What They Fight For

Two battalions of the Eastern Jin Imperial Guard received a peculiar assignment: they were transferred under the command of the newly appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry, Li Weisheng, to await his orders. The moment the summons arrived, the two battalion commanders were energized as though injected with chicken blood. They immediately ordered their soldiers to scrub the encampment spotless inside and out, dug into their own pockets to book a banquet from the Baiwei Pavilion, and hauled out their private reserve of fine wine, waiting for Lord Li's inspection at noon. Serving in the Eastern Jin Imperial Guard was by no means an enviable post. Unlike the provincial battalion levies who were supported by great clans, these men relied entirely on court provisions to survive. But the court had been too poor to keep the pots boiling for centuries, leaving the guardsmen perennially underclothed, underfed, and sallow-cheeked. Delayed rations and withheld pay were everyday occurrences, not to mention armaments; the fire guns that had become increasingly popular in recent years were nowhere to be found here. Now, by some miracle, Lord Li Weisheng—the court's foremost favorite and newly appointed Director of the Department of State Affairs—was personally taking charge of two battalions for official business. The two commanders had been fretting over their lack of prospects; this was their chance to cling to a high branch, and they would have gladly trotted out their wives and daughters if it helped serve his lordship. At midday, Li Weisheng entered the camp. He made a single circuit, then tossed the two commanders a map, giving them a strict limit of ten days to bring their full battalions to the designated location. The two commanders looked at the map and gasped. The site was five thousand li away. Forcing these perpetually starved guardsmen to march that distance in ten days would practically run them into the grave. With a flick of Li Weisheng's sleeve, his personal attendants brought forward a small chest and threw it open before the entire garrison. Neatly stacked inside was a dazzling array of immortal silver! Li Weisheng said, "This silver is for your provisions on the road. I want every bit of it to end up in the bellies of your soldiers. Understood?" The two commanders hurriedly swore they would never dare embezzle Lord Li's silver. Li Weisheng gave a nod, stated that he would await them at the destination in ten days, and departed with his retinue. From arrival to departure, less than an incense stick's time had passed, leaving the lavish feast the two commanders had meticulously arranged untouched. The two officers exchanged bewildered glances. Then, as if awakening from a dream, they rushed out in person to purchase grain and meat. Only after filling the entire camp's stomachs would the men have the strength to march. *** Ten days later... Scrambling and crawling, the two battalions of the Imperial Guard finally reached their destination, the majority of the men thoroughly dazed with exhaustion. One of the commanders shouted, "Hang in there, just ten more li! Once we crest this ridge, we'll be at the rendezvous! If you don't want to sleep in the dirt tonight, put your backs into it! When we get there, we pitch camp! Pitch... camp..." By then he had reached the summit, only to behold a sprawling military encampment stretching across the expanse before him! According to the map, this should have been a barren slope. How could such a formidable fortress of a camp have sprung up here? The commander looked again, and his face paled. Barracks were typically fenced with brushwood and slender posts, or at best, sturdy logs. Yet the camp before him appeared to be fortified with stone walls! What army built stone walls for a field encampment? Just then, an officer wearing the uniform of a vice general flew straight toward them from within the camp. The two commanders blanched. The approaching figure was unmistakably a Dharma Idol, while they were merely at the Dao Foundation stage. Trembling in their boots, they did not even dare to run. "You must be the Imperial Guards from the capital? Lord Li arrived long ago. Follow me into the camp; your deadline is almost up." The two commanders snapped out of their stupor, and under the Dharma Idol general's lead, several thousand soldiers filed into the base. A massive army was already quartered inside. The warriors were towering and burly, clad in armor far superior to what the two commanders wore. Every man brimmed with lethal intent, watching the Imperial Guards like wolves eyeing sheep slated for the evening slaughter. Upon entering, the vice general handed off paperwork to another general—who was likewise a Dharma Idol! Just like that, merely on the walk to their assigned quarters, the two commanders spotted five or six Dharma Idols. The sight left them reeling. The Imperial Guards were assigned to a sector in the corner, where the tents were already pitched—though calling them tents was hardly accurate. They were ingeniously constructed modular quarters, housing ten men to a room and fully furnished, offering living conditions superior to the Imperial Guard's main camp in the capital. The two commanders had their own private courtyards back home, yet in terms of interior furnishings, their residences fell short of what was provided here. One commander plucked up his courage and asked the vice general, "Which army and battalion does the general belong to?" The vice general chuckled. "We are merely Lord Li's private retainers." *Private retainers? Thousands of ferocious retainers? Retainers that include multiple Dharma Idols?* The two commanders escorted the vice general all the way to the sector gate, where they saw Li Weisheng approaching side by side with another military commander. The two were engrossed in quiet discussion. Li Weisheng merely nodded to the commanders as he walked past. The officer beside him carried a poised, commanding gravity, exuding the natural majesty of a battle-hardened veteran. The two commanders dared not stare, but after returning to their quarters, one of them took on an increasingly strange expression. The other asked, "Do you know that general?" "I... I think I do. Back in the day, he was famous on the northern frontier fighting the Liao. Yue Jinshan—haven't you heard of him?" The other commander was flabbergasted. "Wasn't he framed by petty schemers, stripped of rank, and cast aside? How did he end up here?" "Don't ask! Whatever they order us to do, we just do it. Any two or three hundred men from this place could slaughter all two thousand of us without breaking a sweat!" *** Over the next few days, they did nothing but rest in camp, watching the private retainers outside mobilize in constant rotations. Then heavy artillery appeared—and not just a single battery! A day later, they felt the ground trembling faintly as forces marched out under cover of night. Judging by the tremors, the army seemed to possess multiple giant beasts. The two commanders looked at each other. They were not completely ignorant; they knew that less than a hundred li away lay a major city with over a hundred thousand inhabitants, which, along with several surrounding counties, formed the fiefdom of King Ning. King Ning wielded immense power, maintaining six battalions of private troops totaling more than eighty thousand men, placing him near the top among the feudal princes. The only force worth mobilizing such a mysterious army against was King Ning. The next morning, the vice general reappeared and said to the commanders, "Assemble your troops. We march out in two hours." "March where?" "Last night, a band of ferocious outlaws swept into our territory, breached King Ning's city, and abducted his household, young and old. Lord Li is outraged by such rampant banditry and is mobilizing troops to reclaim the city!" the vice general explained with utmost gravity. The two commanders felt as though reality were unraveling. Bandits had taken King Ning's princely seat overnight? A fortress defended by a full eighty thousand troops? And now they were expected to take it back with their two thousand ragged dregs? Was Lord Li overestimating them, or had they failed to underestimate themselves? The commanders were fairly certain they held no such high opinion of their own capabilities. Yet military orders could not be defied. Two hours later, they mustered their men and marched out. After half a day's journey, they arrived outside King Ning's city in the afternoon. Sure enough, the banners of horse bandits fluttered atop the walls. Indeed, they were horse bandits, not mere common brigands. Li Weisheng waved his hand, ordering an assault, and personally shot an arrow up at the ramparts. A chorus of agonized shrieks rang out as several hundred bandits were felled in an instant! The two commanders gasped in horror! Immediately after, the bandits abandoned the walls and fled. The two thousand Imperial Guards occupied the city as if sleepwalking. Inside the Prince Ning Manor, Li Weisheng discovered a ransom note left by the bandits, demanding one million taels of immortal silver for King Ning's safe return. Li Weisheng promptly dispatched couriers to send the letter back to the royal capital untouched. Regrettably, King Ning's manor had been looted clean; of the maidservants left behind, not one was remotely attractive. As for King Ning's eighty thousand troops, seventy-five thousand had been taken prisoner and marched off into the night, their whereabouts unknown. Across several sprawling camps, only a few thousand wounded remained. The two Imperial Guard commanders found the world more incomprehensible by the minute. *** Inside King Ning's manor, Li Weisheng and Yue Jinshan were admiring the scenery while chatting leisurely. With an odd look on his face, Li Weisheng said, "So, I now command seventy-five thousand retainers?" "Eighty thousand! Don't forget the five thousand on my side," Yue Jinshan corrected. Li Weisheng offered a wry smile. "Who would believe that?" "So long as they don't all appear at once, no one will ever know you actually have eighty thousand retainers. Once recruitment for the Imperial Guard is complete, each camp will hold at least five hundred thousand men. Your eighty thousand will blend right in without drawing notice." At this point, Yue Jinshan sighed with sudden emotion. "When I lost to the Realm Lord back then, I was somewhat unconvinced, thinking he had merely gotten lucky and stumbled upon a cadre of fearless soldiers. But now, even if you gave me several times their numbers, I couldn't beat a single battalion of Qingming. How long has it been? Only now do I understand that the Realm Lord's brilliance truly encompasses heaven and earth. "Yet there is one thing I don't understand. With Qingming's military might, we could simply roll across the land. Why go through the trouble of organizing and training eight million Imperial Guards? And not just as placeholders, but training them in earnest. Old Li, you're an old fox—do you know what the Realm Lord has in mind?" Li Weisheng did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Lord Yue, you really need to watch your tongue in the future. What do you mean by calling me an old fox?" He shook his head and continued, "My guess is that this massive Imperial Guard is meant for the Liao Clan in the northern frontier." Yue Jinshan's eyes lit up. "The Realm Lord intends to move against Northern Liao?" "It's merely my conjecture. The Liao lands are vast beyond measure, which is why so many troops will be needed to garrison the conquered territories. If we train the soldiers beforehand, it will save a great deal of trouble when the Realm Lord comes to take over." Yue Jinshan frowned. "Not to dampen your spirits, but given the quality of Eastern Jin's recruits, even with brutal drilling they won't match a tenth of Qingming. No matter how well they're trained, their combat capability will remain mediocre. Why bother with all this? Wouldn't deploying troops directly from Qingming accomplish the same thing?" Li Weisheng smiled. "Old Yue, I was just as eager to know the answer back then, and I specifically asked the Realm Lord." "And what did the Realm Lord say?" "The Realm Lord said we should train them as hard as possible. No matter how much Body Casting these warriors undergo, and no matter how high their individual prowess, under Eastern Jin they would crumble at the first blow. But once they are on our side, it will not be long before they become one of the finest armies under heaven." Yue Jinshan's brow furrowed deeper. "How could that be possible? An army is either strong or weak. How could the very same force be utter rubbish under Eastern Jin, yet undergo a complete metamorphosis once they join us?" "I was baffled at the time as well. But the Realm Lord said that the secret lies in just four words: what they fight for."