The information brought from distant Chang’an filled Yun Ye’s heart with frustration. “Not asking about military affairs but asking about ghosts and spirits”—this single sentence was enough to explain Li Er’s mentality.
An emperor sitting on his lofty throne actually longed like a child for those floating immortal mountains on the sea. Having Yun Ye search for immortal mountains—this letter mixed among the Ministry of War’s military documents—at least showed Li Er still retained some sense of shame.
Li Er would never easily give such a letter to others, such as Li Jing, Li Ji, or Cheng Yaojin. That he could give it to Yun Ye showed he trusted this junior from the bottom of his heart. Unable to restrain himself, he placed his deepest desires on Yun Ye, hoping to find a path to longevity.
“How many years do you want to be emperor?” Yun Ye tossed Li Er’s letter into the brazier, watching it burn to ash, then crushed it with fire tongs. He decided not to tell anyone about this matter…
The Ministry of War’s official document detailed Zhang Jian’s current movements. The frontline facing Goguryeo would soon see a grand military parade. Qibi Heli, coming from the grasslands with thirty thousand cavalry, would depart from Yunzhong and ultimately rendezvous with Zhang Jian. Though merely a demonstration, it would surely attract most of Goguryeo’s Liaodong forces to the front. As for how Yun Ye would act, that depended on Yun Ye himself.
Li Jing was indeed a qualified general. Despite Yun Ye’s deployment this time being filled with much dissatisfaction toward him, Li Jing still conscientiously performed his duties. The gathering of forces from two routes would terrify the Goguryeo people. The Great Tang was not the former Sui—Gao Jianwu knew this clearly, as did the Goguryeo nobility. A crude Great Wall couldn’t stop the Great Tang’s cavalry.
Liu Fang raised his head from the sand table, looked at the somewhat dejected Yun Ye, and said: “Young man, this is how it is. There will always be some discordant voices from the court transmitted to the army. Once you’ve commanded troops long enough, you’ll know this is nothing unusual. You need the composure to remain unfazed even if Mount Tai collapses before you. Otherwise, this battle needn’t be fought.”
“It’s nothing. This junior is merely lamenting human greed. Look—this is the Ministry of War’s announcement. Zhang Jian and Qibi Heli will conduct a large-scale military parade at the Liao River’s source to intimidate the savages of Heishui. Actually, they’re drawing the enemy’s attention for us, making them deploy most of their forces to the upper Liao River, creating opportunities for us.”
Liu Fang didn’t respond but instead picked up two red flags and planted them at the Liao River’s source. After thinking, he pulled up three blue flags and planted them opposite the red ones. He knocked down the blue flag on Dahei Mountain, then pulled up a blue flag from the rear and moved it forward. Measuring the distance with his fingers, he said to Yun Ye: “We have three months to capture Cangyan, Dawang, and Mudi—these three cities. Moreover, once we act, we must seize them with lightning speed, preventing reinforcements from the other two cities from arriving in time. Only with a foothold can we gradually advance. In this old man’s view, taking Cangyan City as a base first is best. Didn’t your family’s agents say Cangyan City has stockpiled large amounts of military supplies?”
“Mudi City sits on barren flatlands, with no natural defenses around it, and one side faces water. The garrison inside is fewer than five thousand. This old man has observed—your army actually has a large number of eight-ox crossbows that are easier to operate than others, requiring only two people. Excellent weapons! On the plains, with these things, however many cavalry come will only be sending themselves to death. Moreover, you have an ocean of powerful crossbows. If this old man had your equipment back then, I could have fought all the way to the horizon.”
Standing by the sand table, Yun Ye nodded and asked Liu Fang with a smile: “Why don’t you mention Dawang City?”
Liu Fang sighed and said: “Dawang City is different from Mudi and Cangyan. This old man dares say that once you defeat Mudi City’s cavalry on the plains, the remaining Goguryeo people will certainly retreat rapidly to Dawang City. This fortification can only be taken by direct assault—and must be assaulted directly. Young man, on the battlefield there really aren’t so many ingenious strategies for you to employ. Strength is the key to determining victory or defeat. That’s why military texts always mention the four words ‘magnificent army.’ Conspiracies and tricks can only be employed when weak confronts strong—it’s actually a very helpless choice. Stratagems are relative. Military strategists will absolutely not choose to take risks unless absolutely necessary. Once a stratagem is seen through, you’ll certainly die without even recovering your corpse. So youngster, stop scheming. Just hope your sky-full of arrow rain can inflict maximum casualties on your enemies. Only by gradually depleting the enemy’s forces and finally crushing them in one strike—that’s what you should choose.”
“Old sir, you don’t know—we have a type of black oil.”
“Dawang City is entirely built of massive stones. Do you think those captured soldiers all died in battle? Half of them were worked to death building Dawang City. The city has waterways throughout—it’s not afraid of fire at all. Not to mention there are countless soldier-concealing caves in that city. When they hide inside, you have no solution whatsoever.”
As an extremely orthodox military man, Liu Fang truly looked down on Yun Ye’s little tricks. That gasoline could ignite Dahei Mountain had already greatly exceeded his expectations. Dawang City was different from Dahei Mountain—this was a true military city, a fortress of war. From its initial construction, it had considered every possible method of siege and made corresponding defenses.
“Old sir, didn’t you notice a few days ago that our fires couldn’t be extinguished with water? It has another characteristic—it’s lighter than water and can float on water. It can be ignited even on water. Even if it doesn’t burn the enemy to death, the black smoke it produces can suffocate people. You also don’t know that when the great fire burns, it will exhaust the surrounding air. The Goguryeo people hiding in soldier-concealing caves will only die faster—all suffocated to death.”
“To deal with Dawang City, we only need to choose a moonless night, pour that oil into the waterways, and the waterways will automatically deliver the black oil to every part of the city. Then light the fire in the waterways. If the enemy discovers this and cuts off the waterways, it doesn’t matter. We have so many eight-ox crossbows—just make fire arrows and shoot them inside. We’ll certainly turn the entire city into a great furnace.”
After hearing Yun Ye’s explanation, Liu Fang looked as if he’d seen a ghost. This youngster was truly skilled at arson.
“If so, aren’t you afraid of causing too many casualties and inviting heavenly retribution? Bai Qi was like this, Xiang Yu was like this. Among ancient famous generals, those who killed excessively all came to bad ends. Young man, let this old man do this deed. You’re still young, unlike this old man whose chest is filled with hatred, thinking day and night only of how to vent this fury. Suffering heavenly retribution would be deserved. This old man is already seventy—dying wouldn’t be premature.”
“Old sir, don’t believe that nonsense. It’s actually all the result of political struggle failures. What heavenly retribution? Don’t you know the old story of how this youngster rode on the roof ridge of Taiji Palace surrounded by thunder and lightning yet remained completely unharmed?”
Liu Fang smiled and cupped his hands, expressing respect for this divine child. Seeing the military strategy had been drafted, he walked out of the commander’s tent with Yun Ye. By this time, it was already late evening. A bright moon hung in the sky above. Silver moonlight filled the entire camp. The soldiers in the tents had all fallen asleep. Only Gou Feng led a patrol team wandering through the camp.
Having talked all day, neither had any desire to speak further. Stepping on moonlight, they strolled around the tents. Yun Ye pulled a flat bottle from his bosom and handed it to Liu Fang. Seeing he didn’t know how to open it, Yun Ye unscrewed the cap and handed it over again. This was the academy’s latest achievement—they had manufactured threading and established standards for it. They still had no way to carve it directly on steel, but using molds, they could already create some simple threading, such as the glass wine flask in Yun Ye’s hand.
Liu Fang took it, carefully examined the bottle mouth, smelled the clear fragrance of strong liquor, then raised it to his lips for a sip. Smiling at Yun Ye, he said:
“Good stuff! If this old man goes with you to Yushan, other things don’t matter, but you must supply me adequately with such fine wine. I have only one grandson left—he’s my entire hope for living. Giving him a peaceful and comfortable environment is good. Do you know that if this old man hadn’t chosen to live in seclusion back then but had instead joined the Li family, my current rank would be no less than Li Gang’s?”
“It would only be higher. After you faked your death, Yang Guang was very sorrowful and gave you a high evaluation. Duke of Lu! My Uncle Cheng’s current rank is precisely this. If you plan to become an official, you mustn’t snatch away Uncle Cheng’s Duke of Lu title, or my Uncle Cheng will definitely come find you with his beard bristling, brandishing his axe.”
The two laughed heartily. Liu Fang waved his hand and said: “Enough! This old man has served as an official quite enough. The Liu family served as officials for several hundred years. By my generation, if I hadn’t faked death and fled to marry and have children in the wild mountains, how would any bloodline have remained? This old man who should have died long ago stubbornly refuses to die, yet my son, daughter-in-law, and elderly wife all passed away one after another. Losing one’s father in youth, losing one’s wife in middle age, losing one’s son in old age—I’ve tasted all three of life’s bitter sufferings without missing a single one.”
“Heh, only in these past few years have I gradually come to terms with it. My grandson has grown up. Even if he doesn’t become an official in the future, he must still study. Hearing that Li Gang assumed the position of Grand Libationer at Yushan Academy, my heart became active. I wanted to entrust my grandson to him, but he was single-mindedly insistent that I become an official or teach at the academy. I’m someone who leads troops in battle—what could I teach at the academy? Wouldn’t I just be relying on my old friend’s good graces to freeload at the academy?”
“Though I, Liu Fang, need to raise my grandson to adulthood, I still have my backbone. When a person lives to my age, only a bit of backbone remains. If even this is lost, what’s the point of living? Don’t you agree, youngster?”
“‘Growing stronger with age’ describes you precisely. This youngster always believes that surviving is the first priority. If it’s for my children, I wouldn’t hesitate to kowtow and kneel. If it’s for the whole family, I’d cheerfully make two trips through mountains of blades and seas of fire—no problem.”
“Before, when I was alone, I feared nothing—not heaven, not earth. I even wanted to pat a tiger’s rear when I saw one. Now it won’t do. Having a family and children, this life is no longer just my own. Can’t afford to gamble!”