Chapter 104: The Plight Under Heaven
In the year 34 of the Shu Tian Calendar, throughout the entire year, Wu Fei remained idle in the Southern Region; after a round of “palace intrigue” in the north of Da Yao, Zhao Cheng regained control of the Hao State’s troops, and Pu E cooperated with Zhao Cheng to remove the personnel inserted into the military by the young State Lord, thwarting this young State Lord’s unrealistic ambitions.
Now, the young State Lord could no longer be called that within the Hao State; after these few years, this State Lord had become a teenager and had also attempted some minor maneuvers. But regrettably, whether in Guotai or Da Yao, he as State Lord was neither fish nor fowl.
According to Guotai tradition, the one with the strongest Dragon Descendant bloodline becomes the head of the family; Pu E is able to undergo Dragon Transformation, so despite the Dragon Descendants feeling that Pu E favors locals, they still regard her as their old aunt, after all, in case of another failure, Pu E can lead them away. Moreover, Pu E masters the magic of Dragon Blood awakening, and most Dragon Descendants harbor some hope of passing through the three tribulations of thunder, fire, and wind to activate their bloodline and promote their own Dragon Transformation. As for the State Lord? His Dragon Descendant bloodline is not even as strong as that of the few cubs born to Yu Li by Wu Hengyu.
According to Da Yao’s traditions, this State Lord should indeed be established as the monarch, but he cannot produce interests to bribe the Yao People who come to join him; he disregards Yao’s rituals and edicts. He only clings to his nominal status as monarch.
However, the Yao Person ministers’ understanding of “nominal status” is that craving nominal status means demanding the monarch to grant us salaries and staffing quotas, not the monarch imposing slave status on himself.
…Imperial Court and frontline…
During the time in year 34 when Wu Fei and others’ sons were born, it was also a period of idleness for Zhao Cheng. The three Dragon Descendant Generals who took over military power in the Hao State did not progress smoothly in warfare; in the north of Da Yao, a defensive system centered on the four borders was rebuilt, and after these four border generals stabilized the border and established their own garrison offices, they fought back and forth with Guotai.
Three great wars were fought in one year; the Hao State Dragon Descendant Generals thought: originally, Da Yao’s more than a dozen routes of armies came and were all beaten once; now we are just taking over the “mess,” so we should be able to fight well, right?
The result was that although all three offensives achieved field battle victories, the three fiefdoms of Da Yao along the Bo Prefecture line advanced and retreated together; if one side was attacked, the other would move forward to support, ensuring the retreating Yao Army could withdraw.
The shameless dog tactics of the Yao Army fiefdoms along the Bo Prefecture line meant that in the standoff between various cities, there were only some more dry bones and stone war beast wreckage by the roadside.
In the era of cold weapons, an offensive that returns without success is very damaging to national strength; this means not only consuming a large amount of food and grass for men and horses, but also accounting for the losses produced by plundering from farmers through the official system. This leads to population decline.
If they cannot win and capture enough wealth, it will make the already strained situation at home even worse.
The above is still under the premise of “retreating intact”; in fact, due to the tacit dispatch of scouting cavalry by Da Yao’s border generals to pursue, some Hao State troops withdrew in panic, abandoning a lot of military supplies and killing many horses.
The three Dragon Descendants in the Hao State were so complacent after taking military power, but after eating dirt, they have now all handed over their military power.
In the Sha Prefecture camp, when Zhao Cheng took over the overall campaign again, he began to reduce troop strength, sending a large number of soldiers back for reclamation, retaining only a few elite backbones.
Pu E sensed that Zhao Cheng seemed pessimistic about the current situation, so she asked: “How should we move the pieces now?”
Zhao Cheng was planning lines on the map; upon hearing the question, he replied: “Wait; this time, that time. Now we must hold and wait for changes to have a chance.”
Pu E: “Hold until when?”
Zhao Cheng stopped the rope and square in his hand and slowly said: “In the past, the one commanding Da Yao’s hundreds of thousands of army corps was the Yao Lord hundreds of li away; at that time, the monarch and generals were suspicious of each other. So now, we still need to hold until they make the first mistake.”
…Perspective shifts to a thousand li away…
Tianchi City, family territory. At this time, it was drizzling outside; Wu Fei, who had returned home to visit family, was now visiting family members—two slave-born sons among the Wu Family disciples serving in the Southern Region had unfortunately perished.
Wu Fei had to return to handle condolences, organizing ceremonial bands with blowing, striking, plucking, and beating, grandly welcoming the spirit tablets of the two Wu Family disciples wrapped in horse leather into the ancestral hall. And in the ancestral hall, he announced that their orphans would be elevated into the main lineage, seated in the first three rows of the clan school, and upon adulthood, allocated clan fields.
After finishing these matters, Wu Fei looked at the northern military reports, replicating the military situation on the sand table in front of him.
After Wu Fei fully confirmed that Da Yao had fought back and forth this year with no major changes, he felt slightly more at ease.
Wu Fei is purely “worried about the country” only because he responded to the system’s northern task. If he could stay lying in the Southern Region, even if Emperor Shu lost a few more routes of armies, he could munch on cucumbers while watching.
Wu Fei could see that Da Yao’s command system had changed, so he separately marked the four border territories in the north, with the surnames of the belonging generals. Because now they are already fiefdoms.
The Imperial Court’s hundreds of thousands of troops and the fiefdoms’ hundreds of thousands of troops are different, especially in homeland defense wars.
If the Imperial Court’s hundreds of thousands of troops are not attacking but defending, with the decision-making system in the Divine Capital, the delay in transmitting decisions from the frontline to the Divine Capital is too long, and defensive officials will push responsibility to each other, leading to vulnerabilities in defense everywhere.
Several years ago, Zhao Cheng, this Haotian General, exploited such “delays” to find gaps and insert, using feint attacks to stimulate the Imperial Court’s nerves, mobilizing the Imperial Court’s armies, and creating favorable battle merits for himself.
But now, the Imperial Court has clearly lost control over the frontline military generals, forming troop fiefdoms. These fiefdom generals are themselves on the frontline, shortening the decision chain, and they only care about their core cities, no longer subject to extra interference; that is, when certain cities are besieged, they won’t be sternly rebuked by the Imperial Court as in the past to rescue a certain unit; instead, by each guarding their own defense zones well, the situation has stabilized.
Wu Fei: Cities controlled by fiefdoms are hard to attack. The defending generals can boldly employ locals, no longer bothered by scholar-officials appointed by the Imperial Court, and can thoroughly unite with the city’s common people.
When the command system consists of all responsible parties, they can actively and rigorously build defensive materials before battle, motivating young and strong men to contribute to repairing fortifications. At least, absurd situations like thunderous drums while the Prefect, to show composure, continues drinking and composing poetry will not occur.
But the cost of maintaining fiefdoms is that taxes in multiple places are occupied. Wu Fei’s gaze repeatedly compared between the Hao State frontline centered on Bo Prefecture and the northern four towns. And based on the tax data from various places in Da Yao in year 20 of the Shu Tian Calendar, he conducted a national strength simulation; the Hao State is not more abundant than the four border army towns.
In the current situation where fiefdoms make fewer mistakes, the materials spent by the Hao State on offense are three times that of defense.
Wu Fei: The situation is unfavorable for the Hao State; stubbornly fighting to the end is a dead end. But they cannot substitute defense with offense either, because for the side with weak national strength, not maintaining an aggressive strategy will lead, as time passes and situations change, to internal interest factions scattering like sand in anxiety over “small fields not matching big fields.” That is, the plight of late Shu Han.
Wu Fei stared intently at the north; Haotian appeared to be under control, and next seemed to be the northern fiefdom problem.
But faintly, Wu Fei felt that the “Haotian Dragon Clan” would not submit so easily. Because no information on personnel changes like the Great General had come from their power center, indicating that the operations mastering war planning on the other side were still in place.
Wu Fei: If I were that person in the north (Zhao Cheng), what strategy would I use to break the deadlock?
Rain drizzled outside the Fortress, and some moss quickly began growing along the bricks.
…From winter to spring…
On the northern grasslands, in the border garrison tent here, Pu E asked Zhao Cheng: “General, what good strategy do you intend to use at this time?”
Zhao Cheng drew a line in the north and said: “Change the route of advance; first conquer Mobei.”
Pu E: “Mobei is a bitterly cold place; conquest would consume a great deal.”
Zhao Cheng: “Only by pacifying Mobei can we bypass the four borders and enter Da Yao territory. Indeed, the initial conquest will consume resources, but if we are trapped and hold the Yanbo Regions, in less than five years, the great Hao People will be exhausted of men and horses, and will lack the strength to pursue this strategy. (Therefore, for this strategy now, Zhao Cheng must personally handle the operation.)
Although Pu E greatly trusted Zhao Cheng’s ability, out of worry she still asked: “If while we are conquering Mobei, the Yao State imitates the four borders and sets up fiefdoms to block our army from entering the pass, what will the General do?”
Zhao Cheng calmly drew several circles in the western border and said: “If the Yao State also sets the western lands as fiefdoms, then we no longer need to ‘must attack’ as today, but can adopt the Vertical Alliance strategy and sit back watching for changes within Da Yao.”
Pu E was stunned for a moment, then after a while reacted to Zhao Cheng’s meaning and said: “You mean that one in Da Yao harbors suspicions toward the border generals.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Cheng inexplicably felt a wave of despondency and sighed: “How many ancient famous generals died on the battlefield? The merits of Marquis Wu An must be dreaded by the monarch.”—Zhao Cheng looked north; wasn’t he himself just emerging from the monarch’s suspicions? If not for no one else able to resolve the current deadlock, how could he regain military power?
……
On the Da Yao Dynasty Imperial Court, Emperor Shu looked at the full court of civil and military officials. Another round of calculations was underway.
With three victory reports per year, the Imperial Court had recovered from past “panic and anxiety” and “making a fuss over trifles” to the state of the various lords in court “sitting like Arhats.”
The Imperial Court noble family factions clamored: “Rewards can be given for the Border Army’s victories, but names and symbols absolutely not!” But these self-proclaimed clever guys in the court did not know how absurd it is to now grant goods to the Border Army generals?
In the previous situation where fifteen routes of armies were like money pits, the Imperial Court had defaulted on many supply rewards, forcing the armies to live off the land; the goods granted by the Imperial Court at this time were simply a joke.
Theorem: Granting goods to generals can only incentivize when the public fully underwrites the army’s logistics.
For example: It’s like in 20xx, suppose it’s you, you are the aircraft carrier commander, the carrier fleet’s entire logistics supplies are provided by the state, and they give you 100 million, you would be very happy. If the enemy attacks, failing to share life and death with the carrier would be letting down that 100 million. But one day the government stops giving money to the fleet and makes you raise funds to sponsor it yourself; with your outstanding ability and flexible methods, and your subordinates’ strong enterprising spirit, the powerful system under you exerts Herculean effort to pull sponsorship from the richest provinces in the entire Jiangnan, securing the fleet’s supplies, and for country and people, defeats the fleets of various countries on the Eastern Ocean, and to some extent, the governors of various places in Jiangnan have to look to your face to take office.
At this time, the superiors suddenly extend an olive branch, rewarding you with 10 billion. Requiring you to continue maintaining loyalty; at this time, what would you choose to reply: ()
a: Get lost, who are you, I don’t know you!
b: Wuwuwu! Great! This is what I’ve been waiting for, my efforts are finally recognized!
c: Who are you looking down on? I want to command the four seas fleet! Please grant me the position of Governor of Australia Pasture, Chief Leader of the Great Reclamation Zone in Southeast Asia! Please grant Antarctica as my fief!
Xuan Chong would choose (c): Get a nominal title; for the territories I conquer, as long as my own people give me legitimacy, that’s fine; as for local things, after I clean them up, I issue immigration green cards to my own people. As for whether the outer barbarians recognize it, it doesn’t matter; as the Great General commanding the four seas fleet, with sixth-generation machines as vanguard and composite brigades as backup, to subvert—no, to conquer the disloyal—is perfectly reasonable.
…The above is pure jest…
In the current northern Da Yao, the official armies everywhere want names and symbols. However, granting names and symbols represents the rise of a new round of political forces within Da Yao.
In the topics on the Imperial Court, worries about the border threat have decreased, but debates over rewards for the border officers and soldiers have begun repeatedly.
Note: Not every general is as sensible as Wu Fei; after exceeding a certain exchange value, they no longer bother the Imperial Court.
On the Imperial Court, first, the court factions colluding with the western army town took the lead in charging.
A minister petitioned: According to the enfeoffment system set by the Founding Emperor, Wang Di, who has labored meritoriously guarding Sha Prefecture, should be promoted to Duke. With one scholar speaking first, it sparked discussions throughout the Imperial Court.
Da Yao ranks are scarce; the higher ranks correspond to Marquis fiefs, so the number of these ranks can only be less than the ritual system prescribed amount and cannot exceed it. Emperor Shu and the previous emperor have continuously “streamlined cadres” over these decades, already seizing about one-third of the previous Marquis positions.
At present, the ancestors of the various lords on the Imperial Court were either renowned for battle merits or for governing achievements. Now facing the “juniors” squeezing into the social stratum, they all point and criticize.
Amid the noisy clamor, Emperor Shu looked at these famous ministers as if looking at a group of pigs and dogs.
This group of ministers only sees the “ranking of ranks” and not that thirty percent of the northern troops are already beyond national control, and are swallowing the Imperial Court’s taxes, with the national situation difficult.
……
After court dismissal, Emperor Shu’s carriage headed toward the Palace of Exchange.
At the palace entrance, two White Tiger tamed beasts were play-fighting each other, bells jingling on their necks. When Emperor Shu’s carriage arrived, these two sensed something, immediately running to squat obediently on the stone platform at the palace door.
Emperor Shu approached, the two White Tigers faced each other; at the palace gate, one saber after another shot up from the ground, pretentiously forming a blocking barrier. Emperor Shu snorted coldly: “Your usual behavior, I can see it all from the central palace.”
The two White Tigers lowered their heads, and the sabers and swords on the ground immediately retracted underground.
Then the Palace of Exchange gate opened. The Palace of Exchange belongs to metal, to killing and conquest, so it is also where the Divine Capital armory is located. Emperor Shu entered here; inside was a Map of Mountains and Rivers, but this map was filled with beams of saber light and sword shadows.
Over thousands of years, Spirit Wood and jade treasure mines offered from all directions, besides repairing palace halls, were used to forge weapons. And of the forged weapons, ninety percent are sealed in armories in various mountains and rivers for suppression; for example, Wu Hanluan’s Golden Bull on the hill outside Tianchi City is one such.
And the edicts for unsealing are placed in the Palace of Exchange.
Emperor Shu looked at the strands of saber aura emerging on the Map of Mountains and Rivers State Altars in the Palace of Exchange; he pinched these strands of saber aura, wanting to pull them out (to open more armories), but after thinking, he put them back.
Although releasing the armories could allow the Imperial Court to continue increasing troops, what is lacking now is not soldiers.
Emperor Shu squatted in front of the northern mountains and rivers, looking at the situation; he picked up a piece of white jade, performed Yao Calculation while turning it, and then the white jade shattered.
He suddenly grabbed the scattered Yao Calculation power in front of him, pulling the lines on the Map of Mountains and Rivers, giving a slight tug; then he turned his head to look south, a strand of fiery red moved with his grasp, and this strand of fiery red was heading north.
