MLMD -Chapter 176 The Arrogant General

As a burst of resounding singing rolled in, a unit of soldiers in neat formation came into view.

Although Jiang Xin had seen Yue Yang and his Yingzhou troops before, when this force drew near he still felt a powerful, overwhelming presence bearing down on him. This killing aura was not aimed at him personally, but was the spirit of a force that had undergone strict training and been tempered by blood and fire, radiating from the inside out.

Even Jiang Xin, who had already witnessed the Yingzhou Army’s style, felt this way—so the gentry and merchants of Hunyuan standing behind him were even more astonished. They realized at once that this force was completely different from the Ming troops they were used to seeing. The difference was not just in their armor, but in their entire bearing and conduct. These soldiers exuded confidence from head to toe, utterly unlike the numb, indifferent look of ordinary Ming troops.

*So long as soldiers and people are one,
With the people’s help, victory comes of itself.

Fourth: Do not violate the women of others—
Are they not all someone’s daughters?
You too have wives and daughters at home;
How could you bear it if they were humiliated?

Fifth: Do not grow greedy at the sight of wealth;
Bandits will always meet their retribution.
However much gold and silver you seize,
Once caught you will be killed and left with nothing.

Sixth: Respect the officials of the court;
Disobeying orders beyond your rank is no light crime.*

The song continued to echo in the air. Its unfamiliar melody and plain, easy-to-understand lyrics immediately caught the attention of all the gentry and the onlooking townsfolk.

“Good… that’s a fine song!” An old man in his sixties behind Fang Yingdi nodded repeatedly, stroking his beard with a smile as he murmured praise.

“Indeed. It’s simple and easy to learn. Once the soldiers have it memorized, it will educate them to love and protect the people, and at the same time boost morale. Truly killing several birds with one stone,” a private tutor in his forties added approvingly.

“Hmph…” Hearing the people around him praising the song in unison, Fang Yingdi, standing behind Jiang Xin, could not help but snort coldly. He cast a sideways glance at the surrounding gentry, frightening several of them into swallowing the words they were about to speak.

The gentry dared not speak out because of Fang Yingdi and his family’s power, but the common people around them had no such scruples. Seeing such a mighty army arrive, they burst into loud cheers.

“Dad, what unit is this? Look how spirited they are when they march!”

“Brother, what song are they singing? Sounds pretty uplifting!”

“Not bad at all—these troops really look sharp, far more than the ones in our city.”

The crowd buzzed with excitement. Many stared eagerly at the approaching soldiers. In these times, common people had little in the way of entertainment, and when word spread that the new Vice Commander was arriving with his troops—and that he was none other than Lord Yue who had saved Hunyuan City last time—many families had come early to secure good spots by the gate, ready to enjoy the spectacle.

The Chinese fondness for watching a lively scene was on full display. The area around the city gate was packed so tightly it was impossible to squeeze through, and more people were still arriving.

When the column reached the gate, Yue Yang, riding at the front, raised his hand high. The ringing song stopped abruptly. All the soldiers behind him halted at once and looked forward in silence. To the untrained eye this might not have seemed remarkable, but to Lu Youyuan, standing behind Jiang Xin, it made his pupils shrink.

Lu Youyuan had spent half his life as a soldier. Though he might not have been brilliant at training troops or fighting wars, he had a sharp eye. Just from that single display of strict discipline—orders obeyed instantly—he knew that Yue Yang’s men left his own rabble of drunken, bullying soldiers miles behind.

Yet the more outstanding the Yingzhou Army looked, the more jealous Lu Youyuan became. In his eyes, these troops were nothing but a force built with silver by Yue Yang. If he had had such money and equipment, he believed he could train a force just as good. More importantly, the more elite the Yingzhou Army was, the worse the future would be for him and his own worn-out soldiers—because once someone had such a crack force, who would still need a useless unit that did nothing but consume rations?

Just as jealousy burned in Lu Youyuan’s heart, a command rang out—“All halt!”—and several thousand soldiers came to an instant stop, as though the whole army were a single man.

Yue Yang dismounted and walked slowly up to Jiang Xin, stopping before him. He nodded and said, “You must be Prefect Jiang of Hunyuan. I am Yue Yang, the newly appointed Vice Commander of Shanxi. Greetings, Prefect Jiang.”

Jiang Xin was stroking his beard, gazing up at the sky at a slight angle with a standard official smile on his face. He had been waiting for Yue Yang to kneel and pay his respects, after which he would graciously help him up and the formalities would be complete. He never imagined Yue Yang would greet him like this instead.

Not only was Jiang Xin stunned—so were Fang Yingdi, Lu Youyuan, and all the officials and gentry behind him. What was going on? By rights, wasn’t the newly arrived Yue Yang supposed to kneel before the prefect?

In the officialdom of ancient China, protocol was strict. Subordinates had to observe all the proper rites when meeting superiors—kneeling, bowing, whatever was required. But there was an exception. Since the middle of the Ming dynasty, the trend of “civil officials above, military below” had spread throughout the court. Especially after the collapse of the military farm system, military households were reduced to relying on scraps of grain doled out by civil officials. The dignity of generals had been tossed into the trash.

One might ask: didn’t Yue Yang treat Prefect Zheng Fa-kui as an equal back in Yingzhou? But Yingzhou had been a special case. Back then Yue Yang was only a temporary official and a local strongman; Zheng Fa-kui naturally didn’t press him on such niceties. Now Yue Yang had been promoted to Vice Commander—a hereditary military rank. His status had changed dramatically.

After the mid-Ming, even a second-rank general sometimes had to kowtow before a fourth-rank civil official. That was how low military officers had sunk. So Jiang Xin standing there waiting for Yue Yang to kneel was not arrogance—it was normal practice. What no one expected was that Yue Yang would simply nod, enraging many on the spot.

Fang Yingdi, who already disliked Yue Yang, immediately jumped out from behind Jiang Xin and shouted, “Yue Yang, how dare you! As Vice Commander, you fail to perform the proper obeisance before the Prefect—what are your intentions? I will impeach you!”

Yue Yang was startled, then turned to look at Jiang Xin. Jiang Xin seemed not to have seen anything, staring down at his own shoes as if they were growing flowers. Yue Yang’s face darkened, and he sneered, “Heh… whose pants weren’t fastened, letting a thing like you pop out? What are you supposed to be?”

“You… you’re outrageous!”

Fang Yingdi felt the blood rush to his head; his face turned red and he could not get a word out.

Yue Yang looked at him with contempt. “Judging by the egret embroidered on you, you’re at most a sixth-rank official. I am a vice commander of the third rank. You meet me without saluting, yet you jump out to accuse me—have all your Confucian teachings gone down a dog’s belly?”

Fang Yingdi swayed, his face turning pale—not from fear but from fury. He, a civil official, had just been berated by a lowly military officer—something that had never happened to him in his life. The world seemed to spin before his eyes; he nearly collapsed before others hurriedly held him up. Shaking, he pointed at Yue Yang and cried, “Yue Yang, how dare you be so rude! Aren’t you afraid of being mocked by the entire court?”

“Mocked, my ass!” Yue Yang snapped. Stepping forward, he shouted, “Do you know what I am? A vice commander of the third rank! Third rank! And you want a third-rank official to kowtow to a fourth-rank one—what kind of warped ritual is that? Is your brain full of paste?”

His words cracked out like firecrackers, leaving everyone staring in shock. Even Jiang Xin plucked out a few of his own beard hairs in astonishment.

When he was done, Yue Yang turned back to Jiang Xin with a smile. “Prefect Jiang, some people are just blind to their superiors—such people deserve a good scolding. As the father-mother official of a prefecture, you really should discipline them properly, don’t you think? Otherwise everything would be in chaos. Well then, Prefect Jiang, it’s getting late—shall we go into the city?”

“Ah… ah, yes…” Jiang Xin felt utterly confused. He had never imagined such an ill-mannered general could exist. In a daze, he could only watch as Yue Yang swaggered straight into the city.

After a long while, a howl of rage finally rose from the gate.

“Arrogant…”