Zeng Yue stopped walking and said gravely: “The young lady sent you to Biyang County, giving you tremendous freedom. She had you persuade mountain bandits, gather refugees, teach them to read, and use them for her purposes.”
“Though you were the garrison squad captain of one county, given the circumstances then, with your thousand men, you could have recruited five thousand or even ten thousand troops for the young lady.” Zeng Yue said: “If you could have done that, a general’s authority would have been within easy reach.”
“The young lady chose Ji Ping as her personal guard because General Zhao recommended him and he was loyal, so she went with the flow. She chose Qiu Wu and me because we were obedient, loyal, and followed orders absolutely.”
Li Tianhe said: “Don’t I have all these qualities?”
Zeng Yue shook his head. “You still don’t understand. You naturally have all of them, and you’re cleverer and more quick-witted than us, which is why the young lady sent you out. Your opportunities were clearly more numerous than ours.”
“Speaking of circumstances, could yours be worse than Yuan Li’s?” Zeng Yue said: “Because the young lady disliked Yuan Li’s ruthlessness, she suppressed him quite a bit at first. But look—he now solely commands the secret department and is one of the young lady’s most trusted people.”
Zeng Yue looked at Li Tianhe, then at the military officers behind him, and sighed. “I’m reminding you of these things not because I like you, but because we grew up together and lived and died together. I naturally hope you do well. The young lady feels the same, but you need to think about how many times the old bonds can withstand such erosion.”
“Parents’ love for their children can still dissipate due to filial impiety. How could bonds between ruler and subject, or old friendships, run deeper than parental love?”
Hearing this, Li Tianhe’s expression changed several times. The three military officers behind him also paled.
Zeng Yue said: “The young lady often tells those around her that the state is governed by morality and law, not by sentiment. I’ve said all I can say. Take care of yourselves.”
With that, he glanced again at Li Tianhe’s buttocks, seeing that getting out of the palace gates shouldn’t be a problem, so he stopped worrying about him and turned to go back.
Zhao Hanzhang’s mood had settled, though she still wasn’t very happy. She glanced at Zeng Yue and asked: “Finished playing the caring older brother?”
Zeng Yue was startled and quickly knelt to beg forgiveness.
Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand. “I don’t mind this. If he can listen to advice and reform, I’ll naturally be pleased.”
“You all fought your way out from Luoyang to Xiping with me, then fought all the way out from Xiping. If you can do well, I’ll only be happy.” Zhao Hanzhang sighed. “But public is public and private is private. If I take the lead in showing favoritism, the stable situation we worked so hard to establish will collapse. So many people stand behind us—we cannot bear that consequence.”
Zhao Hanzhang had known from early on that once people gained merit and authority, they easily became arrogant. This was human nature, but it could be overcome.
She examined herself three times daily, always reminding herself not to forget her original intentions.
To prevent her Zhao Army from becoming like this, from the beginning of its formation, she absorbed many literate people in large numbers, having them teach their subordinate soldiers to read. In the process of teaching literacy, they transmitted principles of conduct and military service.
Initially, the literate people who entered the military were resentful. They had come seeking merit and glory, wanting to follow Zhao Hanzhang in great battles, not to become literacy teachers for a bunch of lowly people after fighting.
But Zhao Hanzhang’s attitude was firm. Anyone who didn’t comply would be dealt with by military law. Anyone whose performance was poor would be demoted.
Because they were literate, upon entering the military they were quickly selected as squad leaders, team captains and such. But if they didn’t do well, they would be directly stripped of their positions, going from squad leader or captain back to being a common soldier.
At first, even Ji Yuan didn’t understand why Zhao Hanzhang did this. Most soldiers only needed martial strength and the ability to follow orders cooperatively. They didn’t need to read or count.
But after several campaigns, Zhao’s Army maintained strict discipline and never harmed the common people. Even when starving, they wouldn’t plunder people’s food. Wherever Zhao’s Army conquered, they only needed to plant their military flag to take control of the area.
Any order from Zhao’s Army could be smoothly executed wherever common people gathered. Even if some wealthy families were unwilling and tried to obstruct the orders, the common people who depended on them—their tenant farmers, servants, and even retainers—would leave them and choose to follow Zhao Army’s military orders.
Only then did Ji Yuan understand. Having the entire army learn to read, count, and telling them they fought for peace and the common people of the realm—this planted a spark in their hearts.
As they studied and Zhao Hanzhang led by example, this spark became a flame, which then spread through them to wherever they could reach.
That’s why Zhao’s Army was invincible, why areas conquered by Zhao’s Army never rebelled again.
Yang Rui, Lu Shao and others who had been dissatisfied also realized this and worked hard to promote it.
Li Tianhe, who had followed Zhao Hanzhang from the start, hadn’t understood this principle.
Actually, Zeng Yue and Qiu Wu didn’t understand at first either, but they were good at following orders. Whatever orders Zhao Hanzhang gave, they worked hard to complete them, trying to do even better.
After doing it enough times and seeing the results, plus following Zhao Hanzhang and hearing her discuss matters with Ji Yuan and others, they gradually came to understand a little.
Only then did they realize with shock that Zhao Hanzhang had actually placed great hopes in Li Tianhe from the beginning, just as with Zhao Ju. He too had been sent out early. Unfortunately, Li Tianhe hadn’t done what Zhao Hanzhang hoped he would.
Though he had suppressed bandits and trained troops in Biyang County, he hadn’t achieved great results. When asked to find teachers for the troops, he had driven away several in succession. Finally, Zhao Hanzhang had to send another literate deputy captain from Xiping’s Zhao Army, and only then did the troops he led begin systematic learning.
Even so, the combat will of the force he led was still somewhat weaker than others’.
Last year after the great victory, when Zhao Hanzhang and Ji Yuan discussed granting everyone official positions, Zeng Yue stood right beside them. When they mentioned Li Tianhe, Zhao Hanzhang let out a deep sigh, and Zeng Yue felt it even more deeply.
He had wanted to talk with Li Tianhe for a long time. Though they were both in Luoyang, Li Tianhe often had to go out on orders to suppress bandits and gather refugees, while Zeng Yue had to follow Zhao Hanzhang to protect her, so they could never meet. He hadn’t expected that before he could warn him, Li Tianhe had already made a mistake.
How much did Zhao Hanzhang love Scholar Yu and Minister Shen? Actually, she loved most of the people in the Ministry of Works, especially those with technical skills.
She had said publicly more than once: “The Ministry of Works benefits the people’s livelihood, and the development of technology benefits a thousand autumns.”
The Ministry of Works was also called the Winter Ministry.
Because Fu Tinghan served as Chancellor and concurrently as Minister of Works, the Ministry of Works, which had not been highly regarded in previous dynasties, was becoming increasingly important. Even Ji Yuan and Ming Yu didn’t dare look down on the scholars in the Ministry of Works.
Limping home, Li Tianhe’s family anxiously searched for a physician for him. Before they could apply medicine, Cheng Da and Wei You, who had returned to the capital to report on their work, called on Ping Yi to come watch the spectacle together. Seeing him lying on the bed, they immediately laughed: “You’re so bold, actually daring to bully Shen Ruhui and Yu Cui? And in the imperial palace too! Don’t you know that Shen Ruhui has a close relationship with the Lord? That Yu Cui figured out the drought-flood rotation farming method and the new composting method—in just these two years, he’s been praised five times in the gazette by Fan Ying and Zhao Yunxin.”
“You don’t really think that was Fan Ying and Zhao Yunxin wanting to praise him on their own, do you?” Cheng Da said: “Clearly that was the young lady’s intention. You actually dared to bully someone the young lady values right in front of her. Has your brain been flooded with water?”