“Brother Hu, you are truly a remarkable talent to come up with such a plan. I knew I wasn’t wrong about you. I always knew you and Brother Xia were extraordinary, which is why I recommended you to my nephew,” Zhu Shouren praised Hu Wei lavishly, also complimenting Xia Qiang in the process.
“Haha, it’s all thanks to Brother Zhu’s keen eye for talent. Without your recommendation to your nephew, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to realize our ambitions,” Hu Wei flattered Zhu Shouren in return.
“Indeed, thank you, Brother Zhu. Without your recommendation, how could we have met such an important figure as Lord Zhu?” Xia Qiang chimed in as well.
The three of them exchanged compliments, their confidence soaring, and they were satisfied with their division of tasks.
Xia Qiang was responsible for keeping watch by the window, alerting them if anyone approached. Hu Wei and Zhu Shouren were tasked with searching the commander’s tent for the books Zhu Ping’an had read the previous day and any notes he might have written.
In fact, they didn’t need to search far. On Zhu Ping’an’s desk was a stack of books.
One of them was placed in the center, its pages closed, clearly a book Zhu Ping’an had just been reading.
Zhu Shouren and Hu Wei immediately noticed the book on the desk and exchanged a glance.
“No mistake, this is the book my nephew was reading this morning. I remember the blue cover. I noticed him reading a book with a blue cover earlier. It must be this one,” Zhu Shouren said confidently, picking up the book from the desk.
“Yes, that’s right. I also recall Lord Zhu flipping through a blue book this morning. It must be this one,” Hu Wei nodded, also remembering.
Zhu Shouren quickly flipped through the book and noticed a slight crease on one page. He couldn’t help but pat the book and said triumphantly to Hu Wei and Xia Qiang, “This page has a crease. My nephew must have found something interesting and folded the corner to mark it for later. Back home, when I visited my second brother’s house and saw my nephew’s study, many of his books had creased pages. The pages with creases were more worn, a sign that he frequently revisited them.”
“Yes, indeed. Brother Zhu knows Lord Zhu well. This page is noticeably more worn than the others. Lord Zhu must have spent a lot of time on this page,” Hu Wei agreed, flipping through the book.
“While no one’s outside, let me take a look,” Xia Qiang, who was supposed to be keeping watch by the window, couldn’t resist and came over to see.
The three of them huddled together, studying the page intently.
“What on this page could have caught my nephew’s attention so much that he kept revisiting it?” Zhu Shouren asked after reading through it, scratching his head, unable to see anything particularly significant.
“This book is a collection of memorials to the throne. This page contains a memorial from a Song Dynasty official named Zhang Kongwu after his inspection of Sichuan. It covers politics, economics, and livelihood, but what must have caught Lord Zhu’s attention is the part about military affairs,” Xia Qiang said, stroking his chin as he analyzed the content.
“Oh, let me see. Hmm, the part about military affairs…” Zhu Shouren, inspired, immediately looked for the relevant passage.
“‘In Bashu, there is a general named Zhang Hao, who possesses the demeanor of Sun Tzu when he trained troops before the King of Wu. He should be entrusted with important responsibilities…’ This is the only sentence in the memorial related to military matters. Is this really worth my nephew’s repeated attention?” Zhu Shouren quickly found the passage but shook his head in disappointment.
“Haha, Brother Zhu, it must be this sentence that caught Lord Zhu’s attention,” Hu Wei said with a smile.
“Yes, it must be this one,” Xia Qiang agreed.
“Is there some deeper meaning to this sentence?” Zhu Shouren asked, puzzled.
“Brother Zhu, do you know the story of Sun Tzu training troops before the King of Wu?” Hu Wei asked with a smile.
“Ahem, I didn’t sleep well last night, and my mind is a bit foggy. I can’t recall it at the moment,” Zhu Shouren coughed, shamelessly covering up his ignorance.
In truth, he mostly read the Four Books and Five Classics or some risqué novels. As for historical texts, he found them irrelevant to the imperial exams and had hardly bothered with them.
Hu Wei and Xia Qiang could tell Zhu Shouren didn’t know the story but chose not to expose him.
“Brother Zhu, the story goes like this: To test Sun Tzu’s abilities, the King of Wu deliberately selected over a hundred palace maids, including his two favorite concubines, and handed them over to Sun Tzu for training,” Hu Wei began.
“Sun Tzu was quite lucky to have a hundred palace maids under his command…” Zhu Shouren chuckled.
Hu Wei and Xia Qiang couldn’t help but feel exasperated.
“Sun Tzu divided the maids into two teams, appointing the King’s two favorite concubines as captains. He explained the military commands and warned that anyone who disobeyed would be punished according to military law. The maids agreed verbally but found the whole thing novel and amusing. During the training, they ignored the commands, laughing and causing chaos. Sun Tzu repeated the commands three times, but the maids still didn’t obey, laughing uncontrollably and disrupting the formation. The two concubine captains even laughed so hard they nearly fell to the ground. Sun Tzu then ordered their execution according to military law,” Hu Wei continued.
“What? He was going to kill the King’s two favorite concubines? Would the King allow that?” Zhu Shouren exclaimed in surprise.
“Exactly. When the King saw that Sun Tzu intended to execute his beloved concubines, he immediately sent a messenger to say that he now recognized Sun Tzu’s military prowess and begged him to spare the two concubines. But Sun Tzu refused without hesitation, stating that a general in the field is not bound by the king’s orders. He proceeded to execute the two concubine captains. He then appointed the next in line as captains and continued the training. This time, the maids dared not disobey Sun Tzu’s commands. They followed every order precisely, moving forward, backward, left, and right, forming a perfect formation. Sun Tzu invited the King to inspect the troops, but the King, grieving over the loss of his concubines, refused. Sun Tzu then went to see the King in person and said, ‘Strict discipline and clear rewards and punishments are the fundamentals of military strategy and the principles of commanding troops. Only by being stern with soldiers can they obey orders and achieve victory in battle.’ The King’s anger subsided after hearing this. When he inspected the maids and saw their impeccable discipline, resembling a well-trained army, his anger dissipated completely, and he appointed Sun Tzu as a general,” Xia Qiang continued the story.
“Ah, I see. My nephew isn’t so much interested in the sentence from the memorial as he is in the story of Sun Tzu training troops before the King of Wu. In this story, Sun Tzu emphasized the importance of being stern with soldiers to ensure they obey orders and act with discipline. In other words, my nephew wants to emulate Sun Tzu…” Zhu Shouren said, finally understanding.
“Brother Zhu, you are indeed wise,” Hu Wei praised with a smile.
“Haha, not at all, not at all…” Zhu Shouren waved his hand modestly, but he couldn’t hide his pleased smile.
