Chapter 1171: More Than Just the Travelogue Turns the Page
Idle Sword Boats?
The people in the Imperial Study were all somewhat surprised, wondering why the Grandmaster would inquire about this matter as soon as he sat down. They had originally thought that the primary topic for discussion today should be when the Great Li would publicly reveal the Grandmaster's identity, selecting an auspicious day for the court to hold a grand celebration and announce it to the world.
The Great Li Sword Boats and the Mountain Ferries were heavy battlefield assets created through the sincere cooperation between the Great Li Dynasty and the Mohist school, consuming an immense amount of the court's manpower, material resources, and financial power. In recent decades, the Ministry of Works had been able to join the Ministry of War in cursing the Ministry of Revenue, all thanks to these Sword Boats and Ferries.
Those few dry docks were the Great Li's foremost forbidden ground. Even the Patrol Envoys, with the highest military merits, needed layers of approval and verification just to witness the "launching" process of these two "treasured darlings," and required the simultaneous nod and written authorization of the Emperor and Grandmaster Cui Chan. After Cui Chan secretly resigned as Grandmaster, not a single Patrol Envoy had been able to go to the dry docks in recent years. Since even the Patrol Envoys couldn't go, the rest of the capital's and secondary capital's high-ranking officials shouldn't even dream of it.
The Great Li's Earth Branch lineage cultivators had a crucial post-war duty: taking turns guarding those dry docks, guarding against internal thieves and leaks.
Minister of War Shen Chen, a veteran of three reigns, was already an old man in his eighties with failing energy.
When this old minister was still relatively young, he had cursed Grandmaster Cui as an outsider. The old man had never stepped onto a battlefield in his life, yet he held the Ministry of War.
Shen Chen, with both hands resting on his cane, turned his head with a smile and looked at the new Right Vice Minister beside him. Wu Wangcheng was a new face who had only recently qualified to participate in the small court assembly. In his forties, he had been promoted from a prefectural general to Vice Minister. He was someone who had crawled out of piles of dead bodies numerous times, climbing up through the Great Li border army. He had no connection to any of the Pillar State surnames and was a trusted confidant of the Luo King Song Mu.
When he first arrived in the capital on imperial orders, Wu Wangcheng had rented a supposedly extremely haunted mansion at his own expense.
He wasn't very willing to be a capital official. Even during his audience with the Emperor, Wu Wangcheng maintained this distinct attitude, indicating that he preferred to lead troops and fight on the wasteland battlefield.
Generally speaking, being able to use military achievements to become a prefectural general, a feudal lord, then transfer to a capital official and be promoted to Vice Minister, especially a Vice Minister of War, was an unparalleled achievement in the Great Li officialdom—enviable but unattainable. After gaining experience in the central capital's officialdom and the Ministry of War for five or six years, then being sent out to the provinces, a future "beautiful posthumous title" personally approved by the Emperor rather than recommended by the Ministry of Rites was almost guaranteed.
Seeing the old minister just smiling at him, Wu Wangcheng stood up and said, "Reporting to the Grandmaster: At the three dry docks in Yuzhou's Huangtian Marsh, the recently completed ones and those under construction total six vessels. They are scheduled to be dispatched to the wasteland battlefield around the Beginning of Summer next year, along with three Mountain Ferries. When the Sword Boats set off for the wasteland, they can escort the Ferries. The six Sword Boats and three Ferries have already been registered and filed with the Central Earth Confucian Temple."
The Sword Boats and Ferries had not yet been named. By convention, they were named after prefectures. Currently, many places in Great Li were vying for this honor, but Wu Wangcheng wasn't stupid enough to bring this up at today's table.
Chen Ping'an nodded, familiar with the construction cycle of Great Li Sword Boats, and said, "So, as long as there are six idle Sword Boats that can take to the air, that's sufficient."
Wu Wangcheng asked doubtfully, "May I ask the Grandmaster, why the urgency to have the Sword Boats take to the air? Is there some change on the wasteland battlefield? Did the Confucian Temple have a last-minute idea, urgently needing the Sword Boats to reinforce a certain location?"
Since neither Song Changjing nor Song Mu had notified Great Li to mobilize the Sword Boats ahead of time, in Wu Wangcheng's view from the Ministry of War, it could only be an intention from the Central Earth Confucian Temple.
Chen Ping'an raised his hand in a pressing gesture and said with a smile, "Vice Minister Wu, please sit down for the discussion. There's no need to stand and respond. I recall this was an old rule of the small court assembly. Or is it that the veterans have conspired to keep it from you, wanting to see you make a fool of yourself for as long as possible? Hmm, seems like another old rule, just unwritten."
The room burst into laughter.
Both old rules were originally started by Grandmaster Cui back in the day.
Wu Wangcheng honestly said, "It was my first time at the small court assembly, and indeed, I was made a fool of for nearly ten days. It was Minister Zhao who privately told me about these two old rules and reminded me not to stand when answering next time. When I returned to my own Ministry of War and asked Old Minister Shen, he said we had no such corrupt official practice in Great Li. He even earnestly told me that as a new face, courtesy never hurts; first, get familiar, then later when you go to the Ministry of Revenue to beg, maybe Minister Mu, with his high airs, would deign to see you and curse you a bit."
As he spoke, the robust, high-ranking Vice Minister's face flushed red. Nervous!
Minister of Rites Zhao Duanjin, calm and composed, picked up the celadon teacup on the tea table beside him and took a sip.
The dog-eats-dog squabbles between the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue were commonplace and nothing new.
Minister of Revenue Mu Yan immediately looked at the young Grandmaster, whose expression was calm, and said, "You are beggars?! Coming to my Ministry of Revenue to beg?! If the Ministry of War has even a shred of conscience, you wouldn't say such insane nonsense! I'm happy to shut the door on you. If I had any spare change in my pocket, wouldn't I give it to you lot in the Ministry of War first?"
"If you really push me to the wall, next time you, Wu Wangcheng, come to the Ministry of Revenue and falsely claim to be a beggar, right? Then I'll open the door, hold a bowl, and kowtow to you a few times!"
As long as it wasn't a conversation with the Grandmaster, Wu Wangcheng was unafraid in front of Minister Mu. "Then two beggars exchanging New Year's greetings. I'm just a Vice Minister; it's not shameful for me, I even come out ahead."
Chen Ping'an turned his head slightly and looked at the Emperor, who was also enjoying the spectacle, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, when I last participated in discussions, it wasn't like this."
Emperor Song He smiled and said, "The Grandmaster finds it amusing."
Wu Wangcheng sat down again, his mood complicated. He wasn't worried that the new Grandmaster would be generous at others' expense. But if the Great Li Dynasty maintained too close a connection with the Central Earth Confucian Temple, Wu Wangcheng felt there might be problems. Perhaps the Grandmaster had his overall considerations, but for a military man like Wu Wangcheng, the Confucian Temple's meddling felt like putting shackles on the Great Li Iron Cavalry. The Confucian Temple would surely give the Great Li Dynasty some returns, but Wu Wangcheng wondered: would the Great Li Iron Cavalry still be the same Iron Cavalry that dominated the nine continents in both combat power and military merits?
The poets spoke of golden bridles and green steeds with white jade saddles, but Wu Wangcheng sneered at such things.
Wu Wangcheng was very afraid that the Great Li Iron Cavalry would become mere vanguard pawns for the Confucian Temple, mere adornments for the Confucian sages.
Probably neither the Emperor nor the roomful of Great Li ministers, nor even the young Grandmaster, would think that a single question could lead a Ministry of War Vice Minister to think so deeply and complexly.
Wu Wangcheng's resume was completely different from everyone else in the room attending the small court assembly. He had fought all the way with the Great Li Iron Cavalry to the center of Bottle Gourd Continent, to Old Dragon City, a border army general who had ridden along the coast. Then he had fought and retreated all the way back to the secondary capital battlefield. He had led troops under Su Gaoshan, Cao Ping, and the vassal king Song Mu. It wasn't that Wu Wangcheng was arrogant, but to be honest, everyone present had made great contributions to Great Li, but they only knew on paper about the ferocity and brutality of the wasteland yao race army. So he dared to say that although he held the lowest official position and had the least seniority today, he was the one who knew best how arduous, tragic, and bitter the battle at the Sword Qi Great Wall had been.
Wu Wangcheng hesitated several times, wanting to say something out of place but afraid his vision was too short and he might offend this young man, the last Hidden Officer who had presided over the war at the Sword Qi Great Wall.
The Vice Minister had to grip the armrest of the chair tightly, silently telling himself not to rush, to wait and see.
He would find a chance to boldly speak his heart to the Grandmaster.
Chen Ping'an seemed to change the subject casually and asked, "After sending out that state letter, how was it? Were there any who made excuses not to come?"
South of the Great River, half of Bottle Gourd Continent had established or restored their own states, breaking away from the former suzerain, the Great Li Dynasty. Among them, some courts and immortal sect schools wanted to remove the stone tablets that Great Li had placed on all immortal mountains. During the last discussion, the high-ranking mountain and river gods of Bottle Gourd Continent had all been present. At that time, the Southern Mountain Lord Fan Junmao had given a list that someone had judged as "light in weight and few in names."
The instigators were the Longhong Dynasty, with a foundation similar to the Huangting Kingdom, and the Windhorn Mountain, which had only one Nascent Soul patriarch guarding its dojo.
Soon after, the Great Li Ministry of Rites and Ministry of War jointly issued a state letter, inviting the Ministers of Rites from various states and prestigious immortal masters to come to the Great Li capital to discuss the matter.
This state letter, which definitely didn't conform to Great Li's old system, also spared no ink in listing over sixty state and immortal sect names in their entirety.
The calligraphy was in the extremely beautiful Great Li Imperial Academy style, clearly from the hand of Minister of Rites Zhao Duanjin. But the content of the text was extremely murderous.
Vice Minister of Rites Dong Hu quietly cleared his throat and immediately reported, "Not only did they all come, but they arrived one after another, checking in at the Court of State Ceremonies before the agreed date. Not a single one was missing. In addition, there were over thirty people not on the list who came voluntarily to show goodwill to our Great Li court. Some were from coastal areas wanting to establish high-standard maritime trade offices for easier sea trade with Great Li. Some came up with excuses about remnant yao fiends causing trouble in their territories, claiming their national strength was insufficient to deal with them, and wanting Great Li to send a garrison to maintain peace in the mountains. There were even a few small states that actively wanted to become vassals of Great Li."
The old Vice Minister noticed that the young Grandmaster seemed somewhat disappointed, but he couldn't tell if the Grandmaster thought the Ministry of Rites had been too lackluster in handling this or regretted that those fellows hadn't given Great Li an opportunity.
Minister of Justice Ma Yuan asked with a smile, "Grandmaster, regarding the realm of the Luoshan Mountain guest elder 'Xi Zhu,' does the Ministry of Justice's Secret Records Department need to update their files?"
Chen Ping'an nodded and said, "Just add 'Fourteen Realm' in parentheses after what I provided in the earlier booklet."
Ma Yuan asked, "And what about the Grandmaster himself? Does our Ministry of Justice need to supplement the information?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head and said, "No need. Currently, I'm still in the Immortal realm. Once I break through to the Ascension realm, then we can talk. At that time, add the Green Lotus Sword Sect as well, and summarize it all for filing."
Ma Yuan nodded with a smile. Chen Ping'an had previously taken the initiative to provide a booklet giving a rough overview of the Luoshan Mountain's assets.
At the time, the guest elder "Xi Zhu" and the transformed "Xie Gou," who used Bai Jing as her alias, were not noted for their realms as yao sword cultivators.
During the last discussion here, Chen Ping'an was still in the Nascent Soul realm.
In the previous discussions, many matters had been set in motion by the Great Li court, with no one daring to take them lightly.
It was both the young Grandmaster's "three fires upon taking office" and the formulation of policies related to the court's lifeline and the situation of the entire Bottle Gourd Continent. It was also a brand new examination! Everyone knew that the examiner and chief examiner setting and grading the test was the new Grandmaster.
For example, there were new rules for a series of promotions and transfers of mountain and river gods. Also, for Cloud Gorge Mountain, the Spring Palace, Old Dragon City, and a few other candidate sects, the Great Li court had been secretly operating behind the scenes during this period to help them, within the Confucian Temple's rules, find opportunities to be promoted to full sects, removing the "candidate" designation. For instance, on the wasteland battlefield, several groups of accompanying army cultivators had been sent to the front lines.
The newly appointed Qiantang River Elder was Cen Wenqian, who had been promoted multiple times in a row in the mountain and river officialdom, dazzling and astonishing everyone.
Although Wu Yun hadn't "naturally" filled the vacant position of Qiantang River Elder as expected, her divine position and golden body had been enhanced. This water god, known for her violent temper across the continent, had her territory expanded and served as the second-in-command of the Qiantang River Residence, assisting Cen Wenqian in managing the Qiantang River waters. Rumors were already circulating that before long, Wu Yun would still be the Qiantang River Elder, while Cen Wenqian was aiming directly for the "Earl" of the Great River. When listeners asked why, the speaker would simply point a finger at the sky.
There was a small episode in between: one matter was temporarily changed. The inspection period for mountain and river gods within the Great Li Dynasty was extended from the overly short ten-year term to a more relaxed and reasonable thirty years.
As for those mountain and river gods in the southern part of the continent who had been classified as "illicit shrines" by the Great Li court and subjected to punishment of mountain destruction and temple dismantling—there were many of them—because they had come to the capital to discuss the retention of mountain top inscriptions, many southern gods who had been secretly "re-canonized" as orthodox by local courts, with newly built temples and restored golden bodies, were all reduced back to their original state overnight. The court temporarily stripped them of their hard-won orthodox status. The reason was consistent: the Great Li Ministry of Rites said—implicitly, of course—that the Great Li court had originally planned to actively communicate with various states to restore the divine positions of some suppressed gods, allowing them to atone for their mistakes. But some courts and immortal sects were making a big fuss about removing those stone tablets. Since matters had priorities, the Great Li side naturally had to deal with this first before discussing further. As for the specific date, that would be decided later.
Coincidentally, the Southern Mountain was preparing a Night Tour Banquet. Many southern immortal families learned from the Cai Zhi Mountain, the Southern Mountain's crown prince mountain, and its mountain lord Wang Juan, a seemingly vague answer that in official circles was as good as an open statement: indeed, it was so.
This news spread quickly. The mountain and river gods in the southern states who had regained their golden bodies and rebuilt their temples began to re-read the sixty-some "names" on the Great Li state letter. "Fine, fine, you bastards with nothing better to do—you've doomed us to become illicit shrines again, haven't you?"
This caused the entire mountain and river officialdom of Bottle Gourd Continent, along with the court and immortal sects, to be in a state of undercurrent turbulence, with blades clashing but no blood drawn.
Chen Ping'an turned to look at Emperor Song He and took the initiative to say, "According to Great Li ceremonial regulations, when successive Grandmasters resign, their old seals must be handed over to the Ministry of Works for destruction. I'll keep Cui Chan's seal. When I no longer serve as Grandmaster, both official seals will be destroyed together. As for my office and residence in the capital, let them remain as they are. Your Majesty, what say you?"
Song He smiled and nodded, "The Grandmaster may decide on this matter himself."
The official seal of Chen Ping'an, the Great Li Grandmaster, had already been made. It was no small matter, with many meticulous rules and regulations. The Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory chose the date, the Emperor wrote the inaugural script, and the Ministry of Works selected the seal material and engraved it. In addition, the Five Mountain Lords of Bottle Gourd Continent, the Duke, Marquis, and Earl of the Great River, and the civil and military temples of the Capital City God had their own "process" procedures.
As for the old seal of Grandmaster Cui Chan, it had been sitting on that table for all these years.
Since Chen Ping'an was both Cui Chan's junior brother and the new Grandmaster, who dared to say anything if he didn't raise the issue?
Song He was actually quite curious about one thing.
That great scholar, the first disciple of the Sage of Sages, had personally recommended Chen Ping'an as a noble of the academy, but the Central Earth Confucian Temple had rejected it.
Rumor had it—just rumor—that Secretary Mao Xiaodong of the Rites and Music Academy had said Chen Ping'an had no experience lecturing at an academy, no works to his name, and had never personally killed any yao on the Bottle Gourd Continent battlefield. As such, how could the Confucian Temple grant him a noble title? Not to mention a noble; even a worthy status would be inappropriate—it went against the rites.
And the old man in charge at the Confucian Temple, who managed the Haoran order, just stroked his beard and said, "Makes sense, makes sense."
Then the old scholar suddenly said, "Ah, but at the Spring Mountain Academy of the Great Li Dynasty, Mountain Lord Chen did serve as a temporary lecturer, specifically teaching the art of attack and defense in military strategy. And the Pine Snow Hall in Mianzhou, established and managed directly by the Ministry of War, seems to have invited Chen Ping'an to be an associate lecturer or hall master."
Unexpectedly, Mao Xiaodong simply retorted, "Then let's wait until he officially teaches at Spring Mountain Academy—not as a temporary lecturer—and becomes a master at Pine Snow Hall before we talk."
The old scholar stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and said only, "Alright, let's discuss it another time."
The girl in a sable hat with two bright red cheek patches stood by the wall in the corridor outside the Imperial Study, acting as her mountain lord's temporary bodyguard and attendant.
Opposite her, the Directorate of Ceremonial chief eunuch, clad in a vermilion python robe, had frost-white hair and a fair complexion. He kept his hands folded over his abdomen, his gaze straight ahead, his breathing long and steady.
He stood at the door, leaning against the wall. The distance between his python robe and the wall had been exactly one foot for many years, never off by a hair.
The "girl" kept staring at him. Even the chief eunuch, who wasn't blind, noticed her staring blankly at him.
As the most powerful of the Great Li eunuchs, he knew many inside stories.
What made this most memorable about her, aside from her string of Daoist titles, was the uniqueness of her dojo.
Her yao root as a yao sword cultivator was actually the least important detail that could be overlooked.
Xie Gou sent a voice transmission: "I came last time, we've met. You remember, right?"
The old chief eunuch was inevitably embarrassed, since there was only a wall separating them, and His Majesty was discussing state affairs with the Grandmaster and a host of court ministers and heavyweights.
But pretending to be deaf and dumb wasn't appropriate either. The chief eunuch had to use concentrated sound to reply in a secret whisper, "Vice Head Xie, my duty prevents me from speaking here. To be honest, even these two sentences must be recorded verbatim."
Xie Gou asked, "Was that rule established by Grandmaster Cui?"
The chief eunuch nodded slightly.
Xie Gou said, "Then whatever I say, will it also be recorded in the files?"
The chief eunuch nodded.
Xie Gou's eyes lit up, and she continued with a mental whisper, "Old sir, just listen. I'll say more!"
Ever since she learned she was a good hand at writing mountain and river travelogues, Vice Head Xie had become especially energetic.
The eunuch, addressed as "Old sir," was visibly taken aback. Though he didn't speak, he smiled and shook his head slightly.
The sable-hat girl asked a series of questions without pause, "Old sir, is it difficult to publish books by block printing in our Great Li these days? I don't mean the official court editions, of course—I know my own worth, I don't dare aspire to that. I'm asking about private bookshops printing books and booksellers selling them. Are there any prohibitions from the court? Are local officials strict? Do I need to secretly pay off the officials in charge to smooth things over?"
The chief eunuch was momentarily speechless. What on earth was this all about?
Was this Ascension realm sword cultivator serving as a second-rank guest elder at Luoshan Mountain really so bored that she was using him for amusement?
Xie Gou looked a bit anxious. "The palace has many rules, Old sir, and you're so by-the-book. You don't have to speak—just nod or shake your head to indicate yes or no, okay?"
The old man could only give a silent smile.
Xie Gou pulled a booklet from her sleeve, walked over to him, and said, "Old sir, if you won't speak, at least take a look. Then you'll know I'm not joking. I'm a proper scholar who can really write a travelogue. Take a look?"
The sable-hat girl indeed held the book in both hands and opened the pages.
The chief eunuch felt helpless, thinking the whole thing was absurd. That he should come to this!
Nevertheless, the old man lowered his head and looked at the opening content of the travelogue. He wanted to see what this great yao who had inexplicably switched allegiance from the wasteland to Luoshan Mountain was really up to.
"The second day of the month. Last night I consulted the almanac, which indicated it was auspicious for travel. There was a late spring chill, but fortunately the sky cleared. I descended the mountain with dear friends, one bamboo staff and one bamboo hat, straw sandals on my feet, my heart set on the Dao, amidst drifting clouds and mist, free and unfettered. After walking twenty li slowly, I passed the boundary of Qingping Prefecture. Seeing the collapsed boundary marker by the roadside, I stopped to make a rubbing of the inscription. It was truly difficult to steady my Dao heart. In the past twenty years, mountains and rivers have sunk, floods, droughts, locust plagues, and warfare have followed one after another without cease. The lives of common folk below the mountains are less than grass and weeds, and even in the mountains, peace is hard to speak of."
"In the blink of an eye, twenty-some years have passed like sparks from flint and flashes of lightning. How dare we not cherish our Dao practice? How dare we not accumulate our Dao power?"
"The city was desolate, the markets quiet, the faces of people on the streets mostly sallow. Ten li out of the city, we rested at a small post station. Thirty li on, we walked along the lake shore, the willows swaying gracefully. Walking in the shade of green, we crossed a dividing ridge and followed a sacred path up the mountain. A Daoist temple in the mountains was dilapidated; we went in to borrow a stove and cook a meal. After eating, we climbed to the summit for a view and saw a vast expanse of lake, with Qingping Prefecture lying right beneath our eyes. Suddenly, wind and clouds arose, spreading and obscuring everything. I recalled the old days, when traveling on foot was quite bitter, often unable to see human smoke. Witnessing wolves, tigers, leopards, strange birds, exotic beasts, and fearsome mountain spirits and water monsters became a common occurrence..."
After patiently reading a page of the travelogue, the old man suddenly understood. He thought to himself what fine literary talent the young Grandmaster had—worthy of being called both literary and substantive. Indeed, the junior brother of Grandmaster Cui.
Xie Gou freed one hand to rub her sable hat and grinned to herself, "This is the third draft, painstakingly polished word by word. Our mountain lord only made minor revisions, not much polishing."
The old man smiled without saying anything. The sable-hat girl looked at him expectantly. "Old sir, how's the literary style? Can you see the skill beneath the simplicity?"
The old man said nothing, just slightly tilted his head. Xie Gou asked, puzzled, "What does that mean?"
The old man could only whisper a reminder, "Turn the page."
Xie Gou felt reassured and immediately turned the page.
"Early morning on the third day. I hiked down the mountain. Over a hundred li, I stopped at Yang's Shop for a brief rest. I bought dry rations from the locals, spending eight cents of silver. I crossed the Immortal-Meeting Bridge. A sudden rain fell, making the road muddy. After walking fifteen li, I reached the Mute Shoal. The rain stopped and the sky cleared. I took a boat and traveled by night. Fellow passengers on the boat delighted in telling ghost stories..."
The old man endured and then broke his rule again to speak: "Miss Xie, the line on the first page about 'stopping to make a rubbing of the inscription on the boundary marker'—did the Grandmaster add that on his own?"
Xie Gou was stunned on the spot. She felt both guilty and admiring. "Old sir, your insight is profound! You could spot that at a glance?! Alas, our mountain lord added an unnecessary flourish!"
The old man smiled without exposing her or explaining anything. Making rubbings of inscriptions was indeed an elegant pursuit for a scholar, but the problem was: why would one make a rubbing of a roadside boundary marker?
After that, every time the old man tilted his head, the sable-hat girl would turn the page. The old man occasionally offered a few comments. After about half the travelogue booklet,
Xie Gou suddenly closed the book, tossed it back into her sleeve, crouched against the wall, rubbing her sable hat, morose. "I see it now. You, old sir, are also a sly bird—the kind who sees through but doesn't say it. You've been secretly laughing at me all along, haven't you?"
The old man hesitated for a moment, then actually crouched down as well, shook his head, and smiled. "I genuinely wasn't laughing at you, Miss Xie."
Xie Gou chuckled. "Because you know my realm? Afraid I'll hold a grudge and stab you with my sword?"
The old man said, "Because Miss Xie mistook me for a scholar, and you are the first person to call me 'Old sir.'"
Xie Gou let out a "Hey." "Sure enough, you're a scholar. Even such a small thing you have to fuss over and keep in your heart."
The chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial quickly stood up again.
Today, what was "turning the page" wasn't just that travelogue—it was our Great Li Dynasty, and the entire Bottle Gourd Continent.
Inside the room, Chen Ping'an asked, "After Lord Guan passed away, the position of Minister of Personnel has been vacant. Does the court have any candidates?"
This question was far too big. It should either be spoken by His Majesty personally or the two Vice Ministers of Personnel would explain the general situation.
Chen Ping'an cradled his teacup in both hands and suddenly changed the subject: "Regarding the situation in the vassal state of Qiu within Hanzhou, it's been dragging on for so long. Have you all come up with any conclusions? Let me hear them—I could use the education."
Old Minister Shen Chen, who had seemed to be dozing, raised his head but said nothing. Vice Minister Wu Wangcheng wanted to speak, but the corner of his eye caught the old minister's slight head shake.
The Grandmaster had asked a question, and the Ministry of War said nothing. The room immediately fell into a tense silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Among the single-character states of Bottle Gourd Continent, not to mention the "dynastic surnames" that rose and fell like actors on a stage south of the Great River—where one might sit on the dragon throne today and be a prisoner tomorrow—in the north, the Great Li's vassal states could be counted on one hand. What Chen Ping'an had discussed earlier with Wei Bo was precisely this Qiu State, where the queen dowager had just ended her regency and handed power to the new monarch.
The young prince Han E of Qiu, fourteen years old, was the king's full brother. Accompanying him to the suzerain Great Li's capital to "court death" was Minister of Rites Liu Wenjin, who was said to enjoy reading frontier poems by lamplight and knew a bit of swordsmanship.
Emperor Song He was the first to break the silence, saying, "This matter is not the fault of anyone present. It was my intention to wait until the Grandmaster appeared publicly before settling this matter along with the selection of the Minister of Personnel."
Chen Ping'an didn't even glance at Emperor Song He. He gently set down his teacup, his brows sharp and fierce as he stared at the assembled civil and military heavyweights, saying slowly:
"Have the Ministries of War and Justice immediately submit a detailed list. Within the vassal state of Qiu, from the queen dowager, the monarch, court ministers, and border army commanders, down to so-called literary celebrities, martial heroes, and immortal sect factions in the mountains—record every single one who is determined to fight. No limit on numbers."
"If no such list is prepared? Fine. Then I'll sit here today and wait until those rice bags in your two ministries are ready."
With that, the young Grandmaster squinted, seeming to mutter to himself, "A tiny vassal state like Qiu, causing chaos, also worthy of being discussed on the same agenda as selecting the Minister of Personnel of our Great Li?"