Chapter 12: Past Events of Panlong

He Chunhua straightened his expression and asked earnestly, "How shall I act, my lord?"

Such a shocking thunderclap had erupted in the central region of the Yuan Kingdom, and the nation's fate hung by a thread; even a commoner would have a duty to act, let alone a high-ranking official like him. To shirk responsibility now would be unprincipled.

Just then, a servant came to change the tea. Sun Fuping took a sip of the hot tea and asked about a seemingly unrelated topic: "He Chunhua, you have been in Qiansong County for many years. Do you know how the wilderness became the Panlong Desert, and the origin of that Red Cliff Road?"

Why ask about this? He Chunhua frowned:

"That is local lore. About one hundred and fifty years before the founding of the Great Yuan, the land we stand on belonged to the Xiluo Kingdom. At that time, the Panlong Desert was not a wasteland; it had slightly less rainfall, but still possessed woodlands and seasonal rivers. Hmm, at the height of its power, the Xiluo Kingdom built four commanderies and twelve cities in the western borderlands to guard this busy trade route that spanned east and west. The largest of these was Panlong City."

"Later, Xiluo gradually declined and suffered repeated defeats in foreign wars. The Baling and Xianyou kingdoms vied to devour its territory. Except for the Panlong Wasteland, which held out on its own, the entire western border of Xiluo was occupied. The Panlong Wasteland thus became an enclave, isolated outside the borders of Xiluo, thousands of miles away from the motherland."

He Lingchuan also listened silently to this history. Every person in Black Water City had heard of the origin of the Panlong Desert, and his original self was no exception.

"The Baling and Xianyou kingdoms attacked the Panlong Wasteland for thirty-two years, and the Xiluo garrison, led by Panlong City Commander Zhong Shengguang, held out for those same thirty-two years, fighting for every inch of land!" He Chunhua turned to his eldest son, "Lingchuan, do you remember the name of this troop?"

"The Great Wind Army!" He Lingchuan nodded. "Tougher than the desert poplars, their lonely loyalty unrewarded by grand ambitions—that is the Great Wind Army trapped behind enemy lines!"

The Great Wind Army was besieged by two powerful enemies and cut off from their motherland, lacking food and water, and receiving not a shred of aid from Xiluo.

Even so, it held out for a full thirty-two years.

Such a legend never tires of being told.

"In the twelfth year of the siege of Panlong City, the Xianyou Kingdom and Xiluo briefly made peace, and the Great Wind Army took the opportunity to send word to their motherland. The Xiluo monarch, not expecting Panlong City to still be standing, issued an edict of commendation and simultaneously recalled most of the Great Wind Army's elite to the country to suppress riots." His father stopped speaking, so He Lingchuan simply continued, "But Xianyou soon turned hostile toward Xiluo again, the connection between the Panlong Wasteland and the home country was cut off once more, and the Great Wind Army fell back into dire straits."

"After that, Xiluo was plagued by years of war and had no time to look west. The Great Wind Army persisted for another twenty years, isolated, without support, and having lost most of its main force."

The will of this army could no longer be described as steel. It was a pity the motherland was weak; it wasted such fine soldiers.

A nation unworthy of its soldiers—He Lingchuan felt this phrase was particularly apt.

"Well said." Nian Songyu gave him a round of applause. "But how did the wasteland turn into a desert?"

"The Great Wind Army never surrendered until death, fighting to the last man. Panlong City was also slaughtered by the enemy in a fit of rage, leaving no survivors." This was also the most classic segment of tea-house storytelling. "These battles were too tragic; the fury and resentment of the heroic spirits surged to the heavens and seeped into the earth, causing life to vanish for a hundred miles around Panlong City and rivers to change their course. Thus, the wasteland slowly turned into a desert."

"There is another theory. Panlong City Commander Zhong Shengguang himself was a powerful sorcerer. Knowing that a single pillar cannot hold up a collapsing house, he gathered the power of tens of thousands of heroic spirits at the moment Panlong City fell to curse this land, turning it into a barren waste." He Lingchuan shrugged. "This way, Xiluo could not keep the land of Panlong, but Baling and Xianyou could not take it either. In fact, this desert currently belongs to no nation."

"Anything else?"

"But Zhong Shengguang also left a glimmer of hope for living creatures entering and leaving the desert: the Red Cliff Road. That was also the route the Great Wind Army used to travel." He Lingchuan looked at Nian Songyu and said, "There are many more details. If you wish to keep listening, we should start the banquet and talk while we eat."

The Imperial Preceptor Sun Fuping asked He Chunhua, "Is this all that you know, Magistrate He?"

"More or less." He Chunhua sensed something unusual. "What does the Imperial Preceptor mean?" Stop beating around the bush.

"It is true that the Great Wind Army was an army of steel, and it is true that Commander Zhong Shengguang was a strong man, but after the main elite force was recalled to the country, how could the Great Wind Army hold out alone for twenty years? At that time, the Xianyou army could already sweep across most of Xiluo; even if Xiluo still had famous generals, they could not have resisted." Imperial Preceptor Sun said calmly, "You and I both know that this could not be achieved by mere passion alone."

The outcome of war depends only on strength. The cruelest truth is that no matter how passionate the weak are, they cannot escape the fate of defeat and death.

The enemy was so powerful, especially the Xianyou Kingdom with its elite soldiers and strong generals, launching over three hundred attacks on Panlong City. At the most intense point, there were fifteen times in a single month.

Lacking food, water, men, and weapons, how could the Great Wind Army persist?

To this, He Chunhua could only reply, "The historical records are insufficient to make a judgment."

No matter how stirring, it was, after all, a past event from over a hundred years ago. Later generations might sigh, but how many intended to delve deep?

At least He Chunhua did not; he had more important matters to attend to.

"Imperial Preceptor Sun, what does the past of the Panlong Desert have to do with the current predicament of our Great Yuan?" It was impossible that these two had traveled thousands of miles just to hear him tell stories.

The main event had arrived. Sun Fuping stood up, took two steps forward, stared into his eyes, and said, "This is what I want to say. The key to how the Great Wind Army persisted might also be the key to us turning the tide at Woling Pass and resolving the crisis in the capital! Magistrate He, this time, the responsibility is yours alone!"

He Chunhua's expression was solemn: "I am willing to hear the details."

He Lingchuan, however, felt that the other party was finally about to reveal their true intentions, but they had first placed a heavy burden on his father; he wondered if his old man could handle it.

"He Jian, the chief clerk of the Great Wind Army, followed Zhong Shengguang for many years and died of illness before the city fell. After the Xianyou Kingdom captured Panlong City, they took inventory of his belongings and found that he had written a brief account of this history."

"He Jian's notes were passed down, changed hands several times, and finally flowed into the Great Yuan palace."

He Lingchuan could not help but interject, "So the truth has been hidden in our country all along; why has it never appeared in the history books?"

Every country had a Bureau of National History that collected the history of their own country and previous dynasties, especially the latter. Domestic history was often glossed over, but the history of previous dynasties was studied most deeply by the vast number of scholars, from secret anecdotes to human nature and sentiment—the reasons for this need not be stated; everyone understood.

Moreover, such findings were willingly made public to the people, especially the loyal and heroic past of Panlong City and the Great Wind Army; they should be set up as models to educate the masses, achieving the effect of moistening things silently.

Nian Songyu smiled: "Because, it cannot be told!"

"At that time, the notes were already damaged beyond repair, with few complete sentences left, and the full picture of history could not be restored. But one thing was clearly recorded within—"

(End of chapter)