Wintering

The Beginning of Winter.

Autumn passed, and winter came.

Time flew by so quickly as we were busy. Zhuge Liang, appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Jingzhou front, received the tally from Liu Bei and departed for Jingzhou.

Surprisingly, there was no particular administrative vacuum in Chengdu and Yizhou where Zhuge Liang left his post.

This was because before leaving, Zhuge Liang had meticulously set basic guidelines and selected those to replace his empty position, dividing responsibilities separately, leaving arrangements before departing.

Wang Lian, the Governor of Yizhou appointed as Zhuge Liang’s successor from the position of General of Chariots and Cavalry.

Zhang Yi, the Palace Attendant who acts as Zhuge Liang’s deputy when the Prime Minister is away.

Huang Quan, the Director of the Imperial Secretariat who oversees practical internal affairs.

Liu Ba, the only one of the Three Excellencies guarding Chengdu and holding the power of supervision and impeachment as Minister of Justice.

With these four people forming a tetrarchy to handle administration, Yizhou was running smoothly even without Zhuge Liang.

Moreover, in the Prime Minister’s Office there were subordinate officials like Li Su, Yang Yong, Guo Yuzhi, Fei Shi, Fan Jian, Xu Shulong, Dong Jue, and the Imperial Secretariat was packed with capable practitioners like Deng Zhi, Zhong Hui, Shang Lang, Li Zhe, Chen Zhen, Zhang Biao.

Needless to say about the officials of Yizhou who worked under Zhuge Liang, even Liu Ba’s Censorate was staffed with upright talents who spoke frankly like Meng Guang, the Imperial Censor.

‘Still, it’s not as good as when Zhuge Liang was here.’

Maintenance was perfect, but the reality was that they couldn’t attempt business expansion or administrative power expansion like Zhuge Liang did.

‘In that sense, sending Wei Zhen with Zhuge Liang was a very good judgment.’

Wei Zhen, Zhang Zhongjing’s disciple who had come together from Xie County to Chang’an following Guan Yu’s coffin, was about to leave again after Guan Yu’s funeral ended.

I had earnestly asked such a Wei Zhen to stay in Chang’an Castle, and this time I sent him along with Zhuge Liang.

‘Fortunately, they both get along well.’

The erudite Zhuge Liang, a jack of all trades, conversed well with Wei Zhen too. Though he couldn’t match Wei Zhen in medical knowledge, Zhuge Liang had knowledge that Wei Zhen lacked.

It was a consideration of how to combine medicine with administration to provide more medical benefits to the people.

Fascinated by Zhuge Liang’s insight, Wei Zhen went to Jingzhou with Zhuge Liang of his own accord without me even having to ask.

‘Since Zhuge Liang is also someone who tries to use talented people somehow, he’ll probably take him to Chengdu on his own without me having to pay special attention?’

Though there are imperial physicians and well-known doctors in Han, they still can’t match Wei Zhen who inherits Zhang Zhongjing’s orthodox lineage.

In this era where knowledge is not easily spread like in modern times, and books are extremely scarce so knowledge is transmitted in an apprenticeship format, the gap in knowledge is considerable.

With Wei Zhen there, those suffering from overwork will be able to stay a bit healthier.

‘I can’t allow death from overwork. Where are you trying to run away to?’

Anyway, while Yizhou was running without problems and securing war supplies, Guanzhong was also moving quickly.

The Zhengguo Canal repaired by Ma Liang, who had received special lectures from Zhuge Liang, greatly increased yields as Pang Tong had expected.

With Guanzhong’s products showing signs of recovery in addition to the abundant resources of Yizhou, military provisions enough to raise an army next year really gathered.

‘But a prolonged war is difficult. The more we raise armies, the fewer men there are to farm. We can hold out for next year, but if the war continues into the year after next and beyond, it’ll be troublesome.’

Shu Han, which suffered massive material and human losses at Yiling, was only able to start the Northern Expedition after Zhuge Liang did restoration work for a long time afterwards.

To avoid repeating the mistakes of Yiling, it’s essential to wrap up the war as quickly as possible. For that, I too was busy running around like others.

The fact that I’m in Hetao now was also part of that.

The ethnic minority forces currently dominating Hetao were largely divided into three groups:

The Xianbei of the Tuoba clan led by Tuoba Yilü.

The Xianbei of the Dugu clan led by Dugu Piguang.

The Qiang led by Tang Di.

There are more diverse ethnic minorities here – Xiongnu, Wuhuan, Jie, Zhu, etc. But compared to those three who gained merit on Han’s side in the last war and were granted permission to trade, they were at the level of neighborhood corner shops.

In other words, if we control these three tribes, the rest of Hetao’s ethnic minorities can be easily controlled through them. Like subcontractors of subcontractors.

To grasp their reins once and confirm who’s in charge, and to mobilize them to help Ma Chao attack Wei, I set foot in Hetao.

Not long after I arrived at Xiaoguankou, the leaders of each force began to move to find me.

Though I didn’t issue a separate summons, since I didn’t particularly hide my movements, they would have easily been able to access information that I was coming.

Even so, the fact that they move so quickly means they too are keeping a close eye on the trends in the Central Plains.

Anyway, the first to come find me this time too was Dugu Piguang. Beside Dugu Piguang, who opened the gates of Xiaoguankou to welcome me, was a young man who looked about my age.

The young man greeted me with Central Plains etiquette when he saw me.

“I greet the General of the Guards of Han. I am Dugu Shouchuan.”

“This is my son.”

Dugu Piguang spoke while looking at Dugu Shouchuan with deep eyes, as if cherishing his son.

“Ah, so this young man is the son you mentioned before.”

He was the cause that made Dugu Piguang create the clan name Dugu.

Originally, dugu refers to a blanket used by the Xianbei. I heard that when Dugu Piguang’s wife Lady Huoyue gave birth to Dugu Shouchuan inside the blanket while sleeping, they took this opportunity to become independent from the Tuoba clan with the name Dugu clan.

“That’s right. Though he’s lacking compared to the General of the Guards, where in the world are there young men who aren’t? He has sufficient talent to succeed me, so I wanted to introduce him.”

Dugu Piguang has grown old too. He too, being of similar age to Liu Bei, realized that the time left for him was not long and was preparing for the future.

Even now, but assuming time passes like this, I am certain to have authority above all others under heaven. His intention to introduce his son in advance to build a relationship with me, who will lead Han as the next generation power holder, was obvious.

‘Not bad.’

This is a good sign. Wanting to look good to me also means wanting to keep in step with Han going forward.

Dugu Piguang looked around and said with a grin:

“But it seems I was the fastest this time too. Seeing that Tuoba Yilü fellow isn’t here.”

“Maybe you were just too fast.”

It’s a position difficult to move easily as the leader of a great tribe that divides Hetao into three. Yet despite that, it’s strange that Dugu Piguang rushed out faster than anyone.

“In my humble opinion, it seems I won’t have more chances to meet the General of the Guards, so how about holding a banquet? I’ve brought plenty of kumiss that the General of the Guards likes.”

“That’s welcome news.”

Kumiss. It’s a good drink. I quite liked the tangy taste that evoked nostalgia for my past life.

As I was secretly licking my lips recalling the nostalgic taste, Dugu Shouchuan’s whispering voice was caught by my sensitive hearing.

“Father. Was it true that Han’s General of the Guards likes kumiss?”

“You fool. Didn’t your father tell you? The General of the Guards likes kumiss so much there was none left.”

“No, that… I thought it was propaganda to boost the tribespeople’s pride. You know, like ‘Even Han’s General of the Guards ate it and was impressed?’ That kind of feeling of why the Dugu clan is great.”

“You fool! What do you take your father for!”

Gone was the deep gaze from just now, Dugu Piguang glared at Dugu Shouchuan with fire in his eyes.

Having heard Dugu Shouchuan’s suspicion that was subtly familiar, I kept my lips tightly closed to hold back laughter and quietly left the father and son’s conversation alone.

Then looking towards the other side of Xiaoguankou, I quietly cut into the father and son’s conversation:

“Dugu Piguang, unfortunately we’ll have to hold the banquet a little later.”

At my words, Dugu Piguang stopped berating his son and turned towards me.

“Pardon? Is there perhaps some matter…”

And he narrowed his brows as he shifted his gaze to where I was pointing.

“It seems more guests have come.”

“The Tuoba clan…”

Ignoring Dugu Piguang’s tongue-clicking at his half-brother’s appearance, I also let Tuoba Yilü into Xiaoguankou.

The fact that he came this quickly means Tuoba Yilü must have hurried tremendously too, but Tuoba Yilü’s reaction at seeing Dugu Piguang already there was similar to his half-brother’s.

However, Tuoba Yilü entered into expression management more skillfully, treating Dugu Piguang as if he didn’t exist and focusing his attention solely on me.

“It’s been a while, General of the Guards. Have you been well?”

“Yes, I’ve been well. How about you?”

“I was busy absorbing the Murong Hui clan. If it weren’t for that, I would have attacked Cao Wei to help Han’s great enterprise even after that.”

“I’m grateful for the thought alone.”

“I felt bad that I couldn’t properly send you off when you left in a hurry before, so this time I came properly prepared.”

Tuoba Yilü was subtly appealing that the reason he was late was not because he was negligent, but because he was preparing more meticulously than Dugu Piguang.

‘Indeed, Tuoba Yilü is a step above Dugu Piguang in political skills.’

It wasn’t for nothing that Tuoba Huituo pushed Tuoba Yilü as his successor.

But unlike Tuoba Yilü, Dugu Piguang seemed to be one step ahead in the sense that he brought his son to make an impression.

Though he couldn’t become the successor, Dugu Piguang is no ordinary person in that he became independent and established his own clan.

“I’m glad to see my past comrades too. So for today at least, let’s put state affairs aside and drink to our heart’s content.”

Since ancient times, doesn’t military support become more enthusiastic when relationships become closer?

This is work. It’s definitely not because I want to drink. Of course not.