Excellent! Li Chengqian was robbed for the first time and had no idea what to do. His eyes just bulged wide as he made strange cries of food protection. Yun Ye had long since practiced the solid skills of snatching food at school. With a gentle caress on Li Chengqian’s buttocks, the grapes Li Chengqian was clutching in his arms fell into Yun Ye’s hands.
The imperial guards gripped their sword hilts, not knowing whether or not to execute this bold thief on the spot. In the chaos, amidst Li Chengqian’s screams, Yun Ye grabbed a large bunch of grapes and left the sleeping tent under the palace attendants’ looks of admiration and awe, being carried away in hasty retreat.
No one was punished, and no one retrieved the stolen goods. Li Chengqian had long grown accustomed to this game—he had already snatched Yun Ye’s food more than once or twice. He could only lie prostrate on the bed, beating his chest and stamping his feet, swearing he would avenge the shame of having his grapes stolen.
The wheelbarrows that Yun Ye had simplified in design were mass-produced. This transport tool that could be operated by one person left Niu Jinda in awe—wherever people could walk, the wheelbarrow could go. The immensely powerful Old Niu had people load five hundred catties of grain onto a wheelbarrow, attach a sail, and raced back and forth across the training ground like a child who had received the newest toy. In fact, Yun Ye had not made major modifications. This transport tool from Shu region dating back to the Three Kingdoms period had already evolved quite perfectly. Yun Ye had merely added iron axles, transformed the wheels sawn from round logs into light wheels with spokes, and added an adjustable sail to harness wind power for easy and efficient travel. Even if the other soldiers lacked Old Niu’s abnormal strength, loading two dan of grain was still no problem. Cheng Yaojin had long prepared to turn the entire Left Military Guard into a grain transport brigade. Except for necessary guard forces, he planned to take advantage of the army’s return to the capital to transport one hundred thousand dan of grain in one trip.
Unknowingly, Yun Ye already had considerable wealth. Due to showing his face at His Highness the Crown Prince’s commendation meeting, the great clans of Longyou paid considerable attention to this whatever-whatever Marquis. Luminous cups from Jiuquan—they gifted two pairs at once, causing the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown brother such heartache he trembled.
Yun Ye looked at the four dark, unevenly shaped cups and had half a mind to toss them in the garbage heap. In later generations, these cost thirty yuan a pair, and were much more refined—the finest ones where you could vaguely see a person’s reflection through the cup wall, you could haggle and take away for twenty yuan and that was still a friendship price.
Why don’t you just go straight to the substantial gifts—I don’t mind real gold and silver. His expressionless face made these local tycoons’ hearts flutter with anxiety. This marquis from the capital had extraordinary tastes—cups worth five hundred strings didn’t even catch his eye. So Persian silver pots came in sets, Khotan jade came in boxes, and after receiving two pieces of agate the size of human heads, the Marquis finally showed a smile. This let the people of Longyou breathe a sigh of relief.
Humming the tune “Getting rich, getting rich,” he returned to his tent, only to discover Li Chengqian, Cheng Chumo, Zhangsun Chong, and Li Huairen dividing up the loot, each taking a piece here and there. His rage reached the heavens. With a great roar, he startled four hungry wolves who scattered in all directions in a dark mass. Some unscrupulous ghost intentionally or unintentionally bumped his knee against Yun Ye’s buttocks. Amidst his agonized howls, the bandits returned with their haul, leaving only the heartbroken Yun Ye to shed tears in secret…
The great army broke camp to return to the capital. Officials large and small from Longyou Circuit came to see them off. After drinking a cup of farewell wine, Niu Jinda, dressed in rough hemp clothing and single robe, pushed up his wheelbarrow and called out loudly: “Set out!”
Five hundred fully armed cavalry thundered ahead. Cheng Chumo and Li Huairen rode side by side holding the rear formation, taking the lead on the journey home to the capital. Yun Ye led the logistics battalion, driving several hundred horse carts and ox carts fully loaded with grain and supplies, departing shortly after.
Niu Jinda cast aside his status as Duke, leading five thousand wheelbarrows in close pursuit. Old Cheng and the Crown Prince were in the rear camp, escorting the captured war spoils, ready at any time to support Niu Jinda’s wheelbarrow convoy, able to take turns pushing carts if necessary.
Fifty li—this was the distance the great army had set before breaking camp. From sunrise until noon they would rest, pausing for one hour, then march until reaching the destination. Since they were riding in carts, the logistics battalion was somewhat faster and would prepare food and hot water at the camping site, waiting for Niu Jinda’s convoy to arrive.
The Left Military Guard, at Yun Ye’s suggestion, to save mealtime, cooked uniformly. Over a hundred large pots one meter in diameter lined up in a row. One ladle of meat and vegetables, one ladle of meat broth, one enormous dry flatbread—this was the soldiers’ entire dinner.
Yun Ye limped over with a wine gourd to where Niu Jinda was eating with his head down. He filled a bamboo cup with strong liquor and offered it with both hands to Old Niu. Old Niu drained it in one gulp. Yun Ye knew Old Niu liked wine, so he filled another cup and said: “Uncle Niu, drink another cup to relieve your fatigue.”
Old Niu didn’t raise his head and said gently: “Military regulations forbid it. One cup of wine each evening already violates orders. As this old man serves as military law officer, how can I disorder law and discipline myself? Do the other brothers have any?”
Old Niu still had that rigid personality. Perhaps this was why, despite having punished countless soldiers who violated discipline, no one resented him.
“Everyone has a bowl. This cup is your nephew’s—please do me the favor.”
Old Niu said nothing. He tilted back his neck and downed another large cup. He returned the wine cup, waved at Yun Ye, turned around, and went to inspect the camp.
Twenty-three hundred li—this was the distance from Lanzhou to Chang’an in Tang times. Marching fifty li daily required a full month and a half. Less than three days after departing from Lanzhou, they plunged headlong into vast mountain ranges. The road was rugged and uneven, winding and twisting. The front队 had already reached the mountain peak while the rear队 was just at the mountain’s foot. A road that could barely accommodate one horse cart was already considered a guarantee of convenient transportation in Tang times.
Previously, when reading about how the Tang Dynasty in history lost the Western Regions, Yun Ye was filled with disappointment and saddened by the weakening of the Great Tang’s control. Only now did he realize what price Chang’an had to pay to control the distant Western Regions.
The stubborn Tang people, generation after generation, advanced wave upon wave to their deaths to expand their territory. “Pitiful are the bones beside the Wuding River—they are still the men in the dreams of women in their chambers.” Yun Ye did not agree with the poet’s view. He only saw the bones beside the Wuding River but did not see the prosperity of the ancient Silk Road. Without a powerful army to guard it, how could there be talk of the Great Tang’s golden age?
The shepherds beyond the borders were savage, without concepts of right and wrong, without propriety, righteousness, integrity, or shame. The natural law of survival of the fittest gave them robust physiques but did not give them the instinct to create or labor. Snatching food from heaven, snatching food from earth, snatching food from neighbors—if necessary, they did not mind snatching food from their own parents. They ate everything, including people, as long as their genes could be passed down. Fists and scimitars were the foundation of their interests.
The veins on Old Niu’s neck bulged. The high sacks on the wheelbarrow were as heavy as mountains. He was old after all. The grain on the wheelbarrow was too much and too heavy. He had overestimated his own abilities. This fierce warrior who had vowed that not one more person would starve to death—his clothes were soaked through with sweat. Yun Ye silently picked up the rope at the front of the wheelbarrow, hung it over his shoulder, and trudged up the mountain step by step.
“Who would have thought—a Duke pushing a cart and a Marquis pulling a cart?” Yun Ye asked Old Niu, gasping for breath.
“Bullshit Duke, bullshit Marquis. There are plenty of Dukes and Marquises in this world. I haven’t seen anyone grow an extra bird. Don’t they still have to eat, drink, shit, and sleep? People—you can’t let yourself get too comfortable. When your body gets comfortable, your heart grows numb. What the hell difference is there between that and salted fish? This old man’s whole life—I’ve rebelled, I’ve killed people, many of them. I’ve slept with countless women. So what? If it weren’t for that one thought holding me up, who knows what I would have become? His Majesty has shown great kindness to Old Niu. This whole life is sold to him. Back in the early years, my parents and siblings all starved to death. I hated myself for not dying. Big Brother handed me the last bran cake. I didn’t even think—I just swallowed it down. I lived, Big Brother died. What he gave me wasn’t a bran cake—it was his life! This old man’s life is not just my own—it’s the lives of all thirteen members of my family. How dare Old Niu not live uprightly and righteously? When the day comes that this old man reaches the end, when I see Big Brother underground, this old man can tell him—this lifetime was lived splendidly, lived freely, lived uprightly and righteously. The life you gave me, I did not waste it, not for a single day did I waste it.”
Good heavens, Old Niu had become a saint! Yun Ye swore he saw Old Niu’s body shining with golden light. This golden light pierced his eyes painfully and made his heart shrink. He had heard of saints like Lei Feng before and always felt there was something fake about them. Now it seemed it wasn’t that they were fake—it was that he himself lived falsely. The saying about the petty person beneath the fur robe was talking about people like himself.