Chapter 24: Orphan of a Veteran Soldier

In the 25th year of the Kaiyuan era, the Tang Empire officially established a system for recruiting brave soldiers to guard the borders. Volunteers were drawn from the interior to serve in the frontier regions, allowed to bring their families, while the government offered them land and tax benefits, thus forming a military household system there.

Kucha was the location of the Anxi Protectorate and also the area where military households were most concentrated. They were generally settled around various farmland camps, forming Han Chinese villages. To the west of Kucha City, there was a large settlement of military households, home to thousands of their families. Even before the establishment of these military households, many Han Chinese had come to Kucha to make a living and built homes there. After decades of development, this area had become a stronghold of Han people. Their language, cultural customs, and architectural style were not much different from those in the interior. The taverns in the Central Plains that Li Qingan often visited were also located in this area.

Li Qingan, accompanied by several soldiers and guided by a fire officer, arrived at a small courtyard. This was the home of the missing veteran soldier. The wall surrounding the courtyard was only shoulder-high. Beyond it, a little girl in coarse cloth clothes was seen bent over, sewing cloth shoes. Dozens of finished shoes lay beside her. She was so focused on her work that she didn’t notice a group of soldiers approaching.

The gate was very dilapidated, covered with cracks of various sizes. The fire officer knocked hard on the door.

“Who is it?” The girl’s voice was young and delicate, indicating she was quite young.

The door creaked open, and the girl who had been sewing shoes appeared before them. She was still very young, probably only eleven or twelve, but she had delicate features, a pretty nose, and full lips—truly a beauty in the making. Despite her young age, her eyes carried a maturity that didn’t match her age.

“Who are you looking for?” the girl asked, puzzled, looking at them.

“Excuse me, is this the home of Xia Wuliang?”

“Yes, but my father isn’t here. He went to war and hasn’t returned yet.”

She glanced at Li Qingan and asked hesitantly, “Are you with my father?”

The fire officer smiled and nodded, introducing Li Qingan to her, “Yes! This is your father’s officer. He has come specially to see you.”

“Oh! Please come in.”

The girl hurriedly opened the door to let them in. Li Qingan stepped into the courtyard and looked around. There were three old houses, and the courtyard was clean and spotless. In the corner of the courtyard stood a tall locust tree with dense shade. Beneath the tree was a patch of land planted with chrysanthemums.

“Uncles, please have a seat!” The girl brought over several chairs and poured them a cup of tea.

Li Qingan picked up his teacup and smiled, saying, “My surname is Li. You may call me Captain Li. What’s your name?”
“My name is Xia Xiaolian.”
“Oh! That’s a nice name,” Li Qingan said with a nod, then asked, “Xiaolian, where’s your mother? Why isn’t she here?”
The girl lowered her head and whispered, “My mother passed away five years ago. There are only my father and I at home.”
After saying that, she looked up at Li Qingan anxiously and asked, “Captain Li, is nothing wrong with my father?”
“Nothing’s wrong! Nothing’s wrong!” Li Qingan smiled. “He’s a scout who went to Lingxi on military duty.”
From the girl’s anxious expression, Li Qingan deduced that Xia Wuliang had not returned. It was impossible for him to abandon his only daughter. There were only two possibilities: either he had been captured by the Turkic tribes, though that seemed unlikely, or he had died in battle.
Li Qingan sighed inwardly, feeling great guilt. He then said gently, “Xiaolian, according to regulations, soldiers who die in battle are entitled to fifty mu of land as compensation. But since your father is only injured, he doesn’t qualify for that. However, for his bravery in battle, he deserves a reward. Your father will receive forty mu of land and fifty taels of silver. Please accept this.”
With that, Li Qingan handed over a land deed and two silver ingots to Xia Xiaolian. More concerned about her father’s condition, she was overjoyed to hear he wasn’t dead. She quickly bowed to Li Qingan and said, “Thank you, Captain Li, for your reward.”
“You’re welcome. This is your father’s merit.”
Li Qingan stood up and smiled, saying, “Well, it’s time for us to leave. If there’s any news about your father, I’ll send someone to inform you right away.”
“Thank you, Captain Li.”
Xia Xiaolian quickly picked up some cloth shoes and gave one pair to each of them. “These are cloth shoes made by me. It’s just a small token of my gratitude. Please accept them, uncles!”
The soldiers hurriedly refused, but Li Qingan said with a smile, “This is Xiaolian’s gesture. Everyone, please accept it!”
They had no choice but to accept them and then took their leave.
After leaving Xia Wuliang’s home, Li Qingan’s smile disappeared. He turned to the others and ordered, “No one is allowed to reveal anything about her father’s situation. Those who violate this order will be severely punished.”
“General, rest assured. We will never reveal anything!”
Li Qingan nodded and then said to the quartermaster, “Send her three dou of rice and 500 coins per month. It can be deducted from the military funds. Make sure it’s done correctly!”
“I’ll follow the orders!”
Li Qingan whipped his warhorse sharply and rushed back toward the camp.

As Li Qing’an had expected, early the next morning, an officer from the governor’s office arrived at the camp. Upon seeing Li Qing’an, he bowed and said, “Captain Li, by the commander-in-chief’s orders, you are asked to go to the governor’s office.”
“I’ll be there right away.”
Li Qing’an returned to his tent to fetch the ledger, then followed the officer to the governor’s office. Two soldiers led him into the military affairs room on the east side, which was Fu Menglingcha’s office. Upon entering the courtyard, a soldier announced loudly, “Commander-in-chief, Captain Li has arrived.”
“Come in!”
Fu Menglingcha’s voice was stern, completely devoid of his usual gentleness. Li Qing’an hurriedly entered the room. Besides Fu Menglingcha, there were several others there, including Gao Xianzhi and Cheng Qianli.
Gao Xianzhi looked grave. When he saw Li Qing’an enter, a hint of unease flashed in his eyes. He had been focused on soothing the emotions of Li Qing’an’s subordinates and hadn’t expected Cheng Qianli to exploit this situation. First, Cheng accused him of awarding military merits privately. When Li Qing’an finally explained that it was not private awarding but a recognition by the military commander, another issue arose: if it was a normal recognition of military merits, then had Li Qing’an embezzled soldiers’ rewards or shown favoritism?
“Your servant, Captain Li Qing’an of the scouting camp, salutes the commander-in-chief!” Li Qing’an knelt on one knee and performed a military salute.
“Captain Li, do you admit guilt?” Fu Menglingcha asked coldly.
“Your servant doesn’t know where guilt would come from.”
“Hmph! I doubt you’d dare admit it.”
Fu Menglingcha threw a complaint letter at Li Qing’an. Gao Xianzhi beside him broke into cold sweat. He had thought Fu Menglingcha would merely question him, but he didn’t expect there to already be evidence. He glanced at Cheng Qianli, who gave him a smug smile.
“Captain Li, someone has accused you of uneven distribution of rewards—those with greater merits getting less, and those with lesser merits getting more, as well as showing favoritism. How do you explain this?”
Under normal circumstances, Fu Menglingcha would have slammed the table and ordered Li Qing’an to be executed without listening to any explanations. But with Gao Xianzhi present, he couldn’t kill Li Qing’an arbitrarily; he needed conclusive evidence to leave Gao Xianzhi with no argument.
Li Qing’an took out the ledger from his bosom and handed it over with both hands. “Commander-in-chief, Deputy Commander Gao gave your servant fifteen hectares of land as a reward for military merits. This is the ledger detailing each person’s merits and the corresponding rewards. Everything is clearly written here, so the commander-in-chief can verify it one by one.”