Chapter 123: The Renowned General
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After leaving Xuan Prefecture, Li Yun went nowhere else. Concerned that something might happen at Tianmu Mountain, he hurried straight back there.
Fortunately, Yue Prefecture had yet to react. When Li Yun returned to Tianmu Mountain, everything was peaceful. He first arranged for everyone to prepare to withdraw from the mountain and return to Xuan Prefecture. Then he summoned Deng Yang, one of the captains of the Anti-Banditry Corps, to a private room.
Deng Yang cupped his fists and bowed. “Captain, why did you summon me?”
Li Yun gestured for him to sit, then asked with a smile, “How did you become a bandit in the first place?”
“My maternal uncle took me up the mountain,” Deng Yang replied. “There was no food left at home, so my mother told me to follow him. He was one of the men in the stronghold, and he brought me in with him.”
Li Yun thought for a moment before continuing. “And your uncle?”
“He died.”
Deng Yang looked at Li Yun without any change in expression. “But not at the hands of the Anti-Banditry Corps. He was already dead before you arrived, Captain.”
At that, Deng Yang fell silent.
Li Yun studied him, then said, “I am going to take them away from Tianmu Mountain and return to Xuan Prefecture. The imperial court will soon send men here. When that happens, the entire Anti-Banditry Corps will become part of the imperial army and receive an official status.”
He paused before continuing, “But I want to leave you here at Tianmu Mountain.”
Deng Yang considered this. “Because Tianmu Mountain is strategically important?”
“Yes.” Li Yun nodded. “You are already the captain of one squad. I will give you another four or five squads, and you will become their commander.”
“You men will remain at Tianmu Mountain and continue to garrison the main stronghold. I can leave you all the provisions and valuables stored there.”
“I need you to hold this place for me.”
Deng Yang stared at Li Yun. After a long while, he finally said, “Captain... aren’t you afraid that I might take them and run?”
“If you do, then I will simply have judged you wrongly.” Li Yun smiled. “We will each go our separate ways.”
Seeing that Deng Yang remained silent, Li Yun continued, “Do not worry. Though the twenty or thirty of you cannot be entered into the military register, once the affair in Yue Prefecture is over, I will still give you an official status. At that time, whether you return to the army or become ordinary citizens will be entirely up to you.”
“Very well.”
Li Yun was about to say more when Deng Yang spoke.
“Captain, I am willing to lead them in remaining at Tianmu Mountain.”
He looked at Li Yun and continued, “However, Captain, I have spent the past few days scouting the area around the mountain. Every defensible position in this stronghold requires manpower. If the men from Yue Prefecture return with another three hundred soldiers, the twenty or thirty of us will have no choice but to abandon the stronghold and flee.”
“But do not worry, Captain.” Deng Yang thumped his chest. “They cannot occupy this stronghold forever. We all grew up in the mountains. We can hide in the wilderness, and once they leave, we will continue holding the main stronghold for you.”
Deng Yang clenched his fist. “If fewer than a hundred men come, I will lead our people in fighting them.”
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As he spoke, he drew a deep breath and continued, “The stronghold is not especially secure. Captain, take all the grain away. Leave us only enough provisions to feed thirty men for one month.”
“As for the money and valuables, I ask that you leave us a little more.”
Li Yun nodded with a smile. “Rest assured. I am not leaving men at Tianmu Mountain so that you can launch surprise attacks. I need you to hold this stronghold for me.”
“It is an excellent base. One day, it may prove immensely useful.”
Tianmu Mountain stood along the border between Ningguo and Qiantang Commandery. Though its considerable height offered no particular advantage to a conventional army, it was an ideal base for Li Yun and his bandit-born followers.
If Qiantang Commandery were conquered as well, then when General Zhao began expanding toward Xuan Prefecture, Tianmu Mountain would become a thorn driven into the border between Xuan Prefecture and Qiantang Commandery.
More importantly, if Li Yun—or rather, the forces under his command—ever came under threat and could no longer continue cooperating with the authorities, Tianmu Mountain would also serve as their retreat, or at the very least as a temporary base from which they could move onward elsewhere.
Deng Yang cupped his fists. “There is no need to explain, Captain. Since you trust me, I will hold this stronghold for you!”
Li Yun patted him on the shoulder and smiled. “Good. I believe you.”
“One more thing. You are no longer bandits. Keep your men under control here at Tianmu Mountain and behave yourselves.”
“Yes, Captain!”
* * *
Once he had settled the affairs at Tianmu Mountain, Li Yun led his remaining subordinates away from the mountain.
Since twenty or thirty men had been left behind, only around one hundred and fifty remained under his command. The group began withdrawing toward Xuan Prefecture. When they passed through Tou’ao Village, the villagers brought out the few eggs and scraps of food remaining in their homes and insisted on forcing them upon Li Yun.
Li Yun firmly refused, but several elderly men simply knelt on the ground.
Some of the women thrust the gifts into the hands of the Anti-Banditry Corps soldiers, leaving those former bandits who had once roamed the mountains at a loss for what to do.
Several bandits nearing forty were so flustered that they waved their arms about helplessly, utterly bewildered.
The surviving village chief of Tou’ao soon found Li Yun, who led the group. Without saying a word, he knelt before him and kowtowed several times.
“Benefactor, you have avenged the great wrong done to our village. For all eternity, you will be Tou’ao’s benefactor!”
Li Yun helped him to his feet and shook his head. “We are an Anti-Banditry Corps organized by the authorities. Suppressing bandits is our duty. If anything, we arrived too late. Elder, please rise.”
The old village chief looked up at him and sighed. “This old man knows that you are with the Anti-Banditry Corps. The military officer named Chen told us earlier. But, Captain Li, you have the accent of Qingyang. You are the Anti-Banditry Corps from Xuan Prefecture.”
“Our village is no longer part of Xuan Prefecture.”
He tugged at Li Yun’s sleeve. “Captain Li, there are still a dozen or twenty able-bodied young men in our village. If you lack manpower, this old man will have every one of them follow you. It would be our way of repaying your kindness.”
Li Yun was silent for a while before sighing. “Elder, if this had been before, I would have agreed. But there are too few people left in Tou’ao now. Let them stay and rebuild their lives.”
The old man’s expression darkened. He held Li Yun’s hand and spoke with him for a long time before finally allowing the Anti-Banditry Corps to leave Tou’ao Village.
After they had gone some distance beyond the village, several captains who had grown familiar with Li Yun walked behind him. One of them scratched his head and said, “We spent half our lives doing evil, and now we have suddenly begun doing good. It feels truly strange.”
Li Yun glanced back at him with a smile.
“It is enough if you remember this feeling.”
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With that, he looked ahead and said, “Come on. Let us return to Xuan Prefecture!”
Once they entered Xuan Prefecture, the group did not go to the nearer prefectural city. Instead, they took a detour to Qingyang County. After three or four days of travel, they finally made it back to Qingyang County Town.
Li Yun led more than a hundred men directly into the city, then spent considerable effort arranging lodgings for them.
After settling everyone in, Li Yun personally escorted He Gang to the Qingyang County Office. There, he met County Magistrate Xue, whom he had not seen for some time.
When Lord Xue saw Li Yun, he visibly relaxed. He glanced at He Gang, whom Li Yun was holding by the arm, and asked, “Who is this?”
“A very important man.” Li Yun grinned. “An exceedingly important man.”
Lord Xue frowned. “Why are you speaking so strangely?”
Li Yun escorted the aggrieved-looking He Gang to a side room in the county office and had Chen Da post men to guard him. Only then did he return to Lord Xue’s side and say with a smile, “Magistrate, this is the younger brother of Qiu Dian’s wife. Qiu Dian is the rebel leader in Yue Prefecture.”
“The very man Governor Cui has been dreaming of capturing.”
County Magistrate Xue froze, then immediately understood. He sighed. “In that case... he truly is an important man to Governor Cui.”
After a pause, he looked at Li Yun. “You previously sent word with Chen Da that Qingyang no longer needed to conduct a conscription. What did you mean?”
This conscription had been ordered by the imperial court, and Xue Song had naturally intended to carry out the decree to the letter.
“Qingyang would only be expected to recruit two or three hundred men. My Anti-Banditry Corps already has more than a hundred. Cui Shao has agreed to let the corps use Qingyang’s quota and join the army assembled to suppress the rebellion.”
“There is no need to recruit more than a few additional men here in Qingyang.”
“By the way, Magistrate.” Li Yun asked, “The last time I heard Cui Shao speak, he said the imperial commander-in-chief would soon be arriving. When will he reach Xuan Prefecture?”
“He is already on the road. He may arrive in as little as five days, or it may take as long as ten. However...” Lord Xue looked at Li Yun. “At most, he will have the new recruits report to a designated location to meet him. He is unlikely to come to Xuan Prefecture, much less Qingyang.”
“I understand that.”
Li Yun considered this for a moment before asking, “What is the commander-in-chief’s name?”
“His surname is Su. His name is Su Jing.”
Lord Xue glanced at Li Yun and added, “A famous general who has been out of service for many years.”
End of Chapter