Chapter 213: Zhao Kuo

Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation

Military Camp

The admiral glanced down at his own camp and realized that it was almost the size of a small city. The soldiers were divided according to their fleets and were split into five different sectors. The biggest tent was where the highest-ranking admiral resided. A large flag could be seen beside the tent, and he had several soldiers stationed outside the tent.

Outside the military camp, many soldiers were patrolling the area, and the sound of their footsteps could be heard.

Not far away was the pier, where their naval vessels had docked. All the vessels had the word "Dynasty" written on it.

Just yesterday, there was a huge torrential rain, which brought along leaves and sand onto the deck. The soldiers were busy cleaning up the debris on the deck.

Within the camp, the sound of someone being caned by a thick rod could be heard. The first stroke landed, then the second stroke, then the third stoke. Each stroke landed on the victim’s butt. Blood and flesh were blurred as the wounds on his butt reopened after each stroke.

The group of soldiers responsible for executing the punishment spared no strength as each stroke was hard and powerful. After the third stroke, the victim’s flesh had torn open, and he was bleeding out profusely. Blood stained the rod as well, and dripped onto the ground.

Cai Yuan Zhen was the person who was being caned. He bit on a small piece of wood, as the veins on his neck and forehead bulged out, trying his best to withstand the pain. He didn’t whimper or make any sound. The team of soldiers in charge of executing the punishment noticed him act this way, and were expressionless. However, it became evident that the next three strokes were significantly less forceful.

However, ten strokes weren’t enough to kill a person. When they were done, his pants were stained with blood. A pair of soldiers walked up and carried him to his tent. The way they moved him was akin to dragging a dead dog off the streets, his legs dragged along the ground, leaving a trail of blood. Even the soldiers who were patrolling within the camp were appalled at this sight.

A pair of soldiers watched and sighed, "Captain Cai is really down on his luck to receive yet another punishment. He had just recovered from the previous one not too long ago."

"Ai, it’s not poor luck. I’ve actually heard that someone was eyeing Captain Cai’s position." One of the soldiers who was sweeping the ground replied softly.

"Is that so?" Another soldier inched nearer to him.

"It’s true. The admiral’s brother-in-law is a smaller ranking Officer and wishes to steal Captain Cai’s post and rank!" The pair of soldiers whispered softly among themselves.

The Tent

Admiral Chen Ping sat down behind his desk, where a large screen was erected behind him. The screen had a drawing of a fierce tiger, while a dagger sat on his table. He emitted an aura of fearsomeness.

A single tile had been tossed onto the ground. Chen Ping was reading a book at this point. When the flaps of his tent had opened, a pair of soldiers dragged Cai Yuan Zhen into the tent. Behind them were droplets of blood which had dripped onto the ground.

The pair of soldiers entered the tent and tossed Cai Yuan Zhen aside. Cai Yuan Zhen anticipated this and stretched out his hands to break his fall.

Seeing Cai Yuan Zhen being brought into the tent, Admiral Chen Ping tossed the book aside and stood up before laughing out coldly, "If you ever make another mistake, I won’t be able to save you."

Hearing the admiral speak out, Cai Yuan Zhen didn’t dare to argue with him. Instead, he replied meekly, "Yes, admiral. I don’t dare to violate any more rules."

As soon as he finished his sentence, his face landed on the ground.

Chen Ping then scrutinized Cai Yuan Zhen on the ground. He noticed that there was a large mess of blood on his pants. He knew that the punishment team had obeyed his instructions, in not showing any mercy in the caning and had dealt him full force blows.

Hence, he cast a fierce look at the Captain, "It’s good that you know this. I shall be magnanimous and spare you from death this time."

"Since you’ve already been punished, return to your tent and rest for a couple of days. In the meantime, hand over your duties to Lieutenant Liu, he will oversee them."

Hearing these words, Cai Yuan Zhen seemed to hesitate, "Lieutenant Liu might not be the most appropriate person to handle such matters. Wouldn’t it be better to assign this task to Lieutenant Zheng Zhou?"

Hearing these words, Chen Ping raged out, "Are you the admiral, or am I the admiral? Whoever I decide to assign the job to is my decision. Why are you overstepping your bounds?"

Being lashed out at like this, Cai Yuan Zhen no longer dared to refute this. His face turned red as he looked down.

"Men, bring Captain Cai out to see the medic to be treated. Let him rest." Chen Ping spoke out. At this point, Cai Yuan Zhen clawed at the sand within the tent, as the veins on his forehead bulged out. He didn’t dare to show his expressions of pain, and looked down. The pain had caused droplets of sweat to form across his head as it dripped down onto the sand.

The flaps of the tent opened once again as a pair of soldiers walked in. They then picked Cai Yuan Zhen up and dragged him out of the tent to see the medic.

The second Cai Yuan Zhen was being dragged out, a younger man walked in. His face was somewhat sunken, as he strode over. The guarding soldier outside whispered, "Lieutenant Liu, please enter. The admiral is waiting for you."

The youth nodded his head as he entered the tent. He looked up to see Chen Ping reading a book. The youth then walked to the table, and smiled out, "Brother-in-law, when can you promote me to a higher rank? I’ve already been boasting that I would receive my Captain promotion soon."

When Chen Ping heard this, he slapped the table and shouted out loudly, "You rascal. All you know how to do is to ask for promotions. A Captain controls ten vessels, and is equivalent to a sixth ranked official. Do you think it’s that easy?"

"I’ve already raised you up to become an eighth ranked Lieutenant and used a great deal of effort in order to achieve this. Why can’t you work your own way up and achieve some merits to earn your own promotion?" At this point, Chen Ping sighed, "I’ve already sent Cai Yuan Zhen out. Over these few days, you should take over his responsibility as a Captain. I shall then find a way to demote him to a Lieutenant and promote you to a Captain. When that happens, you shall then take over his post."

When the youth heard this, he rolled his eyes, "Brother-in-law, what merit are you speaking of? Aren’t you just trying to say there’s no vacancy for me at this point? Cai Yuan Zhen rose to his rank because of his hard work, but aren’t you manipulating him anyway? So, tell me, what’s the point of hard work and merit after all?"

Chen Ping slapped the table once again, "How dare you. Cai Yuan Zhen is actually a good and honest man, although he isn’t very bright, he executes orders very well, and is a fierce fighter. I am always assured after deploying him for missions."

"If it weren’t for the fact that we are facing peace times, and such soldiers are no longer needed, I would still keep him. Besides, I already have five Captains on hand, and the other four captains have the backings of powerful people. I cannot move them as I deem fit. Additionally, the entire empire is moving away from military strength, which makes it hard for me to promote anyone. In order to promote you, I have to demote him."

As he spoke, he sighed and shook his head, as if he was facing a difficult situation, "Actually, I am aware that in doing so, Cai Yuan Zhen and I would drift apart. We won’t be as close as he and I once were."

"I know brother-in-law treats me the best." The young man smiled.

"It’s all because your sister bore me a son." Chen Ping smiled bitterly as well. "I came from a difficult family background as well. We’ve had three generations of only one son. I’ve killed numerous people in my line of work as well, and thus harmed the probability of having a son. My wife gave birth to three daughters, and a son who was stillborn… Now that your sister managed to finally give me an heir, I have to show my gratitude to her."

As he spoke, he looked at the young man, "You should work hard and do your best in your role as well. This is the only way to dispel the rumors."

"Brother-in-law, didn’t you say something about the military not having any real power anymore? Then why should you care about promoting someone who is capable?" The youth smiled and asked, "Whoever is capable but refuses to bow to your will, should just be beaten to death!"

At this point, he lowered his voice before continuing, "But I’ve heard that many people are unhappy about the way Cai Yuan Zhen was being treated?"

Chen Ping frowned, and spoke out after some time of remaining silent, "You mean to say…."

"Brother-in-law, it's true that I’m not capable. But I know that this Cai Yuan Zhen is a very formal person and is capable too. But with you around, you would be able to suppress all this talk and dissatisfaction. If you weren’t around..."

"I won’t be able to handle all these rumors going around."

"Then what would you do?" Chen Ping asked.

The youth smiled and spoke out, "As long as he’s alive, I won’t ever feel secure. They say that a great man knows when to resort to hard tactics. I would just find a reason to kill him and be done with it."

"Didn’t you say that he didn’t have anyone supporting him? If you wished to kill him, you should just kill him. Who would rush to his aid and shout for justice on his behalf?"

Chen Ping raised his head to look up at his brother-in-law, and realized that he was very young. At this point, his brother-in-law and an eerie and sinister look across his face.

After a long time, Chen Ping burst out into laughter. What was his young brother-in-law afraid of?

Thinking this way, he then spoke out, "Kid, you said you weren’t capable. But I can see that you are very crafty and sly."

"In a chaotic world, if you were to lead an army, you would be extremely useless. Just like Zhao Kuo, you would be able to control your subordinates, but will fail to overcome your enemies. I’ve seen many commanders similar to Zhao Kuo, who led their troops to an easy death in times of war."

"But during peace times, the world is your oyster. You are able to manipulate the entire camp to your advantage, and know how to remain polite and likable to your superiors. Since there aren’t any more wars to fight, you will truly excel. It’s just that you’re too young, too vicious, and too impatient. If you really wish to kill of a sixth ranked captain, how do you think the rest of the Captains will look at me? How will my superiors look at me? Things like these have to be taken a step at a time."

"I understand your lesson." The youth laughed out.

Chen Ping then continued, "You have to learn more, and appear capable to everyone. Only then can I promote you without raising any eyebrows."

"I shall give you an objective. As a temporary captain, you have to maintain your post seamlessly, and ensure that no superior can tell that a change in positions has taken place. Everything has to run smoothly and normally."

"Brother-in-law, please don’t worry. I know what to do. I shall handle everything well." The young man then stepped forward and poured a cup of wine for the admiral, "Brother-in-law, let me raise toast to you. Drink up."

As he spoke, the youth drained his cup in a single gulp. Soon after, Chen Ping drained his cup too. He then patted his brother-in-law on the shoulder, "Liu Xiang, let me give you and advise. Since you know that you’re exactly like Zhao Kuo in the stories and rushing to the front of the battle lines would see you being killed, you should make the military camp your kingdom, and not extend beyond that."

"The enemy wouldn’t know which high ranking official is supporting you, neither would they care. They will kill you all the same!"

Liu Xiang nodded his head as he grabbed for the tile in his robes.

Medic Tent

Several rags were hanging upon the bamboo racks to dry.

There were shelves on the ground which hosted a variety of medications. They were out in the sun, as smell of herbs wafted in the air.

Cai Yuan Zhen was being dragged into the tent. The minute the medic doctor heard some movement, he turned around and laughed, "Captain Cai, what’s wrong? Did you get punished again?"

Cai Yuan Zhen didn’t reply him as he crawled onto the bed, "You old fogey, Hu Po Pi. Every time I get caned, you always seem so happy."

The doctor didn’t seem to be too offended as he looked at Cai Yuan Zhen’s wounds. He noticed that the fabric of his pants had stuck to his open wound. He then sucked in a breath of cold air, "The wound runs deep. Looks like you won’t be able to move much for the next few days."

Doctor Hu spoke out before retrieving a pair of scissors and cutting his pants apart.

"Hsss!" Cai Yuan Zhen inhaled deeply, "Damned Hu Po Pi, you’re killing me."

Doctor Hu gave a cold laugh, "What happened this time to make the admiral so angry, that he would order for you to be beaten so harshly?"

"Ai, I don’t know myself. The admiral seems a little strange of late. He said that I haven’t been acting properly, and called me over to his tent today. Soon after, I was dragged out and give ten strokes. He even scolded me after, and handed my post to Lieutenant Liu."

"It’s quite obvious that this is a move against you." Doctor Hu spoke out.

Hearing this, Cai Yuan Zhen struggled, "Rubbish."

The doctor looked at Cai Yuan Zhen before giving a cold laugh, "Tell me. You are already an eighth ranked official. Why would he cane you over something so minor?"

"This is to harm your reputation. Have you seen the looks your subordinates have been giving you?"

"The most important things within the military are loyalty and strength. If you can’t even save yourself, who would dare to stick with you?"

Doctor Hu spoke up to this point before using alcohol to clean the wound. There was still some cloth stuck to his open wound. The doctor plucked the piece of fabric from the wound, to the sound of a shrill scream.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Cai Yuan Zhen cursed out in pain.