contained two Battalions and bore responsibility for Snow Sea Pass’s city defenses. Ding Hao had once served as one of Count Zheng’s instructors and belonged to the earliest group to join him. Entrusting the fortress defenses to such a man reassured everyone.

Zuo Jiqian was a Guerrilla General commanding the Fifth Command, which contained two Battalions. His troops consisted mainly of the early Yan penal soldiers and later Yan recruits absorbed into the force.

Xu Youcheng was an Assistant General commanding the Sixth Command, which contained three Battalions and consisted mainly of soldiers from Jin.

Gao Yi was a Guerrilla General commanding the Seventh Command. It contained only one Battalion, but every man in it was elite. This was Count Pingye’s personal guard force.

The First Command remained vacant for the time being. The generals suspected it had deliberately been reserved for the Count himself.

The problem was that Snow Sea Pass possessed only so many combat troops. If they created the most elite First Command now and filled it by stripping the strongest soldiers from the other six Commands, the framework of those six Commands would collapse. So the First Command was left blank.

Three Battalions in the Second Command, three in the Third, two in the Fourth, two in the Fifth, three in the Sixth, and one in the Seventh: fourteen Battalions in total, amounting to twenty-one thousand combat troops.

At the same time, each Standard of three hundred men became not merely a battlefield formation but also a local social and household unit. The wives, children, parents, and dependents of those three hundred soldiers were all registered under a particular Standard. In later terms, it resembled the neighborhood groups of a future age, or the production brigades and smaller teams of an earlier period.

When war began, Count Pingye would issue the order to mobilize. Each Standard Commander would then assemble the three hundred soldiers registered beneath him, have them don armor, ready horses, and report for duty.

When the war ended, aside from Gao Yi’s Seventh Command, which served as Count Zheng’s personal guard, and Ding Hao’s Fourth Command, which carried fortress-defense responsibilities, soldiers of the other Commands could return to their own Standards and engage in productive work whenever they were not gathered for training.

This greatly reduced the burden upon Count Pingye Residence while releasing a large amount of labor for production.

Naturally, the system carried one obvious weakness. If peace lasted too long, such a military structure could easily decay. One need only look at the military households of the Ming Dynasty or the Eight Banners of the Qing.

For the moment, however, there was no need to worry.

Savages stood to the north. Chu stood to the south. For the next several decades, Snow Sea Pass would not lack wars to fight. As long as the fighting never truly stopped, the system would not have the chance to rot.

Thanks to Zheng Fan’s extraordinary authority in the army and the near-personal worship surrounding him, combined with the Blind Man’s methods and Liang Cheng’s ability to suppress opposition, the military reforms had proceeded smoothly.

Every month, Count Pingye Residence distributed a fixed amount of money and grain to households registered beneath a Standard. There were additional benefits during festivals. Civilians outside the Standard system received none of those privileges.

That difference made ordinary people attach enormous importance to being registered into a Standard.

Joining a Standard was essentially gaining a superior household registration.

The unequal treatment left outsiders desperately envious and eager to get inside, not unlike people in later generations fighting for household registration in a major city.

Once the new system was established, many unmarried soldiers suddenly found matchmakers appearing at their doors and then married at remarkable speed. There was a faint flavor of obtaining a green card through marriage.

Families without eligible daughters, or those unwilling to enter through marriage, could instead join labor-service camps or auxiliary units during the next mobilization and earn qualification for Standard registration through military merit.

The income of a Standard household came from several sources.

First, Count Pingye Residence issued them money and grain every month.

Second, they could earn through their own labor and production. For example, the barbarian households under Jin Shuke and Keyan Dongge could herd livestock when not fighting, driving animals onto the snowfields near Snow Sea Pass.

But the largest share of income still came from the dividends of war.

If a household wanted the old and young at home to live well, the men of the family needed to fight desperately on the battlefield.

In short, the Blind Man was extremely satisfied with his reform of the military system.

In his view, Snow Sea Pass had already become an embryonic war machine.

And that machine was hungry.

It yearned for war. It yearned to plunder outward, like a young beast crying to be fed.

Every Demon King had his own preferences.

Liang Cheng liked commanding troops.

Siniang liked training Princesses, Commandery Princesses, and unusual beauties in the style of Liu Ruqing.

Xue San liked craftsman’s work.

A’Ming liked sampling all varieties of fresh blood inside an ice cellar.

Fan Li enjoyed carrying the Sword Maid on his shoulders during walks after dinner.

Even the Demon Child had a child to look after.

And the Blind Man liked precisely this sort of alteration and reform.

One could say instability had been written into his bones. Among all the Demon Kings, he was also universally acknowledged as the one most obsessed with rebellion.

Everyone was an adult. Everyone understood that sometimes life required bowing one’s head, such as when shamelessly flattering Master.

But everyone also understood that so long as the broad direction remained the same, each person should find and harvest his own pleasures along the way.

Quality of life could not be sacrificed.

“All right. Don’t drink too much,” Ding Hao said. “We’ll be meeting the Count soon. Showing up reeking of wine wouldn’t be proper.”

Everyone silently put down their cups.

Jin Shuke glanced at the time.

“Should be about right. Let’s head to the residence.”

Everyone stood.

Then, almost from ingrained habit, they began inspecting their armor and clothing.

Count Zheng cared about details. He liked things neat and visually ordered. Everyone knew that.

After all, unless a subordinate was an idiot or genuinely possessed no ambitions whatsoever, he would never remain indifferent to his superior’s preferences.

Ding Hao looked around.

“Everyone straightened up?”

The others nodded.

“Good. When we report our new offices and assignments later, watch the rhythm. Don’t talk over one another. When we speak in unison at the end, everyone needs to hit the same beat. Same with drawing our sabers, driving them into the floor, and swearing the oath. The movements need to match.”

Jin Shuke looked slightly worried.

“How about we don’t go down just yet? Let’s rehearse it twice up here first.”

No one objected.

Everyone thought it necessary.

Ding Hao was among the earliest members of the household. With the Zuo Clan gone, Zuo Jiqian had nowhere to depend upon except Zheng Fan. Jin Shuke was an absolute loyalist. Keyan Dongge had already had his thorns pulled out in advance by the Marquis of Jingnan and was therefore extremely obedient. Gao Yi had come from the Jingnan Army, but his own rise had occurred only after following Zheng Fan. Xu Youcheng had originally been a surrendered Jin soldier.

So when it came to making “Count Zheng” happy and satisfied, every one of them naturally took the matter seriously.

That was why, when a waiter came upstairs to ask whether the honored generals wanted more wine, he witnessed the following scene.

One general after another knelt before an empty chair, saluted, and solemnly announced his own name and office.

Then each man drew his saber with great ceremony and stabbed it into the floor.

...

“Elder Sister, this is hard.”

Xiong Liqing stared miserably at the thick ledgers in front of her and whined to Siniang.

“Elder Sister, can’t I just be a decorative vase?”

Yuexin sat nearby and covered her mouth to hide a smile.

Xiong Liqing knew she was the Blind Man’s wife, so she turned toward her.

“Elder Sister Yuexin, don’t you find this sort of work exhausting and tedious?”

Yuexin shook her head.

“If we can share a little of the burden, the men can have an easier time. Besides, when it comes to managing accounts, we’re family. If we handle these things ourselves, naturally it becomes much more convenient.”

The Princess pouted at the abacus before her, overflowing with sorrow.

Yuexin said:

“The city is very lively today.”

To celebrate Count Pingye returning with the Princess, every shop in Snow Sea Pass had begun offering temporary discounts.

This had all been arranged by Siniang.

The Princess looked at her.

“Elder Sister, thank you. You really are so good to me.”

Siniang shook her head.

“A discount still leaves us profit. The weather is about to turn warm. Merchant caravans will soon begin arriving from outside, the cattle and sheep on the snowfields will start fattening up, the workshops will resume production, and a new batch of goods will be coming in. Naturally, we should use this opportunity to clear old inventory.”

“...”

The Princess stared at her.

“We can hold the same promotion on this day every year from now on,” Siniang continued.

Xiong Liqing bit her lip.

“You can’t possibly send him out next year to steal another Princess, can you?”

“It’s an anniversary. One year since stealing a Princess. Two years. Three years. Once you decide to run a discount promotion, finding an excuse is hardly difficult.”

Siniang put down her brush and said to Yuexin:

“Keep teaching her.”

“Yes, Elder Sister Feng.”

Siniang looked at Xiong Liqing again.

“You need to learn how to manage at least some affairs. You’re clever to begin with. For the next few years, you may still be able to make his blood race merely by saying, ‘This Princess.’ But what about a few years after that?

“What if one year Chu no longer exists?

“Men are like that. They love the new and tire of the old.”

“Yes. Little Sister understands.”

“Good. Go through these accounts again. I’m going to rest.”

Yuexin said:

“Ever since Elder Sister Feng returned, you seem unusually sleepy.”

“Sleep is always the best way to heal.”

After Siniang left, the Princess looked toward Yuexin.

“Elder Sister Yuexin, can you tell me how you and Mr. Bei met?”

Yuexin kept her head lowered over the accounts.

“Same as you.”

“Same as me?”

“Mm. I was stolen back too.”

When Zheng Fan’s troops had entered Chuzhou City, the Blind Man forcibly placed a Yan official’s cap on Wen Sutong’s head, ultimately forcing Wen Sutong to throw himself completely behind Great Yan and marry off his granddaughter.

Strictly speaking, Yuexin truly had been “stolen” back.

The Princess tapped one finger against her chin.

“Does this family have some kind of tradition of stealing people?”

Yuexin nodded.

“When there isn’t enough rice in your own bowl, of course you have to steal some.”

“That sounds strangely reasonable.”

Yuexin smiled.

“My husband said it.”

“Showing off.”

“Hmm?”

“My husband said that.”

...

At that moment, Count Zheng was sitting inside Liu Ruqing’s small courtyard listening to her sing.

It was a local Chu melody, full of heavy regional inflections and long, drawn-out notes.

Truthfully, Count Zheng could not understand a word.

But that did not matter.

The woman singing was beautiful.

Besides, inside Count Zheng’s ears, every one of those long notes was practically transformed into:

“Uncle aaah~~~”

When the song ended, Count Zheng lowered his head and took a sip of tea.

Liu Ruqing looked uneasy.

“Please forgive me, Uncle. This servant did not sing well.”

Count Zheng pointed downward.

“Look. You sang very well.”

Liu Ruqing’s face instantly flushed crimson. She turned her head away and cried:

“Uncle aaah~~~”

Zheng Fan did not know whether the woman was simply accustomed to calling him that, or whether she had realized he liked the title and deliberately continued using it after entering the residence.

But one thing could not be denied.

Every time she called him in that tone, Count Zheng experienced something like ice sliding over his whole body on a summer day, a tingling shiver that ran from head to toe.

So sometimes Count Zheng could not resist teasing her on purpose, simply because he wanted to hear that shy cry again.

For the moment, however, things went no further than that.

Siniang’s injuries had not yet healed and would still require some time. But since Siniang had said she wanted a child, naturally Zheng Fan intended to wait for her.

He did not regard himself as some breeding stallion, nor had he ever dreamed of three thousand beauties in a harem.

Still, while at home, sampling this sort of flirtation without going too far was rather entertaining.

Counting the days, Little Sixth’s butcher’s daughter of a wife should be close to giving birth by now, shouldn’t she?

At that moment, Xiao Yibo arrived and stood outside the courtyard.

“Count, the generals have arrived.”

Count Zheng nodded.

“I know.”

He rose, took his leave of Liu Ruqing, and headed toward the central residence, where guests were received and military councils held.

While Zheng Fan had been inside Chu, Snow Sea Pass’s military system had been reorganized.

Ordinarily, if anyone else were master of the household and his subordinates dared make such major changes while he was absent, it would amount to the gravest insubordination.

But that contradiction did not exist between Count Zheng and the Demon Kings.

One of the most comfortable things in the world was having a group of extraordinarily capable subordinates.

Even more comfortable was not needing to worry that they might rebel.

Calling the generals over today was simply his routine appearance as the household mascot, refreshing his sense of presence. At the same time, he intended to order preparations for a military review three days from now.

Liang Cheng was already waiting. As deputy commander, he naturally had to be present at a time like this. Fan Li stood behind him.

“Master isn’t wearing armor?” Liang Cheng asked.

“Too troublesome. I won’t bother. We’re at home, so let’s be casual. I’m not planning to go anywhere anyway.”

Count Zheng had only just reached the central hall, and Jin Shuke and the others had not even had time to salute. Their carefully rehearsed performance had not yet found a chance to appear.

Then a courier came running in from the gate of Count Pingye Residence.

“The Imperial Envoy bearing a decree has arrived!”

Although their rehearsal had not yet been used, Jin Shuke and the other generals all smiled.

Everyone understood that the decree must contain rewards.

Bringing a Princess back from Chu had not involved storming cities or seizing strongholds, but it was unquestionably a major achievement and a tremendous boost to morale. His Majesty could not possibly leave it unrewarded.

Count Zheng was far less pleased.

He frowned.

A faint sense of foreboding rose inside him.

The Imperial Envoy had not sent anyone ahead to announce his arrival. Snow Sea Pass had only learned of the party after they entered its territory.

That meant the decree-bearing mission had ridden here at full speed without the slightest delay.

If they were merely bringing rewards, why the rush?

Seeing Zheng Fan frown, Liang Cheng said:

“Master, be at ease. It must be good news.”

Count Zheng sighed.

“Now that you’ve said that, I’m even more nervous.”

For a moment, Liang Cheng did not know how to answer.

Zheng Fan looked at him.

“A’Cheng, do you think we could learn from the Marquis of Jingnan? Shut the gates and let the Imperial Envoy polish a layer of patina onto the stone lions outside Count Pingye Residence?”

“I’ll go.”

Fan Li turned around with his axe and started toward the gate.

Count Zheng covered his forehead.

“Drag that idiot back.”

Then he waved one hand.

“Forget it. Pass the order. Prepare to receive the Imperial Envoy.”

Xiao Yibo asked from nearby:

“Count, should we go outside the city to receive him? If so, we need to arrange for soldiers and civilians to wait beyond the walls immediately.”

Xiao Yibo remembered that when the previous Imperial Envoy came to invest his master as Count Pingye, Zheng Fan had personally gone beyond the city to receive the decree and had shown the decree-bearing eunuch tremendous ceremony.

Count Zheng gave Xiao Yibo an irritated glance.

That one look immediately filled Xiao Yibo with panic.

It meant he had guessed his master’s intentions incorrectly.

For a chief steward, failing to keep pace with his master was dangerous.

Count Zheng sighed.

“Don’t disturb the people with grand mobilizations every time something happens. Besides, why make it so troublesome?

“It’s only receiving an imperial decree.

“This Count will wait at home.”

————

[End of Chapter 466]