The fiercest soldier of the border army

Tingzhou.

Outside the granary, the sky was hazy, and the wind swept sand and dust across the bluestone steps.

Crown Prince Zhao Lang stood in front of the warehouse gate, his hand on the wooden railing, his gaze sweeping over the rows of tightly closed warehouse doors.

Behind each door were piles of military rations, the sacks stacked as high as the eaves, the seals still intact.

This is the Achilles' heel of the entire Northern Court!

"Have you counted them all? How much is left?" Zhao Lang asked Li Qing'an, the military governor behind him, without turning his head and staring at the granary.

Li Qing'an held the grain and fodder ledger in his hand. "Your Highness, the Tingzhou official granary has a surplus of 60,000 shi of grain."

"However, the 20,000 troops of Beiting receive monthly rations, and after deducting the losses from fire, they can only last for half a year."

"If the Xiongnu invade our borders, this grain supply will only last for four months."

The sound of wheels rolling on the ground came from afar; it was the last convoy of grain trucks entering the warehouse for the day. The escorting officer's announcement was clearly audible: "The thirty-seventh truck, all loaded into the warehouse!"

"There isn't enough food! There isn't enough food!"

Zhao Lang sighed softly, his voice not loud, but it was carried by the wind to Li Qing'an's ears, "If there were more, we could settle those refugees."

"Unfortunately... these provisions are all military equipment and cannot be moved lightly."

"Lingzhou, Huimen Pass, and the surrounding areas of Datong were filled with cries of agony."

"The two major military towns east and west of the river were not much better off; when the Xiongnu came, chaos reigned everywhere."

"I have already submitted a request for disaster relief to the court. The Ministry of Revenue has no grain to allocate. We have already summoned grain from various military garrisons in the south, but by the time it is transported here, it will probably be the turn of spring and summer."

Li Qing'an remained silent for a moment before saying, "Your Highness is benevolent, which I admire. However, the situation on the border is such that it cannot be resolved in a day."

Before he could finish speaking, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly arose.

A fast horse came rushing in from the south gate, the postman on the horse with his cloak fluttering and his face covered in dust.

He dismounted, knelt on one knee, and presented a document with both hands: "Urgent report from Wenchi County, delivered by express messenger!"

Zhao Lang's heart sank as he stared at the document the courier was holding.

Unlike the first time he received it, he was not excited. Instead, he was uneasy, fearing that Tang Shun might do something earth-shattering.

Zhao Lang took the document, opened it, and his face instantly turned ashen.

The handwriting on the paper was messy and the ink was scattered, clearly indicating that it was written in a hurry.

The content was brief, yet it struck like a bolt from the blue:

"Emperor Shun indulged in unrestrained pleasure, causing grain prices to rise three times a day, reaching 260 coins per dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice! People resorted to cannibalism, and more than thirty people have already starved to death!"

Next came the folk songs composed by the people about Tang Shun.

The people of Wenchi are already overwhelmed, and refugees are gathering in the south of the city, privately discussing uprisings, which may lead to unforeseen changes!

The words at the end, stained with blood, are particularly piercing!

Please send a large army to quell the rebellion!

The signature is Xie Anzhi.

After reading it, Zhao Lang's hands trembled slightly. Suddenly, he squeezed the document into a ball with force!

He could never have imagined that Tang Shun, instead of being grateful for his kindness and support, would prey on the common people when competing with them!

How utterly foolish! How treacherous!

Zhao Lang slammed the crumpled document to the ground and roared, "How dare you, you brat, deceive me?!"

Li Qingan took a deep breath, knowing that Tang Shun had probably stirred up a huge hornet's nest.

He bent down to pick up the document and read it carefully, word by word.

After reading it, my arm trembled slightly as well.

Li Qingan looked up at Zhao Lang, his lips moved, but his throat felt dry and hoarse, and he couldn't speak.

"Look! Look!"

"The people are right! The Xiongnu are cruel, the north is cold, and the imperial envoy's dismounting brings hardship to the people!"

"The people are already suffering so much! And now they have to endure the imperial envoy's demands for their lives!"

"What an irony! This is a slap in the face to both me and you, the military governor!"

Zhao Lang pointed at the documents on the ground, feeling a burning sensation on his face. His voice rose several decibels, "Your people say the people are going to rebel! Because Tang Shun forced them to!"

"These are ordinary people! If they had any other way to survive, they wouldn't choose to rebel!"

"Do you know what this means? It means Tang Shun is treating human life like dirt! It means he turned a life-saving mission into a death sentence!"

Li Qing'an bowed his head, holding the document in both hands, intending to explain, "Your Highness, please understand, this..."

Zhao Lang sneered, "You're still pleading for him?"

Li Qing'an repeatedly read this brief and stern letter.

It was stained with blood, and no one knew what Xie Anzhi had gone through to leave such bloodstains!

Li Qingan's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't know how to speak for a moment.

It seems... he really was wrong!

It was truly a mistake to suddenly promote Tang Shun, a soldier from the border region, to the position of Pacification Commissioner!

He abandoned martial arts for literature, competing with the Cui family on the same stage, but now there is widespread suffering and the people are about to rebel! How can he possibly back down from this predicament?

"This farce should end."

Zhao Lang closed his eyes and took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm himself down.

Zhao Lang stared intently at Li Qing'an. "Fine, since you won't tell me, then I will!"

"Tang Shun, the Pacification Commissioner of Wenchi County, was ordered to resettle displaced people, but instead allowed rice prices to skyrocket and amassed a large fortune in gold and silver!"

"Forcibly conscripting laborers to repair temples and dig ponds, disregarding the lives of the people, has caused widespread resentment and nearly led to chaos! How is such behavior any different from that of thieves?"

Zhao Lang paused, his voice as cold as frost, and shouted sharply, "Guards!"

A guard strode forward.

Zhao Lang glanced at Li Qing'an, and seeing that the other remained silent, immediately ordered, "Draft an order immediately!"

"Tang Shun, the Pacification Commissioner of Wenchi County, has disregarded human life, instigated a popular uprising, and his crimes are unforgivable!"

"Arrest them immediately, parade them through the streets as a warning to others!"

"Send him back to Tingzhou in shackles and prison clothes! I want him to see with his own eyes how his so-called 'practical strategies' have driven the people to their deaths!"

"Furthermore, I hereby order Cui Yuanlang to immediately take over Lingzhou, bestow upon him the seal of the Prefect of Lingzhou, and grant him authority over the military, political, and criminal matters within the prefecture. I have only one request!"

"No matter what, let the displaced people survive!"

The guard accepted the order and turned to deliver the document.

Li Qing'an stood there, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty. He wanted to speak, but didn't know where to begin.

Deep down, he still wanted to believe in Tang Shun.

But even he himself couldn't figure out why he had such an intuition.

To seize power in Lingzhou? To resist the Cui family's interference? To prevent the court from becoming a mere figurehead?

But now the evidence is conclusive, written by Xie Anzhi himself, and his words are so clear that he even said the people wanted to rebel.

If he were to defend Tang Shun again, it would seem as if he were protecting him.

Besides, even if they wanted to defend themselves, they would have nothing to say.

Li Qingan could only remain silent.

The wind picked up, making the warehouse doors creak.

Zhao Lang stood with his hands behind his back on the steps, his gaze cold and stern.

He knew that once this order was issued, Tang Shun's political career would be over.

However, it was all because Tang Shun brought this upon himself!

He is the crown prince, and the stability of the nation rests on his shoulders. How can the merits and demerits of one person outweigh the lives and deaths of the people?

What's more, this person is harming and abusing the people!

Just as the guards were about to step out of the granary gate, another rapid sound of horses' hooves approached from afar.

Everyone turned around.

Another courier galloped in, and before the horse had even come to a complete stop, he leaped down, knelt on the ground, and held a document aloft with both hands: "Urgent dispatch! Wenchi County reports again!"