Tang Pidi had gone to the Naran grasslands and had not yet returned, so Li Chi not only drilled the soldiers himself but also drafted the military codes and regulations personally.

In truth, Li Chi found almost nothing to his satisfaction in the Yanshan Camp soldiers. Compared to his own convoy escorts, the camp’s forces were nothing more than a ragged mob.

Beyond Li Chi’s hundred personal guards, he picked out a hundred more from the remaining several hundred to serve as officers — each commanding a hundred men — while the rest were distributed as deputies or squad leaders.

After the drill ground assembly the previous day, not everyone had chosen to stay. Golden Armor’s close followers, even with Yu Chaozong’s promise of amnesty, did not dare remain. They felt that stripping off and walking away was better than staying and eventually dying by someone’s hand.

When Li Chi learned of this, he sent no one in pursuit. He understood the problem, but changing it was not the work of a single day.

In the past, Yanshan Camp had been divided among multiple strongholds, with each chief commanding his own forces beneath Yu Chaozong. On the surface it had looked like a tight-knit organization, but underneath lay constant scheming and rivalry. Every chief, without exception, had worked tirelessly to turn his own troops into a private army loyal to him alone. When Yu Chaozong led them out together, they followed orders. When he was absent, none of them would yield to the others.

So the soldiers of the various camps had never truly been at peace with one another. Covert struggles and shows of dominance within Yanshan Camp had been an everyday occurrence.

To change these soldiers, Li Chi first had to change the way they understood how to conduct themselves.

After the camp’s series of upheavals, the remaining forces numbered roughly ten thousand. Li Chi distributed his old convoy escort veterans throughout the ranks, using their hearts to change others’ hearts.

Li Chi also overhauled the Yanshan Camp military structure. The ten thousand men were designated as one army.

Five men to a five-man squad, ten men to a ten-man squad — each with its own squad leader. Ten ten-man squads made a company, commanded by a company captain. Three companies made a regiment, with a regimental commander. Three regiments made a standard battalion, totaling approximately twelve hundred men.

By Li Chi’s reckoning, ten standard battalions made one army — and with the returning Xinzhou forces added in, there were just enough men for one full army, roughly twelve thousand in all.

Liu Ge’s three thousand elite fighters were designated as Li Chi’s personal guard battalion.

This organizational structure drew partly from the Great Chu government troop system and partly from the volumes his teacher had once left him.

With the ranks established and officers appointed at every level, the force looked nothing like its former scattered, shapeless self.

There were those in the fortress who had been with Yanshan Camp for years and who went to complain to Yu Chaozong, saying that Li Chi was destroying the camp.

Yu Chaozong refused to see any of them. Whatever they had to say, they were welcome to say it directly to Li Chi.

With the structure in place, Li Chi turned to discipline. On the second day after restructuring the ranks, he had notices posted throughout the camp listing eleven articles of military law. These too were drawn from the volumes his teacher had left, revised and adapted by Li Chi’s own hand.

For the first month, Li Chi made no move against those who only grumbled behind his back. Even when he found out, he let it pass.

But that first month, anyone who violated the military regulations was executed without exception. Not a single case had any room for mercy.

The eleven articles of military law were iron. Violate any one of them, and death was certain.

By the second month, those who still dared mutter against Li Chi behind his back had all but disappeared.

After a few more executions during the second month, the character of Yanshan Camp had already taken on a vastly different complexion.

In the tenth month, Li Chi entered Yanshan. By the end of the twelfth month, Tang Pidi returned from the Naran grasslands.

Tang Pidi had been gone nearly three months in all. There were even those with nothing better to do who told Li Chi that Tang Pidi had likely taken the opportunity to slip away for good.

Anyone who said such things — even old hands from the convoy days — Li Chi refused to keep. He sent them out of Yanshan Camp directly.

When Li Chi saw Tang Pidi again, he felt a pang of sympathy. The man was noticeably more weathered than before, his skin darker and rougher.

“Quite the haul,” Li Chi remarked.

Tang Pidi said: “When I met with Borjigintai, I explained that I’d come to buy warhorses. He said — if I trained his soldiers for one month, he would give me eight hundred fine horses.”

He smiled and continued: “I told Borjigintai: you give me eight hundred horses, I’ll train eight hundred soldiers — your personal guard unit, worth ten times their number against any enemy.”

Coming from anyone else, that would have been empty boasting. Coming from Tang Pidi, it was something else entirely.

Tang Pidi spent one month on the grasslands drilling soldiers, then used those eight hundred men to defeat three thousand of Borjigintai’s elite troops in a combat exercise.

Borjigintai was delighted. Not only did he deliver the eight hundred promised warhorses in full, but he also presented a rare horse by the name of Azure Ear as a gift.

Tang Pidi led Azure Ear before Li Chi and said: “This is your mount from now on.”

Li Chi said: “It’s yours.”

Tang Pidi said: “I earned it for you.”

Li Chi said: “Then I’m giving it to you.”

Yu Jiuling, standing to the side, said to Gao Xining: “You see? Those two are the real pair. You’re just an obstacle.”

Gao Xining fixed Yu Jiuling with a narrow-eyed stare. Yu Jiuling said: “You should be glaring at Old Tang, not at me. And you should be reflecting on yourself — look how much better Old Tang is at winning a man over.”

Gao Xining turned to Li Chi with her hand outstretched. Li Chi rummaged around on the ground and produced a clod of dirt, which he handed to her.

Yu Jiuling was already thirty paces away.

Li Chi turned to Tang Pidi and said: “While you were away, I’ve already sorted out the unit structure and military codes. Drilling the troops is your affair now. You are this army’s commanding general — all military matters fall under your authority to deploy and arrange. As the commanding general, the fine horse is naturally yours.”

Tang Pidi said: “Everything comes under me?”

Li Chi nodded. “Everything.”

Tang Pidi smiled. “Good. Since everything comes under me, I’ll announce my first order.”

He paused briefly, then said: “Select four hundred elite fighters from among the various battalions, and three hundred from Commander Liu’s forces — I’ll choose them myself…”

He looked toward Gao Xining. “These seven hundred, combined with the hundred already assigned to you, and together with the eight hundred warhorses I’ve brought back — all of them are yours. This force of eight hundred cavalry answers to you and you alone.”

Gao Xining immediately understood. She nodded. “Understood.”

Tang Pidi continued: “This force need not answer to my orders, nor to Li Chi’s. They answer only to Gao Xining. In ordinary times, they have two duties — first, this unit is responsible for Li Chi’s personal protection, guards beyond the personal guard. Second, they handle the enforcement of discipline across the entire army. Any violations are referred to this unit for resolution.”

Tang Pidi turned to Li Chi. “Any objection?”

Li Chi said: “Just a tiny one.”

Tang Pidi said: “Swallow it.”

Li Chi nodded. “Alright…”

Tang Pidi said earnestly to Li Chi: “The reason I’m placing this unit under Gao Xining is that of everyone in the world, there is no one who cares more about your life than she does. You are the heart of everything. This unit exists to protect you. In the future, if we grow larger, I and the others will all be leading troops in the field. So when it comes to being utterly devoted to a single person — no one surpasses her.”

Li Chi said: “What you’re saying is right, but thinking about it, it’s the kind of thing that could make people laugh. We’ve barely gotten started, and we’re already setting aside a unit dedicated solely to protecting me…”

Tang Pidi said: “There’s another reason I wasn’t originally planning to state outright, but since you’re questioning it, I’ll be more direct…”

Li Chi sighed. “I have a feeling you’re about to spare no face.”

Tang Pidi said: “There is one thing that must be made absolutely clear from this point on — no shadow of doubt permitted. And that is: you are the lord.”

Li Chi opened his mouth. Tang Pidi shot him a look, and Li Chi closed it again. The title of “lord” did not seem to carry much dignity in practice.

Tang Pidi said: “You are the master, the lord. We are first your subordinates, then your brothers. This must be clearly established. If the relationship between brothers and subordinates is not kept distinct, the force will fall apart. Anyone who puts the bond of brotherhood above the duty of subordinates will become a source of trouble. Anyone who puts the duty of subordinates above the bond of brotherhood will make a fine commander.”

He paused, then continued: “A lord’s orders must be obeyed without fail, but not every decision you make will be right. At such times, we as subordinates are less suited to counsel you than Gao Xining. She protects you, but she also remonstrates with you.”

Tang Pidi said: “I’m saying all this now to forestall any future friction. I have a cold, blunt nature, so I’m the right person to say these things.”

He turned to look at Yu Jiuling and the others. “Brotherhood is one thing. Military law, standing, and rank are another. If anyone makes a mistake in the future, do not try to use brotherhood as an excuse. Li Chi may be moved by it. I will not.”

Yu Jiuling and the others exchanged glances and nodded.

Tang Pidi continued: “That is exactly why I’m laying this out in advance. If brotherhood truly means something, then make no mistakes — because thinking that close relations give license to act without restraint is, in truth, treating those bonds as worthless. We are close to one another, and so we must be the first to set an example.”

He let out a breath and gave a slight smile. “The disagreeable things have been said first. Roughly that is the substance of it. When things were small, everyone could act freely. To pursue something greater, you need rules.”

Li Chi felt that Tang Pidi had been a bit too blunt, and was about to say something to ease the atmosphere. But Gao Xining gave him a slight, barely perceptible shake of the head.

In that moment, Li Chi understood what she meant.

Tang Pidi was building Li Chi’s authority. Li Chi also needed to build Tang Pidi’s authority. Having handed the army over to Tang Pidi, it was necessary for everyone to understand that Tang Pidi’s word was final.

So Li Chi said: “In everyday matters, we don’t need to stand on ceremony. But when it comes to official business — as long as Old Tang is here, what he says goes.”

Tang Pidi said: “The master has set down eleven articles of military law. Those rules are not just for the soldiers — they are for us as well. One more thing: commanders who violate military law face double the punishment.”

Half an hour later, in Li Chi’s study.

Li Chi said: “Was that speech just now a bit too harsh?”

Tang Pidi glanced at him and pursed his lips slightly.

He replied: “If you only want to be a common bandit, then yes, it was too harsh. But if you want to be something more than a common bandit, it was not nearly harsh enough. I did not come to follow you into banditry.”

Li Chi promptly nodded: “Yes, yes. I defer to you completely.”

The camp master — thoroughly subordinated in his own camp.

Another half day later, Tang Pidi had selected the seven hundred men, combined with the original hundred, and organized a unit answering solely to Gao Xining.

Tang Pidi told Li Chi that the reason for this was that everyone else — Tang Pidi himself included — would have many things on their minds as time went on: pursuing military glory, advancing their prospects, one thing or another. Their thoughts would grow complicated.

But Gao Xining, and Gao Xining alone, had only one concern in the whole world: whether Li Chi lived or died.

“This unit is one that upholds authority — so it ought to have an authoritative name.”

Tang Pidi asked Li Chi: “Think of one?”

Li Chi looked at Gao Xining. “She decides. It’s hers to name.”

The camp master — thoroughly deferential in his own camp.

Gao Xining thought a moment, then said: “Since the duties are twofold — protection on one hand, enforcement on the other — we might look to ancient precedent. We could call it the Court Commandant force. This unit — what do you say we call it the Commandant Army?”

Li Chi nodded and clapped his hands. “Excellent name!”

The camp master — shamelessly flattering in his own camp.

Gao Xining said: “Then it’s settled. The unit is named the Commandant Army. I will serve as Grand Commandant, and Master Ye as Deputy Grand Commandant.”

—