Chapter 473: Mobilizing Troops

The screams inside the Education Administration had gradually died away.

Gao Yi wiped his saber clean on the robes of a dead official lying on the ground, sheathed it, and slowly walked out.

He was a native of Yinlang Commandery. He had joined the army at sixteen, later entered the personal guard of the Marquis of Jingnan, and was eventually assigned to a field unit as a substantive Assistant General.

Truthfully, when the Marquis of Jingnan first sent him to Zheng Fan, Gao Yi had resisted the idea.

That assignment had been far too ambiguous.

Was he an allied force?

By all logic, he was merely supposed to help Zheng Fan take Shengle City.

Yet the military order had never specified a date for his return.

Going from a substantive Assistant General in the Jingnan Army to serving beneath a local military strongman felt like far too great a drop.

True, Count Zheng had already made a name for himself at the time, and Gao Yi admired him.

But admiration could not fill the belly.

Nor could admiration bring promotion.

Admiring a man from a distance ought to have been enough.

Unfortunately, fate had decided otherwise.

That entire body of troops had simply been swallowed into Count Zheng’s command.

Fortunately, life in Shengle had not been difficult.

In fact, it had been quite pleasant.

The old Shengle City and today’s Snow Sea Pass were, truthfully, the kind of places that would torment a jianghu wanderer but make a career soldier feel exceedingly comfortable.

Because both had always practiced military-first governance.

Here, grunts held first-class status and received first-class treatment and security.

Then, as Zheng Fan accumulated military merit campaign after campaign and climbed step by step, the tiny resentment Gao Yi once felt disappeared beyond the ninth heaven.

If anything, he had become grateful for that twist of fate.

When the Marquis of Jingnan first selected a man for the assignment, three other Assistant Generals had met the requirements as well. But they had gotten wind of the matter in advance and pushed Gao Yi forward instead.

Now they were probably regretting it bitterly.

Gao Yi walked out through the gates of the Education Administration.

He saw Count Zheng sitting atop the Pixiu.

For a moment, Gao Yi fell into a daze.

It almost felt as though the man before him was not a Count at all.

It was the Marquis.

His own Count truly resembled the Marquis more and more.

Truthfully, Gao Yi also felt that slaughtering so many people over examination slots for a few instructors was excessive.

But in the end, Snow Sea Pass had been bullied.

Gao Yi had only just finished killing people.

His mood was excellent.

He felt thoroughly refreshed.

“Count, this general reports the task complete!”

The Pixiu stepped forward and passed Gao Yi, carrying Zheng Fan into the Education Administration.

Bodies lay everywhere inside, sprawled in every direction.

In Zheng Fan’s previous life, when he watched television dramas or films, perhaps because directors feared making audiences uncomfortable, or perhaps simply to save money on costumes, makeup, and props, corpses on screen usually looked very “clean.”

Reality was completely different.

One saber strike did not easily kill a person.

The idea of simply slashing once and watching someone drop dead was far too simple.

Even if stabbed through the belly, a man could still clutch his wound and stagger several steps.

So when military men killed, they generally cut into whatever opening they saw first and knocked the target down.

Then, without hesitation, they stepped in and finished the job.

That final strike was usually either a throat cut or a direct stab into the heart.

Which meant there was a great deal of blood.

The corpses looked horrific.

Whenever Li Fusheng fought, he always seemed to have rolled through a pool of blood.

It was not because he deliberately made himself look that way.

He simply killed so many people that layer after layer of blood splashed across him.

The Pixiu did not dislike the slaughterhouse before it.

If anything, it seemed a little excited.

After Zheng Fan dismounted and walked ahead, the Pixiu secretly lowered its head, extended its tongue, and licked some blood from the ground.

It did not dare do such a thing in front of Zheng Fan.

Count Zheng would find it disgusting.

Squelch.

Squelch.

Squelch.

His boots pressed through sticky blood, producing faint wet sounds.

Count Zheng continued forward until he reached the main administrative hall, the building facing south.

Two plaques hung from the pillars outside.

One read:

**Talent Gathered Behind the Azure Gates.**

The other read:

**Esteemed as Chengjun.**

Blood had splashed across both plaques.

Strangely enough, they looked rather good that way.

Before crossing the threshold into the administrative hall, Count Zheng turned around.

Then he sat down on the threshold.

Somehow, without realizing it, he too had begun enjoying that position.

The Princess had once told him that Great Chu’s General Nian Yao also liked sitting on thresholds.

Whenever military councils were held or meals served, Nian Yao had to find a threshold and sit there.

Naturally, the Marquis of Jingnan could not have been the first person in history to sit on a threshold.

Go back hundreds or thousands of years and surely some man had already sat there slurping noodles from a bowl while smacking his lips and chatting with his neighbors.

But among contemporary soldiers and generals, anyone with that particular habit was basically imitating the Marquis of Jingnan.

Mao Mingcai entered as well.

He looked at the corpses scattered around them and drew in a deep breath.

Then he looked toward Count Zheng sitting on the threshold.

“Is that enough?”

Clearly, the Prefect of Yingdu had reached the edge of true rage.

Count Zheng did not answer.

Instead, he picked up a jade pendant that had fallen nearby when some official was hacked to death and tossed it toward the Pixiu, which was licking blood in a corner.

The Pixiu shuffled its hooves unhappily, raised its head, and no longer dared lick.

“Count Zheng, after slaughtering your way through here, do you feel better?”

Zheng Fan tilted his neck slightly.

A faint crack sounded.

He still did not answer.

“Why couldn’t you wait?

“Why couldn’t you wait a little longer?

“Even if these people had to be publicly tried and sentenced, there was still a process.

“There was no need to rush through everything in a single moment.”

Only then did Zheng Fan speak.

“Lord Mao, I am a military man.

“No matter what I do, I am accustomed to acting with thunderous speed.

“I dislike endless deliberation.”

“Count Pingye, what you have done is contempt for the law and contempt for the statutes of the state!”

Count Zheng slowly raised his head.

He stared at Mao Mingcai.

The warm, amiable expression from earlier was gone.

His gaze had turned cold.

“Lord Mao, this Count understands the importance of the imperial examination to Great Yan better than you do.

“This Count understands its importance to His Majesty better than you do.

“In a fraud case like this, where candidates are replaced and examination slots stolen, if you, as Prefect of Yingdu, knew and failed to report it, then you trampled upon His Majesty’s century-long plan.

“If you truly knew nothing, then you are derelict, incompetent, and drawing a salary while occupying an office you cannot fulfill.

“So let this Count ask Lord Mao:

“Which one are you?”

“Presumptuous!

“Zheng Fan, this official gives you three parts face when I call you Count.

“In official rank, I stand above you.

“What?

“From the sound of your words, do you intend to cut this official down as well?”

Even a clay figurine possessed three parts anger.

And Mao Mingcai had already been toyed with by Count Zheng twice.

Both times, Zheng Fan issued an order to kill in front of him.

Both times, the people killed were people Mao Mingcai had intended to protect.

“Come, come, Zheng Fan.

“Order your men to cut this official down as well.

“Then Yingdu can simply belong to you, Zheng Fan.

“This official would very much like to see whether Yingdu, whether the lands of the Three Jin, still belong to Great Yan!”

Count Zheng looked at the furious Prefect.

Then he merely smiled.

He turned and pointed toward the two plaques behind him.

“No rule, no square or circle.”

“Who exactly is the one ignoring the rules?”

Zheng Fan clapped his hands.

He stood.

Then he took one step toward Mao Mingcai.

“Lord Mao?”

Mao Mingcai glared at him.

“Prefect Mao?”

Mao Mingcai thrust his chest forward.

“Mao Mingcai!”

“You...”

“I know what you, and all of you, want to do.

“You want to imitate Qian’s civil officials and teach Great Yan’s military men a little about rules.”

“Qian suppresses the military through the civil bureaucracy.

“That is an unbalanced path.

“How could Great Yan imitate it?

“But what you, Zheng Fan, have done today deserves one description:

“Military arrogance!”

“Exactly.

“Then you should think even harder about how to establish proper rules.

“I do not ask you to lock military men like us inside cages.

“At the very least, place us within a proper square and circle.

“But what have *you* done?

“You took a perfectly good imperial examination and allowed them to turn it into a pit of corruption and filth.

“If you yourselves do not respect the rules, then do not blame me for refusing to respect them either.”

“Twisting logic!

“Reversing black and white!”

“Yes.

“But what can you do about it?”

Zheng Fan walked directly before Mao Mingcai.

He simply looked at him.

“This Count was summoned to the capital with only three hundred personal guards.

“You, Lord Mao, are Prefect of Yingdu.

“Come.

“Quickly order someone to arrest this Count.

“Imprison this Count.

“Interrogate this Count.

“Convict this Count.

“Come on!

“You want to play hardball?

“You think this Count doesn’t know how?”

“Outrageous!

“Utterly outrageous!”

Truthfully, Mao Mingcai was extremely capable.

Otherwise, he never could have risen to become a Minister of one of the Six Ministries.

Nor would the court have sent him to Yingdu to preside over the region.

Throughout the past year, Yingdu had actually remained remarkably harmonious.

Even after the Marquis of Jingnan moved his headquarters from Yingdu to Fengxin City, the rear had never descended into disorder.

Money, grain, military pay, and every category of supply had continued flowing and transferring through Yingdu smoothly.

Mao Mingcai was genuinely competent.

He had methods.

Political instincts.

Depth.

But none of that helped him now.

Because the man before him was Count Zheng, who simply refused to play by those rules.

Of course, there was an even more fundamental reason.

This was Yingdu.

If this were Yanjing, Count Zheng would never dare behave with such arrogance.

Precisely because this was Yingdu, by the time the wind from here reached Yanjing, its roar would already have weakened.

Mao Mingcai drew two slow breaths.

He even raised one hand and carefully smoothed his beard and hair.

He brought his emotions under control.

That also meant he finally stepped outside the rhythm Zheng Fan had forced him into from the moment the order to slaughter the Education Administration was given.

“Count Pingye, what you have done today is not really about standing up for those few Snow Sea Pass scholars whose examination places were stolen, is it?”

Zheng Fan said nothing.

“You deliberately magnified this affair.

“This official can guess at least part of what Count Pingye intends.

“But this is the great trend.

“The great trend cannot be stopped.

“This official will not allow anyone to stop it.

“The court will not allow anyone to stop it.

“Even His Majesty will not allow anyone to stop it!

“And you, Count Pingye, do not possess the qualification to stop it either!”

They were both old foxes of a thousand years.

Whatever tune the other side sang, one only had to listen for a moment before tasting the real flavor beneath it.

“You slaughtered the Education Administration today.

“You killed all these people.

“Do you truly believe that once you reach the capital, you will not be held accountable?”

Count Zheng suddenly pressed one hand to his chest.

An expression of alarm appeared on his face.

“Right.

“I still have to go to the capital.”

“...”

Mao Mingcai.

Zheng Fan laughed.

He turned slightly toward Mao Mingcai.

“Then I ask Lord Mao to teach me what I should do.”

Mao Mingcai stared at him.

His lips moved several times.

For a moment, he genuinely did not know how to answer.

Count Zheng beckoned.

The Pixiu immediately trotted over and lowered its body.

Zheng Fan mounted.

Then he swept his gaze across the courtyard.

Because both senior officials were still here, and because Count Zheng’s personal guards remained inside, no one dared enter to clean up yet.

Not even the families of the dead officials dared send people to collect the bodies.

“Lord Mao, tell me something.

“If I only wanted to stand up for those Snow Sea Pass scholars whose places were stolen, wouldn’t it be very easy?”

“With Count Pingye’s influence, naturally it would be easy.”

“Then what about those scholars who do not have someone like this Count supporting them?

“What happens to their fate?

“The opportunity to enter the Son of Heaven’s gate by evening was placed right before them.

“Then the qualification that belonged to them was stolen by someone else.

“Do you think that is fair to them?

“Lord Mao, even if you retired from office today, with your experience and status, you would never need to worry that your children or grandchildren might have their places stolen when they sat the imperial examinations.

“This Count merely needs to send word and the stolen slots from Snow Sea Pass will be returned.

“They would even come apologize to me.

“But there are still far more commoners in this world than men like us.

“His Majesty opened the imperial examinations precisely to give ambitious and learned men among Great Yan’s common people a chance to serve the court.

“A chance to leap through the Dragon Gate like carp.

“The people of Qian love stories about the Top Scholar.

Ten years by the cold window, never feeling the hardship;
In dreams, forever walking toward Donghua Gate.

“Stories about the Top Scholar’s love, hatred, and fortunes are countless among Qian’s common people.

“No.

“They are countless even among the people of Great Yan.

“Teahouses and taverns never lack such tales, even though Yan itself did not possess the imperial examinations in earlier years.

“Lord Mao.

“Tell me.

“If the Top Scholar no longer rises from among the common people, but is instead chosen and arranged in advance by men like those who died here...

“Will ordinary people still enjoy listening to stories about the Top Scholar?”

Mao Mingcai sneered.

“Does Count Pingye mean to tell this official that today’s slaughter was nothing more than sympathy for those candidates whose places were stolen?

“That you killed only to vent your anger for them?

“That you had no other intention?”

Zheng Fan shook his head.

“No.

“I don’t know any of them.

“And I already possess a noble title.

“My children can inherit it in the future.

“I can continue earning military merit.

“Perhaps one day I may even obtain a hereditary title that can pass unchanged through the generations.

“If I have a second child or a third, I may even obtain hereditary privilege for them through my own merit.

“Right now...

“I merely feel like indulging in a little sentimental posturing.

“Otherwise, all the blood spilled by these Education Administration officials around us would go to waste.”

Mao Mingcai discovered that he truly could not understand the man before him.

Even if he knew Zheng Fan’s underlying objective, the manner in which Zheng Fan acted remained impossible to grasp.

In the end, Mao Mingcai could only ask:

“Have you caused enough trouble yet, Count Pingye?”

If the trouble was finished, then it was time to clean up.

Time to begin dealing with the aftermath.

Zheng Fan raised his head.

He let out a regretful sigh.

“No.”

The moment he finished speaking, the Pixiu beneath him broke into a run and charged straight out through the gates of the Education Administration.

The personal guards around him immediately sheathed their sabers and followed their Count.

Only Mao Mingcai remained behind among the piles of corpses, his thoughts in complete disorder.

What... what was that supposed to mean?

Ran Min entered the Education Administration with his men at that moment.

He came to Mao Mingcai’s side and cupped his hands.

“Lord Prefect, Count Pingye has gone toward East Avenue.”

“East Avenue?”

Suddenly, Mao Mingcai’s body trembled.

He cried out:

“He is going to the east gate.

“He intends to go to the military camps outside the city.

“How does he dare?

“How could he possibly dare!”

Mao Mingcai grabbed Ran Min beside him.

“You go...”

Then he abruptly released him.

His body swayed slightly.

“Too late.

“We cannot stop him.

“We cannot stop him.”

“Lord Prefect, without your prefectural order and without a military order from the Marquis of Jingnan, Count Pingye should not be able to mobilize the troops in the camps outside the city, should he?”

Mao Mingcai raised his head.

He stared at Ran Min.

Then he spoke one word at a time:

“Last time... he did not have a Tiger Tally either.”

...

Yingdu was destined to know no peace today.

From Prince Cheng Residence down through the great households of the city, many families had begun feeling uneasy.

Everyone had grown accustomed to a certain set of rules.

Even after the Yan people came and became the true masters here, the Yan people had been willing to play by those rules with them.

So everyone cooperated.

But today, someone had arrived who refused to cooperate.

Count Zheng had sat on the threshold long enough.

Hero Chen had deliberately refrained from killing the rooftop scouts.

As a result, the horrific scene inside the Education Administration had already been reported with astonishing speed to the desks of every major power in Yingdu.

For a time, countless people were stunned.

The last time Yan forces had slaughtered officials inside Yingdu like this had been when the Marquis of Jingnan was here.

Officials who failed to fulfill rear-area military orders had been directly beheaded and displayed.

But that had been wartime.

This was not.

And the man acting today was not the Marquis of Jingnan.

Situ Yu had not returned to his residence.

He remained seated inside his carriage.

After hearing the latest report from his subordinates, fear appeared on his still-young face.

He had originally wanted to borrow the blade of this ascendant Count to cut down a few obstacles.

Who could have imagined that once the blade began killing, it would become this insane?

Situ Yu instinctively looked toward the old eunuch beside him.

“How can he possibly end this?”

The old eunuch’s gaze shifted several times.

After a moment, he replied:

“By making it bigger.”

...

There were four military camps outside Yingdu.

The East Gate Camp housed a detachment of the Jingnan Army.

The West Gate Camp housed another Yan force.

The north and south camps were occupied by Jin troops.

After occupying the lands of the Three Jin, Great Yan had recruited large numbers of surrendered Jin soldiers and new Jin recruits to meet defensive and wartime needs.

But when war actually came, those Jin troops were generally used as auxiliaries and flank forces.

Now Count Zheng rode his Pixiu directly toward the East Gate Camp outside Yingdu.

By military law, anyone attempting to enter a camp without announcement should be shot down for the crime of forcing entry.

Yet when the soldiers in the watchtowers and below saw that the man charging toward them wore golden armor and rode a Pixiu, no one dared carry out that regulation.

In all of Great Yan, only four people rode pure-blooded Pixiu.

Besides, news that Count Pingye had entered Yingdu the previous night had already spread through the camp.

Count Pingye was, after all, an idol among Great Yan’s soldiers.

Several Lieutenant Commanders and the Garrison Commander of this camp had originally planned to invite Count Zheng to a meal that afternoon.

Perhaps they would ask him to the finest restaurant in Yingdu.

Better yet, if they could persuade Count Zheng to visit their camp and inspect it personally, that would be even better.

“It’s Count Pingye.”

“Count Pingye!”

Zheng Fan did not wait outside the camp for permission to enter.

The moment the sentries at the gate stepped aside, he rode straight through and entered the encampment.

The commotion was immediate.

Many soldiers who were off duty emerged from their tents or gathered nearby.

The Garrison Commander of the East Gate Camp, who had only just received word, was already hurrying toward them.

But Count Zheng did not wait for those officers to arrive.

He raised one hand.

Then he shouted:

“This Count carries an order from the Prince of Jingnan!

“I entered Yingdu to investigate a treasonous faction.

“Now the traitors inside Yingdu intend to rebel!

“This Count orders all of you to don armor and mount immediately.

“Follow this Count into the city and suppress the rebels!

“The order is given.

“Obey at once.

“Those who disobey will be executed!”

In an instant, every Jingnan soldier nearby dropped to one knee.

Their voices thundered together:

“Yes!”

Only one man remained standing.

He stared blankly at Count Zheng atop the Pixiu.

It was the Garrison Commander of the East Gate Camp.

But when Zheng Fan’s gaze settled deliberately upon him, he finally knelt as well.

Then he shouted:

“This general obeys the order!”

Immediately, the East Gate Camp dispatched three separate groups of messengers to the other military camps outside Yingdu.

“By order of the Prince of Jingnan: the West Gate Camp will close its gates and remain inside. No troops are to leave!”

“By order of the Prince of Jingnan: the North Gate Camp will immediately seal its encampment. No troops are to leave!”

“By order of the Prince of Jingnan: the South Gate Camp will immediately seal its encampment. No troops are to leave!”

Afterward, several thousand black-armored cavalry rode beneath Zheng Fan’s command toward Yingdu’s eastern gate.

The city gate remained wide open even as the guards atop the walls watched an army approaching.

Because after Count Zheng left the city, Gao Yi and his personal guards had remained behind and taken control of the east gate.

As a result, several thousand Jingnan cavalry entered Yingdu through the eastern gate with almost no resistance whatsoever.

Count Zheng rode his Pixiu at the head of the troops as he entered the city once more.

For a moment, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him.

He had seen this scene before.

Years ago, the Marquis of Jingnan had led Jingnan troops straight into Nanwang City.

That had been the first time Zheng Fan ever met Tian Wujing.

And today, beneath Zheng Fan was a Pixiu.

On his body was golden armor.

Around him rode soldiers of the Jingnan Army.

A sentence suddenly surfaced in Count Zheng’s mind:

Without realizing it...

I have already... become the image of you.

[End of Chapter 473]