CH 56

“The Prince of Chengdu and Hejian have sent their armies against Luoyang! They’ve got over three hundred thousand soldiers! How do you defend against that?!”

“Luoyang is impregnable – there’s no way a mob of rabble could conquer it! Not to mention that we’ve got the Prince of Changsha holding down the fort here. The prince is brave and valiant; surely he will defeat the rebel scum!” 

“I doubt it! I hear Lu Pingyuan’s the one commanding the rebel army. You’ve heard of the Jiangdong Lu family, right? The way I see it, we should just do what it says on their declaration of war and kill Yang Xuanzhi and Huangfu Shang. Might as well give the city to the Prince of Chengdu …”

“Pah! How could a person who wants to kill the empress’s father respect the emperor? If we let those treacherous reprobates into Luoyang, we’d be repeating the King of Zhao’s mistakes! We’ve got morale and the Prince of Donghai and the Duke of Dongying on our side. If they lead their armies north, we’ll have the advantage no doubt!”

“The Prince of Dongying? I doubt he’d…”

The quiet murmuring instantly gave way to absolute silence as the two guards simultaneously shut up upon noticing a man come out from the palace. As if he hadn’t heard a thing, Jiang Da kept walking towards the Court of Attendants’ building. 

It’d been a month already, but Jiang Da was still as cautious with his words and actions as the day he arrived in Luoyang. The Duke of Dongying had claimed credit for the miraculous curing of the plague in Jinyang before the emperor in an attempt to bolster his standing. As cold damage had been ravaging the country for over a century, the courtiers and bureaucrats were all very interested; but only because they saw it as an auspicious omen, not as something that could help the common people. Everyone who’d come to Luoyang with him had already found backers, save for him. He’d stayed in the palace since he was blunt and taciturn, and since he’d been the director of the medical center.

But within the palace, the rules were many and strict, and they already had long-established sanitation practices. There wasn’t much that he was able to contribute, so a scheming healer in the Court of Attendants decided to dump the job of outbreak prevention onto Jiang Da’s head. But who could guarantee that their preventative measures were perfect? A crushing responsibility sagged on his shoulders. He was forced to report for duty every morning to meticulously double-check an eclectic variety of matters within the palace. As there were many well-informed noble descendants moving about throughout the palace, he had quickly learned of Luoyang’s besiegement.

Things were far worse than he’d been anticipating. Would he be able to escape with his life if Luoyang fell? Who could’ve thought, that after arduously saving so many lives, he’d wind up marooned in a doomed city? His grandfather had been right. Luoyang was a dangerous place.

All that remained was to see how the courtiers and bureaucrats would react. Didn’t the Duke of Dongying have a formidable army under his command? If the duke mobilized his army to save the emperor, perhaps he might survive. It was just too bad that there was nothing that an insignificant little doctor like him could do about any of this.

Dragging his steps and drooping his head, Jiang Da ambled along the palace’s high walls.

※

“Brother! Luoyang is being sieged! Why must you stop me from taking my troops north to contest the Prince of Chengdu’s armies?” Sima Teng asked indignantly. He’d only come to Luoyang to claim credit, of course he was infuriated at being caged here. His elder brother had never seen eye to eye with the arrogant and overbearing Sima Ying. Wasn’t it time to drag him off his high horse?

“It’s too early yet,” Sima Yue smiled unemotionally, “Shiheng is no simpleton. He invaded the imperial palace with barely a hundred men and killed the Prince of Qi in one fell blow. It’s thanks to him that the Prince of Chengdu was forced to retreat to Ye City. Why not sit back and watch as two tigers tear each other apart?” 

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Sima Yue swayed his fan, “No rush. Justice yet stands on our side. Let us see which one of them prevails.”

Unclenching his fist, Sima Teng nodded in agreement, “As usual, brother, you are more farsighted than I. I will do what I can to assist you, brother!” 

Outside the city, dust billowed in great clouds as troops of soldiers assembled together, preparing to face their deaths. Undercurrents surged beneath the high halls of the imperial palace.

※

Swarms of people bustled about besides the golden piles of grain. Everyone, man, woman, child, or elderly, had joined in the autumn harvest. At last, it was time to collect the yields of the farmlands both within and without the Liang Estate.

Millet rice aside, there were beans, hemp, and sorghum growing in the fields as well. The accumulated wisdom recorded in the agricultural books had proved their worth; even the newly cultivated lands returned rich rewards to the industrious farmers. A harvest this bountiful was rare, supposing the winds and rains were favorable, let alone during a drought. No peasant living off heaven’s charity had ever known the results that could be achieved through intensive farming. As they reaped their crops, many of the peasants couldn’t help but silently thank the gods, that they’d sought refuge from the “bodhisattva.” 

But inside the main residence, the “bodhisattva” they worshipped was in a foul mood.

“The Prince of Chengdu has besieged Luoyang? Has the Duke of Dongying returned yet? What about the doctors from the medical center?”

Liang Feng unwittingly stood up when all his questions were negatived, and began to pace about the room. Fucking hell, he’d presumed that, with the Duke of Dongying there, Jiang Da’s trip to Luoyang would be unpleasant at most, but never could he have imagined that he’d end up imprisoned there! Hadn’t there been a war in Luoyang just last year? How was there another one this year?! Couldn’t those Sima idiots see what state the empire was in?!

“Go to the Jiang Residence at once to inform Physician Jiang of this matter. I’ll write a letter to ask advice from Controller Wang,” Liang Feng bade. It was too late to do anything else. Hopefully, Wang Wen’s influence was wide enough that he would have a way to save Jiang Da. 

But several days later, the news that came to him was what he’d been awaiting.

“This is the medical text Physician Jiang wrote before he passed away. The Jiang family entrusted me to bring this to you, master.” Ah-Liang cautiously presented him a box, his head drooping low, “The head of the Jiang family also said that it’s heaven’s will that Jiang Da is stranded in Luoyang – that you needn’t involve yourself, and that they only want you to remember your promise, master.”

Liang Feng stared in silence at the wooden box before lifting its cover. Inside the box, there laid a – not very thick – book titled “The New Treatise on Cold Damage.” The words were plain and unpretentious, shaky as if the author had exhausted the last of his strength to write them, but they weighed heavy as Mt Tai.

He’d taught the Jiang grandfather and grandson everything he knew about modern disease prevention, yet in the end, he was the only one whose name was puffed up with empty fame. Of the other two, one had passed away from sickness, and the other was trapped. What a sick joke, prickling like a sword against his throat. 

“Any reply from Controller Wang?” Liang Feng asked softly.

“Controller Wang said that with the rebel armies at the walls, all the roads going to Luoyang have been sealed off, and that there’s no way to get in the city.”

If that’s what Wang Wen, who also had family members who were stuck in Luoyang, had said, then it seemed that he was truly helpless. And what could he do that the Taiyuan Wang Clan couldn’t?

Finally, Liang Feng said, “Write a missive to Magistrate Gao telling him to help clear the entrances to the mountain path. I’ll send people to wait there; if the armies at Luoyang retreat, they’ll enter the city to search for Jiang Da. Also, go to the county seat and look for craftsmen who carve statues or stone inscriptions. Just say that the Liang Estate has urgent need of them and recruit them to the estate!” 

Puzzled by these two completely unrelated commands, ah-Liang acknowledged his orders and exited.

Liang Feng took a deep breath, removed the medical text from the box, and began to transcribe it. He copied the book from sunrise to sunset, until Yiyan – who’d stood guard the whole time – couldn’t take it anymore. He went and kneeled in front of Liang Feng’s desk.

“My lord, it’s time to rest! You can continue transcribing this book tomorrow!”

Liang Feng’s brush tip froze; he lifted it from the paper as he said, “I can continue tomorrow? Who knows what will happen tomorrow?” 

“Tomorrow will still be tomorrow! So long as I am beside you my lord, nothing will happen!” Yiyan shouted, his fists clenched.

Liang Feng chuckled at his puerility, “No, Yiyan, everything could change tomorrow. If I do not finish all that I am capable of, I fear I could regret it for a lifetime.”

“But my lord, you have already done your utmost…” Yiyan stared at his hand, quivering from the weight of his brush, and pleaded, “If you strive overmuch today and damage your body, who will fulfill your aspirations for you, my lord?”

Swayed by his words, Liang Feng moved his brush aside, “Very true… how could one day ever be enough?” Abruptly changing the topic, he said, “Yiyan, you said your father carved buddha statues?” 

“Yes!” Yiyan answered crisply, relieved that his lord had stopped.

“Are there other craftsmen in your clan who do similar work?”

“Yes, about ten households. Although, I don’t know how many of them are left.”

“Go and bring them all here. Their skills will be of use,” Liang Feng stated. 

Yiyan nodded determinedly then questioned, “Are buddha sculptors the only people you need?”

At the reminder, Liang Feng frowned and asked, “Are there any young men left in your clan?”

“Probably not very many. Most of them only stayed to look after the young and elderly in their families. The others have all fled famine already.”

“Then would they be willing to come to the Liang Estate?” Liang Feng realized that he’d forgotten a very important issue. The Jie were also barbarians; moreover, they had once been the Xiongnu’s slaves. If the Xiongnu rebelled, would the Jie ally with them? Or perhaps the Jie themselves were one “five barbarians?” 

“I can convince them! You are benevolent, my lord; they’ll surely be willing to serve you!” Yiyan’s eyes brightened, for he had never forgotten about his fellow people, who were still suffering starvation and the oppression of the government. If his lord was willing to accept them, then he would train them, forge them into an invincible army!

“Very good. At the moment, the Liang Estate can accommodate another three hundred people. The young and hale, those who have dependents, bring them all!” Liang Feng replied instantly.

If troubled times would sooner or later force these people to revolt, then he would take them in first and turn them into a disciplined and principled reserve army. If they were all as valiant as Yiyan, then they would be an outstanding source of fresh troops. Taking into account the refugee infantry soldiers, his forces weren’t so deficient.

Yiyan understood his lord’s unspoken concerns. His lord wanted an army he could safely control. Only those who were burdened with family could wholeheartedly plant their station fields and endure military training. And at the same time, many elderly and young lives would be saved; how could he refuse?! 

Liang Feng tossed his brush on the inkstone with a long sigh. As things had already devolved to this extent, what use were dreads and misgivings? All he had to do was continue building up his armies and expanding his power! As for money and grain… he gazed down towards his unfinished copy of the medical text and smirked ever so slightly. If they like sophistication, then I’ll give them sophistication. As long as they hand over the things I need to sustain my people!