Tian Cheng and Zhao Wuji initially thought Han Qian had encountered fellow travelers, but hearing the last words Han Qian said to Zhu Yu, they looked sharply and clearly saw the faces of Zhu Yu and Han Yuanqi, which truly gave them a tremendous fright.
After dealing with Wen Ruilin, Tian Cheng and Zhao Wuji came to find Han Qian and Xi Ren, worried they might encounter river bandits operating in the area. But they never imagined they would encounter the great enemies from the bloody battle of Xichuan—Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu and Liang Imperial Guard General Han Yuanqi.
Tian Cheng and Zhao Wuji instinctively moved to draw their blades and unstring their bows. Han Qian reached out to restrain them and urged them to walk back. While vigilantly watching the forests on both sides, they walked unwillingly toward the southern shore, but in their hearts was even more unimaginable shock. They couldn’t help asking Han Qian: “My lord, how could the bandit king be here?”
Han Qian smiled bitterly: “He anticipated that I would pass through Tortoise Mountain and climb it to survey the magnificent scenery of the Yangtze and Han Rivers, so he waited for me here—after we return, you must not mention this matter to anyone. Just treat it as if it never happened.”
Tian Cheng and Zhao Wuji were even more shocked. Through the gaps in the trees, they could still see Prince Yong’s face full of regret. They found it even harder to believe that Han Qian would actually refuse Prince Yong’s recruitment.
One must know that even though Prince Yong wasn’t born of the principal wife, in the eyes of Tian Cheng and others who valued strength, he was almost certainly the undisputed choice for Liang’s new emperor. And this campaign had ruthlessly proven that even before integrating Guanzhong’s military forces, Liang’s strength already surpassed Great Chu’s.
Prince Yong Zhu Yu, with his invaluable person, actually didn’t hesitate to take the risk of waiting at Tortoise Mountain.
Compared with such sincerity from Prince Yong, Han Qian had rendered such great merit for Great Chu yet received such cold treatment. At this moment, Tian Cheng and Zhao Wuji both wanted to grab Han Qian’s arm, run back before Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu, and kowtow in submission.
This was a true enlightened lord!
Seeing Han Qian’s two subordinates appear, Han Yuanqi was truly startled, but seeing that Han Qian had no intention of detaining them and instead urged his two subordinates to leave quickly, he felt somewhat admiring of Han Qian’s bearing on one hand, yet also found it somewhat absurd on the other. He never imagined that even though Han Qian was so disfavored by the Chu Emperor, facing His Highness’s utterly sincere recruitment, he wouldn’t even consider it for a moment and fled as if running away?
“Your Highness’s movements have been exposed. Chu territory has become extremely dangerous. Should we return to Bian early?” Han Yuanqi said.
“Han Qian won’t expose my whereabouts—that would bring him no benefit,” Zhu Yu said calmly, though still looking regretfully toward the forest where no trace remained. He hadn’t expected Han Qian to turn and leave directly without even considering. He smiled bitterly and asked Han Yuanqi: “Tell me, that child Yang Yuanpu can barely protect himself. What could he possibly have that makes Han Qian more optimistic about him?”
“Perhaps Your Highness met with him too hastily this time. Even if Han Qian has thoughts of selling himself to the highest bidder, he wouldn’t travel north with us at this time,” Han Yuanqi said.
“Let’s hope it’s as you say,” Zhu Yu said. “What do you think Han Qian meant by those mystical words when he left? Could he truly possess abilities of supernatural calculation and foreknowledge of heavenly secrets?”
“Perhaps observers see more clearly,” Han Yuanqi said, lowering his head.
Zhu Yu sighed softly. Soon, the sailing vessel concealing guards poled over to the northern cliff of Tortoise Mountain. He and Han Yuanqi boarded the ship and circled to the southern shore of Tortoise Mountain, only to discover Han Qian had already sailed his boat under full sail more than ten li away.
……
……
“Those who abandon me—yesterday’s days cannot be retained;
Those who trouble my heart—today’s days bring manifold worries.
Ten thousand li of long wind escorts autumn geese—facing this, one may revel in high towers.
Penglai writings with Jian’an bones, among them young Xie with clear release.
All harbor transcendent spirits with soaring thoughts, wishing to ascend blue heaven to survey the bright moon.
Drawing blade to sever water makes water flow more, raising cup to drown sorrow makes sorrow heavier.
Life in this world does not fulfill one’s wishes—tomorrow scatter hair and play with a small boat.”
Compared to Du Qiqi’s singing voice, the intermittent sawing sound Han Qian produced from the xun made Xi Ren feel it was torture. She wanted nothing more than to kick Han Qian from the bow into the river. Without a shred of a strategist’s elegance, she truly didn’t know what point about Han Qian had impressed Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu enough to say such nauseatingly affectionate words as “treating you as a friend for life.”
Tian Cheng and Zhao Wuji hid on the other two black-awning boats. Du Yijun, who was well-versed in music, half-crouched nearby, carefully instructing Han Qian on the key points of playing the ceramic xun.
Before Du’s father was executed, he served as a medical official in Yingzhou and also had extremely deep attainments in Confucian learning. One could say he truly came from a family of poetry and books. Besides being well-read in poetry and books from childhood, the Du siblings also learned medicine and music from their father.
Though relegated to the hard labor camp for only a month before Han Qian redeemed them, for the relatively gentle-natured Du Yijun, that month’s existence in the hard labor camp seemed to have become an indelible shadow over his entire life. He served Han Qian carefully and cautiously, afraid that the slightest carelessness would bring severe punishment.
Even though Han Qian played the ceramic xun like dog shit, Du Yijun still smiled and praised it as good.
“Pool Prefecture City is just ahead. Should we bypass it?” At this moment, another black-awning boat drew alongside. Tian Cheng crouched at the bow and asked Han Qian.
Entering the Yangtze and proceeding downstream, whenever they encountered a major prefectural city, Han Qian would stop to stay for a day or two. But since Pool Prefecture Prefect was Han Family’s eldest master Han Daoming, and they had long since torn off all pretenses, Tian Cheng figured Han Qian wouldn’t want to dock at Pool Prefecture City.
“Let’s go, let’s go.” Han Qian waved his hand. He also had no interest in going to Pool Prefecture to find unpleasantness.
“It might be Lord Yang and Lord Feng’s ships catching up from behind!” Zhao Wuji stood behind Tian Cheng, extending his brass telescope to its full length and gazing behind them.
Han Qian stood up and looked back with his naked eyes. He could only see several blurry sail shadows between water and sky.
Xi Ren ducked into the cabin and brought out another brass telescope. Han Qian extended the brass telescope and carefully adjusted the focus. The approaching ships were more than ten li away, so naturally he couldn’t see clearly the faces and clothing of the people standing on deck. But seeing the broad sail surfaces, the first two sailing vessels with sharp, elongated bows breaking through waves like shuttles were indeed certainly the new fast sailing ships built at Xuzhou’s shipyard. The other six sailing vessels, though all traditional wide-headed flat-bottomed ship designs, had added splash boards on both sides and replaced their sail masts with new styles.
After waiting half an hour for the fleet behind to catch up, it was indeed Yang Qin, Feng Xuan and others. Han Qian then boarded the new ships with Tian Cheng, Zhao Wuji, Xi Ren and others.
With the three thousand gold ingots given by Chuzhou, the military provisions advanced by the Left Bureau and Xuzhou Boat Association and the ships destroyed in the war were finally compensated.
Yang Qin, Feng Xuan, and Xi Chang departed from Xiangzhou City in late April, first stopping in Tanzhou where they spent enormous sums to purchase six three-masted sailing vessels, then returned to Xuzhou for modifications. Adding the two new fast three-masted sailing vessels Ji Xiyao had newly built in Xuzhou, the Xuzhou Boat Association’s transport capacity not only didn’t decrease but increased to over sixteen thousand dan.
This time Han Qian didn’t restore the Four Surnames fleet’s transport capacity. For the portion of the Four Surnames fleet’s ships destroyed in the campaign, he even formed a compensation plan to deduct from the money and grain the Four Surnames should pay to the prefecture and counties.
This actually transferred the compensation originally borne by the Bureau of Military Affairs and Revenue Commission to be borne by Xuzhou locality itself.
Of course, the prefecture office presided over by Han Daoxun originally had no way to collect field taxes and poll taxes from subordinate counties anyway.
This portion of money and grain was originally controlled by the Four Surnames. Agreeing to let the Four Surnames use this money and grain to offset losses from war-damaged ships didn’t actually require the prefecture office to make much sacrifice.
Of course, Han Qian doing this wasn’t to save money for the Bureau of Military Affairs. More crucially, he wanted to temporarily exclude the Four Surnames major clans from shipping between Xuzhou and Jinling.
The Four Surnames major clans also couldn’t say Han Qian was wrong. First, this was a plan drafted by the Bureau of Military Affairs and approved by Emperor Tianyou’s imperial brush. The Longque Army and Xuzhou were merely implementing it by imperial decree.
Besides compensation for war-damaged ships, for the previously owed supplies, Han Qian paid in full from the gold obtained from Chuzhou in the name of the Left Bureau, not shorting the Four Surnames a single portion of money or grain.
And for Four Surnames sons who participated in defending Xichuan city during the bloody battle, casualties were all given compensation according to Longque Army standards. Those who survived were each awarded anywhere from over a hundred to three to five hundred mu of land from official fields by Xuzhou locality as military merit rewards.
People like Feng Zhang and Gao Bao were even directly awarded ninth-rank or even eighth-rank merit titles and rank titles. Returning to Xuzhou, their status was different from before.
Even though Feng Zhang and others were still the junior generation of Feng Changyu, Xi Zhen and others, they were also unwilling to be ordered about by Feng Changyu, Xi Zhen and others as before, merely serving as leaders designated by the Four Surnames, leading people to run boats while the ultimate profits were taken by the Four Surnames’ direct line.
Even if they didn’t consider seeking a post in the prefecture or counties, they wanted more to buy their own boats, recruit personnel, and follow the Xuzhou Boat Association back and forth between Xuzhou and Jinling to make a living.
No matter what, on one hand excluding the Four Surnames from shipping and limiting their continued profit from shipping, while on the other hand promoting the internal dissolution of the Four Surnames—both were what Han Qian most wanted to do.
Of course, this time Han Qian also directly expanded the Xuzhou Boat Association’s own transport capacity scale.
Since Emperor Tianyou already had eyes watching Linjiang Money Shop, and both audiences as well as the commandery prince mansion’s official ranks had deliberately omitted him and the Left Bureau, fundamentally it showed wariness toward him and his father, not wanting father and son to control major authority right from the start. Han Qian was a perceptive person who knew when to advance and retreat, so he couldn’t hope that the Left Bureau would remain under his independent control forever.
This was the problem he needed to prioritize resolving upon returning to Jinling.
However, if he subsequently wanted to continuously input resources into Xuzhou, the only method was for the Boat Association to directly control a considerable scale of commodity trade. Using this, he could retain more profits in the Boat Association, keep more profits in the shipyard, weaving bureau, and foundry in Xuzhou under his direct control, to use for Xuzhou’s dike construction and wasteland reclamation, mining development, refugee settlement and other matters.
Especially large-scale cultivation of silted beach lands along the Yuan River’s banks, including embankment construction and dredging of main streams and rivers—all of these required investing large amounts of money and grain in organized implementation to advance.
This year still required increasing efforts to redeem members of the Xi clan.
Han Qian couldn’t stop these matters because of Emperor Tianyou’s warning. He could only do them more cleverly and covertly.
Emperor Tianyou was deeply calculating and resourceful, but some things Han Qian wanted to do had no precedent in the current age. He didn’t believe Emperor Tianyou could penetrate their mysteries.