Chapter 531: - Make You a Marquis

Hearing the voice from outside, Count Pingye immediately turned to look at the Sword Saint.

There was nothing strange about the Prince of Jingnan being able to walk straight in. The soldiers outside would never dare stop him unless Zheng Fan had specifically ordered them to do so.

And if someone wanted to report his arrival first, given the Prince of Jingnan's temperament, the messenger might not even run as fast as the Prince himself.

Sure enough, the announcement from outside actually came after Tian Wujing's own voice.

“Count, His Highness the Prince of Jingnan has arrived. Uh...”

Clearly, the messenger had just discovered that the Prince of Jingnan who entered ahead of him was somehow already standing in front of him.

But even if the gate guards could not detect Tian Wujing in advance, how could the Sword Saint possibly fail to?

The Sword Saint smiled.

“The Blind Man loves playing this trick on other people. I wanted to try it too.”

“...” Zheng Fan.

The Longyuan Sword suddenly gave a tremulous hum in the Sword Saint's hand.

Tian Wujing's voice had arrived long ago.

The man himself, however, had not entered.

The Sword Saint hesitated, shook his head, and left with his sword.

Only then did the Prince of Jingnan walk into the room.

It was better for those two men not to meet at all.

Their respective positions and the old entanglements between them were simply too complicated to untangle. Better to leave everything where it was and allow each man to continue living in the way he preferred.

Of course, Tian Wujing had not stayed outside because he feared the Sword Saint.

He had simply shown him a measure of respect.

The moment Zheng Fan saw Tian Wujing, he immediately dropped to his knees in salute.

Then his body suddenly went weak and he toppled sideways.

Tian Wujing walked straight to a chair nearby and sat down.

The helping hand Count Pingye had expected never arrived.

Fortunately, Zheng Fan was already used to it.

He rolled sideways across the floor, silently climbed back to his feet, and stood before the Prince of Jingnan.

Tian Wujing was not merely a Martial Artist.

Everyone beneath Heaven knew his body had reached the peak of the Third Grade, enough to make men tremble at the thought. But he was also versed in esoteric arts.

One technique among those arts was physiognomic observation.

In truth, it was somewhat similar to the “observation” portion of the four diagnostic methods used in Chinese medicine: observation, listening and smelling, questioning, and pulse-taking.

Practitioners of the esoteric arts needed such methods to inspect a subject's physical condition before attempting divination or deduction.

So Tian Wujing could tell Zheng Fan's condition at a glance.

There was basically nothing wrong with him anymore.

At most, his mind and spirit were exhausted.

That sort of ailment appeared more often in sheltered young ladies from wealthy households who spent all day shut indoors thinking too much, brooding too much, and injuring themselves with excessive emotion until they made themselves ill.

On a grown man, much less a general, no one would consider it some grave condition.

Compared with a severed arm, a broken leg, or a poisoned arrow in the body, it barely counted as illness at all.

“Your Highness.”

Count Pingye picked up the teapot, preparing to pour tea.

Tian Wujing reached out to stop him, took the pot himself, and poured his own cup.

“You just ate. Don't drink tea yet.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Count Pingye sat opposite him.

“You took East Mountain Fort rather quickly.”

“That was only because Your Highness directed the armies so well.”

“Speak normally.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“This Prince did not expect Shi Yuantang to pull a move like that either. But Shi Yuantang probably did not expect you to ram him to death so directly.”

Count Pingye nodded.

“Exactly. So although this subordinate won and took East Mountain Fort, the casualties among my troops were truly catastrophic.”

“East Mountain Fort falling this early opens the entire situation. And there was a force of Imperial Clan Guards stationed there, yet even that could not change the outcome of the fort being taken and the force destroyed. The lower ranks of the Chu army will begin doubting whether they can hold. Their generals will begin doubting this strategy of grinding us down from behind fortifications. When the rest of Great Yan's armies sweep away the remaining camps and forts, the resistance they face will be much lighter.”

“Yes. It's just that my casualties this time were truly enormous. Haa... those were all brothers who followed me through campaigns north and south for years.”

Tian Wujing shook his head and lowered his gaze to take a sip of tea.

Count Pingye could tell that the Prince of Jingnan was in an excellent mood.

The feeling was probably not so different from what Zheng Fan himself had felt earlier when looking at Jin Shuke.

“You took Central Mountain Camp. You took East Mountain Fort. You killed one of Chu's Pillars of State. The greatest merit and second-greatest merit in this campaign against Chu so far both belong to you alone. That's about enough. From this point onward, your force will remain here and rest.”

Count Pingye released a long breath.

That was exactly what he wanted to hear!

In the battle for East Mountain Fort, half the Snow Sea troops Zheng Fan had brought out had become casualties.

If they kept fighting like this, there would not be much left of the core army he had brought from home.

Fortunately, war was like doing business.

He had poured capital into the market at the beginning.

Now, at last, the returns were appearing.

“Next, this Prince will appoint three substantive Grand Generals under my authority, each commanding one of the central, eastern, and western groupings of the army. You will serve as Grand General of the Eastern Army.”

Zheng Fan already carried the title Grand General of Cheng State.

But that was only an honorary title tied to his rank and treatment.

This new Grand General position was a genuine military office with real authority, ranking above Chief Commanders.

It still carried a temporary wartime quality, but once the campaign ended and rewards were distributed, starting from that position would make a major difference. The separation in status would already be established.

Of course, even without the office of Grand General of the Eastern Army, Gongsun Zhi and Gong Wang had long since fallen into Count Pingye's hands.

In truth, this was not much different from what Zheng Fan had told Jin Shuke earlier:

I remember your merit.

“Your main force can remain stationed at East Mountain Fort. You, however, will stay beside this Prince. Come with me and observe the other armies attacking their forts and camps. You can also serve as an adviser.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Count Pingye understood.

A new round of lessons was about to begin.

“Also send one capable subordinate of yours to the rear to maintain the grain route and organize the laborer columns.”

Someone who did not understand military affairs might think the Prince of Jingnan was ordering Zheng Fan to draw off part of his force and use it to guard logistics.

Normally, only troops that were not considered useful were assigned such work.

But who was Count Pingye?

He immediately heard the meaning behind the words.

The Prince of Jingnan had just personally told him to replenish his losses.

Now he was telling Zheng Fan to send one body of troops to escort the laborer columns coming forward.

Did that not amount to letting Zheng Fan stand at the very front of the entire army and select auxiliaries before anyone else?

Hundreds of thousands of troops had been mobilized.

So many Chief Commanders would now have to wait behind him and choose from whatever Zheng Fan left over.

And there was another gray area.

If he was allowed to select soldiers, who exactly had set a limit on how many he could select?

Was he supposed to stop the instant every existing unit reached its official strength?

But... although Count Pingye himself had assigned fixed establishments to the various Commands beneath Snow Sea Pass, no one above him had ever actually told him exactly what his total authorized establishment was.

In theory, there was a natural limit.

That limit was the amount of grain, fodder, arms, and armor the court supplied him every year.

However many troops he wanted, he still had to consider how much food existed at home.

But Snow Sea Pass was nowhere near as poor as outsiders imagined.

Yingdu and the Prince of Jingnan had always left the gates wide open when supplying Zheng Fan with military provisions.

Little Sixth supported him from the court.

Next door, the Savages of the snowfields periodically contributed manpower and material whether they liked it or not.

So the reason Zheng Fan had always pursued an elite-force strategy rather than exploding his army size was not simply a lack of resources.

Within any given region and period, there were only so many suitable soldiers available.

Recruiting too many farmers and turning them into a mob held questionable practical value.

More importantly, neither Zheng Fan nor the Demon Kings found such troops aesthetically acceptable.

But this was a war between states.

The farmers conscripted from the rear did not count.

Among the auxiliaries transported to the front, however, there was no possibility of the majority being useless dregs.

Most were strong, healthy men from Yan and Jin.

Some had even belonged to local militia-style mountain camps before departure, like the men from Gu County.

There were also villages and towns where martial practice was common, or where generations of men had a tradition of serving in the army.

If Zheng Fan could recruit men like that, Liang Cheng would only need to temper them a little before they developed combat effectiveness.

Use veteran soldiers as the core.

Have the Blind Man deepen their ideological and political education.

In less than half a year, both combat strength and loyalty could rise rapidly.

After all, if the Prince of Jingnan himself were excluded, Count Pingye could already be called one of the brightest military stars in Great Yan.

And after these latest achievements, even the words “one of” could be removed.

Count Pingye.

That name alone held enormous attraction for auxiliaries who possessed ambition and ability.

It was just like later generations filling out university application preferences.

Most students and parents would neither know nor possess the ability to analyze which university had the strongest department in which specialty, what research its professors had completed, or how many papers they had published.

They cared that they had heard the university's name before.

Holy shit.

That school is amazing!

If one of Count Pingye's generals led troops into the rear, raised the Count Pingye banner, and started recruiting, then truthfully, how many of the countless front-line Chief Commanders would those auxiliaries from Yan and Jin even recognize?

But the title Count Pingye was known to practically everyone.

Even men who had never cared about military affairs had probably heard the story of Count Pingye stealing a princess and bringing her home as his wife.

That was prestige.

That was popular reputation.

That was fame.

Push the argument one step farther.

Zheng Fan had won two consecutive bitter battles.

His achievements were undeniable.

Shi Yuantang's head was right there as proof.

If Zheng Fan now intercepted the flow of laborers and auxiliaries in the rear, ate first from the pot, even ate alone, which commander at the front would have the face to openly complain?

Even if someone was dissatisfied, he would not dare put the complaint on the table.

Military merit stood there.

If you refused to accept it, you could only swallow your anger.

Unless the Prince of Jingnan personally issued a princely order rebuking Zheng Fan for going too far.

But the man giving him this hint right now was the Prince of Jingnan himself.

With this one round of “working things from above and below,” Zheng Fan could do more than simply restore his original establishment.

He dared double the entire strength under Snow Sea Pass.

Before the war, the Snow Sea Iron Cavalry's regular troops had numbered a little over twenty thousand.

Zheng Fan dared expand that to forty thousand.

If Zhennan Pass fell and his territory expanded again afterward, then fifty thousand!

Fifty thousand troops.

If he truly held fifty thousand iron cavalry in his hand, then he would finally be a figure large enough to sit at the main table.

Name and reality would both be there.

Count Pingye's heart was pounding hard.

Old Tian had practically stated outright that Zheng Fan should use this chance not merely to replenish his strength, but to expand it.

Gong Wang's and Gongsun Zhi's forces were only the appetizers.

The rest of the meal was waiting for him to eat it himself.

“The craftsmen in your army, and some of the more experienced laborers, must be lent to the other Chief Commanders first. When it comes to siege equipment, your force is unquestionably the best. Once they are finished, the men can be returned to you.”

“Of course. Of course. We're all Great Yan troops, all brothers of one family. There's no need to talk about returning them or not returning them. That only hurts feelings.”

Compared with the enormous watermelon Zheng Fan was about to receive, tossing away a few sesame seeds did not hurt at all.

Besides, he was only lending ordinary craftsmen.

The people from Tianji Pavilion, along with the core specialists Xue San had trained and left behind, would never be handed over.

“For the next stage of the war, you will temporarily have no need to participate. First, remain beside this Prince. I can continue teaching you how to handle military administration. Second, use the time to let your forces rest, recover, and rebuild.”

“The next stage of the war... this general does not need to participate?”

Count Pingye suddenly felt the whole thing was unreal.

He had only hoped he could lie down for two months and recuperate.

The Prince of Jingnan seemed intent on giving him a long holiday.

“For now, that is the arrangement. The next stage of the fighting, including the final assault on Zhennan Pass, will not require your force to participate.”

I don't even have to attack Zhennan Pass?

Count Pingye did not feel relieved.

Instead, unease stirred in his heart.

There was no doubt that the Prince of Jingnan treated him well.

But Tian Wujing was not the kind of man who existed solely to open a private kitchen for Zheng Fan and stuff benefits into his mouth.

When he needed Zheng Fan to work, he had never hesitated or held back.

The most important reason Zheng Fan had won the Prince of Jingnan's favor, after setting aside all the other complicated factors, was very simple: so long as Tian Wujing fed him properly and then released him to work, Zheng Fan had never disappointed him.

So why was the Prince being so generous now?

Why open the road this wide?

Why treat him this well?

And in the end...

The Prince of Jingnan watched Zheng Fan's expression.

In truth, just as Zheng Fan understood Tian Wujing well enough to imitate and analyze his behavior and goals in conversation with the Demon Kings, Tian Wujing understood Zheng Fan too.

“This Prince will not harm you.”

“Your Highness, listen to what you're saying. I have never once thought you would harm me.”

“Rest and reorganize your troops properly. This Prince does indeed have an important use for them. But the time is still early. This campaign against Chu will not end quickly.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Tian Wujing stood and walked toward the door.

Count Pingye followed.

The two stood together at the entrance.

The sun was good today.

Count Pingye had only recently awakened from his collapse, and when the sunlight fell over him, he felt a little dizzy again.

“Although you won in the end, and victory is the hardest argument of all, you should not have known beforehand that Shi Yuantang was inside East Mountain Fort.”

“Yes, Your Highness. This general genuinely did not know. Truthfully, when the Chu army charged out of the fort, even I was a little stunned.”

“So this Prince still believes that next time, you should choose to withdraw temporarily. In warfare, it is better to leave yourself room to maneuver. This Prince is still here. So, for the time being, there is no need for you to gamble your life.”

As long as the green hills remained, there would still be firewood to burn.

Count Pingye nodded.

To say those words did not warm him, did not move him, would naturally be false.

“I understand. Truthfully, at the time I just got carried away. I couldn't swallow the feeling.”

“Heh. If outsiders learned that Great Yan's illustrious Count Pingye, a man with military achievements piled high, was also someone capable of acting on impulse, plenty of jaws would hit the floor.”

“That's only because Your Highness is here to catch me if I fall. I know that no matter how badly I lose or how hard I crash, so long as Your Highness remains, I'll still have a day when I can rise again.”

“No. That is not what you were thinking.”

“Your Highness...”

“You do not care.” Tian Wujing turned his face slightly. His deep eyes fixed on Zheng Fan. “Because you do not care, you can let it all go.”

“Your Highness, I... I care very much...”

“In the jianghu and among the common people, there truly is a kind of person like this. Ordinarily, he pinches every coin and lives sparingly. But when something truly happens, he can scatter a thousand gold and possess the spirit to start again from nothing. You are that kind of man. On the surface, you care about this little foundation more than anyone. But when you decide to spend it for one moment of satisfaction in your own heart, you can be more decisive than anyone else. Perhaps that was the one thing Shi Yuantang failed to calculate. So he lost. And he died. For a commander to possess that state of mind is not necessarily bad. It removes many restraints.”

“Your Highness...”

At that moment, Gou Moli, having just learned from Jin Shuke that Count Pingye had awakened, hurried over to pay his respects.

“Count, this subordinate...”

Then Gou Moli saw the figure in gilded armor standing beside Count Pingye.

Thud!

Gou Moli immediately dropped to the ground.

He genuinely had no idea the Prince of Jingnan was here.

The Prince had arrived quickly.

Gou Moli, in his own hurry, had circled around through the rear entrance and therefore never encountered the attendants at the front.

The Prince of Jingnan's gaze fell upon Gou Moli.

Gou Moli immediately felt pressure like a mountain settling onto his body.

Once, he had commanded more than a hundred thousand Savage riders.

With that as his foundation, he had dared sit across the board from Tian Wujing.

Now, Gou Moli had only just begun building again from nothing.

He was no longer the man he had been back then.

Fortunately, the Prince of Jingnan did not seem especially interested in him.

Tian Wujing knew who he was.

Zheng Fan had already told him the former Savage King was serving in Zheng Fan's army.

Tian Wujing raised his head slightly and looked toward the sky.

“Rest for a few more days. Then come to this Prince's command tent.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Does this Prince need to visit Gongsun Zhi and Gong Wang as well?”

“This... probably isn't necessary, Your Highness,” Count Pingye answered.

Tian Wujing lifted one hand.

“This Prince was not asking you.”

Then he pointed toward Gou Moli, who was kneeling below.

“This Prince was asking him.”

Gou Moli immediately raised his head.

“Reporting to Your Highness, General Gong Wang and General Gongsun Zhi have already been properly settled by our Count.”

Tian Wujing nodded.

Then, unexpectedly, he asked:

“Zheng Fan. Is your title Count Pingye hereditary without diminution?”

Zheng Fan answered immediately.

“Reporting to Your Highness, no.”

A noble title that was not hereditary without diminution would drop one rank when passed to the son, then drop again when passed to the grandson.

With bad luck, it could even fall by more than one rank at a time.

Count Pingye quickly added:

“Please rest assured, Your Highness. This subordinate will continue earning merit until I make it hereditary without diminution.”

Tian Wujing shook his head.

Zheng Fan looked confused.

Tian Wujing said:

“A mere Count title is not especially interesting, even if it becomes hereditary without diminution.”

“Uh...”

Tian Wujing turned and looked directly at Zheng Fan.

“Zheng Fan.”

“This general is here.”

“After the campaign against Chu is over, let's make you a Marquis.”

[End of Chapter 531]