Southern Inspection Tour

The next day, Meng Yuan felt refreshed and clearheaded, while Chen Yuyin glowed with radiance.

He beat the drums to assemble his generals, first took Chen Huaixian and Chen Huaiyuan as his adopted sons, then ordered the army out of the pass.

After a month or so of preparations, Meng Yuan brought Chen Huaixian and Chen Huaiyuan with him, left Jianmen Pass, and headed north to campaign against Commander Li.

Chen Yuyin did not accompany them. As before, she remained in command of the rear, arranging provisions and supplies.

He had fought all these battles enough to know them well in his previous life, but things always changed.

Meng Yuan had his heart set on accomplishing great things, so he bought over everyone he could and accepted every surrender he could, hoping only to quell the chaos sooner.

Yet he never expected Commander Li's adopted son to feign surrender and actually deceive him. With enemies working together from inside and out, he nearly had his base wiped out.

Though Meng Yuan possessed the internal power of the Pure Yang Art, he was a man, not an immortal. He barely managed to escape, and when he tallied his losses, over seven thousand had been killed or wounded, and over four thousand had scattered.

Still, his accumulated authority remained. The prestige he had fought for over the years had not vanished entirely.

"Ha ha ha!" Meng Yuan laughed as they fled. Seeing that no one asked why he was laughing, he could only give a few dry chuckles before saying, "If Commander Li had hidden five hundred archers here, we would be finished!"

Afterward, once the pain had subsided, Meng Yuan reflected on its cause. He knew full well that he had been too impatient. Relying solely on buying people over would not do. He needed several great victories to strike terror into his opponents before tactics of division and bribery would prove more effective.

So Meng Yuan rallied his forces, first bestowing generous rewards on the entire army.

Though Meng Yuan understood military strategy, he was no immortal commander or god of war of antiquity. He could not fight miraculous battles, and could only draw on the experience of two lifetimes to advance one solid step at a time, fighting methodical battles and hard battles.

After fighting several such hard battles, Meng Yuan admired Lü Yinglong all the more.

In his previous life, Meng Yuan had personally seen Lü Yinglong charge enemy formations. In ferocity, valor, and fearlessness, Meng Yuan felt that even his current self fell short of the man.

Still, Meng Yuan was generous with his rewards and fair in his rewards and punishments. With a good wife ensuring that he never lacked provisions, he subdued Commander Li in just a year and a half.

Commander Li was, in truth, merely highly skilled in martial arts. In military strategy, schemes, and judging and employing men, he possessed only middling talent.

In these troubled times, opportunities to rise were plentiful. He had simply caught the winds of fortune and been thrust onto the crest of the waves by the times.

"I was a hero all my life, only to lose to a live-in son-in-law!" After his capture, Commander Li pointed at Meng Yuan's nose and cursed him.

Meng Yuan let the spit on his face dry on its own. He distributed Commander Li's concubines and children among his generals, and secretly slept with a few himself.

They were not as entertaining as the dead pig.

After another two months of rest and reorganization, Meng Yuan raised his great army again and marched straight toward the Imperial Capital.

The Yu Kingdom's main army had no choice but to return to its defense. Meng Yuan remained utterly steady, besieging the stronghold to strike its reinforcements, sowing division and buying men over. In little more than half a year, he reached the walls of the capital.

After three months of siege, the capital's provisions had not yet run out, but they would not last much longer.

"Didn't he come out bare-chested to surrender in my last life? Why isn't he baring himself this time?"

Meng Yuan was a little puzzled. Only after thinking for a long time did he understand: though Lü Yinglong's family had declined, his ancestors had at least descended from the Lü Kingdom's ruling house. Losing to Lü Yinglong was a defeat they could accept.

But Meng Yuan was a mere blade of grass, with no ancestry worth mentioning. He came from tenant farmers, one of those who wove mats and sold sandals, and was even a live-in son-in-law. The ruler of the Yu Kingdom could not bear that loss of face.

Another ten days passed before the Yu Kingdom's ruler was finally forced by his ministers to bare his torso and leave the city.

Overjoyed, Meng Yuan took the ruler by the hand and chatted with him briefly, then issued orders strictly forbidding slaughter within the city, harm to the Yu Kingdom's imperial relatives, or harm to the ruler's consorts, concubines, and children.

"You're making me suffer terribly!" A crowd of generals stripped Meng Yuan of his battle robes, dressed him in dragon robes, and forcibly pressed him onto the dragon throne.

The former ruler led the others in kneeling and paying homage, and was granted the title Duke of Anle.

From that day on, Meng Yuan named his dynasty Chen, taking the name from his wife's surname.

Then, without waiting for Chen Yuyin to catch up to him in the Imperial Capital, Meng Yuan lavishly rewarded his officials.

It truly was a lavish bestowal of titles. Meng Yuan did not stint in the slightest, creating a whole host of dukes, marquises, and earls. Even Yang Dayong was made a county baron. Everyone at court had to hail his wisdom.

He also made his adopted son Chen Huaixian the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness, and Chen Huaiyuan the Marquis of Spring Radiance.

Meng Yuan had already taught Chen Huaixian the Pure Yang Dragon-Controlling Art. His natural talent was good to begin with, and he had soaked in medicinal baths since childhood. Though he could not compare to a prodigy like Lü Yinglong, his progress was not slow.

Moreover, with Meng Yuan teaching him throughout these past few years, he had gained a fair understanding of marching armies and deploying formations.

"Doing this fills the court with dukes and marquises, all with actual fiefs. Aren't you afraid the tail will grow too large to wag? When every family has accumulated generations of noble titles and intermarried generation after generation, aren't you afraid the servants will grow strong enough to overpower their master? The troubles will be endless. Aren't you leaving all these calamities to your descendants?" Chen Yuyin caught up to him in the Imperial Capital and was deeply dissatisfied with how Meng Yuan had divided the spoils.

"We must trust the wisdom of later generations." Meng Yuan knew this would leave hidden dangers for posterity, but so what? I'm going off to tend an immortal's grave. What do I care if the floodwaters rise to the heavens!

Besides, with all these lavish titles I've bestowed, just tell me whether my old brothers are more loyal now!

"Huaixian is still young. Without you, can he keep them under control? Besides, King Zhang hasn't been subdued yet. If you hand out rewards like this now, aren't you afraid you'll have no titles left to grant in the future?" Chen Yuyin no longer concealed anything.

"That's all right. I intend to have Huaixian fight King Zhang. But how are your preparations coming along, my lady?" Meng Yuan said to Chen Yuyin, signaling that it was time to move forward with their agreement.

"I've already sent letters. Out of regard for me and my late brother, the Pei Clan and Bai Clan said that if you truly could accomplish something, they wouldn't mind meeting you." Chen Yuyin's eyes grew ever more ardent, while she herself grew ever colder.

"Even a meeting would be good." Meng Yuan was already very satisfied. He took Chen Yuyin by the hand and went off for another round with her.

Chen Yuyin had stopped pretending to be a virtuous wife many years ago. She did not want to bear Meng Yuan's children, but she wanted him having children with other women even less, so she could only fulfill her wifely duties every day.

Sleeping in the great bed Lü Yinglong had slept in during his previous life, and sleeping with the wife Lü Yinglong had had in his previous life, Meng Yuan felt particularly satisfied.

The next day, Meng Yuan ordered Chen Huaixian to lead an army south to campaign against King Zhang.

"When fighting with large armies, military discipline must be strict!" Meng Yuan instructed Chen Huaixian.

"Huaixian is no immortal, despite his name. He has a steady disposition and takes no risks at all. As long as we give him provisions and military authority, even if he fights methodical battles, he can outlast King Zhang."

"He's still young, but once he wins, he'll have prestige. Having him serve as regent then will follow as naturally as water flowing into a channel. And with so many of your Chen family at court, he'll be able to keep the situation stable."

Four years passed in this fashion. Chen Huaixian lived up to everyone's expectations and ground King Zhang down to his end.

With that, the realm was fully pacified.

That year, Meng Yuan was thirty-five and Chen Yuyin thirty-eight. Like a young married couple, they still slept beneath the same quilt every night.

Chen Huaixian returned to court, was granted the title Prince of Faith, and temporarily assumed responsibility for overseeing the state.

"As you know, your aunt and I have no children. I intend to let you try your hand at governing first. You're only twenty-three this year, still too young. You must remember that our dynasty has only just been established. The priority is to recuperate and rebuild. As long as the common people have land to till and food to eat, the realm will remain secure."

Meng Yuan planned to embark on a southern inspection tour, and began laying out state policy.

"Cui Lan is the one I've left for Dayong. She and Dayong have followed you since childhood. You're like their own elder brother. Treat them both well in the future, and treat Marquis Guageng well too."

Meng Yuan sounded as though he were making arrangements for after his death.

"Dayong, my eldest niece is two years older than you, but she's a good match for you. You two should marry!"

Meng Yuan showed particular affection for Yang Dayong.

"Huaiyuan, you're flighty by nature and love nothing more than wielding blades and staves. You must be steadier in the future. Your aunt thinks highly of you. From now on, the Pear Blossom Chen branch will depend on you to uphold it."

Meng Yuan kept busy for half a year. After settling all manner of affairs, he and Empress Chen Yuyin took troops on a southern inspection tour, with Yang Dayong and Chen Huaiyuan accompanying them.

The ministers naturally came to dissuade him, but as the founding monarch who had won his realm on horseback, no one could stop him.

"A southern tour, a difficult search." With so many people, progress was slow. Seated inside his spacious carriage, Meng Yuan was filled with countless reflections.

At eighteen, he had still been a penniless itinerant wheat harvester. Now he held the sacred vessel of sovereignty in his hands, yet he did not know what judgment this life would earn him.