“How is the Old Master’s health in Jinling?”
After first sending An Jixiang, Fu Gengwen, Yang Hu, and the others to the guest house to rest, Han Qian kept Han Chengmeng behind at the residence to talk.
Regardless of everything else, Han Qian and Han Chengmeng were cousins. When they had publicly announced things before, it was said that Han Qian, the Old Master, Han Daochang, and Han Jun had conspired together to deceive Gu Zhilong, presenting an image of the Han family united in close harmony. Now that Han Qian kept Han Chengmeng behind alone for family conversation, An Jixiang, Fu Gengwen, and the others couldn’t raise half an objection.
“The Old Master’s health is still acceptable, though he rarely ventures out from the residence anymore. In Jinling, there are only a limited few old gentlemen like Fu Mo who send messages to exchange words…”
As Han Chengmeng spoke of Old Master Han Wenhuan, besides his physical condition, he also hinted through his words at the potential impact of the Shang Wensheng assassination case on the Han household.
Han Qian furrowed his brow slightly.
Since the previous dynasty had established the Xuanshe Military Commissioner’s Office over Xuanzhou and Shezhou, the aristocratic clans of these two provinces had formed intricate and complex connections through over a hundred years of integration. The Old Master could originally be said to be one of the representative figures of the Xuanshe aristocracy, but in reality he had unavoidably been affected by the conscription of household slaves into military service and the subsequent series of events, becoming isolated by the Xuanshe aristocratic families.
Seeing Han Qian contemplating in silence without speaking, Han Chengmeng hastily continued to explain the reason he had come to Xuzhou this time:
“After His Majesty ascended the throne, the officials from the former Hunan Provincial Department were mostly filled into various ministerial offices. The Old Master said that even in the capital, the tree wishes for calm but the wind will not cease. During this period, I’ve remained idle in Jinling without taking office in any of the six ministries, thinking to seek an external appointment. But unexpectedly, His Majesty suddenly decided to reactivate the Provincial Department, and I was assigned here—though Weiyan has remained in Shaozhou without any changes.”
“Ah, so you could say this is somewhat beyond your control.” Han Qian nodded.
He had previously been curious why Han Chengmeng would come here, but in front of An Jixiang and the others earlier, he hadn’t inquired in detail.
Now that he asked, he hadn’t expected that Han Chengmeng had been delaying and failing to secure an external appointment. When the Hunan Provincial Department was reactivated, his official title was still formally attached to the Provincial Department, and he was thus directly swept back into it—this could truly be called an unforeseen disaster.
Han Qian pondered the meaning in Han Chengmeng’s words, secretly sensing that the Old Master remained vigilant about the turbulent undercurrents in Jinling.
Otherwise, having Qiao Weiyan and Han Chengmeng remain in ministerial posts would be superior to external provincial or county appointments no matter how one looked at it.
Unlike later generations, in this era, not to mention those remote counties or those bordering enemy territory in dangerous positions, even the relatively prosperous county seats of southern Zhejiang, western Zhejiang, and Jiangxi had sewage flowing everywhere and swarms of flies.
When it came to epidemic diseases, everyone lived in fear.
Chenzhong might be small, but in various aspects of urban management, it could already be said to represent top-tier standards in this era.
Unless one viewed Jinling as a place of trouble, remaining in ministerial office would be the more suitable choice in any case.
Of course, when Han Chengmeng said in his words that only he and Qiao Weiyan were thinking of leaving Jinling, Han Qian could understand clearly.
In his generation of the Han family, besides himself, Han Jun, and Han Duan who were the legitimate eldest sons of the three branches, there were still eight others including concubine-born sons, legitimate sons-in-law, and concubine-born sons-in-law, not to mention more distantly related cousins and other Han clan members.
Very clearly, even if the Old Master was deeply worried, not everyone could truly realize the crisis the Han family faced beneath its current glory.
This too was a matter of people having different aspirations.
Han Qian had never thought about shouldering clan responsibilities himself. In fact, he had always been a betrayer of the Han clan. At least at this moment, he had nothing particular he wanted to say to Han Chengmeng or to Qiao Weiyan serving in Shaozhou.
At this moment, Guo Rong announced himself and walked in.
Seeing Guo Rong’s travel-worn appearance, Han Chengmeng didn’t know where he had come from. He hastily stood to greet him respectfully, while also curiously observing this figure who had many entanglements with the Anning Palace but ultimately pledged allegiance to Han Qian.
It was precisely because of him that many in the capital believed one couldn’t conclude the uprising led by Tan Yuliang in Sizhou had no connection to Xuzhou simply because Tan Yuliang had previously opposed Han Qian.
In short, whether the Sizhou civil unrest had any connection to Xuzhou remained in a stage where each side argued its own case.
“Young Master Han has traveled all this way to Xuzhou—quite the long journey!” Guo Rong cupped his hands in greeting to Han Chengmeng.
He hadn’t met Han Chengmeng face-to-face before, but just now outside he’d heard from the guards that Han Qian had kept Han Chengmeng, Feng Yi, Gao Shao, and others in the hall to talk.
During the initial stage of the war to reduce the vassal princes’ power, Han Chengmeng, Han Jianji, and Qiao Weiyan had all entered service under the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu, representing the Han family’s complete commitment to the Third Prince, though they hadn’t come to Xuzhou before. This was their first time.
Of course, Guo Rong’s words carried somewhat mocking undertones, suggesting that Jinling’s intention in reactivating the Hunan Provincial Department to restrain Xuzhou was too obvious, yet the Han family still forcibly inserted themselves into it.
Han Qian smiled as he explained to Guo Rong the reasons why Han Chengmeng had come.
Guo Rong was slightly stunned, essentially apologizing for his earlier rash words.
Seeing that Guo Rong said nothing more, Han Chengmeng knew he should take his leave. Standing up, he said: “It’s getting late, I’ll first return to the guest house to rest and not disturb your discussions. Oh, by the way, several times along the journey there was mention of Guangde Prefecture affairs, and in his words, Fu Gengwen seemed to harbor some resentment about being unable to control his own circumstances…”
Han Qian nodded noncommittally and escorted Han Chengmeng out of the courtyard before returning inside with Guo Rong and Feng Yi.
“Han Chengmeng seems quite different from the other sons and nephews of the Han family,” Guo Rong remarked. He hadn’t had much contact with other Han family juniors, but the reminder in Han Chengmeng’s words just now had been very clear.
“Regarding Fu Gengwen’s attitude, is it possible to do some work on him?” Feng Yi asked.
“Fu Gengwen has learned to be thoroughly cunning at such a young age. As long as we can ensure he won’t create trouble for us, that will suffice,” Han Qian said. Work needed to be done on Fu Gengwen’s side, but he couldn’t invest too much energy in it.
“The court reactivating the Hunan Provincial Department isn’t necessarily a bad thing for Xuzhou,” Guo Rong said.
“That may be so, but Yuzhou is unlikely to make any moves within three to five days, and we can only delay the Chenzhou tribal battalions for three to five days at most. This matter is still troublesome!” Gao Shao said with furrowed brow.
Reactivating the Hunan Provincial Department meant that after Huang Hua and the others assumed their posts, they would strengthen their restraint on Xuzhou.
If Xuzhou truly made any unusual moves, the Hunan Provincial Department could respond locally at the fastest speed, unlike in the past when surrounding provinces had various concerns and no subordinate relationships among them, requiring them to first send people to petition the court before taking action.
However, that said, Xuzhou had no treasonous intentions to begin with. As long as Huang Hua and others didn’t have the sinister intention of maliciously escalating conflicts, reactivating the Hunan Provincial Department actually added a buffer layer between Xuzhou and the Great Chu court.
Beyond this point, the current greatest difficulty was that even if they delayed the Chenzhou tribal battalions by another three to five days before entering Sizhou territory, it couldn’t solve their urgent crisis.
It was impossible for things to develop that quickly on the Yuzhou side.
This was the greatest problem caused by the inconvenient communications of this era, especially with Xuzhou blocked by mountainous terrain.
Even if Yuzhou had already created trouble in Wuchuan County, by the time the news traveled back, it would be at least five or six days later.
“What’s the latest news from Panlong Ridge?” Han Qian asked Gao Shao.
“Yesterday Yang Xingfeng tried to attack Red Carp Stronghold but was stopped by Tan Yuliang’s son Tan Cheng using fire attacks. Nearly twenty men died or were injured, and the provincial troops withdrew back down the mountain…” Gao Shao said.
Through Diao the Blind and others, the tactics that could be conceived for the insurgent forces based on local conditions had already been exhausted.
However, the problem was that over the past year or more, the Sizhou troops had also gained tremendous experience attacking the tribal strongholds of the Wuliao people. The insurgents’ tactical innovations, or rather their use of stratagems adapted to local conditions, had currently only temporarily stopped the Sizhou troops at the base of the mountains without being able to inflict heavy damage on them.
Another problem was that while the insurgents had gathered all their women and children in several core strongholds, Tan Yuliang hadn’t been able to persuade the other insurgent commanders like Dong Tai, Zhang Guangdeng, and Lang Sandao to agree to disperse the women and children deeper into Panlong Ridge.
Han Qian’s hope that the insurgents would organize several hundred elite fighters to break out of the Sizhou troops’ encirclement to conduct guerrilla warfare and continuously expand their influence in the outer areas—this tactical and strategic vision—also couldn’t be realized.
Tan Yuliang was currently the insurgents’ leader, but the insurgent soldiers generally opposed being separated from their women and children and were unfamiliar with guerrilla warfare tactics, so this wasn’t something Tan Yuliang could decide unilaterally.
Given the insurgents’ current mindset, they mainly wanted to occupy several easily defended strongholds and fight defensive battles against the encircling forces.
Of course, this was also the influence and continuation of traditional tactical thinking.
In fact, even though the Sizhou troops weren’t elite enough, this still presented major problems.
With over twenty thousand of the insurgents’ elderly, weak, women, and children trapped in Panlong Ridge, with so many people needing to eat, drink, and relieve themselves, they could hold out for a month or two. But after being besieged for three to five months, with the outer encirclement growing ever tighter and the insurgents’ contact with the outside world completely severed, how would they ensure subsequent supply of provisions?
Xuzhou couldn’t directly control the insurgent forces, and their influence over the insurgents through Tan Yuliang and Diao the Blind was also limited. Without the conditions to conduct widespread tactical and command training for the insurgent soldiers, and with the camp structure not properly organized, the situation had become somewhat caught between advance and retreat.
Han Qian stood before the table, contemplating for a long while before drafting orders with a grave expression and handing them to Gao Shao: “Mobilize the Second Infantry Battalion and Third Infantry Battalion stationed at Longya City and Linjiang County, as well as the Second Naval Battalion stationed at Yanji Stronghold. They must arrive in Chenzhong by noon tomorrow to receive deployment orders!”
To control military expenses, the provincial battalions comprising cavalry and naval forces totaled seven battalions, each organized with four hundred combat soldiers.
Previously, besides the cavalry battalion that also served guard duty and was permanently stationed in Chenzhong, there were only the eight hundred tribal slave soldiers assembled half a month ago under the training leadership of Xi Fa’er, Han Bao, and others, stationed at the military camp north of Longya Mountain—the naval battalion previously stationed in Chenzhong had also been transferred by Han Qian to Yanji Stronghold between Qianyang and Chenyang a month ago.
Now Han Qian was transferring the two infantry battalions stationed at Longya City and Linjiang County in the south, as well as bringing back the Second Naval Battalion previously transferred to Yanji Stronghold. This would increase Chenzhong County’s combat soldiers to sixteen hundred men, plus the eight hundred newly organized tribal slave soldiers who could march in formation but hadn’t yet been issued weapons and equipment.
“Going hard?” Feng Yi asked.
“Chenzhou is wary of Xuzhou. At this time, with a thousand elite combat soldiers from the Chenzhou tribal battalions entering our territory, if Xuzhou is a bit guarded against them, what’s unreasonable about that?” Han Qian said. “Tomorrow morning, you go see Fu Gengwen, Yang Hu, and Xi Shepeng. Tell them I will personally lead two thousand troops to escort them across the border to Hujian Pass, and I also want to invite An Jixiang to come along to appreciate the scenery along both banks of the Chen River—tonight, you issue weapons and equipment to the tribal slave soldiers…”