Xia Jinghong was overjoyed, unable to sit still, pacing back and forth before the imperial desk, his face full of excitement. After three months of anxiety and worry, with Jizhou constantly sending "bad news," a good report had finally come.
The entire court was stunned, then overjoyed, their expressions excited.
The Left Chancellor was especially delighted.
Everyone began offering congratulations.
"Your Majesty, Heaven favors our Da Xia!"
When Meng Ruqing had written to the Left Chancellor about Fang Zichen was actually his grandson, the Left Chancellor was so excited he nearly fainted. After that, he told everyone he could, afraid people wouldn't know. So earlier, when Fang Zichen wrote saying he was going to war, people looked at him with pity.
He had only just gotten his grandson back, and now the man had a death wish, running off to the battlefield to get himself killed.
The Left Chancellor would probably have to bury his own grandson.
Pitiful, pitiful.
But now everyone was smiling and crowding around him and Zhao Song.
"Lord Zuo, your grandson is extraordinary!"
"Yes! Versatile in both civil and martial arts—truly remarkable."
"Lord Zuo's ger was always known for literary talent and exceptional intelligence. Lord Fang is his son and the Qin family's grandson—naturally extraordinary."
"Lord Zhao is truly blessed! Having such a son-in-law—we're all envious!"
"I knew from the start that Lord Fang was no ordinary man. Now it's clear—truly so."
The Left Chancellor made a few polite remarks.
These people were all about hindsight. When they first heard about this, this wasn't what they'd said.
He didn't lack for flattery, but being surrounded and praised like this was a first. The Left Chancellor couldn't help feeling thoroughly pleased, practically floating on air.
He waved his hand dismissively: "Not at all, not at all. The boy just got lucky. He probably attacked when the enemy was suffering from the local climate and had diarrhea—picked up a cheap win."
Everyone: "......"
"This isn't anything major—it's what he should do," the Left Chancellor said.
Everyone: "......"
Not anything major?
Then don't smile so happily—and stop puffing out your chest like that!
Just now the Emperor's face was all smiles—Fang Zichen would probably be promoted again. The Qin family's ancestral graves must be smoking nonstop. Incredible.
---
As soon as Fang Zichen arrived in Jizhou, he retook two counties, chasing the enemy forces dozens of li in complete disarray.
They'd been losing continuously before, and soldier morale was "at rock bottom." But now that they'd won a battle, everyone seemed to see the dawn of victory. They counterattacked with everything they had, backed by explosives, and the enemy was completely routed.
Lu Zhengren lay in bed, barely clinging to life, but when he heard Xinghe County had been retaken, he seemed to suddenly rally. He laughed several times, then flew into a rage.
He didn't understand what explosives were, but from his subordinates' reports, he knew the things were formidable. He'd heard that after one blast, most of the enemy soldiers were laid out. Those county walls, built several meters high—what were they for? Defense. Once the enemy occupied a city, it became easy to defend and hard to attack.
But he'd heard the walls had crumbled after less than half a shichen of continuous bombardment.
Such thick walls! Gone after just a couple of blasts—clearly these things were incredibly powerful.
But if Fang Zichen had these weapons and the ability to lead troops, why hadn't he come sooner? Why had he let Jizhou fall city by city and its people become refugees? Lu Zhengren had witnessed the enemy massacre an entire village—he'd seen it—and Fang Zichen hadn't even gone out to stop them... Pah!
In his tent, he choked on a mouthful of blood and cursed furiously, unable to even keep his medicine down. This naturally reached Fang Zichen's ears.
He found it laughable. In the past, when someone provoked him, he could go straight to their door—it was a personal grudge, and the other party wasn't necessarily that powerful, so he could just go.
But could he now?
Was the situation the same?
Could he act without careful consideration?
On the road back to Hezhou, he'd seen refugees. It wasn't that he didn't feel pity—but could he just attack directly?
He was a civil official, not a military officer. And he was the prefect of Hezhou—his first priority was to stabilize Hezhou. After returning, he hadn't rested a single day. Besides, if the enemy were that easy to defeat, the Northwestern Army wouldn't have been utterly routed. Didn't making explosives and catapults take time?
Were they easy to make?
Did they think the materials for grenades were easy to buy?
If he had no brains, made no thorough preparations, and just led troops over—how many soldiers did Hezhou even have?
Pitting eggs against stones—when a leader makes one wrong decision, it's not as simple as one person dying.
He couldn't let a moment of impulse or a hot head send others to their deaths with him!
Lu Zhengren dared to call him cowardly and selfish—if he were selfish, would he have come running?
Without explosives, could he have driven the enemy out?
Damn it, this old bastard.
Jizhou falling city after city was Lu Zhengren's own incompetence, and now he dared blame Fang Zichen.
Fang Zichen was furious.
The young soldiers who had come with Fang Zichen to receive him earlier weren't happy about it either.
What did General Lu mean by that?
Not charging out back then made him greedy for life, selfish, and cowardly?
How many of them were there then? How many of the enemy? Even if Fang Zichen was skilled, could he fight a hundred alone? Charging out would've been suicide—does dying make someone a hero?
Not saving a single person and losing one's own life—is that greatness?
If he'd attacked directly back then without settling Hezhou first, the common folk would panic at the slightest rumor. Seeing so many refugees pouring in, they'd panic—would Hezhou fall into chaos? If Hezhou fell into chaos, whose responsibility would that be?
You're a general—you didn't defend Jizhou properly, and now you're blaming others?
The Hezhou troops were deeply aggrieved and complained everywhere. Among the Northwestern Army soldiers assigned to Fang Zichen were Lu Zhengren's informants, and word reached Lu Zhengren's ears again.
Lu Zhengren was furious again. His trusted aide, seeing how badly he was wounded and fearing he'd be angered to death, advised: "General, I don't think Lord Fang is like what you say."
Lu Zhengren looked up at him. The aide wasn't afraid of him—Lu Zhengren had a hot temper but wasn't one to kill innocents indiscriminately—so he continued: "If Lord Fang had charged out when he saw the village massacre, that would've been brave but foolish. Now that you're seriously wounded, I think the Northwestern military authority can be handed to Lord Fang."
Fang Zichen could bend and stretch—that was what the aide admired most about him.
Lu Zhengren's two sons had tempers just like his—too impulsive, charging ahead without thinking when they got riled up.
As soon as Fang Zichen arrived, he launched a proactive counterattack against the enemy, killing over three thousand with explosives. This finally provoked their wrath. The Da Liao general Hurile, joining forces with two other armies, tried to lure Fang Zichen to Luohe Cliff to surround and annihilate him. They deliberately provoked him — calling him a sissy, a pale, weak white-cut chicken — and mocked Guaizai for not having grown any taller over the years, calling him a little shrimp.
The actual words were probably worse—the soldiers reporting back hadn't dared repeat them verbatim. The aide noticed their hesitation and only said the father and son had been furious on the spot, nostrils flaring, and had chased after Hurile directly. But halfway there, whether Fang Zichen sensed something wrong or was simply born with an extraordinary instinct for danger, he stopped dead in his tracks, threw out a couple of harsh words, and led the troops back.
"I heard that when Lord Fang first killed enemies, he threw up for a whole day. A civil official can wield a brush to write of the world, can be stirring on paper — but scholars are mostly fierce only with words. When the dynasty is in peril, how many actually dare face the enemy in battle? Throughout the dynasties, which official could be like Lord Fang? Qinzhou isn't far from Jizhou — why hasn't Lord Lan of Qinzhou come? Lord Fang coming is great righteousness. His character must be sound — he's the Emperor's trusted confidant, trusted by His Majesty. The Northwestern Army can be handed to him."
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