Chapter 117: Wang Zheng, Master of Western Learning

"Hand over the murderers, provide compensation to the victims, and leave Yichuan County; then, this matter will be settled."

Li Yi smiled and shook his head. "The murderers are border troops, and the loot has already been divided among them. As for leaving Yichuan, the main army must reach Hancheng as quickly as possible, and passing through Yichuan is the fastest route."

Wang Zheng shouted with a look of fury, "You kill innocent people to claim credit and ravage the common folk. Do you not fear that I shall report this to the Imperial Court and have you punished?"

"I do not," Li Yi replied with a gentle shake of his head.

This blunt answer left Wang Zheng stunned.

Li Yi had no choice but to explain: "Hancheng is under siege by the rebel Wang Zuogua. The Imperial Court’s priority right now is lifting the siege, so they will not punish us for this. Furthermore, the commander, Imperial Commissioner for Grain Transport Hong Chengchou, is a high-ranking local official who can suppress the matter."

Wang Zheng looked somewhat bewildered.

"Old Master Wang, I consulted Commissioner Hong before coming here. He has guaranteed that he will restrain He Renlong from now on and that the army will bypass Yichuan on the return march. This is the greatest concession possible."

After a long silence, Wang Zheng nodded. He understood that in the face of such overwhelming power, there was nothing he could do. At that moment, the once stubborn Wang Zheng seemed to grow even older.

When Li Yi finished the negotiations and returned to report to the main camp, Hong Chengchou merely uttered a cold, "Understood."

Then, a formal order was placed in Li Yi's hands.

Hong Chengchou ordered Yichuan to provide grain and forage for the main army for ten days, and he further decreed that the Yichuan Militia led by Wang Zheng must accompany the main army south to suppress the rebels.

Li Yi did not know what to say. It was like a gang of bandits breaking into a household to violate the wife and concubines and plunder their wealth, only to then demand that the victims provide food and follow behind as their servants.

When the Magistrate of Yichuan saw the order, he immediately wailed in despair. After the natural disasters of the previous year, refugees were everywhere in Yichuan, and no fewer than a thousand people had died of hunger and cold. The official granaries had already been emptied by the Imperial Court for previous campaigns. Now, the county office was penniless; where was he to find grain to support the main army?

Yet, facing the uncompromising Hong Chengchou, the Magistrate had no choice but to negotiate for grain donations from the local gentry while simultaneously squeezing taxes from the people. To scrape together these supplies, countless families in Yichuan would surely be ruined.

Hong Chengchou cared nothing for this; his only goal was the eradication of Wang Zuogua.

Two days later, the army continued its march south, under the hateful glares of the Yichuan people. The sight made Li Yi’s scalp tingle.

Li Yi’s rear guard now had an additional unit of "allies." However, these allies were far from friendly; being locals of Yichuan, they held the Suijin Army in deep resentment and contempt.

Though aged, Wang Zheng was physically robust. He led his militia to join the rear guard and marched southward. Initially, he had held a poor opinion of Li Yi, but as the march progressed, his perspective changed.

The reason was simple: unlike the rampaging vanguard or the arrogant main force, Li Yi’s rear guard maintained strict discipline, and no incidents of harassing the common people occurred. Furthermore, the rear guard traveled strictly along the roads; to avoid trampling the spring crops, they would adjust their formations. If they encountered an ox-cart that had overturned, the squad leaders would lead their men to help lift it, and the medical orderlies would check for injuries and dress the farmer's wounds.

Unable to restrain his curiosity, Wang Zheng approached Li Yi during a rest break to ask about it.

Li Yi smiled and said, "Old Master Wang, my men all come from humble backgrounds and know the hardships of farming and how difficult it is to fill one's stomach. Because of this, every time we break camp, I have the officers repeat the orders: not a single green seedling is to be trampled, and no commoner is to be harassed, or they will face military justice."

"But isn't killing the innocent to claim credit and engaging in rape and plunder the standard behavior of government troops?" Wang Zheng asked without mercy.

"Everyone enjoys rising in rank and wealth, of course. But humans are not beasts; no one is born wanting to kill. The decay of military discipline in the army stems from the Court’s long-standing arrears in pay. The soldiers have no means to survive, and with the indulgence of their commanders, it leads to the wrath of both heaven and man."

"Are you defending those thieving soldiers?" Wang Zheng pressed.

It had to be said that although Wang Zheng was a good man, he was a bit of a contrarian.

Li Yi had to explain: "These are facts. May I ask, Old Master Wang, if a starving refugee on the verge of death sees a flatbread in someone else’s hand, what will he do?"

Wang Zheng pondered for a moment and sighed, "I fear he would resort to robbing it."

Li Yi nodded. "Likewise, when soldiers have no food and no pay, to survive, they have no choice but to resort to violence. I am not defending them; I am stating the facts."

Wang Zheng said somewhat unconvinced, "Are you saying all soldiers only plunder because they cannot survive?"

"Naturally not. Wealth stirs the heart. Even in times of peace, there are petty thieves and highwaymen; naturally, there are such people among the soldiers as well."

Wang Zheng laughed heartily. "So, you admit that some soldiers are inherently thieving by nature?"

Looking at the competitive Wang Zheng, Li Yi smiled bitterly. "Everyone has selfish desires and evil thoughts; it is not unique to soldiers. This is an influence of individual upbringing. It requires moral education to encourage people toward goodness, rather than condemning them all at once. Would that not lead to many more innocent souls being wronged?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng fell silent. After a while, he bowed to Li Yi and said, "Your words, Commander Li, make me feel ashamed. I have learned much today."

Following this conversation, the rift between them narrowed significantly. Li Yi’s knowledge was vast and varied, allowing him to chat with Wang Zheng on any number of topics.

During their casual talk, Wang Zheng mentioned the *Illustrated Manual of New Mechanical Devices* he had translated. Li Yi then realized that the old scholar before him was not only a Catholic but also a master of Western studies, mentioned in the same breath as Xu Guangqi—"Xu of the South and Wang of the North." Wang Zheng, in turn, discovered that Li Yi also possessed a deep understanding of Western learning, even knowing things that Wang himself had not yet encountered.

Just as their respective armies were glaring at each other with hostility, the two men became increasingly engrossed in their conversation. They actually left their troops behind and went together to the outskirts of Yichuan County to inspect the waterwheel Wang Zheng had designed.

Yichuan County sat at the confluence of the Yinchuan and Danyang rivers. Wang Zheng had spent five hundred taels of silver to build a waterwheel three zhang high. Looking at the iron-forged gear mechanism, Li Yi’s gaze upon Wang Zheng was fervent.

This stubborn old contrarian was a talent. He absolutely could not let him slip away.

As the friendship between Wang Zheng and Li Yi deepened, the animosity between the Yichuan Militia and the Suijin Army also dissipated.

The army reached the border between Yichuan and Hancheng. Facing the encroaching war, the atmosphere in the camp grew increasingly heavy. Hong Chengchou constantly dispatched scouts to gather intelligence on the rebels. The deployment, force ratios, and movements of Wang Zuogua’s army all needed to be clearly ascertained.

The days before the great battle were profoundly quiet. Wang Wu led the civilian laborers in distributing meat broth and flatbread—the latter brushed with a layer of sauce—to the Yichuan Militia and the Suijin Army.

Wang Zheng took a piece of bread and bit into it; the unleavened dough was a bit dry and hard, but the stubborn old man still managed to tear off a piece.

"Not bad. The salt content is good, and there are traces of oil and minced meat. Your rations are quite good."

Li Yi smiled. "Old Master Wang, you are quite fortunate. The vanguard and the main force are eating nothing but watery porridge made with vinegar and salt. Only the rear guard gets such delicacies."

"Oh?" Wang Zheng was skeptical.

Wang Wu, who was serving the food, apologized with a smile: "Commander Li issued a subsidy to every soldier. Although it was only a few dozen copper coins, it was enough to afford oil and salt, plus a bowl of meat broth."

"And what is the deeper meaning behind this?"

Li Yi explained: "It is simple. The more one lives like a human, the more even the demons and monsters must wear a human skin to survive."

Wang Zheng was taken aback for a moment, then clapped his hands and laughed. "Well said! Under the bright sky and the clear sun, demons and monsters naturally have nowhere to hide."

As they were talking, a messenger arrived to report that Li Yi and Wang Zheng were summoned to the main camp for a war council. Having gathered sufficient intelligence, Hong Chengchou had finally made his decision.