Chapter 221: Seductive Rivers And Mountains
Wu Family inner residence, “One two one, one two one, halt!”
A group of boys between twelve and eighteen years old, wearing armor and holding weapons, were marching in formation.
The Wu Family elders were watching these vigorous disciples. However, after their gazes landed on the displeased Xuan Chong, they did not dare to voice loud praise.
Xuan Chong sighed inwardly: when he was a little commoner, seeing the leader’s face that seemed like “everyone owed him millions” was very unpleasant; but now he had finally become the kind of person he used to dislike.
After this large team of nobles completed their training, Xuan Chong asked Su Ming, who had been summoned back from the North, “What do you think?”
Su Ming replied formulaically, “These children have the bearing of a great army.”
Su Ming was the general who had brought three War Kui to support during the Yongzhou battle before Xuan Chong’s southern expedition. After Xuan Chong finished the southern expedition, he had endured three or four years in the North and could now stand on his own.
Xuan Chong glanced at this subordinate and revealed the only smile in this setting, responding, “Oh, fine. In this situation, you wouldn’t dare speak the truth.”
Su Ming was baffled, unsure what truth he was supposed to say now. However, before he could continue showing loyalty, Xuan Chong stood up directly and strode to the center of the children’s formation.
Su Ming watched Xuan Chong stride toward the leading child (Wu Lu), stand right in front of him, and say to all these boys, “Everyone, listen to the command and follow me.”
Under Xuan Chong’s order, Wu Lu led the way following Xuan Chong outdoors, then halted. Everyone awaited the next command, but—one cup of tea later, no command; two cups later, still no command.
Some children began to sway, but Xuan Chong noticed, waved his hand, and immediately personal soldiers went to strip off their armor, drag them to a shady spot nearby, and make them stay there. Of course, tables and chairs, brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were already set up in the nearby room, ready for them to copy the military strategy outline a hundred times once they recovered, which would take several days, so the kitchen had also prepared food.
As for those armors, they were stripped off and discarded on the drill ground.
The sun slowly rose from the East, and under the sunlight, the armor became scorching hot.
Among the Wu Family female dependents nearby, some could not bear to watch but could not speak up, so they asked the elders to persuade Xuan Chong.
The elder had already realized that Xuan Chong was not pleased with this “youth army” drill and came forward reluctantly.
Elder: “Yuan Chang, the sun is too fierce. How about we drink some cool tea?”
Xuan Chong, also standing under the sun, looked at this elder and said in a respectful but firm tone, “Uncle, no matter how fierce this sun is, can it compare to the arrow rain on the battlefield?”
Elder: “These kids are just practicing sabers and spears, not on the battlefield.”
Xuan Chong raised his voice so everyone could hear: “That’s wrong! If not on the battlefield, without preparation to face arrow rain in the next moment, why wear armor! What right do they have to wear armor! What qualification do they have to use armor?!”
Xuan Chong seemed to have eyes in the back of his head; seeing Wu Lu’s toes move to shift position, he immediately kicked him: “Stand properly for me. Others can withdraw, but you, the leader, stand until the end.”
Other kids were dragged aside after one sway; as for Wu Lu, as the child leader being groomed this time, Xuan Chong’s own son, a future contender for Military Master, Xuan Chong unceremoniously kicked his butt.
The youth army corps drill was originally a scheduled military training in Xuan Chong’s plan; he called Wu Lu for training not expecting him to go to the battlefield, but to let him understand the consumption in every link of the army, so he could prepare resources for military needs in the future.
But gradually, the atmosphere felt off. The Wu Family imperial clan, and those old nobles who had failed to support the “Zhen King” before, now followed Xuan Chong’s line to prepare to support Wu Lu this heir. So they were so enthusiastic about building the youth army to insert their own children and occupy positions beside the next generation’s Military Master in advance.
Xuan Chong was helpless: hereditary power system, this was a chronic disease no power group could eradicate. It was just like people in the previous life’s capital who had secured positions, lowering score lines and creating special admission classes to ensure their children’s social stratum did not slip. Actually, there was nothing wrong with that. Slightly weaker ability could still suffice, but the key was mentality.
Xuan Chong: The second generation did not realize they were being “groomed,” truly thinking their “quality education” was equal to poor family disciples from other regions. That was a big problem.
Wu Lu was now kicked by Xuan Chong and felt extremely aggrieved. He had just returned from the Ling River Four Commanderies when he was inexplicably assigned to military training, then surrounded by a group of “friends,” but immediately kicked by his father.
After those around him collapsed one after another, Xuan Chong said to Wu Lu, “In the military, this situation tests ‘virtue’; if you were a lowly soldier, your task this time would be very easy. But I don’t know, suddenly so many people are propping you up, and you go along without refusing to reach a high position, then I have to see if your virtue matches the position? You must stand the straightest, walk the most upright, and think the most rigorously now.”
Then Xuan Chong said leisurely to the approaching elder, “In the great army, standing is virtue; even when outnumbered by the enemy, you must stand for the enemy to see, for your own people to see. If a little wind or rain makes you shrink back, soft like a strawberry, then the army will collapse.”
The elder opened his mouth but had nothing to say. As a hereditary military family, of course there were ancestral military strategist family laws that fit. After Xuan Chong invoked the “family law,” this “old veteran” could not speak.
In the end, all children had their armor stripped off one by one, leaving only Wu Lu.
He wanted to withdraw but was still watched by Xuan Chong, just like that from dawn until afternoon, until his vision went black and he collapsed. In a daze, he felt himself being carried, then armor removed, and his body gently wiped with a cool towel.
…Those who receive preferential treatment must know they are receiving it, but that is not enough; virtue must make up the difference…
After tempering his son like taming an eagle, Xuan Chong did not disband the youth army but issued a series of school rules and systems. And stipulated annual assessments with thirty percent elimination each year.
In this way, Xuan Chong objectively acknowledged the existence of the youth army; he responded to the Wu Family inner heavy minister group’s demands for Zhen State power allocation. But at the same time, he dismantled further conspiracies within the family.
Xuan Chong’s statement made all Wu Family people break out in a sweat; in a sense, their actions to invest in the Wu Family’s next successor had received Wu Yuanchang’s tacit approval.
But it did not mean Xuan Chong would not keep them in check—there would be assessments, and people would be eliminated.
Hmm, this could no longer be handled by forming cliques. Next, they had to urge their own children to study hard. Since it was a competition of children, every parent would be a rival, and jealousy would arise if other families’ children did well.
Su Ming, this bystander, saw that the “armor” had been confiscated; these armors were quickly secretly sent to the post station for boxing, and the mailing code was for a prefecture warehouse north of Yongzhou. Hmm, that was the warehouse where he had received equipment from the rear in recent years. He had made dozens of trips there with vouchers.
As for why not give them directly to Su Ming, Su Ming broke out in cold sweat and only left after confirming the “mailing code” was confidential! Because this armor was stripped from the heavy minister faction.
Regarding the Wu Family youth forming an army, and the Wu Family imperial clan wanting to seize power through this, Su Ming did not think so much, because Xuan Chong this strong leader was still there, and he did not need to consider this level of issue.
And his true feelings, before he could say them, were already thoroughly understood by Xuan Chong.
Wu Family people used family wealth to craft this batch of excellent armor for their children, letting their sons walk in ceremonial formations, acting indifferently. Just like tycoons spending one billion yuan on their children’s weddings, unconcerned with the poor’s envy of the rich mentality.
And in the Yongzhou frontline warehouse, armor was incomplete; armor was the most valuable part of military equipment, and in the army, often only the most elite veteran soldiers had the qualification to wear full sets of armor, a symbol of qualification rolled through saber mountains and seas of fire; and this group of young masters wearing such a set of custom armor, Su Ming thought it “reasonable” but felt a bit displeased, and this displeasure would be deeply hidden under Xuan Chong’s authority suppression.
Xuan Chong was very sensitive to all emotions of his subordinates; when he discovered Su Ming did not appreciate the youth army’s training, he understood there was something that did not conform to his values.
In Xuan Chong’s cognition: the imperial clan now grouping to seize power should make outer faction officers like Su Ming feel uneasy, so he pulled Su Ming here to personally see how he handled the internal imperial clan issue.
However, Xuan Chong was “worried before the world’s worries.” Su Ming felt no resentment toward the imperial clan and those Lingnan heavy ministers forming parties, merely regretting that such good armor was not used on the battlefield.
Once Xuan Chong confirmed this, he immediately strictly ordered the elders: armor must not exceed regulations, not even in the inner residence; in the future, disciples of nobles everywhere could only wear armor for important occasions like sacrifices, and during normal training only wood armor, and if they felt the weight insufficient, hang sandbags.
Su Ming did not understand Xuan Chong’s operation, but felt the sky clear, especially when Xuan Chong privately told him: war bonds would be issued in the future, and armor funded by pooled investments would be prioritized for the frontline.
Su Ming was moved: the lord he encountered was a wise one.
And after successfully appeasing Su Ming this outer faction general, Xuan Chong took a deep breath! Now his internal contradictions were very great.
Summary: After eating their fill, everyone wanted a title. Now under Xuan Chong, resources, food and grass, population were not lacking, but most mid-to-high levels wanted a high “rank.”
This was like Xuan Chong’s previous life in his teens, so many professors and merchants doing well domestically, yet wanting to immigrate to the United States. Because at that time, returning with a lighthouse green card seemed to categorize them as “overseas Chinese,” a stratum higher than ordinary commoners.
Among forces with low rank, those self-proclaimed mid-upper forces would continuously transfer wealth to forces they deemed “high rank.”
The reason the previous life “not striving for hegemony” eventually failed was this: if you do not strive for hegemony, internal wealth and talent all flow to the old hegemon.
Because of excessive caution toward the “old hegemon,” the folk governance system gave “super-national” importance to people involved with the old hegemon. This invisibly created a “high rank” stratum worth investing in.
Only by drawing the sword against the old hegemon, proving with strength that the “old hegemon has no qualification to treat us with a superior attitude,” and appropriately displaying power to make the old hegemon totter, can talent and wealth outflow be stopped.
…Xuan Chong: Royal cause must not seek partial peace!…
Tong Zheng Calendar year 4, month 7, Xuan Chong quietly arrived in Yongzhou, wearing coarse cloth clothes walking in the fields, followed by his subordinate local senior civil official.
The place Xuan Chong chose naturally had problems, so he squatted on the ground looking at soil clods in the farmland, digging the soil with his hands, while the local official behind kept stopping him: “My lord? Let me do it.”
Xuan Chong ignored this courtesy and dug three inches underground, looking at the un-deeply plowed soil, sneering. This official defended: “Lord, the laborers need monthly major drills, not enough manpower. Potato grain is easy to grow, no need to dig one foot deep.”
Xuan Chong looked at this civil protection official and sighed: “Is there any record of these matters in the documents?”
The civil protection official looked up, glanced at the superior, but finally gritted his teeth and confirmed, “Reported manpower shortage, but the reply was to solve it ourselves. There is a backup in the office filing cabinet.” (Obviously, he did not report changing to potato grain in official documents.)
Xuan Chong waved for the Security Bureau people to wait, then coldly lectured: “Governance below must consider ‘local conditions,’ but all ‘adaptive operations differing from documents’ must be reported. This is national law; how to judge according to the law?”
The nearby judicial officer: “Those who neglect agriculture, remove from office, fifty lashes, exile to Southern Border.”—This was still a light sentence because the judicial officer heard Xuan Chong’s earlier “excusable.”
The civil protection official turned pale and hurriedly said, “I reported it, no approval.”
Xuan Chong asked again: “Is there a record?”
The civil protection official nodded hurriedly. Xuan Chong: “Everyone, stay put.”
Xuan Chong realized this civil protection official changing to potato grain was actually private communication with superiors and tacit approval. Asking further would directly touch official malpractices. The mid-lower level culture of buying positions with fame and credentials still existed, not eradicable in a day. However, Xuan Chong petty noted this for future reckoning.
Xuan Chong cut off any possibility of tipping off, dispatching a nearby personal soldier to fetch the evidence.
Then Xuan Chong said: “The crime of neglecting agriculture is not yet evident. Since he said potato grain is easy to grow, judge after maturity. If below eighty percent of required yield, then judge malfeasance. As for now! You did not follow regulations, go to the plaza for ten lashes, and call everyone to watch later.”
The civil protection official looked up, “Thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord!”—There was still time until potato grain maturity, giving him time to remedy.
Xuan Chong looked at him and said: “If subsequent grain is not turned in, your head will also be displayed for all to see.”
The civil protection official nodded hurriedly. Xuan Chong ignored him and directly asked the nearby official: “Why no approval for his request!” The nearby senior official broke out in cold sweat.
During Xuan Chong’s undercover inspections, he basically would not rage and kill lower levels for mistakes, even finding reasons for light sentences on lower level errors, but was serious about higher levels.
Xuan Chong’s logic: his ruling power was passed down from above; if lower execution had issues, not tracing up the execution chain to hold upper levels accountable, merely harshly punishing below would not solve the problem. (Like a light switch not turning on; smashing the switch is useless, must trace the circuit upward.)
Senior civil official: “We believed this land could meet production targets, so did not approve the application.”
Xuan Chong: “Did you investigate? (Investigation also requires records.)”
The senior civil official hesitantly pulled out his full travel schedule and found no manpower.
Xuan Chong’s gaze was icy: “No manpower? Could not transfer from other prefectures and counties to verify?”
At this point, Xuan Chong faced silence. He knew the other side might not dare confront and chose to stop questioning.
Xuan Chong: “Write a self-criticism for this matter.” (Because overall local grain production task was well completed, no need to amplify small issues. But small issues must be pointed out for all to note.)
…Military strategists must see the crisis….
In Yu City, Xuan Chong looked at the livelihood reports of the three commanderies south of Yongshui. All prefectures and counties had population increases, refugees from the North were resettled, and total taxes reached twenty-three million cash. In this great chaos under heaven, this southwest direction maintained a good situation of peaceful prosperity.
But Xuan Chong’s peaceful prosperity happened to collide with Da Yao’s once-in-a-millennium warfare, like a child holding gold in a bustling market, very dangerous.
Xuan Chong looked at the increasingly good data with a very serious expression. Because if this next hurdle was not passed, this prosperity would become blood rewards for others’ military merit, cities breached one by one, tycoons’ family wealth plundered, poor becoming servants.
Because in these chaotic times, “wealth” was not the only comprehensive national strength, “martial” was the foundation.
In external vassal lords’ eyes, Xuan Chong’s several years of southern expeditions were actually consuming military strength. In the feudal era, military strength mainly looked at the quantity of “military groups.”
Feudal “military groups” were stable clusters requiring long-term full-time war preparation, similar to Europe’s combat organizations centered on the knight stratum, and the East’s retainer troops centered on generals.
During Xuan Chong’s southern expedition process, he indeed tempered a stratum reaching captain-level merit and enfeoffed them to the southern region. So overall military strength seemed reduced.
Just like when Great Qin was destroyed, the Qin army sweeping the Hundred Yue did not return to save Great Qin. When Great Qin truly faced crisis, what could be mobilized were only the Lishan criminal prisoners who had preliminary military training.
But the world did not know Xuan Chong’s military system was not the backward mode of “fixed soldiers and officers.”
The backward mode of military officers bringing family retainers, household troops, and disciples, Western traditional knight families training attendants, apprentice knights, quasi-knights, that mode was now assigned to marginal areas.
Xuan Chong glanced at the nearby “Officer Academy faction”; Wu Ling was one, but his achievement was mid-tier; but the three beside him were the yearly top students in Xuan Chong’s new Officer Academy over these three years.
Each was the top out of five to eight hundred non-commissioned officer cadets.
In physical fitness, they were inferior to Wu Ling; but in tactics level, training arrangements, each was a replica of his younger self.
At dusk, Xuan Chong brought this batch of non-commissioned officers to the civil affairs meeting; amid the shock of numerous civil officials, Xuan Chong allocated all accumulated funds to war expenses, and this year’s twenty to thirty million cash taxes from Yongzhou’s three commanderies, in the new plan, directly allocated ten million to military. As for the three hundred million accumulated wealth of entire Zhenzhou, Xuan Chong directly allocated one hundred million to military.
Immediately after was discussion of the largest scale expenditure items for “future fronts,” prioritizing discussion of special funds for casting cannons, Sky Boats, and alcohol and meat rewards for soldiers’ training procurement.
In the end, everyone found that according to Xuan Chong’s targets, funds might be insufficient! When remaining funds were only three million, they stopped, but Xuan Chong told them not to worry, continue bold calculations! Shortfalls he would cover.—Xuan Chong already knew how to issue bonds.
After confirming combat resources, two days later, the total military strategy meeting was held in the original conference room, with the same attendees. Just the civil officials who previously sat in front calculating accounts were now in the audience seats.
Second and third cohort non-commissioned officers from the Officer Academy now became the main force on the meeting floor; Wu Rui, this young faction Officer Academy teaching director, sat on the left. On the right was Wu Zaixing.
At the meeting start, no need for empty “mobilization oaths”; these generals saw how their lord’s finger pointed and “gold flowed like springs.” They knew the time to establish merits had arrived.
At the long table, these young officers sitting upright rubbed their fists.
As the huge silk book map unfolded, the simulated clouds on the silk book dispersed.
Xuan Chong faced this land: “Must be on a clear day, to see the red attire and white wrap, extraordinarily enchanting.”
