Wang Chong called over the subordinate who had acted as the prefectural governor's enforcer and asked with a smile, 'Would you be willing to escort the prefectural governor's family and all the goods, valuables, and grain of Hejian Prefecture back to Tongzhou Prefecture?'
The man was overjoyed. He knelt and answered, 'I would gladly die for Brother Wang Chong.' Everyone in Tongzhou knew that the Prince of Yan liked people to call him Wang Chong. Some had also vaguely heard of the Wen family's plot against the Prince of Yan, and they guessed that Wang Chong intended to break with the Wen family. For that reason, anyone with even a little cleverness would address him as Brother Wang Chong.
Wang Chong said, 'Since that is so, I appoint you Commander of Both Cavalry and Infantry of Hejian. All of Hejian's xiangjun garrison troops are to be under your command. When you return to Tongzhou, have Senior Brother Xuan Gang, General Gan Ci, and General Qin Gao bring all the troops here. As for Tongzhou, let Yu Zao take charge of matters for the time being. You take your own squad and go carry out this task.'
The man loudly agreed, 'I will certainly get this done.' He rose at once and left, full of enthusiasm.
Not only this young man of good family, but everyone else in the hall was suddenly overjoyed. Before, Wang Chong had merely not been greedy for merit and had been willing to share the spoils, but rewards still had to wait for the court's approval. Now that Hejian had been taken, someone had been promoted at once. Many hearts burned with ambition: if Brother Wang Chong really took Bazhou, Yanzhou...
'Would we not all become dragons, soaring into the heavens?'
Wang Chong had given these people an excellent prospect, and everyone felt that following the Prince of Yan had a future. He himself had even anticipated that, if that day truly came, he would not know how many subordinates would scramble to drape the yellow robe on him.
Having swallowed Hejian, Wang Chong was no longer completely in the dark about Bazhou. The Hejian prefectural governor was not a fool either. Though he could not compare with the Prefect of Tongzhou, he knew Bazhou very well. Besides him, Wang Chong also questioned many local people and learned roughly how Shi Lü Shan ran Bazhou.
Shi Lü Shan stationed seventy percent of his troops in the Bazhou prefectural seat. He divided troops only to four places: two were Yanzhou defense lines to guard against Shangtuo tribe incursions; one was Jiyun Mountain, where grain was stockpiled; and one was Moyun Ridge, for defense against Lingzhou. The other prefectures and counties only had xiangjun garrison troops and fubing farmer-soldiers. He sent people to those prefectures and counties only each year to collect taxes, and ordinarily he did not much control the local areas.
When Wang Chong learned this, he was overjoyed. He was just about to make a move when a subordinate came to report that the young hero Sun Mingke had entered Hejian.
Wang Chong was astonished and hurried out to greet him. He saw Sun Mingke come in beaming and call out, 'Brother Wang Chong, I am back again.'
Wang Chong asked, 'Did you slip away without permission? If your senior sister asks, how am I supposed to explain?'
Sun Mingke said, 'My senior sister received a letter from our master and told me to come back. It was not my own idea. I also have a letter from our master for you.'
Wang Chong was greatly surprised. Having become Kong Chan's disciple, he knew how mysterious and unfathomable the pinnacle was. The Dragon-Crowning Daoist was very famous, and the Taiyi Dao was an existence that could rival Wudang. How could such a person suddenly have learned of him?
Sun Mingke handed over the letter. Wang Chong saw that it was not sealed, pulled it out, and looked. There were only eight characters of prophetic verse: Xuanhuang Taiyi, shall rise in Yan!
He read it over and over, then said, 'Brother Sun, have some tea first. I have something I need to attend to for a moment.' Leaving Sun Mingke there, he grabbed Su Luo Yan and went to the back. He asked, 'I once heard people say that the Xuanhuang Seven Disciples each established a sect, and that they were a great danger to the current dynasty. I do not suppose the Taiyi Sect is among them?'
Su Luo Yan laughed and said, 'Of course the Taiyi Sect is among them! The founding patriarch of the Taiyi Sect was the Great Perfected Han Xiao, the strongest in martial arts among the Xuanhuang Seven Disciples. The Dragon-Crowning Daoist is his disciple-grandson.'
Wang Chong said in shock, 'Mount Taiyi is not far from Chang'an. Does the current dynasty allow them to open a sect?'
Su Luo Yan gave him a deep look and said, 'Han Xiao once pledged brotherhood with the Founding Emperor of the current dynasty, and they addressed each other as brothers. So long as he does not raise the banner of rebellion, it is no problem for him to establish a sect even in Chang'an.'
Wang Chong was momentarily speechless. As expected, top-tier players only play top-tier matches, and outside spectators can only shout that there is some inside story.
It was only because Sun Mingke was not present. Otherwise the young man would certainly have mentioned a line: The Nine Mysteries True Scripture created by my teacher begins with these words: At the very beginning of the Nine Mysteries, the Two Images had not yet formed; the void congealed into radiant splendor, numinous winds gathered the pure essence; divine writings were formed in primordial chaos, jade characters were inscribed in the singular transformation; it towered at the boundary between being and nonbeing, shining before Xuanhuang.
Wang Chong came out, his head full of rough schemes. He patted Sun Mingke on the head and said, 'I had originally planned to take a band of scouts and intercept in all directions, so as to keep the news that Hejian has changed hands from spreading beyond this locality. Now that you are here, I will leave this matter to you. You once led this force, and the remnants of the Yaglakar clan were subdued by you. They will surely be willing to obey you.'
Sun Mingke understood at once. He went out, mustered all the troops, and left Wang Chong not a single soldier.
By the time Wang Chong found out, it was too late. He could only wait eagerly, wondering whether Monk Xuan Gang, Gan Ci, and Qin Gao would arrive first, or Sun Mingke would return first.
That evening, he received a letter sent back by Sun Mingke's messenger: 'Brother Wang Chong, I have already taken the three prefectures of Ciyang, Dongshun, and Bayuan in succession, and I am now marching on Jiyun Mountain. Victory reports should follow in a few days.' With the messenger came the officials of all ranks from those three prefectures, as well as more than ten blood-covered military officers.
Wang Chong was silent for a long time. He kept feeling that he seemed to have released something extraordinarily formidable. He now had no troops at all, so he could only temporarily make the former Hejian prefectural governor serve as Registrar, and select these officials and the less seriously injured military officers to form a yafu field headquarters.
Several days later, Sun Mingke had brought his troops to the foot of Jiyun Mountain. The force under his command had already exceeded three thousand. The xiangjun garrison troops and fubing farmer-soldiers of Ciyang, Dongshun, and Bayuan had all been gathered by him, and that was after a selection. He had not wanted the old, weak, sickly, or dull; otherwise there would have been another two or three thousand men.
A light-footed young man pointed at Jiyun Mountain and said, 'Shi Lü Shan values this stockade, which stores the grain, very highly. He put his thirteenth adopted son, Longxiang Jiato, in charge of guarding it. This man came from the Huhe tribe; he was exiled for tearing apart alive, with his bare hands, the son of a noble of the tribe. It is said that no one has ever been able to withstand three blows from his double-headed wolf-fang mace.'
Sun Mingke said, 'Jiyun Mountain is easy to defend and hard to attack. I cannot launch a frontal assault; otherwise too many men will be lost, and I will not be able to account to Brother Wang Chong. Take a few men and go to the foot of the mountain. Say what I tell you to say, conceal our identities, and first heap insults on that Longxiang Jiato. See if we can lure him down the mountain.'
The light-footed young man hurriedly said, 'This man has boundless strength. Commander, you must not for a moment think of fighting him one-on-one.'
Sun Mingke laughed and said, 'A savage who has only brute strength and barely knows any martial arts is certainly no match for me.'
The young man wanted to try to persuade him again, but Sun Mingke kept urging him on, so he could only take a few companions and go beneath the great stockade of Jiyun Mountain. He shouted, 'My master is a ruined exile who was just driven out of his tribe. He wishes to demand ten thousand dan of grain. If you do not comply, we will shoot fire arrows onto the mountain, so that none of your grain can be preserved.'
Chapter 89