In the navy camp, Yun Ye sat in the seat of honor while Li Jing, Li Ji, Li Xiaogong, Li Daozong, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, Cheng Yaojin, Niu Jinda, Qiu Wenzhong, and other veteran commanders sat around the hall, chattering endlessly about Liaodong’s terrain.
“Boy, as long as you’re fast enough, you can definitely escape in one piece before the Goguryeo people react. This old man trusts your survival skills completely. As long as you don’t provoke the Goguryeo forces at Xincheng and Dawang City, your chances of success are at least fifty percent. We’re all military men—fifty-fifty odds already mean great winning chances. The rest depends on whether your immortal master blesses you or not.”
“That’s right. The worst situation would be getting surrounded by their main army, but you’ll be on the river—they can’t touch you there. As long as you hoist your sails and run like hell, you’ll definitely escape. No matter how many men you lose, boy, remember this—you must bring those bones back for this old man. I’ll replace any soldiers who die.”
“The Prince of Heijian is right. If such a fine navy isn’t used to fight some battles and see blood, who knows if it’s any good? When this old man conquers Goguryeo in the future, I’m still counting on the navy to transport supplies. At that time, I’ll lead light cavalry in rapid assault—I refuse to believe those Goguryeo people can outrun my horses’ hooves!”
The hall erupted in diverse opinions. These old commanders seemed to have suddenly lost their minds, each spouting ridiculous ideas from their bearded mouths. Easy for them to say while standing—they all wanted the navy to take the vanguard position and test Goguryeo’s strength for them. A nation that even the Sui Dynasty’s million-man army failed to conquer—if it could be easily taken, that would be the joke of the century. Cheng Yaojin and Niu Jinda remained silent, while the rest, like foolish hotbleds, fed Yun Ye absurd advice.
They didn’t care how many died. As long as Yun Ye could bring back those bones, they would immediately have an excuse to start war. If Yun Ye happened to lose his entire army, then this war would certainly be fought to the death without compromise.
How satisfying! Now the world was at peace with singing and dancing—where were there battles to fight? For these bloodthirsty butchers, peace under heaven was their greatest sorrow. “When the cunning rabbits die, the hunting dogs are cooked; when the birds are gone, the good bow is stored away”—these sayings had always hung like a sharp sword over their heads. Without war, these men lost their value for existence. They understood this clearly.
Some time ago, Li Er ordered timber felling and ship building in Shu, who knew it would actually force three provinces into rebellion. Over such a trivial matter, the entire court’s generals fought madly for the assignment, all wanting to lead armies to suppress the bandit troubles. In the end, one Pillar of State led two Cloud Banner Generals with ten thousand soldiers to quell the rebellion. In the past, this would absolutely be using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken, but now who cared about such things? As long as there were battles to fight, who cared whose heads would roll under heaven?
Li Jing clapped his hands, signaling everyone to quiet down. He smiled at Yun Ye and said, “You’re the navy’s commander-in-chief. Whether to go to battle or not, give us a straight answer. You’re also part of the military faction. You see the current situation very clearly—we need a major battle to prove our usefulness. Look at how many veteran generals have fallen on hard times this past year and you’ll understand. Military men who don’t fight have no voice. In governing the nation and discussing matters, we’re no match for those civil officials. Only when two armies face off will they obediently follow our orders. As a member of the military, you cannot be indecisive.”
Li Jing’s days were becoming increasingly difficult. Now the civil officials had even dug up the matter of him appointing two army adjutants during the Xueyantuo campaign. One of the adjutants he appointed had actually become a witness, stubbornly biting down on his benefactor and refusing to let go, completely exposing Li Jing’s battlefield decisions on the grasslands. Reportedly, those censors had already prepared enough impeachment memorials, ready to launch an offensive against him.
Yun Ye understood Li Jing’s thoughts very well. Pitiful that this generation’s war god now needed to rely on war to protect himself from harm. Only when hostilities began would the censors, considering the bigger picture, cease their attacks.
“Regarding the two matters this junior raised last time, I wonder how you veteran generals have considered them. You’re right—as part of the military faction, naturally I have no reason not to help when you’re all in difficulty. However, once my conditions are met and the fleet returns, I will immediately set sail eastward. I won’t rest until I retrieve our soldiers’ remains.”
Just wanting to reap ready-made benefits—where in the world was there such a cheap deal? Now wasn’t like before, when you could fool me with a few words and I’d obediently serve as your shield. Now, without making promises, don’t expect the navy to budge an inch.
“Boy, tell this old man what exactly you want to do. As long as you secretly bring back those remains, it will be our military’s blessing. Don’t create complications.” Li Ji said to Yun Ye slowly, rolling his eyes.
“All you veteran generals are experienced at leading troops. You couldn’t be ignorant of the principle that war is perilous. This junior only wants a guarantee. I don’t care about myself, but after my subordinate soldiers risk their lives, I don’t want them to shed blood and tears. On my first day of leading troops, I told myself that such a thing would absolutely not be allowed to happen in the Lingnan Navy camp. As long as the soldiers fight bravely, if they don’t receive their deserved rewards, that’s my failure as commander-in-chief. So I don’t want to speak of grand principles—I only want to secure them a guarantee, so they won’t be made scapegoats after the battle, left to cry without tears.”
The navy soldiers standing below Yun Ye all knelt on the ground in unison, not making a sound. Yun Ye’s words made Li Ji’s face flush slightly. His own consistent style was to find others to take the fall while he reaped the benefits. In times of danger, he wouldn’t even spare his son-in-law. Someone who had been a bandit could never rid himself of such vices for his entire life.
Before coming to the Tang Dynasty, Yun Ye had always been full of respect for strategic generals. But after spending a long time in this great era, he discovered why all founding emperors had little fondness for such intelligent generals. Besides the threat they posed, their wretched personalities played a large part. Because they were smarter than other generals, they thought more. They had to turn even the simplest matters into complex affairs. As if not doing so wouldn’t demonstrate their wisdom. Little did they know, the smarter they were, the more detestable they became—hiding themselves deeply with all their concealment, no one knowing what they really intended. If you didn’t guard against such hidden threats to the throne, who would you guard against?
Li Jing was like this, Li Ji was the same, and in the future there would be Hou Junji too—all with duplicitous appearances, their actions always lacking a sense of righteousness and openness.
Cheng Yaojin was the one with true great wisdom. Everything he did was done openly before Li Er—seizing credit, grabbing benefits, spouting nonsense—he’d done plenty of such things, yet the Emperor’s trust in him had never diminished. Even though he often made the Emperor lose face, Li Er had never punished him. The same actions falling on Li Jing would be catastrophic disasters.
Niu Jinda stepped forward through gritted teeth and said, “Yun Ye, this old man will give you the guarantee you want. I’ll enter the palace right now and present a document to His Majesty, testifying that we instigated you to send troops to Liaodong. It has nothing to do with you, nothing to do with the soldiers.” As Old Niu spoke these words, Cheng Yaojin also nodded and slapped the table, saying, “Count this old man in too.”
Yun Ye sat in the commander’s seat, shaking his head. “Your guarantees are completely useless. If you two get into trouble later, this junior will have to bail you out—even more troublesome. Besides, I don’t want to make the two aunties who care for me sad, so you two should forget it.”
After speaking to Old Cheng and Old Niu, Yun Ye fixed his gaze on Li Jing and said slowly, “The military needs to bring back the deceased’s remains to boost military morale and public sentiment. My thirteen thousand subordinate soldiers must risk their lives—can’t you gentlemen even give this small guarantee? As fellow military comrades, don’t their deaths and sacrifices evoke even a bit of sympathy from you?”
Li Jing looked at the map repeatedly, then turned to Yun Ye and said, “This old man knows that once given this guarantee, you’ll definitely poke a huge hole in the sky. Although right now I don’t know how you’ll break through the heavens while surrounded by armies, you’ll definitely do it. Your eyes already reveal fanatical killing intent. A youngster who has never led troops or been to battle—I don’t know where you get such intense murderous intent.”
After speaking, he lowered his head to look at the map again, glanced once more at the terrain model, then heavily slammed his fist on the table. Looking at Yun Ye with eyes devoid of expression, he said, “Fine. This old man has personally been to countless battlefields, yet this is the first time a youngster has backed me into a corner. Since you have confidence, this old man will place his bet. I’ll draft a memorial right now to exonerate you all. Let all blame fall on me alone.”
Li Ji gritted his teeth and nodded as well. Li Xiaogong, Li Daozong, Qiu Wenzhong and others also nodded, indicating they would submit memorials requesting His Majesty the Emperor dispatch his personal army to retrieve those fallen soldiers’ remains.
Yun Ye stepped down from the commander’s seat, bowed deeply to these men, then said, “You gentlemen are the chess players; this junior is that pawn crossing the river. This journey, I will certainly advance bravely. I won’t stop until the objective is achieved. As long as His Majesty’s document arrives, the Lingnan Navy will return to Chang’an next month. After delivering the grain, I will immediately set sail eastward without a moment’s delay.”
Li Jing patted Yun Ye’s shoulder and said, “Take care of yourself,” then was first to leave the camp, mounting his horse and riding away in a cloud of dust. Seeing their objective achieved, the others also said their farewells one by one. Only Qin Qiong, Yuchi, Cheng Yaojin, and Niu Jinda remained, gathering once more around the terrain model to help Yun Ye find a method to achieve the objective without desperate fighting.
Seeing the eyesores had all left, Yun Ye had all his subordinates withdraw. He poured tea for the four veteran generals himself and said softly, “This junior has already looked it over—there’s no particularly good method. I’m no expert at leading armies either, so I plan to fight my way through. As long as I destroy these three cities, I think I can do whatever I want along the Liao River. Not to mention digging up graves—even if I plant crops, Gao Jianwu will have to wait until after my autumn harvest before he can dispatch forces to encircle and suppress me.”