With prominent figures gathered all around and everyone pricking up their ears, this was precisely the setting He Chunhua needed. Declining no further, he sat down and spoke with fluent ease. Not a word did he utter regarding the role Zhu Xiu'er had played at Xianling Lake; he merely said a villager had secretly tipped them off, alerting the Auxiliary Army.
Seeing his tactful phrasing and dignified demeanor, the onlookers nodded to themselves in quiet approval.
He Lingchuan, however, kept his eyes on Ke Jihai.
When speaking with He Chunhua, Ke Jihai truly had eyes only for him, conversing and laughing as if no one else existed. Whenever other nobles reached an exciting part of the tale and couldn't help cheering or applauding, Ke Jihai grew thoroughly annoyed, whipping his head around to bark at them.
Tonight's banquet was plainly supposed to center on the Zhu family and Zhu Xiu'er. As the saying went, a guest should defer to the host, yet the moment he arrived, he usurped the host's place without the slightest self-awareness. It seemed Great General Ke possessed a blunt, straightforward temperament, unconcerned with giving offense.
Zhu Xiyan chuckled good-naturedly, paying it no heed, but the younger generation of the Zhu family curled their lips and knitted their brows, simmering with discontent.
Ke Jihai questioned him closely about the battle tactics and the unfolding of the skirmishes. In particular, upon hearing how the Auxiliary Army led the elderly and weak of the entire village fleeing westward, he promptly raised a doubt: "Lord He is benevolent, yet women and children move sluggishly. To leave the rebel army further and further behind, you must have left a rear guard. May I ask what the casualties were among that detachment?"
"The rear guard consisted of thirty-five men from the Auxiliary Army, seventeen horses, and fourteen village men who stayed behind to help." Having lived through that heart-stopping night, He Chunhua knew these numbers by heart. "They held off the rebel forces for nearly three double-hours."
"Thirty-five men, holding them off for three double-hours!" Moved, Ke Jihai declared, "Splendid! There must be men of fierce valor among them. Lord He, you must make good use of them!"
He Chunhua smiled slightly, only then beckoning He Lingchuan over. "At the time, my son volunteered to command the rear guard. I was most reluctant to let him go, yet who would have thought this boy would command so capably and carry out the mission to perfection?"
He let out a long sigh. "During the retreat, he was shot by Lu Yao and fell from a cliff. Word has it that the arrow can strike three times in a single release. We all believed he had no chance of survival; my wife fainted from weeping right on the spot. And yet, ha, not only did he survive, he even dragged back Wu Shaoyi with half a breath left in him—otherwise, the rascal never would have surrendered. It was truly heaven's blessing."
"Heaven helps those who help themselves. Lu Yao's bow and arrows have quite a background—they are among the prized treasures of the rebel leader, Hong Xiangqian, known as the 'Ghost Eye Bow.' If the first shot misses, it automatically fires two follow-up strikes. The imperial army has tasted its ferocity on the battlefield; two officers under my command fell to that Ghost Eye Bow. To have Lu Yao loose that bow at you and fail to kill you—lad, you are no ordinary fellow."
Ke Jihai turned to He Lingchuan. "So young, yet possessed of both strategy and courage—a rare quality! A man who hasn't seen the battlefield is no true hero. Going north this time will give you ample room to display your prowess. You must temper yourself diligently and add another tiger general to our Great Yuan!"
The royal court's purpose in dispatching He Chunhua to Xiazhou was something this seasoned veteran of the battlefield saw through at a glance: it was to bolster their military strength against the Governor of Xunzhou, Nian Zanli, and the northern demon kingdom. With the eldest son of the He family accompanying his father, there would be no shortage of battles to fight.
He Lingchuan nodded, his voice resonant and firm. "I take the Great General's counsel to heart. I will not fail!"
Ke Jihai took an instant liking to a fine lad who was crisp, brisk, and spoke no nonsense. On the spot, he unbuckled the saber from his waist and presented it to He Lingchuan. "A treasured blade for a hero."
"How could we accept such a thing!" Before his eldest son could speak, He Chunhua immediately declined.
Ignoring him, Ke Jihai shoved the saber straight into He Lingchuan's hands. "This blade is named 'Baipi.' It has accompanied me for twenty-two years. I trust you will put it to good use."
Delighted, He Lingchuan accepted it with both hands and declared solemnly, "I receive it with deep respect, and I will not disappoint the general's expectations."
Ke Jihai had shown such esteem to a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youth from the countryside, praising him as a hero and bestowing a saber upon him, all while barely acknowledging anyone else. This sat rather poorly with the other nobles present. Those in their early twenties, in particular, found his remark that "a man who hasn't seen the battlefield is no true hero" especially grating.
He Su, who had chatted with the He brothers earlier, spoke up at once: "I have heard that General Wu Di's eldest son, Wu He, took to the battlefield at age thirteen, and at sixteen led troops to capture an enemy general alive. He is now in the northwest alongside his father, campaigning against Dong Haoming. He happens to be just two years older than Brother He. Could it be that our Yuan Kingdom is about to welcome another pair of tiger generals, evenly matched?"
The youths who usually clustered around him chimed in agreement, whereas the other nobles merely smiled without uttering a word. Ke Jihai cast a glance at He Su. "Who might you be?"
"My surname is He. My father is He Liwen of the Censorate." His father had stayed away from the Zhu family's evening banquet to avoid suspicion.
A member of the Zhu family chimed in from the side, "This is He Su, third son of the Censor-in-Chief."
"Have you any achievements to your name?"
He Su's face flushed, and he could only shake his head.
"Have you ever submitted policy memorials or remonstrations?"
For any other youth of seventeen or eighteen, offering remonstrances to the royal court was exceedingly difficult, but as the son of the Censor-in-Chief, he enjoyed a privileged vantage point.
He Su turned even redder, stammering, "I... I have submitted several memorials to the Emperor."
Yet the authorities above had simply endorsed them with "Perused" and bounced them right back.
Ke Jihai gave a mocking chuckle. "With no achievements to your name and none of your advice adopted, you are merely a bystander. You had best remain a silent spectator on the sidelines."
This was telling him to shut up, right in front of so many people! He Su's face turned from flushed red to an angry purple. He swallowed his fury raw, his fists clenching tight inside his sleeves.
With Ke Jihai being so unsparing, the banquet fell so quiet that one could hear a pin drop; no one dared say a word.
It was He Chunhua who broke the silence. "I have heard that the front lines in Wuzhou remain locked in a stalemate. Why has General Ke returned to the capital at such a time?"
Having grasped a measure of Ke Jihai's temperament, he simply asked straight out.
"Alas, what else but to urge and scrape together provisions and pay?" The smile on Ke Jihai's face grew heavy. "I heard that the tax officials dispatched by the royal court to the four southern prefectures returned loaded with wealth, collecting several million taels of tax silver.
"Dong Haoming has carried out a scorched-earth policy in Wuzhou, leaving not a single grain for us. Wuzhou had a bumper autumn harvest this year, but they made thorough arrangements long ago, leaving nothing in the fields. To plead for rations, General Wu and I have dispatched urgent dispatches to the royal court twelve times. Yet over these past three or four months, we have received provisions only twice. Fortunately, after breaching Baiding City, we managed to scrounge up some food and drink to keep going.
"Were the situation not dire, why would I thicken my skin to come back to the capital begging for money and grain?" He sighed somberly. "Pay at the front has been in arrears for more than three months, and a single day's ration now has to stretch across three days. If nothing is distributed soon, the soldiers won't even have the strength to fight."
An official present spoke up: "It is not that the royal court does not wish to issue them, but this year has simply been too difficult. Woling Pass was first afflicted by the rebels and then struck by floods; there were virtually no harvests throughout spring, summer, and autumn. That vast region has historically been one of our major grain baskets, accounting for thirty percent of the realm's grain harvest. This year, far from supplying tribute grain, the state has had to direct relief aid back into it."
The rebel forces and the imperial army had contested Woling Pass back and forth for months, locked in a brutal, chaotic tug-of-war, before colliding headlong into the floods. A fertile grain basket had turned into a disaster zone, leaving the royal court scratching their heads in despair.
Zhu Xiyan also sighed. "Grain prices in Shihuan City have already climbed by forty percent. When grain prices rise, everything else follows suit. My household servants tell me that even candles have become expensive."
"How coincidental; all I heard at the royal court was a chorus of lamentations as well." Ke Jihai shook his head. "Our duty is to fight on the front lines; procuring supplies and provisions is the civil officials' job. If I do not demand funds from the court, to whom else should I reach out my hand? The soldiers might fight on empty stomachs, but what about the warhorses? Without wheat bran and soybean cake, grazing on grass alone will not let them gallop swiftly or bear heavy loads."
The official wore a solemn expression. "In truth, families in Shihuan are also pinching pennies and tightening their belts to support the front. Official Cao, who oversees the transport of supplies to the front lines, hasn't closed his eyes for days, from what I hear."
He Lingchuan subconsciously glanced at the exquisite delicacies crowding the banquet table.
He Yue could not help speaking up: "Dong Haoming was prepared well in advance. With strong soldiers, sturdy horses, fortified cities, and abundant rations, his plan is to fight a war of attrition against the imperial army. The moment the imperial forces can hold out no longer and begin to withdraw, he will turn from defense to offense."
"That is precisely the logic." Ke Jihai nodded. "Dong Haoming has ranged across battlefields for decades; he understands all of this. Once the balance of offense and defense shifts, if the imperial army fails to hold Jixin Ridge in the north, Dong Haoming will be able to board vessels there and head straight into the Hongchuan River. Then Shihuan City and the imperial capital will be in peril once more."
The crowd blanched. The last time the rebels took Woling Pass, the residents of Shihuan City had been scared out of their wits. If the rebel army were to board ships at Fengling Ferry and cruise downstream along the Hongchuan River, they could reach Shihuan within days to carry out a massacre, with nothing in between to block or shield them.
Among the nobles present, some had fled with their entire households upon hearing the news, returning to Shihuan only after word arrived that Wu Di and Ke Jihai had crushed the rebels.
No one wished to experience that heart-stopping terror ever again.
Someone then asked Ke Jihai, "How did the general's trip to the capital turn out?"
"What I managed to beg for is nothing more than a drop in the bucket." Ke Jihai let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. "Dong Haoming's forces are nothing like Hong Xiangqian's rabble; his elite troops even outmatch the imperial army, not something that can be wiped out overnight. A lack of rations drains morale most severely. In the dead of winter, the army lacks warm clothes and bedding, and men are suffering frostbite or freezing to death every day. I'm not afraid to speak the truth: if this continues, we will have to retreat to Jixin Ridge by early spring at the latest."
That was less than three months away.
"Defenses are already being constructed at Jixin Ridge, digging deep trenches and piling up high walls. But as far as I know, the terrain there cannot accommodate an army of over a hundred thousand."
Zhu Xiyan observed the crowd's expressions and knew the moment had ripened. He cleared his throat. "With our soldiers fighting bravely at the front, my family must also do our modest part. How about this: my Zhu clan is willing to raise and donate fifty thousand dan of military grain and five thousand dan of horse fodder, to be handed over to the royal court's military supplies office for urgent dispatch to the front!"
He Yue covertly pinched his fingers, his mind calculating at lightning speed. Current grain prices stood at eight hundred copper wen per dan, meaning the Zhu family would spend roughly forty thousand taels of silver to purchase grain and donate it to the front, not even counting the cost of horse fodder.
Murmurs broke out all around.
Now that their host, Zhu Xiyan, had made his stance clear, the others clutched their timid hearts and did the math. Spending a modest sum on the soldiers at the front to help them hold back Dong Haoming's iron hooves was far better than facing ruin and death later on.
Consequently, several venerable imperial kin loosened their purse strings as well.
Their status was even more exalted than Zhu Xiyan's, so their contributions could hardly be shabbier than his. The most generous household pledged one hundred and twenty thousand dan, while the rest ranged from sixty thousand to ninety thousand dan, alongside horse fodder, clothing, footwear, and bedding.
With them taking the lead, the prominent families and officials present could only bite the bullet and follow suit, silently cursing their misfortune. Attending the Zhu family's welcome banquet tonight had already required one gift; who would have thought Great General Ke Jihai was lying in wait here, demanding a second collection from them?
With so many families needing to purchase grain, wouldn't the grain prices around Shihuan skyrocket through the roof?
Chapter 173