Chapter 20: You Have Truly Made Things Terribly Difficult for Me

The Marquis of Shanyu City's Defense Office!

There is no wife in a wife-cake, just as there is no city governor in the City Governor's Office; it is all the same principle.

In this vast City Governor's Mansion, officers of the middle and lower ranks of Shanyu City had now gathered.

Gao Ang and Yang Kan stood on either side of Li Shuang, like two door gods!

"Great news has gone terribly wrong!"

Li Shuang's single sentence made everyone present feel their hearts drumming; what exactly had happened?

"As everyone knows, the previous Governor of Shanyu was addicted to embezzlement. During his tenure, he embezzled vast amounts of military funds and grain, and not long ago, he fled with a large portion of his stolen gains and his younger sister-in-law, leaving the entire city of Shanyu with a declining populace and an empty treasury."

Liu Gui immediately stepped forward; now serving as the Shanyu Patrol Commissioner, he led the questioning:

"Why should the Army Master worry over something so well known?"

Li Shuang sighed.

"Yet Prince Guangyang insists on pinning this account on my head! My own reputation is a small matter, but I fear it will implicate all you brothers."

Not a single person present was a fool.

Hearing Li Shuang speak thus, everyone understood. He intended to unify the narrative and shift all the blame outward.

"This is outrageous!"

Everyone present spoke up in turn. Those who had taken the most had the most righteous words bubbling forth from their hearts.

"The Army Master is honest and serves the public; who does not know, who does not understand? There must be a petty person whispering slander to Prince Guangyang. If such a treacherous minister dares to come, we will certainly make them know our power."

Hearing these words, Li Shuang was deeply moved.

"As a loyal subject of Great Wei, whenever I wake in the dead of night from my dreams, I sigh at the decline of the times and the shattering of Jiangshan, filled with grief and indignation. But fortunately, within the city of Shanyu, there are still you loyal and worthy men, able to maintain the peace of the Northern Frontier."

Li Shuang waved his hand and said:

"Issue the order: within the city of Shanyu, whether regular soldiers or auxiliary soldiers, all shall be advanced seven months' wages and grain."

Liu Gui clasped his hands and said:

"Army Master, Prince Guangyang has already made a move. If we now distribute wages and grain on such a large scale, will Pingcheng not think the Army Master is bribing?"

"Distributing wages and grain to officers above the Army Master is called bribery; distributing them to the rank-and-file soldiers is merely to reward these loyal and righteous men who work tirelessly and hold the front line."

"The Army Master is wise!"

The crowd clasped their hands and said.

With the atmosphere built up to this point, Liu Gui spoke again:

"I have one statement: a nation cannot exist for a day without a ruler, and Shanyu cannot exist for a day without a master. The Six Garrisons are in chaotic turmoil, and Pingcheng is full of treacherous flatterers. At such a time, only the Army Master can guard Shanyu and intimidate those rebels!"

Li Shuang heard this and shouted loudly:

"Audacious! The appointment and removal of officials is a great matter that only the imperial court can decide. How could I arbitrarily assume the post of Governor of Shanyu?"

Just then, the entire group of officers knelt down.

"We beg the Army Master to assume the governorship of Shanyu; otherwise, we will not rise!"

"You have truly made things terribly difficult for me!"

"Opening the treasury wide, distributing wages and grain, arbitrarily appointing a governor—is this boy planning to rebel?"

Learning that the men he had sent out were driven back, Yuan Shen had moved beyond anger. He felt his authority being challenged.

"Come, assemble the great army! This King will personally march south to capture this thief!"

Just as Yuan Shen finished speaking, Yu Jin hurriedly stepped forward to stop him.

"Your Highness, you must not!"

Yuan Shen looked at Yu Jin and asked angrily:

"Why must I not?"

"At this moment, the war on the front is already extremely urgent. If the Pingcheng army moves lightly, and if the front is lost, the responsibility for a defeated army will be something Your Highness cannot escape!"

This single sentence calmed Yuan Shen down.

The scheming within the Luoyang court, and even more so among the imperial clan.

Though all were of the Yuan imperial clan, the internal divisions were greater than the sky.

Otherwise, how could Yuan Tianmu, also of the imperial clan, stand with General Er Zhu Rong and dig up the family's own roots?

"Moreover, Li Shuang is extremely well-versed in military strategy. Whether Your Highness's expedition succeeds or fails, it will likely be of no benefit to the overall situation. Behind Li Shuang stands General Er Zhu Rong; behind General Er Zhu Rong stands Prince Yuan Yi. Once we give our enemies grounds for accusation, and Prince Yuan Yi attacks from Luoyang, Your Highness will likely find it difficult to regain the court's trust."

Pingcheng is the core city of the Northern Frontier, the former capital of Northern Wei; any slight error will implicate the entire situation. If he moves now and fails to take Shanyu, he will lose his own face and prestige; from then on, it will be difficult for Yuan Shen to command the heroes of Pingcheng.

Even if he did take it, it would only be internal exhaustion. If during the stalemate the Chidi tribes around them rebelled opportunistically, that would be losing the big for the small.

Yu Jin explained the risks of this expedition to Yuan Shen. Hearing this, Yuan Shen asked in return:

"Does this mean we should just leave this boy alone?"

Yu Jin produced a handwritten document.

"This is a petition signed jointly by all the officers of Shanyu requesting Li Shuang to serve as Governor of Shanyu. I think we can agree to it."

If he had not known that Yu Jin's family was clean and that he had no dealings with the Shanyu side, Yuan Shen would have truly suspected that Yu Jin had also taken money from Li Shuang.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"The tribes near Shanyu are clustered together, and the situation is complex. If there is any loss, the court will inevitably hold Your Highness accountable first. But now, with Li Shuang there, the blame will rest on him, and also on General Er Zhu Rong and Prince Yuan Yi. The most urgent matter is to demand the return of the court's wages and grain in Shanyu!"

"If he spends money like this, even if there were a mountain of gold, it would eventually be spent. How can the court's wages and grain be recovered?"

"Your Highness does not know the story of Liu Bei borrowing Jingzhou; even if we cannot get it back, we must go and demand it."

Yuan Shen nodded and spoke:

"In that case, you shall go personally!"

Outside the city of Shanyu.

Inside the great tent, flowers were arranged everywhere, and a circle of medicinal powder to drive away snakes and rats was spread around.

A maiden in a red jacket sat on the ground, her skirt spread out like a full moon.

"A Ru, what should we do now?"

The elders of the tribe were filled with worry, a fear of the unknown.

"The situation here is far more complex than we imagined. The Governor of Ma Yi, who originally took our money, has fled as well. Now, what shall we do?"

The great tent was not lacking in brave men, yet everyone's gaze turned toward the maiden.

She was the master of these three thousand Xiongnu warriors, the one who truly held the power of decision.

"Our tribe has long relied on the Puluohan clan; over time, outsiders have come to regard us as people of the Puluohan clan. At this moment, it is time to sever all ties with the Puluohan clan."

The tribe's elders shook their heads.

"Many of our clansmen are still in the hands of Puluohan Boluohan Kongque. Your elder sister is there as well. How can we sever ties?"

The maiden's smile was like the spring breeze; her eyes and brows seemed to hold the stars, yet in her every gesture and movement, she carried an aura of authority that ordinary people lacked.

She drew a jade pendant shaped like a crescent moon from her sleeve.

Seeing this, the crowd knelt down one after another.

"Before I came here, I had already separated my household from my sister's. My sister told me not to worry about her; she has her own plan to escape. People like Puluohan Boluohan Kongque are no match for my sister."

"In that case, shall we still proceed with the original plan to turn Hulü Jin?"

The maiden pondered for a long time, then spoke slowly:

"This matter can be done, but most importantly, we must first determine who will be the allies we can trust in the future!"