“Yun Ye, this old man has never asked you—this deployment of yours, is it out of compassion for those soldiers who died in battle, or to demonstrate your own military achievements?” As Liu Fang walked, he suddenly asked about the original intention behind this matter.
“Old sir, if possible, I’d like to spend this lifetime staying at Yushan without coming out. But I couldn’t do it. The military generals in court are currently having bad luck. They discovered that retrieving the remains of fallen soldiers might be a good excuse to start war again. Those bigwigs counted on their fingers the resources in their hands and found that I, Yun Ye, am the best scapegoat. I have elite warship fleets under my command, strong connections, and can attract His Majesty’s attention. Most importantly, the Great Tang has plenty with me and is even more peaceful without me. The navy—isn’t it meant for doing this kind of work? So here I am. No one asked my opinion, no one cared whether I lived or died. They just give orders, and I just execute them.”
“Yun Ye! As a military man, dying on the battlefield is your duty. You enjoy the treatment of a Martial Marquis, so you must pay the price of a Martial Marquis. There’s no question of who owes you or doesn’t owe you. If you were a commoner, no one would entrust the lives of over ten thousand people to your hands. When you return, you can curse while jumping up and down, or even storm into the house of whoever sent you to Liaodong—it doesn’t matter. Right now, the only thing you can consider is completing the mission and bringing the soldiers back safely. You cannot think of anything else.”
Hearing the old man’s stern rebuke, Yun Ye bowed to receive the instruction. Just now, because of Li Er’s letter, he had lost some rationality and become somewhat self-destructive.
“You have extremely thorough preparations, very formidable weapons, and over ten thousand soldiers who would charge through water and fire at your single command. What is there to fear? This mission, in this old man’s view, truly has little difficulty. But haven’t you thought about who will carry the black pot for your wanton arson in Liaodong, when lives will be devastated?”
These were all battle-hardened schemers—how could they not see clearly the situation before them? The enemy opposite wasn’t formidable; the real trouble would come after returning home. This kind of slaughter that didn’t distinguish between military and civilians would absolutely invite overwhelming condemnation.
“That doesn’t matter. When coming here, I had General Li Jing and the others guarantee they would carry the black pot for me. If their heads aren’t big enough, there’s still His Majesty the Emperor. He said that whatever I do in Liaodong can all be counted on his head.”
“Ha ha ha!” Liu Fang laughed heartily, pointing at Yun Ye and saying: “Then what are you still worried about? Which family’s general already has someone to carry the black pot before the battle has even been fought? If the Sui Emperor had also possessed today’s sovereign’s magnanimity, how would he have failed to take down even a Goguryeo? All the defeated generals were punished—only the emperor alone was never wrong!”
“Old man, why are you so agitated? The current emperor frequently puts black pots on his own head—it’s nothing unusual. It’s late at night. Rest well. I can still say a few words about the general direction, but when it comes to actual troop formations and deployment, it’ll be up to you. We not only need to dig up the remains, but also get some wealth to bring back. That’s more proper.”
“That’s your business. This old man won’t engage in such sordid affairs.” Having said this, he returned to his own tent. Yun Ye stretched out his hand wanting to get the wine bottle back, but seeing the old man pretending to know nothing about it, let it go. Tonight he still had to reply to the emperor—a pile of messy matters awaited. He could only return to his own great tent for a night of work by lamplight.
When he came to the seaside again after dawn, he was delighted to discover that the ice chunks of all sizes in the sea had disappeared without a trace. Several small fishing boats were already in the near sea constantly casting and hauling nets. There were also some dark-skinned fishermen busy carrying boats into the sea, treading barefoot on the wet beach, seemingly oblivious to the cold. A mast-bearing warship appeared on the horizon, constantly throwing ropes into the sea and pulling them up. This was a vanguard ship testing the shipping lane—routine official business that had to be performed every time the sea opened. This was Dengzhou Port’s official vessel.
When the fleet returned, Yun Ye would still need to conduct necessary shipboard drills for those land-based soldiers. Time was tight. If a sleet storm came at this time, all of Liaodong would become a mud pit, bringing unexpected disaster to the army.
Last night’s letter to Li Er had been difficult to write. The nonsense about turtles carrying islands wandering all over the world—Yun Ye didn’t know where Li Er had heard it from. He actually wanted Yun Ye, after completing his mission, to go search for this wandering turtle, and if possible, capture the turtle alive and bring it back for him to see.
He was always full of confidence in his own army, believing that Great Tang soldiers were unmatched in the world. As long as he gave orders, even if there was no turtle, the soldiers could produce one.
“This subject has heard of giant iron ships in the sea and flying iron chunks in the sky, but has never heard of such a large turtle in the sea. If there is such an auspicious beast, with this subject’s capabilities, I fear I would fall short. This subject has heard that General Li Jing possesses abilities that reach heaven and penetrate earth. If…”
Li Er knew that Qiu Ran Ke was an extraordinary person from overseas. Now he had disappeared—perhaps he had gone searching for overseas immortal mountains again. Since Li Jing could push the matter of digging up remains in Liaodong onto me, why couldn’t the matter of finding overseas immortal mountains be pushed onto him? With a professional like Qiu Ran Ke, they would certainly be able to quickly find the fountain of eternal youth.
Drowsy early in the morning, Dan Ying and the others had gone who knows where. Lai Chuanfeng and Human Bear also had no news. The fleet was supposed to arrive in these two days but was nowhere to be seen. Since there was nothing to do, might as well go back to sleep.
However, that bare-naked fisherman came down from the boat carrying a fish basket. From his beaming face, one could tell he had good things. The personal guards immediately called the bare-naked fisherman over.
A naked person facing fully armed soldiers appeared particularly awkward, not knowing whether to cover the front or back with a broken basket. With a bitter face, he walked up to Yun Ye.
Yun Ye snatched away the fish basket, examining it while saying: “We’re all men—what’s there to be shy about? Diving for sea cucumbers, how can you not be naked? Would you wear clothes instead? Hey, you had a good harvest today—a whole basket of premium purple sea cucumbers. Good stuff! There are even two sea clams? Don’t know if there are pearls inside.”
Dismissing the personal guards, Yun Ye squatted on the ground with the fisherman, using a knife to pry open the sea clams. The fisherman had become familiar with this general’s presence these past few days. He had never seen him bully anyone. When fishermen caught good things, he would buy them at fair prices. Hearing him say that diving for sea cucumbers must be done naked warmed his heart. That’s right—who dives for sea cucumbers wearing clothes? That would be fatal.
“What good luck! A purple pearl, and it’s grown so large. In the capital, it could fetch a good price. This thing can only be used by wealthy noble families. If common folk use it, that’s a matter of violating regulations. Keep it safe—don’t sell for less than ten strings of cash.”
Yun Ye dug out a pearl the size of a pigeon’s egg from the sea clam, wiped it clean with a handkerchief, placed it in the fisherman’s hand, and warned him not to sell it cheap.
“These sea cucumbers, I’ll take them, Marquis. Ten wen per piece. I won’t count—let’s say thirty pieces. Go ask that person for three hundred wen. Hurry and put on some clothes. Even wearing a cloak, I’m freezing like a turtle.”
Having said this, he was about to hang the fish basket on the saddle. The fisherman grinned foolishly, then spread his hand open again. The purple pearl shimmered with flowing colors in the morning sun—very beautiful. Showing his white teeth to Yun Ye, he said: “Ten strings.”
Facts once again proved that there are no fools in the world. If this pearl fell into a merchant’s hands, getting two strings would be lucky. Just now this marquis said ten strings, so decisively sell it to him. Ten strings of cash, no haggling.
Yun Ye laughed heartily, accepted the pearl, asked Liu Jinbao for a large ten-liang silver ingot, placed it in the fisherman’s hand and said: “I, the marquis, don’t have the habit of carrying lots of copper coins. Take this silver ingot. You can’t spend it in the village—take it to a money house in the city and have them exchange it for eleven strings of cash. Remember, now silver is valuable and copper is cheap. Ten liang of silver exchanges for eleven strings of copper cash. Don’t let anyone cheat you. Best to bring several people along.”
The fisherman, clutching the silver ingot, kowtowed to Yun Ye, then took off running toward the village. As for putting on clothes—who cares about clothes when you have over ten strings of cash?
Smiling, he instructed Liu Jinbao to deliver the payment for the sea cucumbers. These were all people living hard lives—Yun Ye had no heart to take advantage of them.
With good ingredients, naturally a good meal should be made. Scallion-braised sea cucumber was absolutely delicious. He invited Yuan Dake and Liu Fang. No other dishes—just one large basin of scallion-braised sea cucumber and one jar of wine. The military’s copper basin was enough for three people to feast on.
Yuan Dake buried his head and ate quite a bit before raising it to take a sip of wine, giving Yun Ye a thumbs up: “I’ve long heard that the marquis possesses Yi Ya’s culinary skills. This dark, unremarkable thing, passing through the marquis’s hands, is truly an ultimate delicacy of the mortal world. This official has served in Dengzhou for three years, always thinking this was a poor and remote place. Who would have thought such an ultimate delicacy came from this official’s jurisdiction? I was truly blind!”
“Saying his mathematics is profound, that he’s versed in the hundred schools, has seven apertures of cleverness and such—this old man wasn’t convinced. But just this basin of sea cucumber, this old man must say I’m convinced. This old man has also seen the world. The palace food compared to this dish is also far inferior. Today my appetite has been satisfied, but I don’t know when I can wash away the hatred in my heart.”
Yuan Dake was very clever not to probe Liu Fang’s background, skillfully changing the subject to ask how this delicacy could be sent to Chang’an to sell for a good price.
“Old Yuan, sea cucumber is a precious thing. You have no way to transport it alive to the capital unless you spare no expense—one ship transporting just a few hundred. Last time at the Eastern Palace, I saw a few. They were probably transported this way. If you want to make sea cucumber an industry for your Dengzhou, then you can only make dried sea cucumber. Remember—remove the innards, boil the sea cucumbers in seawater. After boiling, coat them once with salt, then once with plant ash, and dry them in a cool place. Back in the capital, just soak them in water.”
“However, if you want to eat the fresh ones, you still have to come to your Dengzhou.”