Chapter 59: Lantern Festival (Part 2)

"A real treasure." Zong Ze, seeing no other choice, could only place the box onto the desk cluttered with messy documents, then carefully opened it, took out a heavy silk scroll, and spread it out on the couch beside him before beckoning. "Pengju, come look... this is a battle array diagram left by Emperor Taizong, not given to any but a great general. I found it in the palace, and today I give it specially to you!"

Yue Pengju, upon hearing the words "battle array diagram," instinctively found it absurd, but out of respect for Emperor Taizong, he approached with some skepticism, squinting at it under the lamplight for a few glances. Yet after seeing only half the diagram, he could no longer bear to look.

"Your Excellency!"

"How is it?" Zong Ze asked, his face full of expectation. "Would you like to take it back and study it slowly, then return and write me a few essays on your insights?"

Yue Fei studied Zong Ze's expression and, out of consideration for the man, forcibly swallowed many words... To be honest, if it were a normal day when he was resting in the Eastern Capital, he might have pinched his nose and agreed to comfort the other. But tomorrow he had to make a long journey to Shouzhou—where would he find the leisure for such nonsense?

So Yue Pengju could only force a defense: "Emperor Taizong's battle array diagram is certainly excellent, but to form such a formation requires tens of thousands of elite troops and tens of thousands of specific weapons. I am merely a minor Commander, leading three thousand soldiers, and even our armor is incomplete—what use would this array be to me?"

Zong Ze, being the man he was, how could he not understand Yue Pengju's meaning? He immediately grew dejected. "You might as well say directly that this thing is useless, and that I, Zong Rulin, know nothing of military affairs and have made a fool of myself!"

Yue Fei, for once, did not persist stubbornly and was about to quickly console him.

However, Zong Ze casually rolled up the array diagram and spoke again:

"But Pengju, you are the rarest born general I have seen in my life. Under my command, every battle you fight is a victory, your captures and kills are always the highest, and your determination to resist the Jin is the firmest. Otherwise, do you think I, along with the former Grand Coordinator Zhang and Wang Yan, who specially wrote a report to let you off, have all gone mad—bending over backward to protect you at every turn, promoting you beyond your rank every time? And though I know little of military affairs, I still understand that a brave warrior and a great general are not the same. Now that I hope you will soon mature into a great talent, to become a famed general like Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Li Jing, or Xu Da, I can only ask a blind man for directions, grasping at straws in desperation..."

Yue Fei was slightly startled and, for once, spoke earnestly: "Your Excellency, rest assured. When it comes to the art of war, I have my own plans and measures."

"What measures?"

"To form ranks before battle is the common method of war, but the subtlety of its application lies in a single mind. The key to military strategy lies in surprise—what cannot be fathomed or recognized is what brings victory!"

Zong Ze was taken aback, then shook his head slightly. "I don't understand..."

Yue Fei was about to explain further.

"You needn't explain. In the end, you are far better than I at the art of war. As long as you have your own judgment, that's enough!" Zong Ze waved his hand repeatedly, then got off the couch, still wrapped in his fur robe. "Let's leave it at that. I'll see you out!"

Yue Fei quickly declined.

"It's nothing serious. Just seeing someone off won't cost me my life. If you can serve the country with utmost loyalty on this journey, killing many enemies and resisting the Jin, I might even extend my life by a few more months..."

Yue Pengju had no choice but to bow his head in acceptance.

When Zong Rulin put on his wooden clogs and stepped out the door, he first saw Ma Kuo and Zong Ying. The Defender of the Eastern Capital frowned slightly and scolded, "Why are you still holding that head? Don't you find it disgusting?"

Zong Ying, helpless, could only quickly place the bloody head on the ground.

His Excellency Zong, too lazy to bother further, simply raised his hand and pointed at Yue Fei, speaking to Ma Kuo: "Young Master Ma, pack up as well. Tomorrow you will follow Commander Yue's army to Shouzhou to present yourself before His Majesty."

Ma Kuo was overjoyed and quickly bowed to both Zong Ze and Yue Fei outside the door.

Having said this, Zong Ze said no more. Accompanied by the three men and a few guards, he walked out of the Defender's residence and stopped only when he reached the street where Yue Fei's attendant, Tang Huai, and others were waiting.

Now, during the Jingkang Incident half a year earlier, although the Jin army had never entered the city, sparing the buildings from widespread destruction, all the craftsmen, wealth, weapons, military equipment, and grain stores had been completely lost. Moreover, the hundreds of thousands of Imperial Guards and relief troops, after being defeated, had scattered and turned into bandits, turning the entire city into a ghost town!

A true ghost town. One must know that in the Eastern Capital's heyday, the population was 1.4 million, with people crowding shoulder to shoulder on the streets. But now, in and around the Eastern Capital, the ordinary households inside and outside the city numbered only 200,000... and everyone was impoverished, even suffering a famine at one point. It was only thanks to Zong Ze, who came to take charge here in the middle of last year, that things barely improved—pacifying the people, recruiting scattered soldiers, organizing resistance against the Jin, and also struggling with the central government in the temporary capital through endless disputes.

Returning to the present, tonight was the Lantern Festival. In years past, Bianliang City would have been ablaze with fiery trees and silver flowers, a night without darkness. But now it was bleak and desolate. Though a few scattered lanterns shone, they were only for patrols of soldiers. Only a bright moon hung high in the sky, stirring thoughts... One could only say that the former splendor of the Eastern Capital now seemed like nothing but a dream.

Among the four men, three had experienced that prosperous era, so they stood silent, their hearts full of emotion. Yue Fei, though he had never seen that former glory, could understand it from the expressions of the other three, especially on this festive night. So he too stood solemnly, saying nothing.

"Let's disperse!"

In the cold night under the bright moon, the gaunt Zong Ze, wrapped in a motley fur robe, stood on the street watching for a long time before suddenly waving his hand. "You still have to travel tomorrow."

Yue Fei and Ma Kuo quickly bowed their heads. Zong Ying, who had originally wanted to reach out and support his father back inside, remembered he had just been carrying a bloody head and could only follow closely behind.

However, Zong Ze, wrapped in that motley fur robe, walked slowly for a few steps, then suddenly turned back and called out to the two who had already mounted their horses: "Come back!"

Yue and Ma dared not delay. They dismounted, turned back, and bowed respectfully.

"Pengju." Zong Ze indeed spoke first to Yue Fei. "I've thought it over. What you said earlier was absolutely right. My way of doing things cannot last, and indeed, I am no good at the art of war... To truly recover Hebei and welcome back the Two Emperors, we must do it your way—strict military discipline, ample troops and provisions, complete weaponry, and fight openly and squarely!"

Yue Fei, under the gaze of the others, quickly bowed his head: "I am ashamed, Your Excellency. I did not mean to criticize you. Your work in the Eastern Capital, winning people's hearts and reorganizing military preparations, is already a model for a commander. What I said about the art of war referred only to minor tactics on the battlefield..."

"I know, I know. I'm not admitting I was wrong either." Zong Ze stepped forward and supported him. "I am a low-ranked jinshi, who spent half my life as a County Marshal and County Magistrate. How could I understand warfare or emulate Marquis Wu of Zhuge? But with the nation fallen, and no one else caring, only I, an old man nearing seventy, remain in this ruined capital, doing what I can to patch things up. That's already good enough. Why should I be expected to do as well as some heaven-supporting pillar? Isn't it enough to be an iron pillar?"

"Your Excellency speaks truly."

Yue Fei replied sincerely.

Now, although Yue Pengju had found a hundred faults with Zong Ze inside the house, at this moment he truly felt a hundred times that Zong Ze was absolutely right... Just think about it: when the situation was dire, from His Majesty on down, everyone was in the south, and staying in the south seemed reasonable enough. But Zong Ze alone remained in the Eastern Capital, and by his own efforts, working tirelessly, he had managed to hold together such a vast situation. To say he didn't know how to wage war, or that his methods lacked system—if it came from a kindred spirit hoping Zong Ze would do better, that was fine. But to use it to attack him—what difference was that from the blood-sucking flies on the battlefield?

Did Zong Ze manage to gather these scattered troops and volunteer armies so efficiently in the Eastern Capital, inspiring everyone to die for him, by being a military genius?

For achieving today's situation, this Marshal Zong was already worthy of being called the greatest commander in the realm! Because at this moment, there was no second person in the entire empire who could break through all the previous constraints from the temporary court and the current dire circumstances to serve the nation with such devotion and become another qualified commander!

A gaunt iron pillar is still a pillar that holds up the sky!