Chapter 274: Ambition

"Old Zhang, tell me, how is Qi Shaobao's brain wired? Huh? That Mandarin Duck Formation looks like the real deal! Why can't we figure something like that out? Our lads have drilled for over ten days now, and you can see they're already tougher than before! Tsk tsk! If we keep drilling like this for half a year, we won't fear the Jianzhou barbarians! Oh right, what were you saying just now?"

Liu Guoneng, who had been intently watching the soldiers drilling the Mandarin Duck Formation on the distant parade ground, clicked his tongue in wonder as he turned to look at Zhang Wenyao.

"I say, Old Liu, quit playing dumb, will you? This assignment, I figure, spells doom for us. I say, if you've got any last wishes, you'd best settle them now. Lucky for us, we've stashed away plenty of silver over the years, so even if we die this time, our descendants will still live well. But I truly don't want to go throw my life away for nothing! If we were following Governor Sun out through the pass to fight the Jianzhou barbarians, I'd have some confidence in my gut. But the court yanks us out of nowhere and plans to toss us into Liaodong — my heart runs cold just thinking about it! Sure, we rebelled against the court back in the day, but wasn't that just a moment of folly? Why does the court hold such a grudge? Isn't this settling scores after the fact?"

Zhang Wenyao glared at Liu Guoneng with dissatisfaction, his tone carrying both a hint of anger and a trace of helplessness.

"Old Zhang, we're fellow townsmen, came from similar backgrounds, and now hold the same rank. What I can't figure is, was your head kicked by a donkey or what? Back when you were a rebel, you were at least somebody. With a brain like that, how did you ever become a big chief? It's not that I look down on you, but with that blockheaded, stubborn way of thinking, you couldn't even serve as a squad leader under my command!"

Liu Guoneng eyed Zhang Wenyao sideways, mocking him mercilessly.

"Chuang Taitian, screw your donkey-balled mother! When the hell was my head kicked by a donkey? I became a big chief on the strength of my battlefield skills and my loyalty to my brothers! How does that turn into 'blockheaded' when it comes out of your mouth? You explain that to me proper-like! Otherwise, I'll lay you flat with one punch! This Liaodong assignment is plainly a death sentence! There must be some villain beside the emperor trying to harm us! They figure that since we were once rebels and now hold troops in our hands, we might rebel again any day! That's why they're scheming against us! I don't believe you can spin it any other way!"

Zhang Wenyao sprang up from his stool, face red with anger, pointing at Liu Guoneng and cursing loudly.

"Oho ho ho ho ho, getting all riled up, are we? Zhang Miaoshou, oh Zhang Miaoshou, you just rely on your martial skill to look down your nose at everyone. A man like you — all brawn, and the brain gets set aside! No wonder those literati look down on us rough types! Let me tell you, there's a saying you've surely never heard: survive by being placed in a death ground! You know what that means? Yes, that's right, we've been sent to Liaodong — someone in the court is definitely working against us, and the emperor issued the order after being misled by slander. At first glance, it does look like they're using the Jianzhou barbarians' sharp blades to take the lives of us rebels. But if we use our heads a little, we'll see this is a great fortune! This isn't certain death at all — this is a golden rice bowl that Heaven itself is handing to our descendants! Old Zhang, we're about to hit the jackpot this time! If we pull it off, who knows, we might even wrangle a Regional Commander post! Wahahaha!"

Liu Guoneng, sitting in his chair, couldn't help but laugh smugly at his own cleverness.

"Old Liu, what did you mean by all that just now? Can we really come back alive from Liaodong? Tell me quick! How would we earn merit? I wouldn't dare dream of Regional Commander — I'd be plenty satisfied with Vice Regional Commander!"

Zhang Wenyao pressed urgently.

"Aiyo, who was it just now calling me donkey-balled? Zhang Miaoshou, do you admit your head is a wooden lump or not? If you won't admit it, then just take my words as hot air! I've got things to do — farewell!"

"Don't go, don't go! Fine, fine, fine, I admit my head isn't too sharp, alright? Old Liu, I heard your great name back in northern Shaanxi in those days — Chuang Taitian was famous far and wide, mighty impressive! I admire you from the bottom of my heart! Good Old Liu, just tell me, what's the trick here, alright? This old Zhang's heart is itching something fierce!"

Zhang Wenyao rushed forward, grabbed Liu Guoneng who was making to leave, and forcibly pressed him back down into the chair, all the while smiling ingratiatingly and flattering him.

"That's more like it. So the proud and haughty Zhang Miaoshou knows how to humble himself? Very well, seeing as you're being sensible and agreeable, I'll enlighten you today. I'm a bit parched, though. Ai-yah, my body feels so heavy, I don't want to move!"

Zhang Wenyao suppressed the urge to punch Liu Guoneng's nose flat, bent down to pick up the handled clay pot beside him, and refilled Liu Guoneng's big bowl with water. Liu Guoneng raised the bowl, took a sip, and let out a contented odd sound.

"I say, Old Zhang, it's not that your brain is dull — you only know that the Jianzhou barbarians can fight. But if we cross the sea to Liaodong, how many Jianzhou barbarians do you think you'll even see?"

"How could there not be plenty? I asked the officials at the Ministry of War — that Hetu Ala has the Jianzhou barbarians' ancestral graves, and it's usually guarded by several thousand elite barbarians. Those are even fiercer than the foreign troops under Gao Yingxiang back in the day. To be honest, even if we outnumbered them two to one, we might not win!"

Though Zhang Wenyao's soldiers were fairly tough, many were farmers by origin, and during his rebellion they'd rarely had time to drill. It was only in the years since his surrender that they'd begun serious training, and their combat power had improved considerably. But a man knows his own affairs — these soldiers still couldn't measure up to the ferocious Jianzhou barbarians.

"Old Zhang, think about it — next spring the court will muster over a hundred thousand troops to go out through the pass and fight the Jianzhou barbarians. Do you think the barbarians would dare to fight a larger force with a smaller one? Those barbarian chieftains will surely gather every soldier they have to fight our Great Ming! By then, how many thousands could they leave guarding their old nest? I reckon at most a thousand or so. Even if our five thousand-plus men aren't the best fighters, can we really lose to a thousand? I've thought it through — when we sail over and march on Hetu Ala, we absolutely must not let the barbarians detect us on the way. We aim to hit them with a surprise attack once we arrive. With surprise on our side and several times their numbers, if we still can't win, then we're just too pathetic!"

"Is it really that simple? What if the barbarians don't reduce their garrison numbers by then?"

Zhang Wenyao asked doubtfully.

"Then we can only blame our bad luck and fight them to the death. Kill one and we've gained one. If we lose and can't escape, we slit our own throats — whatever we do, don't fall into barbarian hands!"

"Of course — I'm a real man, no way I'd become someone's slave! But Old Liu, even if we take the barbarians' old nest and dig up Wild Boar Skin's family graves, and even if we manage to withdraw intact in the end, I figure that's not such a great merit, is it? Could that really earn us a Regional Commander post? I doubt it! If we fought the barbarian army in open battle and our Great Ming won, maybe we could wrangle a Regional Commander. But just grave-digging merit? Not likely! Really not likely!"

Zhang Wenyao shook his head repeatedly once he'd thought it through.

Digging up the Jianzhou barbarians' ancestral graves was no small merit, true, but it still didn't measure up to trading blows with the barbarians on the battlefield, and on that basis alone there was no way to earn a Regional Commander post.

"Who said we'd earn a Regional Commander with just that? Do you think we'd dig the graves and then scurry straight to the coast to board a ship home?"

Liu Guoneng looked at Zhang Wenyao's ugly face and replied with irritation.

"Isn't that the whole point of this damn errand? If we finish the job and don't run fast, are we supposed to stay and wait to die? This is a wicked deed, you know. Think about it, Old Liu — if someone dared dig up our ancestral graves, whoever they were, we'd fight them to the death! If we don't run fast, the barbarians will chase us even at the cost of their own lives!"

"We won't run at all — we'll head west! We'll attack Shengjing! Tear up the barbarians' new nest too! If we pull that off, Zhang Miaoshou, tell me — isn't that worth the price of a Regional Commander?"

Liu Guoneng stared into Zhang Wenyao's eyes, slowed his speech, and with a solemn face laid out his final plan.