Chapter 283: and ===GLOSSARY===

These envoys included court envoys from Jiangdu Yangzhou, as well as envoys from Hulao belonging to Pei Renji, and even envoys from Luoyang; they all came to find Bai Lang to deliver the 'imperial edict and request.' Bai Lang first saw the inner attendant delivering Emperor Yang Guang's edict, who said, 'You have worked hard on the way.' This inner attendant appeared to have some martial skill; otherwise, even with official escorts along the route it would still be quite dangerous—especially having to pass through Du Fuwei's Jianghuai army sphere of influence.

This envoy also unfurled the edict and read it aloud, while Bai Lang simply stood with clasped hands. In the edict, Emperor Yang Guang first praised Bai Lang profusely, then urged him to hold Yingyang Commandery, endorsing his actions there—Emperor Yang Guang is not stupid at all; on the contrary, he sees the overall situation quite clearly, so why has this man turned the Sui realm into what it is now? 'King Zhou was quick-witted and perceptive, talented and strong, able to grapple with fierce beasts; his knowledge sufficed to rebuke advice, his words sufficed to conceal faults; he exalted ministers by ability, exalted the world by reputation, believing all came from beneath him.' Emperor Yang Guang is exactly such a person.

Bai Lang felt that using Sima Qian's evaluation of King Zhou to describe Yang Guang was also appropriate—wasn't he just that kind of person? The Grand Canal's merit will last through the ages, yet the Sui dynasty is essentially finished...... He still wants to attack Goguryeo, and do so multiple times. If one says Yang Guang once served as commander-in-chief who pacified the Chen dynasty, how could he be so foolish as to muster so many troops for a Goguryeo campaign? If he had merely summoned the forces of several northern commanderies plus a portion of the central palace guards, 200,000 troops would already have been enough to destroy Goguryeo.

Even a force of a million would merely be sending them to their deaths.

Based on Bai Lang's later experience, this is how it was—later Li Ji's pacification of Goguryeo certainly did not require a million‑strong army. Nevertheless, Yang Guang was not bad; he directly appointed Bai Lang as governor of the entire Yingyang Commandery, a position that even surpassed those of Luo Shixin and Qin Qiong, who had originally served under Zhang Xutuo, and his rank was promoted to Right General of the Grand Commander. The edict hoped he would guard Yingyang Commandery well; if Yingyang remained orderly, Henan Circuit could have a chance at stability.

Furthermore, they hoped he would cooperate with General Pei Renji to crush the currently most formidable Wagang stronghold...... Bai Lang sighed and accepted the edict, while the inner attendant, after receiving some gift money, hurried back to Jiangdu to report to Emperor Yang Guang.

The second was from Pei Renji, who hoped to set a time with Bai Lang to jointly attack the Wagang stronghold occupying Luokou, which threatened the granaries and Luoyang. Naturally, Pei Renji wanted Bai Lang to cooperate with him, because regardless of how one puts it, his rank was above Bai Lang's, and even though Bai Lang has now been promoted, that remains the case. Bai Lang didn't mind this; after all, Pei Renji originally held the advantage—he had more troops and broader command, and Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin had defected to him after their defeats.

Moreover, Pei Renji's own son was also an outstanding fierce general; Bai Lang remembered that his second son would later become a famous Tang general. So Bai Lang also gave the envoy a satisfactory reply, letting him carry back a handwritten letter from Bai Lang—naturally worded with Pei Renji as the primary addressee, in which Bai Lang promised he would do his utmost to cooperate.

The third envoy naturally came from Wang Shichong of Luoyang; this fellow's envoy, upon seeing Bai Lang, had his upper and lower teeth chattering, his whole body trembling to the point he could barely hold the letter—however, the cart bearing the gifts stopped steadily in Bai Lang's courtyard. The courtyard was already piled with many gifts, from those bestowed by Emperor Yang Guang to those sent by Pei Renji, and now there were even more gifts from Wang Shichong—by quantity, Wang Shichong sent the most.

'Why be so afraid? I won't eat you.' Bai Lang also found it strange that the envoy behaved this way, which made him inadvertently look down on Wang Shichong. Bai Lang was no fool; he immediately realized that the letter from Wang Shichong must contain something that frightened the envoy to this extent—of course, another likely reason was that the envoy had never imagined Bai Lang's aura could be so terrifying. Bai Lang opened the letter, glanced at it briefly, and then laughed......

As expected, it's no wonder the envoy was frightened after seeing Bai Lang—at first the letter was fairly normal, with Wang Shichong lavishly praising Bai Lang's bravery and ferocity, but then the brush turned and he began to write about the threats surrounding Bai Lang, making it sound as if Bai Lang would be drowned by the surrounding rebel armies the very next day; finally he proposed a solution: to surrender to him, Wang Shichong, assuring safety and great wealth and honor......

The envoy should originally have been able to respond with words; after reading the letter, Bai Lang—whether he flew into a rage or was simply bewildered—should have been able to pick up the conversation and persuade this magistrate to fulfill Wang Shichong's wishes. However, the blow he received was that upon entering, it seemed as if he saw a fierce tiger seated in the hall, its claws and fangs menacing, almost man‑eating. And Bai Lang had only recently established his authority by killing people in the commandery; his murderous aura had not yet fully transformed into a dignified presence, which made him all the more terrifying.

With a bit more imagination, one might see this hall with a tiger seated on the throne, skulls and bones hanging everywhere above and below, weapons scattered about, vicious and extreme—truly a living hell, asura realm, and animal realm. Coincidentally, this envoy happened to be highly imaginative and also a Buddhist; he was immediately frightened to the point of nearly losing his soul—who made Bai Lang's martial arts that of an Innate Expert? Although he cannot blend into the world for a whole day, the Innate Expert's 'aura' seeps out bit by bit, making him different from the experts of this age.

This already resembles the aura of the three grand masters.

When the envoy saw Bai Lang's eyebrows twitching, his beard bristling, and the corners of his mouth turning up in a grin like a vicious smile, he immediately lost spirit and plopped down on his knees, saying nothing, just lying on the ground; Bai Lang's laughter burst out: 'Why be like this? It's just a letter, after all, and merely one‑sided opinion.' In fact, according to history, Wang Shichong should now be in Jiangdu, not holding Luoyang—this is at least two years later.

Bai Lang certainly had no interest in killing the envoy before him; Wang Shichong's letter could not make him angry at all—should one get angry over a petty person's letter? He simply ignored it and left it at that—before defeating Li Mi, Wang Shichong's influence could not reach Yingyang Commandery, let alone Henan Circuit.

Bai Lang is ultimately a martial arts master; administration is not his forte, and he actually has no intention of seizing territory to become a warlord—he wanders the world, with his own martial skill coming first. Therefore, after taking office as governor, he left all administrative affairs to the previous governor to handle, and he also directly reduced many taxes and levies below—since he hardly needed to maintain troops, the commandery's forces stopped expanding once they reached seven hundred men.

Bai Lang's governance can be described as lenient; he quite embodied the Western Han Huang‑Lao ideal—could this be called 'peaceful governance and harmonious people'? Anyway, not collecting or collecting little tax makes a good governor...... In these troubled times merely staying alive is already difficult, so an extra mouthful of grain is also good. Within Yingyang city there are only seven hundred soldiers, while the total number of troops in all the counties of the commandery amounts to just one or two hundred responsible for guarding the city walls; the rest Bai Lang sent back home. If anyone comes to attack and seize, Bai Lang merely strikes first.