Taiheiki

Chapter 85 Abandonment
"What I mean is that your military achievements are sufficient. However, according to Han military law, merits cannot cover up faults. Otherwise, wouldn't those with great merits be able to act recklessly? How can the court govern the country? You killed a county lieutenant without authorization. This kind of crime can never be offset by military merits!"

"Brother Luo means that no matter how great my military achievements are, I can't escape this crime!"

"Not bad!"

Wei Cong said nothing. He suddenly walked to the side of the road, drew his sword, and chopped at the tree beside the road like a madman. After six or seven cuts, there was a sudden crisp sound, and the sword broke in two. Wei Cong threw the broken sword to the ground and walked away without a care in the world.

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Like any other day, Wei Cong's dinner was simple: grilled fish, tofu soup, fried eggs, boiled beans, and corn rice. However, he was dining alone today, and no one dared to disturb him. Wei Cong stirred the food with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth. He chewed it as usual, but it had no taste. He didn't know that killing the county lieutenant would have such serious consequences, but even so, he didn't regret it. He would never feel at ease staying with a guy like this who liked to stab people in the back. Maybe he should have taken a more tactful approach, but it was right to kill this bastard after all! Wei Cong told himself.

"Captain!" Huang Ping came in from outside. "Captain Cai's coffin is ready. It's in the backyard!"

"Yeah!" Wei Cong put down his chopsticks and stood up: "Let's go!"

Wei Cong came to the backyard. Everyone was already in place. In the corner of the yard, a deep pit had been dug, and next to it was a white coffin. He let out a long breath, walked to the coffin, and looked inside. He saw only a corpse wrapped in white linen.

"Do you want to see my face?" Huang Ping asked.

"No need!" Wei Cong covered his nose. Judging from the smell, the corpse was probably already unrecognizable. He didn't want to have a nightmare. He made a gesture, and the soldiers closed the coffin lid, nailed it tightly, and lowered it into the pit. As shovels of broken soil fell on the coffin lid, Wei Cong's nose suddenly felt sour - it was this man who helped him when he first came to this era, and it was also him who tried to assassinate him not long after because of greed and jealousy, and now his soul has returned to the underworld and left this world. Thinking of this, Wei Cong suddenly felt a strange feeling - who would watch his coffin being buried like this one day in the future?
As the last shovel of earth was covered, the soldiers placed a stone slab in front of the grave with a crude name and place of origin on it. Wei Cong knew that under normal circumstances, Cai Buyi's body should be cremated and the ashes taken back to his hometown, but he could no longer care about that.

"Brother Luo, I have something to trouble you with!" Wei Cong said to Luo Hong.

"Captain, please speak frankly!" Luo Hong said.

"Brother Luo knows all about the whole story of my unauthorized killing of Wang Gui. I'd like you to return to Jiangling and take a letter to Doctor Ying and Feng Cheqi. If they ask, please report the truth!"

"Colonel Captain!"

"Captain, you'd better think about this matter again and again!"

"Captain, why don't you let me go back and make some arrangements before making a decision?"

Zhao Yannian and the others were anxious when they heard this and stepped forward to persuade him. Wei Cong waved his hand and said, "You don't have to say anything. I have made up my mind. Truth cannot be hidden. This kind of thing cannot be concealed. Brother Luo has followed Feng Cheqi for many years. Feng Cheqi trusts him. He is reporting the truth to me. That is enough for me! Brother Luo, this should be no problem, right?"

"Captain, rest assured!" Luo Hong cupped his hands. "I will report everything that County Captain Wang did before, and I won't leave anything out!"

"Okay, thank you very much!" Wei Cong smiled. He took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to Huang Ping. He then said to Huang Ping, "Take 10,000 yuan from the military treasury and give it to Brother Luo for travel expenses!"

"How can this be!" Luo Hong was about to refuse, but Wei Cong smiled and said, "Brother Luo, I know you are an old friend of Feng Cheqi, and I don't mean to ask you to lie for me. This money is actually my thank you for going down the mountain alone to attack the bandits. In fact, I originally wanted to give you more, but because of Wang Gui's matter, I can't give more."

Hearing Wei Cong mention his risky escape from the city to attack the bandits, Luo Hong couldn't help but feel warm in his heart and nodded, "Well, Captain Wei, don't worry, I will definitely explain the truth of this matter to the head of the family. The emperor is in poor health now, and if he delays for a while, we can find a way to punish him!"

"Think of some solution?" Wei Cong reacted quickly, immediately understanding that Luo Hong meant that if the emperor died, the new emperor would grant amnesty to the entire nation. In Wei Cong's case, with a little more money, exoneration shouldn't be a problem. Although he hadn't planned to go that route, he still sensed the other party's good intentions. "Thank you, Brother Luo, for all the trouble!"

"It's my job, Captain Wei. Please wait patiently. Good news will come soon!"

After seeing Luo Hong off, the courtyard was filled with Wei Cong's own men, and the atmosphere suddenly changed. Wei Cong coughed and said, "I've thought about it last night. Although killing Wang Gui without authorization was a rage, I don't regret it! However, this matter will eventually implicate you, which is a bit regrettable!"

"Why do you say that, my lord?" Zhao Yannian said in a deep voice, "Wang Gui neglected his allies and deserved death. Your killing of him is what everyone wants. We are where we are today thanks to you, my lord. Whatever you decide to do next, we will obey your orders!"

"Yes, I am the same as Brother Zhao!"

"Since my husband is going east, I will go east on my fifth ascent. If my husband is going west, I will go west on my fifth ascent!"

"Please rest assured, my dear. How could we be ungrateful?"

"I understand your intentions!" Wei Cong nodded. "I'm glad you have this idea. But now that things have come to this, we must consider the interests of our entire group: you, me, him, the soldiers below, the accompanying merchants, and the families left behind in Nanjun. It's not just me alone. So I plan to abandon my official position and flee!"

"Abandon your official position and flee?" Zhao Yannian asked.

"Yes, Luo Hong just told me to wait until the emperor dies and the new emperor ascends the throne, and then grant amnesty to try to escape punishment. But there are too many variables in this matter. Who knows when the emperor will die? The emperor has no biological son, and no one knows who the new emperor will be, so how can we talk about amnesty? Besides, you all know that there are people in Nanjun who wish me dead. They will definitely not sit idly by and watch me escape punishment through amnesty. Not to mention, even if I can escape punishment, I will definitely lose my official position. Instead of that, I might as well just flee!"

"Since my lord is fleeing, I shall follow!" Zhao Yannian said. "Yes, we will follow too!" the others replied in unison. According to the prevailing moral values of the Eastern Han Dynasty, these people were considered Wei Cong's students and former officials, and they were the emperor's subjects. Since Wei Cong had abandoned his official position and fled, they naturally had to follow him.

"You guys can do it, but Yannian doesn't need to. I have other arrangements!" Wei Cong took off the seal from his waist and handed it to Zhao Yannian. "These 800 soldiers and the land of Wubao are what I spent a lot of effort to accumulate. I can't leave them without someone to take charge after I leave. This matter is handed over to you. After I leave, you will temporarily take charge of this army. As for the land and Wubao, I will also write a document to give them to you, but I think someone will give you trouble about this matter. I will write to Han Taishou and Deng Shimao, asking them for help. You must protect this foundation for me, no, for everyone!"

"My dear, please rest assured!" Zhao Yannian gritted his teeth and said, "Even if my life is at stake, I will definitely protect this inheritance and wait for your return!"

"As for you!" Wei Cong turned his gaze to the remaining people: "Huang Ping, I hope you can help me contact merchants and handle some other matters, so you can't leave with me. Otherwise, I'm afraid you will be convicted as a criminal, and many things will be inconvenient in the future!"

"Then I'll wait until the captain's mess is settled before I leave!" Huang Ping said with a smile, "I'll be back home by then. If you need me to do anything, just send someone to let me know!"

"That's good!" Wei Cong nodded with satisfaction: "Please take a letter to Wang Shou for me. I have something to tell him!"

"As ordered!"

"My dear, what about the rest of us?" Diwudeng asked anxiously.

"That's up to you!" Wei Cong raised his hand to stop Diwu Deng from speaking. "I know you're loyal to me, but as I said, staying here is also a form of loyalty. I need my own people to control this army. I also have plans for the future, so I need two of the five of you. The other three will stay. You decide who stays and who leaves!"

Wei Cong's words brought a sudden silence to the room. Diwudeng and the other five looked at each other in bewilderment. Clearly, those who stayed would retain the land, property, official positions, and power granted by Wei Cong; those who followed him would lose what they had already gained and face various dangers. If following Wei Cong could be considered a "disciple-official" relationship, now that the young master himself had said that staying was also a matter of loyalty, wouldn't the choice be simple? But if everyone said they wanted to stay, wouldn't the young master think we were all greedy for comfort?

"Everyone!" Seeing that no one spoke, Wei Cong coughed and said, "You may think that those who stay will have an advantage, but that's not necessarily the case. I can reveal a little about my future plans - I know of an undeveloped copper mine in Yuzhang County!"

"Copper Mountain?"

"Is there a copper mountain in Yuzhang County?"

"Is this true? Where is it in Yuzhang County?"

Everyone's expression suddenly changed. Some were ecstatic, others were skeptical. But everyone shared one thing: shock. For the Chinese before the mid-Ming Dynasty, copper was essentially equivalent to gold and silver, even surpassing it in status: the hardest of hard currencies. Deng Tong became synonymous with wealth in later generations because Emperor Wen of Han granted him a copper mine in Shu and allowed him to mint coins. Minting copper coins was practically a simple endeavor; many minted them privately at the time; the challenge lay in obtaining sufficient copper. Wei Cong's knowledge of the location of a copper mine in Yuzhang County effectively declared him the richest man of his time.

"Excuse me, Captain, how big is that copper mountain?" Zhao Yannian asked carefully.

"How big?" Wei Cong thought for a moment and then replied, "In terms of reserves, it's at least thirty to fifty times that of Tonglu Mountain! It's definitely enough for our generation!"

"Thirty to fifty times?" Diwu Deng smacked his lips. "Doesn't that mean I'm even richer than the emperor?"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Zhao Yannian scolded, "How can you say such things casually?" He turned to Wei Cong and said, "Captain, there is no need for you to let us know this!"

"That's all right!" Wei Cong smiled. "Because of this incident, I've become a sinner, and you who followed me have also become sinners. If we don't give people hope, how many people can endure it? In fact, there are many ways to make money, not just Tongshan. Not to mention other things, after these two battles, the spoils and prisoners captured can be sold to those merchants, which will make at least several million yuan, right? Add to that hundreds of warriors with complete weapons and armor, and with this capital, what can't we do?"

After hearing Wei Cong's words, Diwu Deng and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Wei Cong's meaning was clear: he was going to take most of the fruits of victory from these two battles, including the future Tongshan. In other words, if they followed him to the other two, they would reap the lion's share. Of course, this was to be expected. After all, they would abandon their homes and careers to become criminals, which was a form of compensation. Furthermore, they wouldn't be leaving incognito, but with hundreds of fully armored soldiers. With the imperial court deploying troops in southern Jing and Yuzhang County currently depleted, the likelihood of being apprehended by the authorities was slim. Thus, the pros and cons of leaving and staying were relatively balanced, and both parties felt more balanced.

"When I left, my wife was already pregnant and had a child, so she could follow my husband wholeheartedly!" Wen Sheng was the first to speak: "I'm sorry to trouble you with the family matters!" Having said that, he bowed to everyone.

"That's easy!" Zhao Yannian said, "We will naturally take care of it!"

"I, Liu Jiu, intend to follow you, my dear. Please accept me!"

"Wen Sheng, your wife is pregnant, why are you still going there? Let me take your turn!" Diwudeng said.

……

After some debate, it was finally decided that Diwudeng and Liu Jiu would follow Wei Cong, while the other three would stay behind. Just as Wei Cong was about to order the soldiers to gather and announce his impending departure, to see how many would be willing to follow him, Wen Sheng suddenly said, "Captain, you just said that Tongshan is in Yuzhang County. So, after leaving Baqiu, are you planning to go to Yuzhang County?"

"That's probably it!" Wei Cong didn't say anything final: "What's wrong?"

"Well, aren't there many former Han army deserters among our captives? As far as I know, many of them are from Yuzhang County and are familiar with the local climate and soil. Furthermore, they've already been deserters before, so there's no need to worry about them turning themselves in to the authorities. Why not show them some mercy and recruit them into your service?"

(End of this chapter)