Chapter 67: The Three Immortalities
Fang Hetong called a few people into the room and ordered them to carry the three boxes of military supplies into the storeroom. He specifically instructed them to meticulously inventory and record all of the items before finally taking his seat beside Wei Yuan once more.
A moment of silence later, the scholar sighed and said, “To be honest with you, it’s my fault we’re currently in this situation. Several months ago, when the Liao barbarians invaded, I chose to cast aside my brush and took up arms in fervent devotion to my country. Yet upon arriving in Quyang County, I discovered that the staff general was embezzling funds from vacant posts with the county magistrate’s blessing. Such corruption might be tolerable during peacetime, but the foreign races are currently threatening our borders, and our garrison is understaffed. In the end, it is the people who would suffer. In a fit of rage, I wrote a letter to the commandery administrator, filing complaints not just against the staff general, but also the county magistrate.
“However, I never received a response for the letter, but the staff general and the county magistrate’s revenge kept coming in droves. That was the moment I realized that the commandery administrator is in cahoots with them. At the time, I had rallied several hundred volunteers to resist the enemy and defend their homes, but the staff general refused to acknowledge their identity as militia. The county hadn’t issued a single coin or grain either, forcing me to supply the provisions myself.
“Alas, I am terribly poor. I can sell my field and house and receive only a couple taels in exchange. The only reason I managed to hang on was thanks to the occasional donation from my brothers and sisters from the academy. Even so, we ran out of supplies in the end. If not for your timely arrival, I would truly have run out of ideas, Older Brother Wei.”
“Please, Older Brother Fang. You are my senior in age.”
“I suppose that is true. I ask that you permit this foolish older brother to address you as my Worthy Little Brother[1] then.”
“Please continue, Older Brother Fang.”
Fang Hetong let out a long sigh before saying, “Sometimes, I wonder if things would be better if it was someone else who was summoned to these villages. Perhaps my brothers would have been acknowledged as militia a long time ago, and they would not have fought the Liao barbarians to the death and still see their families starve to death in their homes.”
Wei Yuan wasn’t familiar with the politics of Western Jin. His mission was to guard the border, and the Palace of Absolute Beginning had no intentions of interfering with Western Jin’s governance either. Thus, he didn’t know how to handle such matters. That said, just because the government didn’t care didn’t mean the Palace didn’t.