84 Zhou Kang
"I will use your blood to consecrate my sword!"
Fifty li is neither a long nor a short distance. Shen Suqin sat in the carriage, constantly lifting the curtain to look out. As far as the eye could see, there were only barren farmlands, the soil cracked, the crops withered and yellow, devoid of any vitality.
Shi Ye watched the whole way, his expression growing increasingly grave.
Gradually, a cacophony of sounds drifted from afar.
"Your Highness, Master, we're almost there," Liu Zimou said.
"Stop, let's walk over." Shen Suqin only wanted to take a look from a distance and didn't want to cause a commotion.
"good."
The convoy stopped, and Shen Suqin and Shi Ye stepped onto the dry land.
Ahead was a high earthen dam, and people were constantly carrying soil onto it; it was clearly soil cleared from the riverbed.
Shen Suqin lifted her plain white gauze dress and held it in her hand as she climbed up the earthen dam. Shi Ye walked beside her, occasionally reaching out to help her.
The earthy smell of the sun-baked loess underfoot wafted towards my face in waves.
Shi Ye couldn't stand the smell and felt a little dizzy.
Shen Suqin, on the other hand, didn't react much. She climbed such a high slope without even panting.
Upon reaching the top of the dam and looking out, Shi Ye exclaimed in amazement.
The riverbed before them was wide and deep, and people standing in it looked as small as ants. If it weren't for everyone carrying soil and digging, who would have thought that it was dug out little by little by manpower?
He stared at the riverbed for a long time, then looked at Shen Suqin standing beside him. He saw that the hem of her white dress was covered with mud, and her gaze was calmly fixed on the direction the riverbed stretched out, with barren farmland on both sides of the riverbank. The parched land stretched all the way to the horizon, like wounds on the earth.
"Your Highness."
"Um."
"Did you know that as long as the riverbed is soaked by water, those 'wounds' will heal and this land will regain its vitality? It's the same with people. As long as you give them a little hope, just a tiny bit, they can live on tenaciously."
Shi Ye listened quietly, never before feeling such a weight on his shoulders as he did now.
The livelihoods of millions of people in Daliang will one day fall on his shoulders. When that time comes, will he be able to grit his teeth and bear it without flinching, just like he is today?
Just then, Uncle Zhang, who had been working hard all day, straightened up and his eyes inadvertently caught sight of Jin Gui's figure on the earthen dam.
He blinked, looked closely, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Your Highness, it's Your Highness who has come to see us!"
He had witnessed His Highness the Crown Prince entering the city when he was lying outside the prefectural city waiting to die.
They all knew that it was His Highness the Crown Prince who had saved them.
Hearing his shout, the people around straightened up to look and indeed saw several people with an air of nobility standing on the high place.
They couldn't tell who was who, but they knew these were the benefactors who had saved their lives.
It's unclear who knelt down first, but then came the second, the third... Soon, the riverbed was filled with people kneeling, their eyes filled with gratitude.
Shi Ye looked at it, feeling a pang of melancholy.
Shen Suqin patted his shoulder and said, "Your Highness, the people are your support; don't let them down."
Shi Ye's eyes slid smoothly into the distance: "No, it won't happen."
Shen Suqin herself was saying in her heart, "Do something, Shen Suqin, let this fertile land grow more food, let those who can't fill their stomachs have enough to eat, and let them open their eyes and see the world you came into."
In mid-July, the Liangzhou River was opened, and clear water flowed across the entire Liangzhou, irrigating the land along its course.
In early September, Liangzhou received its first autumn rain, a sign of the heavens' mercy.
By the end of September, the crops that had survived the drought were harvested. Although the yield was low, it was enough to barely feed the people. His Highness the Crown Prince ordered a two-year tax exemption for the disaster-stricken areas of Liangzhou.
Shen Suqin returned to Ningyuan in mid-July. At that time, the precious cotton plant in the western suburbs had borne its first fruit, which was green, round, and not much bigger than a glutinous rice ball.
She stared at it for a long time, then said with satisfaction, "At least it has grown."
After saying that, she said to Luo Su, "I have already found a place to plant cotton next year." She handed him a booklet. "These are the planting bases I want to come to. You can help me train a group of people, and next spring you will lead them to Liangzhou. I want the north of Liangzhou to be full of pale yellow flowers."
Luo Su looked closely at the booklet. "These places have such fertile land. How did you manage to get your hands on them?"
Shen Suqin smiled mysteriously: "The Buddha said it cannot be spoken, it cannot be spoken."
After giving her instructions, she was immediately summoned by Su Yubai.
Su Yubai was unaware of the near-accident she had in Liangzhou. He was focused on his soap and saltpeter workshops, which alone were enough to make him a fortune.
"Let's expand the scale," Su Yubai brought up the topic again.
He had previously mentioned to Shen Suqin that he wanted to open a branch factory in the south, but Shen Suqin refused on the grounds of confidentiality.
“I want to use the land south of the Guzong River,” he said. “I want to build several more factories after it is acquired.”
“No, that land is reserved for cotton workshops.”
“That covers several thousand acres, and I’ll only use a small piece.”
"No, I still think this is not enough. Also, keep a close eye on the construction of the cotton mill; we need it next year."
"So it won't be used until next year. Let me make more soap and earn more money first."
"No, go to the eastern suburbs."
"I'm not going there. It's far from the river, and it's inconvenient to get water there."
"Then there's nothing to talk about."
Now that the ancient ancestral hall has been built to a very complete extent, it can no longer be expanded inwards, which is why Su Yubai suggested expanding it outwards.
"No way! Right now, I'm already supporting nearly 40,000 people in the soap workshop alone, and even then, we often can't keep up with demand. You can't cram all my people into this tiny piece of land where it's hard to even turn around."
"You have to figure it out yourself. Anywhere in Ningyuan is fine, except for that piece of land in the southwest corner, which you are not allowed to touch."
"Alright, alright." After Su Yubai finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something, "By the way, the meat processing workshop has added a few new products since then. In addition to meat jerky, there are also meat patties and fried noodles. The daily output is quite large. Besides supplying the Black Flag Army, I decided to sell the extra to other state armies as military rations. Now, we have signed fixed supply contracts with four states. You should know about it."
Shen Suqin thought it was a small business and had no idea that selling military rations alone would earn her 100,000 taels of silver for military expenses every month.
“You handle it,” she said. “You don’t need to report to me about such a small matter.”
Su Yubai nodded.
Ju Tao was borrowed by Xiao Pingchuan a while ago, but he didn't say what she was doing there. She guessed it was probably related to Xingyuan Restaurant in Shatuo.
That restaurant was opened by Yan Lin outside the pass; he mentioned it briefly in a letter before.
Since Xiao Pingchuan had doubts about the situation within the Shatuo territory, he simply sent Ju Tao on the trip.
At the same time, various prefectures and counties received orders from the Black Flag Army to conduct a thorough investigation of the Shatuo spies under their jurisdiction.
The Black Flag Army had always had the privilege of urgently mobilizing state troops, but this privilege was revoked two years ago after the peace negotiations.
Now that the Shatuo have openly invaded Daliang, disregarding the restrictions of the peace treaty, the Black Flag Army's wartime privileges have naturally returned. Besides, it's just a simple investigation order; it's a minor matter.
However, this investigation did uncover quite a few people.
Xiao Pingchuan showed no mercy, taking all the Shatuo spies back to the Shule River, beheading them, and hanging their heads high as a warning.
The Shatuo people were strangely quiet for a few days, whether they were frightened or had other plans, it's unclear.
On the other side, with nothing to do around her, Shen Suqin was too lazy to move. She specially set up tea, fruit, and snacks under the flower stand in the backyard, as well as an ice bucket, to cool off and relax.
I spent my days in this way, enjoying a few leisurely days.
When the autumn wind blew, Shen Suqin put on an outer garment and began to think about mining iron ore.
As mentioned before, iron ore mining was not privately owned; it had to be handled by the imperial court, which intervened in the entire process of mining, smelting, and selling.
Shen Suqin did not want to give it away so easily, so he kept the news from Zhou Baihu.
But she couldn't stand sitting around making money all day without doing anything, so she thought she would discuss the mining with Shi Ye when he returned from Liangzhou.
Autumn has arrived, and as is customary, this time of year is when the Shatuo people begin to stir.
Xiao Pingchuan had made all the necessary arrangements and was just waiting for his prey to fall into the trap, but he didn't expect something unexpected to happen.
On this day, Chai Shun and Xu Youcai led a patrol.
It was late at night, and a large, round moon hung in the deep blue night sky above the Shule River, like a silver plate covered in frost.
Before dawn, they had to make several more rounds of inspections to ensure everything was in perfect order.
Suddenly, Xu Youcai heard the sound of water splashing.
He squinted at the river and saw that, without him noticing, a large number of dark figures had appeared on the surface, silently approaching him.
He tugged at Chai Shun's clothes, gesturing for him to look over there.
Chai Shun turned his head, glanced around, grinned maliciously, and suddenly waved his hand. The soldiers silently scattered in all directions, like a cage for catching beasts, quietly opening its mouth, waiting for the prey to enter.
"Wait, don't do anything, it's me." He heard someone shout from the water, "Lei Sheng, it's me, Lei Sheng."
Chai Shun and Xu Youcai exchanged a glance, a sense of doubt rising in their hearts.
Lei Sheng has disappeared since the Shatuo tribe invaded the border last year. Many people say they saw him fall into the water and be swept away by the river. So what is this now? A water ghost?
“You say you are Lord Lei, how can you prove it?” Chai Shun shouted.
"I possess half of the Black Flag Army's tiger tally."
Chai Shun's face darkened. No wonder they couldn't find it even after digging three feet into the ground.
"Someone, bring Lord Lei up here!"
Half an hour later, Lei Sheng, soaking wet, appeared in Xiao Pingchuan's general's tent.
He huddled up with his arms crossed, looking much thinner than last year, and his expression had become timid and hesitant.
Xiao Pingchuan looked down at him and after a long while asked, "Where did you go during the past six months that you disappeared, sir?"
Lei Sheng swallowed hard and replied, "I was swept away by the river. When I woke up, I found that I had broken a leg. I was rescued by fishermen and it took me until now to recover."
"Why didn't you send someone to deliver a message so we could come and pick you up?"
"That place is remote, and it's quite a hassle to get there."
Xiao Pingchuan pondered, "I see. Then you must have gone to great lengths, Lord Lei. I heard you carried half of the Black Flag Army's tiger tally with you?"
Yes, yes.
"Could you show it to me?"
Lei Sheng raised his hand tremblingly, reached into his robes, stopped, and said, "General, come closer."
Xiao Pingchuan had no doubts; after all, given his skills, Lei Sheng couldn't possibly have hurt him.
So he moved closer, bent down and reached out, gesturing for Lei Sheng to put the things on him.
Unexpectedly, a sudden change occurred.
With a loud bang, Lei Sheng exploded, his severed limbs and blood spraying everywhere.
Xiao Pingchuan quickly rolled to the side, and although he was not seriously injured, he was still grazed by the flying wood chips.
At the same time, as the thunderous explosion rang out, a dense mass of heads emerged from the banks of the Shule River. Taking advantage of the Black Flag Army's momentary daze, they scrambled up the riverbank and rushed toward the camp.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
The war drums thundered, shaking the silent night sky.
Xu Youcai took a deep breath and sighed, "General, you are indeed a prophet."
Xiao Pingchuan sat up from the ground, clutching his head, and said unhappily, "Isn't anyone going to help me up?"
Xu Youcai chuckled: "According to the plan, you're already dead now, so lie down and play dead."
Chai Shun spat twice, moistening the area around his eyes, and cried out loudly, "Old Cai, don't worry about taking care of the general. We will defend the camp even if it kills us, and avenge the general!"
After saying that, he led his men out of the camp and charged towards the enemy.
Xu Youcai stared at his performance in disbelief and exclaimed, "He's really good at it!"
Xiao Pingchuan stood up and kicked him, saying, "If you're going to put on an act, go all the way. Go call the army doctor in. I'm genuinely injured, after all. Also, have someone clean up that pile of rotten flesh. It's bad luck."
"He died a worthy death. Once we lure out the new leader of the Shatuo, we'll barely manage to erect a monument for him."
"Alright. Oh, and tell the brothers not to hold back, beat them to a pulp."
"Know."
Outside the tent, by the river, two short blades met.
Zhou Kang faced off against a minor leader of the Shatuo tribe. The curved knife in the other man's hand gleamed coldly, the blade stained with blood, and Zhou Kang could almost see the warm breath being pulled from the flesh.
His spear kicked up a cloud of yellow sand, hurtling straight at his opponent's face. Taking advantage of the opponent's tilted head to dodge, he lunged forward, only to find the spearhead missing its mark. The opponent deftly flipped aside, turning and thrusting his curved blade towards Zhou Kang's ankle, intending to sever his foot…
This wasn't the first time Zhou Kang had faced the Shatuo army, but it was the first time he had encountered such a formidable force.
It turns out that their belief in their vulnerability was just wishful thinking. With the strength of the Shatuo, even bringing in any of the central armies wouldn't have been advantageous. No wonder the Liangzhou army suffered a silent defeat before.
On the other side, Zhao Chengchun and Chai Shun were facing a massive crowd, a dark mass pressing in from the other side of the Shule River, with an imposing aura like dark clouds looming over a city.
They brandished their swords wildly, refusing to yield an inch, pushing forward against wave after wave of enemies, pinning them down on the banks of the Shule River, preventing them from advancing an inch.
Soon, the riverbank was piled high with corpses, one on top of another, with blood flowing freely.
"Xiao Pingchuan is dead! Warriors, charge!"
A Shatuo general roared in anger.
Enraged, Zhao Chengchun's eyes turned bloodshot. With a fierce thrust of his spear, he took the lives of two Shatuo people.
He didn't know the truth and thought that Xiao Pingchuan had really gotten into trouble.
I heard the explosion was really bad; Lei Sheng was blown to bits. How could the general be unharmed?
He roared and swung his spear recklessly.
Not far from him, Zhou Kang faced a man who looked like a small mountain, whose thighs were thicker than his waist.
The opponent was wielding a pair of spiked clubs, and when he pressed down with both hands, the impact made his wrists go numb.
This was quite rare, because he had fought Xiao Pingchuan before. Xiao Pingchuan himself was incredibly strong and rarely matched with a heavy sword, but when faced with Xiao Pingchuan's spiked club, he felt as if he were on par with Xiao Pingchuan.
Zhou Kang immediately became extremely vigilant, unwilling to let him get close easily.
Little did he know that his opponent was not only strong, but also agile and nimble. After several rounds, Zhou Kang was seriously injured.
"Surrender," the man said in broken Chinese. "You can't beat me."
Zhou Kang spat out a broken tooth, along with a mouthful of blood, and roared, "Go to hell!"
The man grinned menacingly: "I kill nameless ghosts without mercy. What's your name?"
"Your father!"
"I will use your blood to consecrate my sword!" the man roared.
"Dream on!" Zhou Kang's hands didn't stop, slashing and hacking without showing any mercy.
Enraged, the man channeled his fury into his spiked club, unleashing his full power in every move.
Zhou Kang withstood several blows, suffering severe internal injuries. He stopped fighting back and instead rolled into Zhou Kang's arms, grabbed a short knife with a blunt blade that he had picked up, and thrust it into Zhou Kang's ribs.
The man shoved him aside, expressionlessly pulled out the knife, the tip of which was dripping with blood. He turned the knife around and licked it hard with his scarlet tongue.
As dawn broke, the crimson blood congealed into clumps of yellow sand on the riverbank. The sky darkened, and dark clouds pressed down, burying the sounds of fighting on the ground. From a distance, it looked like a silent painting.
Zhou Kang swallowed the blood from his throat, forcefully pressed his dislocated shoulder back into place, and picked up his sword to fight again.
This time, the man caught the knife Zhou Kang swung with his hand, grabbed Zhou Kang's neck with his other hand, then pulled out the knife, pressed it against the side of Zhou Kang's neck, and cut deeply into it.
A moment later, Zhou Kang's head rolled to the ground, his eyes wide open, staring intently at the man.
The man sneered, shoved Zhou Kang aside, kicked his head into the river, and continued charging towards the next Black Flag Army soldier.
The Shule River flows silently across the vast northern land, its sandstorms carrying the stench of blood as they rush into the distance—the indomitable cries of the fallen warriors.
The battle lasted for two days and two nights.
When the news reached Ningyuan, Shen Suqin's mind was filled with the news of Xiao Pingchuan's death in battle.
He died in battle!
How could he have died in battle?
Shen Suqin didn't believe it. She grabbed the messenger and asked again, word by word, "Are you sure the general is dead? Did you see his body with your own eyes?"
The man nodded weakly, "Yes, yes, the general was assassinated..."
"Who sent you to deliver this message?"
"Zhao, it is General Zhao."
Shen Suqin could no longer listen to anything. She threw the person aside and forced herself to calm down.
Shi Ye, who was standing nearby, also didn't believe it and asked the man, "Was the fight still going on when you arrived? Did the Shatuo win or did we win?"
"A temporary ceasefire has been reached, with no clear victor and the situation at a stalemate."
"Do you need reinforcements?" Shi Ye asked.
The visitor paused for a moment. General Zhao had only said that his wife should see him one last time, but he hadn't mentioned reinforcements. However, given how difficult the battle had been, it would be best to have as many reinforcements as possible.
So he took it upon himself to say, "We need reinforcements."
Shi Ye took a deep breath. Reinforcements? Where could he find reinforcements? The nearest Liangzhou troops were all defeated last year, and the distant Yunzhou troops would take at least half a month to arrive. By the time they arrived, the Shatuo would have already reached Ningyuan.
Shen Suqin's mind raced; of all her men, only those from the Secret Pavilion were capable of fighting her.
So she went back into the house, pulled out a signal flare from the innermost compartment, returned to the yard, and lit it without hesitation.
Shi Ye watched the entire process without saying a word, only asking, "When do we depart?"
"First thing tomorrow morning."
After saying this, Shen Suqin summoned Zhou Baihu and said, "Gather all the capable people you have, and while you're at it, find some experienced fireworks makers for me. Have them bring sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal over here quickly."
Zhou Baihu immediately went back to make arrangements.
Soon, the experienced fireworks makers were gathered at Shen Mansion.
Shen Suqin led them to the backyard. Before closing the backyard gate, she instructed Shi Ye: "Don't let anyone in. If any unfamiliar faces come looking for me, tell them to wait in the front yard."
"good."
After closing the courtyard gate, Shen Suqin bowed to the crowd and said coldly, "Gentlemen, I want to make gunpowder."
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