Chapter 136 Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes

The snow had finally stopped.

Along the imperial highway stretching from Yanchang County to Fushi County, a group of young men rode swiftly on horseback, leading more than ten mules.

The battle horses they rode were equipped with Yanling sabers, and the mules were heavily laden with large bundles. Though their faces all carried the sallow hue of malnutrition, they looked fierce and vigilant.

Upon entering the borders of Fushi County, not far from Black Dragon Mountain, they reined in their horses. The leader stepped forward to weigh and listen to the bundles on the mules' backs one by one.

Some made no sound when lifted; some were very light, some very heavy, and others emitted the clinking sound of armor plates colliding.

In the end, he unstrapped three bundles and opened them on the ground: a bundle of firewood, an iron pot, and another tightly wrapped package containing a large chunk of ice chiseled from a river.

They boiled some hot water to warm themselves and then resumed their journey, pressing on all the way to Black Dragon Mountain, where they were halted by the auxiliary troops.

"Please be so kind as to announce us, brothers. I am Gao Yingdeng, a troop commander of the Ning-Sai Battalion, dispatched by Thousand-Householder Wang of the Yan'an Garrison, coming to join General Liu to carve out a path for ourselves."

As he spoke, two shots rang out from within Black Dragon Mountain, startling the few soldiers of the imperial relief force—who had traveled a long way—into instinctively resting their hands on their saber hilts. However, seeing that the auxiliary troops showed no alarm and merely left behind the words "Wait a moment, brothers," one of them ran into the mountain to report.

True to the word, within a mere moment, the auxiliary troop galloped back and bade them enter the mountains. They had walked barely a hundred paces when they saw several horsemen galloping toward them from the direction of the mountain ridge. The leader rode a red-maned horse and, before even drawing close, called out, "I am Liu Chengzong. Is Yang Yanchang still alive?"

These were the first batch of deserters from the imperial relief force to arrive at Black Dragon Mountain.

The time of their arrival was far later than Liu Chengzong had anticipated.

Gao Yingdeng and the others hurriedly dismounted and knelt in obeisance. "I am Gao Yingdeng of the Ning-Sai Battalion, paying respects to General Liu!"

These words were spoken with absolute conviction and heartfelt submission.

In fact, Gao Yingdeng had known of Liu Chengzong for a long time. Ever since the death of Lu Cheng, among the garrison officers and soldiers stationed along the northern twin boundary walls, aside from the elite scouts permanently stationed outside the passes, there were probably very few who did not know of Liu Chengzong.

Especially after Li Bei's defeat, the name Liu Chengzong had become exceptionally resounding among the border troops, a source of profound pride for the common soldiers and lower-ranking officers.

"Look at that," they would say. "Liu Chengzong was merely a vanguard personal guard, yet he can still beat the generals of all factions black and blue. You old bastards better watch out; the day you drive us to rebellion, we'll become another Liu Chengzong."

Yet, when all was said and done, this was not out of reverence for Liu Chengzong himself, but rather a pride born from the fact that someone sharing their identical background had managed to raise such a massive storm.

Most people thought: *You are border troops, and so am I. The reason you've made such a great name for yourself is simply because you caught that opportunity. Put me in your shoes, and I could do it too.*

For a long time, Gao Yingdeng had thought precisely this way—until he embarked on the road of imperial relief and began his own fantastical journey, which finally cast that notion to the winds.

All of this began with his acquaintance with Wang Ziyong, the Vice Thousand-Householder of the Yan'an Garrison. Ever since he came to know this man, Gao Yingdeng noticed that the veteran brothers who had shared several bloody battles against the Northern Tartars with him in the borderlands were growing fewer and fewer.

Those who remained also began dropping subtle hints, suggesting he desert.

In truth, Gao Yingdeng had not initially connected this matter with that simple-minded giant, Wang Ziyong.

That was until he discovered that Yang Yanchang, the Commander of the Yan'an Garrison, was not traveling with them.

That Commanding General of Valor had made quite a grand gesture upon reporting for duty in Yulin, directly presenting Regional Commander Wu with one hundred battle horses.

He claimed that the Yan'an Garrison had nothing, that the flag-soldiers' combat effectiveness was poor, and that their troop strength was a mere five hundred, which probably wouldn't be of much use for the relief effort. Therefore, he offered those one hundred horses as military provisions to support Regional Commander Wu in defending the realm.

Old Wu was overjoyed, and even proclaimed before all the generals during the expedition's send-off, "If all of you were like General Yang, wouldn't that be wonderful?"

That was sheer nonsense. If everyone were like Yang Yanchang and managed to scrape together tens of thousands of horses before even setting out on a campaign, anyone would be overjoyed; you could practically trample enemy formations with horses on the battlefield.

Yang Yanchang's unit brought up the rear, and Wu Zimian's assigned mission for him was to round up deserters.

Those with official passes did not count.

The soldiers who had gone missing from Gao Yingdeng's unit were all with Yang Yanchang.

Barely half a day after being found, they would somehow lag behind and end up back with Yang Yanchang again. This wasn't right... Since when does a man vanish just because he went to take a dump? Is General Yang's camp your personal latrine?

After marching for a few days, Gao Yingdeng finally caught the scent of it: this imperial relief force from the Yansui Garrison was an utter farce.

Regional Commander Wu issued passes at the front, letting soldiers leave the ranks as long as they handed over silver and horses; meanwhile, Commander Yang Yanchang intercepted deserters at the rear, arresting everyone who lacked a pass.

After a thorough session of ideological education, not only did it solidify the deserters' resolve to continue running away, but it also provided those deserters with an organization.

Consequently, the various divisions grew smaller and smaller, while Yang Yanchang's forces swelled. When the commanders of the various units went to demand their men back, Yang Yanchang would smile and send them back, only for those very same men to run right back to Yang Yanchang shortly thereafter.

Gao Yingdeng only learned all of this later, when he too decided to become a deserter.

However, what truly made Gao Yingdeng admire Liu Chengzong was not that men like Yang Yanchang and Wang Ziyong were at his disposal.

Rather, it was that all along this journey, this band of outlaws had established twelve military relay stations along the route. Wherever they went, someone was there to receive and support them, allowing them unimpeded passage all the way to Yan'an Prefecture.

This was not something an ordinary person could pull off.

He said to Liu Chengzong, "On the sixth day of the first lunar month, we made camp by the Yellow River. Governor Zhang and Regional Commander Wu had a huge row because of the deserters. The weather was cold, and His Excellency the Governor was also getting on in years."

Liu Chengzong led his horse forward, eager to return to Xingpingli as soon as possible.

In the village, the tenant farmers were currently identifying and interrogating those lackeys of Xing Xuan.

Those who hadn't committed any major crimes would be let go; those who had done some bad things would be sent to the Liu Family Estate as tenant farmers.

As for those whose crimes were truly heinous—well, there was no helping it; they would simply be dragged out and beheaded.

Yet upon hearing this, he still reined in his horse and turned his gaze toward Gao Yingdeng.

Gao Yingdeng nodded. "Governor Zhang was angered to death. He was angered to death that very day."

Liu Chengzong did not know whether this should be considered good news or bad news.

Zhang Mengjing, the Governor of Yansui, had attained the imperial scholar degree and entered officialdom only at the age of forty-two. He had provided disaster relief, pacified rebellions, unearthed the Imperial Jade Seal from the Zhang River, and managed local administration so frugally that he saved twenty thousand taels of silver to aid the court's Liaodong military expenditures. Just last year, he had fought three battles against the Chahar Mongols by the Great Wall, securing three consecutive victories.

In thirteen terms of office, he had achieved governing successes in every single one.

Such a man had been angered to death by Wu Zimian, perishing on the road of imperial relief.

Gao Yingdeng felt a sympathetic sorrow and sighed, "The imperial court's later edict stated that the Yansui Garrison guarded against the Tartars in the north and prepared for bandits in the south, so Lord Zhang did not need to enter the capital to protect the sovereign; Wu Zimian was told to go alone... Lord Zhang never received it."

Liu Chengzong glanced sideways at Gao Yingdeng.

*Why bring this up? The more you say, the more I'll feel regret for Zhang Mengjing—though if he were alive, he'd want nothing more than to skin me alive.*

Liu Chengzong shook his head. Each served their own master, and he decided not to dwell on the matter further. "As you said, Yang Yanchang hasn't done badly within the relief force. So why hasn't anyone come over to join us until now?"

A miserable scream echoed from the withered woods outside the village; another heinous criminal had just been executed.

Gao Yingdeng glanced in that direction and said, "General Yang is very meticulous in his actions. Unwilling to arouse Wu Zimian's suspicions, he has been waiting for the right opportunity to let the deserters slip away."

"Hah, well, he's certainly found a good opportunity this time." Liu Chengzong let out a sigh. "Even if you didn't say it, I could guess: a regional commander angered the governor to death on the road to the capital; he can forget about letting anyone run off now."

No matter how one calculates or schemes, it can never match the erratic operations of a fool.

Who could have imagined that a regional commander would manage to anger the governor to death while marching to save the emperor?

Wu Zimian might be a scoundrel and a villain, but he wasn't an idiot.

He had been dawdling, intercepting grain, seizing horses, and selling horses while letting soldiers desert, and by the sixth day of the first lunar month, he still hadn't crossed out of Shaanxi. Now that Zhang Mengjing was dead, his waist probably wouldn't ache and his legs wouldn't hurt anymore; if he wanted to keep his head, he would have to gallop towards Beijing without drawing breath.

Furthermore, he would never allow his subordinate soldiers to desert again.

Yang Yanchang—Liu Chengzong understood the man; under circumstances where exposure was imminent, it wouldn't be surprising if he did anything. Yet if there was no danger of exposure, he wouldn't go sticking his neck out looking for trouble either.

If things went south, Yang Yanchang might actually end up running all the way to Beijing to clash with the Eastern Tartars.

Although Liu Chengzong didn't have much faith in the combat effectiveness of the flag-soldiers under Yang Yanchang's command, he did trust the combat effectiveness of the Yansui border troops.

He rubbed his face. Matters having reached this point, no amount of strength on his part could reach Yang Yanchang; he could only pray inwardly that descendants would have their own fortunes.

Having settled the affairs of Black Dragon Mountain, Liu Chengzong brought Gao Yingdeng back to Xingzi River.

This troop commander who had come from Ningsai to defect was temporarily assigned to the Right Outpost to assist Gao Xian.

At present, the only combat outposts still garrisoned along the Xingzi River were those of Gao Xian, Zhong Hu, and Wang Wenxiu.

Cao Yao had gone to Yanchuan, and Gao Yingdeng had been guided all the way here by the relay stations set up by Cao Yao.

Yang Yao had gone to Ning Prefecture in Qingyang Prefecture because he believed that was the route the deserters under the command of Guyuan Regional Commander Yang Qi would take.

Feng Rang, on the other hand, had led his men south to Fuzhou, relying on the local native Flying Tiger to forage for food down there and raise a portion of military provisions.

By the time Yang Yao and Feng Rang returned, it would nearly be time for them to head to Shanxi.

However, there was still one matter to attend to before leaving for Shanxi.

Liu Chengzong and Jin Pu conversed as they walked up the mountain. Reaching the gates of Wang Village Fortress, Liu Chengzong said, "You are under the command of Outpost Leader Gao. Keep an eye on Gao Yingdeng and his men. Before we leave for Shanxi, we must guard against the imperial forces trying to plant spies in our ranks."

"Understood!"

Jin Pu, the commander of the left company of the Right Outpost, saluted and stepped back.

Liu Chengzong raised his head to look ahead. Ren Quan'er was waiting for him right at the entrance of Wang Village Fortress.

The kid had only worn his official uniform to indulge his vanity that one time; ever since then, whenever he came over, he wore nothing but military garb. He had even made a trip on New Year's Eve, only to find the place empty.

When Liu Chengzong heard about it later, he realized that the kid had no family left, and spending the New Year alone at Semen Station held little meaning.

That incident had caused Liu Chengzong considerable regret; had he known, he would have dragged Ren Quan'er along to Zuantianmao.

Later, after everyone had a hearty meal together at Xingzi River on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Ren Quan'er had taken to wandering over to Xingzi River whenever he had free time, making the trip five times in less than a month.

Liu Chengzong had witnessed all of his changes firsthand—his horsemanship had advanced by leaps and bounds.

"The commander is back!"

Ren Quan'er naturally fell into step with Liu Chengzong as they entered the fortress, asking with a cheerful smile, "Is everything sorted out at Black Dragon Mountain?"

"It's settled. That fellow was named Xing Xuan; he was killed by his own men. Who knew they were so easily scared? Had I known they'd crack so easily, I wouldn't have made such a grand production of it—taking a few men and shooting him dead with a single arrow would have settled the matter."

Upon entering the room, Liu Chengzong unbuckled his armor and then asked, "Is your Semen Station really that uneventful? You left the day before yesterday, and here you are again today."

"There really isn't much going on. After the New Year, I followed the commander's instructions and had the common people dig irrigation canals. But these past few days, the canals were finished, only to find out they might be useless."

Ren Quan'er shook his head and said, "The commander might not need to head to Shanxi. From what I see, that snow that fell last year was useless; there won't be a harvest. It's already the second month, yet the rivers still haven't thawed. Give it another half a month, and the wheat will all freeze to death."

Liu Chengzong had noticed it too. By all rights, the weather should be warming up by now, yet there was no sign of a thaw.

Lin Wei had also said that the cold was turning the tips of the wheat leaves yellow, and during this period he had been busy leading the peasants to lay out stacks of firewood in the wheat fields.

If the weather didn't warm up in another half a month, they would have to plaster mud shells over alternate layers of dry and damp firewood stacks in the fields and ignite them to create smoke.

A bountiful harvest was no longer expected; they only prayed that fewer crops would freeze to death.

A single snowstorm could not save Yan'an Prefecture, and this spring was bound to descend into chaos once more.

Liu Chengzong sighed. "We must go to Shanxi... Ren Quan'er, let me leave you some funds. You should set up a few merchant caravans."

This time, upon retaking Black Dragon Mountain, Liu Chengzong had conveniently raided Xing Xuan's private treasury.

There were plenty of treasures like calligraphy scrolls and antiques, while the ready cash alone amounted to eighty or ninety thousand strings of copper coins, over twenty-four hundred taels of silver, and eighty taels of gold.

All told, it amounted to an income of roughly four thousand taels of silver. Raiding his own fortified manor was even more profitable than raiding a landlord's fortified compound.

Yet Liu Chengzong found that laying eyes on all this gold and silver did not bring him any real joy.

He was not short on money; at this moment, the Xingzi River Wang Village still possessed a surplus of over ten thousand taels of silver, yet he had nowhere to spend it.

What he wanted were large livestock capable of enduring long-distance travel—horses, mules, and donkeys—as well as fine weapons and superior armor that could enhance combat effectiveness.

For Ren Quan'er, those things could be procured with money; but for Liu Chengzong, while one or two heads of livestock or a piece or two of fine equipment were easy to come by, getting them in large quantities was impossible, no matter how much money he had.

"Merchant caravans?"

Ren Quan'er stammered at his words, spreading both hands. "Commander, you overestimate me too much. You'd better send someone else to run a merchant caravan; I can't do it. I'll be doing well just not getting myself sold off by others."

The thousand-householder thought to himself: *I can barely recognize a few characters, and I only started learning arithmetic after becoming a hundred-householder. Depending on me to conduct trade? Wouldn't I just lose the commander's entire fortune?*

To his surprise, what greeted him was a bitter smile from Liu Chengzong.

*Do you think I want you to go?*

Liu Chengzong said, "There's no one else. Chengyun and Song Shouzhen are coming with me to Shanxi; Lin Wei has to stay here to look after the farmlands. Who else is there who can tend to a merchant caravan? But these things are urgently needed—medicinal herbs, iron, gunpowder. As long as they are non-perishable goods, you just keep hoarding them here after I leave."

These items held far greater temptation for Liu Chengzong than gold and silver, especially since they were things that grew harder and harder to purchase as time went on.

Ren Quan'er thought for a moment, slapped the table, and said, "There is someone! Let *Loach* go!"

*Loach*?

Liu Chengzong was baffled by the name. "Which chieftain is that? Does Yan'an Prefecture have another chieftain named Loach?"

He had long since heard of the eccentric naming tastes of these rebel chieftains; among those who were doing well for themselves, there were plenty with utterly exaggerated nicknames, let alone others.

"You know, that fellow—*Heaven-Collapsing*—the one who got his injuries treated in Yan'an Garrison. His leg is lame."

Ren Quan'er was referring to Liu Guoneng. "I saw him on the fifteenth. His leg isn't causing him much trouble, it's just that whenever he walks in a hurry, he sort of jerks forward, hence the nickname Loach. Isn't he a scholar?"

Liu Chengzong slapped his own forehead, having completely forgotten about Liu Guoneng. That man was also a scholar, and moreover had suffered an injury that inconvenienced his mobility. He had never expected that Ren Quan'er would nickname him Loach.

He truly hadn't realized that Ren Quan'er was actually a master at bestowing nicknames.

Liu Chengzong could easily imagine how exasperated Liu Guoneng would be if he ever found out he was being called that.

He cautioned, "After I leave, you mustn't call him that to his face, mind you. Watch out, or he'll fly off the handle at you."

Ren Quan'er nodded with a beaming smile, then added, "Let him run the merchant caravan, Commander. I'll help him out."

Just as the two men were about to finalize this matter, someone outside shouted anxiously, "General, something terrible has happened!"

Liu Chengzong frowned, a bellyful of irritation rising within him. *Why the hell is it always like this? Every time we're halfway through a conversation, disaster strikes!*

He strode over and flung the door open. "What terrible thing has happened?"

"Down south in Fuzhou, imperial forces really did use espionage. Flying Tiger was bewitched by the government and wanted to kill Outpost Leader Feng to seize command of the troops, but he was stopped by Commander Chen Qindai. When Flying Tiger tried to flee, Chen Qindai bludgeoned him to death with a mace."