Chapter Eighty-Nine: Offering Wine in Apology

"To send an ordinary army to reinforce Lingzhou in weather this savage would be no easy task."

Chen Ying understood Li Jiancheng’s thoughts. The real difficulty in reinforcing Lingzhou was not a lack of troops to dispatch, but the inability to keep supplies moving. Whether by making the soldiers carry them themselves or by requisitioning laborers, this kind of weather would cause heavy noncombat losses. Once that happened, the morale of the relieving force would inevitably suffer.

An army without morale, no matter how many men were sent, would do little more than consume Lingzhou’s own stockpiles.

"I do know a method for training troops," Chen Ying said. "Your Highness has already seen that the men under my command have improved greatly, in both spirit and stamina."

What Chen Ying wanted now was to expand the number of soldiers under his command.

Although the rank of commandant already made him a fifth-rank official, at his age promotion was difficult for the time being. First and foremost, his youth was an obvious disadvantage. Gan Luo may have become a chancellor at twelve, but that was only legend; in reality, such exceptional cases were almost impossible to repeat.

In Chang'an, if Chen Ying were to rise by the normal path of seniority, he would have to remain a commandant for at least two years, perhaps even longer. Crammed into Chang'an, forced to work beneath the watchful eyes of the old fox Li Yuan and the monstrous Li Shimin, Chen Ying would have no room to spread his wings. But if he went to reinforce Lingzhou, the round trip would take no less than half a year. If he earned further merit there, then when the campaign against Wang Shichong came, Chen Ying would have another share of achievement to his name.

"Then tell me first about your method of training troops."

Li Jiancheng had not realized the calculations running through Chen Ying’s mind. He believed Chen Ying was his man and would never harbor any other allegiance.

"The military treatises of Marquis Zhuge gathered the essence of all earlier strategists," Chen Ying said. "By good fortune, I have read a few surviving fragments and gained some small insight into the management of soldiers..."

In truth, Chen Ying was talking nonsense. Let alone the General’s Garden, he had not even read The Art of War. As for training methods, he had merely transplanted the military drills he had once gone through in school in a previous life.

Since ancient times, scholars had always enjoyed armchair warfare, and they also loved dreaming of taking the reins and riding forth to conquer the world. Li Jiancheng was no exception. The difference was that this crown prince had not grown up in the sealed gardens of the palace, but had come from Taiyuan with Li Yuan and fought his way all the way to Chang'an.

In fact, before Li Jiancheng was named crown prince, he had fought no fewer battles than Li Shimin. Compared with those scholars who only knew how to wage war on paper, Li Jiancheng possessed a much deeper and more practical understanding of the governing and training of troops. This was one of the things he was most proud of.

He had initially assumed that Chen Ying possessed only a broad grasp of military principles and a certain degree of insight, and had not expected him to be truly skilled in the training and discipline of small battalions and companies. Such detailed knowledge was precisely what the bookish scholars who loved paper warfare lacked most.

Chen Ying spoke with confidence, and Li Jiancheng was visibly moved.

Chen Ying droned on for quite a while, but in truth the substance of what he said amounted to very little that was new. It all came down to discipline and clear rewards and punishments.

Military administration, stripped to its essence, was not overly complicated. It boiled down to just those few principles. Yet through the ages there had been countless sons of military houses, and very few had truly managed to put them into practice.

Li Jiancheng sighed. "With General Chen's talent, to serve merely as a commandant is truly a waste."

"I am willing to assist Your Highness."

"A mere commandant—do you feel wronged by it?"

"I do have a selfish motive, in fact."

"Oh?" Li Jiancheng looked at him in surprise.

Chen Ying explained, "I once met a remarkable man who instructed me in how to build a snow sled, one that can cross mountains and snowfields in icy weather as though on level ground."

Chen Ying naturally had his own selfish reasons. A snow sled was nothing remarkable by later standards; if one were to find a few craftsmen, it could be built in just a few days. Once such sleds were promoted throughout the Great Tang, they would also become a source of profit. At the very least, merchant transport would no longer have to fear roads being sealed by heavy snow or trade routes being cut off.

Li Jiancheng asked, "Is this snow vehicle very expensive to make?"

Chen Ying shook his head. "Very cheap. No more costly than an ordinary cart."

Li Jiancheng suddenly understood Chen Ying’s intention. He wanted to make money.

Li Jiancheng also understood the saying that when water is too clear, it holds no fish.

"Although civil officials are all held up as models of selflessness, true selflessness exists only in the plays. I have never seen it in real life. You only need to remember not to let private interests override public duty."

"Chen Ying will keep Your Highness's instruction firmly in mind."

"Good. The matter of reinforcing Lingzhou cannot be delayed. If nothing unexpected happens, you shall serve as commander of this expedition. Spend the next two days settling your affairs, and wait for word from this palace." Li Jiancheng’s voice was full of approval. "This journey to Lingzhou will require us to unravel many matters thread by thread and proceed step by step. You have talent to spare and a single-minded devotion to serving the court. There is no need to worry about your prospects."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

After Li Jiancheng had eaten at Chen Ying’s residence, he set out again.

Only after Li Jiancheng had gone did Chen Ying finally understand. Reinforcing Lingzhou was Li Jiancheng’s first blow in the struggle for military power against Li Shimin. If assigning Xue Wanche as governor of Jing Prefecture and appointing a commandant were merely contingency measures in case something changed in Chang'an, then sending Chen Ying to Lingzhou was simply a way to keep the Crown Prince from earning yet more military merit.

Chen Ying suddenly noticed that Liang Zan was sitting on the ground in a despondent heap, his face ashen, his gaze vacant.

"Liang Zan, are you all right? Were you badly hurt?" Chen Ying had thought Luo Shixin’s kick to the chest had seriously injured him, and said anxiously, "Chuqi, go quickly and fetch Huairen to treat Liang Zan's injuries!"

"Young Master..." Liang Zan shook his head. "Your humble subordinate is fine. General Luo showed mercy. If he had not held back seventy percent of his strength at the critical moment, I would already be a dead man."

"Young Master, I am so useless!" Liang Zan’s emotions suddenly surged. He slammed his fist into the ground and roared, "As your personal guard and attendant, I was kicked flying with one blow. What the hell is the point of me staying alive? I’m useless! I’m nothing but trash!"

Two streams of hot tears rolled down.

Liang Zan covered his face with both hands. At first he only choked on his sobs, but before long he was wailing loudly.

Only then did Chen Ying realize that Luo Shixin had left a shadow in Liang Zan’s heart. Chen Ying stepped forward and patted Liang Zan on the shoulder.

"Every foot has its strengths and every inch its weaknesses. Who can claim to be invincible under Heaven? Do you think Luo Shixin is truly that formidable?"

Liang Zan nodded.

"In truth, Luo Shixin is no ordinary man. His skill in combat ranks among the top twenty in the whole world. Even so, he is not invincible. You saw Kan Leng, didn't you? He can fight Luo Shixin to a standstill. And it is not only Kan Leng—Qin Qiong of Licheng in Qizhou, Song Jingang, and Yuchi Gong can all contend with him as well. Besides, no matter how formidable a fighter may be, before armies of thousands and tens of thousands he has only one choice: to run. In the future, I will avenge you."

"Really?"

"In a few days, I’ll have Luo Shixin bring you wine and apologize to you himself."