bayedsolid Chapter 1188 - 1170: Lost His Mind
Chapter 1188 - 1170: Lost His Mind
Zeng Yue stopped in his tracks, and said in a deep voice, "Lady General was very generous in sending you to Biyang County, giving you great freedom. She wanted you to persuade the mountain bandits, gather the displaced people, teach them to read, and put them to use for her."
"Even though you were leading the garrison of a county, given the circumstances at the time, with the thousand men under your command, you could definitely have recruited five thousand, or even tens of thousands of troops for the Lady General," Zeng Yue said, "If you could achieve this, the power of a General would be within your reach."
"The Lady General chose Ji Ping as a trusted aide because he was recommended by General Zhao and is loyal, so she went with the flow. Choosing Qiu Wu and me is because we are obedient, loyal, and will follow orders without question."
Li Tianhe said, "Do I not possess these qualities?"
Zeng Yue shook his head and said, "You still don’t understand. Of course you possess them, and you are smarter and more clever than us. That’s why the Lady General assigned you to an external post. Clearly, you had more opportunities than us."
"Could your situation be worse than Yuan Li’s?" Zeng Yue continued, "The Lady did not favor Yuan Li’s ruthlessness and suppressed him initially, but now he solely controls the secret department and is one of the Lady General’s most trusted individuals."
Zeng Yue looked at Li Tianhe and then at the military officer behind him, sighed and said, "I remind you not because I like you, but because we grew up together, living through life and death. I genuinely hope for your well-being. The Lady General feels the same, but you must think, how many times can past affections be exhausted?"
"Even a parent’s love for their child can dissipate if the child is unfilial. Can the sentiments between a ruler and minister, or old acquaintances be deeper than parental love?"
Li Tianhe’s expression changed several times upon hearing this, and the three military officers behind him also turned pale.
Zeng Yue continued, "The Lady General often says to those around her, the nation is governed by moral laws, not through emotions. I have said enough; take care."
With that, he glanced at Li Tianhe’s backside, feeling that he could make it out of the palace gates without trouble, so he no longer concerned himself with him and turned to leave.
Zhao Hanzhang’s mood had calmed, though she still wasn’t very happy. She glanced at Zeng Yue and asked, "Done playing the understanding big brother?"
Zeng Yue was startled and quickly knelt to plead atonement.
Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand and said, "I don’t mind. If he listens to advice and changes for the better, I would be happy."
"You all followed me from Luoyang to Xiping, and then fought your way out of Xiping. If you all live well, I will be pleased, but public and private matters are distinct. If I lead by example and indulge favoritism, the stability we’ve arduously secured will crumble, and we cannot bear such a result with so many standing behind us," Zhao Hanzhang sighed.
Zhao Hanzhang knew early on that once people have achievements and gain power, it is easy for them to become arrogant. This is human nature, but it can be overcome.
Reflecting on oneself three times a day, she often reminds herself not to forget her original aspirations.
To prevent her Zhao Family Army from doing the same, she extensively recruited literate people during its formation and had them teach the soldiers to read, imparting principles of being a person and a soldier in the process.
Initially, the literate individuals who joined the army were dissatisfied. They came seeking fame and wanted to follow Zhao Hanzhang in grand battles, not to become literacy teachers for a bunch of commoners after fighting.
But Zhao Hanzhang was resolute, punishing those who resisted with military law and demoting those with poor performance.
Because they were literate, upon joining the army, they were quickly selected for positions like centurion and squad leader, but if they performed poorly, they would be stripped of rank, reverting from centurion or squad leader to a common soldier.
Ji Yuan initially did not understand why Zhao Hanzhang wanted this since most soldiers only needed martial skills and the ability to follow orders, not literacy.
But after several deployments, the Zhao Family Army acted strictly according to orders, committing no offenses against the common people, never seizing food even in starvation. In every place conquered by the Zhao Family Army, they could govern merely by planting the military flag.
All orders from the Zhao Family Army could circulate freely among the people, and even if certain wealthy families resisted and tried to obstruct the government orders, their dependents, tenant farmers, and even servants would leave them to follow the Zhao Family Army’s orders.
It was only then that Ji Yuan understood how important it was that Zhao Hanzhang made the entire army learn to read and count, telling them it was to fight for peace and the welfare of the people. That was placing a spark within their hearts.
With learning and Zhao Hanzhang’s example, that spark became a fire, spreading wherever they reached.
Thus, the Zhao Family Army was invincible, and no place conquered by the Zhao Family Army rebelled again.
Even those like Yang Rui and Lu Shao, who were initially unyielding, realized this and strove to promote it.
But Li Tianhe, who followed Zhao Hanzhang all along, hadn’t comprehended this principle.
To be fair, Zeng Yue and Qiu Wu didn’t understand at first either, but they had the merit of obedience, and they executed every order Zhao Hanzhang gave with effort, striving to do better.
After doing more, seeing the results, and listening to discussions with Zhao Hanzhang, Ji Yuan, and others, bit by bit clarity emerged.
At this point, they realized with astonishment that Zhao Hanzhang had much hope pinned on Li Tianhe from the start, just like Zhao Ju, who was also sent out early on. Unfortunately, Li Tianhe did not fulfill Zhao Hanzhang’s expectations.
Although he was fighting bandits and training soldiers in Biyang County, he had not achieved substantial success. When tasked with finding teachers for the army, he repeatedly got rid of several teachers, and it was only after Zhao Hanzhang dispatched a literate deputy leader from the Zhao Family Army in Xiping that systematic learning began.
Even so, the fighting spirit of the troops he led was somewhat weaker than others.
Last year’s great victory brought discussions of appointing officials, and Zeng Yue was standing by. When Li Tianhe was mentioned, Zhao Hanzhang let out a deep sigh, and it struck Zeng Yue profoundly.
He had long wanted to talk to Li Tianhe, but though both were in Luoyang, Li Tianhe would often be out on orders to suppress bandits and gather displaced people, while Zeng Yue needed to stay by Zhao Hanzhang’s side for protection, so they kept missing each other. He hadn’t expected that Li Tianhe would make a mistake before he could remind him.
Oh, how Zhao Hanzhang loved Dr. Yu and Doctor Shen, no, actually, she had great affection for most of those in the Ministry of Industry, especially those with technical skills.
She had repeatedly said publicly, "The Winter Official benefits the people’s livelihood, and the development of technology benefits for all time."
The Winter Official refers to the Ministry of Industry.
Moreover, with Fu Tinghan as Chief of Staff and also Minister of the Ministry of Industry, the once-neglected Ministry of Industry received increasing attention, and even Ji Yuan and Ming Yu dared not underestimate the doctors within.
Li Tianhe limped home, where his family anxiously searched for a physician, but before medicine could be applied, Cheng Da and Wei You, who had just returned to the capital to report on their duties, called upon Pingyi to join them in witnessing the spectacle. Seeing him lying facedown on the bed, they laughed and said, "You’re very bold, daring to bully Shen Ruhui and Yu Cong? And you did so within the Imperial Palace, not realizing the deep connection between Shen Ruhui and the Master. Yu Cong, with his research on drought-resistant planting methods and new fertilization techniques, has been praised five times over the past two years in the gazette by Fan Ying and Zhao Yunxin."
"You don’t think it was really Fan Ying and Zhao Yunxin themselves voluntarily praising him, do you?" Cheng Da said, "That was clearly the Lady’s intention. You dared to bully the people she valued in front of her. Has your brain been addled by water?"