Chapter 340: The Call (4)
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Prince Xian’s reception room had become far simpler than before. However, the simple-looking decorations and open spaces accentuated Prince Xian’s dignity all the more.
“You have arrived. I have been waiting with an outstretched neck.”
“It has been a long time since I last saw you. Your Highness Prince Xian.”
I bowed and greeted Prince Xian. Cheong-hwa and Myeong-gyeong offered martial salutes. In truth, Myeong-gyeong could have merely given a light nod. While Cheong-hwa and I were commoners, Myeong-gyeong was an enfeoffed prince whose rank was no different from Prince Xian’s.
As expected, Prince Xian first showed interest in Myeong-gyeong, a fellow princely king.
“You must be the rumored Prince of Jianzhou. I never saw you in the Imperial Palace, but I had heard word.”
“I am Ju Yu-gyeong. I hold the Daoist title of Myeong-gyeong.”
“There is no need for you to use honorifics with me. Rather, as the younger brother of His Imperial Majesty and of direct imperial blood, your rank within the palace is higher than mine.”
“Even so, as there is an age difference, speaking with honorifics is more comfortable.”
“Haha. In that case, I shall not stop you.”
A curious light flickered in Prince Xian’s eyes.
I was slightly surprised by Myeong-gyeong. By sticking to polite speech, Myeong-gyeong displayed both his own courtesy and the resolve to decline Prince Xian’s suggestion. Even if only half, was imperial blood truly different?
“I understand that you are a knightly hero of high renown in the martial world. Even if I do not know jianghu figures well, I have heard the name Boundless Divine Sword.”
“It is merely an empty title. I am Cheong-hwa of Wudang.”
“Haha. How could the sharp blade of the Wudang Sect possibly be an empty title? Please, everyone be seated.”
We sat side by side at a long table. Prince Xian sat opposite us rather than at the head of the table.
Had only Cheong-hwa and I been present, he would have sat at the seat of honor, but with Myeong-gyeong, a fellow princely king, present, he was showing consideration.
“Right. How much do these gentlemen know?”
Prince Xian glanced past Cheong-hwa and Myeong-gyeong before halting his gaze on me. He was asking if they knew of the rebellion plan. I nodded my head.
“Everything has been shared with them. Because they are trustworthy people.”
“Mmm, is that so? Then I shall speak without reservation as well.”
Prince Xian cleared his throat with a dry cough.
“First, what we have prepared is as follows. With thirteen Guards and eighty-some Battalions, we can mobilize roughly eighty thousand soldiers. Supplies have been stockpiled to the extent of waging war for a full year without resupply.”
Through the keen senses only martial artists possessed, I could hear Myeong-gyeong and Cheong-hwa gasping in astonished breaths. Was it far more serious than they had imagined?
Indeed, even when major sects clashed in the martial world, the combat personnel barely exceeded a hundred.
Yet discussing nearly a hundred thousand men, a hundred times that number, it was only natural they were bewildered. But war was originally like this.
Hearing the concrete figures for the first time made my heart thump as well, but having mentally prepared myself in advance, I did not show any sign of fluster.
“Do you know roughly how many troops Beijing has?”
“The number of Beijing’s defense forces will be around three hundred thousand. If reinforcements arrive from provinces like Shandong and Shanxi, roughly fifty thousand each. In general, you can consider that we will be facing four hundred thousand men.”
“Four hundred thousand……”
Beside me, Myeong-gyeong muttered. His gaze already looked dazed. It was an unrealistic number indeed.
“Even if Marquis Zhuge were to return, I think he would say this is a bit much.”
Not having anticipated up to four hundred thousand myself, pessimistic words emerged first. Prince Xian shook his head.
“It will not be an easy path. But if a rebellion were easy, would it be a rebellion?”
“I see. You have firmly resolved your mind, then.”
When we first met, he had practically been a devotee of the Emperor, but seeing him changed like this, I was reminded anew of just how important the compatibility between martial arts was.
Had Prince Xian mastered the imperial court’s martial arts instead of demonic arts, perhaps none of this would have happened.
However, this was a kind of destiny. Prince Xian would have mastered demonic arts in my past life as well, and that was why he staged a rebellion.
What worried me was that in my past life, the rebellion had ended so anticlimactically. If at least an army of eighty thousand had clashed with Beijing’s defense forces, that would be one thing, but it was a rebellion that had simply fizzled out powerlessly without even that. To the extent that if the Imperial Palace had not announced that Prince Xian of Gansu had rebelled, the vast majority of people in the Central Plains wouldn’t even have known.
However, this time it must not end like that. Because not only Prince Xian’s life was on the line, but our lives were bound to it as well.
The problem lay in the fact that when Prince Xian staged his rebellion, I was staying in Hunan, so I did not know how the rebellion had progressed or been suppressed.
A belated question arose: the fact that Gansu held an army of eighty thousand men remained true. An army of eighty thousand was no small figure. Clearly, if the rebel army and the suppression army had clashed, it would have been on a scale widely publicized across the Central Plains.
Then why did he lose so futilely? I had to think about that.
“Your Highness Prince Xian. There is something I wish to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Currently in Gansu, who are the people aware of this plan?”
“None as of yet.”
I tilted my head. Because I had thought he would have at least informed his closest confidants to prepare.
“Is that so?”
“Do not worry about leaks from my end. I am maintaining quite strict control, after all.”
“Then isn’t it possible that the eighty thousand men might not respond to the rebellion?”
“The government troops of Gansu are people who swear absolute loyalty to me. There are many young men who have never set foot in Beijing even once.”
“Soldiers are soldiers, but shouldn’t you recruit the commanders above them in advance?”
Prince Xian nodded his head.
“I intended to speak after you arrived. Since the influence the New Justice Association exerts in this plan will be substantial. There was a need to make it a bit more concrete. To persuade them, the plan must be as specific as possible, after all.”
“You are correct.”
I nodded my head. Yet it was true that doubts still lingered.
Though Prince Xian appeared confident in his people, if the rebellion had ended so feebly in my past life, the likelihood that the plan had leaked from within was high.
That was why I had asked who knew the plan, but unexpectedly, Prince Xian was maintaining strict silence, meaning no candidates were currently on the radar.
“Right, now let us hear your plan.”
“First, I will establish a supply route. All the way to Nanjing in Jiangsu.”
“All the way to Nanjing?”
“The Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company will oversee the supplies.”
At my words, Prince Xian displayed a skeptical demeanor.
“The Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company. Will the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company turn its back on the Imperial Palace?”
“I have already discussed and settled all of that before coming.”
“Hoh. You managed to wrap that fastidious Merchant King around your finger? You are truly extraordinary as well.”
“Yes. You can trust that part completely.”
“A supply route from Lanzhou in Gansu to Nanjing. That won’t be easy.”
“It is not Lanzhou.”
I cut him off. Prince Xian blinked his eyes.
“What do you mean? Are you saying you’ll connect all the way to Dunhuang?”
“It will connect to the Great Desert.”
“……!”
Prince Xian’s eyes widened.
“The Great Desert, you say?”
“Yes. If striking Beijing, isn’t it more convenient to move through the Great Desert? If moving straight through the Central Plains continent from Gansu to Hebei, you must pass through Shaanxi and Shanxi. If you fight the armies of those two provinces and arrive at Beijing, perhaps about five thousand men will remain. In fact, you’d be fortunate if any remained at all.”
“……That is true.”
Prince Xian could not refute it. Gansu was a province far removed from Beijing. Moving troops to launch a surprise attack was an impossibility. Passing through the continent, it was bound to be that way.
Thus, the only way to raid Beijing from Gansu was via the Great Desert.
“However, can we obtain cooperation from the Great Desert? Aren’t they barbarians who shudder at the mere mention of Han people?”
“Discussions with the Great Desert have also been settled to a certain extent.”
“Even the Great Desert?”
Prince Xian let out an exclamation, having not anticipated the Great Desert at all. While he easily accepted the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company upon hearing it, he seemed to find the Great Desert hard to believe, asking repeatedly.
“Are negotiations truly established with the Great Desert?”
“Of course.”
I nodded my head. Shaking his head, Prince Xian marveled in astonishment.
“Your resourcefulness is truly no joke. I wonder if this is even possible at such a young age.”
“My mind is rather old, you see.”
“You do have the demeanor of an old soul.”
I meant that I was literally old, not just in demeanor. Clearing my throat with a dry cough, I shifted the mood.
“At any rate, utilizing the Heaven’s Gift Merchant Company to build a supply route, and launching a surprise raid through the Great Desert. That is my plan.”
“Rational. Then what about the people of the New Justice Association?”
“Because martial artists are elites, they must move as a separate detachment. Acting as an Imperial Palace infiltration unit, for instance.”
“Excellent.”
Prince Xian nodded with satisfaction. With eighty thousand soldiers, we could hold out for at least several months. If pitching camp in the Great Desert and holding our ground, more than a year might be possible as well.
Taking advantage of that opening, we could turn the Imperial Court into a wasteland and kill the Emperor. The moment the Emperor was killed, the rebellion was effectively a success.
“As expected, having you here has made the plan far more concrete. We only need to set a rough timeframe.”
“Dragging things out for too long is no good. When a tail grows too long, it gets stepped on.”
“I know. First we must inspect the supply route and confer with the Great Desert as well. It will take more time than expected.”
“If finished as quickly as possible, how long do you think it will take?”
“A month?”
“Please finish it within half a month.”
I was plagued by a strangely unpleasant sensation. From the moment I became conscious of how anticlimactically Prince Xian’s rebellion had ended in my past life, I felt that dragging it out was a bad idea.
“They say the more urgent it is, the more one should take the detour, though.”
“That is merely an excuse for those with no choice but to take a detour. If one can go fast, going fast is far better.”
“And if the matter is ruined in the process?”
“Then one’s capability was simply limited to that level.”
Prince Xian let out a low groan. Stroking his beard, Prince Xian pondered for the time it took an incense stick to burn, then opened his mouth as if having made up his mind.
“Very well. I shall manage it somehow.”
“Thank you.”
It was right around when the discussion was roughly wrapping up like that. Someone flung the door wide open and rushed inside.
“Your Highness Prince Xian. An urgent dispatch has arrived.”
“……Do you not see that I am receiving guests?”
Prince Xian displayed irritation. However, the messenger shook his head and said.
“It is an urgent matter.”
“If it is not an urgent matter, prepare for severe punishment.”
“They say Wudang has been attacked.”
“……What?”
The ones who reacted and sprang up before even Prince Xian were the three of us. Because none other than the three of us were of the Wudang Sect. Prince Xian’s complexion turned pale as well.
“Explain in detail.”
“I do not know the exact details either, but word was delivered like that from Hubei.”
If a messenger had arrived from Hubei to Gansu, it meant at least several days had passed since the attack. My heart began to pound fiercely, and my Senior Brother and Master beside me seemed to be no different.
“Is that so? You must hurry back.”
Prince Xian spoke with concern for us. There was no time to observe further formalities here.
“It seems we must.”
“I intended to host a banquet to help relieve your travel fatigue. Given the urgency of the situation, it cannot be helped.”
“Yes. Though it is discourteous, we must take our leave at once.”
“Do so.”
Prince Xian nodded his head. Like released arrows, we rushed out of Prince Xian’s palace and immediately left Lanzhou using lightness skills.
Rather than taking the official highways as when we came, we planned to sprint in a straight line across rivers and mountains.
Mount Wudang was calling to us.