Chapter Three: The Banner

  At this time, the Chu Empire was no longer the same as when it was first established. The imperial family had lost its absolute authority, and over the centuries, countless contradictions had accumulated, giving rise to numerous aristocratic families. For example, General Xiao Yuanshan of Dingzhou came from the Qi State Duke's mansion, while Governor Fang Wenshan was from the wealthy Fang family. Currently, most states in Chu were controlled by these aristocratic families, and there were only a few state capitals that were directly and effectively controlled by the imperial court. It could be said that government orders had difficulty being carried out beyond a hundred miles outside of the capital city. In many state capitals, the common people knew the orders of their local aristocratic families but did not know the authority of the imperial family. The Chu Empire was already showing signs of decline.

  What impact will the defeat of Dingzhou have on the Xiao and Fang families? Fang Wenshan couldn't help but worry, would other aristocratic families take advantage of this opportunity to cause trouble? But now Fang Wenshan had something even more distressing, the current situation was already making him so anxious that he had pulled out a few strands of his beautiful beard, and added a few white hairs to his temples. Dingzhou had become a battlefield outpost, with 20,000 soldiers from Dingzhou garrisoned here, holding onto Dingzhou shouldn't be a problem, but the surging refugees pouring into Dingzhou city were the real headache.

  The barbarians are burning, killing and looting outside Dingzhou, these refugees came to Dingzhou city, can't close the door and refuse to accept them, otherwise the imperial historian will impeach him, even if he relies on his deep background, it's unlikely that he can bring him down, but being humiliated is inevitable. However, putting tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of refugees into the city is a huge problem, not to mention other things, just food, so many people drinking porridge for one day will need tens of thousands of kilograms of grain, Dingzhou's charity granary can't support it for long.

  Refugees have been arriving in Dingzhou one after another, and it is expected that a large influx of refugees will arrive tomorrow. Fang Wenshan has dispatched all his subordinates to set up refugee camps, soup kitchens, and all the yamen runners are on the streets to prevent riots from happening. Fang Wenshan, who had not slept for the entire night, was again red-eyed and exhausted, but he still had to force himself to be spirited and discuss with General Xiao Yuanshan of Dingzhou the defensive issues of Dingzhou.

  When Xue Yuanshan walked into Fang Wenshan's council chamber, he had just sent a subordinate away. Seeing Xue Yuanshan enter, Fang Wenshan stepped forward and said, "Brother Xue, I didn't come to greet you from afar, please don't blame me, it's been too busy here these past few days." Xue Yuanshan cupped his hands together and replied, "Brother Fang, let's dispense with the formalities between us."

  The contradictions between the great families of Chu had already begun to intensify in the current dynasty, and they often undermined each other. However, the Xiang and Fang families were an exception. Firstly, because the two families were originally related by marriage, and secondly, because the Xiang family was powerful while the Fang family was weak, it had always been a case of the Xiangs leading and the Fangs following. For example, in Dingzhou, the two great families jointly held power, and as a result, the two men cooperated well with each other, one handling civil affairs and the other military matters. They managed Dingzhou in an orderly manner, and if not for this recent major defeat, they would have been considered a perfect example of "wen fu wu bi", where literary and martial arts complemented each other to achieve great things.

  After sitting down, Fang Wenshan sank into thought for a moment before finally opening his mouth to ask: "General Xiao, you have always been cautious in your military actions, so why did such a big mistake occur this time?"

  Xiao Yuanshan sighed, "Lord Fang, you know me, but this time you've wronged Ma Mingfeng. I let Ma Deputy General be my vanguard and advance with me side by side, but he was so arrogant that he dared to launch a surprise attack on the barbarian tribe's main camp with just three battalions of troops. He lightly rode out and lost contact with me, underestimating the enemy and being overly confident, allowing the barbarian Khan to gather his main force and defeat us, leading to our great defeat at Caodi."

  "Ma Mingfeng?" Fang Wenshan's hand trembled again, and he plucked out a few more hairs.

  Xiao Yuanshan angrily punched his thigh, "It was him, now he's gone missing, life and death unknown. If he died, then that's the end of it, but if he comes back alive, I'll definitely not forgive him. I really was blind to have chosen such a person as my deputy general."

  Fang Wenshan sank into thought for a moment, then said: "Xiao brother, let's talk about this later. I invited General today to ask, with 20,000 troops defending Dingzhou, is there any problem?"

  Xiao Yuanshan nodded, "Don't worry, sir. Although the 20,000 Dingzhou soldiers are not good at field battles, they are more than enough to defend the city. The city of Dingzhou is heavily fortified, with high walls and steep terrain, making it extremely difficult to attack. Even if the barbarians had an army of 100,000, it would be hard for them to take the city. And how could they possibly come up with such a large army? If the barbarian tribes were to mobilize their entire nation, they might have at most 100,000 soldiers, but they also need to defend their own lair and guard against the Shiwei people outside of Congling Pass. It would be impressive if they could even gather 50,000 soldiers to attack Dingzhou."

  "I'm relieved then." Fang Wenshan let out a sigh of relief. Although he had expected as much, hearing it from Xiao Yuanshan's own mouth was what finally put his mind at ease. "In that case, I'll just need to take care of the refugees entering the city."

  Xiao Yuanshan nodded: "Brother Fang, rest assured, I'll take care of defending the city. You just need to make sure my rear is secure. After the defeat at Cao Ding, I've gathered all the troops stationed in various places to Dingzhou. In recent days, I've also collected some fleeing soldiers from the front line and reorganized them into a battalion. There are now 23,000 soldiers in Dingzhou city, and it's definitely possible to defend Dingzhou without incident."

  "Then I'll have to trouble you, General!" Fang Wenshan stood up and clasped his fists in a salute. "In this time of crisis, Wenshan will share the burden with the General."

  Xiao Yuanshan raised his hand in a military salute, "Don't worry, Brother Fang."

  Watching Xiao Yuanshan hastily leave, Fang Wenshan let out a deep sigh, returned to his desk, pondered for a moment, and picked up his pen.

  The crowd surged forward, and the tall city walls of Dingzhou City appeared before his eyes. Li Qing let out a sigh of relief, finally safe. For three days, he had been on edge, worried that if he encountered a large group of barbarian soldiers before returning to Dingzhou, he would be killed, and he couldn't think of any other way out. The wound on his leg had already scabbed over, and walking was no problem, but compared to the large lump still swollen on his head, Li Qing was more worried that the dog bite on his leg might give him rabies, which seemed to have a long incubation period.

  A row of fully armed soldiers stood solemnly in the autumn wind, with eight cow crossbows equipped with sharp arrows protruding from the battlements, emitting a cold glow. The huge bed crossbow was awe-inspiring, and the stacked logs on top of the city wall made one tremble with fear. If war broke out, those rolling logs would harvest lives, one by one. The gate of Dingzhou City was wide open, with two rows of soldiers standing solemnly, maintaining order as people entered the city in a loud and boisterous manner.

  "Refugees moved into the refugee camp in the west of the city, while soldiers reported to the garrison temple."

  Hearing the shouting, Li Qing led a dozen or so defeated soldiers on their way to Cheng Huang Temple. There, tents had been set up, and the defeated soldiers who had escaped with their lives from the battlefield were listlessly registering in front of the temporary camp.

  "Name and rank." A military officer asked in advance, without even looking at these pale soldiers.

  "Li Qing, Left Wing of Dingzhou Army, Third Battalion, First Company, Lieutenant."

  "Zhang Sheng Camp? The officer was shocked and suddenly raised his head: "You said you are from Zhang Sheng Camp?"

  "Yes, sir, what's the matter?"

  "Only you have returned from the Invincible Garrison up till now!"

  "Ah!" Li Qing was shocked, a whole camp of thousands of people, and yet only he himself had returned. He suddenly remembered the crisscrossing corpses on the battlefield, and his eyes reddened involuntarily. "I also barely crawled out from under the pile of dead bodies."

  The officer nodded and said: "Alright, it's good that you're back. Li School Lieutenant, your life is really big now. Now go report to the newly established Xuanfeng Camp."

  Li Qingyi was taken aback, "Sir, I am an officer of the Changsheng Camp."

  The officer glanced at Li Qing, "Li Qianwei, as a military officer, don't you know the regulations of the Great Chu army? The Changsheng Camp has been completely annihilated and the camp flag has been lost. According to the rules, the Changsheng Camp is cancelled and will never be rebuilt again. The Changsheng Camp no longer exists. Go quickly to report to the Xuanfeng Camp."

  "Camp flag?" Li Qing was taken aback, suddenly remembering the banner in his arms.

  Li Qing stood up straight, reached into his pocket and pulled out the tattered flag, shook it open and said loudly: "Reporting to your lordship, the banner of Changsheng Camp is here. Since the military flag is still here, according to the Da Chu army's regulations, Changsheng Camp will be rebuilt, and I am an officer of Changsheng Camp."

  Suddenly, a burst of astonished voices rose from all around. Wang Qiannian and Jiang Kui, who had been following Li Qing, were also stunned. They couldn't believe that this Li school lieutenant had actually brought back the banner of the Invincible Camp.

  The officer in charge of the registration, Huo Di, stood up straight and stared at Li Qing. He was also a veteran of the Battle of Caozhou, but he was from the central camp of General Xiao Shuai of Dingzhou. As far as he knew, the Changsheng Camp was ordered to cut off the enemy's retreat. In recent days, there were deserters from various camps, but none from the Changsheng Camp. It was likely that they had been completely annihilated. He was already surprised to hear that this man was from the Changsheng Camp, and now he was even more shocked to see that the man had brought back the camp flag as well. Generally speaking, the location of the camp flag is the enemy's main target of attack, and it is also a necessary spoil of war for the enemy to seize. Under the circumstances of the entire camp being annihilated, it was extremely rare for the camp flag to be preserved in the military.

  "Li Xiaowei, please wait a moment." The registration officer whispered a few words to a soldier beside him, watching as the soldier sprinted away before turning back and saying "This matter is of great importance, I have no authority to make decisions."