BES: Chapter 10

For the next four months, my lessons in strategy were tripled while my lessons in martial arts remained the same. This effectively meant that I had three days of Martial Arts Training, three Days of Strategy Training, and one day of free time. I chose to spend my free day learning how to sail on junks in the Baiyang Lake, which was only a few hours' ride east of Zhending City and the Palace of my father. In my old life, I had learned how to sail on modern rigged sloops and could even handle sailing on a frigate-sized vessel with help. I had never had the occasion to learn how to sail on ships with older-style rigging, or junks in general, so I was glad for the lessons.

Ten hours every week were spent that way for four months. More on occasions when Uriyaingkidai was too busy with things that were too important to justify my presence as on-the-job training. In total, I spent around two hundred hours over the course of four months getting my sailing ability up to snuff. It was enough to get a commercial helicopter license back in my old life, and with my prior life's sailing ability helping to jump-start things, by the time I had to leave for the war, I was sailing as well as many of the sailors who plied the lake for a living on their fishing junks.

Sailing was the least of the time I invested in preparations. Uriyangkidai had stepped up my lessons, not just with strategy and tactics, but also with military procedure, logistics, and half a dozen other considerations that factored into actual military campaigns at the command level. Some days, we would carry on like before, running through tactical exercises or strategy-based thought experiments. On other days, he would make sure I knew what could and could not be done to subordinates or the standard procedure for the distribution of loot. Yet other times, he would take me along to various storehouses and depots and walk me through supply procedures while giving me lectures on logistics and how supply situations affected campaigns.

A very few times, he would take me along to meetings with other generals and officers to try and pick things up by listening and observing. He did not do that often. My rank as a Prince was just enough to get me into the less important meetings, even if my rank as a Qianhu would ordinarily disqualify me from attending even those. On these occasions, I was simply there to observe and was only allowed to speak up when given permission. These men were all veterans of campaigns numbering over a dozen. They knew their business far more than a boy like me was supposed to.

Of course, being a semi-regular presence in those meetings had another effect. Building camaraderie between myself and the command staff. The Han members of my father's court would no doubt refer to what I was doing as 'building guanxi', and they would not be wrong to do so. Over time, I learned to recognize the quirks of the various commanders so I could give them little gifts and ingratiate myself with them.

For example, Admiral Sak Kong Tee was an older Hakka ship captain. He had previously been a pirate who had a grudge against the Song Dynasty and who my father had recruited for our new fleet. He had indulged in a lot of drinking in his piratical youth and suffered from an irritable stomach as a result. I always ensured he had a supply of ginseng tea at meetings, which helped reduce his irritable stomach.

I did that sort of thing for many of the generals at these meetings. Commander Champo was a Tibetan man who was our logistics officer. He was fond of Yak Butter, which was rare in China. General Zhilugu was a Khitan and was in charge of our artillery and siege engines. He was fond of Baijiu from Ji in Yan Orda. General Chang Wen was in command of our infantry and was a Han peasant who had worked his way up to Generalship under Ogedei's rule. He collected interesting weapons. I procured items for each of them. For General Zhilugu, I procured entire gourds of Ji Baijiu from Yan Orda, for Commander Champo, I had crocks of Yak Butter packed in chests of Ice and transported from recently conquered Lhasa, and for General Chang Wen, I found a merchant that had purchased a Venetian Fauchard in Constantinople after traveling the Silk Road.

The end result was that the command staff of one of the two armies my father currently had raised was fond of me. These old men would be my ticket to climbing the ranks of the military. If I could do the same to the commanders of the army marching into Dali, it would ensure that I would be able to rise from a Qianhu, in command of a minghan of a thousand men, to a Wanhu in command of a tumen of ten thousand, then to a commander in command of multiple tumen, and general in command of a whole army in no time. For now, though, I contented myself with the commanders of this army and my studies.

Speaking of which, Leung Shun had me working overtime as well. Shaolin Dan Dao and proto-Hung Gar training was polished off, and I moved from the basics of the style that would eventually become Wing Chun to some more advanced techniques, along with the advanced forms of Meihua Qiang and the basics of Shaolin Guandao. Of course, my combination style was continuing to be refined as I was taught more and more.

On that front, Leung Shun had started to introduce techniques from styles he hadn't shown me in order to see how I would incorporate them into my developing style. He even tried to trip me up as a test once, giving me Jian techniques to integrate, even though he had only taught me Dao techniques as far as swords go. Fortunately, I had some sidesword training in my previous life and could draw on that experience to integrate thrusting and slashing techniques into one style. Leung Shun seemed stunned that I had adapted so quickly. Visibly so.

"Sifu?" I questioned after adapting my routines in one training session.

"You had one day to adapt your style to a completely new type of technique. I do not know how you managed to do so. You must be some form of fighting genius, the likes of which are only seen once every generation." He muttered.

"I don't know about that, Sifu. The adaptation came to me in my dreams, like a lot of the things I told you about before." I shrugged.

"Yes, you mentioned your dreams. I spoke with my Abbot, and he seems to think you to be either a rare genius or some kind of special madman whose madness manifests in intense bursts of insight. I can think of very few other explanations aside from perhaps you having been a bodhisattva in a prior life." Sighed Leung Shun.

"Sifu?" I queried.

"It's nothing, student. Return to your practice." Responded Leung Shun, shaking his head.

I did so, diligently trying to work the Jian stuff into my sword routine. By the end of the four months of preparation, I could honestly say that aside from an empty hand style, I was now well on my way to developing a hybridized sword style with elements of Shaolin Dan Dao, Qingping Jian, and Italian Sidesword, along with a hybridized spear style that took elements of Japanese Bojutsu, Meihua Qiaing, Shaolin Guandao, and even a bit of Western Halberd Drill. And that was just as it stood now, I was more than open to adding in new techniques and elements, provided I could get them to work in actual fight conditions.

On the last day of my Martial Arts lessons before I was slated to leave with Uriyaingkidal and the Command Staff to join the Army and Fleet camped and docked along the shores of the Bohai Sea, Leung Shun came up to me and nodded.

"Your hybridized styles have progressed from a series of related techniques and ideas to actual styles, student. Have you thought of a name?" He asked.

"Wuxing Fangfa Quan and Wuxing Fangfa Dao." I answered.

"Formless Method Fist and Formless Method Dao? Interesting names. Why those?" Pressed Leung Shun.

"The only constant is that both styles are always changing. I'm always adding techniques that work, throwing out ones that don't, and generally refining them both. Its form is that it has no form, not permanently. Hence Formless Method Fist and Formless Method Dao." I shrugged.

"It is a shame you were born a Prince, my student. The Temple would have been lucky to count you a brother." Sighed Leung Shun.

I was stunned. That was probably the highest compliment that he had ever paid me. Even when I had defeated Gongsun Ping, he hadn't complimented me so much as acknowledged I was ready for more advanced training. This, this was something else. My shock must have shown on my face, because Leung Shun cracked a wry grin, cocking an eyebrow as if he was supremely amused by my flustered face. He probably was, too.

"Don't look so surprised, my student. Just because I am stingy with praise does not mean I can not recognize when it is warranted." He grinned.

I felt the heat rise in my cheeks from embarrassment. All I could think to say was, "Thank you, Sifu."

"If you want to thank me, you will come back from this war in one piece. Do not take foolish risks if you can avoid them. Knowing you, you will at least try to do something insanely risky at some point. I will only say that glory and spoils are not worth your life and that I want you to think of other ways to achieve your objective if you feel like taking those risks." Intoned Leung Shun.

"Sifu, I need to do well. My father. . ." I began. Leung Shun cut me off.

"Your father would rather his son stay alive than be killed on a gamble. War is not a game, my student. Nor is it the same as sparring. War is painful, bloody, and deadly. If you do not treat it with the care it deserves, you will not survive it. Did not Uriyangkidai cover this?" Insisted Leung Shun.

"My lessons with him were more about skills that a commander should have. Tactics, strategy, logistical management, that sort of thing." I replied quietly.

"I see." Frowned Leung Shun. He paused for a long moment, then continued.

"I never told you how I entered the Temple, did I?" He questioned.

"No, Sifu, you didn't." I confirmed.

"I was a soldier once. My brother, best friend, and three other boys in our village joined the Army of the Song when we were not much older than you. We fought our first campaign together, taking on bandits under a regional Bandit Lord in Guling Commandery. For a year, we killed ill-equipped, under-trained, half-starved bandits in the mountains, thinking ourselves masters of the battlefield. When we finally tracked down and defeated the Bandit Lord, we thought we were unstoppable. We were fools. Your people invaded the next year. My brother, best friend, and most of our army were killed at the Battle of Xiangyang. I barely escaped with my life. The temple took me in and gave me sanctuary. I spent seventeen years in the temple, practicing the martial arts, reflecting on my mistakes, and learning to forgive. I do not wish you to carry the same regrets as I did for so long." Explained Leung Shun.

That caused me to think about his story. My Shifu had admitted to being a former soldier, one who treated war like a game and paid dearly for it. If I went into this nonchalantly, would I suffer the same misfortune? It was certainly something to keep in mind. A powerful reason to take his words to heart. If nothing else, the fact that he'd even told me about this in order to get me to take war seriously was enough reason to do so, even absent the content of my Sifu's message.

"I understand, Sifu." I nodded.

"I can see from the look in your eyes that you do. I will let you return to your practice, my student." Nodded Leung Shun, stepping back.

I finished my forms for the day and headed to dinner, Leung Shun's words on my mind. Dorji had left for Tibet weeks ago, and my father was busy with his own army. My mother was also absent. She had taken up the Guqin as a way to pass the time with music and had a lesson this evening. My mother wouldn't miss a lesson even for me, as she always demanded that I finish whatever obligations I started. Apparently, a scion of the house of Chinggis Khan did nothing less, so she was keeping the appointment.

I would see both my mother and father tomorrow during the sending off of the command staff, anyway, but dinner this evening was just me. I ate a hearty meal of boodog, stir-fried rice, and vegetables, and washed it down with a pitcher of sweetened qatarmizat. Once I had eaten and drunk my fill, I headed off to bathe and change into my nightclothes, then went to sleep. Tomorrow, my war would start.

I just hoped that I could do well and stay alive. . .

XXXX

AN: Ok, so here we've got a heart-to-heart between Dalai and Leung Shun. They've progressed from being a reluctant instructor and annoying pupil to an actual full-on Sifu and Student dynamic. It's a big shift from where they started and even where they were a few chapters ago. We even got a bit of backstory for Leung Shun.

This is, however, the last of the pre-written chapters, so the next one might take some time. Unfortunately, as I'm still on the last day of my ten-day trip to Ireland and Scotland, it might not be out before tonight.

As for the various commanders of the army, we'll get more in-depth scenes with them coming up, as they'll be the primary cast for the War with Goryeo Arc, replacing Dalai's various tutors. I've only given you their names and a brief character blurb in this chapter, but you'll see their actual personalities in the chapters ahead as they get more in-depth scenes.

Hopefully, a dichotomy in power base between Dalai and Dorji is starting to take shape. Dalai is going for the military as a power base, whereas Dorji is being supported by various court factions. It's supposed to match their character traits, as Dalai is more spontaneous and physically fit, whereas Dorji is more thoughtful and less physically fit. The brothers are heading for a clash eventually, but it'll be a while yet. Kublai's still around after all.

Anyway, next up will be the start of the War with Goryeo, as the various command staff lead the army off to the Northeast for Korea and War, with Uriyangkidai taking Dalai along for the ride as his Aide.

Stay tuned. . .