The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 64 Stirring up the pot
"Haha, from now on we'll all be stirring things together in the same pot!"

The atmosphere inside the tent was lively, and Guo Xin, seeing this, was filled with envy. He hurriedly said to Wei Renpu, "What about me? I also want to join the army and fight the enemy. I won't go with anyone else, I'll go with Xiao Yi."

"Sanlang's official appointment will come down after he arrives in Kaifeng."

"I'll gain experience in the military first."

"Since you have this ambition, Sanlang, you may do as you please. Just be sure to abide by the camp rules and do not disturb military affairs."

While Wei Renpu was talking to Guo Xin, Xu Sheng, who had refused to stay in Baigouqu, quickly stepped forward and whispered a few words in Chen Guanghui's ear.

Xiao Yi caught a glimpse of this scene out of the corner of his eye, and then saw the little monkey constantly poking Old Pan, gesturing in his direction.

Old Pan simply gestured for the little monkey to stay put.

"Could you two commanders please help us light this?"

As Wei Renpu spoke, he walked to the side, took out a pen and paper from his pocket, and laid them on the wooden stake.

Xiao Yi understood, exchanged a glance with Chen Guanghui, and each took a candle and went over.

Wei Renpu calmly prepared the ink and spoke in a low voice: "The Left and Right Commanders are in charge of military discipline and camp affairs, and also participate in military strategy; the Generals are in charge of supplies, registers, and weapons; there are five Captains and five Deputy Captains, each leading their respective units. The selection of personnel can be decided by the two of you based on their abilities. The army will set off tomorrow morning. Due to the haste, there may be some shortcomings in etiquette. I hope you will forgive us."

Xiao Yi and Chen Guanghui exchanged a glance, knowing that they had very little time to consider, only enough time for Wei Renpu to grind the ink.

Chen Guanghui's eyes darted around before he spoke first: "Would it be alright if Guo Sanlang temporarily took over as Commander?"

This idea was extremely clever. No one would think he wanted to be Guo Xin's superior. Firstly, it would allow him to get close to Guo Wei's son. Secondly, this command had just been established, and by using a powerful figurehead, he wouldn't be looked down upon, and everything would be easier to manage.

Wei Renpu nodded with a smile.

"Xiao Yi, what do you think?"

"General Chen's considerations are thorough."

Xiao Yi casually agreed, saying he was considering making Hua Nong a sergeant, but a sergeant is responsible for the roster, weapons, and the distribution of money and food in the army. He was afraid that Chen Guanghui wanted to use his own people, so he needed to think carefully about how to ask.

Chen Guanghui continued, "My men are all illiterate brutes. I heard from Tieya that Hua Nong is educated and saved the Guo family's relatives. Wouldn't it be a waste of his talent to make him a sergeant?"

Xiao Yi was delighted, knowing that Chen Guanghui's ambitions went beyond a small command position, which meant they would get along well in the future.

"Thank you, General."

"We're all brothers, no need for thanks."

“Yes.” Xiao Yi then stopped being formal and said, “I think Old Pan is experienced and suitable for camp affairs. He would be able to handle the position of Right Commander.”

"That's too lenient on that old bastard," Chen Guanghui said with a sour laugh. "He's just a peasant, and he hasn't even been a company commander all these years. You're just giving your brother face."

As the old saying goes, "Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure."

"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony with you. How about the three of you you brought: one captain and two deputy captains?"

There were five commanders in total. Chen Guanghui brought thirty elite soldiers with him, so asking for four commander positions was not unreasonable. Xiao Yi nodded in agreement.

"I will obey the general."

"That's great." Chen Guanghui pulled Xiao Yi aside and whispered, "I understand General Guo's intentions. You are young and have little experience in battle. I'm just giving you experience, not treating you as a subordinate, understand?"

"Don't worry, General, I know what's good for me."

"Now that you understand, let's address each other as brothers."

"Don't worry, brother."

"That's true."

As he spoke, Wei Renpu ground the inkstone, picked up his pen, and began to write down the names on the roster.

Xiao Yi selected Lü You as the head of the Fifth Division, Wei Liang as the deputy head, Fan Si as the deputy head of the Third Division, and Xu Sheng as the head of the Fifth Division.

The remaining positions were arranged by Chen Guanghui.

Wei Renpu wrote the names down quickly and fluently.

The cheers erupted even louder upon the announcement.

"real?!"

"Damn it, I haven't even been a squad leader yet, and I'm already a deputy captain?"

"Haha, what a lucrative business!"

"..."

Old Pan was the most surprised.

He was clearly taken aback. He first glanced at Xiao Yi, then clasped his hands in a fist salute to Chen Guanghui and said, "General, I haven't actually made any great contributions."

"Stop talking nonsense, just do it."

"Yes!"

"brothers!"

Chen Guanghui raised his voice and shouted, instantly silencing the barracks as all eyes turned to him.

"Without further ado, we will be heading south with the commander tomorrow. Ahead lies a mountain of knives and a sea of ​​fire, but also fame and fortune. Since we are all in the same boat, let's just say this: we will share life and death, and we will share wealth and honor!"

"We will share life and death, wealth and honor!"

"We'll share life and death, wealth and honor!" The crowd's blood boiled, and they echoed in unison, creating a lively atmosphere.

As Xiao Yi's gaze swept over the excited faces, a surge of emotion welled up within him.

Wei Renpu watched with a smile. After the atmosphere calmed down a bit, he clasped his hands slightly and said, "Then please line up your troops, check your armor and weapons, and familiarize yourselves with the camp rules. We can rest for a while before the troops are mustered and set off. I still have some miscellaneous matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave. Zijiang Hua Nong can come with me to get the troop register... Oh, Deputy Commander Xiao, please come with me."

Xiao Yi and Hua Nong then followed Wei Renpu to another camp.

Most of the soldiers here were unarmored officers, carrying registers and running back and forth, very busy.

As soon as Wei Renpu returned, someone rushed forward and whispered, "Secretary, the food in the camp has not yet been distributed."

"Send more men. Remember, each cavalryman will be given three days' worth of fried noodles and two small pieces of salted soybeans. Each infantryman will be given an extra half a flatbread and a bundle of straw mats."

"Yes."

Wei Renpu then beckoned to another person and asked, "Have all the items I requested been prepared?"

"Reporting to the Chief Secretary, there's still one thing missing. The silk is double-threaded fine silk, and the ink will leave smudges after it dries. We can't find it in Hebei..."

Give me the others first.

"Yes."

I entered a small tent. The tent was simply furnished with a few wooden boxes piled with documents, a table and a chair, and on the table were writing brushes, ink, paper and an oil lamp.

Wei Renpu first filled out the military register, then took out several blank slips with seals from the box, filled in the names of the officers and the number of soldiers they commanded, stamped them with the military commander's seal, and handed them to Hua Nong.

"This is a document from the Tianxiong Army Military Command, which has been filled in with the names of the officials and the number of their subordinates. It is stamped with the seal as proof and can be used as a temporary official document. Once we enter Kaifeng, there will likely be further promotions, at which time we will complete the formal appointment."

"Yes."

"These are the military munitions and provisions registers. After leaving the tent, you can have a junior officer lead you to the granary and military offices to collect them. You must verify the documents with the granary and military officers and sign them as proof... This is the established procedure for military transactions, are you aware of it?"

"Don't worry, Secretary Wei, I understand."

Hua Nong carefully examined the booklet, squinting at it before leaving.

A military officer came over and handed over a wooden box. Wei Renpu casually placed it on the table and waved the officer away.

Only two people remained in the tent.

Wei Renpu turned to Xiao Yi and asked, "Do you still have with you the imperial edict ordering Li Hongwei to kill Wang Yin?"

"exist."

Xiao Yi took out a roll of silk from his inner bag and handed it over.

"Please light a lamp."

"it is good."

Wei Renpu took the secret edict and examined it carefully, but not for its contents; he looked at the texture of the silk.

"Double-strand fine silk, I've got it."

Nodding, he opened the small wooden box, took out a willow-leaf knife, and carefully cut out the blank part of the silk, laying it on the table.

Afterwards, a piece of cork was taken out of the wooden box, and the seal pattern of the imperial edict was covered on it. Then, the carving began to be meticulously done along the edge.

This is delicate work.

After about 15 minutes, a fake seal was carved.

Xiao Yi couldn't help but think of Li Fang, secretly pondering that perhaps carving seals on radishes was one of the essential skills that scholars of the time had to learn.

Wei Renpu took out the remaining items from the wooden box: several pieces of pine soot ink, glue, and musk of different colors. He began to grind them and mix the colors with the ink marks on the imperial edict.

Finally, he took out the secret edict brought by Cao Wei from his bosom, unfolded it, picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, held his breath and concentrated, and slowly wrote on the blank silk.

He simply copied it down, writing until he reached the phrase "it is convenient to kill them immediately," and then stopped.

Xiao Yi looked over and saw that the secret edict brought by Cao Wei had the order to kill Guo Wei and Wang Jun followed by "no delay" and did not include the "and his accomplices, and eliminate them all" that Wang Jun had read.

Wei Renpu picked up his pen again and added these eight characters.

He then wrote another line after “Do not fail my expectations”.

"Afterwards, the officers and generals of the Tianxiong Army were transferred and eliminated, weakening the power of Hebei and eliminating the threat of regional warlords, so as to put my mind at ease."

After writing, Wei Renpu gently blew the ink dry, closed his eyes to rest for a few breaths, opened his eyes, picked up the carved cork seal, dipped it in ink, and steadily stamped it on the end of the forged edict.

After doing all this, he let out a long sigh of relief and murmured, "Most of the generals are military men, so they shouldn't be able to see through this."

Thus, the court's killing blow against Guo Wei and Wang Jun became a weapon against all the soldiers in Hebei, uniting them into a single force.

"Commander Xiao, please burn the rest of the secret edicts."

"Okay. But... why did Secretary Wei do these things in front of me?"

"Because you killed Liu Jirong, this imperial edict came into your hands first. You are one of our own and can be relied upon. I have inquired about you. Sanlang and Wuniang followed you north and still do not know about the death of the lady. This shows that you are discreet and not someone who would easily leak information."

Wei Renpu made no attempt to hide the admiration in his eyes, and sighed, "On my way south to Kaifeng, I have many 'secret matters' that require assistance. Compared to this, a forged imperial edict is nothing to worry about."

Xiao Yi said, "As long as it's not something immoral or unethical, I'm willing to assist Secretary Wei with his 'secret mission'."

Wei Renpu smiled slightly, stroked his beard, and said, "I didn't misjudge you. We can look forward to working together on important matters in the future."

(End of this chapter)