Chapter 794

He Chunhua thought for a good while and shook his head: "The sandstorm season has disappeared; Yuan West is likely to be in trouble."

Others listened to this kind of rumor for fun, but he was a former frontier prefect and thought of national security first.

"Isn't that so?" Steward Wu was also worried, "Originally, the Yuan West border was stable because of the Panlong Desert, the sandstorm season, and the Three-Corpse Insects; now the Panlong Desert can be traversed at will, then, then..."

"Tomorrow's troubles for tomorrow." He Chunhua waved his hand, "Forget it; as far as the present is concerned, this kind of trouble doesn't rank high. If there is any more news from Heishuicheng and the Panlong Desert, report it to me immediately!"

Steward Wu left.

He Chunhua stood where he was for a long time, his thoughts turning back to He Lingchuan.

His eldest son wasn't dead; he had always known, just not his whereabouts.

He Lingchuan had suddenly returned, becoming more shrewd, more confident, and also... harder to fathom.

Why did he return? Although the Rongshan loan was a great thing, it was facilitated by his eldest son, and it was his eldest son who served as the envoy to handle it; to some extent, the situation was beyond his control as a father.

Both publicly and privately, He Chunhua didn't like this change.

He was about to return to his room to change, but when he walked through the courtyard, he saw He Lingchuan sitting half-way on the edge of the fish pond, throwing rice grains to feed the fish.

The fish swam closer, and he threw the rice grains further away;

The fish swam further away, and he threw the rice grains closer.

The large koi were all played around by him, stirring the pond like boiling water, splashing and lively.

He Chunhua subconsciously lightened his steps, but before he had walked two steps, He Lingchuan, who had his back to him, smiled: "Dad, the variety in your pond is too monotonous; just a few fat koi, and the colors aren't bright enough. Why not get a few more good fish to make Mom happy?"

"Oh?" He Chunhua asked casually, "What variety is good?"

"Flower Spear, Rolling Embroidered Ball, White Dragon Halberd, Seven-Colored Immortal, and Variegated Shrimp." He Lingchuan casually reported a bunch of names, "They can all grow very large and beautiful."

Beijia's entertainment industry was very developed; just the market for flowers, birds, and fish was huge. Common fish like koi couldn't enter the homes of the powerful on floating islands at all.

"Is that so? I've never heard of them." He Chunhua also stood by the pond watching the fish, "Has our family raised them before?"

"No."

"Does the Yuan capital have them?"

He Lingchuan laughed it off, still looking like a playboy: "This is my first time here; how would I know?"

He Chunhua looked at him and smiled: "Then—does Shabu Port in Xulu Kingdom have them?"

"The fish sold there are meant to be eaten, not raised in a pond." He Lingchuan threw a few more rice grains, "Of course, our family's koi are already big enough; in an emergency, they can be sacrificed."

He Chunhua paused and stopped by the pond. If he took another step, he would step into the water: "These fish haven't done anything wrong; why eat them?"

"Whether they are eaten has nothing to do with whether they did anything wrong; it only depends on our mood." He Lingchuan threw a rice grain with every word he said, "What wrong can this kind of ornamental toy do?"

He Chunhua was silent for a few breaths, then suddenly said: "Are you still my Chuan'er?"

This came suddenly, but He Lingchuan had no reaction. He continued to feed, his hand very steady, the fish very anxious.

He Chunhua's tone was relaxed, as if joking: "Why are you like a different person?"

"I've become promising; isn't Dad happy? Aren't you proud?" He Lingchuan turned to look at him, "I even secured a loan for Yuan!"

This huge sum of money that Yuan urgently needed was also one of his bargaining chips for self-protection, his leverage to return to Yuan and deal with his father.

Without him, there would be no money.

Without him, the money would be gone too.

"Well done." He Chunhua nodded forcefully, "Well done; otherwise, I wouldn't know how to fight the battles ahead."

A clever woman cannot cook without rice; how can a general fight without soldiers?

"Since the money is coming soon, what does Dad plan to do next?"

He Chunhua asked him: "Does Chuan'er want to participate?" His eldest son deliberately switched the topic, and he followed along.

"As a man, who doesn't want to make achievements and be enfeoffed as a marquis? However—" He Lingchuan said softly, "The southern rebellion is one thing, but the Grand Marshal in the northwest is not easy to fight."

Peasant uprisings usually lack the discipline and combat effectiveness of regular troops. Of course, the central army of Yuan now isn't much better.

"The civil war in Yuan is a bottomless pit; let alone a mere three million taels of silver, even five million or ten million taels thrown in might not last until the end." He Lingchuan sighed, "What do you want to do? Although I was appointed as a special envoy, I don't want the motherland to be unable to repay the loan, leading to the loss of precious resources for nothing."

He Chunhua asked him: "Does Chuan'er have any suggestions?"

In the past, He Chunhua would never have consulted this eldest son on military strategy. He Lingchuan threw the last handful of rice grains into the pond, attracting the fish to scramble for food: "Dad had better win a quick victory; the rebel army is marching north, and the flames of war are about to burn to Yizhou. Not to mention winning or losing, those three prefectures nearby are the granary of Great Yuan, a major grain-producing area. The Hong Xiangqian rebellion that was quelled last year has already caused a sharp decrease in southern grain, less than half of previous years. If this year's farmland is abandoned because of the war, there will be no harvest in the autumn, and by then..."

Great Yuan was already desperately short of grain; by then, it would be a vicious cycle.

He Chunhua nodded: "Your worries are exactly the same as the Monarch's and the court officials'."

His eldest son's analysis was good.

Are you not pretending anymore?

"Then what is Dad's position?"

"I know what you said." He Chunhua sighed softly, "My army must fight when it goes out, and it must win; only then does going south have meaning. Otherwise, sending defeat from thousands of miles away will only strike a blow to the morale of the army and people and increase the enemy's arrogance."

He paused: "In the past, when the Royal Court suppressed Hong Xiangqian, that Hong thief became stronger the more he was suppressed; he had no more than a hundred people when he started, but had an army of tens of thousands before the Battle of Woling Pass; isn't that because of the ebb and flow?"

He Lingchuan said "Oh."

Hong Xiangqian's growth wasn't just because of the incompetence of the government army. He didn't point it out and just asked He Chunhua: "What does Father plan to do?"

No matter how much He Chunhua delays, the Yuan Monarch's patience is limited; no matter how capable He Chunhua is, if the Yuan Monarch can't count on him, he won't be polite to him either.

Therefore, He Chunhua also had to grasp this "degree" well.

"Grain and supplies must keep up; otherwise, my soldiers will have to endure hunger and cold at the front line. Even if there were seven or eight chances of winning, now there are only three or four left." He Chunhua's tone was angry at the lack of improvement, "But you also know the logistics of Great Yuan, sigh. Even if 100,000 shi of grain are supported for me, at most less than 30,000 to 40,000 shi can be delivered to the front line."

"Besides, even if I recapture the occupied area, if I can't win the hearts of the people, who knows if they won't rebel again?"

(End of chapter)