Chapter 602: - A Loyal Subject of Great Yan

On the grill, skewers of mutton hissed with fat, giving off a crisp, mouthwatering sizzle.

Count Pingye pinched up a small handful of cumin and scattered it over them with practiced ease.

Beside him, Liu Ruqing was wiping the sweat from his brow.

There were only two people in the courtyard:

Count Pingye and Liu Ruqing.

The Princess was writing a family letter. Once the court’s decree formally elevated Zheng Fan to Marquis, this letter would be attached to the Marquis Residence’s first diplomatic communication to Chu.

In truth, it contained the attitude the future Marquis Residence of eastern Jin intended to take toward its neighbor Chu over the next several years.

Letting the Princess append a family letter to the document was, in itself, more expressive than any carefully chosen wording.

Political marriages had never been reliable.

Before genuine interests, marriage alliances and the romantic attachments of sons and daughters from powerful houses were both jokes.

Since ancient times, never mind sons killing fathers to seize thrones. How many cases had there been of nephews, cousins, and in-laws swallowing one another whole or stabbing one another in the back?

In fact, the rarest kind of regime change was the mud-legged peasant overturning everything and becoming master himself. Most changes of dynasty and transfers of power, if one examined them carefully, turned out to involve relatives fighting relatives.

But in the end, having this layer of relationship still helped.

When both sides needed to recuperate and recover, everything became more natural and smoother. Both could offer a suitable explanation internally and externally.

So this family letter carried considerable political meaning.

The Princess naturally did not care much about the safety of the common people of the two states, or whether they might once again suffer the ravages of war.

Well, no.

She did care a little about the soldiers and civilians of Snow Sea Pass.

According to the Blind Man’s reports, during the days Count Pingye had been away on campaign, the Princess had several times represented him in her capacity as the Count’s wife, visiting widows and elderly dependents among the registered military households, as well as veterans crippled on the battlefield who had returned home.

The Princess would take their hands and ask after their health and needs.

Winter was approaching. New Year would come after that. Had they stored enough grain to get through the cold? Had they prepared enough goods for the festival?

The effect had been excellent.

People were deeply moved.

Quite a few soldiers and civilians at Snow Sea Pass revered the noble Princess as a living Bodhisattva.

And then, everyone seemed to forget one small detail.

More than half the young and able-bodied men of Snow Sea Pass were, at that very moment, fighting against the State of Chu from which this noble Princess had come.

The Princess cared about the soldiers and civilians of Snow Sea Pass because she understood this was her husband’s foundation, and therefore also a foundation her future son might share.

Admittedly, that day, when her husband watched the heir of Prince of Jingnan crawling across a map, he had uttered that outrageously treasonous line.

There had even been a vague sense that if he truly conquered all beneath Heaven one day, he might repay Prince of Jingnan’s favor by handing the realm to Tian Tian.

But the Princess was not worried.

First, her husband had no children of his own yet.

Without children, a man could afford to be magnanimous.

Once he had children, naturally he would want the best of everything for his own blood.

Second, right now Prince of Jingnan was still Prince of Jingnan. His heir’s official status might not yet be fully clarified, but the child still possessed enormous prestige.

But what about five years from now?

Ten years?

Twenty or thirty?

When all beneath Heaven had truly been pacified again?

Could Prince of Jingnan’s bloodline really outweigh the bloodline of Great Yan’s Count Pingye?

Would the common people and the soldiers allow themselves to raise a man to the throne who was not descended from their own Count?

So the Princess had no interest in overthinking something that did not yet even have a shadow.

Right now she had gone into seclusion to carefully revise this family letter and make sure it was proper.

First, because this was work for her husband, a political task he had personally entrusted to her.

Second, because the letter also concerned how much dignity she would retain when she returned to Chu in the future to visit her family, and how much political influence she would still possess within Chu.

She liked grandeur.

She liked power.

She had never hidden that from her husband. She had told him plainly, and he did not mind in the slightest.

And so, while the Princess was busy with official business, the rear residence of the Count’s household contained only Count Pingye and Liu Ruqing enjoying their leisure.

One of Count Pingye’s hands quietly slipped inside.

As though performing another thousand-li forced march toward Snow Sea Pass, then, one horizontal stroke, one vertical, one left-falling stroke, one right-falling stroke.

“Hiss...”

Suddenly swift as the waves of the Wang River, surging southward without end; then mighty as the flames of Jing City, rolling on and on.

Liu Ruqing bit her lower lip with pearly teeth.

Her body involuntarily leaned forward.

With a flushed face, she breathed:

“Uncle~~~~~~”

Count Pingye’s entire heart trembled.

That sound.

That tone.

That half-refusal, half-invitation.

“Ruqing, turn the meat over.”

“Yes, Count~~”

Liu Ruqing reached out and flipped the skewers on the grill.

Her body trembled from time to time.

Then she would glance back at her Count with eyes full of grievance, before helplessly returning to the skewers.

She was unbearably shy, yet she could not truly refuse.

From time to time she would press her legs together, then leave the slightest gap again.

She could not let him ravage her.

She could not let him not ravage her.

She could not let him think she was too easy.

She could not let him think she was completely impossible either.

Her heart and future had already been entrusted to him.

So in the end, she could only let him do as he pleased.

Let him~~

“Count, the meat... the meat is done.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

He withdrew his hand.

Liu Ruqing picked up a towel that had been set aside and helped wipe him clean.

Then

Count Pingye took a skewer and began eating.

Truthfully, grilled meat tasted like grilled meat. Rather than saying one was eating meat, it would be more accurate to say one was eating seasoning.

The real pleasure of barbecue depended on the mood, the setting, and the person sharing it with you.

Liu Ruqing ate too. She did not behave overly ceremoniously. With a skewer in one hand, she gathered the hair on one side of her head with the other and tilted her face slightly as she ate.

All one could say was: a truly beautiful woman did not need to put on airs.

Beauty was already there.

Count Pingye, meanwhile, felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

Go out to war.

Come home.

Tease a beautiful concubine.

That was life.

That was what living was supposed to feel like.

“Count, this servant is full.”

Meat filled the stomach quickly.

Count Pingye nodded. He picked up more skewers, set them on the grill, and said:

“Pass word. Let those people come in.”

“Yes, Count.”

Liu Ruqing withdrew.

Count Pingye reached up and slowly rubbed his chin.

He could talk about leisure, vacation, and not letting affairs disturb him.

But once a man was already inside the game, how could he truly separate himself from it?

If he were away, that would be one thing.

But now that he was physically inside Snow Sea Pass, some matters still required his personal appearance.

Before long, several Savage tribal chiefs and a group of young men wearing the armor of Snow Sea Pass’s Count Residence personal guards entered.

Together, they knelt before Zheng Fan, who was still grilling meat.

“Greetings, Count.”

“Greetings, Count.”

Count Pingye withdrew his hand from the grill.

He pointed at one young personal guard, then toward the brazier.

The guard understood at once, stood, and took over the grilling.

Count Pingye wore a gray bearskin coat today, made by Fourth Lady. Gold trim edged the collar, giving him an air of restrained martial authority.

With both hands tucked into his sleeves, Count Pingye leaned slightly back in his chair.

His gaze swept over the kneeling men before him.

He did not tell them to rise.

Inside the courtyard, only the sound of meat fat hissing over the flames remained.

After a while, Count Pingye spoke.

“Hailan Yanggu. It’s been a long time. You’ve grown pleasantly plump.”

Hailan Tribe chief Hailan Yanggu, kneeling on the ground, immediately kowtowed.

“Thanks to the Count’s protection, the grazing lands of my Hailan Tribe are rich and fertile. This slave could not help eating a few extra bites of meat and drinking a few extra cups of wine each day. My body... simply filled out.”

“Hahahaha. You’ve had yourself a good life. This Count only returned from campaign a few days ago, and my wife says I’ve gotten thinner.”

Hailan Yanggu’s heart trembled.

He immediately said:

“The Count remains as mighty and heroic as ever. In this slave’s eyes, the Count is the star above the snowfield, lofty and radiant, shining over every direction!”

“Hailan Yanggu.”

“This slave is here.”

“Raise your head. Let this Count take a proper look at you.”

Hailan Yanggu obediently lifted his face.

Two whip scars remained there. They had faded greatly, but were still clearly visible.

Zheng Fan had personally given him those two lashes years ago.

“Want another whipping across the face?”

“This slave... this slave knows his crime! This slave knows his crime!”

Truthfully, Hailan Yanggu had no idea what crime he had committed.

But under circumstances like these, all he could do was confess guilt.

“Oh my, how could this Count possibly make mighty Chief Hailan confess a crime? What crime could you possibly have committed?”

“This slave is guilty! This slave is guilty!”

“Fine. What are you guilty of?”

“This... this...”

“You’re not guilty.”

“No, no! This slave is guilty! This slave is guilty!”

“No. You’re not guilty. Not only you. You. You. You as well. You chiefs were among the earliest people to attach yourselves to Snow Sea Pass, among the earliest to submit to this Count. You are the people on this snowfield most loyal to this Count. Aren’t you?”

Hailan Yanggu and the other chiefs immediately kowtowed.

“We swear to follow Count Pingye in loyalty until death!”

When Zheng Fan first arrived at Snow Sea Pass, the Hailan Tribe had been only a tiny tribe near the pass with barely more than two thousand people.

But after Zheng Fan repeatedly led Yan troops into the snowfield to conduct sweeps, a certain vacuum appeared.

Those small tribes that had submitted to Snow Sea Pass earliest suddenly received an opportunity to grow.

With the Yan at their backs, they could throw their weight around on the snowfield like foxes borrowing the tiger’s might.

Perhaps not across the entire snowfield, but at least in the southern region close to Yan territory, those once-minor tribes had gorged themselves.

Take the Hailan Tribe.

It had possessed barely two thousand members back then.

Now, its population exceeded fifty thousand.

Yes.

More than fifty thousand.

And that did not even count the numerous smaller tribes that had attached themselves to Hailan.

At a ratio of one able-bodied fighting man for every five people, the Hailan Tribe could now field more than ten thousand warriors.

The tiny thing of the past had become one of the new Tibetan mastiffs of the snowfield after becoming the Yan people’s dog.

Naturally, their actual combat power remained questionable.

Even ten thousand of those warriors could probably be smashed apart by three thousand Snow Sea cavalry with their eyes closed.

Their tribes had swallowed others far too quickly.

Identity, loyalty, and grassroots governance had never had time to solidify.

At bottom, they were little more than large alliances of mountain strongholds under a new name.

Zheng Fan smiled.

Inside the courtyard, he was the only one smiling.

No one else dared ask why the Count had suddenly laughed.

The more he behaved like this, the more frightened they became.

The Yan army had never conducted a full large-scale invasion deep into the snowfield, but its repeated border sweeps had been victorious every time, and the casualty ratios had been absurdly one-sided.

As a result, the Savages of the snowfield had already developed a fear of the Yan and the Black Dragon Banner that ran down to the bone.

“This Count intends to reward you generously!”

Zheng Fan paused.

Then said:

“Hailan Kecha, Hailan Bogu...”

Count Pingye recited the names of more than ten of his personal guards in one breath.

They had followed him since the previous year.

Every one of them was the son of one of these tribal chiefs.

“This Count is appointing all of you as Brigadier Generals.”

More than ten Brigadier General appointments at once.

A tremendous gesture.

But considering that Count Pingye would soon become Marquis Zheng, it was not especially shocking.

Personal guards were rather like the private secretaries of great officials.

Sending them out to command troops was a long-established military custom in all Four Great States.

Naturally, an official title was merely an official title.

A Brigadier General should, at the very least, have a battalion of troops under him, should he not?

Count Pingye would not provide a single soldier.

He would not even provide one piece of military equipment.

These men were the sons of tribal chiefs from the snowfield.

Now that Count Pingye had granted their sons rank, the chiefs ought to be grateful beyond words.

And then, they could empty their own family reserves to provide warriors, warhorses, and equipment for the units under their sons.

Warriors and horses were easy enough.

What about equipment?

The snowfield’s metallurgy was terrible.

Besides, the Snow Sea Army was about to undergo another round of re-equipment. Surely no chief would allow his own son’s troops to look ragged and mismatched?

No problem.

They could buy it.

Place orders with the government foundries of Snow Sea Pass.

Gold and silver were accepted.

Cattle.

Sheep.

Horses.

Those were accepted too.

Even labor from tribesmen working in Snow Sea Pass’s workshops could be used to offset the payment.

They could even buy on credit.

Wait until next year, when grass grew rich and livestock fattened, then repay the debt.

The chiefs led by Hailan Yanggu first looked stunned.

Then alarmed.

Then hollow-eyed.

Finally, they forced themselves into ecstatic joy.

Together, they kowtowed.

“Many thanks for the Count’s reward! May the Count’s boundless grace forever illuminate the snowfield!”

“Many thanks for the Count’s reward!”

“The Count’s grace knows no bounds!”

More than ten Brigadier General ranks had been handed out just like that.

Put plainly, this was merely a new version of the time Count Pingye had fooled the First Prince into taking a carved radish seal to the snowfield as an imperial envoy.

These ranks cost Count Pingye almost nothing.

Yet Count Pingye could immediately gain nearly twenty thousand Savage cavalrymen.

Those Savage riders were all skilled horsemen.

Their horses were excellent.

And they would buy their own equipment from government-run foundries.

Count Pingye would gain a fresh fighting force, while greatly weakening those same tribes that had spent the past few years growing fat beneath the shade of his great tree.

Dogs needed feeding.

But one could not feed them until they became too fat.

Once the body grew fat, the courage tended to fatten with it.

Then perhaps the dog would start thinking of biting its master.

So one had to bleed them gradually.

Count Pingye’s move showed a deep understanding of the scientific method of sustainable leek-harvesting.

As for combat effectiveness?

No need to worry.

Differences between peoples were not actually that great.

At least, nowhere near as great as people liked imagining.

You could say Savage fighting strength was poor.

They had certainly been beaten by Yan armies using only fractions of their numbers often enough.

But years ago, the Savage King had led the Savages through Snow Sea Pass, defeated Situ Lei, and defeated the First Prince’s eastern expedition army as well.

Break up those Savage cavalry units.

Distribute them among the various garrisons.

Mix them thoroughly.

Then digest them.

Under unified training, they would inevitably become another elite force.

With Liang Cheng present, with Gou Moli present, with several newly emerging generals such as Jin Shuke, and with the Blind Man’s people providing ideological and political education, Count Pingye did not worry about training troops in the slightest.

Two great strategic passes and one city.

The whole of eastern Jin.

Their territory had suddenly expanded too quickly and too far.

Did they have enough troops?

Of course not.

So

Savage soldiers had to be used now.

Fortunately, the First Garrison had already gone ahead of them.

During the campaign against Chu, Gou Moli had offered enough Savage blood to demonstrate sincerity.

That meant the local soldiers and civilians would now feel much less resistance toward using more Savage troops.

Besides, the military-garrison system modeled on the Eight Banners was itself capable of greatly weakening ethnic divisions.

War and production were fused together.

Military households.

Battalions.

Garrisons.

And above all of them, a new system of belonging with Count Pingye at its core.

The situation Huang Taiji once faced was actually quite similar to the one Count Pingye faced now.

That was why Huang Taiji changed the Jurchens into the Manchus.

Count Pingye’s side was much the same.

Nominally, he was a Yan man.

Yet the number of actual Yan troops under his command was only a minority.

There was a successful example ready-made before him.

Why not use it?

Naturally, this new body of Savage troops would not all be placed under the Savage King’s First Garrison.

They would be distributed fairly among everyone.

The Savage King could still command troops in the future, but most of the time he needed to remain beside Count Pingye as a strategist.

There was no possibility of handing him some enormous, entirely Savage force to command independently.

Never mind Count Pingye feeling uncomfortable with that.

Gou Moli himself would probably feel a chill across the back of his neck.

Beyond Savage troops, able-bodied young men selected from Jin refugees would be recruited.

Auxiliary soldiers sent from Yan territory would be absorbed.

That included the portion Prince of Jingnan had tacitly allowed Count Pingye to intercept earlier.

All of them would be rapidly swallowed into the Snow Sea Army.

Equipment.

Training.

Ideological and political education.

Those could only be postponed for now.

First, they had to build the headcount and battalion structure quickly.

Being made Marquis was already certain.

All they lacked was the imperial decree.

But the entire eastern Jin region needed to guard against threats from both the snowfield and Chu.

At the same time, they needed to keep a standing force ready to suppress any disturbance within Jin itself.

The manpower required was no small number.

Count Pingye and the Demon Kings had originally all been perfectionists.

If combat strength and troop quality could not keep up, they disliked blindly expanding the army.

But right now, they genuinely had no choice except to grasp the principal contradiction first.

If your troop strength was insufficient, what would happen?

Would the court leave several Garrison Commanders behind to help defend your territory?

All in the fine name of “joint defense”?

Would that not amount to letting other people hammer nails into your own house?

Right now, with Prince of Jingnan standing in front of them, he could block the overwhelming majority of the court’s attempts at premature division and suppression.

But the premise was still that Count Pingye’s own side had to be capable of holding up the stage.

There was no war to fight in the immediate future anyway.

So first raise the troop establishment.

Then train slowly and improve combat strength over time.

The chiefs and their sons eventually withdrew.

Each left carrying two skewers of mutton, eating as they walked.

One could imagine their hearts bleeding with every bite.

Perhaps these were the most expensive, most blackhearted barbecue skewers in the world.

After seeing off the tribal chiefs, Count Pingye had originally planned to seek out Liu Ruqing again for a little tenderness, and listen to her call him “Uncle” a few more times.

But at that moment, Little Sixth Ji’s letter arrived.

When Ying Capital fell, a courier had set out for Yanjing.

Then a reply traveled back from Yanjing.

The journey was long and consumed a great deal of time.

By the time the reply arrived, Count Pingye himself had already returned to Snow Sea Pass.

There were many sheets of paper.

Count Pingye read them one by one and tossed them aside one by one.

“Is Little Sixth Ji performing behavioral art for me?”

A few lines.

Crossed out.

A few more.

Crossed out again.

What was this?

Even from thousands of li away, the bastard was sending him the entire psychological process he had gone through while composing the letter?

Tch.

A little too sentimental.

By the time Count Pingye reached the end, there were, in truth, only two lines that counted as the actual message:

Bastard, help me!

—Bitch.

“Heh.”

Count Pingye’s eyebrow lifted.

He smiled.

The fact Ji Chengjue had written a letter like this proved the Emperor of Yan’s body genuinely could not hold on much longer.

Certain matters had already become urgent.

Count Pingye picked up a brush.

He began writing his reply.

The incoming letter had been simple.

Count Pingye’s answer was simpler still:

I am a loyal subject of Great Yan!

[End of Chapter 602]