Chapter 942: The Winds Rise in Great Yan

The wind blew gently.

All around them lay the ripe, full scent of country fields.

During the first two or three years after Gou Moli entered Fan City, the region south of the city had still been a muddy quagmire of entanglement with Chu forces.

Small patrols and detachments from both sides hunted and killed one another there.

Jianghu factions and minor local powers supported by either side tore at one another across patch after patch of territory.

Back when Zheng Fan first reached Fourth Grade, he had even brought the Demon Kings here to “level up,” taking advantage of precisely that environment.

Now... things were different.

Thirty-six military forts.

Twelve land stockades.

Six water stockades.

These were real military positions firmly controlled by Fan City.

And once such an organized military framework existed, it usually brought local dependent forces along with it as well.

When Qu Peiluo and Fan Zhengwen had still been here, all they could really do was put up a few stretches of wooden fencing.

Gou Moli first established a broad firebreak.

Then, inside that protected ring, he planted flowers and grass, trimming and refining things from time to time.

Outside remained bloody wind and rain.

Inside, even if one could not call it a land of songs and dancing, people at least possessed something resembling peace and secure livelihoods.

Of course, comparing the two eras this directly was somewhat unfair to Qu Peiluo.

Back then, Fan Zhengwen had administered Fan City while Qu Peiluo operated outside it.

Military and civil authority had been somewhat divided.

Gou Moli now controlled everything in one hand and also received ample supplies from the Jin lands.

Still... placing a Savage King on a supporting side theater was extravagance on an astonishing scale.

Especially for Chu, whose famous generals had withered away badly in recent years.

It was enough to make Zheng Fan’s imperial brother-in-law drool with envy.

At that moment, Zheng Fan and the Sword Saint sat playing a game.

Not gomoku this time.

Proper Go.

The Regent Prince’s Go skill could not exactly be called atrocious, but it was only mediocre.

Fortunately, the Sword Saint was only a shade better.

Neither man needed to throw the game, and they could still fight each other quite happily.

Gou Moli stood beside them, playing the role of appreciative audience while also pouring tea and passing water.

Beyond them, Brocade-Clad personal guards had already spread out to secure the surrounding area.

Zheng Lin and Big Girl sat on Tian Tian’s left and right.

“Brother, why did the Chu just let Uncle Gou grow stronger step by step right under their noses?” Zheng Lin asked curiously.

The road from eastern Jin to Fan City was difficult.

Fan City’s own troop strength was not especially large either.

One could say Gou Moli had slowly pushed one piece forward every day while sitting directly beneath Chu’s eyelids until he opened the whole position.

Tian Tian answered:

“Before you were born, the Chu once attacked Fan City. Father led troops from Zhennan Pass and rushed here in a surprise march, catching them completely off guard. Brother Xianba personally cut down the head of the Chu Dugu Clan’s Pillar of State in that battle and earned his military merit there. The Chu know perfectly well that Fan City is a thorn in their throat. But they have no solution. Unless they are confident they can completely seal off the Zhennan Pass line, then with our two ends supporting one another, it is almost impossible for the Chu to chew through Fan City.”

Big Girl sat nearby moving Longyuan through the dirt.

At first, nothing seemed unusual.

But gradually Tian Tian realized... she was actually drawing the terrain stretching from Zhennan Pass in the east to Fan City in the west.

“It’s like when I play with the big python,” Big Girl said. “If I grab its tail, its head comes over. If I grab its head, its tail comes over.”

She turned toward Brother Tian with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

“When we ran away from home before, I was afraid we might get lost, so I memorized some of the sand table in Dad’s Signing Office.”

The advantages of a spirit child were not limited merely to physical “early maturity.”

There were mental advantages too.

That was actually easy to understand.

A child who left the swaddling stage earlier, crawled earlier, stood earlier, and began exploring the surrounding world earlier would naturally develop an understanding of things sooner than an ordinary child.

At that moment, a cavalry detachment appeared in the distance.

At its head rode Liu Dahu and a general of Savage origin.

Liu Dahu dismounted and came before the Go board to report.

“Your Highness, the men have arrived.”

Zheng Fan nodded and placed another stone.

Soon... three men approached.

Two wore traditional Shanyue tribal clothing.

The third wore Chu-style robes.

Gou Moli, who had been pouring tea, set down the teapot and greeted them with an amiable smile.

“You’re here?”

The three exchanged glances.

They knew Gou Moli.

They also knew his position in Fan City and eastern Jin.

And now... two men sat while Gou Moli stood and attended them.

That meant the identity of the white-python-robed man seated there was practically obvious.

All three immediately knelt.

“We pay respects to the Regent Prince.”

All three were actually Shanyue.

One was named Meng Na.

One was named Bagu.

The third wore Chu clothing because his tribe had once been pacified by the Qu Clan and had been granted a Xia-style surname.

His present name was Shang Lou.

The vast, complicated region south of Fan City was, in essence, the former core fief of the Qu Clan.

Once the Qu Clan was removed—and nearly uprooted altogether—a vacuum of power appeared.

The tribes of these three men lay comparatively far away, farther south still.

Their territory extended toward the southern end of the Qishan Mountains.

Continue farther south from there... and one would eventually reach what had once been Qian’s southeastern frontier.

That region, however, now belonged to Chu after General Nian’s campaign in earlier years.

The three tribes were not particularly strong.

Before a properly organized regular army, they were hardly worth mentioning.

But local snakes like these could sometimes produce exceptional results.

Especially during deep military thrusts, their cooperation from within could create surprising effects.

Zheng Fan waved one hand.

He casually tossed his Go stone onto the board, ignoring the fact that his position was already beyond saving, then turned toward the three kneeling men with the dignified appearance of someone suddenly handling serious affairs.

But the Prince still said nothing.

Instead, he picked up a bunch of grapes placed beside the board and set it in front of the three men.

“The Prince rewards you,” Gou Moli reminded them.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

The three accepted the grapes together, divided them, and each placed one grape into his mouth.

As they ate, they smiled and repeatedly said how sweet they were.

“Heh.”

The Prince chuckled, rose, and said nothing more to them.

His presence here... his willingness to meet them... already said more than a thousand words.

Further demonstrations of virtuous condescension toward worthy men would have been meaningless.

There was no need.

Gou Moli immediately walked over, gestured for the three to rise, and took them away to discuss matters.

Zheng Fan stretched.

Yawned.

Then walked toward where Tian Tian and the other two children sat.

He picked up Big Girl first.

Then nudged his still-seated son with one boot.

“Pack your things. We’re heading back.”

“Father Prince, I came here exactly like this. What do I have to pack?” Zheng Lin asked.

“Pack up your mind.”

“...” Zheng Lin.

“Dad, will Brother Tian come back with us?” Big Girl asked curiously.

“He will,” Zheng Fan answered.

Tian Tian immediately bowed.

“Yes!”

Inside the army... one observed military etiquette.

Zheng Fan had sent Tian Tian to Gou Moli for training some time ago.

But once the true national war began, Zheng Fan wanted Tian Tian at his own side.

That did not mean the side theater was unimportant.

After all, Zheng Fan himself had once risen by creating brilliant achievements on a side theater.

But now that he possessed the opportunity and the status... why would he not keep his son beside him and let the boy witness firsthand how the central command of a great army operated?

And for a child Tian Tian’s age, even if he never said it aloud... what he yearned for would inevitably still be the clash of armies on the main front.

Zheng Fan had never liked cultivating some image of being “absolutely impartial” before outsiders.

Nor did he care to make examples of his own children merely to prove a point.

The Brocade-Clad personal guards began assembling.

The return journey started.

To outsiders, the Regent Prince appeared to have come merely to accompany his children while “touring the mountains and rivers.”

In truth, the children had only been incidental.

As the true commander who would direct the coming great war, he could never fully put his mind at ease without personally visiting Fan City and seeing the situation with his own eyes.

Now... he could finally relax.

With his daughter beside him aboard the boat, the journey was hardly dull.

Once they left Mount Meng and entered the Wang River, the number of merchant vessels traveling from the Jin lands toward the lower reaches became visibly greater.

Fan City possessed its own complete system.

Fan Zhengwen was poor at warfare but excellent at administration.

After Gou Moli took over, he brought everything from mines and blacksmith shops to agriculture and sericulture under organized control.

Zheng Fan had inspected the storehouses as well.

They were well stocked.

But for the national war now brewing... it was not enough.

Not nearly enough.

In many campaigns years ago, they had won the battle yet still been forced to withdraw afterward.

Or they had repeatedly been forced into dangerous, razor-thin operational choices.

Even Li Fusheng’s death ultimately traced back to national strength and logistics.

Now... after five years of rest and recovery... he, Zheng Fan... could finally free his hands and fight a rich man’s war!

Zheng Fan did not disembark early and head east toward Fengxin City.

Instead, he remained aboard all the way to the area around Yupan City and landed on the eastern bank.

Gongsun Zan, son of Gongsun Zhi, and Gong Lin, son of Gong Wang, each led an elite cavalry force that had long been waiting on the western bank.

Eastern Jin troops appearing west of the Wang River had already become perfectly normal.

Beginning the previous year, troops from central Jin and western Jin—and even some forces from the old Yan heartland—had gradually begun rotating into this region as well.

“This general pays respects to Your Highness!”

“This general pays respects to Your Highness!”

Zheng Fan stepped off the deck and nodded toward the two kneeling generals before him.

Both had once served beneath his command tent.

They could already be considered the second generation of generals from the eastern Jin military system.

Then Zheng Fan looked at Tian Tian standing beside him in silver armor.

The Regent Prince could not possibly avoid feeling that each generation produced talented men of its own.

And truthfully... the feeling was excellent.

The great carriage of Prince Pingxi Residence had already been prepared.

Zheng Fan climbed inside.

Then... escort troops opened the road in front and behind.

The Brocade-Clad personal guards raised the full ceremonial procession.

The Regent Prince’s traveling headquarters entered Yingdu directly.

One had to understand... the Regent Prince had not crossed the Wang River in many years.

Every level of authority inside Yingdu had already received notice.

The current Prefect of Yingdu, Liu Dan, led the entire civil and military establishment of the city, together with Prince Cheng Situ Yu, in kneeling to receive the princely carriage.

Back when Zheng Fan had still been Prince Pingxi, Great Yan’s civil and military officials kneeling before him had relied largely upon the centuries-old understanding that military merit and noble rank stood above ordinary officialdom.

Now... the title Regent Prince had already given Zheng Fan, in formal law and rite, the qualification to sit beside the Emperor.

Kneeling was proper.

And nobody felt the slightest grievance or discomfort about doing so.

Besides Yingdu’s own officials and Prince Cheng Residence, another group waited among those kneeling to receive him.

A canopy rose above them.

Golden parasols stood beside it.

For any other imperial commissioner, the canopy might have been mostly symbolic.

Here... it genuinely served to block the sun.

And even then it still did not seem enough.

The canopy was large.

But it still could not cover that mountain of flesh completely.

Tian Tian rode forward and relayed the command.

“The Regent Prince has ordered the Imperial Commissioner to enter the carriage.”

“This subordinate obeys.”

Xu Wenzu rose with the assistance of attendants on both sides.

Everyone else remained kneeling.

When Xu Wenzu climbed into the carriage and lifted the curtain, Zheng Fan sat upon the princely seat inside.

Behind him... two children’s heads could faintly be seen peeking out.

“This subordinate Xu Wenzu kowtows before the Regent Prince. May Your Highness live a thousand years!”

“Enough. Don’t kneel. Getting down and back up again is too difficult for you,” Zheng Fan said with a laugh.

Xu Wenzu laughed too.

He did not insist upon twisting himself into some ceremonial posture.

In truth, as Imperial Commissioner, he did not actually need to kneel.

But in front of this man... there was even less reason to fuss over such details of etiquette.

Xu Wenzu sat down.

He took a small bottle from inside his robe, poured several pills into his palm, swallowed them, then washed them down with tea Liu Dahu passed him.

Afterward, he spent a long time breathing heavily.

Old Xu... had grown even fatter.

More serious than the fat itself was the obviously disordered feeling in the man’s aura.

It meant his problems with blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids had become quite severe.

“Old Xu, take care of your health.”

“Heh-heh.”

Xu Wenzu smiled.

“Look. Haven’t I come out here to render off some oil?”

He slapped his enormous belly.

Waves rippled across it instantly.

Xu Wenzu had performed extremely well as Prefect of Yingdu.

Three years earlier, he had been recalled to Yanjing and entered the Grand Secretariat.

With his seniority, he jumped the line directly into the position of Second Grand Secretary.

The year before last, Chief Grand Secretary Mao Mingcai returned home to observe mourning.

Xu Wenzu automatically rose to become Great Yan’s second Chief Grand Secretary since the Grand Secretariat had been established.

Half a year later, the Emperor issued an edict invoking the needs of the state and ordered Mao Mingcai to curtail his mourning and return to court.

For the next six months, the Grand Secretariat effectively possessed two Chief Grand Secretaries.

Yet neither man fought over precedence.

Between the two of them—and the Emperor as well—there had long been a tacit understanding.

Now...

Xu Wenzu had come from Yanjing to Yingdu bearing the combined authority of Chief Grand Secretary, Imperial Commissioner, and inspector charged with overseeing the Jin lands.

He had returned... to the land where he had once struggled and built his career.

The current Prefect of Yingdu, Liu Dan, was an old intimate of the Son of Heaven, one of the men the Emperor had drawn into his faction while he was still a Prince.

When Xu Wenzu’s imperial commission entered Yingdu some days earlier, Prefect Liu voluntarily vacated the prefectural yamen and invited Xu Wenzu to reside there.

Xu Wenzu did not decline.

He moved in directly.

This did not fit the common image of officialdom as endless “modesty,” “compromise,” and “golden-mean maneuvering.”

But in truth, most of those ideas came from busybodies in teahouses and minor yamen clerks watching county magistrates, registrars, and constables scheme against one another, then imagining that the true highest levels of a state must play by the same rules.

Unfortunately... things did not work that way.

When the Son of Heaven’s gaze fell upon you, when the Son of Heaven granted you an imperial commissioner’s banner and sent you out... you had to accomplish something.

You had to produce results.

You had to carry out the will of the Emperor and the court.

One problem with standing too high was that even if you wanted to hide... there was nowhere left to hide.

On the very first day Xu Wenzu entered Yingdu, he moved into the prefectural yamen where he himself had once lived for years.

That meant authority across Yingdu had formally changed hands.

The current Prefect, Liu Dan, automatically slid into the role of deputy.

From that point onward, Yingdu... even central Jin as a whole... and influence extending into western Jin... everything involving support toward eastern Jin would fall under Xu Wenzu’s coordination and control.

“Coming out feels good. I can finally breathe,” Xu Wenzu said. “Your Highness, don’t laugh at me. Living in Yanjing isn’t even as comfortable as Yingdu. Hell, it isn’t as comfortable as Hutou City. Hahaha.”

“Heh-heh-heh.”

Zheng Fan laughed too.

“That’s why the common people say they would rather be a county magistrate than a Second-Rank ministry official.”

“Your Highness, you don’t need to tell me how the battle is going to be fought. Whatever you need, whatever you want, write it in a memorial and send someone to me at eight-hundred-li urgency. I will not make a single excuse. I will not complain of a single hardship. And I will not start preaching to you about how difficult the lives of the common people are. I have only one sentence. If one day Your Highness discovers the grain delivered to the army camps is not enough... then go look. Hanging from the final wagon... will be this fat body of mine!”

“Old Brother, with those words from you, this Prince can rest easy.”

Zheng Fan shifted his posture.

His fingers tapped lightly against the armrest.

“This battle... is steady.”

Strong soldiers and powerful horses were on his side.

Abundant logistics were on his side.

The commanders and generals were united on his side.

The Emperor stood beside him.

Could they still lose?

Of course they could.

If one measured the matter across ten years, twenty years, thirty years... or through the histories’ accusations of brutality and endless militarism... then naturally defeat remained possible.

But in the present moment...

Zheng Fan genuinely could not think of any reason he should lose.

This kind of position... this dream opening that would make countless famous generals throughout history wake laughing from their sleep... if he could still somehow throw the game away... then Zheng Fan would have no choice but to admit he was a useless piece of trash.

At that moment...

Xu Wenzu spoke again.

“Your Highness, it’s a pity the old Marquis is gone. If only the old Marquis could be here now.”

Xu Wenzu was an old man of Marquis Zhenbei Residence.

In private, he still called Li Liangting “the old Marquis.”

“He would have been pleased, Old Xu. Do you remember... must be ten years ago now. Maybe even more. In the imperial garden, I watched the old Marquis roasting a leg of lamb. He said Great Yan was still too small. Fighting back and forth over such a small place... wasn’t even enough to raise his interest.”

“That really does sound like something the old Marquis would say. Hahaha.”

“It’s coming.”

Zheng Fan’s gaze grew more serious.

Xu Wenzu, seated below him, immediately put away his smile.

He rose.

The movement was difficult.

But he still knelt.

“In the past, Great Yan was blessed to have the late Emperor, the old Marquis, and the Southern Marquis. Today, Great Yan is blessed to have His Majesty... and Your Highness. Eight hundred years ago, Great Xia’s winds rose. The feudal lords contended. The realm became a hunting ground for heroes. All Xia... All Xia... We have called it that for far too long. The more one hears it, the stranger it feels. It is time to give it another name. May it begin with our sons and grandsons. Whether the wind blows from the desert... or sweeps in from the snowfields... whether it echoes through mountain valleys and great marshes... or chases the blue waves of the Eastern Sea... wherever the wind paints... let all be black. Wherever the sun and moon shine... let all be Yan soil!”

[End of Chapter 942]