Taiheiki

Chapter 60 Fame
"This guy is so decisive!" Feng Gun exclaimed in amazement. "If an ordinary person knew they had offended Zhang Bolu, they would most likely think of fleeing and seeking refuge, but he took the initiative. But when Zhang Bolu went out, he must have had a lot of guards with him, right? So how did Wei Cong kill him?"

"I heard from Huang Ziyan that Wei Cong secretly built a fast boat with a ram on the bow and sent people to secretly monitor Zhang Bolu's family. Zhang Bolu is very ostentatious when he goes out. He rides a carriage on land and a brocade boat on the water—"

"I see!" Feng Gun interrupted Ying Feng. "He's sent spies to watch over the Zhang family. If Zhang Bolu gets on board, he'll chase him with his own boat and sink it. Even if Zhang Bolu has many guards, it's useless if they fall into the water, right?"

"That's right!" Ying Feng said with a smile, "The general and Wei Cong are close friends!"

"What confidant?" Feng Gun laughed. "After hearing what you said, if I still couldn't guess it, wouldn't I be a fool? But this Wei Cong is truly a beast. Zhang Bolu has been a bandit all his life, but he ran into him. It's what he deserves. No wonder Deng Zhong came to me several times when I was in Wancheng, mentioning this guy in every conversation. I guess these two have a close relationship!"

"Wancheng? Deng Zhong?" Ying Feng pondered for a moment. "Deng Shimao from Nanyang, the wealthy and idle man from the Deng family?"

"Who else could it be!" Feng Gun laughed. "The friend that Han Taishou mentioned must be him. Now it makes sense. With Deng Shimao speaking up, what does a mere thief like Cao Gongshi mean?"

"Haha!" Ying Feng laughed. "General, this isn't over yet. Guess what Wei Cong did next?"

"Next? Do you mean that he is not done even after Zhang Bolu's death?" Feng Gun asked in confusion.

"Of course!" Ying Feng laughed. "I heard from Huang Ziyan that on the night Wei Cong was appointed as a thief, he encountered an assassin from the Zhang family and nearly lost his life. The next day, he took the captured assassin to the prefect and demanded that the Zhang family be eradicated. Zhang Bolu had worked hard over the years, not only building the Wu Fort but also commanding four or five hundred desperate archers. Wei Cong took the Wu Fort in just a few days and slaughtered the entire Zhang family, along with all the guests and followers Zhang Bolu had recruited!"

"What a ruthless man!" Feng Gun gasped. "The Zhang family, including their guests and followers, must number at least seven or eight hundred men. With a strategic location to defend, even with a siege of ten thousand, they wouldn't be surprised to hold out for ten days or half a month. Wei Cong was just an outsider, so he could have killed Zhang Bolu by surprise, but how did they take Wu Fort?"

"I don't know about that. Huang Ziyan wasn't very specific either!" Ying Feng said with a smile, "General, if you're interested, you can ask him yourself!"

"Ask yourself?" Feng Gun laughed. "Uncle, do you really think I have nothing to do? Although Zhang Bolu is known as the General of the Crimson Robe, he's not a real general. He's just a thief. He's dead, so why bother to get to the bottom of it?"

"But General, do you know that Zhang Bolu and I are old acquaintances?" Ying Feng said, "Back when I was the prefect of Wuling County, several barbarian tribes within my jurisdiction rebelled. I led the county troops to attack their lairs, but after several battles, I was unable to defeat them. It was then that Zhang Bolu led his troops to lead the advance, ultimately achieving victory and suppressing the rebellion. Although he's a river bandit, he's familiar with the situation in southern Jing and has strong connections with clan bandits, the Shanyue, and other powerful individuals. Before I came this time, I wrote to him, promising to erase his past if he served you meritorious service. I also recommended him to become a disciple of Zheng Kangcheng."

"Recommend this fellow to become a disciple of Zheng Kangcheng?" Feng Gun's face was a little strange. He wasn't surprised that Ying Feng and Zhang Bolu, the river thief, were old acquaintances. After all, one of the main reasons he sought this man out as his advisor was because he had served as the prefect of Wuling County. He knew the people and geography of Jingzhou well, and he was also very clever and intelligent. He could offer him advice and strategies. He didn't mind any unusual actions. After all, "Warfare is the art of deception!"

But recommending Zhang Bolu to be a disciple of Zheng Xuan was a bit strange. After Ma Rong's death, Zheng Xuan was already recognized as the "number one scholar of Confucian classics in the country" and a living saint. Being able to be his disciple was equivalent to having a pass to enter the literati of the Eastern Han Dynasty. By pulling a bandit leader into the literati, wasn't Ying Shishu afraid of being spitted to death?
"General, do you think I went too far in recommending a Jiang bandit leader to Zheng Kangcheng?" Ying Feng said with a smile.

"That's right! Aren't you afraid that Zheng Kangcheng will break off his friendship with you if you do this?"

"Don't be afraid!" Ying Feng laughed. "I said in my letter: Confucius could tolerate Yan Zhuoju (a bandit from the Qi and Wei dynasties during the Spring and Autumn Period, later a general of Qi and a disciple of Confucius) as his disciple. You are a sage of our time, so why can't you tolerate a river thief like Zhang Bolu? Moreover, this man is extremely filial to his mother. Whenever he encounters an enemy, he will always be the first to fight. This is bravery. When retreating, he will always stay behind. This is righteousness. He will always divide the spoils equally before taking them. This is benevolence! Therefore, all the refugees and displaced people gather under his roof and obey his orders, just like his own children and relatives. In today's chaotic world, it would be a pleasure to be able to teach such a kind, filial, brave and righteous man, so that he can understand etiquette and be loyal to the king. "

"I see. With all your compliments, it's no wonder Zheng Kangcheng couldn't say a word!" Feng Gun smiled and shook his head. "But man proposes, God disposes. You praised Zhang Bolu to the skies, but he was killed before he even got to his house. I'd like to see how you deal with Zheng Kangcheng when the time comes!"

"What's so difficult about this!" Ying Feng laughed. "Zheng Kangcheng has so many disciples, how could he even remember this? Even if he knew, he'd just be glad to have one less problem. He got a gift for becoming a disciple for free, so why would he bother me? It's this Wei Cong who killed Zhang Bolu, which means I've lost a pawn in my plan. I have no choice but to let him take over!"

"Let him be the vanguard of the army?" Feng Gun asked.

"That's right!" Ying Feng nodded. "General, you're leading a hundred thousand troops this time. However, the land of the Southern Barbarians is different from the Central Plains. There are mountains and forests crisscrossing, lakes and swamps stretching endlessly. When spring floods occur, rivers and lakes stretch for thousands of miles. Chariots and cavalry are unusable, only boats are available. Since May, the weather has been hot and humid, and many soldiers have fallen ill. Tens of thousands of troops often collapse without a fight. We must proceed with caution!"

"What do you think, uncle?" Feng Gun asked.

"Take advantage of winter and spring, when the water is dry and the rivers are shallow, and the weather is cold and there is no miasma. Use a small group as the vanguard and the majority as the follower. Take advantage of the enemy's surprise attack and they will be unprepared. Only then can you win!"

"The end of winter and spring? Isn't that now?" Feng Gun was stunned, thinking to himself, didn't you advise me to wait for the right opportunity on the way, how come you are urging me to advance immediately in the blink of an eye? Isn't this a contradiction?
"Right now!" Ying Feng, unable to guess Feng Gun's thoughts, lowered his voice, "General, when you send troops this time, there are many people in the court and the palace watching you! Only by taking the initiative and shutting others up can you control your own advance or retreat!"

"I understand!" Feng Gun nodded. "Uncle, I'll leave this matter to you!"

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The thief's office and the shooting range.

The sound of spear shafts colliding echoed throughout the field.

Wei Cong was wearing leather armor and a pheasant crown on his head, the white pheasant feathers trembling slightly in the cold wind. In front of him, more than a dozen new recruits armed with spears were fighting with the same number of crimson-robed soldiers on the opposite side. Under the tacit cooperation of the crimson-robed soldiers, the new recruits retreated unsteadily, clumsily using their spears to block the attacks from the opposite side. But often, just after blocking once, they were hit by the second and third attacks that followed, making them stumble. Some people even dropped their weapons, sat on the ground where the snow still remained, hugged their painful parts and screamed. "Enough!" Wen Sheng's cold voice was like the oncoming cold wind.

"Coach! My wrist is dislocated. I need to see a doctor!" A recruit shouted, raising his obviously deformed wrist.

"If they were using real spears, you would have been pierced through the belly, had your head split open, and had your wrists severed! You're lucky you still have time to learn instead of being sent into battle right away!" Wen Sheng waved to the people watching the fight at the archery range: "Help this guy down, and prepare the coffin!"

The new recruits nearby hurried over and helped the unlucky guy to the side. Wen Sheng called seven or eight people to come up to replace the injured or exhausted recruits, and another drill began.

"How's the training going?" Wei Cong asked, "How many days will it take before it's put to use?"

"Not bad!" Wen Sheng laughed. "These guys are learning faster than I thought. Many of them have the basics, but they're just not used to using such long spears and the military fighting style! If it's sunny from now on, they'll be able to pull it up in ten days or so. Of course, they can't compare to those veterans. Some things are different after being in the battlefield!"

"Have a foundation? What do you mean?" Wei Cong asked, "Are you saying they've served as soldiers in the prefectures and kingdoms?"

"Well, not all of them!" Wen Sheng lowered his voice. "I guess many of them have killed people and seen blood. At least they have participated in village fights and private fights. At least they are familiar with bows, crossbows, and swords!"

"Is there such a thing?" Wei Cong was shocked. "Could it be that this is one of the fish that slipped through the net under the Zhang family's command?"

"I originally thought so, and I mentioned it to Zhao Yannian. I asked Yang Zheng to pick a few locals to secretly investigate. It turned out that many of these people were indeed rural ruffians and fugitives from neighboring counties, but they were not remnants of the Zhang family!"

"Aren't they remnants of the Zhang family?" Wei Cong was stunned. "Then why did they come to apply? Is it because I offer a good salary?"

"It doesn't seem like it!" Wen Sheng hesitated for a moment, as if he was having trouble speaking. "I've been secretly investigating these past two days, and it seems these people came here to seek refuge because they admire your reputation!"

"My reputation?" Wei Cong frowned. "I'm a thief catcher. These people are criminals. They should be afraid of my reputation and stay away from me. How can they admire me?"

"That's what happened!" Wen Sheng said with a wry smile. "There have been rumors these days that after you killed Zhang Bolu, you took his place and became the new General Jiangyi, and your methods and power are even greater than Zhang Bolu's. Those desperate criminals don't care whether the 'General Jiangyi' is named Zhang or Wei. They just want someone to lead them in their old ways and plunder everywhere, so they came here because of your reputation!"

"Which bastard is spreading rumors outside! I am a court official, how could I lead them to plunder everywhere!" Wei Cong said angrily.

"Yes!" Wen Sheng quickly agreed, "I think so too. I just heard that people often see brocade boats on the river. There are many crimson-robed warriors on board, exactly like Zhang Bolu. I think it must be a treacherous person pretending to be them. In my opinion, they should be beheaded as soon as possible and displayed to the public. That way, the rumors will naturally be dispelled!"

"That's right!" Wei Cong froze as the words reached his lips. He suddenly remembered sending Huang Ping to the neighboring prefectures to announce his intention to replace Zhang Bolu. It seemed the ship was indeed a brocade ship, and the guards were dressed in crimson robes and red caps, exactly like Zhang Bolu's original journey. Could that be Huang Ping's ship? If so, then in a sense, he had been right in recruiting those desperate young men. He might not rob merchants and travelers like Zhang Bolu, but he still had the idea of replacing him, mediating conflicts and acting as a leader.

"My dear, my dear!" Wen Sheng saw that Wei Cong had suddenly stopped talking, and thought he had said something wrong. He carefully asked, "These are just my humble opinions. If there are any mistakes, please forgive me!"

"Forget it!" Wei Cong forced himself to pretend to be mysterious and said, "I know about this matter. You just focus on training the troops. As for the rest, I will make my own arrangements!"

"Yes, yes!" Wen Sheng replied carefully, "Then I'll go train the troops first!"

After Wen Sheng left, Wei Cong began to have a headache. He had originally planned to follow Qi Nantang's example and recruit a group of soldiers from the hardy and simple farmers and miners (of course, there probably weren't that many miners to recruit during the Eastern Han Dynasty). Then, using the "Ji Xiao Xin Shu" as a blueprint, he would provide them with rigorous training, sophisticated weapons and armor, and build an invincible iron army. But things went awry from the start. After the notice was posted, few farmers showed up, and instead, they were all desperate and evil young men. The situation was completely different!

"Damn it, this matter needs to be investigated from the source. I don't know what Huang Ping did out there to make my reputation so bad!" Wei Cong made up his mind and shouted, "Wang Ge, Wang Ge!"

"My dear, what's the matter?" Wang Ge on the side hurried over.

"Is Huang Ping back?"

"Huang Ping?" Wang Ge was stunned. It took him a while to remember who he was. He quickly said, "He came back a couple of days ago, stayed for a while, and then left again. He said he was going to Yuzhang. What do you want to see him about?"

"Yuzhang? Never mind! Send the order, tell him to come see me immediately next time he comes back. I have something to tell him!" Wei Cong sighed. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuzhang County almost encompassed the entire Jiangxi Province today. Of course, most of Jiangxi Province at that time was still a wild and untamed land. Is Huang Ping a rabbit? He ran away without a trace, not afraid of being robbed by thieves along the way.

　Someone in the discussion forum asked me to write well, but the average subscription has decreased. It seems that people are voting with their feet.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)