Chapter 786: Standing Still

Lady Ying shook her head: "Just send it to the Eldest Young Master's courtyard. Remember, it must be the full set, otherwise the Master will be displeased again." When their eldest son went missing at the Hanhe River last summer, both she and He Yue felt as if the sky had collapsed upon hearing the tragic news, and for a time, they found it hard to accept.

In the blink of an eye, seven or eight months had passed.

The departed are gone, but the living must continue their lives. Lady Ying had already looked forward, yet He Chunhua still insisted that a proper living space must be reserved for their eldest son in their new home in Shi Huan.

"Chuan'er is not dead."

He was very firm, and Lady Ying did not know where his confidence came from.

But she did not oppose it.

It was better to have something to hold onto.

Lady Ying sighed, casting aside that trace of emotion. Regardless of anything else, her husband's promotion was a tremendous piece of good news.

Not long after arriving in Shi Huan City, their new residence became as busy as a marketplace, with nobles from the capital coming to offer their congratulations.

Everyone knew the reason the Yuan Monarch had recalled He Chunhua.

In such turbulent times, as long as the Marquis of Wu'an won a few more battles or reclaimed some lost territory, he would be a rising star in Great Yuan, the focus of everyone's attention! Two jumps in two years, each one so high—who wouldn't want to get acquainted with such a new favorite? If you treat him with indifference now, tomorrow you might find him beyond your reach.

However, He Chunhua was busy with military and political affairs, so these social duties fell upon his virtuous wife. Lady Ying complained about being "tired to death," but her heart was quite content.

She had transformed from the wife of a poor prefect in a frontier town into the mistress of the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion! Steward Wu added: "By the way, Ding Zuodong has just arrived in Shi Huan City, and he will bring the account books over tomorrow morning."

Lady Ying asked in surprise: "He finished disposing of the assets in Dunyu so quickly?"

Ding Zuodong was originally a manager under the eldest son, helping him manage finances. After He Lingchuan fell into the water, He Chunhua cherished Ding Zuodong as a talent and took him into his own household.

Of course, the He family had more than one manager. Before the He family moved away from Dunyu, they specifically left Ding Zuodong behind to sell off the properties. He was a native of Dunyu himself and was very familiar with these matters.

Lady Ying had not expected Ding Zuodong to act so quickly.

"He didn't sell the house for a pittance, did he?" She had meticulously decorated that house, yet it hadn't even been three months since the renovations were finished before the He family moved south again.

All that effort and time had gone down the drain. Lady Ying sincerely hoped that this time they could live in Shi Huan City for a long time and not move again in the near future.

Steward Wu said a fair word: "This man is still quite reliable in his work."

In early May, there was still a late spring chill; it was warm during the day but turned cold at night. A maid came to deliver a hand warmer, and Lady Ying looked at the ice-silk cracks on the spring-view stove and sighed again.

The stove was still as beautiful, but the person who gave it was no longer there.

Dinner time was the reunion moment Lady Ying looked forward to most, and He Chunhua and He Yue finally hurried back.

Lady Ying hurriedly took their coats and called for someone to serve rice: "Why so late?"

"Something came up." He Chunhua picked up a hot towel to cover his face and let out a long breath.

Lady Ying saw her husband's exhaustion: "Is the Monarch still urging you to send out troops?"

"Need you ask?" He Chunhua sat at the table. "Today, State Preceptor Yan invited me for tea, but in reality, he was conveying the imperial will, saying that the armies of the Hebei Zhe Chongfu and Yian Zhe Chongfu have finished preparations and are also to be placed under my command."

He Yue washed his hands and came over: "Father still decided to stand still?"

"I can't move." He Chunhua picked up some vegetables. "Not enough grain and horses."

"But State Preceptor Yan..."

"We were able to return to the capital because State Preceptor Yan helped quite a bit, so I should give him face." He Chunhua said indifferently, "But the situation is bad. You also saw Wu Di's fate, and saw how Zhao Pan was transferred from the eastern front to the northwest to fill the gap—how wretched that journey was. I cannot follow in their footsteps."

No servants were left in the dining hall, as the He family father and sons often discussed major national affairs at the table.

He Yue also remembered it vividly: "When General Zhao was resisting Nian Zanli on the northern front, the army was often cut off from grain, and the logistics were stretched thin. I remember General Zhao had to retreat to the banks of the Hanhe River and rely on the natural barriers to defend himself."

"The army has not moved, but the grain and fodder must go first." He Chunhua shook his head. "Now, I can't even gather the grain and fodder, yet they want me to send out troops. Heh, with fifteen hundred cavalrymen and only seven hundred horses, do they want two people to share one horse to charge?"

He Yue said in a low voice: "There was a bumper harvest in the south last autumn, but the taxes were too heavy. Farmers were only allowed to keep two jin of grain for every ten jin harvested, and the rest had to be turned over."

"In wartime, money and grain must be supplied to the northwestern front. Even so, the northwest is still short of clothing and food. I heard that Ke Jihai's army froze dozens of people to death last month."

Lady Ying felt heartbroken hearing this: "When will this war ever end?"

"It won't end." He Yue explained to his mother, lowering his voice for the last sentence. "The Grand Marshal Dong Haoye is rebelling, aiming for the throne. As long as he doesn't enter the Yuan capital, he won't stop attacking."

Lady Ying murmured: "If he really breaks in, what will we do?"

"It won't be that easy for Dong Haoye to attack here, so don't say discouraging words, my lady." He Chunhua shook his head. "I will eventually have to go south, but not now. I must choose a good opportunity."

The year before last, he killed Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu; last year, he blocked Nian Zanli from going south and then recaptured Haozhou. With such great achievements, his career was sailing smoothly.

At this time, he had to cherish his reputation and avoid fighting battles he wasn't sure of winning.

He Chunhua knew very clearly that the battles they won last year were mainly due to the advantages of terrain and people. Xiazhou was his territory; he had the people, and the money and grain were all provided by the four great families.

With soldiers, money, and grain, he had the confidence to fight, and the margin for error was high.

But if he led troops to fight in the south, that wouldn't be his territory, and the supply of grain and fodder would depend entirely on the Yuan Court.

He Chunhua had personally experienced how incompetent the Yuan Court's logistics were.

When he was the Superintendent of Xiazhou, he was assigned tasks by the Yuan Court to supply grain to Zhao Pan's army on the front lines.

When Ke Jihai was fighting fiercely on the northwestern front, he even ran back to the Yuan capital specifically to beg for grain.

Zhao Pan led troops to support the northwestern front, but there was no food on the road, and the army mutinied...

He Chunhua did not believe that he could get much aid from the rear when he led his troops south. When he sent people back to the Yuan capital to urge for grain, the Monarch would only continue to send signals: "Hold on... hold on... persevere... persevere..."

As for how to hold on and how to persevere, that would depend on He Chunhua's own abilities.

He wasn't a local power there, so what abilities could he have? Should he also follow Zhao Pan's example and let his army plunder the common people? War is about logistics; without grain, medicine, or morale, what could he use to suppress the rebellion?

Furthermore, compared to the southern rebellion, the Yuan Monarch was more wary of the Grand Marshal in the northwest, so the allocation of logistical resources would also be tilted toward Ke Jihai and Zhao Pan's armies.

There were only two mouthfuls of porridge; if others drank more, He Chunhua would get even less.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 787 =====