“Them? At this time? That’s not—” Xiang Le was always someone with his own views, and quite sharp-minded at that. Upon hearing the news that the Jima clan had taken the initiative to provoke, beyond his initial shock he couldn’t quite manage any other reaction.

This simply should not be happening!

He looked toward his sister. The two siblings, along with Xiang Yu, all stood in the main hall — apart from Zhù Ying, no one could sit still — and Xiang An’s face also wore a forcibly composed calm. She gave a nod. Everyone had been summoned by Zhù Ying, so this was clearly no joke.

Xiang Le said, “Have they gone mad?”

The plan to advance westward step by step had been set by Zhù Ying, and everyone had accepted it as viable — both because it was Zhù Ying who had devised it, and because the strategy, by their common sense and logic, was perfectly sound. Anyone who had read even a little history knew the principle of “forging alliances with distant states while attacking those nearby,” so striking the Xika first was the obvious consensus. By the same logic, even if the Jima clan had their own designs, surely they should have struck their neighbors first?

Even Lin Feng spoke up: “Either they’re fools, traveling all this way just to get a beating.”

Lin Feng had followed Zhù Ying for years, and while he was often lazy with his studies, the books he was supposed to read had been forced into his head regardless. He had also joined military campaigns and had some experience to show for it. “Can they even keep their supply lines? And how did they get all the way here?”

Xiang Le glanced at him and realized that Lin Feng had said this completely without thinking — he had no idea how significant his words were. Yes indeed, how had they gotten here? Did every clan chief along the route agree to let them pass? How was their provisioning handled?

Zhù Ying said, “Well asked. We can look into that gradually. For now, let’s talk about what we need to do right away. Qingjun has already begun deploying defenses — we need to follow up! The timing isn’t ideal, but there’s no backing down now. We’ll turn their plan against them.”

It was spring, and the spring planting had not yet finished — not an ideal time to wage a campaign. Both the spring planting and the autumn harvest were not to be disrupted. In Zhù Ying’s original plan, they would wait until at least after this year’s autumn harvest before making their move, when their own side would be well-fed and supplied, and after taking the enemy’s fortifications, they could live off captured provisions. If they moved in spring and couldn’t advance quickly to a stable position, the deep southern mountains would be drenched with summer rains, making travel difficult and soldiers susceptible to disease. The deep mountains to the west were even more desolate than the plague-ridden marshlands — surviving there was already no easy feat.

If the imperial court were to raise an army, they would also prefer to pick their season, but the court’s resources were far deeper, and the situation would be much better than what Zhù Ying faced now.

Zhao Su asked, “Naturally you will be commander-in-chief. How do you intend to arrange things?”

Zhù Ying said, “Everyone will continue to carry their existing duties, and the old duties in Gan County must also be maintained. Beyond that, each of you will take charge of one thing. Send word to Zhù Lian — levy troops. Xiang Yu, you as well: levy troops in this county. Wuren, assist Xiang Yu. The spring planting must not be delayed; revise all the plans accordingly. Zhao Su will additionally oversee the coordination of manpower, grain, and logistics. Xiang Le, assist him. The two of you must also attend to communications with the outside world — no information is to leak. Keep it quiet as long as possible.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Ying then appointed Zhù Qingjun as the vanguard — she was in Gan County, and this appointment was sent by a special messenger. She further ordered the levying of troops, and commanded Lin Feng, Su Sheng, Lu Danqing, and others to each temporarily lead five hundred men and hasten to Gan County in support.

Lin Feng said, “Are our forces a bit too few? The person Qingjun sent said they’re covering the hills and valleys — thousands of them — and more reinforcements seem to be on the way behind. If we leave enough people to guard you, we’d only be going with fifteen hundred. Isn’t that a bit thin?”

Zhù Ying said, “They have thousands, you have thousands — if you all crowd together, how do you fight? You can’t even spread out properly. In this terrain, it’s not suited to the wide-open formations of the plains. Pack everyone together and it just becomes a brawl. Although the average level of the mountain warriors isn’t much better than a brawl, our advantage isn’t in brawling — it’s in coordinated combat!”

There was also the question of provisions. Zhao Su, Xiang Le, and the others were capable administrators, but even so, supplying so many at once was something all of Wuzhou had never done before, and the logistics couldn’t be stretched that far. Better to depart in stages — the provisioning could grow more practiced as they went.

Zhù Ying said specifically to Lin Feng, “When you get there, follow Qingjun’s arrangements. No reckless charges ahead! Wuzhou has military law! Before you depart, I will restate the military code!”

Lin Feng reflexively pulled his neck back into his shoulders. “Oh…”

“I didn’t hear you clearly.”

Lin Feng said loudly, “Yes!”

Zhù Ying then turned to Huajie: “Your students are going to have a hard time of it.” Huajie was best at gynecology, but in a place like Wuzhou, all manner of patients came through, and it was hard to avoid dealing with other injuries as well — she had touched on many disciplines to varying degrees, and her students were the same. Raising the dead or restoring flesh to bone was impossible, but prompt wound-cleaning and bandaging, along with dispensing some medicine to prevent disease, was well within their abilities.

A soldier’s death or permanent injury very often occurred after the initial wound was sustained — this was Zhù Ying’s experience from several campaigns. With timely treatment, many could survive in good health, and a soldier recovered from wounds was far more valuable and capable than a new recruit.

Huajie said, “Yes. Over these years, I have had one or two hundred students. Some of them have already completed their training and practice medicine independently while taking on their own apprentices. Altogether, I expect there are three or four hundred in total. Setting aside those already practicing medicine full-time or those with other constraints, I think at least a hundred or more could be called up.”

“Good.”

Zhù Ying then spoke seriously to Erjiang, Zhou Wei, and the others: “There’s fighting at the front — the rear must not fall into disorder!”

Xiao Jiang said, “Rest easy, my lord! We will ensure that bandits and thieves have nowhere to hide, so that the people may be at peace.”

Jin Yu couldn’t help blurting out, “What about me? What about me?”

“You? Lead five hundred men and stay at the headquarters with me.” Zhù Ying did not plan to go to Gan County immediately — she still needed to hold the position at Zhù County and coordinate various other matters, such as the other five counties.

“Ah?” Jin Yu’s face twisted up like a wrung cloth. Guarding one’s superior was certainly a trusted post, but not being able to win merit felt like a raw deal.

Zhù Ying said, “Afterward, the lot of you will rotate out for rest in turns. For now, you are to take your men and renovate the camp at the foot of the mountain — partition off a section to serve as a garrison area.”

“Yes!”

“Trade with the outside must not stop, but merchants can no longer be permitted to venture further in — we need to manage that. Xiang An, any trade involving Xika or Jima goods must pass through our hands.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Ying assigned tasks one by one, and at the same time formally confirmed posts for the twenty people who had passed the recent examination, placing each in a suitable position based on their previous internship performance. Among them, Jiang Wan and Wang Jiu were dispatched to Zhù Lian’s side to assist with the troop levy. Si Niang was assigned to Wuren to help lighten her workload. The others also each received their duties.

With the assignments complete, everyone hurried off to their respective posts, and the whole mountain city buzzed to life. The momentum spread from there, carried by messengers, out to every small stronghold across Zhù County.

Three days later, Lu Danqing and the other two each assembled five hundred men, and the gathered troops lined up in the flat valley at the foot of the mountain city. A high platform had been erected on the ground.

Zhù Ying mounted the platform and said, “You all know already — Gan County has been harassed and disturbed by the Xika people for a long time, and I endured it. We never provoked them. But now they, together with the Jima, have decided to make trouble for our Wuzhou.

“The land isn’t even fully planted yet, and I feel it in my heart — and all of you must feel it too, knowing your families will have to work harder. But we have no choice but to fight back! If we let them come for us, the fields, the grain, the homes — all of it goes to them, and we’d be going back to the days of living as slaves to others. I will not let that happen. What about you?”

“No!” Lin Feng and the others led the uproar.

“Good! We go, drive them far away so they can never plague us again, and we can live good lives!”

“Yes!”

Zhù Ying then declared, “You go out there, and I will supply your food and clothing! You need only follow orders! If you are wounded, I will have you treated! If you fall in battle, I will care for your wives and children! Those who have merit will not go unrecognized! If your commanding officer fails to report your merit, you may come to me directly!”

“Yes!”

Zhù Ying then restated the military code and discipline — the usual matters: obey orders without question, no desertion, no disturbing the civilians, all things she handled with well-practiced ease. Once the proclamation was complete, she gave the order to march.

Just before they departed, Zhù Ying gave Lu Danqing a letter to deliver to Zhù Qingjun and Zhù Lian. Lu Danqing received it solemnly.

——

Zhù County and Gan County bordered each other, and the postal road within Wuzhou had already been built. The small relay stations along the way couldn’t accommodate this entire “army,” but there were buildings where the officers could rest. There were also clean water sources, and the soldiers carried two days’ worth of dry rations with them — washed down with clear water, it was just enough to fill their stomachs.

The trouble was that these soldiers had never gathered in such numbers before, and with so many together, disorder was inevitable. Lu Danqing and the others had just settled down inside the relay station to eat a hot meal prepared there when the noise outside grew louder and louder, leaving them no choice but to go out and look. One look and all three deeply furrowed their brows.

Lu Danqing went back inside and called up Lin Feng and the others. “Stop eating — let’s go out and see. Why were they fine during training but this chaotic now? Let’s each keep our own people in line. If eating a meal brings this much disorder, what will it be like on the battlefield?”

Lin Feng went out, took a look, and said, “No wonder she didn’t want us bringing this many people right from the start.”

The method of levying troops in Zhù County was the standard approach: going by the household registers, grouping people from the same village, same neighborhood, the same stronghold together. Whoever had been a minor leader back home remained a minor leader in the army. Once battle was joined, further natural selection would occur — based on outlasting others, accumulating merit, and being clever enough — gradually sorting out small officers at every level. The result, in time, was a reasonably effective, hierarchically sound structure.

When they had trained in batches, they had never once drilled fifteen hundred at the same time. And perversely, precisely because these people had been trained, they remembered not to shout, so there was no stampede — but it was as if half a mountain valley had been crammed full of flies, buzzing endlessly.

The three of them had no choice but to wade in, first yanking the centurions over for a scolding: “What kind of leadership is this?” Then, leading the centurions down through the ranks, scolding their way along while also restoring order. Lin Feng sighed, “The discipline of the imperial court’s regular army really is something better.”

One of his centurions quickly said, “You also said the imperial army fights constantly — they’re just experienced! Our brothers aren’t bad, they just haven’t gotten used to it yet! The Xika are worse than us anyway!”

This centurion was an old subordinate of Lin Feng’s — his family had originally been from the Mountain Sparrow clan, but seeing no future in his own stronghold, he had come to follow Lin Feng in Wuzhou, and the two could speak frankly with each other. Lin Feng, having been rescued from his embarrassment, felt a foot stepping on his own: “Oh — right! But once you’re on the battlefield, the enemy doesn’t care whether you’re experienced or not! Don’t let this happen again!”

He continued dragging centurions downward through the ranks, scolding all the way.

The three of them kept order at the cost of their voices going hoarse. By evening at the camp, there was another round of commotion before the camp was finally pitched. Lu Danqing’s force included two hundred female soldiers, and she was especially on her guard, pitching her own tent in the middle to keep the male and female encampments separated.

Two days of marching like this, and they finally caught sight of Zhù Qingjun and Zhù Lian.

Arriving at Gan County, they learned that Zhù Qingjun had also been levying troops there and had been drilling soldiers for several years — and had started earlier and handled the levies more smoothly than they had. The three of them led fifteen hundred combined, while Zhù Qingjun alone had fifteen hundred of her own.

Lu Danqing couldn’t help but laugh: no wonder she had simply told Lin Feng verbally to listen to Qingjun, without putting any safeguards in place to ensure his compliance.

With that kind of strength, not complying would probably be difficult even if Lin Feng wanted to.

Zhù Qingjun said in a teasing tone, “You certainly didn’t come very quickly.”

Lu Danqing’s face flushed red. Lin Feng argued back, “We had a lot of people! The roads are narrow, setting up camp takes time, and we had to climb the mountain on two legs — otherwise we’d have been here ages ago!”

Zhù Lian said, “You’ve all worked hard. Let’s pitch camp first, then put our heads together about the defensive deployment, how to manage the supply lines. And the military discipline…”

The group gathered together, looking at one another — excited, but with an unsettled restlessness, as if nothing had quite found its footing. Among them, both Zhù Qingjun and Zhù Lian had experience operating independently, yet right now they felt just the same as Lin Feng and the others: with Zhù Ying not there in front of them, they felt without support, and somehow their hearts began to waver.

Lu Danqing murmured, “She’s put nearly half her foundation in our hands.”

Hearing this, everyone felt even more anxious.

Lu Danqing said, “Right — there’s a letter!”

Zhù Lian and Zhù Qingjun received it. The two leaned together and opened the letter to read. What Zhù Ying had written was not complicated — one could even say it was blunt.

The first line: Since I’ve entrusted this to you, act “as circumstances require.” You don’t need to report the details to me — just remember your responsibility.

The second line: You already know the overall strategy. The broad direction doesn’t change. If there are special circumstances, report early — don’t let a small ailment drag into something beyond treatment. I will personally go to the front line and adjust based on actual conditions.

She also added a note on the strategy: clan chiefs along the way are not to be spared. You don’t need to kill them with your own hands. Although they struck first and cutting them down is entirely justified, allow slaves who have grievances against the clan chiefs to voice their complaints and seek redress. As for the specifics, work it out among yourselves.

Divide the land as you go — clear each place as you take it. Grain and property are to be confiscated, but leave a portion of provisions for the local people to sustain themselves until the autumn harvest. Bring stone-workers and clerks, erect literacy steles and teach the memorized formulas. Local people can use the literacy steles to learn to recognize the characters on their land deeds — to ensure the fields truly end up in their hands.

You may levy troops and recruit guides in newly captured territory. How to identify suitable people, judge for yourselves.

Then several requirements were laid out: First, do not squander the people’s labor and resources. Second, strictly enforce military discipline. If there are any needs regarding provisions or personnel, raise them with me — I will find a way.

Finally she wrote: We are the ones waging a righteous campaign to succor the people and punish the guilty, no mistake about that. But we don’t need to go out of our way to “rescue” people just to earn their tearful gratitude.

If you go as saviors, it implies the people are ignorant and helpless — that is wrong. If the people are “ignorant,” then anyone can manipulate them. Today we can use them; tomorrow others can use them against us.

But if they are “knowing” — and in that knowing state choose to stand beside us — they will not be easily manipulated or coerced.

Once people have experienced being treated with genuine respect, most will never again wish to become livestock without dignity. This requires no great learning — knowing warmth from cold, knowing good from bad is not difficult.

I could fabricate stories to earn worship, but I still hope that the trust I receive is grounded in perception and understanding — not ignorance. To be the blind idol of a crowd of fools is utterly worthless.

After the two of them finished reading, they showed the letter to the other three.

When Lu Danqing read the part about “not sparing clan chiefs,” she felt nothing in particular — these were the opposing clan chiefs, and cutting heads in mutual conflict was the way of things. If the chiefs ended up as human sacrifices, that was arguably better. But when she read the part allowing slaves to seek redress, she felt something shift subtly, and thought: this way, even if any relatives of the clan chiefs managed to escape, they would become mortal enemies with the slaves who had already received benefits — the two sides would never be reconciled. There would be no need to fear them defecting.

It hadn’t occurred to her that there would be an explanation following — Lu Danqing felt a brief flash of shame.

Then she read the letter’s final line: If they are truly too ignorant to be reasoned with, then kill them.

Zhù Lian asked, “What do you all think?”

Lin Feng sucked at his teeth: “Reasoning with people?” That was not exactly his strong suit.

Zhù Lian said, “That part I’ll handle. Wang Jiu and Jiang Wan were sent to my side precisely to prepare for taking over the next location.”

Lin Feng said, “Then fine! How do we fight?”

“Listen to Qingjun.”

“Right!”

Zhù Lian reached into the envelope and drew out the last sheet of paper — it was a formal order bearing the official seal. A proclamation: any slave who reached Wuzhou was henceforth a free person. Shackles and chains were to be removed. No killing or harming of slaves permitted.

“Damn—” Su Sheng said. “Brilliant!”

Zhù Lian said, “Wang Jiu, take this and have copies distributed. Now, let’s talk about the defensive deployment and provisioning…”

The group spread out a map and got down to work. Wherever a battle is fought, a look at the terrain tells you that the passable routes are determined by heaven and earth. Defense positions, supply corridors, where each person would make camp after reaching their destination, how to scatter scouts and probe the enemy’s situation — all of it was laid out.

Zhù Qingjun said, “I think we shouldn’t rush to occupy the fortifications yet. Better to focus mainly on inflicting casualties on the enemy, and ideally concentrate our forces to break apart their ‘coalition’ first. The various clans weren’t exactly lovingly united to begin with — how could they coordinate consistently? Once they scatter, we can pick them off one by one. Then we won’t need to carry out large-scale conscription, and we can proceed calmly according to the original plan. Otherwise, all of Wuzhou will have to endure far greater hardship.”

Lu Danqing and the others, reflecting on the chaos of bringing fifteen hundred people along the road, reasoned that the enemy was surely no more organized than themselves — if the enemy were truly stronger, why would they be holed up in the mountains?

But another problem arose. Su Sheng said, “We don’t know how many people they have. If there are too many, this terrain won’t be easy to fight in.” What they’d seen before had mostly been northern flatlands and the western frontier — even the mountains there were more open than Wuzhou. This terrain was genuinely not favorable for a decisive engagement.

Zhù Qingjun said, “What about ambushing their supply lines and burning their granaries?”

Zhù Lian said, “That would leave us taking over a wreck. The grain and provisions we have on hand are barely enough for ourselves — how could we supply the local people of newly occupied areas as well?”

Lu Danqing smiled: “You don’t know, do you? Their clan chiefs are not like she is. Both they and she ‘blur the line between public and private’ — but that blurring is very different from one to the other. She will take from her own personal resources to handle public matters; they only funnel public wealth into their own granaries. Once you take a stronghold, their private stores are sure to be full. Don’t go thinking of these strongholds as if they were official offices in the outside world. Court officials may have their corrupt ones, but they still keep public and private matters separate.”

Zhù Lian smacked himself on the forehead: “I was being too rigid! Come on — let’s keep going.”

——

While this side was buzzing with excitement, back at the mountain city another familiar face arrived — Su Zhe.

She was somewhat apprehensive. The troop levy in Zhù County couldn’t be hidden from too many people. The two counties had once divided the Suoning clan’s territory together, and Zhù County and Asu County shared a border — the unfinished spring planting, the troop levy, the movement of grain: Su Mingluan had received word quickly.

Mother and daughter had discussed it, and both were uncertain about the situation. Su Zhe made up her mind on the spot: “Rather than speculate, I’ll go see her myself!”

The two counties were close. She led more than ten riders and covered the distance in a day. She hadn’t felt it on the road, but arriving at the mountain city, she could tell by instinct that there were fewer people than usual. The expressions and movements of those she passed carried a kind of urgency, and their conversations were things like, “Your so-and-so went west with the commanding officer too, didn’t they?” “Yours as well?” That feeling was very much like what she’d experienced in the north and on the western frontier.

Su Zhe understood: this is no small fight.

Compared to a campaign raised by the imperial court, the scale was of course smaller — but measured against Wuzhou’s population, this kind of atmosphere meant it could not be a minor matter.

Su Zhe took a deep breath: “Quickly! I need to see her!”