Chapter 22: Chaos, Chaos Everywhere

The building stood three stories tall, rising alone amid the depths of the marketplace.

Yu Jin, properly dressed and capped, was led by a servant into this pleasure house that had made a great name for itself throughout Ma Yi and indeed the entire Northern Frontier.

It was broad daylight, and the building was quiet.

Li Shuang was in the warm chamber on the east side of the third floor.

The warm chamber was finely decorated.

A three-pile patterned wool carpet from the Western Regions was spread across the floor; in the center of the chamber sat two rosewood gilt short tables from Bingzhou; inside the silver-inlaid mountain-and-bird lacquer boxes on the tables were baked flatbreads, jerky, cheese, and candied fruit.

Li Shuang sat behind one of the short tables, leaning against a soft cushion, his posture casual, occasionally gazing out at the scenery of Ma Yi beyond the window.

Beneath the vault of heaven, beside the green mountains, cattle and sheep dotted the fields, and the verdant plains gave shade.

With his arrival, the other man drew back his gaze and looked toward him.

Even though he had long had an estimate in mind, Yu Jin still had not expected this army commander to be so young.

The man's skin was firm, his frame sturdy, his features handsome, his eyes bright — perhaps from having spent too long in the mountains and wilds, his skin was somewhat swarthy.

Yu Jin had first taken notice of Li Shuang because, when Li Chong launched his northern campaign, the supply lines were repeatedly raided by him, and several thousand sets of armor and several hundred sets of horse armor were lost.

Because of this, when Li Chong returned south, he made a point of launching a punitive expedition, but in the end returned empty-handed.

Li Chong was punished for the matter. Yet Yu Jin had privately happened to overhear Li Chong's assessment of Li Shuang.

"What a pity that even amid the mountains and wilds there should be a dragon!"

Yu Jin had not understood at the time, but now, looking at Li Shuang's appearance, he seemed to grasp it somewhat.

"Is the Adjutant here to ask for money and grain?"

"Precisely!"

"Unfortunately, there is none left."

"The money and grain the court has stored in Ma Yi are enough to supply a hundred thousand troops for three months. Such a vast sum of money and grain — gone, just like that?"

Yu Jin did not forget the duty of his trip: to recover the money and grain on Yuan Shen's behalf.

"What else?"

Li Shuang's brief remark said a great deal, and yet seemed to say nothing at all.

Yu Jin, however, was thoroughly choked, and for a moment could not speak.

"If I were the Adjutant, at this moment I would not be in a rush to demand this money and grain, but rather be considering how the Northern Frontier would fare without it."

How would the Northern Frontier fare?

Yu Jin had followed Yuan Shen into the army and had not been in the Northern Frontier for all that long. Yet he clearly knew where the crux of the Liuzhen' rebellion lay.

The court had run out of money, and was unwilling to keep pouring funds into the Northern Frontier.

With no increment, the existing stock became the target on which everyone's eyes were fixed.

Hengzhou would fall into chaos!

This was something Yu Jin could foresee.

"Were it not for men like the Army Commander, who rise at the cock's crow to practice, Hengzhou would likely be far more stable."

"The Adjutant is mistaken. The present state of the Northern Frontier is what everyone has been hoping to see. The Liuzhen are like this, the Eastern and Western Tiele are like this, and the Rouran of Mobei are like this as well — can one Prince of Guangyang alone hold them back?"

Outside the chamber, two armored warriors entered, causing Yu Jin's face to change.

"What does the Army Commander intend?"

Yu Jin feared Li Shuang meant to silence him by killing him, but the other man merely said calmly:

"The mountains are high and the roads are long. The Northern Frontier has been unsettled of late — the Adjutant should stay within the city of Ma Yi for a time!"

The Huli Tribe.

"It's chaos, chaos everywhere!"

Huli Jin, listening to the clamor within the tribe, walked out of the great tent and bellowed:

"What are you all shouting about? What's happened?"

A warrior of the Huli Tribe ran over and explained the situation in detail.

"Several tribes around Take Pingcheng, after going to demand this month's money and grain and failing to get it, were beaten by the garrison troops from Take Pingcheng. In a rage, they threatened to defect to the True King!"

"And what about Take Pingcheng itself?"

"The Prince of Guangyang has shut the city gates tight and is letting no outsiders in."

Huli Jin listened, his Face Dark with Gravity, and instructed:

"Pay no heed to others. During this period, keep the tribesmen pacified, watch carefully over the livestock in the animal pens, and keep your armor on at all times, in case of the unexpected."

"But our tribe's money and grain are running low too — I'm afraid we won't hold out much longer."

"Understood. I'll find a way!"

Relying on his own prestige, Huli Jin managed for the moment to pacify his tribesmen.

But prestige cannot conjure grain out of thin air. In The Northern Frontier Today, whose household is not scraping by for food? Even borrowing, one cannot borrow any!

Just as Huli Jin was worrying, Huli Guang came to his side.

"Father, I have a way!"

Having inherited the fine bloodline of his grandfather's generation, the young Huli Guang already possessed a fine build and good looks.

"What scheme could a child like you possibly have?"

"We have no grain, but some places do — Take Pingcheng, Ma Yi, or even Woye Garrison."

Huli Jin listened, astonished in his heart.

He had not expected Huli Guang, so young, to already possess such insight.

Take Pingcheng was certainly a place one could not count on.

Huli Jin thought of the cart of grain and the dozen-odd cattle and sheep that Yu Jin had sent not long ago — for an envoy of the mighty Prince of Guangyang, such a gift was downright shabby; even if he were to go ask now, he would likely get nothing.

But Shuoyi and the Wuye Garrison, Hulü Jin truly did not wish to become entangled with either.

The Wuye Garrison needed no further mention; going to Shuoyi would mean offending Yuan Shen. Moreover, Hulü Jin had no friendship with Li Shuang.

"Gather the clansmen, go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables, bring back everything edible, and just wait until spring; the situation will improve."

In Hulü Jin's heart, he could only hope for this.

Night.

Inside Hong Langman, the lights were dim, and songs and dances filled the air.

A group of Hu Ren leaders from around Shuoyi gathered together, drinking wine and singing songs in the warm hall, hugging Misses and laughing heartily.

Who would have known that suddenly someone came rushing in from outside.

And then, more and more people arrived.

At first, no one noticed this change, thinking only that someone's tribe had lost cattle or sheep, that a wife had run off with another man, or that the child born back home a year ago had been heard of... until this matter became intimately related to everyone.

"Military Master, our tribe has been raided!"

After the anger of several tribes around Take Pingcheng, they dared not attack the fortified city of Take Pingcheng, nor did they dare to head west to join Po Liu Han Baling, so they all moved south.

After hearing this, Li Shuang's expression became serious.

"Is there some misunderstanding here? The people in these tribes are descendants of loyal families who have served in Luoyang for generations; how could they suddenly disregard the court's orders and raid the south?"

"Military Master, there is no misunderstanding; they are simply a group of rebels!"

Li Shuang shook his head.

"But even so, I cannot handle this! I am merely a minor governor of Shuoyi; if the Prince of Guangyang does not intend to handle it, how can I?"

At this moment, Liu Gui walked in, looking flustered.

"Military Master, it is bad news."

"What matter is so urgent?"

"A large shipment we brought from Liaodong has been seized by those tribes!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shuang's heart skipped a beat.

"It seems what you say is true; these are no longer ordinary commoners; we must strike hard."

"We all await the Military Master's orders!"