Chapter 80: Awkward Fang Yanei

In the treasury office of Baitingbao, Xin Yunjing and several senior commanders of the Baiting Army gathered around Fang Chongyong for a meeting.

The core issue they discussed was summed up in two characters: making money!

"The Baiting Army's revenue is, when cattle and horses are fat in autumn, collecting some horses and sheep from the herders as tax?"

After hearing Xin Yunjing's report, Fang Chongyong asked in disbelief,

"This amount of money is, for an army, nothing more than a splash in water. Viewed as an 'in‑kind tax,' it's even less."

"Who says it isn't? With this little money we often can't even collect it; a extra meal for the lads and it's gone."

Xin Yunjing sighed; the Baiting Army is truly struggling, the surrounding area only has livestock and fishing worth mentioning, and they collect grazing fees from the herders, offset by livestock.

But in Hexi, cattle, sheep, and horses fetch poor prices, and these livestock cannot be driven a thousand miles to Chang'an for sale, creating a vicious cycle.

The more they try to make money, the less they can obtain it through official channels, so they resort to robbing merchants on the Silk Road.

The Baiting Army's garrison is still some distance from the Silk Road stations, so merchants have little direct entanglement with them.

Conversely, the Chishui Army, sustained by city and merchant taxes from Liangzhou, detests the disruption of trade routes.

After hearing Xin Yunjing and others, Fang Chongyong gained a deeper understanding of the situation in Hexi. In the end, it's still a money shortage causing the trouble!

Hexi originally did not have so many garrisons; they only increased as the Tang Empire expanded.

The increase in soldiers brings a series of logistical pressures, problems that cannot be solved merely by local Hexi farming.

Are the Qiu Ba of the Baiting Army bad people?

In a sense, they are bandits wearing Tang uniforms. The recent Indian monk's kasaya incident was a complete exposure, an "extremely isolated" case.

Nevertheless, aside from the leader being dealt with, the others are merely transferred to the Dadou Army to serve as front‑line "suicide squads"—the rule of the Tang's western frontier forces.

The leader was punished mainly because he lost a fish token, leading superiors and the Military Governor to deem his "handling as unreliable," not for leading troops in raids.

Fang Chongyong believes that within this Baiting Army there are still many murderous looters, ruthless characters yet undiscovered.

On the other hand, the Baiting Army's problem reflects the common issue of the Tang western frontier forces: the court, for various reasons (including transport difficulties), provides insufficient support to local border troops.

Especially the lack of hard necessities, forcing these armies to "figure it out themselves."

The most pressing problem is horses, including their acquisition and upkeep.

In the Hexi Corridor, aside from local defense where horse demand is low, any other operation is impossible without horses.

The Ministry of War's registers have set quotas for the number of horses each Hexi army requires.

For example, the Chishui Army, with the highest warhorse ratio, has 13,000 horses, a figure recorded in the Ministry's books, and the court must supply their fodder.

So how to solve the shortage of horses that the registers don't list but border towns especially need?

The Chishui Army's 33,000 troops—does every strategic maneuver only deploy its 13,000 cavalry? Sometimes long‑range raids need a man with two horses; how are those obtained?

The central court's senior officials refuse to consider these specifics, dumping them entirely onto the local Military Governors. Governors themselves cannot produce horses, so each army must devise its own solutions. Thus from the Anxi Protectorate to the Hexi Corridor, the Tang western border forces each concoct schemes to raise "private horses" to meet the bizarre frontier situation.

From this perspective, Fang Chongyong thinks the blame does not lie solely with the Baiting Army.

The chief culprits are actually the Ministry of War, the court, and Li Longji.

But this reasoning cannot be voiced.

"Even fishing can earn a bit, but it's a drop in the bucket; most catch is consumed as daily rations by the Baiting Army."

A Ten General said with great distress,

"Alas!"

The group sighed together.

"Fang's Military Envoy, is there any way to make money?"

Xin Yunjing asked in a deep voice.

Fang Chongyong, the "mascot," can't be relied upon anyway, so keeping him in Baitingbao is fine. Yet this one claims he can help the Baiting Army make money, so he can no longer be treated as an ordinary mascot.

"Take me there to have a look, somewhere nearby."

Fang Chongyong replied nonchalantly. He still has no clear idea and needs to scout the area first.

"Alright, send a few elite sharp troops to accompany Fang's Military Envoy on a tour; whatever he wishes to do, satisfy him. Even if it means looting homes or forcibly taking local women, they must ensure his satisfaction."

Xin Yunjing whispered to a Ten General beside him, but Fang Chongyong heard the whole thing.

"Robbing homes is one thing, but forcibly taking local women? What the hell! Even if he wanted to seize women, he couldn't do anything with them!"

Fang Chongyong sighed helplessly and said to Xin Yunjing, "They're all our own people; I won't betray you. This is truly a mission, so don't bring those odd folks along. Just pick a few soldiers familiar with local customs to follow me."

Xin Yunjing and the others exchanged glances; they had thought Fang Chongyong intended to "play it cool" locally in Hexi.

"Make the arrangements; ensure soldiers well‑versed in local customs attend to Fang's Military Envoy."

Xin Yunjing instructed his subordinates. He was also curious what tricks this "Fang Yanei" could pull.

…

Along the Baiting Sea coast lie lush pastures. Before departing, Xin Yunjing specifically took Fang Chongyong to the horse farm to pick a mount he could ride.

The party arrived at the farm and saw a row of simple sheds, three‑sided enclosures separated by wooden fences into many small stalls. Each stall housed a few horses, either standing or lying down.

In the distant open grassland, many horses grazed and frolicked, presenting a leisurely scene.

The people managing the farm were not the Baiting Army; they were merely the "security" of the Baiting Sea horse farm. In the Tang era, farm overseers were called Pasture Supervisors, and all national farms were classified into upper, middle, and lower tiers. Upper farms raised over 5,000 horses, middle farms over 3,000, and those below 3,000 were lower tier.

The Baiting Sea pasture is clearly an upper‑tier farm.

The Pasture Supervisor, upon seeing Xin Yunjing arrive, immediately beamed and asked, "Although it's nearby, the Xin Military Envoy seldom comes here. Are you looking to pick a mount for yourself?"

Because the Baiting Army frequently raids trade routes, allowing Turkic merchants to launder goods, it remains relatively well‑funded; it has purchased many horses at the Baiting Sea pasture and maintains a cavalry of two to three hundred men, making both sides longtime acquaintances.

"Pastor Li, it's not the army's envoy selecting a horse, but to choose a suitable pony for this Deputy Military Envoy."

Xin Yunjing pointed at Fang Chongyong and said,

"A child? Deputy Military Envoy? That's taking the joke too far!"

The Pasture Supervisor was stunned; at his age, he'd never seen such a domineering Deputy Military Envoy!

Pastor Li swallowed his thoughts, then led Fang Chongyong and his party to the stables to let them choose horses.

Just this horse then.

Fang Chongyong pointed at a reddish-brown foal a bit shorter than him and said.

What a gentle horse.

Xin Yun Jing murmured thoughtfully to himself.

If choosing a warhorse, it certainly shouldn't be so casual; as a warhorse, its temperament can't be too docile, otherwise such a horse will chicken out at a critical moment.

But Fang Chongyong seems unlikely to go to the battlefield for the next few years; a horse's service life is also limited, and even if this horse dies of old age, Fang Chongyong probably still won't go to the battlefield, so what's the point of all this trouble?

In that case, it's better to choose a horse with a gentler temperament.

Ten strings of cash.

Xin Yun Jing named a price.

Who would have thought that Lieutenant Li Mu, upon hearing this, burst out laughing: 'What nonsense, Commander Xin, it's just a foal; consider it my gift for meeting you,' hahahahaha!

A half-grown child as a military envoy either has heaven-defying ability or heaven-defying background—must have at least one, maybe both. Giving a foal as a favor, who knows when it might come in handy; why not?

Then thank you, Lieutenant Li Mu, for your kindness.

Xin Yun Jing was just saying it offhand; there's no way he'd actually pay.

Lieutenant Li Mu personally stepped in, branded the horse with a 'horse mark', put horseshoes on its hooves, and fitted the foal with a small saddle, letting Fang Chongyong try riding it.

Sure enough, the horse was very gentle; Fang Chongyong sat on it, Xin Yun Jing led it around the grass field once, and then Fang Chongyong could ride independently, though he hadn't yet mastered the knack of galloping.

Helped down by Xin Yun Jing, Fang Chongyong said somewhat excitedly, 'Riding a horse doesn't seem too hard.'

That's natural, but long-distance running would still be tiring.

Xin Yun Jing said, holding back laughter.

Once this 'young master' gets used to riding between the cities of Hexi, he'll surely know the downsides of horseback riding.

But this excitement hasn't faded yet, so he doesn't notice; why spoil his fun with extra talk?

Selecting a horse at the ranch was just a small interlude; after leaving the ranch, Fang Chongyong went to patrol the grasslands along the Bai Ting Sea shore, while Xin Yun Jing returned to Bai Ting Fort, where he would lead people to patrol the Turkic territory on the north shore of the Bai Ting Sea—part of his daily duties.

Xin Yun Jing also didn't have time to spend all day accompanying this Fang young master around.

After circling the Bai Ting Sea, Fang Chongyong suddenly pointed at a plant in a thicket and asked, 'What is this?'

I don't know.

I don't know, eh.

The two Bai Ting soldiers beside him shook their heads, not recognizing it at all.

I know this thing is called wolfberry!

Fang Chongyong retorted angrily.

Wild wolfberry grows here by the Bai Ting Sea; it's a discovery, but... it's not of much use.

Because neighboring Ganzhou of Liangzhou already cultivates wolfberry on a large scale and openly supplies it to Chang'an pharmacies, even if we reclaimed medicinal fields here at Bai Ting Sea, grew wolfberry and sold it, we wouldn't make much money—at least several orders of magnitude less than what Fang Chongyong imagined.

However, this also shows one thing: the Bai Ting Sea area isn't just grass for feeding horses!

Wild wolfberry is just a small discovery!

What kind of grass is this?

Fang Chongyong pointed at something odd-looking, like a bamboo shoot, and asked. This thing grows far from water, in sandy soil, and looks completely unlike the surrounding pasture.

Don't know it, eh.

I never noticed it before.

The two simpletons again gave answers completely unsurprising to Fang Chongyong.

Fang Chongyong sighed, realizing that his notion of 'local customs' and Xin Yun Jing's notion of 'local customs' were probably completely different.

Um, if you go out to fight and a brother gets wounded, where would you find a medical officer? Where would you find medicinal herbs?

Fang Chongyong asked doubtfully, realizing his way of employing people might be off, so he wanted to try a different approach.

Oh oh, Commander Fang, you should have said earlier. We can't handle these ourselves, but if we go to Liangzhou City, we have more options. The Western Regions' Hu merchants have Western Region medicines, and our Tang's central lands have central-plain medicines. Here in Hexi we lack neither medicine nor people who know how to use them.

Even our Bai Ting Army has a dedicated pharmacy and medical officers to treat the army's difficult ailments.

So the local 'customs' actually refer to business connections.

Fang Chongyong suddenly understood, shouting to the two beside him: 'Then let's go to Liangzhou City to take care of business!'

……

I have a foal that I've never ridden; now, on a whim, I'm riding it to the market...

The next day outside Liangzhou City, Fang Chongyong lay on a flatbed truck, wailing, his forehead burning with fever. He never imagined that his first long-distance horseback ride could leave him in such a state!

One soldier was handing the horse over to a Hu merchant at Liangzhou's city gate for care, while another Bai Ting soldier had hitched a rented ox cart, dragging Fang Chongyong, whose inner thighs were swollen and ulcerated from riding too far.

Anyway, we were headed to the infirmary, so this counts as 'not wasting the trip'; might as well treat the injury. Fang Chongyong took it in stride, only blaming himself for not dodging his carelessness, still thinking riding a few hundred miles was a brave and heroic feat.

Sigh, once this injury heals, I'll ride again slowly to get the hang of it, and my body will gradually get used to the jolting and friction.

Fang Chongyong's mind churned with difficult thoughts, then he slipped into unconsciousness. Due to wound infection causing high fever and delirium, he soon felt himself being helped into a side room and laid on a soft bedboard.

Then his blood‑stained trousers were pulled down, and a pair of slender yet slightly rough hands rubbed his inner‑thigh wound, making the injured skin instantly feel a hard‑to‑describe cool refreshment.

Fang Chongyong struggled to open his eyes, and met the gaze of a pair of exotic, beautiful eyes; the owner smiled charmingly, like a spring breeze on the face. The girl then made a hushing gesture; exhausted, Fang Chongyong lay back down and gradually drifted into drowsy sleep.

A'na ye, are you done? Come over quickly to prepare the medicine!

An old voice came from outside the side room.

All right, Father, I'm coming.

The Western Regions Hu girl named A'na ye glanced thoughtfully at Fang Chongyong lying on the bed, smiled faintly, and then pushed the door open. Her body hadn't developed at all, and she showed none of the slender waist and full hips expected of a Hu lady.

Only her demeanor, like a lotus just risen from the water, possessed an inviolable dry purity.

A'na ye left the side room, and the room's brilliance faded with her.

(End of chapter)