The Breeze of Dusk with the Scent of Musk

Chapter 17: Analyzing the Occult Magic

In the Crown Kingdom in the Peace Province in the Jasmine City, Zixin Quon, the emperor of the Chinese Empire, enjoys his time with Empress Xiulan Yongnian. The couple now has matchless access to all the luxuries of life. They enjoy all sorts of delicious food; they wear the finest clothes; they own the most precious and beautiful jewelry; they ride the best carriages and other means of transportation; they live in the best palaces in the Chinese Empire; and moreover, an army of maids and servants working under their supervision and at their service and command to provide them with the utmost comfort and care.

Recently, the armies of Zixin across the five kingdoms have suffered some losses resulting from different attacks from the dissident armies of the deposed government. These attacks were in the form of guerrilla warfare. The dissident armies stationed several ambushes to kill the soldiers of Zixin. As a result, the death toll increased among the armies of Zixin. The dissident armies form a major headache for Zixin at the moment and he wants to find a way to counteract their power and influence.

Currently, the dissident armies have different leaders who set military plans without coordination with one another. In other words, there is no single authority that directs, coordinates and controls the efforts of the dissident armies. The leaders of the dissident armies are smart and powerful generals who have their utter allegiance to the deposed emperor, Wei Jian. After the death of Emperor Wei Jian, their allegiance is automatically shifted to the Crown Prince of the deposed government, Yueliang Jian, the only son of the deposed emperor. These generals are ready to work under the command of Yueliang and unite their efforts under his authority. However, this is not the option for the time being. This stems from the fact that the Ministry of Intelligence of the deposed government keeps the location of Yueliang Jian, Taiyang Jian and Junjie Song as the top secret to ensure their safety and security. They want minimal communication and interaction with Yueliang, Taiyang and Junjie so that there is less possibility that they are discovered and captured. The Ministry of Intelligence believes in this rule of thumb and applies it well: "Increased communication leads to increased exposure and increased exposure leads to increased dangers." Based on this rule of thumb, the Ministry of Intelligence enjoined the leaders of the dissident armies to plan and execute their plans according to their discretion with little or no communication with or supervision from the Ministry of Intelligence.

The magical stick of Zixin opens for Zixin unlimited possibilities. He already planned to get the most out of it, realize its true potential and harness it for his interests to the fullest. In order to eradicate or at least weaken the dissident armies, Zixin thought about an intelligent policy that reflects extraordinary generosity that is backed by his magical stick. This policy truly represents the carrot and stick principle. The carrot and stick principle "combines a promised reward with a threatened penalty" [W-3]. Therefore, Zixin issued an imperial edict that calls all the leaders and soldiers of the dissident armies to surrender to him. Anyone who surrender to Zixin will get four rewards. First, he/she will be pardoned for being a dissident. Second, he/she will be given a monetary reward of 10000 golden taels. Third, he/she will officially be given the opportunity to join the official army of Zixin. Third, if the leader or the solider joins the army of Zixin, he/she will be given the generous wage that Zixin prescribed for his soldiers which is triple the amount of the regular wage that was paid in the reign of Emperor Wei Jian. This lucrative offer of Zixin was coupled with a severe threat. Anyone who refuses to surrender to Zixin and chooses to remain in the dissident armies will have two punishments. First, if he/she is captured, he/she certainly will be killed. Second, all his/her properties will be confiscated by the government of Zixin. After Zixin had lunch with his wife, Xiulan, they discussed the new imperial edict with its consequences as follows:

Zixin: Xiulan, what do you think about the new imperial edict?

Xiulan: It reflects your great wisdom that I have always admired. However, the quality of a decision should be judged according to the consequences it produces. We need to see how soldiers in the dissident armies react to this imperial edict and whether they will take advantage of it as we planned.