Chapter 354: What Was Seen, What Was Heard

"A few months without seeing it, I never imagined the Eastern Route would change so much…"

The banners and insignia of Chen Xinjia, Viceroy of Xuanda, advanced in majestic procession. Inside his carriage, the refined-looking Chen Xinjia thoughtfully stroked his beard, lost in contemplation. Behind him came the carriage and retinue of Ji Shiwei, Provincial Governor of Xuanfu Garrison, followed by the mounted contingents of Hu Dawei, Regional Commander of Shanxi Garrison; Wang Pu, Regional Commander of Datong Garrison; Yang Guozhu, Regional Commander of Xuanfu Garrison; Vice Regional Commander Zhang Guowei; and others.

Gazing at the roadside scenery, exclamations of admiration sounded continuously. Compared to the rest of Xuanda, where refugees covered the ground and beggars filled the streets, the situation on the Eastern Route formed a stark contrast.

Here, no refugees or beggars were to be seen; it seemed all had been taken in and managed. Fortified settlements were rising one after another, construction boomed everywhere, and busy crowds were visible in every direction.

Those commoners, led by officials, were busily building barracks, repairing roads, reclaiming farmland, and constructing irrigation works. Although many were still in tattered clothes, their faces bore smiles and they were full of hope for the future — utterly unlike the numb expressions of military households and civilians elsewhere in Xuanda.

With years of disasters and the chaos of war, in many parts of the Great Ming it was normal to find no human habitation for a hundred li, if not a thousand. Once-thriving towns lay abandoned. But the Eastern Route was different. It seemed every possible space was used; wherever the land was fit for survival and cultivation, buildings of every kind sprang up, forming fortified settlements large and small.

Building these fortified settlements required vast quantities of timber, stone, and goods. Around each settlement, all manner of shops and workshops were also being built, bustling with merchants transporting grain and cargo. One could easily imagine that in the future, all these places would become prosperous villages and towns.

Logging camps, quarries, as well as various factories, mines, and livestock farms were visible everywhere, with merchants and gentry recruiting workers at every turn. It seemed as if overnight, the entire Eastern Route had entered a massive wave of construction. Coupled with the huge concentration of population and the merchants coming and going, one word described it: "Flourishing!" Two words: "Vibrant energy!"

The bustling scene foretold the future prosperity of the Eastern Route.

Chen Xinjia had heard that after Wang Dou took office, he proclaimed a slogan of turning the Eastern Route into a paradise within a few years. At the time, he had scoffed at it, but now it seemed Wang Dou was by no means boasting.

"Fierce in battle, outstanding in military governance, and equally outstanding in civil administration — this Wang Dou is truly talented in both pen and sword. Yet for the Great Ming to have such a general, is it a curse or a blessing…"

Throughout the journey, Chen Xinjia's thoughts were complicated. Wang Dou's arrogance displeased him more and more, yet his talent was something Chen Xinjia needed. The Eastern Route of Xuanfu Garrison fell under the jurisdiction of the Xuanda Viceroy's office. Although Chen Xinjia would soon enter the Grand Secretariat, a large portion of the Eastern Route's future achievements would naturally be credited to him.

Even after entering the Grand Secretariat, having a powerful local magnate like Wang Dou — with his strong army and strong governance — backing him would add to his standing and help him stand more firmly within the Secretariat.

"Brother Wang truly needs no introduction — formidable in war, and in managing both civilians and troops, tsk tsk…"

Behind the carriages of Chen Xinjia and Ji Shiwei rode a group of tall, armored generals on spirited steeds: Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, Wang Pu, and others — the commanders of the three Xuanda garrisons who had come to observe.

During the campaign of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, not long after reaching Gaoyang, Wang Pu had led his troops back to Datong. Although it was later proven that the Qing army's harassment of Shanxi was a false alarm, Wang Pu had stayed put in Datong, unwilling to go out to battle again. After returning to Datong and hearing of Lu Xiangsheng's death in battle, Wang Pu donned mourning garments and wailed for days to express his grief, winning widespread praise throughout Datong Garrison.

Moreover, because of the great victory at Qingdu, Wang Pu was credited with several hundred enemy heads. Early this year, when the court bestowed rewards for merit, Wang Pu was promoted to Vice Commissioner-in-Chief, while still serving as Regional Commander of Datong Garrison. Wang Pu was satisfied with this outcome.

Of course, compared to Hu Dawei, who was appointed Right Commissioner-in-Chief and whose son was granted a hereditary Embroidered Uniform Guard Company Commander post, and especially Yang Guozhu, who was appointed Left Commissioner-in-Chief, Grand Master for Glorious Happiness, with a son granted a hereditary Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander post, Wang Pu felt somewhat unbalanced. He remembered Wang Dou vividly. Although he had returned to Datong, he closely followed every move of the Xuanda Army.

The bloody battle at Julu made Wang Pu click his tongue in amazement, secretly rejoicing that he had returned to Datong early. The subsequent battle at Zhuozhou, where the Xuanda Army won a great victory and gained rich spoils, filled Wang Pu with regret — he had truly lost out by not participating in that battle.

However, upon making some inquiries, he discovered he was not alone in this thinking. Officers of Shanxi Garrison, officers of Xuanfu Garrison, and even word had it that many Liaodong regional commanders and officers intended to come to the Eastern Route to observe. Although secretly jealous of Wang Dou's fame and prominence, for someone as sociable as Wang Pu, this was a golden opportunity.

After finishing his praise, he stylishly flicked the several beautiful plumes on his helmet and grinned at Yang Guozhu beside him: "Old Brother Yang is truly fortunate to have a general like General Wang under his command. When the Eastern Route is developed in the days to come, well, tsk tsk…"

Wang Pu's tone was not without jealousy.

At Wang Pu's words, Yang Guozhu smiled faintly. In the past, like Hu Dawei, he had looked down on a profligate son like Wang Pu who had bought his official position. But after last year's campaign, the two had fought side by side and forged a comrade's bond. In his demeanor and conduct, Yang Guozhu was now much warmer toward Wang Pu.

Having such a general in his garrison naturally brought Yang Guozhu honor. Any merit Wang Dou earned would in the future yield a share of benefits for him. From this perspective, the more outstanding Wang Dou became, the more advantages Yang Guozhu would gain.

Yet even so, Wang Dou was growing ever more dazzling, and his methods were exceptionally brilliant. In the days to come, could this place, the Eastern Route, contain such a hidden dragon?

After the campaign of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Wang Dou — who at the time was merely a Mobile Corps Commander — already commanded a force whose combat power surpassed that of Yang Guozhu, a Regional Commander. Now promoted to Branch Defense Assistant Regional Commander, who knew to what extent his strength would swell in the future?

There was only one General Who Guards the North. If one day Wang Dou set his sights on his position, what should he do?

When it came to his own status and power, no matter how much Yang Guozhu appreciated his subordinate Wang Dou, he could not help but entertain other thoughts.

Yang Guozhu was a veteran of military affairs and might not think much of civil administration, yet one could see the whole from a single part. Take the establishment of fortified settlements across the Eastern Route: such large-scale civil administration would be chaos anywhere else, but here it was in perfect order. Which officer in the garrison city possessed such organizational capability?

He had heard that the main military strength of Wang Dou's forces consisted of these garrison-farmer troops. The Eastern Route's newly added population numbered in the hundreds of thousands, with able-bodied young men likely over a hundred thousand…

Yang Guozhu harbored a speculation he had always found inconvenient to voice: one day, would Wang Dou train all these able-bodied youths into soldiers? If a mere Branch Defense Assistant Regional Commander had a hundred thousand troops, how terrifying that would be.

Behind him, his personal general Guo Yingxian was laughing heartlessly with Hu Dawei's personal general Hu Zichen, saying that once they reached Yongning City, they must drink three hundred cups with General Wang and not stop until they were drunk.

Yet as he looked around, Yang Guozhu also noticed Hu Dawei beside him gazing thoughtfully at the busy crowds along the roadside.

Those crowds were mostly able-bodied young men, organized into units of tens, hundreds, and thousands, busily working under the leadership of various overseers — dividing the labor, cooperating, calm and unhurried, just like military units…

…

"If not for Military Governor Zhang's years of management on the Eastern Route, would the Eastern Route have its present foundation and prosperity? That Wang Dou is merely reaping the benefits."

Following behind Yang Guozhu and the other regional commanders was the party of Zhang Guowei, Vice Regional Commander of Xuanfu Garrison. Zhang Guowei lived up to his name, his every gesture dignified and his pride restrained. Not yet fifty, he was at the golden age of a successful man, full of presence.

He wore no armor, but instead was dressed in the official robes of a Regional Military Commissioner, a bright scarlet second-rank robe embroidered with a lion badge.

Riding to Zhang Guowei's right was Li Jianming, the former Mobile Corps Commander of the garrison city, who had once campaigned with Yang Guozhu and whom Wang Dou had met. Early this year, when the court bestowed rewards, Li Jianming had also been promoted to Assistant Regional Commander. Already portly, after a few months back in the garrison city his belly had grown even larger, and his double chin was more pronounced.

He did not wear official robes but was still in armor: a round-collared, wide-fronted tin-plate cuirass and a phoenix-winged helmet, straining to contain his bulky frame.

On Zhang Guowei's left was the former Mobile Corps Commander Wen Hui. After leading two thousand troops as reinforcements, he too had been promoted to Assistant Regional Commander. However, as battalion Assistant Regional Commanders, they commanded fewer than three thousand troops each and were not as well off as a territorial Branch Defense Assistant Regional Commander like Wang Dou.

Wen Hui had always been lean, and after returning to the garrison city he had grown even thinner. He wore a polished chainmail neck-guard helmet, which seemed a bit loose on his head.

He rode a white warhorse and was the one speaking now.

Behind the three rode Zhang Guowei's personal general Zhang Xinjing, a nephew from his own clan. The Zhang family generation names ran: Tian, Wan, Guo, Xin, Shun, Wen, Zhang, Feng, Tai, Yun. Zhang Guowei's sons and nephews all belonged to the Xin generation.

Zhang Xinjing was not yet thirty, but he too was a stout man, full of self-importance as he looked around. Clad in armor, he surveyed the surrounding scenery from horseback, his eyes revealing a mix of greed, longing, and resentment. If one did not see his gaze, one could never imagine that a pair of human eyes could express so many meanings at once.

Hearing Wen Hui's words, Zhang Guowei said slowly: "Although the Eastern Route was once governed by this military governor, it cannot be denied that Wang Dou has some talent. He has contributed to the Eastern Route's present prosperity. It is a pity that he is young and impetuous, handling matters without due consideration. In terms of seasoned statecraft, the two of you would originally have been the most suitable candidates to shepherd the Eastern Route. What a shame."

Hearing Zhang Guowei's words, Li Jianming and Wen Hui grew even more envious.

The two had never been convinced by Wang Dou to begin with. The more Wang Dou's fame grew and the more merits he earned, the more jealous and resentful they became.

In truth, Zhang Guowei knew that both Li Jianming and Wen Hui had long coveted the post of Branch Defense Assistant Regional Commander of the Eastern Route. Their families were hereditary officers of the Xuanfu Garrison guard battalions; from the moment they entered service, they could start as Assistant Guard Commanders, saving many years of struggle compared to an ordinary guard battalion soldier.

Their families had been in Xuanfu Garrison for centuries, their influence intertwined and deep-rooted. The two families both competed openly and cooperated with each other.

The two had originally thought that, given their seniority, contending for the Eastern Route Branch Defense Assistant Regional Commander post was perfectly justified. They never expected Wang Dou to snatch it away — how could they not be filled with resentment toward him?

After Zhang Guowei arrived at the garrison city, he vigorously drew the two men to his side, and naturally understood their feelings perfectly well.

A slight prod in his words, and the effect was immediate.

As he rode, his eyes swept over the surrounding scenery from time to time. The Eastern Route's present condition and its past state — refugees everywhere, lifeless and stagnant — were like two different worlds. Imagining the Eastern Route's future prosperity, coupled with Wang Dou's arrogance and disrespect toward him, and how his family's years of painstaking management on the Eastern Route had been swept away by Wang Dou in one stroke —

Whatever benefits the Eastern Route might yield in the future would have nothing to do with him. Though Zhang Guowei's face remained impassive, fury blazed in his heart.