Over the past few days that were spent resting at home, Shen Leng dragged Chen Ran out every day to run along the river bank of the Nanping River. Whenever they passed by swampy areas, they would inevitably come across crocodiles, etc. The fishermen who saw them would run away. But Shen Leng’s response was…Huh? Another one.

Chen Ran on the other hand was always afraid. He would grab Shen Leng’s hand and leave hurriedly.

The small town that was not far from the Navy camp was not peaceful these days. Changan city’s Liu Yun Sect and Guan Tang Kou became neighbors in that very town. It would be surprising if it was peaceful.

Hei Yan had already disappeared without a trace, but he was definitely still in the vicinity. Guan Tang Kou’s men had no other choice either. Mu Liu’er truly wanted Hei Yan dead. She was dying to make that a reality. However, she did not dare to be rash about it once again.

She was the one who established Guan Tang Kou, but it did not belong to her. On the whole, her master was unsoiled by corrupt practices within the imperial court. In order to build a lot of connections and maintain a good social network, no matter how high his salary was, it was not enough. Furthermore, her master doted on the young master to a certain extent. All he thought about was giving him a better life. Hence…

Initially, when she suggested it to madame, she did not object to it. Of course, her master was familiar with the situation too. She thought that he would object; if people were to find out that a person like him, who cared a lot about his reputation, had connections with the underworld, he would suffer a huge backlash.

However, he did not say anything. Hence, Guan Tang Kou continued to work.

Even so, Guan Tang Kou could not afford to provoke Liu Yun Sect. There had been speculations for the longest time that Liu Yun Sect was backed by a prominent figure that was extremely intimidating. Some people said that he was a big figure in the Ministry of War. Even so, was he able to win the Great Scholar? Some other people said that he was Great General Tantai Yuanshu of the imperial guards, who had not left the capital in at least ten years. Of course, nobody could bear witness. Relatively speaking, Mu Liu’er was more inclined to believe that Liu Yun Sect belonged to Tantai Yuanshu. No matter how ruthless secret societies were, they were not as ruthless as the military.

After four days of vacation, Shen Leng returned to the military camp. Just as before, he brought his troops to training sessions. Nothing out of the ordinary.

However, at this moment, within the palace in Changan city, someone saw Shen Leng’s name and was deep in thought. This person was the current emperor.

At the start, His Majesty was not particularly interested in the name ‘Shen Leng’. That was because he had first heard some news about him as a result of Meng Changan’s incident in the academy. After that, the emperor had forgotten about it… Every single day, the emperor had a lot more important things to settle; he also would not pay extra attention to a young man who was courageous and decent in martial arts. That was because he was Great Ning’s emperor – Great Ning did not lack of talented young men who were courageous.

The second time he heard his name was when he sent Ye Liuyun to investigate. In that instant, the emperor had a burst of happiness because he thought he finally found him. Thereafter, Ye Liuyun calmly destroyed that burst of happiness of his.

He was the emperor of Great Ning, the most powerful person in the world. He would not reveal any fluctuations of his feelings. However, after all, he constantly had that tiny glimmer of hope in his heart.

“I do understand Daoist Qing Song.” The emperor muttered to himself.

If someone were to listen to what he said, they would not understand what he meant. In truth, the emperor did not understand it either.

“Get Tantai Yuanshu here. I want to speak with him.”

The emperor instructed his subordinates. His servant who was standing by the door quickly ran out. Not long later, the imperial guards’ Great General Tantai Yuanshu had rushed over. He was someone who had fought alongside His Majesty back in the day, but now, he had gray hairs on both his temples. The tyrannical aura he once had on the battlefields had been quelled.

“Your Majesty.”

Tantai Yuanshu saw that the emperor was in a daze, hence he called out to him softly. The emperor snapped out of his daze and laughed. “I heard that there is a saying that if someone keeps zoning out, it means that he’s already old.”

Tantai Yuanshu shook his head. “Your Majesty is still in your prime…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the emperor. “You are bad at bootlicking, so don’t force yourself to say those words. You make it sound very awkward, making me feel awkward too. If flattery does not sound pleasing to the ear, what’s the point?”

The emperor looked at Tantai Yuanshu. “As for the Navy’s recent mission at the southern border, there is a young man named Shen Leng. He’s not 17 years old yet, but he has already performed so outstandingly that it was sufficient for me to take notice of his ability. However…”

Tantai Yuanshu knew what His Majesty was going to say. He was going to say the words ‘system’ and ‘balance’; it was something that even the emperor was unable to completely disregard.

“At that time, we were still young.”

The emperor did not complete his previous sentence. He leaned against his chair and seemed to be rather helpless. “I led a division of cavalry, and so did Tie Liuli. My troops at the front line were young men. Each one of them was willing to sacrifice their life for Great Ning. But how many of them could actually be promoted?”

Tantai Yuanshu sighed. He knew that His Majesty was only looking for someone to voice his discontent to.

If His Majesty really wanted to talk about balance and system, he would not have looked for him. He would have looked for the other people in the cabinet. His Majesty was only feeling vexed.

At that time, because of the battle at the northern border, His Majesty gained fame and military glory. Even whenever Heiwu’s people talked about Great Ning, they would always talk about Great Ning’s prince, who was well versed in literary and military skills, and that he even joined the military as a soldier, causing all his subordinates to be fiercely loyal and united through life and death situations. Even though Heiwu lost the battle, they had great respect for His Majesty. Having the ability to make his enemies revere him, it said a lot about His Majesty’s capabilities.

However, because of that, the consideration pertaining to balance sprung up. The previous emperor took away His Majesty’s military rights and confer him the status as a prince, and sent him to Yunxiao city for several years.

At that time, what made the previous emperor be on guard was the fact that His Majesty tried to get credit for too many people. Even though His Majesty clearly knew that it would make the previous emperor be suspicious of him and assume that he was forming a mutiny, he still did it anyway. This was because His Majesty understood the struggles of the young men from humble family backgrounds who could only make a name for themselves by risking their lives on the battlefield for more opportunities.

When His Majesty won the battle at the northern border, he lost the internal battle within Great Ning. Only a few people out of the people he wanted to promote were actually promoted. This was because of the idea of balance.

Presently, His Majesty had no choice but to ponder over ‘balance’.

This was something His Majesty hated the most. But His Majesty needed to personally make the decision.

Tantai Yuanshu sat there accompanying the emperor in silence. He was originally a man of few words. Furthermore he knew that His Majesty only called him over because he needed a listening ear. If His Majesty needed someone who was good with words, he would not be the one sitting there.

“This young man is not even 17 years old, Zhuang Yong has already promoted him to a Class A Sixth pin military officer. If you promote him again, he will become a Class B Fifth pin guoyi general. Even though that’s the lowest rank amongst all the generals, the people of the imperial court will definitely not agree to that. You still have to put up with them…”

The emperor looked at Tantai Yuanshu, “But I’m still not satisfied.”

Tantai Yuanshu knew that His Majesty was not only unhappy because he could not promote the young man named Shen Leng, he was even more unhappy with what happened that year. Because his military achievements were too great, and because there were way too many people he wanted to promote, causing the previous emperor to send him to the deserted Yunxiao city. This was what had been gnawing at His Majesty’s mind.

But what kind of person was His Majesty?

If anybody were to make the emperor feel uncomfortable, he would make them feel even more uncomfortable.

“Class A Sixth pin then. After all, he’s still young.”

It seemed as though the emperor had resigned to his fate, as he muttered to himself. After that, his lips suddenly curled upwards. “I will make him a shang qi du wei. I’ll see if those people dare to create any more trouble.”

Tantai Yuanshu stared blankly. “Your Majesty, shang qi du wei is a Fifth pin position. Will it be…”

He looked at the emperor’s facial expression, before changing his words. “Too low?”

Tantai Yuanshu, who was originally about to say that it was too high, chastised himself for being stupid. Even though he forced those words out of his mouth, it was better than being lectured by His Majesty.”

“I shall make him shang qi du wei first. After all, he’s still young. I have to leave some room for future rewards.”

The emperor had already voiced out his discontent. His mood was a lot better. He pointed to the chessboard. “One round?”

Tantai Yuanshu’s eyes lit up; it had been a long time since he played chess with His Majesty. Even though he was a great general, he was somewhat bashful. “Your Majesty, if you were to lose again, please do not forfeit my salary.”

The emperor replied, “If we don’t add stakes to our game of chess, what’s the point?”

Tantai Yuanshu looked rather sorrowful. “How can the winner be the one losing his money…”

The emperor responded, “Then you should just lose.”

Tantai Yuanshu had a stern look on his face. “If I purposely lose to Your Majesty, it would flatter me. Furthermore, the chessboard is akin to the battlefield – I do not dare to lose.”

His Majesty snorted. “Do you really think that I can’t wind against you? Come, let’s get down to business!”

Great Ning’s military officials would get promoted according to the level of their meritorious service. The highest would be shi er zhuan shang zhu guo. The official position did not have to be equal to the merit positions. As of now, the nineteen combat guard generals were Class A Third pin, but five of them were shang zhu guo, while the rest were zhu guo – a rank lower.

The five great generals of the elite troops of the four borders, as well as the imperial guards – three of them were shang zhu guo, and two of them were da zhu guo. Da zhu guo was a special rank – the current emperor added it himself.

Nobility, merit, official – these three things did not have any conflict with one another.

The emperor gave Shen Leng a Class A Fifth pin position. This was where it got interesting…even though it was a merit position, and not his official position, theoretically speaking, a Class A fifth pin official cannot directly do anything to a person with a Class A Fifth pin merit position.

As the emperor put down his chess piece, he said, “A while ago, I demoted everyone in the Navy. This time, the Navy achieved something significant, it’s about time I promote them back up.”

Tantai Yuanshi seemed to reply without giving much thought, “Even if you promote him back to his original position, he is only but a Class A Fourth pin. Originally, when the Navy was established, they did not seem remarkable. Right now, the Navy has the authority to travel around the waterways. It’s inevitable for them to seem inferior when they negotiate or consult with the local officials. They will not be able to be firm.”

“Class B Third pin?”

The emperor said those words.

Tantai Yuanshu said, “The scale of the Navy forces is more or less big enough – they have more troops than the number of combat soldiers in a garrison. Their work is complicated and tough. Furthermore, in the future, once the new ships are built, the Navy has to expand further.”

“In that case, Class A Third pin then.

The emperor frowned. “You’re making the wrong moves.”

Tantai Yuanshu replied, “That’s because Your Majesty is about to lose…”

The emperor responded, “No, you were wrong. You can take back the piece from before and reconsider your move.”

Tantai Yuanshu displayed a high level of determination, as though he was not afraid of death. “Never.”

.

The emperor snorted. “How boring…”

Hence, he resigned and admitted defeat.

Tantai Yuanshi started to worry about his salary.

His Majesty got up and moved about. “Actually, I called you over because I wanted to hear something from you. The majority of the people don’t know why I wanted to establish the Navy. They think that I have an undeserved reputation of sending my troops out to sea. To put it nicely, they say that I have lofty aspirations. To put it crudely, they say that I am militaristic…But do you think that I am actually afraid of those small empires on the outside of the territorial waters?”

Tantai Yuanshu knew that there were only a few people who truly understood the emperor’s motives – he happened to be one of them. That was because at that time, he fought alongside him in the war.

“That year, when I led you, it was considered to be a huge victory. However, we only managed to enter 90 miles into our opponent’s territory. When we came back, I lost half of my troops…The people of Heiwu were natural-born fighters.

The emperor walked to the window. “Tantai, do you want to…fight alongside me in the north again?”

Tantai Yuanshu started burning on the inside. The aura of his desire started overflowing outwards.