Chapter 45: The Military Merit is Yours, the Silver is Mine

Pang Dabiao snapped out of his daze.

He drew his saber with a swift motion.
"Charge! Of course we charge! Kill—"

However, by the time they reached the battlefield, they realized there was no longer any need for their valor.

The ground was littered with mutilated corpses. Every surviving Tartar had received a finishing blow, and even those begging for mercy on their knees had been spared no quarter. The combat troops of Iron Forest Fortress had already begun clearing the field.

Some were severing heads to record their merits, others were pillaging the spoils of war, and a few were spitting onto the corpses of the Tartars.

"This—this isn't a dream, is it?"
Pang Dabiao's hand holding the saber trembled slightly.

Having campaigned for half his life, when had he ever witnessed such a crushing, thunderous victory?

Lin Chuan walked over at a leisurely pace and patted him on the shoulder. "Brother Pang, thank you for holding the rear."
He gestured toward the mouth of the valley. "Those wagons and female dependents will still have to trouble you to escort back to the fortress."

Only then did Pang Dabiao notice that right at the outbreak of the explosions, auxiliary soldiers had quietly slipped around to the rear, taking control of the panic-stricken female dependents and the supply carts.

From beginning to end, the entire ambush had taken no more than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

"Commander, the counting is done!"
Hu Dayong trotted over, his voice trembling with excitement.
"One hundred and three Tartars, not a single one escaped!"

"And the warhorses?"
"Most were killed or wounded. The remaining ones with light injuries that can still be used number about twenty."

"Not bad!" Lin Chuan nodded. "Our casualties?"
"Three lightly wounded." Hu Dayong grinned broadly. "Just superficial grazes. Oh right, and some unlucky fellow sprained his ankle during the charge; he's sitting on the ground right now, cursing away."

Pang Dabiao and his personal guards, standing nearby, exchanged bewildered glances.
This battle-hardened company commander was momentarily at a loss for what to do. The guards behind him were even more struck dumb with astonishment.

"Brother Lin..."
Pang Dabiao swallowed hard. "With divine weapons like these, why didn't you let the General take a look first? If the General knew you had such marvelous things..."

"Brother Pang, you don't understand."
Lin Chuan pointed to the charred marks left by the explosions.
"Out of ten of these stones, if you manage to carve three successful ones, you're doing well. Today was also their first real combat test; the formula is still being refined."

He paused, cupped his fists, and said, "I hope Brother Pang can keep this a secret for me for now. Once they are refined and perfected, I will present them to the General myself."

Pang Dabiao raised a thick brow and rubbed the stubble on his chin.
"How do you expect me to keep this secret?"
He pointed to the corpses covering the ground. "A force of just over thirty people completely annihilated a hundred-man unit. When a military achievement like this is reported upward, how can the General not ask questions? When the Bureau of Military Merits comes to investigate, you won't be able to hide it either!"

"That's why..."
Lin Chuan stepped half a step closer, a shrewd glint flashing in his eyes.
"This military achievement was won by you, Brother Pang, leading your personal guards. My Iron Forest Fortress soldiers merely provided auxiliary assistance. It is entirely logical that you led an elite company of personal guards, coordinating with my thirty combat soldiers, to slaughter the Tartars, isn't it?"

"Nonsense!" Pang Dabiao's face turned red, his bristly beard twitching with anger.
"No matter how shameless Pang Dabiao might be, I could never steal someone else's credit! If this gets out, how could I ever show my face in the army again?"

"Brother Pang!"
Lin Chuan hooked his arm around Pang Dabiao's shoulders, lowering his voice further.
"The military merit belongs to you, the silver belongs to me. Look at these five large carts of spoils..."
He nodded toward the heavily laden wagons in the distance.
"They are all good things looted from the Zhang family, and they can't be safely stored in Iron Forest Fortress anyway! I'll keep one wagon, and you can haul the rest back to the main camp. That wealthy landowner Zhang won't be able to come looking to me for them, right?"

"You rascal!"
Pang Dabiao slapped Lin Chuan on the back. "You're trying to use the General as a human shield? Making the General take the blame for you?"

Lin Chuan smiled without answering, merely giving a gentle wink.
The two men looked at each other for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing in unison.

The combat soldiers not far away looked over curiously, wondering what the two commanders were laughing about.
Only Zhang Xiaonian squatted on the ground, slicing off a Tartar's head while curling his lips in secret.
Whenever the commander smiled like that, nothing good ever came of it.

"However..."
Pang Dabiao abruptly收起笑容 withdrew his smile, turning serious. "This matter can't be hidden for long. The General isn't a fool; sooner or later, he'll see through it."

"There's no need to hide it from the General; we just need to hide it from the Bureau of Military Merits. If we can keep it from the Bureau of Military Merits, we can keep it from Minister Wang of the Ministry of Revenue..."
Lin Chuan said, "Once the stone mines are improved, the combat effectiveness of the border troops will multiply several times over."

Pang Dabiao drew a sharp breath.
He suddenly realized that the plans of the young man before him were far more far-reaching than he had ever imagined.
He opened his mouth, but in the end, he merely gave Lin Chuan's shoulder a heavy pat.
"Damn it, I've truly had my eyes opened today!"

He sighed. "In that case, I'll submit a fabricated report of military exploits just this once!"

The setting sun cast long shadows of the two men.
Behind them, the cleanup of the battlefield continued.
Some soldiers hummed little tunes, while others discussed the battle that had just concluded. A few were already counting heads and calculating how much bounty silver they would receive.

Upon returning to Iron Forest Fortress and registering the military exploits, Pang Dabiao left behind half of the chests filled with gold and jewels.
Taking the remaining valuables, provisions, and over a hundred Tartar heads, he returned to the main border army camp.

To help him build momentum, Lin Chuan dispatched thirty combat soldiers and fifty auxiliary troops to accompany him all the way. Only after seeing them safely into the main camp did they return to Iron Forest Fortress together.
As for how Pang Dabiao exaggerated the battle into an earth-shattering victory, Lin Chuan no longer cared.

At the hour of midnight,
the drill ground of Iron Forest Fortress was as bright as day.
Dozens of pine torches crackled and popped, illuminating the entire training field.

Crowds ringed the center three layers deep, their gazes fixed entirely on several large camphor-wood chests.
The lids were flung wide open, and the gleaming white government silver emitted an alluring luster under the firelight.

"All combat and auxiliary soldiers who participated in the Gourd Valley ambush, line up to receive your rewards!"
Hu Dayong stood atop one of the chests, his bronze-bell voice making people's eardrums vibrate.
"Combat soldiers will receive exactly what is recorded in the merit ledger, not a single coin less! As for the auxiliaries..."
He paused, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Five taels of silver for each man!"

"Five taels?!"
A gasp of astonishment exploded through the crowd.
The auxiliary soldiers responsible for digging pits and burying mines looked at each other in disbelief, unable to trust their own ears.
Originally, they had thought getting a free meal out of it would be good enough; when had they ever dreamed of actually receiving silver?

"What the hell are you all standing around like fools for?"
Hu Dayong cursed loudly. "If you don't want silver, you don't need to line up!"

"We want it! We want it!"
Only then did the auxiliary soldiers snap out of their trance, surging like a tidal wave toward the end of the line.
One man tripped in his haste, but ignoring the pain, he scrambled back up and squeezed straight into the thick of the crowd.

The line of combat soldiers had already formed a long, winding dragon.
These rugged men stretched out their necks, their eyes locked intently ahead.
Goudan stood at the very front of the line, his dark, weathered face filled with anticipation.
He had personally severed the head of a Tartar centurion today, and he wondered how many taels of silver he would be awarded.
He had heard that a regular head was worth ten taels of silver, so a centurion's head... would it be higher?

"Goudan! Ninety taels!"
At Hu Dayong's shout, the entire crowd erupted.

Goudan's head buzzed with a loud *嗡*, and for a moment, he felt as though he could no longer hear anything.
It wasn't until Hu Dayong's spittle landed on his face that he finally snapped back to reality.

"What's wrong? Stunned stupid with joy?"
Hu Dayong held out the heavy silver ingots for a long time without Goudan reaching to take them.

Awakening from a dream, Goudan tremblingly accepted the weighty silver ingots.
Suddenly, with a heavy *thud*, he dropped to his knees on the ground and kowtowed three loud times toward Lin Chuan.

"The Commander's great kindness, Goudan will never forget for the rest of his life!"
This farm boy, now holding silver equivalent to twenty years of farming income, had tears and snot smeared all over his face.
He thought of his mother's frail, bent back, and then of the fierce determination he had felt when he hacked off the centurion's head...
All of this felt entirely like a dream.

Once Goudan led the way, the combat and auxiliary soldiers who followed all took their silver and ended up kowtowing to Lin Chuan as well.
Lin Chuan looked upon them with a gentle smile, feeling a swirl of deep emotions within his heart.

These pieces of silver were merely a drop in the bucket of the Zhang family's immense wealth.
Yet to these men of farming stock, it was enough to alter the course of their destinies.

"Listen up, all of you!" He suddenly raised his voice. "Today's achievement relies entirely upon everyone fighting fiercely with all your might. But remember this—"
His gaze suddenly turned sharp. "Do not flaunt your wealth! Whoever dares to show off outside will face military law!"

"Understood!"
The soldiers answered in unison, though the smiles on their faces could not be concealed no matter what.
Some were already calculating whether to add a few mu of land for their families or to arrange a marriage...

The night wind grew gradually cooler, but the warmth and fervor on the drill ground lingered long into the night.
And ten miles away, at the border city camp,
the debates surrounding this "great victory" were only just beginning.