Taiheiki

Chapter 119 September
Qian Wen took out two shields, two helmets, and a pair of lead-filled wooden swords from a hole in the ground next to the clearing. He gave them to Yuan Tian, holding the wooden swords in his right hand and inserting his left hand into the shield handles. He struck the shield twice with the wooden swords, signaling to start the battle.

Yuan Tian responded with a raised sword, but Qian Wen didn't even say anything and went straight forward to attack. However, although Yuan Tian looked like a blacksmith, every blow Qian Wen delivered was blocked by his wooden sword or shield. The two danced a special dance in the open space, and the two wooden swords played the music of death. Yuan Tian let Qian Wen attack for a while before finally launching a counterattack. His movements were not big, but they were frighteningly fast. He hit Qian Wen's thigh, shoulder and upper arm repeatedly, scratched the helmet three times, and slammed the shield on Qian Wen's right arm with his shield. The force was so strong that Qian Wen staggered back four or five steps and almost fell to the ground. By the end of the training, Qian Wen was already bruised all over and felt weak all over.

"Damn it, how much strength did you use to fight me last time?" Qian Wen asked with a grin.

"Guess!" Yuan Tian said with a smile.

"You bastard!" Qian Wen cursed. Ever since he came back from the last expedition against the mountain beasts, he had often competed with Yuan Tian, trying to learn more from him. But it seemed that as the number of fights increased, the gap between the two sides became larger and larger. He finally realized that he seemed to have been fooled by the other party.

"Want a sip?" Yuan Tian thrust a deerskin water bag over to Qian Wen. Qian Wen took it, opened it, and sniffed it. "Wine? Where did you get it? Isn't brewing prohibited in the camp a long time ago?"

"It's made with wild fruits!" Yuan Tian said with a smile, "One of the servants I received as a reward from the last time I hunted the beasts was very good at making wild fruit wine. It tastes pretty good. Would you like some?"

"It's a waste if you don't drink it!" Qian Wen took a big gulp, then let out a long breath. Looking at the fishing boats casting their nets not far away, he suddenly sighed, "Old Yuan, have you heard about what's going on outside?"

"What's going on outside? You mean?"

"It was the Moth Thief who started the rebellion!"

The smile on Yuan Tian's face disappeared. He took the wine bag back from Qian Wen, took a few sips, and finally nodded: "I heard that it was a big commotion, with 200,000 to 300,000 people involved, and both Jing and Yang provinces were affected! Even if it can be suppressed, I'm afraid millions of people will die!"

"Ah!" Qian Wen sighed. "We have wine to drink and food to eat now. We get meat every three to five days, and we have our own fields and houses. Even if we have to fight, we'll be fighting against the mountain beasts who don't even have many decent iron tools. As long as we don't do anything stupid, we won't be the losers. Compared to the wandering and perilous life outside, our life here is pretty good."

"Why are you suddenly saying this?" Yuan Tian asked somewhat unhappily, "Do you still want to kowtow and express your gratitude?"

Qian Wen knew Yuan Tian's background and understood the resentment in his words. Naturally, he wouldn't take these few angry words seriously. "You don't have to kowtow to express your gratitude, but since I'm a soldier and I eat food, it's better to follow a general with brains than an idiot, right?"

Yuan Tian snorted coldly and said nothing. No matter how much resentment he had towards Wei Cong, he would not really regard Wei Cong as a fool. Otherwise, what kind of person would he be if he was being played around by others? Qian Wen smiled and said, "What I mean is that our comfortable life will not last long!"

"Oh?" Yuan Tian's attention immediately focused upon hearing this: "Do you have any inside information?"

"It's not exactly gossip!" Qian Wen said with a smile, "But I heard that Diwu Deng is going to Yuhan County to be the county lieutenant!"

"Diwu Deng is going to be the county lieutenant?" Yuan Tian frowned. He also knew that the last time the Yuhan County Magistrate sent an envoy to recruit Wei Cong, he was not surprised by this. Although Wei Cong had lofty ambitions and violated many laws of the court, judging from his past deeds, he was more like a Shanyue leader who gathered people to privately cultivate land than a thief. After all, those Shanyue leaders also violated many laws of the court. The reason why they did not cause as big a fuss as Wei Cong was not because they abided by the law, but because they did not have Wei Cong's ability.

With bandits rampant and the county precarious, if I were the county magistrate, I'd grab at any straw. Wei Cong, with his "nearly 10,000 followers and over a thousand soldiers," didn't siege the county town or plunder villages, but instead honestly mined, smelted iron, and hunted mountain thieves. He was undoubtedly loyal and reliable. But why was it Diwu Deng, not Wei Cong himself, who became the county lieutenant? Did he look down on him?
"In my opinion, General, it's not time yet!" Qian Wen said with a smile.

"Not yet? What do you mean?" Yuan Tian asked in confusion, "No matter what we do, isn't going to the county town much better than staying in this shitty place?"

"That may not be the case. At least it's much more convenient to smelt iron and forge weapons here than in the county town!"

Yuan Tian nodded. What Qian Wen said was true. Even if the extraction of iron sand was not considered, the county town was far less convenient than the camp in terms of charcoal and hydraulic machinery. In this case, was it a prudent decision for Wei Cong to stay here instead of going to the county town?

"Also, look at this!" Qian Wen took out something from his waist and handed it over. Yuan Tian reached out to take it and took a look. It turned out to be a copper coin.

"Why are you showing me the copper coin?"

"This is the salary I just received. Do you think the copper coin is too new?"

"It's too new?" Yuan Tian hurriedly took a closer look. "It's quite new. Do you think it's fake? It doesn't look like it. The quality is very good. How can a privately minted fake be this good?"

"Old Yuan, you've been in the army for quite some time now, so you should have heard about that rumor, right?"

"What rumor?" Yuan Tian asked, bewildered. "It's the general's real reason for coming to this remote place!"

"What's the real purpose?" Yuan Tian's eyes suddenly widened. "Are you saying he really found a copper mine?"

"Yes!" Qian Wen nodded: "This is the best proof!"

Yuan Tian remained silent, but the heaving of his chest proved he was uneasy. Yuan Tian had heard about the copper mine shortly after becoming Wei Cong's guide, but he hadn't taken it seriously. He'd been in Yuhan County for ages, so how could he have never heard of a copper mine? Wei Cong wasn't a god, so how could he have known about it from so far away? He was probably just trying to fool his soldiers.

But the copper coins before him proved they couldn't be fake. Wei Cong had indeed recently paid his soldiers and artisans wages—using copper coins. If there were many of these new, heavy copper coins, then there was only one possibility: Wei Cong had truly found the copper mine and was using the copper produced to pay out the soldiers. But if that were the case, it would be completely different. Iron can only be used to kill, but copper can make people willingly die for you. Hadn't the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion been caused by King Liu Bi of Wu having a copper mine within his borders and being able to mint his own coins?

"If there really is a copper mountain, so what?" Yuan Tian asked.

"Then it's different!" Qian Wen said with a smile, "At least it's different for you and me!"

Hearing this, Yuan Tian fell into silence.

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The heat of July is scorching, and in September, clothes are given away. On the first day, hair is cut loose, and on the second day, chills blaze. Without clothes and a brown jacket, how can one survive the year? (The Book of Songs, Binfeng, July)

Autumn is the season of harvest, but also the season of slaughter. Since ancient times, the Chinese people have learned to cultivate the land. From then on, all social activities in Chinese society must be based on this mode of production, even war, the most intense social struggle.

A typical ancient Chinese war typically took place after the autumn harvest—a period characterized by ample food reserves and a vast, temporarily idle labor force ready to serve as soldiers and civilians. The dry, rainless autumn weather of ancient East Asia facilitated military operations. At the end of August in the tenth year of the Yanxi reign, the court in Luoyang finally made a decision, lifting the imprisonment of the rebellious party members and appointing Dou Wu, Marquis of Huaili, as general to lead a large army to Wancheng to suppress the bandits, which had spread to the three prefectures of Jing, Yang, and Xu.

For Wei Cong, still in remote Yuhan County, Yuzhang, this seemed like something from another planet. In mid-August, he dispatched messengers to all villages, demanding that they send an agreed number of able-bodied men to the camp for the hunt. In his order, Wei Cong issued a stern warning: if they failed to send enough men within the stipulated time, or if they failed to arm themselves as required by the covenant, they would be punished for breaking the covenant. These penalties ranged from fines to expulsion from the alliance, forced relocation, and even execution. This sent a wave of fear through every father and grandfather whose children were held hostage.

It should be said that Wei Cong's harsh words in the summons had worked. Two days before the agreed deadline, 315 of the 321 villages in the alliance had arrived. Given the communication and transportation conditions at the time, this was a miracle. Despite his satisfaction, Wei Cong still pretended to be majestic and terrifying.

"There's nothing we can do. These mountain folk are such servile people!" Huang Ping laughed. "If you want them to obey, the best way is to make them afraid of you. Otherwise, forget it! For example, this time, it's best to kill the few who are late. If anyone doesn't show up, just massacre the entire village. The rest will remember it next time."

"I hope this won't be necessary!" Wei Cong let out a long sigh, gazing at the open space on the other side of the river. It had been allocated to the young men who had arrived from all directions. According to the roster, there should be over two thousand men. Adding his own existing forces, that would bring the total to nearly three thousand. In a few days, they would be organized into units and then go on a large-scale hunt in the nearby mountains and forests. This would provide a large supply of meat to supplement the army's rations, and also teach these men how to march, camp, form a battle array, and follow orders. After all this was accomplished, Wei Cong would lead them down the Po River to rendezvous with Diwudeng in Yuhan County.

Of course, Wei Cong didn't think his current population of three or four thousand men qualified him to participate in this power game, but it was at least a good start. The distribution of Yuzhang County during the Eastern Han Dynasty showed that the majority of Yuzhang County's population was concentrated around the Poyang Lake Plain, particularly the plains west of the lake, which housed more than half of Yuzhang County's county seats. Nanchang County, Yuzhang County's seat, was also west of the lake. The vast expanse south of the Poyang Lake Plain consisted of only a few counties, such as Luling, Gan County, and Anping, whose seats were primarily located along the Gan River.

Precisely because of Yuzhang County's unique geography, the main battles between the rebels and the imperial army were concentrated west of Poyang Lake, particularly around Nanchang County, where the imperial government was located. In contrast, the southern counties of Yuzhang County, including Luling, Ganxian, Anping, and Yichun, saw relatively few large-scale battles. Clearly, the officials and local tyrants in these counties were defending themselves, expanding their power and waiting to see the outcome. If the rebels won, they would surrender to them; if the imperial court won, they would surrender to the imperial court.

This undoubtedly gave Wei Cong a great opportunity. He could have taken advantage of the desperate battle between the peasants and the government troops on the shores of Poyang Lake to lead his army up the Gan River by boat and bring the forces of these counties under his command before the winter of the tenth year of Yanxi. By that time, Wei Cong would have over 10,000 elite soldiers, 70,000 to 80,000 households, and hundreds of warships. Well, Wei Cong admitted that this ratio of soldiers to civilians was arguably overly aggressive, but at that point, Wei Cong was in a position to negotiate a price with both the peasant army and the imperial court, and perhaps even secure an official position.

Moreover, from the perspective of development direction, whether it is to go eastward into Kuaiji County from southern Jiangxi, to cross the Five Ridges to the south and take Panyu, or to seize the land of Jiaozhou, there is great potential. Even if the imperial court can suppress the peasant army in the future and want to settle old scores with Wei Cong, Wei Cong can lead his troops south, cut off the Five Ridges, and become a comfortable king of Jiaozhou. It can be said that the upper limit is extremely high and the lower limit is not low either.

Of course, all of this was just Wei Cong's plan, and the key to its success was secrecy. Therefore, Wei Cong didn't tell anyone about the entire plan. Everyone in the camp only knew that a large-scale hunt would be held in a few days. Many people didn't know that this might be the last time they would see their hometown.

"My dear, someone from the workshop is outside asking to see you!" Ayun's voice came from behind.

"Well! Let him wait!" Wei Cong took one last look at the scenery outside the window, closed it casually, turned around, and saw the concubine's concerned eyes: "Since you are pregnant, get on the boat to the county town tomorrow! The conditions there are much better than here!"

"I obey your command!" Ayun's belly was already slightly bulging. She found out she was pregnant a month ago, which made Wei Cong happy and uneasy. He was happy that he had another child, but he was uneasy because the future was full of turbulence and uncertainty. No one knew what was waiting for this child when he (she) came into this world.

"Would you consider returning to Jiangling? With A Jing and the others?" Wei Cong asked. "I think there's going to be a war here soon. I'm afraid you—"

(End of this chapter)