Toward evening, atop Weisheng Tianji Palace, one could see the setting sun spilling its light across range after range of mountains.

Great carts laden with wheat were coming in along the road from outside the city — a road rebuilt after the great war, only recently completed, yet it looked even more spacious than it had before the war.

“These are the last thirty carts of wheat — they’ll be in the granary within the hour. The winter wheat harvest is essentially complete. If it weren’t for that bunch of steppe barbarians causing trouble, the fourth month would have been counted as good days indeed.”

This was the watchtower to one side of Tianji Palace. Lou Shuwan lowered the single-tube telescope in her hand as the evening breeze blew warmly past. Standing beside her at the watchtower were Yu Yulin and Wang Juyun, two senior military commanders. Starting two years earlier, the Tiger King faction and the refugee faction led by Wang Juyun had, one after another, resisted the Jurchen forces coming south and the surrendered forces of Liao Yiren, and by now had thoroughly merged into a single unified body.

Among the two sides now merged together, the man calling himself Wang Juyun was, in truth, Wang Yin, who had once served as a minister under the Yongle court. He was skilled in handling fine administrative details, in religious methods, and in military strategy. After the fall of the Yongle court, he had secretly rescued some of the generals who had once served under Fang La, and, among the refugees in the border regions, had once again begun promoting the old teachings of “the equality of all under the Dharma” — the White Lotus and Maitreya doctrines — uniting large numbers of refugees and calling for mutual aid and solidarity. Then, against the backdrop of the Jurchens’ fourth invasion southward, he had resolutely thrown the people he had gathered into the front lines of resistance against the Jin. Over these two years, though he himself was stern, reserved, and strict in managing those under him, his selfless bearing had earned him genuine respect from those around him.

It was only after coming to understand this idealistic side of him that the Shanxi faction had cautiously agreed to merge with him. In fact, Lou Shuwan’s own resolute conduct in the war against the Jin, her contributions to the Shanxi region, and her having no children of her own and never seeking personal gain, had all played a major role in facilitating this merger.

Since the Humiliation of Jingping, the Central Plains had fallen into chaos. Wang Yin had wandered the northern borderlands, perhaps unable to bear the suffering of the common people, and it was there that he began preaching and saving lives. But in truth, the region he chose to develop — south of Yanmen Pass, among the refugee populations — was far from ideal; it was almost impossible to establish a proper base there, or to gather much in the way of supplies. It was only through this merger with the Shanxi faction that the refugees under his command finally found a place to temporarily settle.

On the other hand, Lou Shuwan, in her past dealings with Lin Zongwu, had earned herself the title of the Mystic Maiden Descended to Earth within the Maitreya sect, and later kicked Lin Zongwu out entirely; the religious framework she thereby obtained had also played a role in stabilizing the hearts of the people in Shanxi. But in truth, while Lou Shuwan had thoroughly outmatched Lin Zongwu in political maneuvering and scheming, she was, after all, not particularly skilled in the underlying mechanics of religious operation. After Wang Yin joined, he not only assisted Shanxi greatly in political and military affairs, but also gave Lou Shuwan tremendous inspiration and support in the operation of Shanxi’s “Great Radiance Sect.” The two sides collaborated, each taking what they needed from the other, and at this juncture, the effect truly proved greater than the sum of its parts.

In the third month, a group of steppe mercenaries had rampaged through Shanxi, burning wheat fields, causing no small amount of trouble for Lou Shuwan and the others. Fortunately, in early fourth month, these reckless raiders had pushed north through Yanmen Pass and headed straight for Yunzhong, and on their way out had even, incidentally, resolved the problem of Liao Yiren for Lou Shuwan. From mid-fourth month onward, as the wheat harvest proceeded, the Tiger King faction had spent its time continually reclaiming lost territory and reorganizing surrendered troops, a period that could genuinely be described as joyous — until, at the end of the fourth month, the earth-shattering news of the conclusion of the decisive battle at Hanzhong arrived, leaving everyone’s emotions complicated, even tinged with a sense of letdown — for now, it seemed, the victory in Shanxi hardly counted as a great triumph at all.

A relatively smooth situation and a string of good news that followed one after another would naturally put people in good spirits, but this could not obscure the clear-headedness of Lou Shuwan, Yu Yulin, and Wang Yin. Though Zonghan and Xiyin had indeed been defeated at the hands of the Huaxia forces, on their panicked retreat north they would inevitably clash with Shanxi once more — and this clash would determine what Shanxi’s future would look like.

In theory, Shanxi’s strength at this point had made enormous strides compared to the Tian Shi period two years earlier. On the surface, the massive depletion of supplies and losses of soldiers seemed to have battered the entire faction to the point of near-collapse, but in truth, the unreliable double-dealers had been thoroughly weeded out, and after two years of fighting and training, what remained were all battle-ready elites; Lou Shuwan and the others had, through their decisions over these two years, accumulated tremendous prestige. In fact, had it not been for the Mongols’ involvement in the third and fourth months, Lou, Yu, and Wang had originally already planned to launch a large-scale offensive in late third or early fourth month to wipe out Liao Yiren entirely.

Now, this accumulated strength could serve as the foundation for facing the Jurchen western route army — but as to whether victory was achievable, everyone still lacked great confidence. On this day, with Yu and Wang having largely finished reorganizing and training troops outside, they had finally found time to return to Weisheng to discuss further major matters with Lou Shuwan.

“You’ve both been running around outside ever since the new year — the two generals have worked hard. With this batch of wheat now in storage, the winter wheat harvest across the region is basically complete. Though the steppe people ravaged some of it earlier, looking at the broader picture, out of the whole Central Plains, our side is still relatively robust — whatever we need to do, we have some measure of confidence to do it.”

Gazing at the road winding through the mountains to the west, Lou Shuwan wore a smile, the setting sun casting a golden hue over the scene. Only then did she let her smile fade.

“The one thing that concerns me — I’ve asked around among the officers in the army, and privately written to both of you generals as well — is that regarding facing the retreating Jurchen western forces, no one seems to have full confidence in victory… News of the decisive battle at Hanzhong has already spread throughout the realm, and yet we cannot even handle the defeated remnants that the Huaxia Army has already beaten. Can we truly answer to the common people if this is the case?”

As she spoke, her gaze grew serious. Over these years in Shanxi, Lou Shuwan had mostly managed civil administration and logistics, but having traveled with the army during these two years of war, she was not entirely without understanding of military matters. Her seriousness now was not so much reproach as a private sense of urgency.

Wang Juyun frowned, his expression even graver, while Yu Yulin, not one to hide his feelings, sighed. “Over these years, watching how that Mr. Ning has managed his army, there have been many reforms plain to see. The Martial Dynasty always favored civil administration over the military, fearing that the army might grow too powerful and threaten the state, and so its control over the military was deeply entrenched and convoluted — as a result, generals had no authority, the army grew feeble, and the problems accumulated over time became intractable. In recent years, the various strategies for building strong armies have all begun with granting authority to the generals — for instance, the Beiwei Army in the south, capable in battle, was able to develop its combat strength under the iron-fisted command of that Yue Pengju precisely because the power of the Crown Prince isolated it from all manner of outside checks and balances. This is one factor. And the Huaxia Army, of course, is even more so — that goes without saying.”

“Meeting this first condition is not difficult — my own management of the army in recent years has developed along similar lines, especially these past two years; through the great battles, many faults have been eliminated. Originally, various small factions and households in Shanxi could not resist meddling with the army, each pursuing its own interests, which in effect rendered the army unable to fight. Over these two years, we have largely cleared this up. But this condition is merely the first threshold…”

Yu Yulin paused. “Once past this first threshold, an army may indeed resemble an army — but what truly makes the Huaxia Army formidable is the intensity of its training and the strictness of its military discipline. All of the Huaxia Army’s soldiers have, in the past, been maintained to the standard of private household guards — full-time soldiers, engaged in daily training solely for the purpose of fighting, with strict adherence to military doctrine and discipline. Such troops are what everyone wants, but they are troops that cannot be sustained or maintained for long. The Huaxia Army’s approach has been to support the army with everything at its disposal — through that Mr. Ning’s commercial acumen, selling off weapons, buying grain, stopping at nothing. There have been many times, in truth, when they still had to go hungry. Had this been ten years ago, I would have thought… it could not be sustained.”

“When an army goes hungry, morale drops, orders are disobeyed, and military law is violated. But what is truly formidable about Mr. Ning is that he manages, on one hand, to let the army go hungry while, on the other, maintaining the strictness of military law. Part of this is certainly due to the reputation carried by the name ‘Huaxia,’ but here with us, this simply cannot be sustained — to maintain military discipline, one needs provisions and pay; without provisions and pay, there can be no military discipline. There are also factors involving the mid- and lower-level officers to consider…”

“Given all this, the Huaxia Army is not different from us in just one respect — in truth, it differs from us in every respect. Of course, in the past, we never felt this difference was so great, not until the battle reports from Wangyuan Bridge and Hanzhong came in. The Huaxia Army’s Seventh Corps, twenty thousand strong, crushed Zonghan’s army of a hundred thousand — but as for whether we could handle this remaining defeated force under Zonghan and Xiyin, we truly… have no evidence one way or the other.”

Having said all this, Yu Yulin fell silent for a moment. “This, then, is the difference between us and the Huaxia Army today.”

Ever since his encounter with Ning Yi at Mount Lüliang over a decade ago, Yu Yulin’s attitude toward the name of the Huaxia Army had always been one of caution. Here now, among just the three of them in private, his words were rather candid. Wang Juyun, beside him, nodded, and only spoke once Lou Shuwan’s gaze turned to him.

“The strength for one battle, the strength for several battles — both are within our reach. We may not necessarily win, but we won’t necessarily lose either.”

Lou Shuwan nodded. “…At the very least, we’re capable of fighting — that alone is something good.”

As for the possible war that lay ahead, considerations from every angle had already been weighed and gathered. In broad terms, over two years of resistance, Shanxi’s army had grown stronger in combat capability, and as unity of thought gradually took hold, what had increased even more was resilience. Though it was impossible to say with certainty that Zonghan and Xiyin could be crushed, even if a single battle did not bring victory, there would be no great difficulty in mounting a sustained, composed campaign of continued resistance, using Shanxi’s terrain to wear Zonghan and Xiyin down until they were forced to retreat.

Such a situation was not enough to make one weep, but neither was it something to laugh about. After Lou Shuwan finished speaking, the three fell into a brief silence, but then the woman smiled. “In that case, it’s no wonder that bunch in the southwest have grown so insufferably proud.”

Yu Yulin thought for a moment, then smiled. “How has Fifth Master Zhan been lately?”

“After the decisive battle at Hanzhong, he’s come by several times. On one occasion, he brought a letter from Ning Yi,” Lou Shuwan said flatly. “In the letter, Ning Yi discussed the future situation with me, touching on the matter of Zonghan and Xiyin’s retreat north. He said: with the Jurchens’ fourth southern invasion, the eastern route army won a great victory while the western route army suffered a crushing defeat — once they return to the Jin state, the rivalry between the eastern and western courts will likely come to a head. On our end, we can sit back and watch the tigers fight, and toward Zonghan and Xiyin’s forces, already at a disadvantage, it might be best to adopt an attitude of engaging only if necessary, and avoiding battle wherever possible…”

“Heh, how thoughtful of him…” She smiled faintly, with a lazy hint of mockery. “I imagine he’s worried we might not be able to beat them, and is giving us a graceful way out.”

“…”

“…”

Yu Yulin and Wang Juyun exchanged a glance.

Wang Juyun said, “Did the letter say anything else?”

Lou Shuwan drew the letter from her sleeve and handed it over. “It did. He has his own little scheme — he hopes we might lend some grain to those people at Liangshan to the east. Shandong has seen a thousand li of starving corpses; last year they had nearly exhausted even roots and tree bark. Their winter wheat seed stock is insufficient, so even though harvest time has arrived, I doubt they’ll manage to bring in much grain, and before long they’ll be scraping the bottom of the barrel again.”

Ning Yi’s letter was quite long, and even holding it in hand, one could not take it all in at once. After Lou Shuwan finished speaking, Yu Yulin said, “The Jin dogs’ eastern route army is already retreating and nearly at the Yellow River — once they cross into Shandong, they surely won’t spare Zhu Biao, Wang Shanyue, Liu Chengzong, and the others. The wheat has only just been harvested; if they’ve held out this long, they should be able to hold on a while longer. Is Ning Yi confident he can help them survive the Jurchen eastern route army? What he really wants to borrow, I’d wager, is grain for later.”

Lou Shuwan nodded. “He didn’t say much in the letter about how Liangshan is supposed to hold out against the Jurchen eastern route army. I asked Fifth Zhan — there are probably a few possible approaches: either abandon Liangshan entirely and take refuge with us first, or bank on Wuqimai dying soon and simply grit their teeth and hold out on the mountain, or perhaps beg Zongfu and Zongbi to spare them a way out? I’ve grown too lazy to keep guessing…”

She paused here, then added lazily, “In his letter, he’s invited us to come south — having beaten the Jurchens once, he’s grown terribly proud of himself. In the sixth month, he intends to hold a Heroes’ Assembly in Chengdu to select a leader of the martial underworld, saying he wants to discuss the Huaxia Army’s ideas with the whole realm. As for the matter of selling grain, we could discuss that at the same time — it seems he isn’t worried about us naming an outrageous price…”

As she said this, Wang Juyun, who was reading the letter, showed a slight change in expression, flipping back a couple of pages. Yu Yulin glanced over as well, naturally understanding that if the letter truly contained such an invitation, everything else in it would fade into mere detail by comparison. Lou Shuwan turned away, moving closer to the parapet at the edge, gazing out at the distant scenery.

The three fell silent for a moment, then Yu Yulin, looking at Lou Shuwan, asked, “Are you planning to go?”

The evening breeze stirred her skirts as Lou Shuwan, her back turned, gazed off into the distance.

“…Though it galls me to admit it, there are certain things in which we are, indeed, far behind the southwest. Just as Elder Brother Yu said a moment ago — we’re behind, and we need to change, but how to change is something we must consider carefully. Going to the southwest to see it for myself, even just once, would be a good thing — especially since this time, Ning Yi needs something from me. If I make the trip southwest, there’s much to be gained…”

“…But with Zonghan and Xiyin retreating north, a great battle looms imminent…”

Lou Shuwan pressed both hands against the parapet, her gaze cold as she looked into the distance, and said:

“How could I possibly go?”

She stated the fact calmly and coldly. With a scornful snort.