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After Guo Wei took control of Kaifeng, he did not rush to sit on the dragon throne.

It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he didn't dare.

In the Central Plains, the various military governors still held their own armies and were independent. Although the Later Han imperial family had been brought under their control, there were still members of the Liu clan, and the hearts of the people had not yet been completely won over.

At this point, rashly declaring himself emperor would only give others grounds for accusations of usurpation and invite attacks from all sides.

Guo Wei is a skilled warrior, and he has that much patience.

So he consulted with his civil and military officials and decided to select one of the Liu clan members to be emperor.

After much deliberation, they chose Liu Yun, the military governor of Xuzhou.

Who is Liu Yun?
He was the son of Liu Chong, the younger brother of Liu Zhiyuan and the Prefect of Taiyuan. By seniority, he was the nephew of Liu Zhiyuan, the founding emperor of the Later Han Dynasty. He was of pure blood, young, and easy to control.

Guo Wei's plan was very shrewd: first, establish a puppet ruler as a transitional figure, and then, when the time was right, proceed with the abdication.

When the news reached Taiyuan, Liu Chongxian, the magistrate of Taiyuan, was overjoyed.

His own son is going to be the emperor!

Even if he, as the father, can't go to the capital to sit on the dragon throne, he can at least be the retired emperor, right?

His subordinates in Taiyuan offered their congratulations, and the smile lines on Liu Chong's face did not disappear for several days.

Despite his joy, Liu Chong felt uneasy.

He knew Guo Wei all too well.

A ruthless warlord who rose through the ranks from the bottom with his sword and spear, he even had a flying sparrow tattooed on his neck, earning him the nickname "Guo the Sparrow".

Would such a person honestly assist his son in ruling the country?
Liu Chong became increasingly uneasy, so he sent a trusted envoy to Kaifeng to probe Guo Wei's attitude.

When the envoy arrived in Kaifeng, Guo Wei personally received him and treated him with great courtesy.

After several rounds of drinks, the envoy subtly expressed Liu Chong's doubts.

After listening, Guo Wei neither got angry nor offered any explanation.

Then he simply loosened his collar, revealing the sparrow tattoo on his neck with outstretched wings, pointed at it, and smiled at the envoy:

"Since ancient times, has there ever been an emperor with a blue robe?"

Tattoos and body writing are the behavior of commoners and roughnecks in the military.

Since ancient times, has there ever been an emperor whose body was decorated with carvings?

Guo Wei's words were both self-deprecating and a statement: I, Guo Que'er, am just a rough man. I've only managed to get to where I am today because of the good deeds of my ancestors.

The throne of the emperor is not something someone like me dares to dream of.

When the envoy relayed this message back to Taiyuan, Liu Chong felt relieved.

“Guo Que’er is a sensible man,” he said to those around him. “He knows his own limitations.”

However, Liu Chong had a judge named Li Xiang, who was a mature and prudent strategist.

After hearing Guo Wei's words, he was not relieved at all; instead, he became even more worried.

"My lord," Li Xiang knelt and pleaded, "Guo Wei's words are merely a temporary expedient. If he truly had no ulterior motives, why would he install a young emperor? Why would he seize control of the court? Throughout history, which powerful minister who usurped the throne didn't first install a puppet ruler and then abdicate?" He continued, "Please, my lord, quickly dispatch troops to garrison the border as a deterrent. If Guo Wei makes any move, lead the troops south to coordinate with the court from within and without, thus ensuring the safety of the young emperor!"

Liu Chong's expression changed drastically.

"What do you mean? Are you saying Guo Wei is going to usurp the throne? Are you saying my son can't hold onto the throne?"

"My lord, we must plan ahead..."

"Shut up!" Liu Chong slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "General Guo himself told me that there has never been a green-haired emperor since ancient times! If he really wanted to usurp the throne, why didn't he do it earlier? Why did he have to make my son emperor? You are trying to sow discord between my son and me and General Guo! Guards, seize this troublemaker!"

Li Xiang was stripped of his official robes on the spot and thrown into prison.

Upon hearing the news, his wife rushed to the government office, knelt down, and wept, begging Liu Chong to spare her husband's life.

Liu Chong was furious and, without even looking, uttered only two words:
"Same guilt."

On that day, Li Xiang and his wife were both taken out of the gate and beheaded.

In Taiyuan, no one dared to say that Guo Wei harbored any disloyal intentions.

……

In Xuzhou, Liu Yun was overjoyed to receive the imperial edict of succession.

He quickly packed his bags and set off from Xuzhou, his carriage slowly heading towards Kaifeng.

Along the way, local officials vied to welcome and see them off, and the people prostrated themselves and shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

Sitting in the carriage, Liu Yun felt as if he were the ruler of the world.

But he never made it to Kaifeng.

The Khitans have arrived.

Urgent report from the border: The Khitan army is invading from the south; Hebei is in grave danger.

Guo Wei submitted a memorial, citing "defense against the enemy" as the reason, and led the main force of the army away from Kaifeng to the north to meet the enemy.

Liu Yun's carriage had only just arrived in Songzhou.

He was unaware that the moment Guo Wei's army left the city, the world inside Kaifeng had already changed.

Guo Wei's men draped a yellow flag over him.

"With no leader among the armies, we wish to recognize Lord Guo as our emperor!"

The overwhelming cheers of support drowned out Guo Wei's refusal.

He seemed to decline three times, or perhaps not even once.

What history books say is unknown to later generations.

But the result is clear...

Guo Wei donned the yellow robe, led his army back to Kaifeng.

The officials left behind in the city offered no resistance in the face of the yellow flag.

On the Dingmao day of the first month of the first year of Guangshun (February 13, 951), Guo Wei formally ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, establishing the Great Zhou dynasty with its capital at Bianjing, historically known as the Later Zhou dynasty.

Before Liu Yun's coronation ceremony was even ready, the new emperor already bore the surname Guo.

At this moment, Liu Yun had just arrived in Songzhou. Before his carriage even entered the guesthouse, he was surrounded by a group of soldiers in bright armor.

"By imperial decree, the Duke of Xiangyin receives the imperial edict."

Liu Yun knelt on the ground and listened to the imperial edict.

His title changed from "Son of Heaven" to "Duke of Xiangyin", and his destination changed from the Kaifeng Imperial Palace to the Songzhou Villa.

"Lord Guo... no, Your Majesty, is there any other decree?" Liu Yun asked.

The eunuch who delivered the imperial decree did not reply.

Liu Yun was placed under house arrest in Songzhou and never left there again.

……

Liu Chong of Taiyuan only received the news after his son was imprisoned.

He was furious and ordered his troops to be assembled, intending to personally lead a large army south to attack Guo Wei and rescue his son.

Before the troops had fully assembled, a second message arrived.

Li Hongyi, the military governor of Songzhou, had already poisoned Liu Yun, the Duke of Xiangyin, in the guesthouse, following a secret imperial decree.

The body has been recovered and is said to be transported back to Taiyuan for burial soon.

When Liu Chong in Taiyuan received the news, he was in his main tent discussing matters with his generals.

After hearing the messenger's report, he froze on the spot, like a clay sculpture.

The tent remained deathly silent for a long time.

Suddenly, Liu Chong coughed up a mouthful of blood and fell straight backward.

The crowd worked together to revive him.

Liu Chong's first words upon waking were hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against iron:
"Guo Que'er...you lied to me...you lied to me..."

He cried, he cried for his son; he cursed, he cursed himself.

He berated himself for not heeding Li Xiang's advice, killing a loyal minister, and harming his own son.

What's the use of cursing? Liu Yun's body is already cold.

……

January of 951 AD.

In Taiyuan, Liu Chong, dressed in plain clothes, ascended the imperial throne before his son's memorial tablet.

The regime he established is historically known as the Northern Han.

The coronation ceremony was quiet and deserted.

There were no congratulatory gifts from all directions, no tributes from all nations.

Only a group of former officials from Taiyuan performed the ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows before the new emperor, whose hair and beard were all white.

Liu Chong sat on the dragon throne, looking at the sparse court officials below, and suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with tears.

"I...I have become the emperor."

He remembered the sparrow around Guo Wei's neck.

The Azure Emperor, as expected, does not exist.

But what is Liu Chong anyway?

From that moment on, he and Guo Wei were sworn enemies.

The Northern Han's national policy was set from the day it was founded: to ally with the Liao against the Zhou.

Liu Chong personally sent envoys to the Khitan, proclaiming himself emperor and offering annual tribute of gold, silver, and silk in exchange for military aid from the Liao Dynasty.

From then on, outside Yanmen Pass north of Taiyuan, Khitan cavalry came and went like the wind; south of Taiyuan, in Jinzhou and Luzhou, the armies of the Later Zhou and the Northern Han fought year after year.

This hatred continued until Liu Chong's sons and grandsons, and until the day the Northern Han Dynasty was destroyed.

Meanwhile, Guo Wei, the founding emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, was sitting on the dragon throne in Kaifeng, listening to the battle reports sent from the front.

The flying sparrow tattoo on his neck still had its wings spread.

No one else will ever point at it and ask, "Why does the emperor have blue lacquer?"

After finishing these tasks, Guo Wei suddenly remembered his third son.

The child spent several months in an abandoned military camp outside the city, struggling alongside a group of wounded veterans and impoverished scholars. I heard he had lost weight, but his eyes were brighter than before.

"Guo Zhong, what has Yi Ge'er been up to lately?" Guo Wei asked Guo Zhong.

"Reporting to Lord Ling...Reporting to Your Majesty," Guo Zhong couldn't quite bring himself to say it, "the Third Young Master is still training as a study companion, and he still eats and lives with us every day. In addition, he has taken in dozens of old soldiers who were crippled during the siege, saying that he wants to invite them to be his instructors."

Guo Wei was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

"Let him be."

He gazed out the window at the gray sky over Kaifeng, as if he could see his son squatting on the muddy ground in the abandoned military camp outside the city, identifying the footprints of wild dogs and people with a group of poor scholars.

That child took a different path.

A path he, as a father, had never walked before.

But that was his own path.

Guo Wei withdrew his gaze and looked back at the mountain of memorials piled on his desk.

A new nation, a new court, new enemies.

He still has so much to do.

……

One year.

A whole year.

The abandoned military camp outside the city is no longer recognizable as it once was.

The walls were renovated, the barracks were expanded three times, and the drill ground was covered with solid yellow earth, which was flattened and hardened by hundreds of feet.

Every day before dawn, the stern bugle call sounds on time.

"gather--!"

Sun Wu's one eye was glaring like a copper bell, and his voice was still loud enough to lift the roof off.

Two hundred young men filed out of the barracks, moving swiftly and in neat formation.

No one lost their shoes while running anymore, no one walked with the wrong gait anymore, and no one was scolded to the point of being unable to lift their head.

They wore matching short browns, belts, and cloth shoes with multi-layered soles. When they walked quickly, their footsteps made a uniform "swish swish" sound.

One year.

In that year, on the Central Plains during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the emperor changed, the dynasty name was changed, and Guo Wei went from being Lord Guo to becoming the Emperor of the Great Zhou.

The smoke of war on the border never dissipated, the Northern Han army harassed the border every now and then, and the Khitan cavalry still roamed outside Yanmen Pass.

But all of this seemed to have nothing to do with the military camp outside the city.

The two hundred people here do only four things: read, run laps, practice martial arts, and sleep.

Day after day, rain or shine.

Zhao Da stood by the playground, leaning on his cane, watching the group of young people run past him.

His one leg hurts when he stands for a long time, but he refuses to sit down.

"Soon," he muttered, "about half an incense stick's time earlier than this time last year."

Qian Qi squatted in the corner, still drawing mountains and rivers on the ground with a twig. But now he was surrounded not by one or two people, but by more than a dozen young people, who were lying on the ground listening attentively to him tell him which river was navigable by boat, which mountain had a pass, and which forest could hide people.

Zhou Laosi's back was even more hunched, but the tents he set up could be erected by fifty people working together in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, forming a neat array of tents that were impenetrable to wind and rain.

Sun Wu cursed less often.

It wasn't because his temper had improved, but because these kids no longer needed to be scolded.

At a single command, they turned left when instructed to turn left, and crawled when instructed to crawl, their movements even more nimble than many veteran border soldiers.

“Soldiers who train every five days are called strong soldiers.” Sun Wu said to Zhao Da with red eyes after drinking one day, “Soldiers who train once a day, I’ve lived for forty-five years and this is the first time I’ve ever seen one.”

"What's it called?"

After thinking for a long time, Sun Wu finally managed to say, "Call them full-time professional soldiers. That's what the young master said."

Zhao Da didn't understand what "full-time professional soldier" meant, but he could understand the look in these young men's eyes...

Bright, stable, and rooted.

A year ago, there were two hundred pairs of fearful and bewildered eyes, coming for a meal and a stipend.

A year later, there were still two hundred pairs of eyes, but what they held was no longer just food and money.

Suning remains the most ordinary among this group.

He still wore the same short khaki jacket, slept on the same shared bunk bed, and during morning exercises, he stayed in the middle of the first group, neither vying for the top spot nor falling behind.

He would sit by the window while reading, the sunlight falling on the pages, and he would read each word carefully. After finishing, he would discuss the book with his reading companion in hushed tones.

Some people started calling him "Young Master," but he waved his hand and said, "Call me by my name."

Nobody dares.

But that reverence is no longer the reverence that stemmed from status and power; it is something more complex—submission.

Of the two hundred companions, none could defeat the few scout trainees trained by Qian Qi, but none of them could defeat the young master.

No one could memorize all of Zhao Dahua's more than one hundred commonly used characters, but the young master could memorize them all and even write them from memory.

No one can remember all seventeen formation variations taught by Sun Wu at the same time, but the young master can.

But the young master never showed off.

Suning's running exercises were just running exercises, and his reading was just reading. When he squatted on the ground to identify his footprints, he didn't care at all even when his nose was almost touching the mud.

"Young master, who did you learn these skills from?" One evening, a new companion couldn't help but ask Wang Pu.

Wang Pu did not answer.

He was reading a volume of official gazette that had just been delivered from Kaifeng.

After reading it, he folded it up, put it back in the bamboo tube, and looked deep in thought.

The young master has not learned from anyone.

Those skills seem to be innate.

Or perhaps, it's as if he were a completely different person.

Wang Pu didn't think too deeply about it; some things don't need to be thought through so thoroughly.

All he needs to know is that following the young master is the right thing to do.

That year, Suning selected several outstanding talents from among two hundred people.

Wang Pu, 24 years old, from Qingzhou.

When he first arrived, he was as thin as a bamboo pole. He would be out of breath after running three laps of exercise. Sun Wu scolded him, saying, "You've wasted your time studying."

But three months later, his physical fitness caught up with the middle level.

Even more astonishing is his mind...

He could memorize anything he read and was incredibly fast at calculations. When Feng Dao explained the differences between the three commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals, he was able to immediately offer seven insights that no one before him had ever expressed.

Feng Dao later said to others, "If this child had not been born in a chaotic era, he would have become a great Confucian scholar."

But Wang Pu himself did not want to be a great Confucian scholar.

He preferred to hide in a corner, staring blankly at the more than one hundred commonly used characters drawn by Zhao Da, and then on another piece of paper, he would draw a completely new method of bookkeeping...

The young master called it "double-entry bookkeeping".

Zhao Pu, 23 years old, is from Jizhou.

When this person first arrived, he was the least noticeable, with an unremarkable appearance and not much to say. He was assigned to the middle of the third team, neither high nor low.

But he has one notable trait: an exceptionally good memory.

It wasn't the kind of quick-learning method like Wang Pu's. Zhao Pu memorized people.

He remembered everything about his tutor: his name, where he was from, what he was good at, how many people were in his family, and what color clothes he wore on the day he came to apply.

What's even more frightening is that he will use this information.

Once, when Sun Wu was selecting ten scouts, Zhao Pu, who was standing nearby, said, "Liu Si at the back of the team, his father is a hunter, and he's been running around in the mountains since he was a child."

Sun Wu, with some skepticism, brought Liu Si up to test him, and sure enough, Liu Si traversed mountains and valleys as if walking on flat ground.

From then on, Sun Wu's gaze towards Zhao Pu changed.

Li Fang, nineteen years old, from Shenzhou.

He was one of the youngest among the two hundred people. He was fair-skinned and shy, and would blush when he spoke.

But his calligraphy prompted Feng Dao to personally ask Su Ning for the man.

"This young man's calligraphy already shows the style of the Tang Dynasty. I would like to take him in as my secretary."

Suning did not release the person.

Instead, he kept Li Fang by his side to manage the documents.

Hundreds of letters, accounts, and lists were neatly organized and clearly arranged by Li Fang.

Li Fang was not good with words, but Su Ning would carefully read every official report, military order, and memorial he copied.

Those handwritings were neat and gentle, just like him.

These three men, along with several others who emerged later, became known as the "young master's confidants" in the military camp outside the city.

But Suning treated them no differently than he treated other tutors.

Same training, same hardships, same shared sleeping quarters.

I would keep them for an extra half hour at night, light a solitary lamp, and chat about things that others couldn't understand, while looking at a few scrolls of books.

What were they talking about? Nobody knew.

All I know is that every time the lights went out, the look in those people's eyes deepened compared to when the lights were on.

Two hundred people were transformed, and behind them came a constant flow of money and supplies.

Practice once a day, and that's not just talk.

Each person will have three meals of dry rice per day, not porridge—dry rice!
Sun Wu said that if you only drink thin porridge, you'll be half-collapsed after running twenty miles.

So they ate as much rice as they wanted, consuming several bushels of rice in one meal.

Each person receives one set of short brown clothes and two pairs of cloth shoes per month.

Training wears out shoes; after ten days of running, the soles are worn through.

Old Zhou could mend it, but patching it on top of patching it was uncomfortable to walk on, so the young master said to replace it with a new one.

Weapon wear and tear – wooden sticks were used for training formations, wooden swords for combat, and hemp ropes for scout training.

They are all consumables; if they break, they need to be repaired, and if they can't be repaired, they need to be replaced.

There are also wound medicines.

Bumps and bruises are commonplace; for more serious injuries like dislocations and fractures, a doctor must be on-site and medicines must be readily available.

The money for hiring a doctor, the money for buying medicine, the doctor's consultation fee...

There was also the salary for the twenty-odd wounded and disabled veterans.

The young master said that they were instructors, not servants, and could not work for free.

The team receives its monthly pay according to the standard rate, without missing a single penny.

There were also settling-in allowances sent to the families of the students who were accompanying them to study.

The young master set a rule: half of the monthly allowance must be set aside and sent back to the place of origin by the accounting office.

For families where parents are old and wives and children are widowed, there are additional subsidies in the accounts.

All of these are money.

Money flowing out like water.

……

When Guo Wei first saw the expense report his son handed him, he thought he had misread it.

He rubbed his eyes and looked at it again.

"How many?"

"Your Majesty, from August of last year to now, a total of 4,760 taels of silver have been spent," Guo Zhong replied with his head bowed. "In addition, there are grains and miscellaneous items, which are not included in the monetary value."

Guo Wei fell silent.

Four thousand seven hundred taels of silver is enough for him to support a border army of three thousand men.

His son, in just one year, supported two hundred... scholars.

"Where did he get so much money?" Guo Wei asked.

Guo Zhong was prepared and presented another ledger.

"Young Master owns seven businesses in and around Kaifeng: three cloth shops, two grain shops, one medicine shop, and one general merchandise store. He also collaborates with several major merchants at the Bianhe River wharf, engaging in... long-distance trade."

"What are you selling?"

"Tea and silk from the south, and leather goods and medicinal herbs from the north."

Guo Wei fell silent again.

After a long pause, he finally asked, "Who's managing this for him?"

“Wang Pu. That scholar from Qingzhou. He manages all the accounts, income and expenditure, costs and profits. The young master checks the general accounts every five days, but doesn’t inquire about anything else.”

"How much did you earn?"

"From August of last year to now, the total net profit of all businesses is... 5,300 taels."

Guo Wei's teacup stopped in mid-air.

He suddenly realized that he may never have truly understood his son.

When did that emaciated child, who was crying so hard he couldn't breathe while clinging to Chai Rong, learn to do business?
When did I get to know the merchants at the Bianhe Wharf?
When were these seven shops set up so quietly?
More importantly, he spent all five thousand taels he earned in the army camp; to this day, he still sleeps on a shared bed, wears a short tunic, and eats communal meals with his two hundred companions.

What is he after?
Guo Wei did not ask.

He knew he wouldn't get an answer even if he asked.

That son always looked at him with respect and admiration, but Guo Wei always felt that deep within those eyes, there was a body of water he couldn't see.

"Let him be!" Guo Wei waved his hand.

This is something he has said many times, and each time, his feelings are different.

……

Military camp outside the city.

Su Ning sat in the accounting room, listening to Wang Pu report the month's income and expenses item by item.

"...The cost of goods purchased by the cloth shop has increased slightly because the spring rains in Jiangnan have reduced silk production. I have already made an agreement with that old shop in Hangzhou to pay a 30% deposit in advance and lock in the price until the end of the year. The grain shop is stable, and the medicine shop has established long-term relationships with several medicine merchants because of the care for wounded soldiers last year, so the purchase price is now 50% lower than the market price. As for the trading business at the dock, two shipments were delayed by the wind this month, resulting in a 10-day delay, but the buyers kept their word and did not claim compensation."

Wang Pu's voice was flat, as if he were talking about today's weather.

Su Ning nodded. "The herbal medicine shop needs to keep enough stock. Although the wounded soldiers' camp has been mostly settled, they may still need the supplies elsewhere in the future. As for the docks, a ten-day delay is nothing. Merchants value integrity; keeping promises is more important than making money."

"Yes."

Wang Pu put away the account books, but did not leave immediately.

"Young master," he suddenly asked, "how long can we... hold out like this?"

Su Ning looked up at Wang Pu.

“What I mean is,” Wang Pu carefully chose his words, “that while the business is profitable, its scale is limited. The expenses for the tutoring camp are still increasing—you recruited a second batch this year, although you only selected one hundred people, but there will be a third and a fourth batch in the future. Can our business keep up?”

Suning did not answer immediately.

He looked out the window.

On the playground, the second group of students were running laps, and Sun Wu's cursing could be faintly heard.

The first batch of members of the reading companion camp are now able to help lead the team, teach, and maintain order.

"We'll catch up. Business can be done again, shops can be opened again, and trade routes can be expanded again. If Kaifeng isn't enough, we'll go to Luoyang; if Luoyang isn't enough, we'll go to Daming Prefecture or Yangzhou."

"Lack of money is a minor issue. Lack of manpower is a major issue."

Looking at the young master's calm profile, Wang Pu suddenly understood something.

He didn't ask any more questions.

He simply put the ledgers into the wooden box and silently adjusted his business plan for the next six months.

I want to earn more money.

Young Master has many more people to support.

...(End of this chapter)