“I’ve already had Wang Wenqian take Gu Mei away. Next, I’ll have people investigate which officials inside and outside the court, beyond Jingxiang, have connections with Chuzhou. Now that the Left Division has these three thousand gold ingots as a foundation, much of our work won’t grind to a halt,” Han Qian said, pulling Feng Yi and Kong Xirong along to see the Third Prince, first truthfully reporting the matter of Gu Mei.
“Since I bestowed Gu Mei upon you, the gold my second brother used to redeem her is your reward. As for the military provisions the Left Division advanced, I’ll urge Master Shen to handle it,” Yang Yuanpu said.
“Your Highness has too many things to accomplish and places where money must be spent. To make soldiers fight with devotion, both the iron whip and honey are indispensable. That Han Qian can currently enjoy Your Highness’s trust and favor is already sufficient. Regarding estates and residences, Your Highness will surely not shortchange Han Qian in the future,” Han Qian said with righteous dignity.
Han Qian felt somewhat regretful in his heart. After all, if he could control an additional thirty million coins, he could accomplish much more. But whether it was Emperor Tianyou having other informants monitoring every move of the Linjiang money house, or this time achieving such great merit yet not receiving a summons—Han Qian was very clear in his heart that he needed to carefully respond to Emperor Tianyou’s quite explicit warning this time.
Although he could foresee that conflicts with Anning Palace and the Crown Prince’s faction would become increasingly sharp, and the direction of history would become even more unpredictable, Han Qian’s state of mind was far less anxious than before the war.
The bloody battle at Xichuan had greatly changed Han Qian’s mindset.
Beyond the cruelty and brutality of the Xichuan battle, which Han Qian still couldn’t bear to recall, it was precisely this cruel and brutal combat that he had endured. Regarding the cruel and severe situations he would face in the future, he had consequently become more composed and steady.
As the common saying goes, bloody battles produce fierce soldiers. From the changes in his own state of mind, Han Qian’s understanding of this phrase had deepened.
Han Qian thought to himself that since Emperor Tianyou disliked his unconventional character, spending some time cultivating his character and temperament wouldn’t be inappropriate.
Yang Yuanpu had no idea where Han Qian’s thoughts had wandered. He felt somewhat regretful that Han Qian had seen through Gu Mei’s value yet hadn’t detained her, but he subsequently dismissed this thought and said: “When I went to see Father Emperor yesterday, he already approved all matters concerning Junzhou. The imperial edict will be issued as early as tomorrow. Junzhou will establish four new military garrison offices at Jingzikou, Xichuan, Canglang, and Jingyun. The families of rebel soldiers from Sui and Yingzhou, along with some military households that Taowu Settlement cannot accommodate, will all be enrolled in Junzhou to fill the military garrisons. This will indeed require an additional large sum of money and grain.”
“Oh, His Majesty agreed so readily—that’s excellent news,” Han Qian responded.
Han Qian’s initial plan was to re-establish Junzhou so that the Third Prince could govern it from afar.
During the Jingxiang campaign, Shen He had brought Emperor Tianyou’s edict to Xichuan, formally approving this matter.
However, after the Liang forces withdrew north of the Tongbai Mountains, Han Qian reconsidered the severe situation facing Jingxiang and suggested to the Third Prince that counties should not be hastily established under Junzhou. Instead, four garrison military offices should be established, consolidating border defenses through a combined agricultural-military garrison system while simultaneously strengthening their control over Junzhou.
Yang Yuanpu spoke of yesterday’s imperial audience. Junzhou would establish four new garrison military offices. Li Zhigao would concurrently serve as Commandant of Xichuan Military Office, Zhou Shu as Commandant of Jingzikou Military Office, Zhou Dan would serve as Prefecture Vice Administrator while concurrently serving as Commandant of Canglang Military Office, and another stronghold leader representative, Chen Jingzhou, would concurrently serve as Commandant of Jingyun Military Office. In reality, this meant the military and civil administrative matters of the four counties originally planned to be established under Junzhou were all entrusted to the military office commandants.
By relocating some rebel soldier families from Sui and Ying, along with stronghold fugitive households and some military households transferred from Taowu Settlement, the four new garrison military offices established in Junzhou planned to enroll thirty thousand military households.
Maintaining an average of one-third of soldiers on rotation duty, Junzhou would also have ten thousand standing troops garrisoned there.
This would resolve Junzhou’s daily defensive needs facing the Liang forces at Wuguan Pass.
Not only Junzhou—Du Chongtao needed to establish an effective defensive line in the northern Nanyang Basin to resist Liang southward raids. In Dengzhou and even Xiangzhou, more garrison military offices would likewise need to be established for combined agricultural-military cultivation to possibly relieve military pressure on the western flank and avoid having the empire’s already precarious finances crushed by the western flank’s additional defense requirements.
“His Majesty is wise. The four new military offices in Junzhou will require money and grain in many areas. Your Highness will still need to rely on Master Shen Yang’s strategic planning,” Han Qian said.
With Junzhou’s four new garrison military offices, the Bureau of Military Provisions would allocate an additional sum of money and grain for city construction, wasteland reclamation, and daily provision supply, but it couldn’t possibly be particularly abundant.
Similarly, the military households under the military offices’ jurisdiction would bear extremely heavy military service obligations, so land taxes would need to be lenient. Add to this rewards for casualties, and even if cash couldn’t be provided, land must be rewarded and land taxes reduced. For the first two years, they shouldn’t expect the newly established military offices to contribute much in the way of harvests.
At this time, even if the Wanhong House and the Marquis of Xinchang’s household still had money and grain that could be squeezed out, it would be used to strengthen forces under their direct control. The three units under Li Zhigao, Guo Liang, and Gao Chengyuan, as well as Zhou Dan and Chen Jingzhou’s sides, would need internal fundraising and transfers within the Longque Army.
Even if there were some surplus military provisions this time, along with the rewards the Third Prince would receive, Han Qian suggested handing everything over to Shen Yang for strategic management.
Rewards for soldiers, especially the conferral of lower-rank merit officials and military officers, would all be decided by the Longque Army itself, with notification to the Ministry of War being sufficient.
For the conferral of military generals, beyond the previously provided blank certificates of appointment, additional rewards requiring deliberation by the Bureau of Military Affairs would be relatively more complex. But aside from Han Qian as a special case, everyone else would face no obstacles—they would just need to wait a bit longer.
The convict soldiers and slave soldiers of the Xuzhou camp could be credited with merit based on enemy heads taken. Most could have their sentences remitted or escape slave status. Additionally, most could receive rewards of one to two hundred mu of farmland. However, the reward land all needed to be allocated from official fields on the Xuzhou side. The Bureau of Military Provisions would only allocate an additional five million coins in monetary rewards.
This portion of reward money had to be given directly to individual soldiers. Han Qian also planned to give as much compensation money as possible to the families of the fallen, beyond farmland, but he had no way to generously give it to the Third Prince for other expenses.
After discussing matters with the Third Prince, night had already deepened. Han Qian didn’t linger with Feng Yi and Kong Xirong, returning to his residence alone.
At this time, Xi Ren had just finished settling Yunniang in a new residence and returned, leading the other two girls bestowed by the Third Prince to meet Han Qian.
These two girls were daughters of Yingzhou medical official Du Rong. One girl was fifteen years old, the other even younger at only thirteen. Under the candlelight, they appeared fair-skinned and pretty.
When Yingzhou Prefect Xia Shuang surrendered the city, Du Rong, as a medical official, had no capacity to resist beyond compliance.
When the Liang forces withdrew north, Xia Shuang led over three thousand surrendered soldiers and clansmen to follow them, fleeing north of the Tongbai Mountains. Du Rong and some officials had initially been coerced into fleeing north, but midway they escaped with their families back to Yingzhou. Unexpectedly, they were ultimately captured by the Imperial Guard and executed.
Du Rong’s family members were either relegated to official slavery and hard labor, or relegated to brothel camps as prostitutes. The Du sisters, because they were unmarried and had dignified, beautiful appearances, were selected as beautiful concubines and bestowed upon the Third Prince, then passed along to his residence.
Learning that these two girls were ranked seventh and ninth among their generation of sisters in the family, with given names Du Qiniang and Du Jiuniang, Han Qian thought to himself that he couldn’t spend all day calling two young girls “niang,” so he said: “From now on while serving at my side, one will be called Qiqi and one will be called Jiujiu.” Then he asked Xi Ren, “Have people been sent to redeem their family members?”
“Lord Gao and Lord Yang took your calling card to handle it. Qiniang and Jiuniang’s two sisters-in-law have already been brought over, but they suffered too much and haven’t recovered yet. We’ll have them come pay respects to you in a couple days. Additionally, their mother, second brother, and younger brother were all relegated to the Fancheng labor camp. Lord Gao crossed the river to make arrangements and hasn’t returned yet.”
Hearing Xi Ren say this, Han Qian knew that Du Rong’s two daughters-in-law must have been relegated to the brothel camp and abused beyond recognition. He sighed softly. Looking at the two young girls, who must have just embraced their two sisters-in-law in anguished tears, he didn’t know what to say.
Just then, Gao Shao and Yang Qin returned from outside, bringing back three people. Seeing Du Qiniang and Du Jiuniang’s faces immediately crumple in sorrow, wanting to cry but not daring to, he knew the old woman was Du Rong’s wife, and the two bloodied young men who had been whipped were Du Rong’s two sons.
Now in Xiangzhou City, with the Third Prince in such high favor and at the peak of his power, it was very convenient for people like Gao Shao to conduct business.
Han Qian asked and learned that Du Rong’s second son was called Du Yijun and his youngest son Du Yiming. He said: “Forget everything from before completely clean. Don’t harbor even half a trace of resentment in your hearts. At the very least, don’t show it on your faces, or I won’t tolerate keeping you here. But as long as you serve well at my side, I won’t shortchange you.”
The Du family members only knelt and kowtowed in thanks.
Although they had only been condemned for one month, this month had been like walking through hell for them.
Gao Shao, standing to the side, added: “Yunniang’s elder brother and sister-in-law, as well as her younger brother, have all been redeemed. Does my lord want to summon them to meet?”
These people would all be considered slaves of the Han household in the future. Properly speaking, they should all come meet the young master.
“It’s so late—no need to trouble them now.” Han Qian waved his hand, first having Xi Ren lead the Du family to settle in the rear courtyard, then called Gao Shao to summon Lin Haizheng, Feng Xuan, and the others to discuss matters.
This time, casualties among the Left Division scouts, Xuzhou camp, and shipping guild had all been extremely severe.
After the Left Division scouts, Xuzhou camp, and shipping guild absorbed some stronghold recruits and escort troops from the Yingzhou grain transport fleet, their numbers had once reached over one thousand. But in the end, fewer than six hundred survived, with over one hundred severely disabled.
Among them, the Xi clan members had at most numbered one hundred fifty, but now only seventy-some remained.
“With the Third Prince overseeing the transaction with Wang Wenqian, we needn’t fear they’ll dare renege. Once I collect the first batch of gold tomorrow or the day after, I’ll arrange for the convict soldiers and slave soldiers to return to Xuzhou first—Yang Qin, Feng Xuan, you two can set out ahead to Tanzhou to select ships,” Han Qian said.
With all the ships of the Xuzhou shipping guild and Four Surnames shipping fleets destroyed, Ji Xiyao in Xuzhou’s Qianyang could only build three or four fast sailing ships per year. Currently, the most convenient option was to purchase ships in Tanzhou to rebuild the shipping guild’s framework as quickly as possible.
Having experienced such brutal combat, most of the surviving convict soldiers only wanted to return home safely. However, some convict soldiers had been bandits before and didn’t feel that receiving over one hundred mu of reward land meant they should go home and honestly become farmers. They still hoped to follow Han Qian to seek advancement.
Aside from the twenty shadow guards led by Zhao Wuji, primarily composed of Xi clan youths, the Left Division scouts still maintained fifty elite members.
Beyond the Xi clan youths who practiced covert techniques and served as shadow guards, fifty-six Xi clan members had survived the war. They naturally wouldn’t disband but would instead cohere even more tightly together.
Twenty-six Xi clan members would return to Xuzhou. Using the farmland rewarded for military merit, they would construct another stronghold near Yangtan Water Fortress as the Xi clan’s foothold in Xuzhou, continuing to redeem and gather scattered Xi clan members from various places. The other thirty—Han Qian would enroll twenty into the shipping guild while keeping ten for Feng Xuan to serve as his trusted core, secretly assisting Feng Xuan and Gao Bao in controlling the Four Surnames shipping fleets.
The shipping guild would absorb some convict prisoners and fugitive households from the stronghold forces willing to venture into the world. The armed escorts after the war could barely maintain around one hundred fifty men.
However, the shipping guild would need to be responsible for transporting goods from Xuzhou and Junzhou to Jinling in the future. Both Xuzhou and Junzhou were strategic water and land transportation hubs—one hundred fifty armed escorts for the shipping guild was already insufficient.
However, for the shipping guild to undergo a new round of expansion, Han Qian would need to catch his breath first before making long-term plans.
Among this batch of Xuzhou convict soldiers, over twenty men had fought quite bravely and achieved considerable military merit. Beyond offsetting their penal servitude, they could additionally receive conferral as military merit officials.
These men had essentially risen from commoner status in one leap. Aside from seventeen who joined the Left Division and shipping guild, the other dozen or so, after returning to Xuzhou with Yang Qin and Feng Xuan, could still be recommended to serve as low-ranking military positions or clerks in the provincial camp or provincial office.