Chapter 1538: The Civil and Military Officials of Liao

1538. Chapter 1538 – The Civil and Military Officials of Liao

Behind this group, a contingent of soldiers stood in perfect, silent formation, rifles held upright. At the very front of the military ranks stood only three men. The one on the left wore a military uniform with a large orchid medal pinned to his chest, unadorned by any other decoration. His face was square and his skin fair, his expression refined and scholarly; were it not for the uniform, he would more closely resemble a man of letters.

His name was Ning Zeguang, a Staff Officer attached to the Great Han Northeastern Army. As the most senior among the Staff Officers, he had earned considerable merit through his planning in several major campaigns, receiving numerous commendations and awards from the court. In addition to being granted the highest-tier Silver Orchid Medal, he was even ennobled as a Viscount.

Moreover, beyond his seniority, he had also gained the deep trust of the Commander-in-Chief, Duke of Ji, Chen Sheng, and was already regarded as the de facto chief among the Northeastern Army Staff Officers and the Duke of Ji's right-hand man. He also maintained deep ties with the Staff Officers of the Military Council in the capital, and even His Majesty held him in high regard.

Standing on the right was a middle-aged man with a long beard, dressed in an official's robe, his expression as calm as still water. If Ning Zeguang resembled a man of letters, this man was a true scholar. His name was Li Jingsi, the current Governor of Liaodong. A native of South Zhili, he had passed the imperial examination and become a Presented Scholar in the early Tianqi years of the previous dynasty, and was later appointed as a county magistrate in Shandong. However, as the Zhao Army rose to power, he very early on judged that the realm was about to undergo a great upheaval. Not long after becoming a Presented Scholar, he abandoned his post and voluntarily defected to the Xuzhou faction. Then, thanks to his native origins and ability, he was recognized by the upper echelons of Xuzhou, who were rapidly expanding their power and desperate for civil administration talent. Step by step, he rose from a minor official to eventually become the Governor of Liaodong.

However, though he appeared refined and was a Presented Scholar of the former dynasty, he was by no means a pedantic bookworm who only knew rote learning—otherwise, he would not have judged the situation so early and defected to the Zhao Army. Unlike typical Presented Scholar officials, he was not arrogant, was well-versed in practical affairs, and was highly adept at governance. Furthermore, he was extremely humble and maintained excellent relations with those above and below him; otherwise, as a former dynasty Presented Scholar, he would never have been promoted so quickly.

These two were both extraordinarily prominent figures in Liaodong. Compared to them, He Sheng, a mere Regiment Commander, was indeed a minor figure, which made it only natural that he willingly shrank back behind them.

And the man standing between the two of them possessed a background and authority so immense it was difficult to look upon directly—the man in the middle was the commander of all Great Han forces in the Northeast, the Marshal, the Duke of Ji, Chen Sheng.

He was tall and strikingly heroic in bearing, and his many years of military life had left him brimming with vigor; merely standing there exerted immense pressure on those around him. He also wore a military uniform, and a large golden plum blossom medal gleamed brilliantly on his chest, further accentuating his extraordinary and imposing presence.

Yet perhaps due to the hardships of frontier life and the exhaustion of directing military campaigns, this marshal, though clearly not yet forty, already had faint streaks of white hair at his temples. This, however, did not diminish his presence but rather added a few more degrees of dignity to him. Standing on either side of him, the two men who were already big shots elsewhere had no choice but to remain utterly reverent, not daring to commit the slightest impertinence.

Within the borders of the Great Han, his authority was indeed shockingly high: he was one of the Emperor's most trusted old brothers, one of the founders of the Zhao Character Battalion that was the predecessor of the Army, and one of the handful of current Marshals. At the same time, having commanded the campaign to annihilate the Jianzhou Jurchens, his battle record could be said to be the highest in the dynasty, making him the most illustrious figure in the Army.

He was now stationed in Shenyang, commanding all Great Han forces across the entire Northeast, with even the garrison troops in Goryeo under his direct control, allowing him to remotely steer a kingdom. Furthermore, because the civil administration structures in the Liaodong region were not yet fully established, and because Governor Li Jingsi was utterly deferential to him and complied with his every wish, he was in effect the supreme head of both military and civil affairs in the Northeast, an undisputed overlord of the region.

Moreover, his younger brother Chen Hong also held the critically important post of Finance Minister within the Cabinet and had been ennobled as a Marquis. A single family producing both a Duke and a Marquis was an exceedingly rare occurrence that drew the gaze of all. In private discussions within the Great Han bureaucracy and among the common people, everyone regarded him as a leader of the meritorious nobility capable of rivaling the current Chancellor, the Duke of Yong, Wang Zhaojing, with quite a few even believing his power surpassed the latter's.

Under his leadership, this group of the most elite figures in Liaodong had thus assembled at the port of Jinzhou.

Because the Duke's expression was solemn, no one dared to whisper privately. They all stood in rows behind the pier, gazing out into the distance at the boundless sea.

Today, the Crown Prince would arrive at Jinzhou Port with the fleet to conduct an inspection tour of Liaodong.

Not long after the Crown Prince's departure, and in accordance with the previously arranged itinerary, these high-ranking military and civil officials of Liaodong, originally stationed in Shenyang, had simultaneously left the city and traveled south to prepare to welcome the Crown Prince.

They had originally been waiting inside the port city. After receiving word passed on by a swift boat from the fleet that had arrived ahead of schedule, they poured out en masse from the merchant guesthouses where they were staying in the city and came to the portside to await the Crown Prince's arrival.

Time ticked by second by second, yet the fleet carrying the Crown Prince still did not appear. A slight restlessness and unease stirred in the hearts of this group of civil and military officials, but the Duke of Ji remained as immovable as a mountain, his gaze fixed ahead as if lost in thought. Since Marshal Chen, the Duke, showed no sign of reaction, the others naturally dared not reveal any trace of their feelings either. Thus, everyone could only continue standing, not daring to leave the formation.

The sun climbed higher and higher, gradually leaving beads of sweat on everyone's foreheads. Those who had long served in the military fared somewhat better, but Governor Li Jingsi, who had always pursued scholarly studies and rarely exercised, felt his mind growing somewhat hazy after standing for so long under the sun's glare.

He dared not break ranks and leave the waiting formation in front of the Marshal, but continuing to stand felt increasingly unbearable. He thus wanted to strike up a conversation, if only to muster a bit more energy.

"Marshal Chen, it must have been several years since you last saw His Highness the Crown Prince, correct?" He forcibly gathered his focus, put on a strained smile, and turned to look at the Marshal.

"Indeed, several years. All these years I have been commanding troops in Liaodong. Apart from returning once for an imperial audience in between, I have not been back to the capital, nor did I see His Highness on that occasion." The Marshal, who had been gazing at the sea, did not answer for a long while before slowly nodding. "His Highness the Crown Prince… the last time I saw the Crown Prince, he was a child of seven. I never imagined that in the blink of an eye, he would now be old enough to conduct an inspection tour on behalf of His Majesty… Time truly does fly."

His tone was deeply profound, as if filled with emotion—an emotion that naturally was not solely about the Crown Prince's age.

Li Jingsi, a Presented Scholar who had seen more than his fair share of grand events, naturally understood what the Marshal was lamenting.

A man ventures out into the world in his youth to build a career and establish achievements, forging ahead with eyes closed and life in hand. By the time he attains fame and success and looks back, even the younger generation has grown up. He could, to some small degree, empathize with that feeling.

In the two years since he had been appointed Governor of Liaodong and stationed in Shenyang, he had interacted with the Marshal countless times and had come to understand him quite well. He knew that the Marshal was not merely lamenting the passage of time.

"His Highness the Crown Prince has always been known for his precocious intelligence, universally praised by the court. This time, being entrusted with a heavy responsibility by His Majesty, it is presumably also intended to temper His Highness through experience." He nodded slightly, then smiled. "One can imagine that when the time comes, with the army and navy advancing in tandem to strike directly at the isolated islands of Japan, it will be a tremendous spectacle. For a youth to have the honor of overseeing the rear in such a campaign is truly something that makes one yearn with admiration!"

"The spectacle will certainly not be small. Don't be fooled by the fact that only one brigade is being used; troops are being drawn from several different regions. It can barely be called a national war." The Marshal's expression remained very calm, even somewhat unfathomable. "It's just that it lets that kid Zhao Song steal the limelight!"

Li Jingsi detected a faint trace of envy in the Marshal's tone. But this was only natural. Over the past few years, under the relentless strikes of the Marshal and his soldiers, the Jianzhou Jurchens had been completely broken as a force. They had fled deep into the remote mountains and forests, living like savages, and had even fractured into several small factions that fought and killed each other incessantly. They had long been incapable of posing any threat to the Great Han. In recent years, the Great Han army's activity consisted merely of dispatching small-scale forces northward for clearing operations whenever the weather was good in spring and summer, much like hunting expeditions.

Under such circumstances, with no major battles to fight, a pacified Liaodong naturally left the Marshal feeling somewhat bored, and he instead envied Zhao Song, who got to lead a brigade on an expedition abroad.

"Brigade Commander Zhao is shrewd and resolute, and his courage and strategy are outstanding. That he was chosen to lead the troops shows His Majesty's skill in recognizing and employing talent." Although he understood the Marshal's thoughts, Li Jingsi dared not join him in teasing Zhao Song. "Zhao Song is a veteran general under the Marshal's command, and the unit directly assigned to him is composed of soldiers from the Marshal's own ranks. That they can achieve merit and establish accomplishments should be a source of gratification for the Marshal…"

"Heh… Zhao Song can fight, but he's always operated on land before. Now that he has to run out to sea, isn't he just like a blind man feeling an elephant? And that regiment of his—they're no slouches in a fight, but they've also always run on land. Who knows how many of them have never even been on a boat… How can you say they'll fight well just because they're supposed to?" The Marshal's mouth quirked slightly in a faint, ambiguous smile. "I'll be happy if they can fight properly and not embarrass me. How could I dare hope for too much!"

Although the Marshal was verbally picking faults with Zhao Song and his troops, his expression was very relaxed. Clearly, while he could see the problems, he was still very confident in Zhao Song and the troops under his command, believing they could overcome all difficulties and secure victory for the Great Han.

"Brigade Commander Zhao has served under the Marshal for a long time. Who knows how much military strategy and tactics he has learned from the Marshal? How could he not know to adapt his methods to local conditions?"