Chapter 233: Requesting Battle
Chapter 233: Requesting Battle
Zhu Houzhao seemed really happy these days. He came to the Western Hills every single morning.
Looking at the young faces of all the children, a broad smile spread across his face. He sighed to Fang Jifan, “Just a bunch of kids. Seeing their childish looks makes This Palace remember when This Palace was young, just like this…”
Before Zhu Houzhao could finish, Fang Jifan cut in, “This naive?”
Zhu Houzhao blinked, then nodded.
Fang Jifan grinned. “Your minister is very naive too.”
Hmm, that smile carried so much meaning!
Zhu Houzhao, as if finding common ground, nodded saying, “So is This Palace.”
The two exchanged a smile, but they both had their own thoughts in mind.
Zhu Houzhao loved riding horses and archery. The Western Hills had open land, perfect for him to gallop around freely, and it also gave him an excuse to teach the children archery and horsemanship.
Actually, Zhu Houzhao had a knack for training troops. First, he sent over ponies, then later had some deliver wooden practice swords.
Fang Jifan was worried the children couldn’t handle it. High-intensity training needed more than just polished rice and sweet potatoes. So, after the children finished their morning lessons, he had them jog a lap around the Western Hills to warm up. He gave them some fermented mare’s milk turned into yogurt, plus some sweet potatoes and eggs for breakfast. Only then did he hand them over to Zhu Houzhao.
Zhu Houzhao left at noon. The children had a hearty lunch and, tired out, snoozed blissfully. In the afternoon, they returned to their studies.
Wang Shouren and the others had already received their official posts. Their Palace Examination results were such that even Xu Jing, the poorest performer, qualified for the Hanlin Academy. Ouyang Zhi was appointed a sixth-rank Compilation Officer at the Hanlin Academy. Tang Bohu and Liu Wenshan were appointed seventh-rank Compilation Officers. The others, like Wang Shouren, Jiang Chen, and Xu Jing, became Probationary Hanlin Academicians.
Suddenly, they were all officials. Even the Fang family home felt quiet.
Only in the evening, when the disciples left duty, would Wang Jinyuan sometimes send sedan chairs to wait outside the Hanlin Academy. He would invite them to the Western Hills to teach the children.
Wang Shouren was a born teacher.
In the evening, with candlelight flickering, Wang Shouren still wore his official robe and winged hat. In front of the youths, he explained, word by word, “The Great Way is Simple.”
The Metropolitan Graduates taught, and even the Provincial Graduates and Xiucai who taught the elementary school children sat below listening with extreme seriousness. The moonlit night felt especially desolate over the Western Hills.
Down the hill, the village and the Thousand-Household Office were already dotted with lit lamps.
Zhang Xin’s wife had run away, so he lived full-time at the Thousand-Household Office. He needed to compile all the notes he had copied, turning his planting experiences into an Agricultural Treatise. Only as a book could these valuable methods be spread further.
Right then, in the flickering candlelight of the duty room, Zhang Xin was hunched over his desk. Straining his eyes had made him a bit nearsighted, so Fang Jifan had gotten him eyeglasses. Zhang Xin, the bespectacled “Four-eyes,” seemed a bit comical.
Fang Jifan tiptoed in. Zhang Xin was intensely focused, oblivious to the outside world. He didn’t even notice Fang Jifan standing right behind him.
Cough, cough…
Far away, even the sound of reading had stopped. The children had been picked up one by one by their parents. Fang Jifan coughed. “Qian Hu Zhang, it’s late.”
Zhang Xin finally looked up, startled to see Fang Jifan in front of him. He scrambled to his feet. “Greetings, Qian Hu.”
“We’re both Qian Hu, cut the formalities,” Fang Jifan said casually, sitting down nearby.
Zhang Xin shot Fang Jifan a grateful look. He was a simple man, instantly feeling awkward around Fang Jifan.
Fang Jifan said, “Winter’s coming soon, farming season ends. Let the lower-ranked handle the greenhouses. You should go to Kaifeng.”
Bitterness spread over Zhang Xin’s face. He hesitated. “My father forbids it. Says it’s a shame too great to bear.”
Fang Jifan couldn’t help remarking, “Your father… is sharp.”
Zhang Xin sighed quietly, changing the subject. “Uncle Fang… I wonder how Uncle Fang is doing…”
Shifting the topic…
Fang Jifan gave a hollow laugh. “In Guizhou, heaven knows how he is now. Shouldn’t be any danger, I suppose.”
Thinking about Fang Jinglong dampened Fang Jifan’s spirits, filling him with an inexplicable gloom.
Leaving the duty room, he saw the full moon hanging like a silvery plate in the sky. Mid-autumn festival approached. Fang Jifan thought the moon over Guizhou must look just as big. But Guizhou was different back then – many areas undeveloped, thick with miasma, thorny wilderness everywhere, patchworked with native tribes who weren’t loyal to the Great Ming, each harboring their own schemes.
Same moon, different world.
Did his father, in the deep quiet of the night, also gaze upwards, missing home, missing him?
Fang Jifan recalled his initial awkwardness at suddenly gaining a “father.” But gradually, he got used to it. He hadn’t noticed when exactly he’d started feeling like they relied on each other for survival.
Later… then came the actual parting, the thousand-mile separation. Sometimes a sudden weight settled in his chest. No matter how impressive he seemed to others, deep in a still night, looking at the moon, he’d think of one man – his father, far away. Sharing the fate of Fang ancestors, waging wars across the lands.
His eyes reddened at the thought. When had he become this sentimental? Perhaps infected by Tang Yin and the others. Yes, that must be it. He’d beat them tomorrow.
…
Guiyang.
A copy of the Capital Gazette from the Capital arrived in Guiyang city.
Regional Commander Fang Jinglong hadn’t been in a good mood lately!
He’d just taken office, reorganizing the Mountain Brigade. Many of his old comrades, veteran soldiers fiercely loyal to him, quickly helped him secure firm control over the Mountain Brigade.
Drawn from elite troops across various forces, well-supplied and paid, the Mountain Brigade had high combat strength.
Fang Jinglong felt the timing was right. He requested battle from the Provincial Governor and the Palace Eunuch.
He argued this stalemate couldn’t hold. He should lead the Mountain Brigade to seek decisive battles, strike heavy blows against the Rebel Army. Then, next spring, they could wipe them out completely.
This wasn’t Fang Jinglong’s first time in Guizhou. He knew the terrain. He felt confident.
But regrettably, Provincial Governor Wang Shi and the Palace Eunuch flatly refused. Any brigade except the Mountain Brigade was allowed to leave Guiyang. The Mountain Brigade absolutely could not.
Fang Jinglong was bewildered.
What was going on? The best fighting force blocked from battle, while the mediocre units were sent out?
The relationship between the Regional Commander and the Provincial Governor became fraught with tension.
Actually, the Provincial Governor Wang Shi, the Palace Eunuch, and all the officials within Guiyang city were sweating bullets.
They’d… bragged far too much before.
This kind of thing was understood without words, never to be spoken aloud.
The Mountain Brigade had reported enormous achievements – falsely. Whistleblowers faced death. It was a conspiracy; everyone involved would drown together.
Therefore, they had to maintain the Mountain Brigade’s “infallible image.” If sent into battle and lost, even a tiny setback, word got out? Everyone was doomed.
So, the Mountain Brigade had to be treated like a Bodhisattva statue – enshrined, kept idle, never risked in combat. They dared not expose its weakness!
They were trapped in silence. Fang Jinglong was new, unaware of the truth, ignorant of their desperation.
A few days earlier, news of a major defeat arrived. The Rebel Army attacked a county town – a crucial crossroads, vital for military control. Wang Shi immediately dispatched a relief force.
Tricked! The siege was a feint. Ambushing the Ming Army en route was the real goal. They lay in wait along the road. Over three thousand were killed or wounded. The Commander of the Mobile Forces leading them died in battle.
He was an old acquaintance of Fang Jinglong’s! They’d served together quelling rebellions in Yunnan-Guizhou.
Fang Jinglong was furious. As soon as he got the bad news, he demanded permission to fight again.
But it was like talking to walls.
Despite the heavy defeat – the enemy smashed the relief force, took the county town, plundered it, then vanished – Wang Shi still refused to retaliate. He kept his troops idle.
Technically, the Provincial Governor and Regional Commander were equals. But Ming bureaucracy favored civil over military. The civil governor held absolute authority. Historically, Yuan Chonghuan executed Mao Wenlong, that mighty Regional Military Commander! Executing a top-ranking military officer? Done, just like that.
Wang Shi forbade it. Fang Jinglong chafed but was helpless.
So everyone resorted to sending memorials to the court, accusing each other. The imperial court seemed uninterested.
Fang Jinglong was a veteran, descendant of a military nobility family. His son had just rendered significant service, deeply favored by the Emperor. Naturally, people hesitated to reprimand him.
Wang Shi was a right Vice Censor-in-Chief, appointed Provincial Governor by imperial command, renowned for his virtue. Even the three Grand Secretaries leaned slightly towards Wang Shi.
No official criticism from the Capital Gazette arrived. But Xie Qian sent Wang Shi a private letter.
Essentially, it advised Wang Shi against discord with the military commander.
Superficially, it was a private warning. Yet receiving this letter was reassurance for Wang Shi. A Grand Secretary’s letter represented the Grand Secretariat – siding with him.
Plus, the Palace Eunuch spoke for him! Surely good words about him reached the Imperial Palace.
So Wang Shi rested easy.
Until the Capital Gazette arrived. Wang Shi was stunned.
He read it through several times before snapping back to reality. He urgently told an attendant, “Go! Fetch Regional Commander Fang!”
Fang Jinglong was clueless. Tensions with Wang Shi were high. This summons made him wary.
Yet when he arrived, Wang Shi greeted him with a beaming smile. “Regional Commander Fang! Come, come, please sit! Congratulations! Congratulations!”
“Huh?”