Chapter Twenty-Four: Re-entering the Imperial City

  Guo Feng and Chen Zhihong led the Baoguo Army back to Jiaoye Fang's garrison, and also asked Lu Chu, who had come to welcome them, to give the soldiers more ginger sugar water to drink. Chen Yingliang himself didn't even have time to change his white robe and armor, and immediately followed Pei Hongce back to Dongdu Huangcheng to meet with Yue Wang Yang Dang and Dongdu Liushou Fang Ziga and others.

  For the second time, he entered the imperial city and came to the front of the grand hall where he had previously been rescued by Pei Hongce. This time, Chen Yingliang was not blocked by the Imperial Guard at the gate, and followed Pei Hongce into the hall. At the same time, Chen Yingliang carefully took off his sword and handed it over to the guards, before following Pei Hongce into the hall.

  As soon as he entered the grand hall, Chen Yingliang took a rough look at the situation inside and found that it was similar to last time. The nine-year-old King of Yue, Yang Zong, sat high in the center, with Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wuyi, the two most powerful officials, standing on either side of him. There were also four imperial guards holding a man in the middle of the hall, and several other officials from Dongdu whom Chen Yingliang couldn't name. Then Chen Yingliang didn't dare to be slow, and quickly followed Pei Hongce to pay respects to Yang Zong and others, saying: "Chen Yingliang, the record keeper of the Henan Zancheng government office, pays his respects to King Yue, and pays his respects to all the adults."

  The man, who seemed to have an injury on his leg and was sitting on the floor with his right leg stretched out, let out a blood-curdling scream like a slaughtered pig when he saw Chen Yingliang. He shouted hysterically in a crying tone: "White-robed army! How did you come again?! Your Highness King Yue, Commander Fan, General Huangfu, I didn't lie, I didn't say a single false word! Why did you call the white-robed army again?! I didn't lie, don't let them kill me, please don't let them kill me again! Please, I beg of you!"

  "What's going on?" Chen Yingliang and Pei Hongce were both bewildered, but the man was crying out even louder, crawling forward on all fours like a dog, trying to get as far away from Chen Yingliang as possible. The Imperial Guard soldiers quickly pinned him down, but he struggled with all his might before finally bursting into loud sobs.

  "Shut up!" Fan Zige opened his mouth and shouted: "You're still an official of the imperial court, a dignified Proclamation Gentleman, how can you be so afraid, what kind of talk is this?"

  "I'm not afraid, they're all madmen!" The man burst into tears and snot, his emotions extremely agitated as he pointed at Chen Yingliang and wailed: "It's them! It's them! They chopped my eight or nine comrades into pieces in front of me, their intestines and brains spilled out, blood splattered all over me, I knelt on the ground and surrendered, but they still broke my legs, broke my legs! They're madmen! They're madmen from hell!"

  "Shut up! You're the madman!" Fan Ziga shouted again, but the man continued to cry and wail like a lunatic, desperately begging Fan Ziga to let Chen Yingliang leave. Fan Ziga had no choice but to order the imperial guards to temporarily remove the man from the grand hall, lest he see Chen Yingliang get stimulated.

  That legless man was carried out crying and shouting, and a smile gradually appeared on Fan Zige's serious face. Smiling at Chen Yingliang, he said: "Chen Jishi, it seems that the military order you made in front of me at the beginning has not only been fully achieved but also exceeded expectations! It's not easy to make Xuan Yilang Yu Rou, who is quite famous for his bravery in Daxing City, fear you so much! This battle was fought well and great merit was achieved for the imperial court!"

  "This victory is all thanks to the Emperor and the King of Yue, as well as the good fortune of General Liu and Commander Huangfu's strategic planning. It also relies on General Liu's command and the bravery of our soldiers. I, Chen Yingliang, have no merit whatsoever in this victory. The praise from General Liu is undeserved, and I am truly ashamed to accept it."

  After hearing Chen Yingliang's words, Fan Zigai, who was straightforward in character, slightly frowned and disliked Chen Yingliang's slickness. Huangfu Wuyi also coughed and scolded: "Chen Yingliang, how old are you? How did you learn these hypocritical phrases? Do you have any merit? We can see it clearly on the city wall, why pretend to be humble? You're so slick at such a young age, what will happen in the future?"

  Chen Yingliang awkwardly smiled and didn't dare to make a sound, but in his heart he secretly sighed, "Unexpectedly, these feudal officials have much better moral character than my previous boss. That old, stubborn director, after solving the big case, if anyone dared not to write his achievements as the greatest on the report, he would make sure that person wouldn't be able to get away with it."

  "Chen's drillmaster, how on earth did you train your troops?" Only a nine-year-old Yang Zong opened his mouth to help Chen Yingliang resolve the awkwardness and asked curiously: "You've only trained those two battalions for thirteen days, how did you manage to make them so fierce? I heard that today, during the heavy rain, you led the two battalions and almost wiped out the 3,000 rebel troops. If it weren't for Fan's garrison commander and Huangfu General personally verifying it, I would have thought those eunuchs were talking nonsense."

  "Your Highness, this is not something that can be explained in just a few words." Chen Yingliang said respectfully: "If Your Highness is interested, you might as well come to the barracks of the Reporting-to-the-Country Army. I will command the troops to drill while explaining it to you, and perhaps you will understand more quickly."

  "Alright, I'll go tomorrow." Yang Zong was still a child at heart and agreed immediately. Fan Zigai coughed and reminded him sternly, "Your Highness, the Emperor has given an edict, you cannot leave the palace privately. If Your Highness wants to inspect the troops, you need to be accompanied by old ministers like myself."

  Yang Dang, who was completely a puppet, shut up. Fan Ziga then turned to Chen Yingliang and said: "Alright, get up, don't kneel anymore. Still the same words, you fought well, not bad for a former dynasty's general's descendant, indeed having some skills. However, I have something strange, today before you went out of the city, how did you say that you had already obtained my consent? After winning the battle, the reward would be doubled, and if you died in battle, it would be tripled. When did I ever agree to give such rewards?"

  "Please forgive me, sir. I made up this story to boost the morale of our troops." Chen Yingliang respectfully pleaded guilty and said frankly: "I thought that since Yang's rebellion, the imperial army had been repeatedly defeated in battles. If we could win a victory in the field, you would definitely agree to grant us such rewards. If unfortunately we were defeated..."

  Chen Yingliang raised his head and added more candidly: "If the little man is unfortunately defeated, then there are only two outcomes. One is to be killed by the rebel army on the battlefield, and the other is to fulfill the military order and be beheaded by the Lord of the Guard. At that time, when people die, accounts will be settled, and I won't be afraid of the soldiers coming to settle accounts with me."

  In the grand hall, bursts of laughter erupted. Yang Zong and Huangfu Wu Yi held their bellies in laughter, while Fan Zi Gai rarely opened his mouth to laugh out loud, then shouted: "I'm not going to fulfill your reckless promises now, see what you're going to do? You even dare to fabricate my words, it's simply lawless and boundless!"

  Chen Yingliang continued to kowtow, begging for forgiveness with his forehead on the ground, but in his heart he wasn't worried at all - if Fan Zigai still cared about such trivial matters at this time, then Fan Zigai was indeed an old fool. Sure enough, after scolding Chen Yingliang a few more times, Fan Zigai waved his hand and said: "Get up, I'll grant you the rewards you fabricated today because of your two victories in two battles. But let me make one thing clear, this is only for this time, next time if you dare to forge military orders again, be careful with your head!"

  Chen Yingliang hypocritically thanked him, and then stood up with a bow. Chen Yingliang immediately asked: "Fan Liushou, Huangfu General, what did Yu Rou confess earlier? Just now, the humble one didn't have time to report, the humble one chased after the rebel army approaching Jinyong City, but didn't encounter the main force of the rebels, so it's impossible to determine whether the main force of the rebels is still inside the city."

  Fan Zige's face turned gloomy again, and Huangfu Wu Yi coughed weakly and said: "You guessed it right, Yu Rou confessed earlier that Yang Xuan Gan, the rebel leader, has been deliberately escalating the skirmishes over the past few days to cover up his secret deployment of troops to launch a surprise attack on our reinforcements at Daxing. This rebel leader had already secretly divided his troops two nights ago, and the commander's flag on the Golden City wall was just a small trick to deceive us."

  Chen Yingliang did not dare to make a sound, and he really didn't dare to make a sound. In this matter, Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wuyi made a huge mistake together, which may lead to the destruction of the entire Daxing relief army. If this mistake can be rectified, it's fine. If not, Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wuyi will have to bear the consequences, and they will have to take the blame. At this time, speaking recklessly would only make things worse and might even make Chen Yingliang a scapegoat for Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wuyi.

  Indeed, Fan Zigai sighed and exclaimed: "What a shame! There are more than 25,000 troops in the Eastern Capital, but we didn't even know that the enemy's main force was dividing its troops under our noses. We also sent incorrect military information to mislead Wei Wensheng's reinforcements. We officials of the Eastern Capital are ashamed before the imperial court and the emperor!"

  Chen Yingliang didn't dare to make a sound, and the others present, including Huangfu Wuyi and Pei Hongce, also didn't dare to speak. Fortunately, Fan Zigai did not continue on this topic, but instead shook his head and said to Chen Yingliang: "The news of the rebel army's division has already been sent by me through ten messengers who have gone separately to the Hulao Pass to contact Wei Wensheng. Even if they are useless, at least one of them will be able to deliver the message. In this matter, you only have merit, and the responsibility is ours. You just need to lead your troops well."

  Chen Yingliang hastily nodded, indicating that he understood. Fan Zigai let out a sigh and forced a smile, saying: "Alright, now let's discuss your reward. Since you joined the Eastern Capital army, you have made some contributions to our military. Although your previous achievements were mainly due to your strategic advice, I didn't think it was appropriate to request rewards for you at that time. However, today's battle was a great success, with 400 soldiers defeating 3,000 rebels, beheading over 1,000 of them, and capturing the rebel general Yu Rou. You also collaborated with Liu Changgong to defeat the enemy reinforcements in another battle. Your hard work and achievements are impressive, and if I don't request rewards for you from King Yue now, I would feel ashamed myself."

  "Chen Yingliang, you are indeed the great-grandson of General Chen Xin from last week, and you have not disgraced him. You are a rare talent." Huangfu Wuyi also smiled and said: "How about it? Do you want to join the Right Wuwei? Taking advantage of the fact that the King of Yue is here, I will jointly recommend with Fan Liuzhuang for you to take up the position of Right Wuwei Xiaoying Jilang Jiangjun."

  Just as Huangfu Wu Yi finished speaking, before Chen Yingliang could say anything, Fan Zigai immediately took over the conversation and said to Pei Hongce: "Leiguo Gong, this nephew of yours is a talented general, don't let him waste away in your Zan Zhi government office, give him up."

  "Fang Liushou has given the order, how dare I not follow?" Pei Hongce smiled and cupped his hands, then pushed Chen Yingliang again, shouting: "Yingliang, aren't you going to kneel down and thank Fang Liushou and Huangfu General for their joint recommendation? Not only in this Eastern Capital City, but also in the imperial court, you are the first person to receive their joint recommendation! Go ahead and rejoice secretly!"

  Chen Yingliang hesitated for a moment, then knelt down on both knees to Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wu Yi, knocking his head and saying: "Your humble servant Chen Yingliang, thanks to the joint recommendation of Lord Fan and General Huangfu——but your humble servant cannot accept!"

  Fan Ziga, Huangfu Wuyi and Pei Hongce's smiles froze on their faces. The other officials in the Eastern Capital widened their eyes in shock. Then Pei Hongce suddenly became furious, lifted his foot and kicked Chen Yingliang's buttocks, shouting: "You little rascal, what are you going crazy about again? The position of Lang Zhong is a sixth-rank official, and Fan Ziga and Huangfu Wuyi have given you great face. Are you still not satisfied?"

  "Uncle, please forgive me. I am grateful for the kindness of Commander Fan and General Huang, which is why I cannot accept their good intentions." Chen Yingliang said loudly: "Please, uncle, do not forget that according to the laws of our great Sui dynasty, a man must be at least 21 years old to join the imperial guard. I am only 17 years old this year and have not yet reached the age to join the imperial guard. I cannot let Commander Fan and General Huang lead the way in abolishing national law for my own promotion!"

  Pei Hong Ce was taken aback, Fan Zi Gai and Huang Fu Wu Yi were also taken aback for a moment. Only then did they remember that Chen Ying Liang was only 17 years old now, indeed not yet qualified to join the Right Guard. After hesitating for a moment, Fan Zi Gai nodded and said: "You're right, this is a problem, but it doesn't matter, I can ask King Yue to grant you special permission to join the Right Guard, and I will also petition the Emperor on your behalf."

  "I don't want to join the Right Wuwei, at least not now. If I joined the Right Wuwei now, even if I became an Eagle Strike Lang Jiang, there would still be a large number of Eagle Yang Jiang, Tiger Tooth Jiang and Tiger Ben Jiang above me, plus my current age and seniority, it's harder than climbing to heaven to climb one more step, I'd rather not take this evil path!"

  Fei Kuai muttered to himself in his heart, Chen Yingliang heavily kowtowed and said loudly: "Thank you for your good intentions, but the law of the country is like a mountain, and kindness cannot be lightly opened. The heavenly grace is light, and the troubles are endless. For the sake of the great Sui Dynasty's laws being as heavy as Mount Tai, and also for the strict military orders of the Great Sui Army, I am willing to continue staying in the Henan Zanhuang Prefecture, continuing to serve as a low-ranking official!"

  If it were some other high-ranking official who had heard Chen Yingliang's words, they would have been furious, but Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wu Yi were not just anyone. Both of them were renowned for their impartiality, integrity, and uprightness, having climbed to their current positions through solid achievements and impeccable character. Therefore, after hearing Chen Yingliang's words, not only did they not take offense, but they also nodded in agreement, repeatedly expressing their admiration for Chen Yingliang's prioritization of the imperial court above all else, which further increased their already high opinion of him.

  After nodding slightly, Fan Zige thought for a moment and made a rare concession, saying: "Alright, since you insist on not accepting the kindness of Lord Huangfu and myself, I won't force it. Your age is indeed a bit too young, so we can put off the formalities of entering officialdom for now. But there must be punishment for mistakes and rewards for achievements. How about this: I'll ask King Yue to grant you some special favors as a token of recognition."

  Huangfu Wuyi also nodded in agreement. At this time, Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wuyi knelt down together to pay their respects to Yang Zong, listing the various merits that Chen Yingliang had achieved for the Great Sui court in recent days. As the defender of Dongdu and the general of the Right Wuwei Army, they begged Yang Zong to reward Chen Yingliang as a token of appreciation. The nine-year-old Yang Zong was quite decisive and immediately decided to award Chen Yingliang 300 bolts of colored silk and 1,000 strings of cash, showing great generosity. Chen Yingliang also did not hesitate and immediately kowtowed to thank Yang Zong, as well as Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wuyi, who were currently in control of the power in Dongdu.

  "No need to thank me, this is what you deserve." Fan Zigai shook his head and said: "Your reward, along with the reward for reporting the death of the soldiers, will be sent to your camp by Lü Chu tomorrow. You're also very tired today, let's discuss one more thing and then you can go back and rest."

  "Please wait for Master's orders." Chen Yingliang replied respectfully.

  "Report the casualties of our troops today?" Fan Zigai asked.

  "Twenty-one people were killed, two seriously injured and thirty-five slightly injured." Chen Yingliang replied truthfully.

  Fan Ziga raised his white eyebrows and exclaimed, "Incredible! Beheading over 1,300 heads, with such a small number of casualties. Such an achievement is comparable to that of the White Robed Army of the Southern Dynasty eighty-four years ago!"

  Chen Yingliang was also somewhat pleased, knowing that such a terrible casualty ratio, although not uncommon in history, was absolutely rare! Then Chen Yingliang habitually humbled and flattered: "Thanks to the praise of Lord Liushou, but this humble one still says that the troops of Dongdu, whether in equipment or training, are actually far superior to those of Yang's rebel army. This humble one just let the officers and men normally exert their advantages in equipment and training, so this achievement should be credited to the imperial court and all of you gentlemen. The role played by this humble one was actually very small."

  "You don't have to be modest, if there were a few more generals in the Eastern Capital who could do what you've done, then the Eastern Capital army would have long since wiped out Yang's rebel forces." Fan Zigai shook his head and asked again: "In a short period of time, how many more elite soldiers can you train? The two battalions under your command are too small, I want you to train more elite soldiers."

  "As long as you have the guts, handing over all the troops in Luoyang City to me is no problem." Chen Yingliang thought to himself, but he didn't dare say such foolish words out loud. After some deliberation, Chen Yingliang replied: "Two regiments, if Lord Leave Guard hopes that I can train more crack troops like the Report Country Army in a short period of time, I estimate it would be at most two regiments. Moreover, I have a prior condition, which is to recruit new soldiers who have joined the Right Wuwei within the past two years. Old soldiers are already set in their ways and training them will only result in twice the effort for half the effect."

  Chen Yingliang made this request with a bit of psychological tactics. If he asked for two more teams, the Baoguo Army would have only over 800 people left, giving Fan Zigai a feeling that it was not worth it to have less than a thousand people. If he asked for three teams, the number of soldiers in the Baoguo Army would exceed one thousand, making Fan Zigai hesitant due to the large number of troops. As a result, just as Chen Yingliang had hoped, after hearing his words, Fan Zigai immediately nodded and said: "Alright, I'll let you take two more teams. General Huangfu, tomorrow you will issue an order to Chen Yingliang, allowing him to freely select soldiers from each camp of the Right Guard, and the leaders of each camp must fully cooperate and not make things difficult for him."

  Huang Pu Wu Yi smiled and replied, "Don't worry, Commander Fan. I think it's certain that no one will intentionally make things difficult for us. The commanders of the various camps will definitely be eager to have Chen Ying Liang select more soldiers from their units. Even if they are incompetent, they absolutely won't mind having too many elite troops under their command."

  The resolution to expand the national army by a factor of two was finalized, and Chen Yingliang bid farewell to Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wuyi, returning to his camp to rest. Pei Hongce also left the imperial city with Chen Yingliang, and on the way back, he couldn't help but scold Chen Yingliang, saying: "You foolish child, Fan Zigai and Huangfu Wuyi jointly recommended you for a government position, what a great honor is this? Why did you make so many excuses to decline? You think being a sixth-grade official is too lowly, but your uncle, I am a fourth-grade official, only five levels higher than you. How could you give up such a good opportunity to enter the bureaucracy?"

  Chen Yingliang used only one sentence to extinguish Pei Hongce's anger - Chen Yingliang smiled and said: "Uncle, if your other subordinates also abandon you and go to serve others because someone else promised them high positions and wealth, how would you feel?"

  Pei Hongce suddenly realized, understood that Chen Yingliang was showing his loyalty to him, and decided to hold onto his own thigh forever. So Pei Hongce quickly turned from anger to joy, patted Chen Yingliang's shoulder and smiled: "Good nephew, I understand what you mean now, uncle understands, you can rest assured, you won't let me down, and I won't let you down either, from the sixth rank official position, you will definitely get it."

  Chen Yingliang smiled to himself, thinking that if you could get me a position with real power, where I can lead troops and govern, then I would definitely treat you like an uncle. Having thought this, Chen Yingliang suddenly felt dizzy and his whole body felt weak and sore. He leaned back against Pei Hongzhi's chest without realizing it. Pei Hongzhi was shocked and quickly supported Chen Yingliang, discovering that his body was burning hot. Rushing to feel Chen Yingliang's forehead, he found that it was so hot it could fry an egg.

  Don't blame Chen Yingliang for being useless, it's just that the physical foundation left by the dead ghost Chen Yingliang was too poor. During the development period, he suffered from malnutrition, and the daily military labor made Chen Yingliang both mentally and physically exhausted. Today, on a scorching hot day with rain pouring down, the cold rain hit his relaxed pores, and Chen Yingliang really couldn't help but fall ill.