The battle between the imperial army and the Chongzhou rebels had been going on for nearly a year.
All the armor and weapons needed by the army were issued by the Imperial Armory. However, during wartime, if armor or weapons were damaged, they couldn’t be sent back to the capital for repairs. Therefore, most stationed armies would requisition nearby armories in the provinces.
In addition to repairing damaged weapons, the blacksmiths in these workshops could also forge new weapons to supply the army.
Although He Jingyuan controlled the military power of Jizhou, Xie Zheng could mobilize the entire northwestern forces, including He Jingyuan’s Jizhou army.
Initially, only the Xie family army from Huizhou engaged with the Chongzhou rebels. Later, when the Northern Xue people attacked Jinzhou, the Xie family army went north to support them. Prince Changxin attempted to take advantage of this and move south to seize Jizhou, which is why the Jizhou army became involved.
Before He Jingyuan led the remaining Jizhou forces to Chongzhou to join Tang Zhaoyi, the only Jizhou troops that had set foot in Chongzhou were the more than ten thousand recruits under Tang Zhaoyi’s command.
Tang Zhaoyi was a cautious person. When besieging Chongzhou, he wasn’t sure if Xie Zheng would come to Chongzhou to jointly annihilate the rebels after dealing with the rebels at the foot of Yixia Gorge. Therefore, he didn’t dare to take over the armories near Chongzhou.
Even now, those armories were still managed by the remaining Huizhou troops under Xie Zheng’s command. So when he came to collect the weapon forged for Fan Changyu, there was no need to conceal his identity.
As soon as the young commander stationed there heard the announcement, he hurried out to welcome him: “Greetings, Marquis.”
Xie Zheng handed the reins of his warhorse to the small soldier who came forward and strode into the camp, asking, “How is the forging of that Modao coming along?”
The young commander had to walk briskly to keep up with Xie Zheng’s pace and replied, “It just needs one more firing before it’s ready.”
As soon as they entered the weapon forging workshop, a wave of heat hit their faces, as if they were in a steamer.
Several rows of furnaces extended towards the back, seemingly endless at first glance.
Bare-chested blacksmiths stood at their workstations, taking turns with iron hammers, striking the iron blocks on their anvils. Their arm muscles bulged, full of strength. The clanging sounds of hammering mixed with deep and powerful shouts, make one’s heart tremble.
The furnaces blazed with fire, and beside each blacksmith was an assistant responsible for working the bellows, also bare-chested and dripping with sweat.
The young commander led Xie Zheng to the furnace where long-handled weapons were being forged. Next to the furnace was a temporary weapon rack, on which lay a Modao with a three-chi long blade and a five-chi long handle.
The bright blade and black iron handle showed faint circular patterns formed by the repeated folding and forging of the steel layers at the blade’s edge, visible in the firelight.
The young commander said, “The blade is made of hundred-times folded steel.”
Xie Zheng’s gaze passed lightly over it. He picked up the handle, tested its weight, and performed a flourish. The blade’s sound was like a tiger’s roar, and the young commander stepped back in fear of the blade’s wind.
Xie Zheng examined the cold gleaming edge and asked, “The blade’s edge is already sharpened, why does it need to be fired again?”
The young commander couldn’t answer this question. The old blacksmith responsible for forging this Modao was hammering a new weapon, not looking up as he spoke in a hoarse voice like a broken gong: “It’s a rule left by our ancestors. When forging a weapon for the battlefield, after sharpening the edge and letting it taste blood, it needs to be fired once more before it can leave the forge.”
Whether it was because he had spent years by the furnace or not, the old blacksmith’s voice was so hoarse it was almost grating.
These were all folk beliefs. Weapons that drank blood on the battlefield were said to have heavy resentment, and historically, few martial generals met good ends. This led to the saying that weapons that had tasted too much blood would bring misfortune to their masters. Therefore, when forging weapons, after sharpening and tasting blood, they needed to be fired once more, supposedly to subdue the spirit of the weapon.
Fearing Xie Zheng’s displeasure, the young commander hurriedly said, “This old man is from the same school as Yunzi, who forged the halberd for you years ago, My Lord. If it weren’t for you using black iron to forge this Modao, I’m afraid we couldn’t have persuaded him to come out of retirement.”
Black iron was precious, and ordinary blacksmiths didn’t dare to use such valuable material to forge weapons.
Even those famous master weapon forgers rarely had access to such good material. Most of the time, it was royalty or nobility who paid hefty sums to invite them to forge weapons.
Xie Zheng had stopped believing in ghosts and spirits since the day he went to the battlefield.
But this Modao was being made for Fan Changyu. Even knowing it was a baseless superstition, he was willing to seek some peace of mind.
He asked, “What blood is used?”
The old blacksmith raised his aged eyes. It was clear in the firelight that one of his eyes was dead, but the other eye’s gaze was as sharp as a hawk’s. He looked at Xie Zheng without fear and said, “Deadly weapons are for killing people, so it’s best to use human blood for the firing. Here, we usually use black dog blood.”
The young commander quickly said, “My Lord, we’ve already sent someone to fetch black dog blood.”
But Xie Zheng said, “No need to trouble yourselves.”
He looked impassively at the cold gleaming Modao, raised his hand to grab his collar, and with a forceful tug, threw off his robe embroidered with intricate dark patterns, revealing his muscular upper body.
The young commander caught his robe with both hands, realizing what he was about to do. His expression became alarmed: “My Lord, you mustn’t! Your body is worth ten thousand gold…”
Xie Zheng ignored him, gripped the Modao, performed a flourish, and then slashed across his own back. The sharp edge instantly left a deep bloody gash on his muscular back.
As he turned the blade back, blood from the edge dripped a circle of droplets on the ground.
Seeing this, the old blacksmith looked at Xie Zheng with some surprise, then immediately shouted in his broken-gong voice: “Stoke the fire!”
The man responsible for the bellows quickly began pumping furiously. The flames in the furnace instantly rose higher, the heat wave scorching enough to make one’s skin and flesh ache.
The blood-tasted Modao was placed back into the furnace to be reheated. The young commander quickly called for someone to apply medicine to Xie Zheng’s back.
When the Modao’s blade was red-hot, the old blacksmith lifted his hammer and carefully hammered it again. After quenching it in water, there was a hissing sound and a puff of white smoke rose instantly.
After it had completely cooled, the old blacksmith picked up the Modao and examined it closely. Seeing that the blade now had the same black color as the handle, with the folded patterns showing a golden-red hue and only the edge remaining snow-gray, he was so overjoyed he almost shed tears.
He muttered, “It’s done, it’s done…”
The surrounding craftsmen also raised a clamor, gathering around to see this second weapon forged from black iron.
The old blacksmith used tools to re-polish the edge and finally wiped away the dirt left from polishing with a cloth. The edge, which had turned grayish-white after being reforged, instantly became dazzlingly bright. Just looking at it, one could feel the sharpness of the blade.
The golden-red forging patterns on the blade now showed a unique, otherworldly beauty.
The old blacksmith presented the Modao to Xie Zheng with both hands, saying with undisguised excitement: “I beg the Marquis to choose a worthy master for this Modao. All of this old man’s life’s learning is in this blade. If one day this weapon can become famous across the land along with its master, this old man will not lose to that Yunzi!”
Xie Zheng replied, “Certainly.”
When he saw this long-handled Modao, he knew it couldn’t be more suitable for Fan Changyu.
A Modao could both chop and slash, making it an excellent weapon whether used on horseback or by infantry.
Xie Zheng ordered the long blade to be placed in a scabbard. Just as he was leaving the camp, a personal guard rode up from the direction of Kang City: “My Lord, a letter from the Grand Tutor!”
Xie Zheng’s long eyebrows furrowed. Xie Qi had just sent him a message via the Gyrfalcon, and now Grand Tutor Tao was sending a letter. Could there be changes in Chongzhou?
He took the letter handed over by the guard, opened it, and read it, then put it back in his bosom. He glanced at the guard: “You come with me to Chongzhou.”
The guard quickly agreed.
In his letter, Grand Tutor Tao said that after Li Huai’an went to Chongzhou, he had been staying with the army. Grand Tutor Tao suspected that Li Huai’an had found some leverage against He Jingyuan in the archives of the Jizhou treasury, and had also confirmed that the imperial grandson might be in Chongzhou, which was why he had been staying with the army.
The remnants of the setting sun shattered in Xie Zheng’s eyes. His gaze grew increasingly cold as he mounted his horse, pulled hard on the reins, and shouted: “Ride!”
When Grand Tutor Tao went to find He Jingyuan, He Jingyuan was half surprised and half relieved. He said, “After flooding the rebels attacking Lu City, General Tang dared to besiege Chongzhou with less than twenty thousand newly recruited soldiers. I should have known it was you, Grand Tutor, advising General Tang.”
Grand Tutor Tao said, “The Northwest has been in chaos for so long, and the Li and Wei factions in the court have fought almost to exhaustion. It’s time to restore peace to the common people of the world.”
He Jingyuan sighed: “The people of our Great Yin have suffered greatly.”
Hearing this, Grand Tutor Tao asked him: “Since you worry about the livelihood of the people, is one act of kindness enough for you to sell your life for Wei Yan all these years?”
He Jingyuan smiled bitterly: “The year Crown Prince Chengde and General Xie died in Jinzhou, there were no more generals to guard the border, and Great Yin was in grave danger. It was the Prime Minister who held up the backbone of Great Yin. Regardless of the current situation, the fact that the Marquis could lead troops north and recapture Jinzhou is due to the foundation built during those years of recovery. In those years, the Prime Minister did much for Great Yin. If I hadn’t met the Prime Minister, I would have been nothing more than a frozen corpse by the roadside decades ago. I dare not forget such kindness.”
Grand Tutor Tao said: “That old man of the Li family, who considers himself a pure official, has ambitions no smaller than Wei Yan’s. Wei Yan’s faction, having gorged themselves from the national treasury, can still do a few things for the common people. If Wei Yan falls and the Li faction takes over, a group of hungry people will take charge. By the time they’ve filled their bellies and let a few crumbs fall to the people below, I fear the national treasury will be empty.”
He looked at He Jingyuan: “I disagree with Wei Yan’s policies, but I despise even more the Li faction who, to fight Wei Yan these years, have withheld disaster relief grain causing masses of victims to starve to death, and then used this to impeach Wei Yan. You’re also aware that the old man of the Li family and Wei Yan are competing for the military merit of Chongzhou. Li Huai’an has now come to Chongzhou, presumably having obtained some leverage against you. Wei Yan probably won’t protect you anymore, but remembering the kindness you showed to my wife and children years ago, this old man is still willing to save your life. Are you willing to tell this old man what leverage Li Huai’an has obtained?”
Hearing Grand Tutor Tao mention the kindness from years ago, He Jingyuan recalled the past and couldn’t help feeling melancholic.
The reason Grand Tutor Tao appreciated him was not only because of his clean governance and love for the people, but also because years ago during the war, when Grand Tutor Tao’s wife and children died tragically in the conflict, he had helped to bury them.
It had been over twenty years since his wife and children passed away, and Grand Tutor Tao had remained alone all this time, looking a full generation older than his fellow scholars who had passed the imperial examinations in the same year.
After Xie Zheng set out on his campaign, feeling that his life’s learning had found an heir, he resigned from office and retired, only coming out of retirement now.
With Grand Tutor Tao’s assurance, He Jingyuan remembered what he had promised Xie Zheng. He suddenly stood up and bowed deeply, saying: “He has lived in shame until today only because the burden on his shoulders could not yet be put down. If there truly comes such a day, His life is not worth cherishing. I implore the Grand Tutor to protect the lives of a pair of sisters on He’s behalf.”
Grand Tutor Tao found this answer somewhat strange and asked, “Who are they?”
He Jingyuan said: “They are the daughters of He’s late friend.”
Grand Tutor Tao’s aged brows furrowed unconsciously, and then he heard He Jingyuan continue: “That late friend, I believe the Grand Tutor also knows.”