Chapter 924: Prince Pingxi Advances a Grade!

“Yuan Tuge’s paintings certainly understand your tastes.”

Ji Chengjue was admiring a painting.

Back when Li Fusheng died in battle in Liang and Prince Pingxi was preparing to cross the Wang River, he had encountered a retired Yan official. The man specialized in erotic paintings and treated the practice as an elegant hobby.

He had also possessed the integrity to ruin his own household for the sake of the national crisis. His original intention had been to provoke Prince Pingxi into going to suppress the rebellion. Afterward, once he had been won over, he willingly offered to paint for him.

The work had taken rather longer than expected because the painter fell seriously ill midway through. Even now his health remained poor.

Still, he had finally completed the promised work and sent it over.

One could call the scenes in the album obscene beyond description.

One could also call them breathtakingly beautiful.

Art.

Treasure.

These things mostly depended on the status of the man offering the evaluation.

The women throughout the album were mostly full-bodied, voluptuous beauties whose figures naturally carried mature charm.

In other words... perfectly tailored to a certain man’s tastes.

Unfortunately, the actual owner of the album had not yet had time to look at it.

The Emperor got hold of it first and was studying it with enormous interest.

“There’s still the journey home,” the Prince reminded him.

The Emperor’s hand jerked.

He immediately put the album aside as though it had transformed into some flood or savage beast.

Then he said:

“Just tell the Empress We suffered a slight injury. An internal injury. Yes, an internal injury. We need quiet recuperation. Recuperation.”

“That won’t do. Wouldn’t that imply I failed to take proper care of you in Shanggu Commandery and disregarded the safety of your dragon body?”

“Surnamed Zheng, are we brothers or not? Are we brothers? Brothers share each other’s burdens!”

“A true warrior dares to face the bleakness of life. Besides, your situation hardly counts as bleak.”

“Easy for the merely full man to say. He doesn’t know the terror of being stuffed to bursting.”

“Heh.”

“You don’t get tired?” the Emperor asked curiously.

His own rear palace contained only one Empress and one Noble Consort.

But inside that bastard Zheng’s rear residence, counting the Princess Consort of Prince Fu, there were already four women.

The Prince shook his head with serene indifference.

“This little bit? We haven’t even gotten started.”

A faint cold smile curled the Emperor’s lips.

Clearly... he did not believe him.

“That’s what happens when you neglect training in your youth.”

“Enough, enough. Stop showing off those mighty peerless Fifth Grade Martial Artist abilities of yours. You really have no shame, boasting about it every chance you get.”

“I can’t boast about it in front of anyone else. But beside an ungraded fellow like you, the difference finally becomes visible.”

The carriage stopped.

The Emperor and Prince climbed down.

The Sword Saint sat not far away, while Eunuch Wei waited nearby.

Xue San and Fan Li were preparing beggar’s chicken.

A’Ming arranged wine cups.

Farther out, a group of personal guards who were not wearing their brocade robes moved through the surroundings on patrol.

After the Emperor’s Eastern Inspection reached the Wei River, the formal imperial procession began its return journey.

It passed through Fengxin City, collected the Empress and Crown Prince, and set out toward Yanjing.

In truth, however... the Emperor himself and Prince Pingxi had taken another route westward in a kind of “incognito excursion,” heading toward the Wang River.

The imperial carriage was right there.

The Emperor simply refused to sit in it.

He wanted to play.

“Ah.”

The Emperor sat down directly on the ground and sighed.

“Surnamed Zheng, once we part this time, who knows when I’ll see you again?”

The Prince sat beside him.

“Maybe when you’re on your deathbed. I’ll lead troops into the capital, and you’ll lie on the dragon couch, clutch my hand, and entrust your orphaned heir to me.”

The Emperor rolled his eyes.

The Prince continued:

“Given your personality, you might even put on a false show and say something like, ‘If the Crown Prince proves unworthy of support, you may take his place.’ Looks generous. But really, even at the moment of death, you’d be using our sentimental bullshit to block my road.”

“I’m saying, surnamed Zheng, do you always think this damned far ahead? You’ve even arranged my funeral for me?”

“Isn’t that how these scenes are always performed? Don’t worry. If that day truly comes, I’ll try to arrive a little later and move a little more slowly. You can hold on until the very end, wait for Eunuch Wei to shout in delight, ‘Prince Pingxi has arrived!’ and then close your eyes right on cue. Saves me from having to watch you keep acting even with death already on your face.”

Eunuch Wei, who was spreading a blanket nearby, trembled faintly.

Fortunately... he was used to it now.

He had grown accustomed to the Emperor and Prince Pingxi speaking with a level of lawless irreverence even more terrifying than the late Emperor’s relationship with the two Princes of North and South.

“Surnamed Zheng, let’s talk about something useful. The Wang River is ahead. Once I cross and rejoin the imperial procession, I’ll have to become ‘We’ again. Some things are genuinely better discussed face-to-face than written in letters. Wei Zhonghe, move.”

“Yes.”

Eunuch Wei stepped aside.

The blanket he had spread earlier was painted with a map of All Xia.

“I sleep under this blanket every night,” the Emperor said proudly, pointing at it. “It reminds me at all times of the great undertaking still unfinished.”

The Prince curiously pointed toward a damp stain in one corner.

“This...”

“Do not concern yourself with that.”

The Emperor’s old face reddened.

He immediately dragged the subject back.

“Let us work through the broad program properly. I estimate that another five years should be enough to repair the earlier deficit. The people of Yan and Jin should also have returned roughly to their former living conditions. They may not have accumulated savings, and peace may not have lasted very long, but they should still be capable of supporting one external war.”

“Provided we win,” Zheng Fan reminded him.

Five years of accumulation would indeed be enough to begin another war.

But the frequency of Great Yan’s wars remained too high.

The newly established livelihoods that appeared stable on the surface but remained fragile underneath would immediately suffer severe damage once another round of war began.

That did not mean the war could not be fought.

Most of the late Emperor’s successive foreign campaigns had been fought under exactly those conditions.

The early period was difficult.

But so long as victory came, soldiers gained military merit and the court gained territory.

The gains produced through victory could still sustain the cycle.

It was like pushing uphill until one finally reached the summit.

Once the descent began, everything became easier.

Great Yan’s greatest problem during the previous three-state war had been that even the grain supplies at South Gate Pass had been cut off.

That meant the state had become so poor it could no longer provide even the final push needed to climb the slope.

“Exactly,” the Emperor said. “So destroying one state in a single breath first is not realistic.”

He looked at the Prince.

“So...”

The Prince swept one hand lightly before him.

“We can cut away half of one first.”

Smack!

The Emperor slapped the Prince’s hand.

“Exactly.”

Zheng Fan understood why the Emperor had suddenly returned to grand strategy.

After learning about his physical condition...

Ji Chengjue had no choice but to revise his plans.

Call it selfishness.

Call it hunger for a glorious name in the histories.

Whatever the reason... the Emperor had no intention of serving merely as a conservative sovereign who laid foundations for the next generation.

Back when he was still a Prince, he had complained countless times that his imperial father did far too much and trusted future generations far too little.

But people... even Emperors... could never escape having two standards.

“Which half do we cut first?” the Emperor asked.

“No one knows what the world will look like five years from now. But I lean toward moving against Qian first. As for Chu, my old foundations there can still suppress them. And Qian is rich. Take the Three Frontiers. Seize the northern half of Qian. Force Qian into a north-south division along the river and reduce it to Southern Qian. After that, whether we continue eating the remaining meat or turn against Chu instead, we’ll have far more room to maneuver.”

The Emperor shook his head.

“But I think Qian has always been tender meat. If we can first cut away half of Chu, then when we turn back toward Qian afterward, everything becomes even easier. Like Father. He first pulled out the hardest thorn and left the easier one for his descendants.”

“Ji Old Sixth.”

“Mm?”

“It’s your body that has a problem, not mine.”

Zheng Fan glanced sideways at him.

“Five years from now, how the war is fought will still be my decision.”

“Isn’t that obvious? Of course you’ll command the army.”

“Then there’s no need to argue about this now. Just store grain and prepare laborers and logistics properly.”

“Can’t you show a patient a little consideration?”

“Do I need to?”

“No.”

“Then there you go.”

“But you could at least make a show of caring. Then I refuse your concern and feel better inside.”

“Pretentious.”

The Prince’s disdain was obvious.

“Hey. A crow like you has the nerve to call someone else black?”

“Talk about something else. There is no chance we can determine the shape of the world five years in advance.”

“Fine. Livelihoods first. Three years to restore the fundamentals. Then another two years to select usable troops, replenish them, and rebuild strength. By the time we plan to use the army in five years... whether logistics, auxiliary troops, or even combat troops, I want them to reach the level we sustained through two rounds of the Yan-Chu national war.”

Ji Old Sixth had personally organized the logistical operations during those wars.

He understood the actual costs better than almost anyone.

If he dared say this... he believed he could achieve it.

The Emperor tugged at his belt.

“Prince Jingnan’s treatment during the national war... I’ll give you that level of support twice. If after two campaigns neither Qian nor Chu has lost half its territory...”

The Prince finished the sentence for him:

“Then Qian and Chu were simply not fated to die.”

“Fuck. Can’t it just mean you, Zheng Fan, are useless?”

“Heh.”

“When I return, I’ll continue expanding the Grand Secretariat. Father began the imperial examinations years ago. By now, men entering government through the examinations have already filled much of the vacuum left after we trampled the hereditary clans. After me, future Emperors may genuinely have to move gradually toward Qian’s model... the Emperor and officials governing the realm together.”

In truth, this was laying the road for the Crown Prince.

Once the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he would indeed face more constraints than his father and grandfather had.

But the situation itself would be easier to calm and stabilize.

“The desert also needs another round of attention. The present young Prince Zhenbei is too cautious. The court still needs him to show a little more force. At the very least, we need him to press down the embers in the desert even further so the court can free its hands for the coming wars of unification.”

“Mm.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

“Barring some accident, Xu Wenzu can remain Prefect of Yingdu another two years. In the third year, I’ll transfer him back to the capital and place him in the Grand Secretariat. Give him a year to settle in. Within two years after that, I want him sitting at least as Deputy Chief Grand Secretary. What do you think?”

Xu Wenzu possessed the qualifications.

He possessed the ability too.

Most importantly... his relationship with Zheng Fan was excellent.

“You decide,” Zheng Fan said.

“This is not simply a matter of whether I decide. You surnamed Zheng refuse to die together with me, so I have to prepare for the worst case: I leave first while you’re still jumping around full of life.”

Zheng Fan shook his head.

“There’s no need. Whether you arrange things well or badly... once your legs stiffen and you die, if I want to do something, there won’t be anyone left who can stop me.”

At present, the Ji Emperor could rely upon legitimacy and Great Yan’s old foundations to maintain an overt degree of pressure over Prince Pingxi Residence in eastern Jin, so long as neither side openly tore apart the relationship.

After all, eastern Jin’s territory was only so large.

Its population only so great.

But the Zhenbei Army had declined.

The Jingnan Army had long since been flirting openly with Prince Pingxi.

Add the combat power of eastern Jin’s cavalry under Great Yan’s God of War... and even the most optimistic observer could probably give the imperial court no better than fifty-fifty odds.

And once the Emperor died and a young sovereign replaced him... the court could simply lie flat.

“Surnamed Zheng, can’t you be a little gentler? Chuanye has called you Godfather for an entire year.”

“This has nothing to do with gentleness. I’m simply stating a fact.”

“Fine, fine. Damn bastard. When Father was pulling thorns, why the hell didn’t he pull you out too? Instead, he left me the greatest thorn in all Great Yan.”

“Hahahahaha!”

The Prince burst into loud laughter.

“But Zheng Fan, seriously. If one day I truly feel I’m about to die, I’ll leave a decree. You should enter the capital. Help Chuanye stabilize the situation. Serve as Regent. With only an orphan and widow left behind... I won’t be at ease.”

“We’ve gone too far ahead.”

“Mm. I’ve talked about my side. What about yours? Five years. How far can eastern Jin develop in five years?”

“One hundred thousand cavalry that can be deployed at any moment without weakening the garrisons. Another hundred thousand auxiliary troops we can bring with us.”

Zheng Fan paused.

Then added:

“Grain, materiel, and logistics can all be supplied by eastern Jin itself.”

The Emperor began calculating on his fingers.

“So if we choose to attack Chu five years from now... you bastard can field two hundred thousand combat troops from your side alone?”

The calculation came from the nature of a full war against Chu.

If the target were Chu, large numbers of Savage auxiliary troops could be mobilized.

Most of Snow Sea Pass’s garrison could be drawn out.

Zhennan Pass, Fan City, Fengxin City, and the other garrisons could all be stripped heavily to support a comprehensive offensive.

In short... so long as the front won, there would be no need to worry about home.

No need to hold back troops for defense.

Eastern Jin could throw nearly all its military strength onto the table.

“More or less.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

That estimate came from the Blind Man and Siniang.

Zheng Fan trusted both of them.

And if a true national war reached the point of betting everything, eastern Jin’s system—so similar to the Eight Banners—could almost achieve universal mobilization.

Two hundred thousand would be formal troops.

The number of auxiliaries and servant soldiers could be even greater.

Naturally... that meant gambling everything.

If the war failed, eastern Jin’s internal ecology would face collapse.

The strategic situation around the entire region could rot from every direction at once.

“You really know how to build things,” the Emperor said with emotion.

The Prince neither agreed nor disagreed.

“By that calculation... troops will be sufficient.”

The Prince finally spoke.

“Great Yan has never lacked soldiers.”

“I know, I know. I’ll do my best. I’ll do my best. Relax. When the time truly comes, even if I have to render the fat off my own body, I’ll support you well enough that you can fight a rich man’s war at the front.”

“Heh.”

“Besides, five years is enough time for changes worth hoping for. On Chu’s side, the Xie Clan now stands out alone. They look obedient, yes, but how long can they truly remain obedient? If we keep refusing to move... keep accumulating strength... their interior may develop problems by itself. That Chu colleague of ours must be miserable. If he keeps crushing the already-declining aristocrats, he risks driving them into truly desperate rebellion. If he refuses to crush them... he can only keep dragging them along. As for Qian... there is even more to look forward to. You broke Shangjing and caused that official sitting on their throne to lose enormous prestige. Add Qian’s century-long policy of valuing civil officials and suppressing military men. Over the past few years, our Great Yan’s external pressure has forced them to elevate the status of soldiers rapidly. It would be very easy for the balance to break. Comparatively speaking... after the three-state war ended... the state whose interior is most united, most of one heart... is actually Great Yan. Only after surviving the hardest pass did I understand that although the situation Father left me was damaged... it was genuinely stable.”

“Mm.”

The beggar’s chicken was ready.

Eunuch Wei personally tore it open.

The Emperor and Prince ate chicken while continuing their discussion for a long time.

Then... it seemed everything worth saying had finally been said.

Even the sun had begun leaning west.

The two men sat there in silence for more than half an hour.

Suddenly... the Emperor knocked over the wine cup before him.

He said:

“Surnamed Zheng, I’ve spent this whole damned time arranging my own funeral affairs and you just accepted it all like that. Fuck your uncle. I’m still so young. I’ve only been Emperor for two years. My whole damned life... I got cheated!”

The emotions the Emperor had buried at last erupted.

They had first begun taking shape inside Prince Pingxi Residence when the Blind Man examined his dragon body.

They had been uncovered atop Snow Sea Pass’s wall.

Then they had accumulated throughout the journey.

And now, here, just before he crossed the Wang River and returned... they finally ignited completely.

The truly tragic thing was that the Emperor understood something perfectly.

Once he crossed the Wang River... once he was no longer before this bastard surnamed Zheng... he would never find a second person with whom he could unload these emotions.

Not even the Empress.

The Prince turned his head and watched the Emperor’s face flush red with anger.

“When Imperial Father was dying, I told him I would never become an Emperor like him. He was truly ruthless. I can’t be that ruthless. I can’t even be that ruthless toward myself.”

The Prince’s tone remained calm.

“I told you. It can be treated.”

“Open my skull? I already told you I will not accept that method. And a fifty-percent chance of success is too low. Far too low.”

“Oh.”

“And then? That’s it?” the Emperor demanded.

“You refused,” the Prince answered.

“Why is it that every time you get sentimental, I have to indulge you, but the moment I want to be sentimental, you refuse to cooperate with me even a little?”

“Because I don’t have time,” Zheng Fan said.

“No time?”

The Emperor’s face twisted.

“I’m about to leave, and you tell me you don’t have time? You heartless dog!”

“Mm.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

Then... he stood.

And what rose with him was not merely his body.

Another aura rose as well.

At the same moment...

Eunuch Wei nearby and the Sword Saint farther away both lifted their heads.

Fan Li and Xue San, who had been eating beggar’s chicken, immediately stared in this direction.

A’Ming, who had been quietly drinking as though untouched by mortal dust, actually spilled wine from his cup.

The Prince stood.

Brushed off his python robe.

Then stretched lazily, with complete unconcern.

And sighed:

You say I have no conscience?

Bitch.

I’m busy.

And who the hell do you think I’m busy for?

At that moment...

Prince Pingxi entered Fourth Grade!

[End of Chapter 924]