Chapter 647
Chapter 647
“So, should I head north, or should I remain here in the State of Nangu?”
At the Crown Prince’s question, Grand General Zhu Lin replied.
“Your Highness, it would be best for you to remain in the State of Nangu for the time being to consolidate the fruits of our victory and soothe the populace. Would that not make the people of Nangu look up to and admire our sovereign’s grace?”
Crown Prince Ning Yi understood his meaning. He was telling the Prince to rack up another achievement. While winning a military victory was a merit, so was governing the people, was it not? Under the pretext of governing, he could remain here and have the people of Nangu write a petition in their own blood, pledging their loyalty to the State of Yue. He could even arrange for tens of thousands of citizens to see him off when he eventually departed. Later, when the Prince returned to the capital, the people of Nangu could submit another blood-written petition, requesting to be fully annexed by the State of Yue, making Nangu the second special autonomous region. That would further solidify the Prince’s accomplishments this time. Ning Yuanxian’s past achievement had been persuading the border tribes to betray the State of Wu and surrender to Yue.
*‘I, Ning Yi, have not only defeated Lord Jin, but have also won the hearts of the Nangu people for the State of Yue. Is such a feat of territorial expansion not enough to secure my position?’*
An achievement like that would certainly be enough to solidify the Crown Prince’s standing. If all the scholars of the realm were to praise the Prince in unison, his fabricated merit would become fact, and Ning Yi’s accomplishment of expanding the nation’s territory would be firmly recorded in the annals of history. Who would care about the truth hidden behind it all? Public opinion and the right to speak in the State of Yue were in the hands of the scholars. What did the common folk know? They believed whatever the scholars told them. *History is written by us, not by the common people!*
The Prince finally made up his mind.
*‘In any case, this war has been won. I just need to embellish the victory report.’*
“I have made my decision. I will implement a new strategy, building a large number of fortresses along the border of our two nations to defend our lands and bring stability to our people.”
“Your Highness is wise!”
“Your Highness is wise!”
Building fortresses on the border to engage Lord Jin’s army in a war of attrition? Wasn’t that the very strategy Shen Lang and Ning Zheng had decided on long ago? How had it suddenly become the Prince’s strategy?
In truth, even Crown Prince Ning Yi was impressed. It turned out that Ning Zheng and Shen Lang’s plan had been correct all along. When Shen Lang and Ning Zheng had advocated for a war of attrition using fortresses, they had been condemned to death by the world and disgracefully branded as surrenderists. Ning Yi himself had scoffed when he first heard their opinion, but in reality, they had made the right judgment.
*‘But what does it matter? You can never wash away that disgraceful stain now. Besides, Su Nan is still alive, so the story of Shen Lang colluding with Lord Jin will be taken as fact. You will leave behind a legacy of infamy, be despised by the masses, and never escape your fate! Your brilliant strategy of attrition and fortresses is now mine, Ning Yi’s!’*
Then, Crown Prince Ning Yi thought.
*‘But where is Lord Jin?’*
All three men had the same thought, and a dark cloud settled over their hearts.
“Where could Lord Jin be?”
Crown Prince Ning Yi, unable to hold back any longer, voiced the question. Grand General Zhu Lin answered.
“Thinking back now, Lord Jin has not shown himself within his army for over a month.”
Nangong Ao said.
“Su Nan is, by all accounts, an outsider. How could he entrust military authority to an outsider?”
Zhu Lin said.
“Indeed. What kind of ruler would entrust military authority to an outsider? Could it be that something so significant has occurred that he was forced to do so?”
“Perhaps there has been a change within the State of Danan, making Lord Jin’s throne unstable?”
At Ning Yi’s speculation, Zhu Lin replied.
“Indeed. That is the only possible explanation! Only a threat to his throne would be enough to make Lord Jin abandon his army and return to his country.”
Nangong Ao continued.
“Lord Jin’s campaign to attack the State of Nangu with a hundred-thousand-strong army was an act of supreme courage, but it ended in a futile effort with no results. He failed to occupy a single inch of land or capture a single city, instead suffering tens of thousands of casualties. Has his myth not been shattered, leading to the instability of his throne?”
“Although the State of Danan is called a nation, it is in fact mostly a collection of barbarian tribes. The chieftains are not docile; how could they be completely subservient to Lord Jin? His recent fruitless battles must have dealt a great blow to his prestige, no?”
Nangong Ao agreed with Zhu Lin’s words.
“Furthermore, he did not entrust his army to a Grand General of the Four Tribes, but to Su Nan. This implies that he does not trust the barbarian generals and is in the process of eliminating those who do not share his views. That must be how Su Nan came to be in that position!”
*‘That’s right! The hypothesis is flawless. Judging others by one’s own standards—what could be more accurate? It must be so. Unless some dreadful emergency arose, who would hand over military authority to another? What ruler in the world would do such a thing? And to Su Nan, no less, a treacherous subject who once betrayed the State of Yue?’*
Immediately, Zhu Lin bowed and said.
“Your Highness, congratulations. Now that the main force of the Four Tribes has been crushed, Lord Jin’s throne has become even more unstable. A great upheaval, or even a civil war, is likely to erupt within the State of Danan! From this day forward, the State of Nangu will have nothing to worry about. This is all thanks to Your Highness!”
Nangong Ao also chimed in.
“This is truly a peerless achievement!”
Zhu Lin asked.
“Why delay? Shall we write the victory report at once?”
“Excellent! The people of Yue, and His Majesty the King, must be eagerly awaiting news. The Spring Festival is approaching. If we send this great victory report now, the people of Yue will be able to have a good year!”
Would it just be a good year? With the right amount of exaggeration, they could plunge the people into a sea of joy.
Soon, Grand General Zhu Lin was writing with a flourish, composing a lengthy victory report. It was a thousand characters long, vividly describing the war in a way that made one’s palms sweat. He poured eighty percent of his literary skill into praising Crown Prince Ning Yi, transforming him into a truly great man. Here is a modern interpretation of the report’s contents:
Ning Yi possessed courage like Lu Bu and wisdom like Zhuge Liang. He cherished his soldiers as his own children, employed divine strategies and wondrous schemes, commanded his troops with supernatural skill, and led them from the front with a momentum so sharp it was unstoppable. (Of course, Lu Bu and Zhuge Liang did not exist in this world. —Author’s Note)
In any case, Crown Prince Ning Yi was perfect. His only imperfection was that he was too dedicated. He gave his all every day, pouring his heart and soul into the effort. Upon arriving at the battlefield, he disregarded his own safety and often charged at the very front, growing so gaunt in just half a month that his bones showed.
All this was to say that without Crown Prince Ning Yi, they would not have achieved this great victory, nor would they have been able to slay eighty thousand enemy troops and annihilate Lord Jin’s main force. To have such a Crown Prince was a blessing for the King and for all the people. The report also contained a warning to the State of Chu. Now that His Highness the Crown Prince, so wise and majestic, has defeated even Lord Jin, do you, Chu, dare to invade the borders of our State of Yue?
After reading the victory report, Ning Yi waved his hand dismissively.
“This is too much, far too much.”
Zhu Lin replied.
“It is not too much at all. Every word comes from the bottom of this subject’s heart.”
Then, Zhu Lin stamped his large seal and signed his name. Nangong Ao also signed. All commanders of a thousand men or more signed as well, biting their fingers to add their blood-red thumbprints. The more names, the more authority, did it not? This was a victory report representing the will of over a hundred thousand troops. Who would dare deny its contents? To do so would be to make an enemy of over a hundred thousand soldiers.
“Send this as an urgent victory report, to travel 800 *li* a day! Dispatch a hundred riders to spread this report far and wide, so that all the people of Yue may have a good year.”
“As you command!”
Half a watch-hour later, hundreds of riders galloped away on their warhorses like arrows shot from a bow.
“A victory report, a great victory report! Our army has won a complete victory, slaying eighty thousand of the Four Tribes’ main force! A great victory report! Lord Jin’s main army has been all but annihilated!”
The dispatch riders began shouting at the top of their lungs as soon as they set off. Of course, this was an act of flattery towards the Prince, but it was still a bit embarrassing to hear. The hundred thousand-plus soldiers present, in particular, were so ashamed they could have died. They had clearly fought a battle that was a pile of shit, yet it was being lauded as a complete victory. They had lost forty thousand men to the enemy and killed only about ten thousand, yet that number was exaggerated eightfold to eighty thousand. The Four Tribes’ army numbered only a little over thirty thousand in total; even if they killed them all twice over, it wouldn't reach eighty thousand.
But exaggerating the numbers was no big deal. After all, there were many civilians of the Four Tribes in the State of Nangu. If they quietly killed sixty or seventy thousand of them, wouldn't that make eighty thousand? The more they exaggerated their merits, the greater the rewards for everyone. The embarrassment and shame of the battlefield should be left on the battlefield, not brought home. When I go home, I will be a hero!
***
Zhu Lin said.
“We must write another memorial. We must impeach Shen Lang and Ning Zheng for letting Su Nan go as they pleased and for colluding with Lord Jin!”
“That’s right! We must impeach Shen Lang and Ning Zheng! We must use this golden opportunity to crush them completely, so they can never rise again!”
Soon, Zhu Lin had written another memorial. Once again, he wrote a thousand characters without pause, detailing how traitors had nearly brought a fatal disaster upon the State of Yue. It even claimed that Shen Lang had been colluding with Lord Jin for over a year, conspiring to partition Tiannan Province, and that the Jin Clan had plotted treason. It warned His Majesty and all the subjects and people of Yue to be on guard. The memorial was filled with the intent to see Shen Lang and Ning Zheng dead and the matter settled.
Zhu Lin was confident that when this memorial was made public, it would shock the world once more. The people already hated the surrenderists Shen Lang and Ning Zheng to the bone; now they would be itching to flay them alive and burn them to ashes.
“Once this memorial is made public, Ning Zheng will be finished, and Shen Lang will never be able to clear his name, even if he throws himself into the sea. He will be infamous for all eternity! Hahahaha!”
“Let’s have a big drink.”
“A big drink it is!”
The Prince, Nangong Ao, and Zhu Lin had another drink. They appeared to be thoroughly drunk, but in fact, the more they drank, the clearer their minds became, and their spirits soared. The military war was over; all that remained was the political war. And that was what they did best.
But half a watch-hour later, a familiar figure appeared in the barracks, looking utterly cornered and wailing. It was Yu Zhu, the prime minister of the State of Nangu. He was the most brilliant spy within Nangu and a dog of Princess Ning Luo. Both his ears had been cut off and replaced with the ears of a wild dog, sewn in their place. Both his hands had also been severed and replaced with the forepaws of a wild dog. He stumbled in and fell to his knees before Crown Prince Ning Yi. (It seems his ears and hands were cut off and replaced with a wild dog's as punishment for being the State of Yue's dog. —Editor's Note)
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, Grand General Zhu Lin, Privy Councilor Nangong, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!”
This prime minister of Nangu seemed so accustomed to acting like a dog that upon seeing the three great figures, he instinctively prostrated himself, his head and limbs flat on the ground. But since his hands had been replaced with those of a wild dog, slamming them to the ground caused him such excruciating pain that he let out a ghostly wail. Crown Prince Ning Yi’s heart trembled.
*‘It can't be the worst possible news. It absolutely can't be.’*