Seeing that even Han Qian didn’t insist, Yang Yuanpu also believed that Li Chong couldn’t pull any tricks in front of him. He stared at Li Chong and asked, “Li Chong, are you willing to go?”
Li Chong certainly didn’t want to go find trouble in front of Han Qian. He was about to find an excuse to decline when he saw Zhang Ping standing beside the Third Prince, repeatedly winking at him.
Only then did Li Chong come to his senses. He thought to himself that the power to investigate merit and fault possessed by the Records Adjutant in provinces, counties, and the military was a legal principle established by Emperor Tianyou. No matter how much the Third Prince favored Han Qian, by governing him with legal principles, he could prevent Han Qian from being too presumptuous.
Moreover, Han Qian and Li Zhigao utilized Shen Yang’s impartiality to prevent them from attempting to control the Third Prince again. But they could equally utilize Shen Yang’s impartiality to suppress the excessive growth of Han Qian and Li Zhigao’s power and avoid having too many resources excessively tilted toward the First Battalion and the Left Bureau!
“Whatever Your Highness commands, Li Chong will not refuse even unto ten thousand deaths,” Li Chong replied.
Hearing Li Chong say this, Han Qian sneered coldly in his heart, thinking to himself, “Little brat still wants to match wits with me?”
Han Qian pondered for a moment, then bowed to the Third Prince with cupped hands:
“The Dragon Sparrow Army has the position of Records Adjutant, but all along it has been virtually vacant, not truly fulfilling its function. As Lord Shen Yang said, the military indeed needs someone to investigate merit and fault in order to truly achieve strict discipline. However, Li Chong holds both the positions of Records Adjutant and Legal Bureau concurrently, with only two or three muddled old clerks assisting him. Even the documents they write are complete nonsense, making it truly difficult to achieve the effect of commanding the army as if moving one’s own arm. Your Highness should urgently seek out worthy talent to serve as secretaries and scribes, to make the military’s legal principles manifest. Moreover, His Majesty established the position of Supervising Commissioner in all armies with the particular intention of investigating treachery and rebellion. The affairs under the Dragon Sparrow Army’s Records Adjutant and Legal Bureau should also properly be supervised by Supervising Commissioner Guo, to avoid creating any wrongful imprisonments that might damage Your Highness’s and His Majesty’s wisdom…”
Han Qian then asked Shen Yang, “Lord Shen Yang, what do you think?”
“It should be exactly so,” Shen Yang nodded in agreement.
In Shen Yang’s view, the Third Prince was still too young and too easily controlled. Since he had the opportunity, he needed to prevent the Dragon Sparrow Army from one day degenerating into a private army controlled by treacherous ministers and military men.
What Han Qian suggested was precisely what he planned to do after the Deng and Xiang war situation settled down.
However, since Han Qian had raised it now, Shen Yang had absolutely no reason to push it back.
As for using Guo Rong to supervise the Records Adjutant and Legal Bureau, Shen Yang also didn’t feel there was anything wrong with it.
It was true that Guo Rong was a court eunuch of the An Ning Palace and Crown Prince faction. However, Shen Yang believed that since Guo Rong was currently serving as the Dragon Sparrow Army’s Supervising Commissioner, he should be given the responsibility to fulfill the duties of Supervising Commissioner.
And if Guo Rong did anything that violated legal principles, both he and the Third Prince could submit memorials to impeach him.
Sitting to the side, Guo Rong was slightly stunned upon hearing this, not expecting this matter to involve him.
Guo Rong had arrived at Xiangzhou city together with Shen Yang and Chen De. When they arrived, Chai Jian and Li Chong’s command authority over the Guard Battalion had already been removed by Han Qian and Li Zhigao.
At the time, Guo Rong didn’t know what had happened. But afterward, seeing Han Qian hold great power and tilt large amounts of resources toward the First Battalion led by Li Zhigao, while Chai Jian, Li Chong, and even Zhang Ping all failed to receive important appointments beside the Third Prince, even counting on his toes he understood that serious rifts had appeared within the Marquis of Xinchang’s household faction.
It was just that as the northern front situation became severe, Guo Rong had no way to use this opportunity to do anything. He even had to support tilting forces and resources toward the Left Vanguard Section to ensure the Chu army’s presence on the northern bank of the Han River and share the military pressure that the Shouzhou forces were currently bearing.
At this moment, Guo Rong vaguely understood that Han Qian’s suggestion this time to broadly select clerks to fill the Records Office, Adjutant Office, and the Six Bureaus was probably to continue suppressing the Marquis of Xinchang’s household’s influence over the Dragon Sparrow Army.
Of course, Han Qian advocating that he had the authority to intervene in Records and Legal Bureau affairs—Guo Rong absolutely had no reason to refuse.
Since the Dragon Sparrow Army’s establishment, there had been a severe shortage of secretaries, scribes, and clerks in the various bureaus. On one hand, this was mainly because the elite personnel cultivated by the Marquis of Xinchang’s household and Evening Red Tower were also limited—filling them into the military as officers and military officials at various levels was already insufficient. On the other hand, bureau clerks not only needed to have merit officer status but also needed to know military legal principles and practical affairs to be competent. The Marquis of Xinchang’s household was quite lacking in talent in this area. People like Zhou Yuan were already considered great talents in this regard within the Marquis of Xinchang’s household.
Han Qian knew that Shen Yang’s true intentions were not bad. When he took this opportunity to raise this proposal, besides hoping to broadly select clerks to fill the various bureaus before returning to Jinling and limit the power of the Marquis of Xinchang’s household and Evening Red Tower in the Dragon Sparrow Army, in reality this was also an opportunity to expand the Dragon Sparrow Army and the Marquis of Linjiang’s household’s authority and influence.
If they only used the Marquis of Xinchang’s household’s direct lineage or promoted talent from within the Dragon Sparrow Army, when would the Dragon Sparrow Army and Marquis of Linjiang’s household truly have the qualifications to contend with the An Ning Palace and Crown Prince faction?
In all these matters, Han Qian always believed it was appropriate to be quick and early, not slow and late.
Li Chong, Chai Jian, and Zhang Ping looked at each other, instead suspecting that Shen Yang’s advocacy for Li Chong to inspect the western front troops on behalf of the Third Prince was rhetoric privately agreed upon with Han Qian.
……
……
The western front battle situation was pressing. There could be unexpected changes at any time. Han Qian didn’t dare stay overnight in Xiangzhou city.
From Xiangzhou city to Canglang City, traveling upstream against the current, Han Qian even felt taking a boat was too slow and instead changed to riding horses.
After Han Qian bid farewell to the Third Prince and Shen Yang, he led his horse out of Jinxing Ward with Xi Ren, Yang Qin and others. He saw that Li Chong had already brought three people and was waiting for him at the main gate of Jinxing Ward, apparently planning to travel with them to Canglang City.
By the dim lamplight, Han Qian could make out that among the four people behind Li Chong, two were Yao Xishui and one of her personal maidservants disguised as men.
Although Yao Xishui and her personal maidservant had altered their appearances somewhat, Han Qian had sent people to watch who Li Chong, Chai Jian, and Zhang Ping had around them and who they contacted with at this time in Xiangzhou city.
Han Qian didn’t know how much power the Evening Red Tower still concealed, but the household soldiers under the Marquis of Xinchang’s household with true identities had almost all been organized into the Dragon Sparrow Army to serve as officers and military officials at various levels. After Li Chong and Chai Jian’s command authority over the Guard Battalion was removed, at least before the Evening Red Tower dispatched other personnel, they had no manpower available around them.
Behind Li Chong were also two other powerful-looking men—actually guards that Yao Xishui had brought to Xiangzhou this time. They had once been imprisoned under Han Qian’s orders and only had their freedom restored in mid-November after Shen Yang formally accepted affairs beside the Third Prince.
Seeing that Yao Xishui was also going to Canglang City, Han Qian only glanced at her. He didn’t even expose her identity, only saying indifferently, “We need to travel through the night. Let’s depart!”
At this time, Liang army scouts had already approached the Han River line. Han Qian’s entourage only had over ten escorts. They could only take the narrow road that the Xiangzhou forces had opened on the southern bank of the Han River.
This journey westward covered over one hundred forty li. Only when they reached the Xiangzhou forces’ river mouth fortifications on the opposite bank from Canglang City could they change to boats to cross the Han River. This was the fastest and safest way to return to Canglang City at night.
Li Chong also remained silent. He adjusted his sword and bow, loosened his reins, and rode ahead with Yao Xishui and their escorts. Han Qian and his group hurried along. An hour later, they caught up with Guo Liang’s troops, who had only broken camp and marched at night before nightfall. Several hundred torches reflected in the river water like sparse stars.
The northern bank was pitch black. No one knew whether there were Liang army scouts lurking in the darkness like wild beasts.
Fortunately, Du Chongtao had implemented strict control over boats along the Han River beforehand. Combined with the fact that few fishing households remained on the northern bank, for now they didn’t need to worry about large groups of Liang army scouts crossing the river.
However, thinking of how the Liang forces yesterday had bravely soaked their armor to attack the city, Han Qian still worried that small numbers of Liang army scouts might have already swum across the river in this cold weather.
In the end, Du Chongtao’s deployment on the northern bank of the Han River was too passive. That four hundred elite Liang soldiers could raid Canglang City indicated a large gap had appeared between the eastern foot of Black Dragon Mountain and Fan City.
The Fan City garrison hadn’t dispatched large numbers of elite scouts there, allowing four hundred elite Liang soldiers to quietly leak through the narrow remnant path between Black Dragon Mountain and the Han River.
Han Qian had no standing to complain to Du Chongtao. Even when Yingzhou Military Adjutant Xia Zhen had unauthorized abandoned Neixiang city, exposing the right-wing waterway of the lower Dan River, neither he nor Li Zhigao had any way to deal with Xia Zhen.
Han Qian found Guo Liang and mentioned that both the Third Prince and Shen Yang hoped to fill out the various bureaus.
Guo Liang had many veteran soldiers under his command. The vast majority had merit officer status, but they had always been suppressed at the lowest levels. Some could be selected first to fill the various bureaus and serve in clerical affairs.
Even though this person Guo Liang was so arrogant, when Han Qian had the opportunity to show goodwill, he needed to win him over. He certainly couldn’t push him into the embrace of people like Chai Jian and Zhang Ping.
At this time, several fast horses came galloping toward them—messengers that Li Zhigao had sent to Xiangzhou city.
Today, the Liang forces had continued their fierce assault on Iron Crocodile Ridge from the direction of Neixiang city. Even with the Fourth Battalion’s fifteen hundred soldiers remaining at Iron Crocodile Ridge for coordinated defense, today’s casualties here still exceeded five hundred.
The Liang army troops gathering at Neixiang city were increasing, mainly vanguard cavalry. Currently, rough estimates indicated they already exceeded seven thousand elite troops.
If the Liang forces continued this brutal war of attrition, even if Guo Liang’s troops reinforced them, they would have no way to hold Iron Crocodile Ridge for more than a few days.
Knowing the urgent situation at Iron Crocodile Ridge, Guo Liang didn’t say much. He led over a hundred escorts to advance ahead with Han Qian, while the Fifth Battalion’s fifteen hundred soldiers beside him could arrive at Iron Crocodile Ridge in two days at the earliest!