Chapter 110: Ji Ge Slapped by the Tufan

Niu Xianke breezily returned to Liangzhou, submitted his memorial, but the search for iron ore still made no substantive progress.

Guided by the Saint's prophetic hint, many people in Zhangye County who had already entered a farming‑off‑season state carried baskets to the area near Longshou Mountain in Shandan County to look for the so‑called "heavy stones." Fang Chongyong did not expect that Fang Laique's card would be so effective and so inspiring.

Simply put, it's far more useful than a direct order from the authorities.

Ji Ge's edicts were smoothly enforced across the Hexi provinces; after Niu Xianke arrived in Liangzhou, he personally supervised the transport of two thousand Han civilians and two thousand Sogdian Hu united troops to Ganzhou. The Ganzhou government office only needed to cover the daily expenses for training the united troops.

The accompanying subsidy saw the first batch of twenty‑thousand bolts of silk distributed.

That autumn, the Hexi Corridor was unusually calm; the anticipated massive Tufan invasion never materialized.

So where exactly was the Tufan's direction of attack?

In fact, the conclusion is now clear: the Tufan are sending troops to launch a furious assault on Longyou, with no intention at all of entangling the Tang forces in Hexi.

Earlier, after the Tufan army captured Xicang Prefecture on the plateau, they massed forces to attack Taozhou (Lingtan, Gansu).

Ji Ge ordered the Longyou main force, the Lin Tao army, to march south for rescue, causing Du Xiwang to nearly spit blood!

In theory, Ji Ge's method is a good one: each Longyou army holds its own territory while mobile troops, organized into the largest Lin Tao army, provide support. The problem is that Longyou's roads are far more difficult than Hexi's, with vast areas consisting of mountain paths!

The Hexi Chishui army can act as the senior force sweeping all five Hexi prefectures, but the Lin Tao army cannot timely reinforce the border troops of Longyou.

Sure enough, under the Tufan siege, the Taozhou prefectural city at Lingtan fell; the Mo Men army retreated to the foot of Kongtong Mountain east of Taozhou, holding the strategic throat road to Minzhou (Min County, Dingxi City, Gansu).

Ji Ge, enraged, ordered the Lin Tao army to speed south for rescue. Du Xiwang had to abandon baggage, personally leading troops down a mountain trail; countless mules died of exhaustion on the path.

However, just as Tang forces gathered at Taozhou intending to encircle the invading Tufan army there, the Tufan feigned a move, plundered Taozhou extensively, and then split their forces!

One Tufan detachment retreated to the plateau, garrisoned Xicang Prefecture, and shipped away the looted goods; another took mountain paths, shedding armor and baggage, crossed snow‑capped peaks, and attacked Diezhou from the north!

At the same time, from the west within Tufan territory, troops passed through the Tangut‑controlled Maqu region, drawing Tang attention, then used northern forces to launch a surprise attack.

Tang defense in Diezhou was weak, with only a Hechuan garrison serving as an early warning, its troops numbering barely a thousand.

Caught between enemies, the Hechuan garrison was shattered, its remnants fled in disarray to Changfen County in the east. The Tufan army pressed on, captured the understaffed Changfen County, then advanced alone, seized Dangzhou (Zhouqu, Gansu), and drove straight toward the strategic Longyou stronghold Wu Zhou (Wudu District, Longnan City, Gansu)!

This series of Tufan combo attacks left the Tang border forces in Longyou bewildered.

The Tang army's original plan was to contest the former Tuyu Hun lands with the Tufan, intending to meet them along Qinghai Lake. What they didn't expect was that the Tufan would not play by Ji Ge's script. They abandoned the fight in the heavily‑manned Hehuang region (Xining City and surroundings), stayed idle on the northern front, and instead opened a breakthrough on the Longnan front!

The field armies under the Longyou Military Governor have essentially all been redeployed to the Hehuang line north of his jurisdiction, leaving Longnan depleted; the Tufan seized the opportunity, and a frontline border town fell.

Wu Zhou is already the second‑line defense of the Longyou Military Governor's area; if it falls to the Tufan, a massive defensive void will open on the Tang's southwest frontier.

If the Tufan seize Wu Zhou, they can strike east into Hanzhong, south into Shu, and if needed retreat west back to the plateau; the Tang border situation will enter a 'short‑board effect' mode.

No matter how well Hexi is defended, the Tufan can obtain what they want from Longnan, avoiding fighting where Tang forces are strong.

When Du Xiwang led the Lin Tao army, living up to expectations, to Diezhou, the plundering Tufan had long fled, having shared part of the seized baggage with the Tangut people of Maqu before leisurely withdrawing from Tangut territory.

Indeed, the Tufan never intended to capture Wu Zhou this year; their strategic aim was clear: seize and retreat. Hence they deployed troops earlier than in previous years.

And the Tangut, unwilling to offend either side in the Tang‑Tufan war, often turn a blind eye to such matters.

This time it was simply that Du Xiwang was careless, failing to anticipate that the Tangut of Maqu would permit the Tufan army to pass.

Since such an unprovable incident cannot be directly blamed, the Tang cannot openly trouble the Tangut and also fears they might fully side with the Tufan in the war, so they must swallow their anger and hope to settle scores with the Tangut later.

Stunned by a string of battle reports to the point of losing his appetite, Ji Ge could only helplessly accept the loss as not large, yet the humiliation reached its peak.

It felt like being slapped in the face by someone riding a swift horse; when he recovered and tried to retaliate, he found the opponent had already retreated to their stronghold, surrounded by underlings, making a strike difficult.

Ji Ge felt mortified to death and decided that after this battle he would dismiss Du Xiwang from his post.

…

"Why is it so small?"

Looking at the massive stone before him, Fang Chongyong asked displeasedly.

At this moment, the government office doorway was crowded with people, all watching the huge stone that had taken great effort to haul into Zhangye City.

Although irregular in shape, the stone—one zhang long, half a zhang wide and high—was certainly not small.

Hexi does have many mountains, but moving such a heavy stone into the city is indeed no simple task.

"Governor, this stone is already not small," Yan Zhuang said awkwardly.

Yan Zhuang said with an embarrassed expression.

Fang Chongyong is usually unbelievably clever, always having a brilliant mind at hand, but sometimes his questions are perfectly age‑appropriate, showing a stark lack of common sense.

"It's a bit small, but we'll have to make do,"

Fang Chongyong sighed, suppressing his dissent.

"Governor, this stone is more than enough to serve as a spirit‑path stele!"

Yan Zhuang urged calmly.

Fang Chongyong was startled, then asked, "Which stele is that again?"

"The spirit‑path stele," it refers to a stone tablet erected before a tomb passage that records the deceased's life, dates, contributions, etc. "Spirit‑path" means the tomb passage, and "stele" is the tablet set on it.

"Isn't the governor supposed to erect a spirit‑path stele for his ancestors?"

Yan Zhuang explained with a speechless expression.

He had heard that Fang Chongyong's father, the Youzhou Military Governor Fang Youde, was born in Hexi Shazhou (Dunhuang); erecting a spirit‑path stele for him in Ganzhou to glorify his grandfather's name and fabricate some 'great achievements' would not be improper.

Many officials play it that way!

"Alas, I'm not trying to erect a spirit‑path stele."

Fang Chongyong sighed; he had intended a surprise, but it turned into a scare, and now everyone at the office knew he wanted to erect a spirit‑path stele for his grandfather.

"Go hire the best stonemason in Zhangye City, have this stone properly refined and polished, then have the common medicines from the Qianjin Fang and Bencao carved onto it.

Also, when accounting for the office, the entries must be clear—no forced labor, no disturbing the populace."

Fang Chongyong said broadly.

Yan Zhuang hesitated slightly, then whispered, "Governor, the office's accounts have spent a lot of money lately. Though it's all official business and the subordinates know you wish to benefit the region, how will we manage next year with such spending?"

He wasn't asking without cause; Fang Chongyong had recently handled many major affairs and spent a lot of money.

First, outside Zhangye City he designated a vacant plot, fenced it on all sides, subdivided its areas, and placed a signboard at the entrance.

This place would be the site of the market outside Ganzhou City from now on, opening for business one day each in the first, middle, and last ten-day periods of every month.

Here, whether Hu or Han, whether or not one held Ganzhou household registration, whether or not one was a merchant, anyone could bring whatever they wished to sell and sell it here, with soldiers from the Zhangye Garrison maintaining order.

Apart from prohibiting the buying and selling of people, all other goods were permitted without restriction, and the prefectural office did not inquire into their origins.

Even fencing stolen goods was of no concern to the Ganzhou prefectural office.

But anyone who dared to cause trouble in the market would be punished as for robbery and murder, sentenced as a convict, and sent to the coal mine newly opened south of Shandan to mine coal.

The government only collected a transaction tax, one wen for every thirty wen; any amount under thirty wen was also taxed one wen. After goods were sold, one was not permitted to linger in the market, and merchants were not allowed to make purchases within the market.

The second measure was to designate a specific place within the city to purchase by weight old thread ends, old rope, torn cloth, hemp fiber, and other such items that the city's residents had no use for.

Then a dedicated papermaking workshop would be built by the Ruoshui, using these old materials to produce paper needed for official business, and sold within the city at a fair price to subsidize the prefectural office's operating expenses.

The last item was this stone stele.

Fang Chongyong wanted to carve the symptoms and prescriptions of common illnesses onto the stone stele, so that ordinary people could see them too.

In the Tang dynasty, a superior prefecture with over a hundred thousand households had at most twenty medical officials in its prefectural office—and even that was a theoretical allocation.

A lesser prefecture with a population of tens of thousands had at most twelve medical officials. For example, Ganzhou had fewer than twelve, and many of those "medical officials" were less skilled in actual practice than Anaye.

Seeking medical treatment in the Great Tang, there was a folk saying: "No doctor is as good as a middling doctor," meaning: if you fell ill and toughed it out without seeing a doctor, that was equivalent to having engaged a doctor of middling skill.

Carving prescriptions onto a stone stele was equivalent to letting the common people diagnose their own symptoms and obtain their own medicine. It might seem like an inconsequential small matter, but the role it could sometimes play was not to be underestimated.

Each of these items required the prefectural office to spend money, and Fang Chongyong was not stingy; with a wave of his hand, what needed to be done had to be done.

In addition, he also wrote off all the overdue operating expenses from past years, and the money owed to local merchants and common people was paid in full, with large quantities of outstanding IOUs settled.

Money was no good if it expired before use; Brother Ji had given two hundred thousand bolts of silk to the Ganzhou prefectural office, and Fang Chongyong was not the least bit polite about it—the money that ought to be spent would be spent, using this to fill the holes, sweeping away all the rotten messes the Ganzhou prefectural office had created in the past in one fell swoop.

"I can't go into the details with you, but anyway, I have a plan in mind, do you understand?"

Fang Chongyong said quietly to Yan Zhuang.

Seeing the other man looking thoughtful, Fang Chongyong emphasized: "If I leave Hexi, I will certainly find a way to have you transferred along with me, so you don't need to overthink things. Just do your job well."

Hearing this, Yan Zhuang nodded with full understanding.

Having been told this plainly, if he still did not understand, then he would be a stupid donkey!

Why was Fang Chongyong now frantically racking up political achievements in Ganzhou, frantically filling the holes of the past?

Because today you drink today's wine; tomorrow's worries can wait for tomorrow.

With Ganzhou's current situation—having found coal, exerting great effort to search for iron ore, and also needing to build an iron smelting workshop—

Therefore, Fang Chongyong's tenure as this "bicycle-riding Inspector" would not last long. He would very likely be transferred away next year; the only unknown was where he would be transferred, and on what pretext.

It was also possible that he would return to Chang'an.

Since he could no longer hold on to his greatest "political achievement," his desperately racking up prestige now was something to be expected within reason, even if unforeseen.

He believed this was also tacitly permitted by certain people.

What Fang Chongyong was doing now was currying favor with the various local factions in Ganzhou; just the matter of settling the debts from past years alone was something an ordinary Inspector could not accomplish.

"This subordinate understands. I shall go make the arrangements now."

Yan Zhuang bowed with hands crossed, then quietly departed.

After he left, Anaye came over, grabbed Fang Chongyong's sleeve, and asked in a low voice:

"My lord, you diverted public funds from the prefectural office to procure a set of medical texts that only a prefectural office would have—will that get you into trouble?"

Hearing this, Fang Chongyong laughed heartily and said: "You study medicine too, so having that set of books counts as bringing benefit to the common people. How can that be called misusing public funds for private purposes?"

My political achievements got snatched away and I didn't even complain—what the hell are those people complaining about! What's wrong with using public funds to buy a set of textbooks for my personal caretaker?

Fang Chongyong cursed inwardly.

He had already learned from Niu Xianke that Li Linfu intended to send someone to take over Ganzhou's affairs, and that he should prepare himself mentally and not overthink it.

With no desires, one stands firm; Fang Chongyong knew that his conduct would likely arouse the wariness of many.

Better to loosen up like an ordinary youth, seize the chance to skim a little profit—plucking feathers from every passing goose was the norm in officialdom.

If you wanted nothing at all, others would still worry that you might seek revenge afterward!

"But you also procured me a lot of brocade robes that only grown adults can wear..."

Anaye's face was conflicted, not knowing how to put it. She understood what Fang Chongyong meant, but they were both still too young; even if they had the mind to do something romantic, they simply could not.

She had taken those clothes with trepidation.

"So what? I'm buying a few sets of clothes for my own woman—is that in anyone's way?"

Fang Chongyong retorted testily.

If he did not tarnish his own reputation, how would he give Li Linfu a pretext, how would he let him legitimately have himself removed and demoted?

Heaven knew what rotten idea that scoundrel might come up with!

The moment he thought of this, Fang Chongyong got angry.

Just then, Yan Zhuang, who had hurriedly left moments ago, came rushing back, drenched in sweat from anxiety!

"What has you in such a panic?"

Fang Chongyong scolded with a displeased expression.

"My lord, it's terrible—the West Journey Temple has been surrounded. Many believers want to see the Holy Son and have already clashed with Abbot Facheng's people."

Hmm?

Hearing this, Fang Chongyong looked puzzled.

Wasn't Fang Laique's play already finished? What new trouble was brewing now?

"Take me to see for myself!"

Paying no heed to Yan Zhuang's attempts to stop him, Fang Chongyong headed straight for the West Journey Temple, not far from the prefectural office.

(End of this chapter)