A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

I returned to Black Stone Bridge on October 24th.

Two thousand went out, and one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one came back. One hundred and eighty-eight were carried back, seventy-two walked back, and there were also eleven neatly wrapped felt rolls.

Qin Ying stood on the earthen embankment of the new camp, leaning on a wooden cane.

Her legs weren't strong enough to ride a horse, but she could stand. Yang Hu dismounted and walked over. The first thing she looked at wasn't him, but the two carts behind him that hadn't overturned.

"Did you bring it back?"

"Brought it back. Empty run, seven-fold decapitation."

Qin Ying slammed her wooden staff on the ground, turned and walked into the tent, but stopped after taking two steps.

"How much was lost?"

One hundred and nineteen.

Her back paused for a moment.

"The upper limit is one hundred and twenty."

"Yes."

"That's enough," Qin Ying said. "Come in and talk."

A brazier of charcoal burned inside the tent. She leaned her wooden cane against the edge of the couch, sat down, and first asked about the water source and the campsite for the past six days, before finally asking the barbarian.

Yang Hu recounted the events of the winter camp. When she mentioned the bundle of arrows, she looked up.

"Triangular, barbed, with a shallow groove on the tail?"

"Yes."

"When my father led the troops, only four thousand of these rifles were produced each year, and they were all recorded in the ordnance register, one by one matching the numbers," Qin Ying said. "One hundred and seventeen of them ended up on the grasslands, and there had to be a place recorded in the register. Either it was 'loss' or 'allocation'."

"It's best to wipe away any damage."

"The wear and tear is best wiped away." She repeated those four words, "But the wear and tear still needs to be reported. If you can wipe it away, it will take a year; if you can't, it will take five years."

After saying this, she placed her hand on the still-healing wound on her leg and slowly massaged it.

"Yang Hu, you didn't win this time."

"no."

"But you've forced him into a situation where he has no choice but to fight," Qin Ying said. "If he doesn't move, the arrow is in your hand; if he moves, you'll have to leave a trace."

That night, the battle report was copied in its original form.

When Cui Ting delivered the items, he brought two things: a battle report and a list of eleven people.

"General, the list can be attached to the battle report; there's no need for a separate document."

"Not attached." Yang Hu separated the two items and placed them on the table, one on the left and one on the right. "The battle report will go to the Ministry of War, and the list will go to the pension department."

Cui Ting was stunned.

"General, both of these are Ministry of War offices; they're essentially the same government department no matter where you go."

"Not just one person."

Yang Hu unfolded the list. The first page contained eleven names, each with their place of origin and the date and place of their death. Turning to the second page, however, it was a copy of the spoils from the battle report, word for word: the barbarians' camp where they had spent the winter, our wound medicine, our arrows—even the exact numbers were copied verbatim.

Cui Ting looked at the second page, his eyes slowly widening.

"The general copied the spoils into the pension document."

"The compensation must be issued based on the battle report," Yang Hu said. "The person issuing the compensation must know where and why these eleven people died. That's the rule."

He pushed the paper over.

"At Qing Shi Kou that time, I reported more than three thousand names, but only two thousand three thousand remained when it reached the Ministry of War. Someone made a move in the middle layer."

"But this time there are only eleven."

"Eleven, is it worth it?"

Cui Ting couldn't answer.

"It can be crossed out," Yang Hu answered himself. "But if he wants to cross out this list, he has to cross out the second page as well. He either has to erase those two boxes of arrows, or he has to put it in front of people."

Cui Ting's palms were sweaty.

"What if he really dares to wipe them all out?"

"That thing is still in my hands." Yang Hu put down his pen. "The account hasn't been cleared until the item arrives. He has to cover it up every time, and I have to deliver it. He can't keep covering it up forever."

The escort team set off early the next morning. Thirty riders were responsible for the escort, and the arrows were packed in two sealed wooden boxes, which bore Yang Hu's own seal.

After that, it was just waiting.

The first snow fell at the end of October. Life in the new camp continued as usual: every night, the wounded and sick were checked and counted; the number of pots in the kitchen was increased from five to seven; and the thirty soldiers under Captain Pang who were learning bandaging learned a second skill: stopping bleeding.

Of the 108 wounded and sick soldiers brought back from the frontier, 63 had returned to the ranks by early November.

On the twenty-third day, the people from the capital arrived.

It was that same Ministry of War official who came.

He traveled more hastily this time than the last; the forty-six-year-old's face was chapped from the cold. Upon entering the camp, he didn't announce the imperial decree first, but went straight to asking, "General Yang, from which tent enclosure were those two boxes of arrows retrieved?"

"Number thirty-seven. Fifty-eight tents, sixty-one stove pits."

The doctor stood under the gate and recited the three numbers to himself.

"I have reviewed the military equipment registers in the Ministry of War for twenty-two years," he said. "On the day the arrows arrived, the people from the Arsenal inspected them three times, and after the inspection, not a single person dared to speak."

He took out a roll of yellow silk from his sleeve.

The purpose was to spread the word on the drill ground. The snow stopped that day, and the entire Third Battalion stood there.

When the announcement reached the middle, Yang Hu heard those two words.

control.

He commanded the three camps beyond the Great Wall and went out to subdue the barbarians.

There was a very brief silence on the drill ground, followed by an explosion.

The three battalions beyond the Great Wall consisted of the Frontier Battalion, the Left Battalion, and the Right Battalion. The Left Battalion commander, Shao Qi, was forty-seven years old and had risen through the ranks from squad leader; the Right Battalion commander, Yue Chong, was fifty-two years old and had served beyond the Great Wall for nineteen years. Both held the rank of general and were older than Yang Hu.

Shao Qi was the first to step forward.

"This humble general has something to say."

"speak."

"General Yang was awarded the rank of general in August," Shao Qi said. "Today, it has been three months and six days. I have served in the frontier for fourteen years, and General Yue for nineteen. A general who has served for nineteen years in just three months is unprecedented in the border army."

The crowd in the stadium erupted in agreement.

The official from the Ministry of War's face darkened, and he was about to speak when Yang Hu raised his hand to stop him.

"General Shao is right," Yang Hu said. "No, not at all."

Shao Qi was taken aback.

"What does the general mean?"

"I have three questions for you," Yang Hu said. "If General Shao can answer them, I don't need this restraint."

"Please ask, General."

"First question. The three battalions beyond the Great Wall have launched nine expeditions in the past five years. How many heads were taken, and how many casualties were in total?"

Shao Qi opened his mouth. He wasn't unaware of the number, but he didn't want to say it in front of everyone.

"The second question: Of those nine expeditions, what percentage of the casualties were killed by barbarians?"

The field fell silent.

"The third question," Yang Hu lowered his hand, "Did General Shao receive the dispatch from last month ordering a report of victory within a month?"

Shao Qi's expression changed.

"Received it." Shao Qi paused, "and replied 'approved'."

"Have they sent troops?"

Shao Qi did not answer.

Yang Hu turned around and faced the entire training ground.

"On this trip, I will behead seven people." He spoke slowly and softly, but everyone in the last row could hear him clearly. "Seven people. I can't report a victory, but I accept it."

"But when I came back, there were 119 fewer people. In previous years, 144 fewer people would be missing on a single trip."

"I also brought back two boxes of arrows. The arrows were our own type, triangular, barbed, with a shallow groove on the pommel, dug out from under the tents where the barbarians had spent the winter."

He paused for a moment.

"If any of you think a general who has only served for three months is unfit for command, then please submit a battle report like this. Whoever can submit one, I will relinquish command on the spot."

No one on the field responded.

Yue Chong made a move. The old general, who had guarded the border for nineteen years, took half a step forward, then stopped, and finally just placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and bowed to Yang Hu.

"This subordinate obeys your command."

Shao Qi's face flushed for a long time before he finally bowed.

The physician who delivered the imperial decree put away the rolled-up yellow silk, walked to Yang Hu's side, and lowered his voice.

"General Yang, I have come here with another private matter to discuss."

"Please speak, sir."

"I have received that list," he said, "along with the second page."

"Did the adults see it?"

"I've seen it, and I even made three copies." The doctor paused. "One was kept on file, one was presented to the official in charge, and the last one is for my own records."

The wind blew a layer of snow up from the edge of the drill ground.

"Why did you copy a third copy, sir?"

The doctor gazed at the newly established wounded and sick camp in the distance for a long time.

"I have been in charge of pensions for twenty-two years," he said. "I am making this third copy because I also want to know at which level those one thousand names were crossed out."

After saying this, he stepped back half a step and resumed his official tone.

"General Yang, there is one more order."

"Please speak, sir."

"The Ministry of War has set the date for the expedition beyond the Great Wall. When the ice melts in spring, all three battalions beyond the Great Wall will set out." The doctor tucked his hands into his sleeves. "This time, the general's expedition is not just for mopping up the enemy."