Chapter 28: Issuing the Order
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“From this moment on, I am the law!”
Xiao Zhan’s voice echoed through the hall, every word striking the hearts of the Ministry of War officials like a heavy hammer. As they stared at the young man before them, a chill shot from the base of their spines to the crowns of their heads.
He was not negotiating.
He was issuing orders.
Liu Yong’s lips moved, but he could no longer bring himself to say that it was “against regulations.” Regulations? In the face of that demonic weapon, and the emperor-bestowed authority to execute first and report later, what were regulations worth?
“What? Any other questions?” Xiao Zhan’s gaze swept over them.
“N-No questions!”
“Vice Minister Xiao is absolutely right!”
“We… we’ll see to it at once!”
The officials who had been kneeling on the floor moments earlier scrambled to their feet, moving with such astonishing speed that they seemed terrified of being half a beat too slow and getting “riddled” on the spot by Xiao Zhan.
Xiao Zhan nodded in satisfaction. No longer bothering with the cowards whose souls had nearly fled their bodies, he turned and strode out of the Ministry of War.
Behind him lay a deathly silence, along with a group of senior Ministry officials whose faces were ashen, as though their spirits had been ripped away. Liu Yong collapsed into a chair and stared at the ruined artificial hill and the suit of black iron armor reduced to scrap metal. After a long silence, all that remained was a drawn-out sigh filled with despair and regret.
Everything that had happened at the Ministry of War swept through the capital’s officialdom like a Category Twelve hurricane, engulfing it within the space of half an hour.
A mere youngster not yet twenty, newly appointed as Left Vice Minister of War, had forced Right Vice Minister Liu Yong and every senior official of the ministry to sign a military pledge with their official caps as the wager!
He had even fired that legendary “Thunder God Cannon” inside the Ministry of War, turning the armory’s priceless treasure—the Black Iron Heavy Armor—into a sieve on the spot!
When the news reached the Hall of Supreme Purity, the emperor, who had been reviewing memorials, paused slightly with his vermilion brush as he listened to the eunuch’s report.
He was not angry. Instead, he let out a low laugh.
“That Xiao Zhan… He truly is a ferocious tiger that can never be tamed!” Excitement and anticipation glittered in the emperor’s eyes. “But I like it! This stagnant pool that is the Great Ming Dynasty is long overdue for a dragon fierce enough to cross the river and stir it up!”
“Deliver my oral decree.” The emperor’s voice grew solemn. “The Ministry of Revenue, the Capital Garrisons, and the Directorate of Armaments are to give Vice Minister Xiao their full cooperation in all matters. There must be no mistakes! Should anyone pay lip service while secretly obstructing him, my Imperial Guard is not here to make up the numbers!”
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“Your Majesty’s will be done!”
With the emperor’s oral decree behind him, Xiao Zhan’s actions met with no further obstruction.
Five hundred thousand taels of silver were transferred that very afternoon into the account Xiao Zhan had established, despite the Ministry of Revenue’s minister wearing a face as mournful as though he had just lost a parent.
A sprawling, independent military camp on the western outskirts of the capital, long since abandoned, was rapidly cleared out and handed over to Xiao Zhan.
As for Xiao Zhan himself, the moment he obtained that humiliating military pledge from the Ministry of War, he did not even return home. He took several dozen loyal retainers, hung a Desert Eagle at his waist, slung an AK-47 across his back, and headed straight for the main camp of the Capital Garrisons.
The Capital Garrisons were the Great Ming Dynasty’s most elite force—the emperor’s personal army, charged with protecting the capital.
Yet the garrisons of today were a far cry from the formidable army of the dynasty’s founding years. Inside the camp, the officers were entangled in a web of personal connections, while most of the soldiers were sons of noble families or men with powerful patrons. They slacked off during drills, were experts at eating, drinking, gambling, and visiting brothels, and had completely forgotten how to fight a war.
When Xiao Zhan and his party appeared at the gates of the Capital Garrisons, radiating an aura that warned all strangers to keep their distance, an immediate commotion broke out.
“Who goes there? This is a restricted military ground! Leave at once!” the gate officer shouted sharply.
Xiao Zhan could not even be bothered to answer. He simply tossed over the brass token representing the authority to execute first and report later.
“Left Vice Minister of War, acting on His Majesty’s oral decree, here to select soldiers! Bring out whoever is in charge!”
The officer took one look at the token, shuddered violently, and scrambled into the camp on hands and knees.
Before long, a heavily built general with a full beard and tiger-head armor emerged, surrounded by a cluster of guards. This man was Zhang Wei, Deputy Commander of the Capital Garrisons. He was related by marriage to Liu Yong of the Ministry of War and naturally had little goodwill toward this intruder, Xiao Zhan.
“So it is Vice Minister Xiao gracing us with his presence. Forgive us for failing to welcome you properly.” Zhang Wei cupped his hands with a smile that did not reach his eyes. “May I ask what brings Vice Minister Xiao to the Capital Garrisons?”
“To select soldiers.” Xiao Zhan was blunt.
“To select soldiers?” Zhang Wei feigned surprise. “Vice Minister Xiao, I’m afraid that would be against regulations. The Capital Garrisons are the emperor’s personal army. Any transfer of personnel requires an official document from the Ministry of War, followed by approval from the commanding officers. And yet here you are… simply showing up?”
The officers behind him wore expressions of eager anticipation, clearly waiting for a spectacle. Among them stood a familiar figure: Qin Cang, who had been stripped of three years’ salary and ordered to redeem himself through meritorious service. He stared at Xiao Zhan with venom and mockery in his eyes.
He was eager to see how Xiao Zhan would deal with these arrogant, battle-hardened officers of the Capital Garrisons.
Xiao Zhan smiled.
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What he hated most was people lecturing him about regulations.
He did not answer Zhang Wei. Instead, he drew out the military pledge bearing the signatures of every senior official in the Ministry of War, unfolded it, and held it high.
“Commander Zhang, look carefully. This is the military pledge signed by every senior official of the Ministry of War! They have admitted their own incompetence and handed complete authority over the northern campaign to me! His Majesty has also issued an edict ordering the Capital Garrisons to give me their full cooperation!”
He paused, and his voice suddenly turned cold.
“So from this moment on, I am the one who decides! My word is the law!”
“As for official documents…” Xiao Zhan folded the pledge and tucked it away against his chest. “This is the greatest official document of all! If you think it isn’t enough, I have something else here.”
Slowly, he drew the silver Desert Eagle from its holster and spun it once around his fingertip.
“Commander Zhang, would you like to find out whether your skull is harder, or my ‘Thunder God Cannon’?”
Zhang Wei’s complexion changed in an instant.
The officers behind him recoiled as one.
They had heard all about what had happened at the Ministry of War. The young man before them was a madman who would open fire at the slightest disagreement!
“I wouldn’t dare! I wouldn’t dare! Vice Minister Xiao must be joking…” Sweat beaded on Zhang Wei’s forehead. The arrogance vanished from his face without a trace, replaced by a smile uglier than tears. “If Vice Minister Xiao wishes to select soldiers, we… we will naturally give him our full cooperation!”
“Excellent.” Xiao Zhan returned the pistol to its holster. “Then stop wasting time. Sound the horn and assemble everyone! I want every soldier in the Capital Garrisons gathered on the parade ground within fifteen minutes! Anyone late will be dealt with under military law!”
“Yes! Yes!” Zhang Wei did not dare delay. He immediately roared at the signalman beside him, “What are you waiting for? Sound the horn! Get every last man to the parade ground!”
“Wooo—wooo—”
The bleak yet thunderous call of the horn rang throughout the entire camp.
Fifteen minutes later, tens of thousands of soldiers stood packed across the central parade ground of the Capital Garrisons. They stood sloppily, whispered among themselves, and formed crooked, disorderly ranks. They bore none of the discipline one would expect from an elite force.
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