When dawn broke, Yun Ye was awakened by pressure. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Xinyue’s eyes only an inch away from his own. He couldn’t see anything clearly, only two large eyes.
Seeing her husband had awakened, Xinyue immediately rubbed her head affectionately against Yun Ye’s, rubbing vigorously back and forth while making sounds from her mouth like a cat in heat.
Men in the morning cannot withstand such provocation. Just as he was about to grab Xinyue for a round of intimacy, Xinyue giggled and ran away, pulling open the main door to let sunlight stream in. She also loudly called for the maids to come serve them with washing up. Last night, Xinyue had issued strict orders that unless the master and mistress summoned them, coming over uninvited would result in being beaten to death with clubs.
Although the Yun family had never beaten any servants to death, the mistress had also never issued such a severe order before. Therefore, the servants and maids all obediently hid in their own rooms. Only after Xinyue’s summons did the entire Yun family’s inner residence seem to awaken from slumber, and the servants and maids began their day’s work.
Na Rimu, Lingdang, and Xiao Miao all rushed together into Xinyue’s room. Seeing their husband still sleeping, and Xinyue looking as if she hadn’t slept all night with bloodshot eyes, yet her spirits were surprisingly vigorous.
Facing the three of them, Xinyue smiled sweetly, pointed at Yun Ye sleeping on the bed, laughed heartily, and stepped proudly across the threshold like a victorious general.
“Poor husband.” Lingdang thought that last night their husband had been tormented by Xinyue all night long, and decided to go to the kitchen to cook him a bowl of medicinal porridge for nourishing vital energy and kidneys.
Na Rimu didn’t see it that way. She looked at the neat bed, wrinkled her nose and sniffed around Yun Ye’s body like a little dog, then smiled triumphantly: “They didn’t do anything last night.”
Yun Ye was disturbed to the point where he couldn’t sleep anymore, so he simply got up, stretched, and went to the garden to wash up. He most disliked washing up indoors—it wasn’t as refreshing as being outside.
He plunged his head into the warm water, held a mouthful of water, and at the instant before he was about to suffocate, he suddenly raised his head and sprayed out the water in a scattered pattern like heavenly flowers. All the air remaining in his lungs from last night was expelled along with the water.
Then with whistling sounds he took several deep breaths, immediately feeling completely refreshed and renewed.
Only after completing this entire routine would he carefully wash his face and brush his teeth. Finally, putting a piece of dried tangerine peel in his mouth for fresh breath completed this important task. Originally, noble families were supposed to apply makeup and powder, but ever since Yun Ye pioneered the bare-faced approach, fewer and fewer people did this. Now any man who applied makeup and powder would invariably be denounced by refined Chang’an people as a country bumpkin.
Today’s work was very tedious—inspecting the Left Martial Guard. It looked like he would have to inspect for an entire day. The old master had returned and was still the Great General of the Left Martial Guard. Over three thousand wounded soldiers remained at Jianmen Pass. Going to the Left Martial Guard today was to discuss how to handle those men. The old master protected his cubs and was extremely dissatisfied with the Ministry of War’s compensation and rewards. He believed others were all fighting in prosperous places where they didn’t need rewards to live well—having large armies meant having sources of wealth.
He himself had led troops to fight in godforsaken places where it was impossible to obtain any extra wealth to subsidize his soldiers. The soldiers of the Left Martial Guard were pitiful. If the Three Departments and the Ministry of War couldn’t give the Left Martial Guard an explanation, the old master was prepared to go naked to the imperial palace to petition, using his bare bottom to prove to the Emperor how miserable the Left Martial Guard was.
The Emperor naturally wouldn’t receive a bare-bottomed general, so he told Yun Ye that within the Ministry of War’s capabilities, they could show some favoritism toward the Left Martial Guard, but not too much—the Left Martial Guard’s tendency to grab more than their share was well known.
The old master’s return to the capital had also followed the same procedures Yun Ye and the others had gone through. Now, for the welfare of the Left Martial Guard, he stubbornly refused to go home. Until the soldiers received adequate compensation, he wouldn’t go home first. So not only had he not gone home, but Deputy General Zhou Zhong hadn’t returned either—all remained at the Lishan military camp.
Yun Ye didn’t arrive at the military camp until midday. Looking around, it was a scene of devastation. The soldiers wore ragged, tattered clothes, and the war horses were also skeletal, wandering around the camp as if a gust of wind would knock them over.
The battle flags hanging on the camp gate were also covered with smoke stains, and the black tiger in the center could no longer be seen clearly. No matter how you looked at it, this didn’t seem like a valiant force returning from a hundred battles.
The Military Advisor from the Ministry of War said to Yun Ye with a bitter smile: “Your Excellency, look at this—this is the Left Martial Guard. On the battlefield they’re fierce and invincible, but off the battlefield they become like this. They’ve always been demanding and extorting. This subordinate truly has no way to deal with this Duke.”
Yun Ye laughed and said: “This official came from the Left Martial Guard myself. How could I not know the tricks here? We came to the door prepared to be fleeced. Anyway, His Majesty said to show favoritism where possible. They suffered bitterly at Dafei River for three years and can be counted as having labored with merit. We’ll just have to endure it.”
The person who came out to receive the imperial envoy officials was Zhou Zhong. Looking up to see the smiling Yun Ye on horseback, his old face reddened slightly. He loudly chased away the soldiers running around chaotically, then came close to quietly ask: “Commander Yun, why have you come? Wasn’t it supposed to be Old Duan coming today? That bastard doesn’t recognize even his own relatives. The brothers had no choice but to put on this pitiful appearance. If we’d known it was you coming, who would have bothered with the act?”
“All right, take me to see the old master. Why doesn’t he go home and stays in the military camp instead? Auntie thinks I, as Minister of War, won’t let the old master go home. She’s come to cry at my house twice already. I came today to resolve things.”
Yun Ye dismounted. Wang Cai habitually followed behind. The people of the Left Martial Guard were already extremely familiar with this scene. Seeing it was Yun Ye who had come, the officers and commanders who had been crouching by the wall in protest smiled and surrounded him, complaining to Yun Ye.
“Get lost! Just because you didn’t get money and grain, every one of you has thrown away all face. Do you really plan to let the old master go naked to petition? If that happens, will the Left Martial Guard have any face left?”
“Commander Yun, that’s not how it is. The Left Martial Guard and the brothers from the Hexi Army suffered bitterly at Dafei River for three years. Look—how many who returned still have intact skin and flesh? You also know that the brothers were counting on this battle to earn enough to provide for wives and children. Now the battle is finished, but all the benefits have been taken by others. The brothers from the Hexi Army don’t even have a place to be assigned. They have grievances with nowhere to voice them.”
Just as the generals were surrounding Yun Ye pouring out their grievances, a sharp shout came from the commander’s tent: “Shut up! Isn’t this embarrassing enough? One of our own has come—could he possibly shortchange you of your achievements? Boy, come in!”
Hearing Old Cheng getting angry, the generals immediately scattered in a dark mass. Indeed, the one who came was Commander Yun—he definitely wouldn’t mistreat old brothers. The military camp immediately became lively.
Yun Ye entered the main tent and saw Old Cheng’s graying beard and hair and his somewhat stooped waist. His nose stung and tears nearly fell.
“Put away your water works. You’ve already reached the rank of Minister of War—how can your tear ducts still be so shallow? This old man won’t die anytime soon. Save some tears to cry at my grave.”
“Boy, this time the Left Martial Guard truly suffered catastrophic damage. First tell me what the court’s plan is.”
Yun Ye respectfully paid his respects to Old Cheng and took out a wine flask from his bosom to hand over. Old Cheng sniffed, bit open the cork in one bite, gulped down a large mouthful, exhaled a long breath, and signaled that Yun Ye could begin speaking.
“Uncle Cheng, in this battle the Left Martial Guard lost forty percent of its forces. Of twelve thousand soldiers, fewer than five thousand can continue serving. Over two thousand wounded need to be separated from the Left Martial Guard. The Left Martial Guard can only receive three thousand six hundred new recruits. This is already the largest quota this nephew could secure for the Left Martial Guard. Under the situation of the world attacking Tang, the Sixteen Guards all participated in battle, with the heaviest losses especially in Mobei and Beiting.”
“Guo Xiaoke’s entire army was annihilated, Qibi suffered a great defeat at Baideng Mountain, Zhang Jian gained no advantages in Silla either. The soldiers killed in battle numbered no fewer than sixty thousand. Now troops are critically scarce. After the war, His Majesty’s strategy prioritized people’s livelihood, launching various projects that had been halted before the war. Therefore, the military can only slowly lick its wounds and gradually recover.”
“At the present stage, the Left Martial Guard can only maintain eight thousand six hundred troops. The Ministry of War plans to gradually replenish the Left Martial Guard over three years to reach full strength of twelve thousand men.”
Old Cheng interrupted Yun Ye’s words and said: “Being able to reach eight thousand six hundred is already good. The Brave Guard only has six thousand men left, the Martial Guard only has fewer than three thousand remaining. This old man knows this. Giving the Left Martial Guard three thousand six hundred men all at once—you’ve done your best. This old man has nothing to complain about. Now tell me how to handle those military achievements submitted. Last time, that turtle’s egg son of Duan Zhixuan actually dared to say this old man falsely reported military achievements. What’s your view?”
“His Majesty has already issued instructions. The Ministry of War will naturally record achievements according to the merit ledger. Uncle Cheng, you should at least get a few decent military advisors under your command. The merit ledger you submitted—the scattered merits and final numbers don’t add up. According to the merit ledger you gave, even if all the Tubo people died, it wouldn’t be enough to match those numbers. And there are also too many cases of a hundred breaking ten thousand enemies. People saw through it at a glance. No wonder Duan Hu lost his temper, saying your merit ledger was drawn with your feet.”
Old Cheng drank another mouthful of wine and sighed: “No talent! These killing machines are excellent at going into battle, but when it comes to writing and calculating, every one of them is blind. There are two academy students, but they happen to be honest people who absolutely refuse to make adjustments on the merit ledger. The Wuli Commandant is also an idiot—even after this old man whipped him once, he stubbornly wouldn’t change. Having no choice, this old man had to do it personally. Remember back when you were here—when did our Left Martial Guard’s merit ledgers ever have discrepancies?”
“Now you’ve become Minister of War—you’ve made something of yourself. If you can say some good words for these common soldiers, then say them. We old fellows are pretty much done for. When Li Jing invited me to recommend you as Minister of War, this was the thought in his heart. With you here, we’ll suffer less. Actually, aren’t our troubles all brought by these soldiers?”
“Money and grain are easy to discuss, but placing personnel is a bit problematic. Uncle Cheng, I have an idea. Let me tell you and you can consider it.”
Old Cheng nodded, ready to listen. When talking with the old man, there was no need to be evasive. Yun Ye spoke directly: “As long as the soldiers of the Left Martial Guard aren’t picky and don’t plan to seek positions in Chang’an or Luoyang—the two capitals—this nephew still has ways to place them all.”
Old Cheng spread out a map and pointed with his hand, having Yun Ye mark it on the map.