In the days after Li Chi arrived at North Mountain Pass, he sent men out every day to continue reconnaissance in all directions. From everything they found, it seemed the Black Wu main force could arrive any time.
And that, in itself, was cause to admire Old Zhang Zhenren’s abilities. The old man had been in the southwest, and yet he had been calculating the situation at the northern frontier.
Early one morning, Li Chi stood on high ground and surveyed the distance. He couldn’t help but concede that whoever this Black Wu commanding general was — the man had a good eye.
The village he had chosen sat at the highest point of the surrounding terrain, making it the finest possible location. From a defensive standpoint, the position as a central command was nearly impregnable. From an offensive standpoint, it offered a sweeping view of North Mountain Pass — any movement by Central Plains forces emerging from the pass would be visible immediately.
“Boss.”
Yu Jiuling came trotting up, smiling as though every flower within reach had burst into bloom.
“What’s got you so happy?”
Li Chi asked with a smile.
Yu Jiuling said: “We got it done last night.”
Li Chi smiled. “That quickly.”
Yu Jiuling said: “The village had a few hundred Black Wu soldiers standing watch, but they didn’t dare set visible patrols or open sentries outside — relying on concealed sentries to keep us out? With me? Dream on. Do you know who I am? Do you know how fast I am?”
Li Chi asked: “Everything went in?”
Yu Jiuling said: “Not only went in — we made two separate preparations.”
Li Chi had handed this task to Yu Jiuling, and Yu Jiuling’s head full of inspired peculiarity had finally found its full use. Not that Yu Jiuling really needed much guidance in the direction of cleverly unpleasant…
In the context of war, this kind of maneuver was only a small trick. Hoping to paralyze the Black Wu command with a few wells was an optimistic dream at best.
If it worked, wonderful. If not, there was no real loss.
Yu Jiuling said with some satisfaction: “First — we went and caught a good number of wild animals. To make sure there’d be at least some effect, we gave them a generous feeding of laxatives. Fed them full, then dosed them…”
Li Chi sighed: “The title of most well-aged silver coin — I’m willing to yield it to you.”
Yu Jiuling grinned: “That’s not even all of it. For the second preparation: we were worried that once they were put into the wells someone might notice them, so we did a weight test first.”
He explained in detail: “We tied weights to the animals we’d caught and submerged them to calibrate the load — not so heavy they sank to the bottom, not so light they’d float up to the surface.”
Li Chi sighed: “That’s a paradox in itself.”
Yu Jiuling said: “Who cares what kind of logic it is — the point is all of it’s been done.”
Li Chi patted Yu Jiuling on the shoulder. “I’m now imagining — if the Black Wu commanding general actually dies from being purged to death, and I have word spread that this magnificent achievement is yours, do you think the Black Wu intelligence service would spend the next several decades doing nothing but looking for ways to kill you?”
Yu Jiuling said: “Has my reputation for unpopularity really gotten this severe?”
Li Chi laughed loudly. “More or less.”
Yu Jiuling said: “Then tell me where I fall short, boss, and I’ll fix it. I’m going to die anyway, so I might as well take being unpopular to its absolute extreme.”
Li Chi marveled: “That is why there is only one Yu Jiuling in this world. No one else could possibly match you — if there were another, I shudder to think how many people would suffer.”
Yu Jiuling said: “If you’re saying that, boss, then not giving me a raise is genuinely unreasonable.”
Li Chi sighed. “You just touched my limit.”
Yu Jiuling said: “Boss, your limit is really quite low…”
Li Chi said: “Starting from one copper coin.”
Yu Jiuling said with some sadness: “Every time I go out on a job, for things to go smoothly for you, I spend out of my own pocket…”
He hadn’t even finished when Li Chi replied: “Can you tell me seriously and honestly where exactly you spend your own money?”
Yu Jiuling said: “I’m a good person. Every time I go out and I see young women who aren’t wearing much, I feel terrible for them. So whenever I come across one, I take care of them — buy them new clothes to wear.”
Li Chi said: “And can you tell me seriously and honestly — did you truly *come across* these women who weren’t wearing much? The choice of words there feels somewhat imprecise.”
Yu Jiuling said: “In a world of chance encounters, where does one not *meet* someone unexpectedly?”
Li Chi said: “For that one line alone, I’m raising your pay. Not for any other reason — this line has shown me that your shamelessness has far exceeded mine, and that deserves a reward.”
Yu Jiuling said: “Many thanks, boss!”
Li Chi said: “You’re currently at full Grade Four rank. This way — I’ll pay you at Grade Three salary.”
Yu Jiuling said: “Ugh — barely any difference in a month.”
Li Chi lowered his voice. “Your field mission supplement rate is high.”
Yu Jiuling: “Long live my lord, long live, may he live ten thousand years!”
Li Chi sighed. “Long live, ten thousand years and all that — I never expected that the first time you cried it with such genuine devotion would be because I just approved your brothel expenses…”
Yu Jiuling said: “Boss, you should think of it this way. Through the ages, name one ruler who has ever personally approved something like this for a subordinate. When posterity writes the record of your life, they will definitely give this matter its full and proper space…”
Li Chi said: “I’m already thinking about how to silence you.”
Yu Jiuling grinned, then clasped his hands in a salute. “Boss, your subordinate will step down. Busy through the night, need to get some sleep.”
Li Chi gave a nod. “These next weeks, make yourself useful. Our scouts aren’t as quick as you on their feet — lend a hand where you can.”
Yu Jiuling said: “Does that count as…”
He was just about to ask whether this counted as a secondary assignment deserving extra pay.
Li Chi, before he could finish, said: “No. And if you want to argue, I’ll strip you of the title of Tingwei Grand Commander first. Then you won’t be doing a secondary assignment — you’ll just be a regular scout doing his regular job.”
Yu Jiuling sighed. “When it comes to silver coins, boss, I truly, genuinely, yield to you with my whole heart.”
Li Chi raised his foot. Yu Jiuling tucked his backside away and bolted.
—
Seven days later.
Scouts came rushing back into the pass, reporting that they had spotted the Black Wu main force — a column stretching without end, in numbers that defied counting.
Li Chi and Xiahou Zuo immediately climbed to the wall and looked north. To the north, a vast dark tide of soldiers pressed across the land toward them.
Xiahou Zuo was familiar with the Black Wu military structure. He lifted a long-range optical instrument to his eyes, scanning north, his lips moving quietly as he counted.
“Visible banners alone — no fewer than fifteen grey battle-standards.”
Xiahou Zuo said: “Black Wu forces — two ten-thousand-man divisions to a corps. Different from our own organizational structure. Only the general commanding a full corps earns the right to fly a grey standard. The supreme commander flies gold. What’s in view already numbers over three hundred thousand. The forces behind should be no fewer than three hundred thousand as well. The Southern Court has come out in full force this time.”
“Report!”
Someone came sprinting up from below — clearly just returned, still gasping for breath.
“Reporting to the Great General.”
The scout clasped his hands. “From the northwest direction, scouting has revealed a massive force of steppe cavalry. Numbers beyond counting. Their banner markings identify them as the Iron Crane people.”
Xiahou Zuo looked at Li Chi. Li Chi exhaled slowly, then asked: “A battle at the hundred-thousand-plus scale — have you ever commanded one?”
Xiahou Zuo shook his head. “Never.”
Li Chi said: “Now you’re about to personally command a battle involving forces exceeding one million. Aren’t you a little excited?”
Xiahou Zuo said: “When you say ‘exceeding one million’ — you mean the enemy’s side?”
Li Chi said: “Naturally not. If the enemy has a million, then you’ll be commanding a battle with a total of one million and thirty thousand troops.”
Xiahou Zuo let out a long breath. “Thank you for the encouragement.”
If the enemy had a million troops, then indeed the total force count of this battle would come to one million and thirty thousand — because the frontier troops and Prince Ning’s soldiers combined came to thirty-four thousand.
Li Chi said: “Oh — I forgot. Once Dantai arrives, you’ll be commanding a battle involving one million, forty-six thousand troops.”
He looked at Xiahou Zuo. “You’re going to make it into the history books!”
Xiahou Zuo looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “When I’ve lived to a hundred years old and had enough, then I’ll make it into the history books.”
Li Chi said: “I’m already excited on your behalf.”
Xiahou Zuo said: “No need to be excited on my behalf. This battle that will be written into history should of course be commanded personally by the Prince of Ning.”
Li Chi tilted his head back and looked up at the sky, then suddenly clapped both hands over his face. “Trouble — those vicious Black Wu have put poison in the air!”
Xiahou Zuo: “…”
The officers on the wall looked out at that dark approaching mass. Who among them wasn’t tense?
And yet seeing Prince Ning and the Great General trading jokes with not a trace of worry — something in all of them eased.
Li Chi lowered his voice toward Xiahou Zuo. “The officers under your command — are they easily taken in?”
Xiahou Zuo said: “In general, more or less…”
Li Chi asked: “Compared to you?”
Xiahou Zuo said: “Men I’ve trained and led — how much worse could they be?”
Li Chi said: “Hmm. So — easily taken in.”
Xiahou Zuo: “…”
Li Chi turned to face those frontier officers, drew a breath, and was just about to speak when one young officer said loudly: “Prince Ning need not worry — we will fight to the last and never retreat!”
Li Chi paused. He turned to look at Xiahou Zuo. Xiahou Zuo thought to himself: *why are you looking at me? These are the officers I raised.*
Li Chi walked over and placed a hand on the young officer’s shoulder. “What is your name?”
The officer answered: “My name is Yin Kong.”
Li Chi said: “From today, stay close to me. If you see me step down from the wall to rest, every one of you is free to step down. If you see me hiding behind someone else, every one of you is free to hide behind me. If you see me kill fewer enemies than you do, every kill beyond your normal count — credit it to yourselves.”
He spread his arms wide. “My personal guards — my armor!”
His guards stepped forward immediately and fitted Li Chi into his battle armor. Once it was buckled and secured, Li Chi pointed to a position on the wall: “This spot is mine. I will hold here from this moment. If a single enemy climbs over the wall at the point I am guarding, it will be because I am already dead.”
He looked at Xiahou Zuo and smiled. “I don’t deceive my own people.”
Xiahou Zuo smiled back. “You didn’t need to say it. We all already knew.”
Volley after volley of arrows were carried up from below, along with heavy crossbows as thick as a man’s calf. The abundance of weapons and supplies in the frontier army’s stores put solid confidence in every heart.
“Do you know what I fear most?”
Li Chi called out: “I don’t fear how formidable the enemy is. I don’t fear how brutal the fighting gets. What I fear is this — that we still have the will and the strength to fight, but we run out of weapons, we run out of supplies. That we lose not because we lacked courage or strength, but because we were not equipped.”
He smiled. “To cure myself of that fear — that fear of running short on arms and provisions — I have spent years making sure the frontier armies have everything they need in abundance. So —”
“Don’t spare the supplies. Fight without holding back!”
Li Chi’s voice rang out across the wall:
“We have plenty!”