Li Daoxuan watched silently from the sky as the Gao Village militia made their preparations for battle.
Cheng Xu's pre-battle preparations were decent. Li Daoxuan realized he didn't need to intervene much; he could leave it to him.
He should still focus on the county town. Through Liang Shixian and Fang Wushang, he could get faster news.
He tapped his finger on the box where the words "Chengcheng County Town" were written. His perspective instantly shifted back to the county town.
The moment he returned, he saw an interesting scene.
A Ming army unit was entering the county town.
This unit was quite sizable, a full thousand men, all regular troops. They wore the distinctive cloth armor of the Ming army, and many soldiers carried small recurve bows.
Liang Shixian and Fang Wushang immediately went to greet them.
After listening to their exchange, Li Daoxuan gathered that the newcomer was "Guerrilla General Li Ying."
A Guerrilla General was a type of "miscellaneous title general," not a formal position with a fixed rank. It was essentially a temporary appointment to deal with emergencies.
Li Daoxuan didn't need to use his full brainpower; just a bit of the outer layer of his brain told him this guy was probably temporarily appointed to deal with the Guyuan mutiny.
Of course, even without a fixed rank, his status was generally below that of a Regional Commander, roughly equivalent to a "junior third-rank" military officer. To the seventh-rank Magistrate Liang Shixian and the ninth-rank Patrol Officer Fang Wushang, he was a very high-ranking official.
Li Ying wore the haughty air of a high official. "This official is under orders from the Provincial Governor to lead troops to pacify the Guyuan rebels. Passing through Chengcheng County, we will rest here for the night. Whatever good food and drink you have here, bring it all out. My thousand men are here to suppress bandits. Don't let them go hungry."
Liang Shixian replied, "Three years of drought, coupled with Baishui Wang Er's rebellion looting the county granaries, have left Chengcheng County's storehouses empty of grain. I beg your forgiveness, but this humble official cannot provide military provisions."
A flash of anger crossed Li Ying's face.
Damn these civil officials! A mere county magistrate, yet so arrogant!
He was just about to erupt when Fang Wushang beside him suddenly spoke up. "General Li, this humble officer has a question I do not understand. I beg the General's guidance."
Li Ying: "Ask."
Fang Wushang said, "The Guyuan rebels are moving from Guyuan to Xi'an. If General Li wishes to engage them, you should take the route through Jingyang or Fuping counties, heading north. Why has the General instead led his troops to Chengcheng County? Could it be that General Li is intentionally avoiding battle? Leading your men just to make a show for the Provincial Governor?"
These words instantly enraged Li Ying. "How dare you!"
In the sky, Li Daoxuan let out a soft "Huh?" and thought to himself: This Fang Wushang is really bold! You dare ask that directly?
Magistrate Liang actually had a similar thought. As a civil official, he wasn't well-versed in military strategy and hadn't grasped it at first. But once Fang Wushang spoke, Liang Shixian understood and couldn't help but secretly admire him. This patrol officer is formidable, really daring to speak up! If I had thought of this, I'd have mulled it over in my mind first, considering whether I should say it.
This man is brave but lacks cunning!
In that instant, everyone present thought the same thing.
Li Ying's face was extremely unpleasant. On one hand, he felt humiliated being contradicted by a ninth-rank petty military officer. On the other hand, Fang Wushang had hit the mark.
The thousand soldiers under his command looked impressive, but they were actually just ordinary Wei-Suo troops. They might be fine for suppressing bandits, but using them against border troops? He had no idea how they'd die.
Li Ying was apprehensive and wanted to avoid battle.
So, after receiving the order from Provincial Governor Hu Tingyan, he led his thousand soldiers on a detour, avoiding Jingyang and Fuping counties, circling around until he ended up in Chengcheng County.
This place was off the rebels' most likely route, allowing him to effectively avoid battle. At the same time, it wasn't too far from that route. If the rebels proved weak, or if some other变故 (change) occurred, he could still rush to the battlefield to mop them up.
It was a position that allowed him to advance to attack or retreat to flee—a perfect spot.
His plan was clever, but being exposed so bluntly by Fang Wushang naturally made him furious.
"You, a mere ninth-rank patrol officer, how dare you talk nonsense before this General?" Li Ying roared in anger. "This General's divine strategies and military tactics, what does a petty patrol officer like you understand?"
Fang Wushang's neck was stiff as steel. He raised his head. "Then this humble officer boldly asks another question. What is General Li's strategy? Is it to flee east if the rebels are strong, and advance west if they are weak? Chengcheng County truly is a convenient place for advancing and retreating."
Li Ying was furious, one hand moving to the hilt of his sword. "Outrageous! Who the hell do you report to?"
Fang Wushang remained stiff-necked. "This humble officer reports to—"
Beside him, Liang Shixian suddenly sensed something.
Something's off!
Li Ying's tone isn't right. I need to think carefully.
The erudite Liang Shixian immediately activated "human relations and worldly wisdom" mode in his mind. Li Ying's expression, the emotion behind his question, his hand on the sword hilt, the potential consequences of this line of questioning… all spun through his mind like a revolving lantern. Suddenly, ding! His thoughts locked onto one possibility.
Li Ying was preparing to teach someone a lesson. That question was probing Fang Wushang's backing. If Fang Wushang's backing wasn't solid, Li Ying would cut him down on the spot.
This entire chain of thoughts took only an instant. By the time he reached his conclusion, Fang Wushang's sentence "This humble officer reports to—" wasn't even finished; he was two words short of finishing.
Liang Shixian decisively gave a heavy cough, cutting off Fang Wushang. He spoke first: "Officer Fang is this official's friend. We attended lectures together at the Donglin Academy. The scholars at the academy all hold Officer Fang's abilities in high esteem…"
Li Ying hissed softly, moving his hand away from the sword hilt.
Damn it! No wonder this guy talks so brashly. A Donglin mad dog. I can't afford to provoke them. Damned weird, how did this petty ninth-rank patrol officer latch onto the Donglin faction's coattails?
(Ming Context: The Donglin Academy was more than a school; it was the nexus of the powerful Donglin political faction, composed largely of scholar-officials who positioned themselves as moral purists and critics of court corruption. Being labeled a "Donglin" associate, even loosely, carried significant political weight and protection, as well as risk.)
But then, thinking further, he understood. Although the patrol officer position was a ninth-rank military post, at its core, it actually belonged to the civil service system. It was complicated, not something easily explained in a few words.
Li Ying snorted inwardly. Forget it. This county town is no good. Two Donglin mad dogs. I can't do anything comfortably here. Might even get impeached by them, ending up with my pants covered in yellow mud.
"Fine! You win." Li Ying snorted, turned his horse around, and said to his deputy, "Let's go. We're off to deal with the rebels. No time to waste here. The fools here just spout nonsense, only ruining this General's brilliant strategies."
Watching this, Li Daoxuan couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. Interesting. This pair of civil and military oddballs, Liang Shixian and Fang Wushang, actually teamed up once. Tsk tsk tsk, officialdom is truly fascinating.