Chapter 212: Wencai Descends on Denglai, the Mou Clan Pacifies Caozhou

"Don't be so quick to say yes—this is no ordinary assignment. If things go wrong, you could lose your head." Seeing that Gao Wencai's family of four was doing well enough, Li Fengxiang, though a eunuch, knew what a godforsaken place Shandong was, and offered a well-meaning word of caution.

Hearing this, Gao Wencai hesitated as well, and asked, "May I ask what exactly this assignment is, Eunuch?"

"Last year, His Majesty, with his great vision and bold strategy, had Regional Commander Huang Fei rebuild Pidao. Early this year, the Jianzhou barbarians and Regional Commander Huang fought several battles of varying scale there.

As you know, since Grand Marshal Mao died, Pidao is no longer what it once was—its military strength is insufficient. The court fears that if Pidao falls, it will endanger the Ji Garrison and San Tun Camp, which are still being established, so it has additionally set up a Maritime Defense Commissioner-in-Chief in Tianjin to provide support.

But the Tianjin naval forces have only just been raised—it won't be easy for them to be effective on short notice. Denglai faces the Liaodong left across the sea, so it must be kept firmly in the court's hands, forming what they call a triangular joint defense.

The current Regional Commander of Denglai is a man named Chen Hongfan. This time you go, His Majesty's intention is for you to rebuild the Chiliarch's office there, continue to serve as His Majesty's eyes and ears, and probe the depths of this Chen fellow."

After speaking, Li Fengxiang felt thirsty, and only then reluctantly picked up the tea on the stone table and took a small sip. He gave a cold laugh and said, "Shandong is a place of extreme wickedness—even I must tread carefully there, let alone a man of sin like you."

Li Fengxiang saw the difficult expressions on Gao Wencai's and the woman's faces, and knew he should not stay long. He gestured for the Squad Leader beside him to place the documents and official robes on the stone table and stool, then rose and walked away, saying:

"No need to see me off. I bear His Majesty's decree—this trip I go openly to Shandong, and I must depart tonight. The message has been delivered. Succeed, and you'll have achieved fame and glory; fail to build it up, and neither side will let you off.

Whether to go or not—discuss it among yourselves. No need to force it."

Gao Wencai stared blankly as Li Fengxiang and his party left through the gate, then sat down on the stone stool as if deflated. Looking at the various familiar objects laid out before him—all things he had worn and used as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard—he suddenly burst into tears.

"Xiu'e, I've wronged you. How about this—this time we just won't go!" Gao Wencai actually missed the first half of his life as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but after hearing Li Fengxiang's warning, he still couldn't bring himself to accept the assignment for his family's sake. Clenching his fist, he said:

"Tomorrow I'll go find Old Man Li and ask about a steady livelihood. The days may be hard, but at least they'll be stable!"

Xiu'e knew her husband's heart all too well. Ever since he'd come back, he would stare blankly all day in the direction of the Northern Bastille, sighing endlessly—he was a man who couldn't sit still.

That was true enough. Though the family had lived frugally before, at least he had been a Chiliarch of the Northern Bastille. If he'd done well and earned a hereditary official rank, the family would have been secure, and every holiday a stream of local petty officials and Embroidered Uniform Guard officers from the Bastille would come calling.

But now that his official rank was gone, the household could truly be described as having "no visitors at the door"—almost no one came all year round. Due to the influence of that previous incident, even the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers who had once been close to him stopped coming.

From the very beginning until now, aside from Li Fengxiang, only Director Li of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had come to look in on him a few times, and each time, to avoid suspicion, he only sat for a short while, exchanged a few words, and left.

Gao Wencai often remarked that this Director Li was far better than that fellow surnamed Luo from before. Though he was the Emperor's confidant, he had no airs of officialdom about him, and he was exceptionally protective of his subordinates—if anything happened to one of them, he would generally handle it personally. Everyone respected him greatly.

Even in the hardest times, when no one dared come, it was Li Ruolian who came privately to visit and comfort him. Though few words were exchanged at the time, Gao Wencai's heart had never felt quite right about it—he always felt he had failed Director Li's trust.

Now that this opportunity had finally come, Gao Wencai did not fear death. Even if dying could repay this debt of gratitude, it would be worth it. But for a man with a family, it was a different matter.

Gao Wencai was afraid that if he died, his wife and children would live lonely, destitute lives, bullied by others.

Just as he was planning to live out his days in obscurity, Xiu'e came forward with the two children and said softly, "Father of my children, if you want to go, then go. Director Li will look after the three of us."

"But..." Gao Wencai gripped Xiu'e's hand, his expression moved, yet still hesitant.

"A real man should go out and carve out his own piece of the world. Hiding at home—how will you bring glory to your ancestors, how will you give the children a good life?

Look at that Dong Qi—before he was just a Vice Regional Commander of the Capital Camps, and now he's Governor-General of the city defense forces, commanding tens of thousands of soldiers, and a close confidant of His Majesty the Emperor. Does he not have a wife and children?

And that Eunuch Li who just came—last year he made several trips back and forth to the Ningwu front line. That place of deadly battle and peril, where the city could fall and men could die at any moment, is far more dangerous than Shandong. His status is far higher than yours, and didn't he go without hesitation?

What kind of Imperial Personal Guard acts so wishy-washy? We don't need you to worry about us—go out and fight for something!"

After hearing his wife's words, Gao Wencai was stunned for a long moment. Suddenly he stood up and hugged her tightly, then picked up his Embroidered Uniform Guard waist token and said fiercely:

"Fine! Then I'll go and fight for it! This trip to Shandong—success or death! I will definitely build the Denglai Chiliarch's office and not disgrace the name of the Son of Heaven's Personal Guard! And I'll give you three a good life!"

About the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Xiu'e looked at her husband, now neatly dressed and quite imposing, and lay her head against his chest, her face full of happiness.

A few days later, Li Fengxiang and his party, having left the capital under cover of night, arrived with great fanfare at Caozhou in Shandong. Mou Wenshou, the Shandong Regional Commander stationed in Caozhou by imperial decree, and his brother, Assistant Regional Commander Mou Wenju, hastily lined up their soldiers and came out to welcome them.

"Come, come—Heavenly Envoy, please enter the city!"

Liu Zeqing had also been stationed in Caozhou before, but he was different from Mou Wenshou. Mou Wenshou was stationed there by imperial decree, to contain the roving bandits around the Guguan area.

Now, after the great victory at Guguan, Governor-General of the Five Provinces Chen Qiyu's prestige was at its peak. He had already led the Northwest Grand Camp's forces to recover the Zhending and Baoding areas, and the remaining bandits were mostly small fry, unlikely to amount to much.

Mou Wenshou stayed here day after day just drilling troops and building walls—bored out of his mind. This time, with Li Fengxiang coming to Shandong, it must mean the court had some new move in store, and he and his clansmen brothers were all quite delighted.

Li Fengxiang took special note of the current state of Caozhou and found that it had indeed changed markedly compared to when Liu Zeqing had been stationed here.

Liu's forces had mostly burned, killed, and plundered—the people were displaced, and the population had been reduced by over sixty percent. But according to the local people, in the very first month Mou's forces were stationed here, they began campaigning everywhere to suppress the remaining mutinous soldiers and refugees, bringing the first period of stability to the Caozhou area.

In addition, to avoid disturbing the people, Mou's forces had cleaned out the drill grounds and training fields outside the city, and conducted all their exercises outside the city walls. Mou's forces also had very strict military discipline and never took so much as a hair from the common people.

Li Fengxiang had even heard that when Mou Wenshou's clansman Mou Xiangrong molested a woman, Mou Wenshou personally raised his blade and beheaded his own clansman to uphold military discipline.

Now, under Mou's forces' defense, the displaced people of Caozhou were gradually gathering back.

On the way to the Marshal's residence, Li Fengxiang saw Mou Wenju personally leading officers and soldiers to help the common people build houses and help civil officials repair their government offices. Everywhere in the streets, officers and soldiers maintained public order, and there were even people specially assigned to sweep away the accumulated debris and garbage of many years.

Mou Wenshou had been guarding Caozhou for less than a year, yet the change was so great compared to when Liu Zeqing had guarded it—Li Fengxiang found it truly incredible.