Taiheiki

Chapter 246 Going Home
"Then what should we do?"

"Let's leave here first!" Liu Kun pointed around. "Let's consider our next step once we get back to Xiakou!"

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Wancheng, the Prefect's Residence.

Fu Hong served Zhang Huan throughout his life. When Zhang Huan was seven years old and learning to ride and shoot, Fu Hong was there to hold the reins. When Zhang Huan traveled to the Three Auxiliary Regions for study, Fu Hong carried his books and rode a sturdy mule alongside him. When Zhang Huan served as the Commandant of Anding and the Prefect of Wuwei, and when he campaigned against the Qiang people, Fu Hong guarded him with a bow and spear. Over the years, he watched Zhang Huan grow from a boy studying the Book of Documents and practicing martial arts; he was recommended as a virtuous and talented person, served in various prefectures and counties, made numerous contributions, and became a pillar of the Han Dynasty and one of the Three Luminaries of Liangzhou. However, he had never seen Zhang Huan lose his composure like he did today.

"Heaven has not forsaken us, the mandate of heaven rests on Han, the mandate of heaven rests on Han!" Zhang Huan read the letter in his hand again and again, tears welling up in his eyes and streaming down his cheeks, wetting his white beard. Fu Hong had lost count of how many times the Qiang, Hu, and Xianbei people had charged at Zhang Huan, their spear tips almost touching his horse's head, but his master had not shed tears like this, nor had his facial muscles twitched at all.

"My lord, what is the message in this letter—?" Fu Hong asked cautiously.

"Lord Wei decisively defeated the Moth Rebels' navy with a fire attack at Sangluo Island, burning hundreds of their ships and killing or drowning tens of thousands of them, leaving corpses scattered for over a hundred miles!" Zhang Huan laughed. Seeing Fu Hong's somewhat bewildered expression, he realized this servant who had followed him since childhood didn't know where Sangluo Island was, so he explained, "Sangluo Island guards the confluence of Pengze and the Yangtze River, a truly strategic location. The Moth Rebels are so rampant simply because of their navy. Lord Wei led his fleet down the river and secured Sangluo Island. The Moth Rebels' counties of Yuzhang and Lujiang were under their attack, forcing them to retreat. Lord Wei, having rested and exhausted himself, decisively defeated their navy, thus forcing the Moth Rebels to retreat!"

"So, does that mean Wancheng is safe?" Fu Hong asked.

"Of course!" Zhang Huan was in a good mood: "If the Moth Bandits still dare not retreat, they will be unable to retreat once the Autumn Water recedes!" He couldn't help but burst into laughter as he said this.

Seeing Zhang Huan's condition, Fu Hong felt gratified. Heaven could bear witness to how hard his master had worked these past few days. Apart from occasional short naps, Zhang Huan had hardly slept. Whenever there was military intelligence, it had to be delivered immediately, even in the dead of night. In just a month or two, he had aged almost ten years. And all of this was finally over.

"Master, you can finally get some rest for a few days, right?" Fu Hong said with a smile. "You haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time!"

"Rest? We should rest, but first we must wipe out this gang of moth thieves! One lifetime of indulgence leads to generations of trouble. This time we must exterminate these moth thieves completely, leaving not a single one to worry our descendants!"

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Nanyang County, Chaoyang, the camp of the Moth Bandits.

The sky was as black as the city wall not far away. The rain kept falling, flooding the land, villages and forests on both sides of the Han River. The water surface seemed to be connected with the sky, like a huge curtain that wrapped the whole world.

Qi Tie stepped off the footboard, his raincoat soaked with water and incredibly heavy, just like his current state of mind. Although he had made countless preparations on the way here, the thought of facing his teacher and Zhang Song still made him feel suffocated.

"My lord, relax. Victory and defeat are common in war. We must face the facts!" Liu Kun noticed Qi Tie's unusual state and lowered his voice, saying, "The army is in a very dangerous situation right now. You must be strong so that you can lead everyone to safety!"

"Do you think this could be another trap?" Qi Tie asked.

Liu Kun knew, of course, that the "this" Qi Tie was referring to was the letter from Wei Cong in his pocket; clearly, his friend was already afraid.

"Whether it's a trap or not is for the wise teacher to judge. Besides, Wei Cong made it clear at the time that he didn't want to wipe us out!"

"Who knows if he's telling the truth or not!" Qi Tie muttered.

"General! Please follow me! The General of Chariots and Cavalry is waiting for you!" The leader leading the way bowed to Qi Tie.

"What about the Great Teacher?" Qi Tie's face darkened further; he certainly didn't want to see Zhang Song at this moment.

"The Great Teacher is in meditation! Outsiders are not allowed to disturb him!"

"I am his second disciple, not some outsider!" Qi Tie's voice unconsciously rose a few notches: "Quickly take me to see the Great Master!"

"Junior Brother Qi!" A voice pierced the rain. A man stood under a bamboo shed by the dock. It was Zhang Song: "What's wrong? Have you done something wrong and are too ashamed to show your face?"

A surge of inexplicable anger shot from Qi Tie's lower abdomen to the top of his head. He snorted coldly, "Let's go, find a clean place to talk!"

Qi Tie followed Zhang Song inside, took off his raincoat and handed it to the guard at the gate. He smoothed his hair and shook the rainwater off. The charcoal fire in the brazier drove the damp, cold air out of the room, and he couldn't help but sneeze contentedly. He rubbed his cheeks and felt much better.

"Let's dry the clothes first!" Zhang Song sat cross-legged by the brazier, coldly looking at Qi Tie, who looked quite disheveled. This once arrogant and conceited second junior brother had completely lost his former arrogance. It seemed that this defeat had completely broken him.

Qi Tie hesitated for a moment, then decided to do as Zhang Song said. He took off his outer robe and hung it on the wooden rack next to the brazier. Just as he was hesitating whether to take off his inner garment as well, Zhang Song's voice came from behind him.

"I really didn't expect you to come back alive! Thirty thousand people, more than a thousand ships, gone just like that!"

Qi Tie froze, then turned around and whispered, "You don't know what happened back then. Wei Cong's demonic fire was incredibly powerful. Anything that touched it would ignite, and no matter how you tried to extinguish it, it wouldn't go out. It could even burn on water—"

“Save those words for your master!” Zhang Song interrupted Qi Tie’s explanation: “What I mean is, how did you manage to come back alive?”

Qi Tie remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "To avoid being burned to death, I had no choice but to abandon the ship and escape to the shore. As a result, I was caught by the villagers the next day and sent to Wei Cong. However, Wei Cong released me!"

puff!

Zhang Song's laughter was like a knife, piercing Qi Tie's heart, but he still held back and waited for Zhang Song to finish laughing: "Where is the teacher? I want to see him!"

"What's the point of seeing the teacher? Aren't you embarrassed enough already?" "This isn't about being embarrassed!" Qi Tie took out a brocade pouch from his robes: "Wei Cong asked me to deliver a letter to the teacher!"

"So that's how it is!" Zhang Song revealed a disdainful smile: "No wonder he let you go, give it to me!" He snatched the brocade pouch from Qi Tie's hand and took out the letter inside.

"This is for the teacher, you can't—"

"The teacher is currently in seclusion, and I will make all decisions regarding military affairs!" Zhang Song said coldly. He tore open the letter and began to read it, then sneered, "Are you telling us to withdraw our troops back to Yangzhou? What kind of trick are you playing now!" He casually tossed the letter into the brazier.

"Are you crazy?" Qi Tie was startled and hurriedly reached out to grab it, but under the licking of the flames, he only managed to snatch half of it. He was both anxious and angry: "Zhang Song, you're going to kill a lot of people like this!"

"Just like you?" Zhang Song sneered. "What right do you, a defeated general, have to lecture me? If it weren't for our camaraderie and to follow military law, you would have been beheaded after such a crushing defeat!"

Zhang Song's threat calmed Qi Tie down. He suppressed his anger and said, "Fine, you can do whatever you want with me, but we must retreat immediately, the sooner the better. Wei Cong could besiege Xiakou at any time. If Xiakou falls, all these people will be trapped on the Han River and it will all be over!"

"Shut up! You're no longer the General of the Warships, you have no right to ask me to do anything! Men, seize these two and lock them up!"

No sooner had Zhang Song finished speaking than seven or eight soldiers entered from the outer room, seized Qi Tie and Liu Kun without saying a word, and took them away.

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Inside the cell, Qi Tie paced back and forth seven or eight times before suddenly stopping and asking, "Liu Kun, why didn't you say anything in the room just now?"

"What's the point of me speaking?" Liu Kun said with a wry smile, "In your senior brother's eyes, you're just a defeated general waiting to be beheaded. What am I? If I don't speak, I'll still be locked up with you. If I do speak, I'm afraid I'll already be dragged out and beheaded!"

“You’re right!” Qi Tie was taken aback, then smiled bitterly: “What do we do now? We can’t see the teacher, and that bastard Zhang Song won’t listen to anyone. The situation is extremely urgent. If we delay like this, hundreds of thousands of people will die here!”

"You're asking me? Who should I ask?" Liu Kun spread his hands. "Now all we can do is leave it to fate. Eat and drink as usual, and just wait patiently. Anyway, your senior brother shouldn't kill us, and this rain won't stop anytime soon. As long as the rain doesn't stop, the government troops from Wancheng won't attack."

"What about Wei Cong?"

"In my opinion, he won't attack Xiakou. If he wanted to, he would have done it already!"

"Why do you say that?" Qi Tie asked, puzzled.

"Think about it. If he takes Xiakou, and the imperial court asks him for it, can he refuse? With Xiakou, Wancheng and Xiangfan will be safe, and the imperial navy can sail into the Yangtze River and take the Jingnan route directly to Jiaozhou. But if we have Xiakou, firstly, the imperial court can't ask him for it, Wancheng and Xiangyang will be under threat at any time, the imperial navy won't be able to enter the Yangtze River, and it won't threaten Jiaozhou. For Wei Cong, it's much more convenient for us to have Xiakou than for him to keep it himself."

"These are all your own guesses, aren't they?" Qi Tie looked disappointed.

"We're locked up here, what else can we do but guess?" Liu Kun asked. "But if we're being logical, this is probably the case. Wei Cong is a very interesting person. He doesn't seem to have any interest in the Central Plains; he's single-mindedly focused on staying in Jiaozhou. There aren't many people like that!"

"Alright!" Qi Tie sighed. "I hope you're right, otherwise if Xiakou is captured, all of our hundreds of thousands of people will perish here!"

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Sangluozhou.

As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, Wei Cong had a spacious and luxurious private cabin on the Chang Le. The cabin was carpeted thickly, with windows inlaid with stained glass. A huge leather chair allowed him to lie comfortably, and there was also an incense burner, an inlaid wooden table, a chessboard, a sideboard cabinet, a wine cabinet, and so on. Wei Cong loved to recline in his leather chair after finishing his business, with various dried fruits, nuts, and cheeses laid out on the low table in front of him, along with a heated cocktail, playing chess or chatting, letting the alcohol gradually spread through his body. That slightly tipsy feeling made him feel as if he were still in that peaceful and prosperous modern society.

Wei Cong was in that situation at the moment, lying on the leather sofa, putting a nut in his mouth. Although he was now "richer than a country"—well, actually, removing the quotation marks wouldn't be an exaggeration—he couldn't even afford a single piece of the cheapest cocoa butter substitute chocolate. To be honest, in the pre-industrial era, even the very top tier of the power pyramid had very limited access to material comforts.

Take Wei Cong himself for example. These days, even getting a bowl of mutton soup noodles is difficult for him. After all, there are no refrigerators or refrigerated trucks, and mutton has to be freshly slaughtered, which isn't easy to find in the Yangtze River basin. So, advancing in technology is the key! Wasting energy on civil wars and power games is a waste of life!

"General!"

"What is it!" Wei Cong sat up straight in his leather chair, only to see Wen Sheng standing in the doorway: "Everyone's gathered together, asking about the next move!"

"What's wrong? You're still not satisfied after such a great victory?" Wei Cong laughed. "Are you all itching for a fight? You're living a good life but want to go to war?"

"No, no, no!" Wen Sheng hurriedly waved his hands: "What everyone means is that after this battle, the bandits must be terrified. Why not take advantage of the situation, pursue them, capture Xiakou, and achieve a great victory?"

"Xiakou!" Wei Cong smacked his lips, looking like he hadn't had enough. "Having achieved Long, you're already eyeing Shu, aren't you?"

"Hehe!" Wen Sheng chuckled dryly twice: "Everyone just wants to make a name for themselves and get a title!"

"A title of nobility?" Wei Cong chuckled. "Forget it. Tell those guys that the war against the Moth Bandits is almost over. If you want a title of nobility, save your strength for the southern frontier! There's plenty of land and people there. You could have a title of nobility with thousands of households, or even tens of thousands!"

"Huh?" Wen Sheng was stunned by Wei Cong's completely unexpected words: "The battle with the Moth Bandits is over?"

“Okay!” Wei Cong nodded. “I’ll leave Xiakou to the E’zhai, letting them serve as a buffer zone between Jiaozhou and the imperial court. After that, let’s go back to Jiaozhou and live our own lives, shall we?”

(End of this chapter)