Taiheiki

Chapter 251 Return
"That's right, leave it to me!" Zhang Song glanced at Qi Tie with disdain and shouted, "Master, please rest assured, I will definitely defeat Wei Cong!"

"Are you sure you can win?"

"Our army has 170,000 men, while Wei Cong has at most 20,000 to 30,000. Five against one, we're bound to win no matter what!" Zhang Song replied confidently.

"Does having more people guarantee victory?" Liu Xin sighed. "Qi Tie, Wei Cong did indeed say back then that we should act as a buffer zone between Jiaozhou and the imperial court?"

“That’s true, but—” Qi Tie glanced at Zhang Song and said in a low voice, “Now it seems that it was Wei Cong’s trick to lull us into a false sense of security and then stab us in the back!”

Liu Xin remained silent, and an eerie silence fell over the tent. After a moment, Zhang Song could no longer contain himself and shouted, "Teacher, the government troops are right behind us! If we cannot defeat Wei Cong and retake Xiakou, these nearly 200,000 men will be wiped out on the banks of the Han River. Instead of thinking about this and that, we should focus on fighting and fight our way out!"

"Alright!" Liu Xin sighed. "That's all we can do. Zhang Song, I'm leaving everything to you!"

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A river breeze blew against his face, causing the sails on the foremast to billow slightly. At the captain's command, the sailors tightened or loosened the ropes, adjusting the sails' direction. The last rays of the setting sun cast their glow on the river, dyeing the water a dark red, almost rusty. Yuan Tian disliked this color; it reminded him of blood—not fresh blood, but the kind that, after flowing, is about to congeal. He turned his head and looked towards the south bank of the Han River.

Due to hundreds of thousands of years of alluvial deposits from the Han River, the south bank is a vast expanse of flat land. As far as the eye can see, there are no mountains in sight, allowing Yuan Tian to see an extremely long distance. As far as the eye can see, campfires dot the landscape, their rising smoke columns like fingers pointing to the sky; the river wind whips up ashes and dust, scattering them across the river surface—these are all the camps of the Moth Bandits. Yuan Tian tried to count the number of campfires, but quickly gave up; there were simply too many. For twenty or thirty miles along both banks of the Han River, there were Moth Bandit camps.

"No wonder they had to march along the Han River, otherwise they probably wouldn't even have enough water to drink, let alone anything else!" came the captain's voice from behind.

Yuan Tian glanced back but remained silent. Before setting off, the army was filled with optimism and an atmosphere of victory. Everyone—from captains to spearmen and archers—was confident of the impending victory. In their eyes, the remaining bandits were nothing more than a group of exhausted and crippled enemies, utterly vulnerable. Would they still be so confident when they saw what was before them?
"Let's go a little further!" Yuan Tian said. "I want to see where their military supplies and provisions are stored!"

"Here!"

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Xiakou, Queyue City.

The rammed earth walls remain intact, the damaged areas repaired, and the brand-new oak gates, covered with iron plates, gleam like the teeth of a giant's mouth. However, the marks of war are still visible; this is neither its first nor its last encounter with conflict.

Nie Sheng pulled on the reins, and his mount slowed down. The banner reading "Fake Prefect Nie of Lujiang" fluttered above his head, and people respectfully stepped aside to make way for him. He was gradually getting used to the strange looks coming from all directions. He lowered his head and said to Zhou Jin beside him, "Go and announce that I've arrived!"

"Yes!" Zhou Jin responded and quickly ran into the city. Nie Sheng dismounted, tightened his belt, and prepared to wait there for a moment, but then he heard a surprised voice: "Is that Young Master Sheng? You're back?"

Nie Sheng turned around, recognized the person as Li He, and smiled, "It's me, I just got back from Lujiang!"

"Good, good!" Li He smiled broadly. "You've become much stronger. I almost didn't recognize you after not seeing you for several months. I've heard about what you did in Lujiang. It was remarkable. A hero emerges from among the young!" He gave a thumbs up as he said this.

"Uncle Li, you flatter me. I was just lucky!" Nie Sheng said somewhat embarrassedly.

"That's a lie. If I was lucky, why didn't I run into them?" Li He laughed. "Why didn't you go into the city?"

"I've already sent word!" Nie Sheng said, "Back then in Lujiang, I acted first and reported later, because my godfather ordered me to return within twenty days, so I—"

"Oh dear!" Li He understood and laughed, "Are you afraid the general will blame you? He's overjoyed with such a great victory! Come on, come in with me. You've come at the right time. I heard the bandits number over 100,000 this time. They can't do without you, little tyrant!" As he spoke, he grabbed Nie Sheng's arm and dragged him into the city.

As the two entered the city, they saw people greeting Li He along the way. Li He nodded in response and said, "The general has already submitted a memorial to the court on your behalf. The fake title of 'Prefect of Lujiang' will be removed soon. You'll be promoted to less than 20,000 shi! You're quite the big shot!"

"Uncle Li is joking!" Nie Sheng's face flushed slightly. "Actually, it was my men who egged me on. They all said that people's hearts were unsettled and that someone needed to be appointed as governor in order to stabilize the situation. That's why they forced me into this position. I didn't mean it at all!"

"What's the big deal!" Li He laughed. "Actually, your subordinates are right. Lujiang County is such a big place, hundreds of miles away from Sangluozhou. Do you expect me to ask for instructions on everything? Isn't that a joke? This is all territory you conquered. If you don't become the governor, who will? Don't even mention you, if it were me, I would also want to get a two thousand shi of grain!"

Upon hearing this, Nie Sheng relaxed considerably and casually asked, "I remember that my godfather's original strategy was to defeat the Moth Pirates' navy and leave the remaining Moth Pirates as a buffer zone between us and the imperial court. Why are we now going to have a decisive battle with the Moth Pirates? What happened?"

"Hmm!" Li He lowered his voice: "You're right, the general's thinking has changed, but I don't know why. I guess it's because the situation at the imperial court has changed!"

"What do you mean?" "It's very simple. Originally, the general's intention was to return to Jiaozhou after pacifying the E'zhai. He didn't want the court to get in his way, so he wanted to leave a portion of the E'zhai to occupy parts of Jingzhou and Yangzhou, serving as a buffer for Jiaozhou. But now, I don't know what happened, his idea has changed, so he simply wiped out the E'zhai and directly took over the southern prefectures of Jingzhou and Yangzhou. Actually, this is also beneficial to you, Asheng. Otherwise, if he wanted to return to Jiaozhou, you definitely wouldn't be able to stay as the Prefect of Lujiang for long. But if the general changes his mind, your position as the Prefect of Lujiang is a sure thing!"

"My godfather wants to seize Jingzhou and Yangzhou? How could the imperial court agree to that?" Nie Sheng asked.

"I don't know about that!" Li He laughed. "These are all just my guesses, but if he really had this idea, he would have already planned it out. He's been like that for years, so neither of us needs to worry!"

Nie Sheng didn't speak, he just nodded.

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"Godfather!" Upon seeing Wei Cong, Nie Sheng felt all his worries vanish. He bowed and said, "I am in armor and cannot perform the full ceremony. Please forgive me!"

"No need for formalities, sit down and let's talk!" Wei Cong stood up, walked over to Nie Sheng, and compared their heights: "Good lad, you've grown taller in just a few months. You're only a little shorter than me now, not bad, not bad. I reckon you'll be taller than me by this time next year!"

"Father, you flatter me!" The slight sense of distance that Nie Sheng had felt instantly vanished, and he laughed: "I did as you said, Father, and I did more calf raises and jumps every day, and I have indeed grown quite a bit taller!"

"Excellent, excellent!" Wei Cong patted his adopted son's shoulder with satisfaction: "The memorial recommending you as the Prefect of Lujiang has already been sent out. For my sake, Yuan Wei will definitely speak up. There shouldn't be any problem!"

“This child doesn’t care!” Nie Sheng said, “He just heard that his godfather was going to have a decisive battle with the Moth Bandits, so he quickly brought his men here.”

"Hmm! Sit down!" Wei Cong pointed to the cushion beside the table. "I know you must have a lot of questions about why you changed your mind. Actually, the reason is very simple. Take a look at this letter!" Wei Cong pulled a letter from the table and handed it to Nie Sheng. Nie Sheng looked at the signature on the letter.

"Deng Zhong from Nanyang? Who is this person—?"

"An old friend of mine! He's an important figure in the Deng family of Nanyang this generation! Read the letter first, then we'll talk!"

Nie Sheng unfolded the letter and examined it closely. His expression grew increasingly tense, and he finally exclaimed in shock, "Such a thing could happen! This...this is simply unbelievable—"

"That's terrifying, isn't it?" Wei Cong sighed. "Yes! The emperor has just ascended the throne and is already thinking of contacting officials outside the court, wanting to eliminate the powerful general who just supported him as emperor, depose the empress dowager, and rule in his own right. If this comes to light, either the Dou clan will be wiped out, or the throne will be usurped. Either way, millions will lose their lives, and the court will be completely reshuffled. But do you think the Han Dynasty can withstand such a blow?"

Nie Sheng fell silent. Having followed Wei Cong for several years, he had read quite a few books, becoming well-versed in both literature and martial arts. He knew, of course, that such fierce struggles between the emperor and his maternal relatives were nothing new in the Han Dynasty, occurring on average every ten or twenty years. But the problem was that this time was different; it had come far too quickly. Other emperors typically had ten or twenty years between their ascension to the throne and the elimination of their maternal relatives to assume full power, but the current emperor had only taken one or two years.

Secondly, in the past, no matter how much the emperor fought with his maternal relatives, the conflict remained confined to the palace, at most affecting Luoyang. This is the first time an emperor has attempted to enlist the help of foreign officials. Previously, the struggles were at most street battles within Luoyang; afterward, whoever won, the officials from the prefectures and counties would simply shout "Long live the Emperor!" to that side. But this time, the tactics are likely to go beyond mere street fighting; it could easily escalate into a civil war.

Thirdly, regardless of past conflicts, the loyalty of scholars, commoners, prefectures, and foreign tribes to the court was unquestionable. However, thanks to the late emperor's implementation of the partisan purge, scholars, even if not utterly loyal, were certainly disloyal; the commoners were even more so, with the Celestial Masters' peasant uprising directly negating the Mandate of Heaven; and the Xianbei and Wuling barbarians directly confronted the court with knives. Only the prefectures remained relatively loyal. But if things escalate in Luoyang this time, will the only remaining prefecture maintain its original loyalty?

"I don't know!" Nie Sheng shook his head: "Godfather, is that why you changed your mind?"

“Hmm!” Wei Cong nodded: “If the court can still maintain a semblance of peace, I don’t care about personal honor or disgrace. I will manage Jiaozhou well, guard the southern border for the court, and pacify the barbarians! But according to what Brother Deng said in his letter, the world is about to descend into chaos, the people will be displaced, bones will be scattered everywhere, and ancestral temples will be in danger of collapse. I really cannot sit idly by and watch such a tragic situation!”

“Father is right!” Nie Sheng nodded: “Your son will follow your lead and be your vanguard!”

"Good!" Wei Cong nodded: "Right now, we have three armies to deal with the Moth Bandits: mine, Feng Kun's, and Zhang Huan's. If the Emperor needs outside help, he will most likely choose one of the three of us. After all, border guards like those who cross the Liao River and protect the Qiang cannot be spared for the time being, and mobilizing them would be too much of a commotion. Once we wipe out the Moth Bandits, we will be free to deal with them, and we are not far from Luoyang! So you understand?"

Nie Sheng nodded. Wei Cong's meaning was clear: if he continued to use the remnants of the Moth Rebellion as a buffer, the Emperor would certainly not choose him as an ally. This meant he would lose the possibility of interfering in the politics of Luoyang. However, once the Moth Rebellion was eliminated and the greatest merit was achieved, he would undoubtedly have the power and influence to intervene in the affairs of Luoyang. This was the real reason for his change of mind.

"Father, I've heard that the Moth Thieves are numerous! Do you think you have a chance of winning?"

"Hmm, come here, take a look at the map!" Wei Cong took a scroll from the table and unfolded it. On it, different colored squares represented the armies of both sides: "The Moth Bandits have about 140,000 to 150,000 combat troops. Because of their large numbers, they have set up camps along the Han River for easy resupply. I received a batch of reinforcements from Jiangling a few days ago, and now I have about 20,000 combat troops. However, our army is far superior to theirs in terms of armor, weapons, horses, and crossbows. I also have the advantage in the naval fleet! Ah Sheng, if it were you, what would you do?"

"If it's up to the child, then we should build deep trenches and fortifications, and not fight them, as a long-term strategy!" Nie Sheng answered decisively: "They have many people, so they need a lot of food and supplies. Moreover, General Feng is in Xiangyang and General Zhang is in Wancheng. We can send troops to attack the enemy's rear. As long as the enemy cannot win quickly, they will surely be defeated!"

"Hmm!" Wei Cong nodded: "What you said makes sense, Ah Sheng, but unfortunately I can't use it right now. The reason is simple: neither General Feng nor General Zhang will sit idly by and watch me benefit. They will definitely watch me fight the Moth Bandits to the death first, and when I am exhausted and have many soldiers, they will come to clean up the mess—and take me down with them!"

(End of this chapter)