The Battlefield Gambit
The sky over Peixian was clear and cloudless in early July. Cicadas sang at the top of their lungs, and heat haze shimmered above the sun-baked earth at high noon in the height of summer.
“Madam! Urgent news!”
Shen Yiqi burst into the room clutching a bamboo slip. I was sitting in my office inside Jeonunchang, organizing the ledgers.
“A fast message just arrived from our outpost in Changyi! They’ve detected unusual activity in Qi County!”
Shen Yiqi carefully placed the bamboo slip on my desk. His expression carried a hint of fear and worry. Without a word, I set down my brush and picked it up. I untied the string, unfurled it, and read the contents at once. The rough handwriting jumped out at me.
Record-breaking heavy rains have begun across the entire Daze Township region. Roads are washed out and have turned into severe mud pits. Numerous sections are now impassable. Multiple labor convoys heading toward Lishan have officially missed their deadlines. Voices in the taverns continue to lament their own miserable fates.
……As expected.
A deep sigh escaped me before I could stop it. The date written at the end of the report was the twentieth day of the sixth month. The fact that it had taken only about ten days to reach us from Qi County via Changyi proved that the informants there had moved with maximum urgency. The matter was that serious.
It’s really coming.
Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. Those peasant-born underdogs were sharpening their blades right now in that rain-soaked swamp.
They were preparing to turn the world upside down with the very phrase that would shake East Asia for the next several thousand years.
“Chief Shen.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“Deliver this bamboo slip to Lord Xiao immediately.”
“You won’t be going yourself?”
“No. As you can see, I have quite a lot of work to do.”
I gestured pointedly at the area around my desk—especially the part where the bamboo slips were stacked so precariously they looked ready to collapse at any moment.
“Ah… understood. I’ll leave at once.”
Having grasped the situation, Shen Yiqi took the slip back from me. He tucked it deep into his robes, then paused with his hand on the door latch and turned back to me.
“You won’t be sending a separate message to the Magistrate?”
“No. He’ll already be sensing it in his bones.”
There was no need to kindly count down for him. That man would handle things on his own.
“Understood. Then I will deliver it only to Lord Xiao.”
Shen Yiqi bowed deeply and left the room. I stared at the closed door for a moment, then turned my gaze back to the mountain of documents.
……So it begins.
Of course, the characters refused to register properly in my mind.
……
That night, after confirming that Liu Fei and Lady Cao were sound asleep, I crawled into a corner of the bedroom and carefully lit a candle. I dragged the desk over without making too much noise, then unfurled the largest bamboo slip that lay upon it.
Ten days from now… at most half a month.
Once the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang Rebellion broke out, the world would transform overnight. The absolute authority of the Qin Dynasty would be swept away like mud in a flood, and heroes from every region would rise like bamboo after rain. In simple terms, it would become the exact same situation as the warlord era in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
And Liu Bang will rise to prominence within that chaos.
But for that to happen, preparation was necessary. Among the most urgent needs were money, connections, information, and…
Military power. Overwhelming military power.
I retrieved the stirrups I had hidden deep inside the wardrobe. It was the second future invention I had brought out after the seed drill. This revolutionary piece of tack dramatically improved a rider’s stability, evolving cavalry from zerglings into ultralisks. Its value had already been proven during the test with Xiahou Ying. By using the stirrups, he could stand upright in the saddle and freely use both hands. Once these were distributed, Liu Bang’s cavalry would clearly hold the advantage even against Xiang Yu’s elite Chu horsemen.
We need to establish a mass-production system as quickly as possible.
Making two prototypes and producing hundreds or thousands were entirely different problems. The ironworking technology of this era was crude, and iron itself was expensive. Moreover, mobilizing blacksmiths on such a large scale would require enormous labor costs and security expenses. Iron weapons in this age were not something that popped out with a click just because you had money, like recruiting marines from a barracks.
The budget for mass-producing stirrups…
I began moving my brush across the bamboo slip. Recalling the ledger of the Ye Family Mercantile that was clearly etched in my mind, I juggled funds from various sources.
It’s tight, but doable.
Besides, I still had the Lü Gong card left to play. Even if the cash flow was temporarily disrupted, I could go to my father and persuade him to secure a large loan.
I feel like I’ve become some kind of multi-level marketing cult leader.
A self-mocking laugh slipped out. Lately I seemed to be solving everything by relying on my own eloquence.
But what can I do? It’s not like I can beat Fan Kuai in arm wrestling, and I don’t have a mind as sharp as Zhang Liang’s.
Once again, rage toward this world that had reincarnated me as Lü Zhi rose to my throat, but……
……Ugh.
As if sensing its mother’s anger, the little one in my belly suddenly began kicking with tremendous force. The heat cooled in an instant. I let out a sigh and placed my hand on my lower abdomen. Through my palm came a strange yet somehow reassuring wriggling sensation.
“All right, all right. Mommy won’t get angry, so stop bothering me.”
I was five months pregnant. If there was one major change, it was that I had begun talking to myself far more often. With the fetal movements now fully underway, I was finally starting to feel that this little one was truly inside me.
Anyway, the personality clearly takes after its father.
I stroked my belly and organized my thoughts once more.
Good. Let’s start moving tomorrow.
The conclusion came easily. I nodded with mock solemnity, then blew out the candle with a puff.
※※
The next afternoon, I summoned Xiahou Ying after he returned from his delivery duties and asked him to discreetly bring Cao Shen and Xiao He.
“You wish to establish a mass-production plan for the stirrups?”
“Yes. To manufacture hundreds or thousands of iron implements, their cooperation is absolutely essential.”
“I see. Understood. Then I will head to the government office right away and bring them.”
Xiahou Ying nodded without asking further questions. As expected, he was a good friend with quick wits. I headed to the stable with him and spent the time stroking Hongniang’s neck while he went to fetch the two men.
About an hour later, I heard footsteps at the stable entrance.
“You’ve chosen quite a unique location today, Madam.”
Xiao He greeted me with a slightly troubled smile. His cautious gaze drifted toward the horses poking their heads out of the stable, staring at us intently.
“It has been a while, Madam.”
In contrast, Cao Shen wore his usual taciturn expression. Perhaps because he was a warrior who worked in the field, he didn’t even blink in front of the massive animals.
“I apologize for calling you all the way out here.”
I gave a light bow, then led Hongniang—who was already saddled with stirrups—over to them. As the enormous beast drew near, Xiao He’s pupils shook as if an earthquake had struck.
“You’ve grown… rather close to horses.”
Xiao He muttered, trying to hide his trembling. It seemed he wasn’t very familiar with horses. Meanwhile, Cao Shen immediately turned his attention to the metal fittings hanging at the horse’s side.
“So that ring is the stirrup you invented, Madam.”
It looked like Xiahou Ying had given him a brief explanation on the way. I nodded confidently and began the demonstration.
“Yes. It is a piece of tack that dramatically improves stability on horseback by allowing the rider to insert their feet and support their weight.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Cao Shen crossed his arms and stared at the stirrups. I turned to Xiao He and continued.
“In that sense, Lord Xiao, I would like to mass-produce these as quickly as possible, if feasible.”
“These rings?”
“Yes. At the latest, before the autumn harvest, I want to equip at least five hundred cavalrymen.”
“Five hundred… Then, taking spares and defective units into account, we will need to complete at least two thousand.”
Fortunately, Xiao He quickly reverted to his administrator’s eyes. Cao Shen looked back and forth between us, then let out a light chuckle and asked,
“Five hundred cavalrymen? Then what about the chariots?”
Chariots. Of course, not tanks. These were the war machines pulled by three or four horses that we commonly call chariots. Even in the current Qin Dynasty, the term “ten-thousand-chariot state” was still used as a measure of military power.
“We will reduce the chariots to a minimum.”
“……Reduce them?”
“Yes. And heavily armored cavalry equipped with these stirrups will take their place.”
“……”
Cao Shen looked at me with an expression that said he had a great deal to say.
“I suppose I’ll have to test it myself. I’d like to see just how remarkable these metal rings are that you would ignore even the fundamentals of military strategy.”
Still, he was a warrior whose body moved before his mouth. Thank goodness. In the worst case, I thought he might curse me for a woman daring to speak of military matters.
I breathed a sigh of relief and handed over Hongniang’s reins. Xiahou Ying quickly approached, soothed the horse, and helped Cao Shen mount.
“Just put your foot in there. Like putting on a shoe.”
Cao Shen grunted as he tried to follow the instructions.
“It feels… a bit narrow.”
“You’ll get used to it soon.”
I patted Hongniang’s neck and stepped back.
“Why don’t you take a light lap around?”
I crossed my arms with a confident expression. Cao Shen stared down at me for a moment, then nodded calmly and urged the horse forward.
After about twenty seconds, the first reaction that came from Cao Shen after circling the stable was a simple “Hmm.” He then stopped the horse right in front of me.
“Madam.”
“What do you think, sir?”
I looked up at him with sparkling eyes. Cao Shen narrowed his brow slightly and shook his head.
“This device… I’m afraid I won’t be able to use it.”
“……Pardon?”
“First, with the feet bound, the balance of the riding seat completely collapses. Riding is originally maintained by the strength of the thighs, yet when the weight shifts to the soles, the center drops and the upper body shakes.”
“Ah, no… the stirrup is meant to grip the legs firmly so…”
“Second. While the feet are tightly held, the legs dangle loosely in the air, making it difficult to maintain balance. Even a slight increase in speed causes the buttocks to bounce violently. In short, it puts strain on the body.”
“Uh… that, that is…”
“Finally, if the feet are fixed like this, it becomes impossible to send proper signals to the horse. You emphasized the advantage of being able to use both hands freely, yet if the legs cannot be used properly, wouldn’t it simply be like placing a rider atop a rampaging wild horse?”
A relentless barrage of expert facts. What… what is this?
My vision began to spin. These were points I had never heard during the test with Xiahou Ying. After all, he had succeeded in a full gallop far too easily and had been too busy expressing his amazement at the stirrups.
“In any case, it seems useless to me.”
Cao Shen jumped down from Hongniang at once. His expression was resolute. Next was Xiao He’s turn.
“……Ahem.”
However, Xiao He seemed intimidated by Cao Shen’s harsh criticism and remained frozen beside me, hesitating. I slowly turned to him and whispered,
“Lord Xiao.”
“Y-yes, Madam.”
“Won’t you try riding?”
“Well… but Cao Shen just said…”
“Ride it yourself. You’re a man, aren’t you?”
“……Umm.”
Xiao He subtly avoided my gaze and took a step back.
“Um… sister-in-law.”
At that moment, Xiahou Ying cautiously spoke up. When I turned to him, he bit his lip and continued.
“I think… I understand the reason.”
“The reason?”
An unexpected remark. All three of us fixed our eyes on Xiahou Ying at once.
“Ahem.”
He gave an awkward cough, then continued in a low voice.
“The reason Lord Cao and I differ so greatly is probably because…”
After a pause, Xiahou Ying scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed look.
“It seems I am simply too outstanding.”
“……Huh?”
It was a confession so absurd it left us speechless.