The General's Gaze
Right after receiving the military seal from the King of Yan as commander of the coalition army, the march toward Wei began immediately. All preparations for the expedition had already been completed; only the king's formal approval had been pending.
In my heart, I wanted to mobilize the full 150,000-strong army just as we had during the invasion of Zhao. But coldly assessing the situation, that was impossible. Gathering such a massive force and marching it all the way to Wei would demand far more time, and how could we possibly feed them? During the war with Zhao, they had been enemy territory, so we could replenish supplies through plunder. This time, that option was out of the question.
Wei would provide some military rations, of course. After all, we were rushing from thousands of li away to save their country. Still, feeding an army of 150,000 would leave Wei's own people starving. Moreover, Yan was hardly in a position to dispatch troops without any worries. Qi had declared its absence from this coalition, once again making its allegiance to Qin crystal clear.
Because of that, even as the five kingdoms sent reinforcements to Wei, they had to leave troops behind on their borders with Qi, never knowing when that state might stab them in the back. Qin's strategy of allying with distant states while attacking nearby ones had worked perfectly, fracturing the allied powers.
Taking all these circumstances into account, the final number decided upon was 40,000.
Though I had gained experience commanding many people while in Changcheng, I could not possibly exert perfect control over an army that wasn't fixed to a single region. Therefore, while I held overall responsibility, the presence of a general to assist me in actually leading the troops was indispensable.
At first, I thought of Jin Kai, Yan's greatest living general. But Liaodong was simply too far away, and filling the void he would leave behind would clearly take months of preparation, so he was ruled out. Naturally, the next candidate in line was this man.
"I thought we would meet soon, but I never imagined it would be in this manner."
One of the brilliant talents who had gathered at the Golden Terrace under King Zhaoxiang of Yan—Ju Xin.
"I feel the same. I had been trying to make time to meet General Ju Xin, but it seems we'll have far more time together than I expected."
"Haha, indeed we will."
If we had scheduled a formal meeting in Yan, it would have lasted at most a few days. But marching together like this meant we would be side by side for at least a month, even at the shortest.
"Time is long, yes. It may not be insufficient for slowly coming to know someone. However—"
From atop his horse, Ju Xin turned his head to look at me where I rode in the carriage.
"Wouldn't that be a waste of time?"
His eyes held both expectation and a cold ruthlessness. He had declared his support for me based on Chui Yan's words, but he had not yet fully decided to recognize and follow me—that inner thought was clearly conveyed through his gaze.
But I had grown used to such looks by now. I did not avoid them. I met Ju Xin's eyes directly. There was nothing I needed to hide.
For a brief moment, Ju Xin and I openly analyzed and evaluated each other. The instant that short exchange ended, Ju Xin let out a dry chuckle and returned to his initial polite tone.
"Heh heh. As one grows older, one truly comes to realize how precious time is. Knowing it was rude, I still spoke out of turn like this."
"Rude? I don't think so at all."
It was not empty courtesy. I believed Ju Xin had every right to do so. He had supported me based solely on his conversation with Chui Yan, helping me ascend to the position of Crown Prince. It was a kind of advance payment. To me, it was a debt I owed him.
I had an obligation to settle that account—by letting Ju Xin see exactly what kind of person I was, to his heart's content.
"Seeing Your Highness's composed demeanor reminds me of the past. On the day I met His Late Majesty King Zhaoxiang at the Golden Terrace, even before all the heroes gathered from the various states, he did not show the slightest disarray. It may sound like I'm gilding my own face, but among those who stood upon the Golden Terrace, there was not a single one who was not a hero."
"Yes, I think so too. Though I've only met two of them, just seeing you, General, and Master Chui makes me realize how extraordinary they all must have been."
"Hmm. Since I've already committed one rudeness, I shall commit one more."
Ju Xin spoke as if openly declaring war on me, then firmly denied my words.
"Your Highness does not know. Neither I nor Chui Yan were considered great at that place. Only Yue Yi and Su Qin—those two alone were the true peerless talents capable of swaying the world."
The two men Ju Xin described as nothing more than fireflies before a full moon. Having never met those two, who stood above even the brilliant talents of the Golden Terrace, I could never truly understand their greatness.
Even as he said this, Ju Xin began to explain to me what kind of people they had been.
"I heard you met General Jin Kai."
"...Yes. I met him in private audience."
"And you saw General Lian Po as well."
"It was a brief meeting, but yes."
Jin Kai and Lian Po. They were the two who had left the strongest impressions on me among everyone I had met so far. Jin Kai was like a sharp blade sleeping in its sheath, while Lian Po was like a typhoon that could sweep across the sky at will.
"Could Your Highness command those two as if they were your own limbs?"
Jin Kai and Lian Po? Was that even possible?
Lian Po had been impossible for even the King of Zhao to control properly, and Jin Kai had built a nearly independent faction, standing one step removed from the King of Yan's authority. These were men who could not be commanded by royal authority alone. Even the Four Lords of the Warring States could not exert their power before the unique dignity that only a king possessed, yet these two were different.
Could I command such men as if they were my own arms and legs? Not even as empty bravado could those words leave my mouth.
"That is precisely what King Zhaoxiang of Yan accomplished, and what gave the barbaric King Zhaoxiang of Qin the power to drown the various states in terror."
King Zhaoxiang of Yan had commanded Yue Yi and Su Qin. King Zhaoxiang of Qin had commanded Bai Qi and Fan Ju. Those two kings named Zhaoxiang had raised their respective countries to become the strongest under heaven.
"Chui Yan said he saw the reincarnation of King Zhaoxiang in Your Highness."
Chui Yan? No, even so, comparing me to people who had once held the hegemony of the Warring States in their grasp—what was he thinking? There had to be limits to flattery….
Although winning over Ju Xin was an urgent matter, hadn't he raised expectations far too high? While I inwardly sent words of resentment toward Chui Yan, Ju Xin finished his speech.
"Your Highness must become like that as well."
"...Me?"
To be honest, I wasn't confident at all. But if I said that, Ju Xin might conclude that Chui Yan had been talking nonsense and turn away. So I answered as calmly as I could.
"For that to happen, General Ju Xin, I will need a great deal of your help."
I trembled inside, wondering if this answer would work. But Ju Xin's reaction was dramatic.
"Of course. Though Your Highness is worrying inside whether it can be done, it is only natural. And I did not expect you to be like King Zhaoxiang right away."
"Then all the conversation until now…."
"I was simply telling you the goal Your Highness must aim for in the future. If you worried that I would turn my back on you now because you are not yet like King Zhaoxiang, that is an unnecessary fear. If that had been the case, neither I nor Chui Yan would have called you his reincarnation—we would have called you his return."
That was true. I was only sixteen years old. Expecting me to already possess the perfection of a monarch was far too unrealistic. If he knew I carried memories from a previous life, it might be different. Even though I had spent five years as a hostage without receiving any proper royal education, Chui Yan must have projected the image of King Zhaoxiang onto me after watching me overcome multiple crises using knowledge from my past life.
But why had he set the atmosphere so seriously? The following words from Ju Xin resolved that question.
"The reason I say this to Your Highness is because this is the minimum caliber you must hold in your heart from now on."
"The minimum caliber?"
"I heard you have set your heart on the vertical alliance. I have some understanding of military strategy, Legalism, and the School of Names, but my foundational school is the School of Diplomacy. And in the current political situation, to pursue a vertical alliance against Qin is impossible unless one possesses such caliber."
Through Chui Yan, he knew I had ended the war between Zhao and Yan. A man of Ju Xin's caliber would also understand why I had done so. It was not merely to protect my own safety, but to lay the foundation for maintaining a future coalition army.
"This coalition army will be excellent fertilizer for Your Highness. Once we arrive in Wei, stay by the side of the Lord of Xinling. Watch, listen, memorize, and learn. In the world today, she is the only one left who can truly carry on the vertical alliance. Just as I learned from Lord Yue, Your Highness should learn the path of the gentleman who leads the vertical alliance through the Lord of Xinling."
Ju Xin explained the path I must walk ahead with the gentle care of a grandfather teaching his grandson. And he proved that his earlier agreement to help me had not been empty words.
"Until then, I shall teach Your Highness the fundamentals of military tactics and strategy."
It seemed the journey to Wei would not be boring after all.