Chapter 37: A Generous Reward!

Inside the tent, the candlelight flickered, and the officers looked at one another in bewilderment.

"Official rations?" a centurion asked, puzzled. "So that’s why the Tatars looted them? But why would eating official rations cause poisoning?"

"Could it be that they weren't used to our local food and water?" another sneered. "Our rice and flour are too much for the Tatars to handle?"

Laughter erupted throughout the tent.

Just then, a personal guard outside announced in a loud voice: "Report! Hu Dayong from Tielin Fort requests an audience!"

Chen Yuanshan waved his hand: "Let him in."

Hu Dayong strode into the tent, cupped his hands, and saluted: "General, I am here under the orders of Banner Commander Lin to report on the bandit suppression at Green Sheep Mountain."

"Green Sheep Mountain?" Centurion Zhou Zhen frowned. "Green Sheep Mountain is far from Tielin Fort, and it’s not under the jurisdiction of the Border Army! Suppressing bandits is a task for the Prefectural Army. What nonsense is this!"

Hu Dayong did not argue, but chuckled: "Centurion Zhou, that is a long story..."

"Then tell it slowly!" Pang Dabiao interjected.

Hu Dayong pulled a document from his tunic and respectfully handed it over: "This is the bandit suppression report written by Banner Commander Lin himself. Please, General, have a look."

Chen Yuanshan took the document and unfolded it to read carefully. The officers held their breath, watching the general’s eyes track across the page. At first, his expression remained normal, but suddenly his pupils constricted: "How audacious!"

The tent fell into a deathly silence. The officers looked at each other, wondering what could have been written in the document to provoke such fury from the General. Yet, in the blink of an eye, Chen Yuanshan froze. He stared at a certain paragraph three times before looking up. "This… whose idea was this?"

Hu Dayong gave an honest grin: "Aside from our Banner Commander Lin, who else could come up with such a wicked scheme?"

"A fine fellow, that Lin Chuan!" Chen Yuanshan suddenly slapped the table, laughing wildly, causing the command arrows on the desk to tremble. "Damn it! So that's how it is!"

The officers were filled with curiosity: "General, what is so amusing?"

Chen Yuanshan handed the document to Pang Dabiao: "Read the latter part aloud for everyone to hear."

Pang Dabiao took the document, cleared his throat, and read in a loud voice: "...The bandits of Green Sheep Mountain looted official rations and traded them with the Tatars. To eliminate future trouble, this officer led a team disguised as bandits, mixing rat poison, arsenic, and other substances into the grain before trading it... If the Tatar army consumes this grain, they will suffer, at the very least, a reduction in manpower, or at worst, chaos in their camps..."

Pang Dabiao stopped there. The tent was dead silent, save for the crackling of the brazier. Hu Dayong, not understanding the officers' reaction, added: "Banner Commander Lin originally wanted to recover the military rations, but he had no other choice, so he took a desperate gamble... I just didn't know if the scheme would work..."

The officers in the tent burst into boisterous laughter. Hu Dayong was even more confused: "Why are you gentlemen laughing?"

General Chen’s eyes flashed with brilliance as he said to Pang Dabiao: "Read the secret report on the Blood Wolf Tribe to him."

Pang Dabiao picked up the secret letter from the table and read aloud: "...The chiliarch Wuliangha and two centurions have died suddenly, bleeding from all seven orifices..."

Hu Dayong’s eyes widened in disbelief: "This... is it true?!"

General Chen laughed: "More than that! It is precisely because of the internal chaos in the Blood Wolf Tribe that Chiliarch Zhao was able to pursue them and achieve a complete victory!"

"In that case, half of my military merit belongs to Banner Commander Lin!" Zhao Tieying laughed heartily.

Hu Dayong was overwhelmed with surprise and delight, unable to speak for a moment. General Chen looked around at his officers and said loudly: "Gentlemen, this scheme of Lin Chuan’s made the Tatars reap what they sowed and won a tactical advantage for our army! Tell me, does he not deserve a great reward?"

The officers in the tent shouted one after another: "He deserves it! He deserves a grand reward!"

Chen Yuanshan raised his hand to quiet the clamor, his burning gaze fixed on Hu Dayong. "Go back to Tielin Fort and tell Lin Chuan: he is rewarded with thirty sets of elite armor, a hundred catties of official salt, and ten carts of premium rice!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Dayong dropped to his knees with a thud: "Thank you for the reward, General!"

Chen Yuanshan chuckled, picked up the gilded tiger tally from his desk, weighed it in his palm, his eyes glittering: "And tell him this: if he can rank in the top ten in the Border Army Grand Examination, I will promote him to Centurion!"

Hu Dayong looked up sharply, a flicker of craftiness in his eyes: "General, and if he ranks in the top five?"

The officers in the tent were in an uproar. The Border Army Grand Examination was the grand event of the sixteen Northern Frontier Garrisons! Beyond the competition of the eighteen martial arts, the highlight was the squad matches. Each unit sent a five-man formation to fight with real blades and spears on the drill ground. In last year's exam, the Xilong Garrison sent three teams, and the best they achieved was fifth place. But since the Xilong Garrison was a cavalry battalion, achieving that rank in foot combat was already quite an accomplishment.

"Eh?" Chen Yuanshan raised an eyebrow and scolded with a smile, pointing at Hu Dayong: "Big-head Hu, you've only been with Lin Chuan for a few days, how have you learned to boast so loudly?"

Hu Dayong scratched his head and grinned: "General, Banner Commander Lin often says, 'A soldier without courage might as well go home and farm.'"

Chen Yuanshan was stunned for a moment, then burst into loud laughter: "Good! A fine saying: 'A soldier without courage might as well go home and farm'!"

He slammed his hand on the desk: "Then I’ll add one more condition: if Lin Chuan truly ranks in the top five, not only will I make him a Centurion, but I will also grant him the special privilege to form his own battalion!"

The officers in the tent gasped. A self-formed battalion! That was a privilege even many chiliarchs could not obtain. In a sense, this meant allowing Lin Chuan to build an elite force within Tielin Fort that would stand on equal footing with the personal guard battalion.

Pang Dabiao looked delighted, but Zhao Tieying’s expression was somewhat uneasy. Zhou Zhen subconsciously touched his waist token and muttered: "A self-formed battalion... wouldn't that mean he could independently allocate ordnance and rations?"

"What? Any objections?" Chen Yuanshan scanned the room, taking in all their reactions, his gaze finally resting on Hu Dayong. "Tell Lin Chuan, I am giving him this opportunity; it is up to him to see if he has the ability to seize it!"

Hu Dayong’s eyes lit up, and he immediately kowtowed heavily: "On behalf of Banner Commander Lin, I thank you, General!"

Chen Yuanshan waved his hand: "Get out of here! Tell that lad, don't just rely on his glib tongue—let him prove his worth at the Grand Examination!"

"Understood!" Hu Dayong grinned, cupped his hands, and withdrew.

Outside the tent, the northern wind howled, sweeping dust across the encampment. Hu Dayong mounted his horse and galloped off in the direction of Tielin Fort.

The officers left the tent one after another, their footsteps fading into the distance. Pang Dabiao remained last. Once everyone was gone, he stepped forward and lowered his voice: "General, Lin Chuan mentioned in the document that Magistrate Qin and Merchant Zhang are colluding in secret to traffic military grain..."

Chen Yuanshan’s expression turned as sharp as a blade. He rose slowly, walked to the tent entrance, and gazed at the desolate border in the distance for a long time.

"When our Great Qian Dynasty was founded, three thousand armored cavalry could sweep across the northern desert..."

"During the reign of the Founding Emperor, the border army marched eight hundred miles beyond the pass, and the wolf-tribes trembled at the mere mention of them..."

"But now, these parasites!!" Chen Yuanshan suddenly punched the thick timber of the tent frame. "Eating the court's salary, drinking the blood of soldiers, and now they dare to collude with the enemy!" His eyes were bloodshot. "How many of my old brothers who charged into battle with me died outside the pass with empty stomachs..."

His voice cut off abruptly. Chen Yuanshan drew a deep breath, his chest heaving violently. When he spoke again, his tone was calm: "Write a memorial... send it up in a sealed box." The final sentence was as soft as a sigh. "After all, we are the Border Army; it is not our place to comment on the problems of local officials..."

In the distance, the horns of the sentries changing guard sounded—long, desolate, and mournful, as if playing a dirge for this declining dynasty.

...

Thirty sets of elite armor, a hundred catties of official salt, ten carts of premium rice!

The rewards from General Chen arrived in Tielin Fort by noon the next day in a grand procession. Under the sunlight, the brand-new iron armor gleamed with a cold, sharp light, the official salt was as white as frost, and the rice bags were stacked as high as a small hill.

The entire Tielin Fort was in a frenzy!

"Serve the meal!" Following Lin Chuan’s order, smoke rose from the cooking fires. The large pots were filled with steaming white rice—a reward from the General, and even the auxiliary troops had a share! The villagers stood in a long line, their hands trembling as they held their coarse ceramic bowls. Who would have thought that in their entire lives, they would ever be able to eat a meal of white rice following Banner Commander Lin?

Lin Chuan watched the people wolfing down their food, a faint smile on his lips. Suddenly, a long whistle sounded from afar.

"There is activity at Liugou Beacon!" the auxiliary soldier on the lookout tower shouted at the top of his lungs.