Taiheiki

Chapter 73 Return
"You're wrong!" Cao Cao shook his head. "Yes, many people do want him dead, but there are also many who want him alive, and they are very powerful. The most important thing is that he is well aware that some people want him dead, and he has long been prepared. Moreover, he is now fully fledged and has many minions under his command. It won't be that easy for you to kill him!"

"Then, what should I do? Should I just wait for him to become more and more powerful and eventually kill me?" Cai Mao said anxiously.

Seeing Cai Mao's bewildered look, Cao Cao felt both contempt and pity for him, and sighed, "In my opinion, it would be best if you could return to Luoyang with me sooner rather than later!"

"Returning to Luoyang?"

"Yes, you are in Luoyang and he is in Jiangling. Even if he wants to take revenge on you, he won't be able to do so right now. Maybe the urge will fade over time."

"What kind of idea is this!" Cai Mao said anxiously, "Even if I go to Luoyang, the Cai family is still in Xiangyang! And will I ever be able to go to Jingzhou in the future? I want you to come up with a solution to my problem!"

"I know you want me to get rid of Meng De for you, once and for all. But you're my friend, and he's my friend too. I won't tell Meng De about anything, and naturally, I won't plot to harm him on your behalf!" Cao Cao sneered, "And Ah Mao, you'd better change your impulsive habits. When you sent someone to harm Meng De, did you ever consider what would happen if the plan didn't work? No? You thought he was just a lonely refugee, and killing him would be like killing an ant. But what would the result be? If you keep this character, even if you get over it this time, you'll get into even bigger trouble in the future. What will you do then? Kill him again?"

At this time, Cai Mao was sweating profusely because of what Cao Cao said. He begged for mercy, but Cao Cao's face was as hard as iron: "Amao, I won't hide it from you. Meng De and I are not only like-minded, but we also have a lot to cooperate on in the future! I will never do anything to harm his life. If I were you, you would either go to Luoyang immediately, or prepare a generous gift and apologize to him before the relationship ends. Although Meng De is decisive, he is not hard-hearted. As long as you lower your attitude, he should not hurt your life!" After that, Cao Cao bowed to Cai Mao, turned around, got on the carriage, and left.

"Aman, Aman!" Looking at the departing carriage, Cai Mao stamped his feet, feeling disappointed and frustrated. He hesitated for a long time, and finally decided to return to Xiangyang for the time being and make plans later.

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Jiangling, dock.

The horn sounded, and the two warships were pushed away from the embankment and drifted downstream, clearing the way for the larger ships laden with soldiers and provisions. Cai Buyi stood on the deck, wearing a military cap and a brand-new fish-scale armor that made him look majestic. The people on the shore cheered loudly, as if they were watching a dragon boat race. Zhao Yannian curled his lips at the sight. He had to admit, the armor was indeed quite impressive.

"What's wrong? Are you envious?" Wen Sheng, who was standing by, sensed his colleague's mood and said with a smile, "No wonder. In the blink of an eye, he was promoted from a patrol officer to a Jianwu commander. With such a fast promotion, this Cai guy must have a daughter in the Luoyang Palace, right?"

"He's just a captain of a minor rank!" Zhao Yannian snorted coldly: "You're also an old man who has served in the army. Don't say such ignorant words!"

"That's a captain leading his own army!" Wen Sheng clicked his tongue. "You've been in the army for decades, doing all the hard work like jumping, leading the charge, and marching on the white line. You've made many contributions, but you're not even close to this miscellaneous captain, are you?"

As the saying goes, truth hurts the most. Even Zhao Yannian, a man of steel, felt a little overwhelmed after hearing Wen Sheng's words. Cai Buyi, the Jianwu Commander, was supposed to lead a hastily recruited group of desperate young men as cannon fodder, hardly a good assignment. The problem was, there was a nineteenth level beneath the eighteen levels of hell. Zhao Yannian had performed countless more dangerous and arduous military duties, but in the end, he only received a small reward and a worthless title.

The reason for this is related to the military and political system of the Han Dynasty. In this system, Langguan occupied a very important position. Simply put, if one hoped to advance in the military and politics during the Han Dynasty, they had to be able to serve as Langguan. Langguan was the only way to advance from the lower levels of officials to the middle and upper levels during the Han Dynasty. And what is a Langguan? Simply put, it is the emperor's attendants. From the time Liu Bang became the King of Han, he was surrounded by a group of attendants, including Yilang, Zhonglang, Shilang, Qilang, etc. They were not only the attendants, guards, and advisors of the emperor, but also the armed forces directly under Liu Bang himself. For example, the famous Langzhong Cavalry was composed entirely of Langzhong.

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the military role of the imperial eunuchs gradually faded (though not disappeared). They served as chariot and cavalry escorts when the emperor traveled abroad, guarded the palace gates when in Chang'an, and were always available to advise the emperor. Over time, the eunuchs became a pool of talent close to the emperor, and becoming a legal requirement for those seeking military and political leadership first became a crucial requirement during the Han Dynasty.

So how did one become a Langguan? In the early Western Han Dynasty, appointments were primarily based on the merits of their fathers and brothers, or wealth selection (those qualified for the position based on considerable wealth). Later, Emperor Wu, following Dong Zhongshu's proposal, began requiring prefectures and counties to annually recommend filial and honest individuals for the position of Langzhong. Later, other options included submitting letters of admonition to the emperor, becoming the sons or nephews of high-ranking central or local officials, and achieving excellent results in the Imperial College examinations. Clearly, to become a Langguan, one had to either have a wealthy family, have an elder in officialdom, be exceptionally well-educated, or have a father or brother who had made significant contributions.

It was nearly impossible for ordinary soldiers to achieve middle- and high-level military positions like Xiaowei, Duwei, Jiangjun, and Zhonglangjiang through military merit. Even though Cai Buyi had never served as a Langguan, he was a wealthy local tycoon with family wealth, which allowed him to recruit troops. He also had a letter of recommendation from Cao Cao, so whether he was in Fengjun or Yingfeng, he would have been given the rank of Duwei even if he was used as cannon fodder. A soldier like Zhao Yannian, who came from a military background, would never have achieved that level no matter how hard he tried.

Seeing Zhao Yannian remained silent, Wen Sheng knew he had touched a sore spot and consoled him, "Don't take it too seriously. Cai Buyi's surname is Cai, and he's no match for you and me. But it's good that we've met you. It looks like this war won't stop anytime soon, and there will be plenty of opportunities to make achievements in the future. Let's follow you and lend a hand. Miscellaneous ranks like captains are difficult to come by, but getting a military officer with a salary of two or three hundred dan shouldn't be a problem!"

"Forget it!" Zhao Yannian shook his head. "I'm not sad because of my own fate, but I'm worried about our husband's safety!"

"Is our young master safe?" Wen Sheng was confused. "What does this have to do with Cai Buyi? Didn't he help our young master before?"

"There are some things you don't know!" Zhao Yannian looked around and saw that there was no one around. "Do you still remember the first time you and your companions followed my husband to Wancheng?"

"I remember, how could you not remember?" Wen Sheng laughed and said, "Before we set out, the young master taught us the Mandarin Duck Formation. We were so ignorant that we thought he was just a playboy who only knew how to talk about war on paper, and we ended up getting beaten to a pulp. Later, we broadened our horizons at the Deng family's mansion, and the Deng family even gave each of us a complete set of household items from head to toe. We were all shocked. We had never worn such fine clothes and shoes in our lives!"

"You have a good memory!" Zhao Yannian smiled. "On the way back, we encountered a group of thieves. Do you remember?"

"I remember! How could I not remember? We used Langjun's method to easily defeat those bandits. You even planned to chop off their heads and hang them on a tree to scare them, but Langjun firmly disagreed. That's why we gave up! He's a good man in every way, except that he's a little too kind. Why be so polite to the thieves? Just kill them all!"

"My dear, you later wrote to Deng Shimao asking him to investigate the origins of those thieves!" Zhao Yannian said, "More than half a month later, Deng Shimao replied. Someone from that gang had told us about our whereabouts before they ambushed us. That person was from Xinye, and his surname was Cai!" "From Xinye, and his surname was Cai?" Wen Sheng was furious. "That bastard Cai Buyi, how dare he plot against us?"

"Keep your voice down, there are so many people here!"

Wen Sheng suppressed his anger and said in a low voice, "Why would Cai Buyi do this? Our young master didn't offend him. I remember that the first thing he did when he came back from Wancheng was to give that guy a large sum of money."

"I don't know about that!" Zhao Yannian said, "Some people in this world don't necessarily harm others after being offended. There are many people who can share poverty but not wealth!"

"That's true!" Wen Sheng nodded. "Did the young man do anything? I mean, did he show that Cai Buyi some power?"

"No, at least I don't know!" Zhao Yannian answered decisively.

"Why is that?" Wen Sheng asked anxiously, "My dear, you're being too much of a pushover, aren't you? People are trying to kill him, how can you just do nothing? You should at least teach that fellow a lesson, right?"

"I don't think so!" Zhao Yannian smiled. "First of all, no matter what Cai Buyi did behind your back, at least on the surface he is still your benefactor. If you do something to him, it will be seen by the world as your ingratitude. This is related to your reputation, so you have to be careful!"

"That's right!" Wen Sheng nodded. "Your reputation is so precious, how can it be damaged by a thief? Although it's not convenient to attack him in front of him, it shouldn't be difficult to send a few people to deal with him behind his back, right?"

"That's the second thing. You and I still don't know the identity of the young master or his family background. We only know that he's from a prominent family in Hebei and came from Luoyang because of the party's affairs. In other words, we don't know who the young master's real enemy is! When Cai Buyi sent someone to kill the young master, was it his own doing or was someone else using him from behind? We don't know. If it's the former, it's fine. If it's the latter, killing Cai Buyi would alert the enemy hiding behind the scenes!"

"Good! You've thought it through! But if I see that bastard Cai Buyi rising to prominence? I really can't swallow that anger!"

"Then let's train our troops well!" Zhao Yannian said, "As minions, this is all we can do!"

"I understand!" Wen Sheng nodded fiercely. "Don't worry, I'll discipline that bastard when I get back. I'll change him when my husband comes back!"

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A few days later, Zhangjiawu Fort.

"I'm going to Chaisang this time to adopt an adopted son!" Wei Cong pointed at Nie Sheng beside him and said, "Ah Sheng! These people are my right-hand men, why don't you greet them?"

"I, Nie Sheng, greet you all!" Nie Sheng hurriedly bowed to the crowd. Zhao Yannian and the others below him looked at each other in bewilderment. No one had expected Wei Cong to return with a adopted son after a few days away. The boy looked to be at least fifteen or sixteen, only a decade younger than Wei Cong. What did Wei Cong mean by this?
"What's wrong? Yannian?" Wei Cong frowned. His men looked at Nie Sheng with strange expressions. Besides being surprised, they were also a little wary. What did this mean?
"Ahem!" Zhao Yannian coughed awkwardly twice. "It's like this. I was thinking that you are in your prime, and although you still don't have any children, but—"

"Oh!" Wei Cong laughed. "Well, Diwudeng, tell everyone about the situation in Chaisang!"

"Yes!" Diwu Deng responded, and proceeded to recount Nie Sheng's true identity and Wei Cong's experiences in Chai Sang. When everyone heard that Wei Cong had adopted Nie Sheng simply to protect him from his stepmother, Zhou, they all expressed relief. Clearly, they didn't want Wei Cong to have an adopted son with inheritance rights before he had any biological children.

"My dear, something happened while you were away!" Zhao Yannian then recounted the story of Cai Buyi being appointed as the Jianwu Commandant and leading his troops across the river as the vanguard of the army.

"A captain of a miscellaneous title? The superiors are quite generous this time!" Wei Cong smiled.

"Although the miscellaneous commander is not considered an official within the order, as long as Cai Buyi can make military achievements, he should have no problem getting a thousand-stone rank! This matter cannot be taken lightly!" Zhao Yannian said.

Wei Cong certainly understood what his men hadn't said. He gestured for everyone to leave, leaving only Zhao Yannian. "Yannian, do you remember the Taoist priest we met on the way from Xiangyang to Jiangling? The one with the nine-section staff?"

"Are you talking about the Taoist who caused the conflict between us and the Zhang family? Of course I remember!" Zhao Yannian laughed, "I remember his name was Liu Xin, right? He was quite handsome!"

"It's more than just his appearance!" Wei Cong let out a wry smile. "This guy is the son of a dragon and a grandson of a phoenix who nearly ascended the throne twice!"

(End of this chapter)