This Was All the Prince of Yan's Doing...

Inside the Regional Military Command Office, Ping An and Sheng Yong had long since received word of the commotion outside. They simply ignored it.

Sheng Yong thought the fire was not yet fierce enough, so he threw on another armful of dry wood, ordering someone to announce outside, "The Prince of Yan's Three Guards are not covered by the New Army Strategy and will receive none of its benefits."

Zhou Duo refused to accept this, and the soldiers behind him could hardly believe their ears.

What did that mean?

They ate the court's grain as soldiers and risked their lives for the court, only to be kicked aside when the New Army Strategy was implemented?

Why should they be denied such generous benefits?

They were soldiers of the Great Ming too, and they had every right to enjoy the New Army Strategy!

Why would they not let them?

It was unfair!

Soldiers were hot-blooded men. Even over a few copper coins, they would pound tables and bare their blades. Now this concerned not only themselves but several generations of descendants. How could they not be anxious?

Zhou Duo led his men in an uproar, each shouting loud enough to give everyone a headache. Ping An had no patience for their curses and immediately ordered their arrest. Zhou Duo and more than a hundred and twenty others were seized and tied up outside the Regional Military Command Office.

More and more spectators gathered, and the commotion grew louder.

The Prince of Yan's Palace.

Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng, Yuan Rong, and Li Rang were discussing how to respond to the New Army Strategy. Before they could even propose suppressing the news, a guard hurried in to report, "Bad news! Thousand Households Commander Zhou Duo took men to the Regional Military Command Office, and the regional military commander had them arrested."

"What?"

Zhang Yu's aged face darkened.

Zhou Duo was his subordinate. Zhang Yu knew the man was a mere hotheaded brute with little brains, but his courage and loyalty had earned him important responsibilities. He had never expected the fellow to cause trouble at a time like this.

"After hearing the news, more than five hundred of Zhou Duo's men went to the Regional Military Command Office to demand his release."

The guard continued his report.

A chill ran through Zhang Yu.

Zhou Duo causing trouble with a handful of men and getting arrested would not be difficult to resolve. But if several hundred men stormed the Regional Military Command Office, its commander would have every justification to kill them all.

What unsettled Zhang Yu most was that those attacking the Regional Military Command Office belonged to the Prince of Yan's Three Guards!

If the regional military commander used this to declare the Prince of Yan's Three Guards guilty of treasonous intent and mobilized an army to wipe them out, no one could fault him. Even if the other vassal princes heard about it, none would offer sympathy.

Because storming an office of the imperial court was itself treason and rebellion!

They could kill you, and there would be no room for argument!

"Ready the horses! Quickly!"

Zhang Yu knew how serious this was. One careless move, and the Prince of Yan's Three Guards would be destroyed! Without his Three Guards, what standing would the Prince of Yan have left in Beiping Prefecture?

Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng hurried out of the Prince of Yan's Palace, while Yuan Rong and Li Rang rushed to its rear courtyard to discuss a response with Xu Yihua.

Ping An and Sheng Yong stood outside the Regional Military Command Office. Hundreds of soldiers bearing spears and wearing long sabers at their waists guarded the entrance in a crescent formation. Above them, archers and crossbowmen had drawn their weapons and aimed at the troublemakers from the Prince of Yan's Left Guard.

The New Army Strategy won men's hearts.

By now, Ping An and Sheng Yong had earned the trust of the entire army, from top to bottom. Moreover, the fourth provision of the New Army Strategy stipulated that anyone who obeyed orders promptly, carried them out effectively, and earned merit could be promoted to Hundred Households Commander.

Who did not want promotion?

Who wanted to remain a common soldier forever?

At a single command from Ping An, every soldier would charge fearlessly forward to prove his loyalty to the court and his support for the New Army Strategy!

Whether these men were old friends no longer mattered.

A soldier's sacred duty was to obey orders!

Yu Qiong, a Thousand Households Commander of the Prince of Yan's Left Guard, arrived outside the Regional Military Command Office with his men. Taking in the scene, he drew a sharp breath. Why did this formation look as though they intended to kill?

Yu Qiong was no fool. His handful of men could not defeat the regional military commander's forces. With a forest of spears and a rain of arrows already waiting, forcing their way in would be nothing but courting death.

"Put down your weapons, all of you! No reckless moves!"

Yu Qiong gave the order.

Hearing this, the men threw their weapons to the ground.

Yu Qiong brought Hundred Households Commander Ni Qiong and the others forward. Stopping outside the forest of spears, he called to Ping An and Sheng Yong, "Regional Commander, Commander, Zhou Duo merely asked why the New Army Strategy excluded the Prince of Yan's Three Guards. Surely there is no need for such a show of force?"

"Who are you?"

Sheng Yong called out.

"I am Yu Qiong, Thousand Households Commander of the Prince of Yan's Left Guard!"

"Men, bind him!"

At Sheng Yong's command, a dozen soldiers stepped forward, shoved Yu Qiong to the ground, and bound him. The Hundred Households Commanders beside him did not escape either. Seeing this, the soldiers behind them grew agitated.

Their leaders had been arrested. If the men did not step up now, how could they ever hold their heads high again?

Charge!

Rescue the Hundred Households Commanders and the Thousand Households Commander!

Just as the soldiers stirred and prepared to act, Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng finally arrived. Zhang Yu lashed aside the soldiers blocking his way with his whip and shouted sternly, "The Left Guard dares leave without requesting orders? Who gave you such nerve? What place is this? The Regional Military Command Office! Is this somewhere you can simply march into? Get back, all of you!"

Zhang Yu was Zhu Di's foremost general. He cared for his soldiers and commanded immense respect in the army.

Ordinarily, a single word from Zhang Yu would send them charging into battle and dying on the field without a murmur. Today, however, these soldiers did not want to leave!

"General Zhang, we want the New Army Strategy!"

"That's right! Commander Zhou and Commander Yu were arrested because they stood up for us!"

"The court's New Army Strategy treats soldiers generously. Why aren't we worthy of enjoying it? It's unfair!"

"Yes, unfair! We're soldiers of the Great Ming too!"

"Please, General Zhang, secure justice for us!"

The soldiers dropped to their knees.

Looking at these once-proud soldiers kneeling before him, Zhang Yu felt his heart tremble.

The New Army Strategy concerned the soldiers themselves, their families, and their descendants. They bent their knees today not just for their own sake, but for their families and future generations!

Zhang Yu understood the potency of the New Army Strategy. It could turn soldiers who had once submitted to a vassal prince into soldiers of the imperial court!

If Zhu Di later sought supreme power and moved against the court, these soldiers would no longer obey him!

Why?

Because Zhu Di would not provide for four generations of their descendants!

Because Zhu Di would not grant them such generous retirement terms!

Because Zhu Di could not produce the money to treat their families' illnesses!

Because if they died, Zhu Di could not provide such substantial compensation.

Zhang Yu could imagine it: if the New Army Strategy were implemented among the Prince of Yan's Three Guards, the soldiers' hearts would turn to the court. Should Zhu Di one day rise against it, his first enemy would not be the court's army, but his own soldiers!

For their own sake, for their families and descendants, they would never oppose the court, nor would they dare!

No soldiers to use!

No soldiers to command!

How could such a war be fought?

Zhang Yu could not fight such a war!

Even Xu Da reborn or Chang Yuchun returned from the dead could not fight such a war!

Yet if the New Army Strategy were not implemented among the Prince of Yan's Three Guards, how could they accept it?

He could handle today's trouble.

But what about tomorrow?

The day after?

Men feared not scarcity but inequality. Such was human nature!

When everyone ate cabbage, there was nothing to complain about.

But now the others were eating meat while they still ate cabbage. How could that taste anything but bitter?

Their fellow poor brothers were approaching twenty years of service and could soon go home to lives of ease. Yet they themselves would gain nothing even if they grew old and died in the barracks. Who would still have the heart to train?

With men's hearts unsettled, serious trouble would come sooner or later.

Zhang Yu felt this was a dead knot, drawn so tight it strangled his breath.

Untying it would not do. Leaving it tied would not do either!

Zhu Neng guided his horse beside Zhang Yu and said quietly, "Why not turn their anger toward the court?"

Zhang Yu's eyes lit up. If they shifted responsibility for excluding the Prince of Yan's Three Guards from the New Army Strategy onto the court, then the court was discriminating against them, looking down on them, and refusing to treat them as soldiers of the Great Ming.

With a little guidance, the Prince of Yan's Three Guards could be made to hate the court. Then these men would become utterly loyal to the Prince of Yan and willingly follow him in rebellion!

A ruthless move!

Zhang Yu gave Zhu Neng an approving glance and called to the men, "The New Army Strategy has won the soldiers' hearts, yet the court has singled out the Prince of Yan's Three Guards for exclusion. This is improper. I shall personally go to the Regional Military Command Office and ask what the court intends, why it treats the Three Guards unjustly, and why it treats us officers and soldiers unjustly!"

Those words filled the men of the Prince of Yan's Three Guards with boundless gratitude.

Zhang Yu dismounted and walked toward the Regional Military Command Office.

Ping An and Sheng Yong ordered the soldiers to make way.

Ping An stepped forward, cupped his hands, and called, "Brother Shimei, it has been years, yet you remain as hale as ever."

Zhang Yu's courtesy name was Shimei.

Ping An had once accompanied Zhu Di on the Northern Expedition, so he naturally knew Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng, and the others.

With a cold expression, Zhang Yu called loudly, "Ping An, we can reminisce later. I have come today to ask why the New Army Strategy excludes the Prince of Yan's Three Guards."

Ping An laughed heartily and said, "Since General Zhang has asked, I shall answer."

With that, Ping An climbed onto a raised platform. His gaze swept across the spectators, the Beiping soldiers, and the Prince of Yan's Three Guards as he called loudly, "The New Army Strategy was created by His Majesty and first implemented in the Capital Garrison. Soldiers and civilians alike embraced it! Mindful of the frontier soldiers who have survived a hundred battles, His Majesty sought to extend the New Army Strategy throughout the army as soon as possible!"

"His Majesty knew well that the Prince of Yan's Three Guards had fought year after year, enduring great hardship and earning great merit, and should be the first to enjoy the New Army Strategy. He personally visited the Prince of Yan's Palace in the Capital and entrusted the Prince of Yan with implementing the New Army Strategy first among the Three Guards, then extending it to Beiping's other guards."

"However, the Prince of Yan repeatedly declined and refused to allow the New Army Strategy into the Three Guards. Even the persuasion of Xu Huizu, who oversees the Central Army Commandery, proved fruitless. His Majesty therefore entrusted the New Army Strategy to the Beiping regional military command, granting it full responsibility for implementation, excluding the Three Guards!"

"The Three Guards are excluded from the New Army Strategy not because His Majesty refused, nor because the court refused, nor because the regional military command refused, but because the Prince of Yan refused! As regional military commander, I can tell everyone here, and every soldier and civilian in Beiping, that the moment the Prince of Yan gives his assent, the Three Guards can immediately enjoy every benefit of the New Army Strategy!"

"Does anyone have any further questions? Brother Shimei, are you satisfied with this answer? Heh, is it clear now? This was all the Prince of Yan's doing..."

Having finished, Ping An stepped down from the platform and returned straight to the office without even looking at Ping An and the others.

Sheng Yong approached Zhang Yu and cupped his fists. "General Zhang, the court has already sent an urgent dispatch on this matter. It was indeed the Prince of Yan who refused, not the court or His Majesty. But whatever the reason, these soldiers forced their way into the Regional Military Command Office. They cannot be let off lightly!"

"Then please act according to the law, Commander Sheng!"

Zhang Yu had never felt so defeated. His face burned with humiliation!

Watching Zhang Yu stagger away, Sheng Yong sneered. He glanced at the bound men and ordered, "Fifty strokes each! If there is a next time, every offender will be beheaded!"

Fifty strokes!

Everyone shuddered.

Soldiers might have strong bodies, but if the blows were delivered in earnest, never mind fifty-even twenty could beat a man to death.

Besides, the soldiers wielding the rods had just received their New Army benefits and were brimming with energy. It was understandable if they struck too hard. Whether any private grudges were mixed into those blows, no one could say.

Of the hundred-odd men, four died under the fifty strokes: two Hundred Households Commanders and two Thousand Households Commanders.