Suppressing his rising fury, Wei Yuan knew there was no longer any point in beating around the bush. He said coldly, "I fear it is not as General says. Shayang Village is a mere few dozen li away; wouldn't sending one or two trusted aides for a quick look settle it? Three hundred militiamen have fought bloody battles for months without seeing a single copper in grain or pay. No matter how one looks at it, this cannot be justified! Even if General harbors personal grudges, shouldn't they be set aside in the face of life and death for commoners?"
Liao Jingwu flew into a rage, his eyebrows bristling as he barked, "Am I someone who lets personal matters interfere with public duty?! What I face every day is thousands of iron-armored Liao barbarian cavalry—how would I have time to fuss over the petty affairs of a few farmers? If I had to run an errand for every trivial matter like this and the Liao barbarians happened to strike, could you take responsibility? Were you not a disciple of the Palace of Grand Beginning, on the charge of slandering this general alone, I could execute you first and report later! Do what you are supposed to do and keep an honest watch over your own little acre of ground!"
Wei Yuan had not expected Vice General Liao to turn hostile so suddenly, and knew in his heart that Fang Hetong must have offended him deeply.
Since further talk would be fruitless, Wei Yuan shed all politeness as well. Coldly, he said, "Now that our Palace of Grand Beginning has arrived, military supplies, grain, and pay can naturally be resolved. But since General Liao does not intend to resolve it here, this matter cannot simply be dropped. I will take it up through the chain of command, level by level. There will always be someone who can settle it."
With things spoken to this point, Liao Jingwu stopped pretending. Sneering, he said, "Go right ahead and lodge your complaints—let's see how far up you can take them! To tell you the truth, throughout Bianning Commandery, from top to bottom, every single place belongs to the Xu family! Even within your Palace of Grand Beginning, plenty of people are surnamed Xu. Besides, no matter where you take your complaint, imperial law stands clear. On the grounds of mismatched rosters and using the old and weak as padding alone, if I refuse to approve it, what can you do? Change the law? If you want my approval, there is only one way: have that man named Fang come here and kowtow in apology! Beyond that, not even immortals will make a difference! Since Immortal Master plans to complain up through the ranks, you must be very busy, so this general will not keep you. Men, see the immortal master out!"
Words had run their course, and there was no point in speaking further. Wei Yuan rose and took his leave.
Once Wei Yuan had departed, the fury on Liao Jingwu's face abruptly vanished. Beside him, a captain said, "General, that kid is a disciple of the Palace of Grand Beginning after all. If he goes back and babbles to his mentors, it might cause trouble."
Liao Jingwu snorted and gave a cold laugh. "Trouble, my ass! These people are just here to temper themselves and gild their reputations; they'll leave before long. Besides, it's not like I don't have backing. Even if the Palace of Grand Beginning comes to investigate, at most it's a minor matter of skimming a little here and there. I have plenty of military merits to protect myself—what can they do to me? As for that stubborn mule Fang Hetong, I can pick out seven or eight faults with him whenever I like. Even if he truly knelt down and begged me, I still wouldn't approve it! Sooner or later I'll do him in, and I won't even let him know how he died!"
Wei Yuan returned to Shayang Village, a knot of frustration welling in his chest. Whether Ren Youwei or Liao Jingwu, both spewed high-sounding justifications, using the law as a shield. Even if Wei Yuan had read history thoroughly, it was useless. To break through the present deadlock, what was needed was not knowledge of the law, but power and backing.
After making this round, Wei Yuan finally realized that the local authorities could not be counted on. In truth, with the Palace of Grand Beginning at his back, grain and military pay were not an issue; Wei Yuan had made this trip merely to demand justice for the three hundred militiamen. He had never expected that instead of obtaining justice, he would end up swallowing a bellyful of stifling anger.
For now, the grain was enough to last half a month. Wei Yuan planned to wait until the Palace of Grand Beginning's supply flying boat arrived in two days, at which point he would directly exchange all the Liao barbarian heads for military supplies. If Ren Youwei and Liao Jingwu wouldn't provide grain and pay, Wei Yuan would provide it himself. As for pocketing the difference from the heads as side income, Wei Yuan couldn't control other places, but at least at this front line facing Quyang County, those people wouldn't be able to skim a single copper of profit from now on.
There was a saying that cutting off someone's livelihood was like killing their parents. For now, all Wei Yuan could do was let those people see money right here that they couldn't make, even though they could before. In addition, Wei Yuan planned to make a bigger show of it: save up more heads before handing them over, and perhaps even invite the county magistrate and assistant magistrate to attend the ceremony.
History books might not give Wei Yuan power and influence, but they certainly contained plenty of ways to disgust and spite people.
Just as Wei Yuan returned to Shayang Village, he suddenly saw dust billowing in the distance as a troop of riders galloped forward like the wind. Hoofbeats thundered like rolling thunder; they appeared to be human riders.
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen riders reached the foot of Shayang Village's walls. These riders wore uniform dark-green armor, and every single one was astonishingly at the culmination of Body Refinement. Two riders bearing red tassels on their helmets were Dao Foundation cultivators. The troop clustered around a handsome, spirited young general like stars revolving around the moon.
Arriving before the village, the young general called out in a clear voice, "May I ask if this is the defense zone of Brother Wei Yuan of the Palace of Grand Beginning? Is Brother Wei present?"
Wei Yuan stepped onto the wall and said, "I am Wei Yuan. May I ask which senior brother has arrived?"
The young general's eyes lit up. Without any apparent exertion, he leaped into the air and landed before Wei Yuan. The armor he wore was a pale gold, its design archaic without being gaudy, and its aura obscure and profound—it was remarkably a top-grade magical artifact. His magic power was vast, boundless, and magnificent, and a radiant golden light shone at his glabella where his sea of consciousness lay. Clearly, he was no ordinary Dao Foundation cultivator, but of the Heaven Tier or even higher.
He looked Wei Yuan up and down, a smile gradually surfacing at the corners of his mouth. "Wei Yuan! It really is you! I am Li Zhi! It has actually been ten years since we parted in Fengyuan Commandery!"
In a daze, Wei Yuan recalled the boy from back then who had failed to recite a poem on what had seemed his deathbed.
Having not seen him in years, Li Zhi had grown into a dignified, handsome young man. At this moment, he was only less than half a head shorter than Wei Yuan, which made him tall among ordinary men. Wei Yuan was naturally overjoyed at the visit from an old friend of former years. He ordered his men to let Li Zhi's subordinates into the village, then sat down with Li Zhi in the ancestral hall, with Fang Hetong coming out to keep them company.
As it turned out, Li Zhi had only arrived at the front lines yesterday. His own defense zone was one county away, but upon hearing that Wei Yuan was nearby, he had specially hurried over early this morning to meet him.
Once settled in the ancestral hall, Li Zhi smiled and said, "Brother Wei, things are a bit impoverished here."
Wei Yuan sighed. "I don't mind the hardship. It's just that I've only recently experienced the local officials here. In comparison, I'd rather deal with Northern Liao."
"Oh? What on earth happened?"
Wei Yuan, still brooding, briefly recounted what had happened over the past two days. After listening, Li Zhi smiled and said, "Brother Wei, living aloof and high above in the Palace of Grand Beginning, you haven't dealt with petty low-level officials like these, so naturally you cannot best them. When dealing with such seasoned slickers of officialdom, you cannot play by their rules. This matter is actually quite simple—just leave it to this brother of yours."
Li Zhi had one of the accompanying Dao Foundation captains bring over a stack of invitations, picked out one, and instructed, "Send someone to the Quyang County yamen. Say that I will attend Lord Sun's banquet tonight, and that two older brothers will accompany me."
Once the captain left the ancestral hall, Li Zhi said with a laugh, "I only arrived yesterday, and officials throughout the commandery, big and small, all sent over invitations. As it happens, with this trouble of yours and Brother Fang's, tonight we'll go feast off this Magistrate of Quyang County, Sun Chao'en, and settle Brother Fang's business while we're at it."
Chapter 73