Chapter Twenty-One will eliminate the troubles that will follow the new beginning.
Back in his tent, Qi Kun immediately shut himself in to study his "methods of preventing treachery," displaying an air of determination that he wouldn't sleep until he could devise them.
It's no wonder Qi Kun was so anxious. Zhong Li'an's career was not yet stable, yet he had already seized control of Jiangbei. Not to mention whether the two overlords, Xiao Yan and He Yuan, would send troops, some weaker forces in the surrounding area would definitely try to stop him. Since they didn't have the strength to fight against him, their only option was to send spies.
Zhongli An had just established his business, and it was impossible for his foundation to remain completely intact. Therefore, in order to gain a firm foothold in the struggle for supremacy, Qi Kun and Zhongli An quickly devised a plan to head south and form an alliance with He Yuan.
Xiao Yan's regicide is universally condemned, and Yang Xiao's purpose in going to war is to target Chang'an and demand an explanation from Xiao Yan. Therefore, their alliance with He Yuan serves two purposes: firstly, it can win over the hearts and minds of the people, and secondly, it can provide them with a significant advantage for their future endeavors.
Before heading south, the most important thing was to establish measures to prevent treachery.
After all, when they marched south, Hebei and Henan were vulnerable, making it the perfect opportunity for treacherous officials to infiltrate. Without measures to prevent such infiltration, their southward journey would be fraught with uncertainty, and their entire defenses might crumble before they even returned from Jiangnan, thanks to the cunning of spies.
Fortunately, Qi Kun had already come up with ideas about this precaution before joining Zhong Li'an.
He went around to the back of the table, spread out a silk cloth, prepared his brush, and began to draw something on the paper with great concentration.
He wanted to rewrite a set of orders for the Zhongli case.
Throughout history, the primary objective of spies has been to spread false orders, disrupt morale, and steal intelligence. If an object could be used to ensure that soldiers obey only the general's orders, then spies would have no place to operate.
Qi Kun shifted the paperweight, where four intricately carved military tokens were displayed—Yinglong, Zhuque, Baihu, and Xuanwu. These four beasts, guardians of the four directions, were a perfect match for Zhongli An and the three generals.
These four types of orders were made in duplicate. One copy was kept by each individual, and the other was uniformly assigned to Zhongli An for command. The order held by the general represented the general himself; the order held by Zhongli An represented the general's military power. Regardless of who held the general's order, the soldiers treated it as if they were seeing the general himself, and they would go into battle in the general's name. Upon seeing the order held by Zhongli An, they knew that they must completely obey the general's orders in this battle and must not disobey in the slightest.
Thus, when issuing orders, both general's orders are indispensable. Without the general's orders, the false orders issued by spies are useless and will only expose them completely, which is no different from being a target for smuggling.
Qi Kun put down his brush with satisfaction, looked again at the drawing of the general's orders he had finished, and breathed a sigh of relief. Spies who are unaware of the general's orders have no place in this army.
But what if they knew the order?
The thought struck Qi Kun like a bolt from the blue. He had just breathed a sigh of relief when his heart jumped again. He sat back down at the table and looked at the silk cloth on it once more.
If spies knew the general's orders, their primary objective would change. If they wanted to issue false orders to disrupt morale, there was only one way—to steal the general's orders.
Although this move is extremely difficult, it will inevitably throw the morale of the troops into disarray.
Qi Kun rubbed his head and, rather helplessly, wrote down the words "General's orders must not be discussed in the army" on the paper.
Since orders cannot be discussed within the army, spies will have no way of knowing their whereabouts; and since soldiers have fought alongside their generals year after year, they will surely have a tacit understanding.
But what about the new recruits?
Looking at the flawed plan, Qi Kun frowned, bit his pen, and forced himself to write a line: "If you don't understand, ask the general."
Although it seemed absurd, after reviewing it several times, it was clear that there was absolutely no chance for a spy to succeed. Qi Kun smiled helplessly, picked up the silk cloth, and went to find Zhong Li'an.
Unexpectedly, Zhong Li'an nodded repeatedly after reading it, and immediately sent people to make tokens. He also called the three generals into his tent and distributed the tokens according to the design.
-
The three young generals arrived immediately, and the camp was instantly filled with lively laughter and cheers.
Yinglong is the leader of the four directions, so it is most appropriate to give it to Zhongli An; Zhongli Shuo, whose personality is as fiery as fire, also rushed forward and took the Vermilion Bird Token, which represents the main force of fire, for himself.
Before Yang Xiaobai and Ming could react, there were only two tokens on the table: the White Tiger and the Black Tortoise.
Yang Xiao looked at Zhong Lishuo with a helpless smile and sighed, then stepped forward and picked up the White Tiger Token. "So it seems that only the White Tiger Token and my temperament are left?"
“Who says otherwise?” Bai Ming smiled as he looked at Yang Xiao, a wave of emotion washing over him. He looked into Yang Xiao’s eyes with earnestness and sincerity, “To the west lies the White Tiger, where autumn is the season of harvest and decay, a beautiful sight to behold.”
He stepped forward and took the command order from Yang Xiao's hand. "The red leaves falling all over the mountain are no less beautiful than summer flowers. They are fiery, sincere, and bold and decisive." He looked into Yang Xiao's eyes. "Such a command order is exactly like you right now."
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this, seemingly never expecting that the token contained the poetic sentiments hidden in Bai Ming's heart.
“Zhaoqing, you…” Yang Xiao couldn’t help but shake her head with a smile, feeling a surge of emotion. She looked up at Bai Ming with a smile, “No, it’s only polite to reciprocate.”
"Oh?" Zhong Lishuo leaned closer with interest. "You have such literary talent?"
"Just you wait and see," Yang Xiao raised her head, then pondered for a while before looking at Zhong Li'an, "My lord, may I borrow some paper and pen?"
Zhong Li'an had just said a few words to mediate when he saw Yang Xiao's confident expression. He was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and nodded. "Of course," he said, beckoning to his attendant, "bring me pen and ink."
"Lingyu, you..." Bai Ming never expected that his casual praise would cause such a big commotion. He stood there, looking up at Yang Xiao.
Yang Xiao turned around and smiled at him, "I'm just learning from my friend in Jiangnan. But I'm not very knowledgeable, so just enjoy it for fun."
“Alright, Lingyu, you’re waiting here,” Zhong Lishuo looked at Yang Xiao with shock in his eyes. “I thought you were at a loss for words.”
Yang Xiao smiled and walked towards the table. Looking at the paper laid out by the attendant, she nodded to him, raised her hand, picked up the brush, and applied the ink to the inkstone.
Qi Kun circled around behind her with interest, smiling as he looked at her. "How did you manage to go to Jiangnan and even learn poetry from Miss Cen?"
Yang Xiao looked up at him, smiled and waved her hand, saying, "I see she likes to write, so I'm just practicing with her. But when it comes to writing, I can't compare to her."
"Alright, stop joking around," Qi Kun said with a smile, patting Yang Xiao on the shoulder. "Get back to writing, don't let this distract you."
Bai Ming watched Yang Xiao hunched over the table and couldn't help but quietly move to her side, watching her intently.
"Ancient black tortoise, divine and mighty as the heavens. It stirs up the tides and treads the sea, forging ahead without hesitation. Looking back at the moon, how insignificant it seems. Branches grow wildly, mudflats obscure the view. Its steps are like a rock, its heart as firm as gold. What is there to fear on this journey? The road is also open and safe."
The ink marks on the Xuan paper instantly transformed into a black tortoise amidst mountains and seas, with gilded brushstrokes spreading across its back like the rising sun.
“Okay,” Yang Xiao put down her pen, looking at Bai Ming with a sense of accomplishment, “I’m done.”
She had just picked up the paperweight when she suddenly remembered something and put it down, frantically touching her sleeve. "Oh no."
"What's wrong?" Qi Kun asked, puzzled.
“It’s over, Master,” she said with a wry smile, looking at Qi Kun. “I don’t have the seal.”
Qi Kun was taken aback by this, but couldn't help but laugh. "Lingyu, didn't you make a pledge earlier?"
“Yes, back then…” Yang Xiao paused, then turned to look at Zhong Li’an, who was smiling silently beside her, “It’s over, that military order wasn’t stamped or signed…”
Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but laugh. Yang Xiao waved her hand, applied some ink, and said with a smile, "Never mind, never mind, I'll draw one."
Zhong Li'an looked at Qi Kun, who had a helpless expression, and patted him on the shoulder with a smile, "At least Ling Yu gave the order in front of all the soldiers, so how can it not be valid?"
"At least she won her first battle. If something had gone wrong, she could have used that to blackmail you." Qi Kun shook his head with a smile, then turned to Zhong Li'an with a smile, "When you received the military order, you didn't ask her to draw one again?"
Zhong Li'an sighed softly, patted Qi Kun on the back as if he understood everything, "Victory and defeat are common in war, how could I really let Lingyu sign the military order?" He turned back and smiled at Yang Xiao, "If she really signed the seal, I'm afraid I would have burned it long ago."
"Here, it's done," Yang Xiao placed the brush on the inkstone, carefully picked up the paper with both hands, and handed it to Bai Ming. "Take a look, you can't be disgusted by it."
Bai Ming quickly bent down and took the paper with both hands. "I am too grateful for the poem the general gave me, how could I possibly find it offensive?"
Seeing this, Zhong Lishuo also came over, "Zhaoqing, shall I take a look too?"
"That won't do," Bai Ming said with a smile, pulling the paper back to his chest. "I haven't finished reading it yet, how can I let you read it first?"
Zhong Lishuo crossed his arms and teased, "Could it be that Lingyu has hidden some words that I can't bear to see?"
"Zhong Lishuo," Yang Xiao waved her fist at Zhong Lishuo's face, "believe it or not, I'll knock you flying?" After saying that, she turned back to Zhong Li'an, "Does the lord have any objections?"
Zhong Li'an smiled as he watched the three laughing and joking, then shook his head with a light laugh, "No objection, you could punch him all the way to Bingzhou without any problem."
“Hey, brother,” Zhongli Shuo said with feigned anger, “am I still your brother?” He then turned to Yang Xiao and said, “If you don’t want to look, then don’t look. Next time we’ll have a fair and square competition.”
“Alright,” Yang Xiaochao smiled and raised his head at Zhong Lishuo, “I’ll shoot you down next time.”
“You win by skill, but you don’t have the strength to knock me away,” Zhong Lishuo said with a laugh. “I don’t need darts or anything, let’s have a real fight.”
"You can't hurt me even if you use all your hidden weapons," Yang Xiao teased with a smile, then turned to look at Bai Ming beside her, who was constantly looking at the letter. "Well, Zhao Qing? Have you finished reading it?"
“What is there to fear on this journey? The road is clear... One shot will decide the fate of the world…” Bai Ming looked at Yang Xiao’s signature and read it softly. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His hand holding the paper trembled slightly. He looked down at Yang Xiao’s smiling eyes. “Lingyu, I…” His voice trembled slightly. He smiled and sighed, “I really don’t know how to thank you.”
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao couldn't help but raise her hand and press it on his arm. "What's there to thank me for?" After a moment, she chuckled helplessly and put her hand down. "If we really had to keep thanking each other like this, we'd probably never finish thanking each other in this lifetime."
She stepped forward, looked up at Bai Ming with sincere eyes, and said, "We both understand the meaning behind this, don't we?"
Bai Ming froze for two seconds, an unnatural blush appearing on his cheeks. He quickly looked away from Yang Xiao, and unconsciously tightened his grip on the paper.
Yang Xiao realized something only after she finished speaking. She turned her head away and touched behind her ear, only to find it strangely hot. She closed her eyes, sighed, and explained softly, "What I meant was..."
“I understand,” Bai Ming had already concealed the turmoil in his heart, and looked at Yang Xiao with a smile as he lowered his eyes. “Lingyu, I understand everything.”
Zhong Li'an, standing to the side, smiled as he looked at his two generals and nodded lightly, "In that case, the order is settled. This rule shall be implemented in the army immediately."
"Very well, thank you for your trouble, my lord."
-
The orders were being carried out swiftly in the army, and Qi Kun, who hadn't slept for several nights, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He watched the soldiers who had received the orders retreat like a receding tide, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh of relief.
Suddenly, a cloak was draped over his shoulders.
Turning around, he saw Zhong Li'an standing beside him with a smile.
"This matter has been settled, all thanks to you." Zhong Li'an tucked the cloak around Qi Kun's shoulders. "You've worked so hard these past few days, you deserve a good rest."
"I am deeply grateful for your kindness, my lord, but my trip to Jiangnan cannot be delayed."
"Going south is certainly a great mission, but you must take good care of your health, understand?" He pressed Qi Kun's shoulder and sighed deeply. "This journey south will be fraught with danger. I will send two generals with you to await your command and act according to the circumstances. What do you think?"
"My lord..." Qi Kun was taken aback by the flattery, "You're entrusting me with such great power?"
Who would dare to send a scholar to Jiangnan with two main generals if they didn't have extreme trust in him? Or perhaps they didn't trust him and sent two generals to supervise him.
The second possibility had barely begun to emerge when Qi Kun nipped it in the bud.
His lord is Zhongli An, how could there be a second possibility?
Qi Kun suppressed the turmoil in his heart, raised his eyes to look at Zhong Li'an beside him who was as gentle as a spring breeze, and waited for him to continue.
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