Chapter 136: Children Have Their Own Fortune

The snow had already stopped.

On the official road from Yanchang County to Fushi County, several young men rode at a gallop, leading over ten mules and horses.

The warhorses they rode carried goose-feather sabers, and the mules they led were laden with large bundles; though their faces all bore a famished pallor, they were fierce and vigilant.

Entering Fushi County, not far from Black Dragon Mountain, they halted. The leader went down the line of mules, hefting the bundles on their backs, testing their weight and listening to the sounds.

Some made no sound when lifted, some were very light, some very heavy, and some gave off the clink of armor plates colliding.

Finally he carried down three bundles, set them on the ground, and opened them: one bundle of firewood, one iron pot, and one bundle wrapped up tight — inside, a large block of ice chiseled from a river.

They boiled some hot water to warm themselves, then continued on the road, all the way to Black Dragon Mountain, where they were stopped by the auxiliary soldiers.

"Trouble you, brothers, to pass word along. I am Gao Yingdeng, cavalry squad leader of Ningsai Fort. On the assignment of Guard Wang, chiliarch of Yan'an Guard, I've come to seek a way forward under General Liu."

Just as he spoke, two gunshots rang out from within Black Dragon Mountain, startling the long-traveled King's-Duty troops into reaching for their blades — but they saw the auxiliary soldiers made no unusual move, only left the words "Brothers, wait a moment," and ran into the mountain to report.

Truly, barely a moment later, the auxiliary soldiers came galloping back and called them into the mountain. They had walked no more than a hundred-odd paces when they saw several riders racing down from the hill ridge. The leader rode a red-maned horse and, before even drawing near, said: "I am Liu Chengzong. Is Yang Yanchang still alive?"

These were the first deserters from the King's-Duty Army to reach Black Dragon Mountain.

Their arrival came far later than Liu Chengzong had expected.

Gao Yingdeng and the others hurriedly dismounted and prostrated themselves: "I am Gao Yingdeng of Ningsai Fort, paying respects to General Liu!"

These words were spoken with wholehearted admiration.

In truth, Gao Yingdeng had long known of Liu Chengzong. Since Lu Cheng's death, among the garrison troops in the forts along the northern secondary border wall, there were probably few who did not know Liu Chengzong, save for the Night Never-Rests who were permanently stationed beyond the passes.

Especially after Li Bei's defeat, the name Liu Chengzong rang especially loud among the border troops; soldiers and low-ranking officers took deep pride in it.

'Look here — that Liu Chengzong was nothing but a household retainer and picked champion, yet he still beat every general from every command into the dirt. You old bastards better watch out; the day you push us to revolt, we'll be another Liu Chengzong.'

But in the end, this was not reverence for Liu Chengzong himself, but pride that someone of the same station had kicked up such a storm.

Most people's thinking was: you're border troops, I'm border troops; you've made a big name for yourself — it's just that you got the chance. Put me there and I'd do the same.

For a long time, Gao Yingdeng thought exactly that — until he set foot on the King's-Duty road and embarked on a little fantastic journey of his own, which threw that notion to the farthest ends of the sky.

It all started when he met Wang Ziyong, the deputy chiliarch of Yan'an Guard. Ever since meeting this man, Gao Yingdeng found that the old brothers who had fought bloody battles with him against the northern caitiffs on the frontier grew fewer and fewer.

Those who remained also began obliquely suggesting he become a deserter.

At first, Gao Yingdeng actually didn't connect the matter to that big simpleton Wang Ziyong.

Not until he discovered that Yang Yanchang, the commandant of Yan'an Guard, had not traveled with them.

That Illustrious Valor General's arrival at Yulin to report in had been a grand gesture — he straight-up gave Commander-in-Chief Wu a hundred warhorses.

He said Yan'an Guard had nothing, its banner troops' combat strength was no good, and its strength was only five hundred men — probably of no use on the King's-Duty campaign — so he would use these hundred horses as military funds to support Commander-in-Chief Wu's King's-Duty mission.

It delighted Old Wu to no end; he even said in front of all the commanders at the expedition's start: If all of you were like General Yang, how fine that would be?

What nonsense — if everyone were like Yang Yanchang, before the troops even marched they'd scrape together over ten thousand horses for you; wouldn't you be overjoyed to death? You could charge the enemy lines with horses alone on the battlefield.

Yang Yanchang's unit was at the very rear. The mission Wu Zimian assigned him was to round up deserters.

Those with written orders didn't count.

The soldiers who went missing from Gao Yingdeng's unit were all with Yang Yanchang.

They'd be found and back in less than half a day, then fall behind and end up with Yang Yanchang again. This wasn't right — who goes for a shit and just vanishes? Is General Yang your family latrine?

After a few days on the march, Gao Yingdeng chewed it over and caught the flavor: this King's-Duty force from Yansui Garrison was utterly farcical.

At the front, Commander-in-Chief Wu Zimian was issuing slips — as long as a soldier paid silver or handed over a horse, he let them leave the ranks. At the rear, Commandant Yang Yanchang was intercepting runaways, catching every last one without a slip.

A round of ideological education not only steeled the deserters' resolve to keep deserting, it even gave the deserters an organization.

In the end, every unit's troops dwindled while Yang Yanchang's men swelled. When the various commanders went to demand their men back, Yang Yanchang smilingly returned them — and not long after being returned, the men would run off to Yang Yanchang again.

All this Gao Yingdeng only learned later, when he too wanted to become a deserter.

But what made Gao Yingdeng admire Liu Chengzong most was not that men like Yang Yanchang and Wang Ziyong served his purposes.

It was that all along the way, this band of outlaws had set up twelve relay stations along the route; wherever they went, someone received them, and the way was clear all the way to Yan'an Prefecture city.

That was not something an ordinary man could pull off.

He said to Liu Chengzong: "On the sixth day of the first month, we camped by the Yellow River. Grand Coordinator Zhang and Commander-in-Chief Wu had a quarrel over the deserters. It was cold, and His Excellency the Grand Coordinator was getting on in years."

Liu Chengzong led his horse forward; he wanted to return to Xingping Village as quickly as possible.

The village was having the tenant farmers identify and interrogate those henchmen of Xing Xuan.

Those who had committed no great wrong were let go; those who had done some bad deeds were sent to Liu Family Manor to be tenant farmers.

Those whose crimes were truly monstrous — well, there was no help for it; they could only be dragged out and beheaded.

But hearing this, he still halted his steps and turned his head to look at Gao Yingdeng.

Gao Yingdeng nodded: "Grand Coordinator Zhang was angered to death. He was angered to death that very day."

Liu Chengzong did not know whether to count this as good news or bad news.

Zhang Mengjing, Grand Coordinator of Yansui, had only passed the metropolitan examination and become an official at forty-two. He had provided disaster relief, put down rebellions, dredged up the Imperial Heirloom Seal from the Zhang River, governed the region and saved twenty thousand taels of silver to aid the court's Liao stipend, and last year fought three battles against the Chakhar Mongols along the Great Wall — three battles, three victories.

In thirteen official posts, every post had achievements in governance.

A man like that, angered to death by Wu Zimian — dead on the King's-Duty road.

Gao Yingdeng's heart was heavy with grief; he sighed and said: "The court's later edict — the Emperor said Yansui Garrison defends against caitiffs in the north and prepares against bandits in the south; Lord Zhang need not enter the capital guard, only Wu Zimian need go himself... Lord Zhang never received it."

Liu Chengzong turned his head and glanced at Gao Yingdeng.

Why say this? The more you say, the more I lament for Zhang Mengjing — but if he were alive, he'd want to kill me.

Liu Chengzong shook his head. Each serves his own master; he would dwell on this no more. He said: "As you say, Yang Yanchang has done well within the King's-Duty Army. Then why has no one come to join us all this time?"

A miserable scream came from the withered woods outside the village — another monstrous criminal had been executed.

Gao Yingdeng glanced that way and said: "General Yang is very meticulous in his work. Unwilling to make Wu Zimian suspicious, he has been waiting for the right moment to release the deserters."

"Ha, then he's certainly found a fine moment this time." Liu Chengzong let out a sigh. "Even without you telling me, I could guess: on the King's-Duty march, the commander-in-chief angers the grand coordinator to death — he can forget about letting anyone slip away now."

Scheme and calculate all you want; the most elaborate plans cannot match the bungling of a fool.

Who could have imagined that the commander-in-chief would anger the grand coordinator to death on the King's-Duty road.

Wu Zimian might be a bastard and a scoundrel, but he was no fool.

He dragged his feet — intercepting grain, seizing horses, selling horses, letting soldiers go — and by the sixth day of the first month he still hadn't left Shaanxi. Now that Zhang Mengjing was dead, his back probably didn't ache anymore and his legs didn't hurt either. If he wanted to keep his head, he'd have to race nonstop to Beijing.

And he wouldn't let his soldiers slip away anymore either.

Yang Yanchang — Liu Chengzong knew the man. With exposure looming, nothing he did would be surprising; but without the risk of being found out, he wouldn't jump out looking for trouble on his own.

It was entirely possible Yang Yanchang really would run off to Beijing and have a go at the Eastern Invaders.

Though Liu Chengzong didn't have much faith in the fighting ability of the banner troops Yang Yanchang led, he did trust the fighting ability of the Yansui Garrison's border troops.

He wiped his face. At this point, no matter how much strength he had, he couldn't lend any to Yang Yanchang. All he could do was pray in his heart that the sons would find their own fortune.

After finishing the Black Dragon Mountain business, Liu Chengzong brought Gao Yingdeng back to Apricot River.

This squad commander who had come from Ningsai to join him was temporarily assigned to the Right Sentinel, assisting Gao Xian.

The only ones still encamped at Apricot River now were the three combat sentinels of Gao Xian, Zhong Hu, and Wang Wenxiu.

Cao Yao had gone to Yanchuan — Gao Yingdeng had been relayed all the way here by the courier stations Cao Yao had set up.

Yang Yao had gone to Ningzhou in Qingyang Prefecture, because he figured that was the route deserters from Garrison Commander Yang Qi's troops in Guyuan would take.

Feng Rang had led his unit south to Fuzhou, relying on the local Feishanhu to forage there and scrape together some provisions.

Once Yang Yao and Feng Rang returned, it would be about time for them to head to Shanxi.

But before going to Shanxi, there was still one thing to do.

Liu Chengzong and Jin Pu talked as they climbed the hill. When they reached the gate of Wang Family Fort, Liu Chengzong said, "Under Sentinel Commander Gao, keep an eye on Gao Yingdeng and those few men. Before we leave for Shanxi, we must guard against the government troops slipping sand into our ranks."

"Yes, sir!"

Jin Pu, the Order Officer of the Right Sentinel's Left Squad, saluted and withdrew.

Liu Chengzong looked up ahead — Ren Quan'er was waiting for him right at the gate of Wang Family Fort.

The kid had only worn the official robe once for the thrill of it. Every time he came after that, he wore only his military uniform. He'd even come on New Year's Eve, only to find no one there.

Later, when Liu Chengzong heard about it, he realized — the kid had no family left, and spending the New Year alone at Saimen Post meant nothing to him.

That made Liu Chengzong quite regretful. If he'd known, he should have brought Ren Quan'er along to Zuantianmao.

Afterwards, everyone had a good meal together at Apricot River on the fifteenth of the first month. Since then, whenever Ren Quan'er had nothing to do, he'd run over to Apricot River. In less than a month, he'd already come five times.

Liu Chengzong had seen all of his changes — his riding skill had improved by leaps and bounds.

"The Commander's back!"

Ren Quan'er fell in step with Liu Chengzong into the fort as naturally as could be, grinning. "Black Dragon Mountain family business all sorted?"

"Sorted. The man was called Xing Xuan — killed by his own people. Who knew they'd be so easily spooked? If I'd known, I wouldn't have made such a big show of it. I could've brought a few men, shot him dead with one arrow, and been done with it."

Once inside, Liu Chengzong took off his armor and then asked, "You really have nothing going on at Saimen Post, do you? You left the day before yesterday, and now you're back again."

"Really nothing. After the New Year, I did as you said and had the commoners dig irrigation channels. But now that the channels are finished these last few days, I've realized they might be useless."

Ren Quan'er shook his head. "Commander, you might not need to go to Shanxi. I think that snowfall last year was no help — there won't be a harvest. It's already the second month and the river still hasn't thawed. In another half month, the wheat will all freeze to death."

Liu Chengzong had noticed it too. By all reason, the weather should be warming by now, but there was still no sign of it.

Lin Wei had also said the cold had turned the wheat leaf tips yellow. He'd been busy lately leading the tenant farmers in placing straw stacks in the wheat fields.

If it didn't warm up in another half month, they'd have to layer the fields with alternating dry and wet straw stacks plastered with mud shells, then set them alight to smoke.

A harvest was already out of the question — they could only hope to freeze a bit less to death.

One snowfall couldn't save Yan'an Prefecture. This spring, there would still be chaos.

Liu Chengzong sighed. "We have to go to Shanxi... Ren Quan'er, let me leave you some money. You set up a few merchant caravans."

This time, when he retook Black Dragon Mountain, Liu Chengzong had conveniently cleaned out Xing Xuan's private stash.

There were plenty of treasures — calligraphy, paintings, antiques, and the like. Ready cash and goods alone amounted to eight or nine hundred strings of Tongbao coins, over twenty-four hundred taels of silver, and eighty taels of gold.

All told, it came to roughly four thousand taels of silver in income. Raiding his own family's stockade was more profitable than raiding a landlord's fortified compound.

But Liu Chengzong found that seeing all this gold and silver didn't make him very happy.

He wasn't short on money. Right now, Wang Family Fort at Apricot River still had over ten thousand taels of silver to spare. He had money but nowhere to spend it.

What he wanted were horses, mules, donkeys — large livestock good for long-distance travel — and good weapons and good armor that could boost combat strength.

For Ren Quan'er, these were things money could buy. But for him, Liu Chengzong, one or two head, one or two pieces — that was easy enough. Any more than that, and no amount of money he had could get them.

"Caravans?"

Ren Quan'er was stammering now. He spread his hands. "Commander, you think too highly of me. Send someone else to run the caravans. I can't do it. I'd be lucky if I didn't get myself sold off by someone else."

The Chiliarch thought to himself, I can barely recognize a few characters, and I only started learning arithmetic after I became a Centurion. Expecting me to go into trade — wouldn't I bankrupt the Commander?

The response he got was a bitter smile from Liu Chengzong.

You think I want to send you?

Liu Chengzong said, "There's no one else. Chengyun and Song Shouzhen are coming with me into Shanxi. Lin Wei has to stay and look after the manor fields. Who else is left to handle the caravans? But this is too necessary — medicine, iron, gunpowder. After I leave, as long as it won't spoil, you stockpile it here."

These things tempted Liu Chengzong far more than gold and silver, and what's more, they were all things that would only get harder to buy as time went on.

Ren Quan'er thought for a moment, then slapped the table. "There is someone! Send Bouncy!"

Bouncy?

Liu Chengzong was baffled. "Which chief is that? There's another chief in Yan'an Prefecture called Bouncy?"

Liu Chengzong had long heard about the twisted sense of humor in the names these chiefs went by. Even among the better-off ones in their crowd, there were some with ridiculously over-the-top nicknames, never mind everyone else.

"That guy, you know — Sky-Crasher, the one recovering at Yan'an Guard, the one with the lame leg."

Ren Quan'er was talking about Liu Guoneng. "I saw him on the fifteenth. His leg's not a big problem, but when he walks fast, he bounces forward with every step — that's why I call him Bouncy. Isn't he a Xiucai?"

Liu Chengzong smacked his forehead. He'd forgotten about Liu Guoneng — also a Xiucai, and injured and mobility-impaired at that. Who would've thought Ren Quan'er would call him Bouncy.

He really hadn't seen it — Ren Quan'er was actually a little prodigy at giving nicknames.

Liu Chengzong could already picture how utterly furious Liu Guoneng would be if he knew he was being called that.

He warned, "After I leave, don't you call him that. Watch out, or he'll lose it at you."

Ren Quan'er nodded with a beaming smile, then said, "Let the Commander have him run a merchant caravan — I'll help him out."

Just as the two were about to settle the matter, someone outside the door shouted urgently, "General, grave news!"

Liu Chengzong frowned, a bellyful of fire rising. Why the hell was it always like this — trouble the moment a conversation was only half done?

He strode over and yanked the door open. "What grave news?"

"In Fu Prefecture to the south, there's indeed been enemy agents among the government troops. Flying Mountain Tiger was incited by the authorities to kill Patrol Leader Feng and seize his troops. He was stopped by Order Officer Chen Qindai, and while fleeing was bludgeoned to death by Chen Qindai with a bone mace."