The Goguryeo woman’s tears flowed down in streams as she choked out, “You’ve destroyed a man’s final pride. I would rather you had killed him than ruin him like this.”

“No, no, no. Gai Suwen alive serves a purpose. If I had wanted to kill him, I would have struck the first time I saw him. It’s not easy for you Goguryeo people to produce a hero, especially a hero like Yeon Gaesomun who possesses both capability and ambition—such heroes are even rarer. We Great Tang have an ancient saying that describes exactly this situation: killing him would be inauspicious.”

The Goguryeo woman wiped away her tears and sat up straight, appearing even more courteous. She removed a long hairpin from her head and pushed it to Yun Ye’s feet, saying, “I only have this hairpin that’s worth any money. Can it be used to preserve my child?”

Yun Ye smiled and kicked the hairpin back with his foot, saying gently, “This is a confrontation between Yeon Gaesomun and me—it doesn’t involve the child. Just take good care of your pregnancy. When we reach shore, I’ll find you two Goguryeo maidservants. After matters between us are concluded, whether you want to return to Goguryeo or are willing to stay in the Central Plains is up to you.”

“Is this your noble pride? Or do you look down on Suwen from your heart? As long as I’m in your hands, Suwen will be timid and hesitant. If you add a child, how can Suwen still contend with you?”

“That’s his business. You know, once a person’s body is mutilated, their psychology becomes dark. You see, throughout history, eunuchs all have that gloomy appearance. However, Gai Suwen likes the ‘Records of the Grand Historian’ so much—perhaps he’ll emulate the ancient worthies, with body damaged but will unbroken, and accomplish great deeds. That’s not impossible. I think he’s very suitable for a showdown with Gao Jianwu, and his chances of winning would be quite good.”

After finishing his words, Yun Ye carefully closed the cabin door for the Goguryeo woman and said to her through the door, “Today we’re eating spare ribs and braised pork. For the sake of your child, eat more. Don’t always stay in the cabin—go out and get more sun. It’s good for the fetus.”

Hearing the muffled grunt from inside the cabin, Yun Ye shrugged his shoulders and dove headfirst into his cabin. Just as he lay down, Old Fang took off his shoes, walked into the cabin, and held a thick stack of account books in his hands.

“My lord, the value of the goods has all been estimated. This trip, not counting those fifty-three thousand four hundred taels of gold, the goods, gold, silver, and jade objects obtained from Cangyan City—Shopkeeper Zhangsun estimated them at one hundred sixty-seven thousand eight hundred strings of cash. As for those timbers soaked in seawater, they’re hard to value—we can only calculate them after reaching Dengzhou.”

Yun Ye took the account books and casually flipped through a few pages. After closing them, he sighed—still a loss! He had made extensive preparations for this war—black oil, crossbow bolts, siege chisels, armor, ships, provisions and clothing—spending no less than ninety thousand strings of cash. Not to mention owing countless favors, and so many soldiers had died. This was the most unprofitable business deal of his life.

“Old Fang, our family won’t take any profit this time. Just extract all the costs—take ninety thousand strings. Put all the rest into the public account. Go find the army advisor—I need to speak with him.”

Before long, the Personnel Officer entered the cabin. Yun Ye handed him both the public and private accounts. “Balance out the Yun family’s private account—no interest, no loss charges, no labor costs. However much the Yun family spent, deduct that much. The remainder goes to public funds.”

“Commander, this isn’t proper. Before the army set out, this subordinate was very clear how much the Yun family advanced for this. This way, your household will take a loss, and the soldiers won’t feel right about it either.”

“Where’s all this nonsense coming from? Winning the battle is my greatest benefit. The Yun family contributed a bit of money, while the soldiers risked their lives. Look at that ship behind—I don’t even dare go up and look. Over fifteen hundred people—the entire Mulan vessel can barely hold them all. At a time like this, still talking about money?”

Seeing Yun Ye’s mood beginning to sour again, the Personnel Officer quickly agreed. Before Yun Ye’s eyes, he balanced the public and private accounts, had Yun Ye sign, then after a grand bow of respect, quietly carried the account books out of the cabin.

Each time the Lingnan Navy went to battle, there were subsidies issued. Everyone received them according to rank—the higher the position, the more the subsidy. This was the most basic thing. If military merit was established, the court would naturally have rewards, and the navy wouldn’t conduct a second distribution. Only fallen soldiers would receive funeral subsidies. Disabled soldiers would receive disability subsidies. These sums were all quite large, enough for their dependents and disabled soldiers to live on for a long time.

Looking at it now, they couldn’t always rely on battlefield plunder. After all, income from that area was very limited and very unstable. Now there weren’t even many pirates on the seas. They were a military force—they couldn’t openly conduct long-distance trade. Carrying some private cargo was already the limit of what the court ministers would tolerate. Without their own industry, this really wouldn’t work.

“Zhang Sheng, Niu Dali, Lai Fu, Shi Tou, Wei Laogan… step forward!” As the squad officer loudly called out names, veteran soldiers around age fifty stepped out one by one.

“Upon inspection, Zhang Sheng, Niu Dali and twelve other soldiers suffered severe wounds in the battle to attack Dawang City and are unfit for service. These thirteen men are hereby ordered to remove their armor!”

Niu Dali, who had just eaten three bowls of rice and a bowl of braised pork, carefully examined himself up and down. Arms and legs intact, his whole body seemed not to have lost a single hair. This morning he alone had carried two-hundred-pound rice sacks seven or eight times—how was he now unfit for service? Could it be the commander didn’t want him anymore?

“Squad leader, Old Wu, you can’t treat your old brother like this! I’ve toiled in the military my whole life, finally ate my fill, and you’re just going to kick your old brother out of the barracks with one foot.”

The veterans who feared neither heaven nor earth immediately erupted upon hearing such an order. Some wailed and cried, some cursed, and some with reddened eyes prepared to fight the squad officer to the death.

“Shut up, you bastards! I’m pushing good fortune onto you—you don’t know what’s good for you! What do you know?”

“You old bastard, if you don’t explain clearly, you can forget about leaving this deck today! Right now in our Lingnan Navy, who isn’t breaking their skull trying to get in? You bastard—are you just looking at me being old and wanting to kick me out so your turtle-spawn little bastard grandson can get in? Is that it?”

A group of veterans surrounded the squad leader, seven voices speaking at once, pointing at his nose and cursing foully. These past two years they hadn’t stopped sending money and goods home—all saved up from ordinary times. The commander from time to time issued rewards. The whole family’s days had improved accordingly. They figured they’d serve another five years, by which time the family would have everything, and they’d be old enough. Then retiring wouldn’t be late. Who would have thought today such a bolt from the blue would strike their heads?

Seeing no one listening to him, the squad leader simply crossed his arms and plopped down on the deck, prepared to wait for them to finish cursing before explaining the reasoning.

After the veterans had cursed themselves hoarse, he wiped the spittle from his head and asked with a smile, “All you motherfuckers done cursing? If you’re done, listen up! This is the commander’s order. You’re getting old—continuing to fight in the military isn’t appropriate. In this battle, many brothers died in battle, and many more were disabled. The commander naturally won’t just stand by and ignore it, so he came up with a solution—have you retire early and form a water transport merchant company.”

“The commander will contribute money to this company. Those brothers who died in battle or were disabled will also contribute money for shares. You brothers who are fine will contribute with your labor for shares. How profitable is this sea transport from south to north—don’t you know? The commander said his share will decrease year by year, which means eventually this company will belong to us brothers ourselves. When the company can operate on its own, the commander will withdraw. All the brothers who died in battle or were disabled, plus you all, will become the owners of this company.”

“Damn it! If I weren’t under fifty, how would it be your turn? Shipping goods from Lingnan to Chang’an, then from Chang’an to Lingnan—one round trip and even idiots would get rich. On the sea, with the commander as backing, who dares provoke us? The entire sea—won’t it be yours to swagger across as you please? You understand now? You get it now? How do we settle this matter of cursing me just now?”

The fleet’s unrest quickly subsided. Only fools wouldn’t quickly grab such a good opportunity. The commander already had the reputation of God of Wealth. Making a small business that anyone could do—not getting rich would be laughed at by others.

“Boy, the number of disabled in your military will suddenly surge to three thousand three hundred. The extra thousand or so—you really plan to establish a maritime transport company?” After reading Yun Ye’s statistical table, Liu Fang asked carefully.

“That’s right. I thought about it—the number of our dead and disabled doesn’t reach those idiots in the capital’s predictions. To keep them from looking even more stupid, I’ve decided to proactively increase some disabilities. You see, how good it is now—over fifteen hundred killed in battle, over thirty-three hundred disabled. My Lingnan Navy’s combat strength dropped by thirty percent in one go. This matches the reality of such battles as breaking fortified cities and defeating stubborn enemies. If we reported less, who knows—people might think we’re lying. Worst case, they’d come to the barracks and count people one by one. That would be ugly.”

“Rather than make them uncomfortable, I might as well take the opportunity to have the older soldiers remove their armor and return to their fields, all going to the newly established water transport company. He Shao has over a hundred Goguryeo warships there. Add the ready-made retired navy—this company will completely recover its costs after just a few trips. Then I’ll withdraw. Who can say half a word against me? From now on, the Lingnan Navy’s disabled and fallen soldiers will have a stable source of livelihood. I’ll also feel a bit less guilty.”

Liu Fang didn’t speak for a long time. Only when he reached the door did he turn back to say to Yun Ye, “Being your subordinate is truly a matter of great spiritual pleasure. If this old man had your capabilities back then, why would I have run to the wilderness to endure hunger for thirty years?”

“Master Liu, don’t rush off. I have a contract here that needs your signature.”

Liu Fang walked over puzzled. Seeing Yun Ye pull out several sheets of paper covered densely with writing, just as he was about to read them, Yun Ye impatiently pointed to a spot and had him sign, then stamp his seal. Three copies—he handed one to Liu Fang, kept one himself, and put another in a wooden box for filing.

Baffled, Liu Fang returned to his cabin. After reading carefully, his eyes moistened for quite a while. He solemnly placed the contract in the brocade box he had brought. This was the guarantee for his grandson’s future livelihood.