After years of tempering, Xi Shepeng was no longer simply the reckless warrior who had only known how to charge into bloody combat with blade in hand. He understood very clearly in his heart the meaning behind his father’s repeated admonitions to “grasp the proper measure” before leading his troops into Chenzhong.
To be honest, the only thing that could currently restrain Xuzhou’s ambitions was the great mountain that was the imperial court, but the court obviously had no desire for unrest to easily erupt in the Southwest at this time.
This was also the key reason why Fu Gengwen, without direct evidence in hand, would lean toward speaking in Xuzhou’s favor.
If unrest occurred in Guangde Prefecture, less than two hundred li from Jinling, the impact would be enormous, but assembling elite Imperial Guards nearby to suppress it could be said to be as easy as turning over one’s hand.
Regardless of Han Qian’s reputation in Great Chu, and regardless of how unfathomably cunning his military strategies were, simply the trouble and complexity of suppressing unrest in the Southwest alone was enough to turn countless people’s hair white with worry.
For thousands of years, why had central dynasties chosen to establish tributary states in the Southwest region? Why had they granted key official positions like regional inspector and county magistrate to local tribal chieftains and allowed them to be hereditary?
Wasn’t all this because their reach couldn’t extend that far?
In the past when unrest occurred in the Southwest region, even if the rebellion leaders were victorious, as long as they didn’t threaten the regular provinces directly controlled by the court, the court would acknowledge them afterward most of the time and would absolutely not easily dispatch troops to suppress them, would they?
Wasn’t all this because their reach couldn’t extend that far?
Over more than a thousand years, the limited few suppression campaigns had all occurred when the central dynasty’s military preparations were at their peak.
To be honest, Xi Shepeng was also clear in his heart that the reason Chenzhou could currently obtain support from His Majesty and most of the Great Chu ministers was mainly because too many people were wary of Han Qian personally.
Otherwise, given Great Chu’s current situation where neither internal troubles nor external threats had been resolved, even if the various tributary states in the Southwest fought each other to pieces, Great Chu would choose to stand by and watch.
Of course, the factors involved here were too numerous and too intricate, which also determined that the court’s support for Chenzhou was limited.
To take it ten thousand steps back, if Han Qian truly engaged in large-scale military action and directly sent troops to annex Chenzhou, Sizhou, and Yezhou before establishing a vassal state, would Emperor Yanyou and the court ministers definitely be determined to dispatch troops for suppression?
Regardless, Han Qian occupying the Southwest would pose less of a threat to the Great Chu court and Emperor Yanyou personally than Han Qian directly causing trouble in Guangde Prefecture, the heartland of Great Chu.
Before Great Chu could resolve its internal troubles and external threats, if Han Qian truly took risky action, Emperor Yanyou might really hold his nose and acknowledge it first.
Although the temporary encampment was only just over thirty li from Chenyang City, it was after all within Chenzhong County’s territory. Xi Shepeng tossed and turned in his great tent all night without sleeping soundly, unable to determine what exactly constituted grasping the proper measure.
Rules?
Sometimes rules weren’t unchangeable either.
Just as the horizon showed the first pale light of dawn, he turned over and got up, walked to the river embankment, and stared in both upstream and downstream directions, worried that hundreds or thousands of warships would emerge from the thin mist and catch them completely off guard.
According to the rules, ordinary boats could freely enter and exit the Chen River, only needing to register at their destination dock.
However, even with an imperial edict, if Chenzhou’s armed military vessels wanted to enter their territory, they had to notify Xuzhou beforehand.
Whether to transfer a batch of ferries from Chenyang or wait for Han Qian’s side to arrange it, Xi Shepeng could only send people overnight to consult his father and eldest brother Xi Shesheng for their opinions, but couldn’t make any decisions himself.
Xi Ying sent people over, but could only say to first consult Han Qian’s opinion before making a decision. Now with the court having An Jixiang, Fu Gengwen and others in Xuzhou, they believed Han Qian wouldn’t dare to be too blatant.
Xi Shepeng waited until daylight brightened. Seeing no movement on the south bank, he hired a local covered boat, took several bodyguards, crossed the Chen River, entered Chenzhong City, and went to the guest house to ask An Jixiang, Fu Gengwen, and Yang Hu about the specific arrangements.
Feng Yi had arrived at the guest house just a step ahead of Xi Shepeng. Seeing Xi Shepeng enter the courtyard, he greeted him warmly: “I was just about to send someone to invite Commander Xi. Your arrival is perfect timing. Let’s go see Commissioner An and Commissioner Fu together.”
Seeing Xi Shepeng’s hesitant and dubious appearance, Feng Yi found it inwardly amusing. He didn’t know what had happened over these years to make this man who years ago could have his bones set while conscious without uttering a sound become like this?
After An Jixiang, Fu Gengwen, Yang Hu, and Han Chengmeng had all assembled, Feng Yi formally represented Han Qian and Xuzhou in announcing the arrangements for the Chenzhou tribal battalion’s border crossing:
“Over ten ferries can reach the Chenzhou tribal troops’ temporary encampment before noon. Four or five li east of there is a crossing where the soldiers can board, then be transported in batches to land at Heilongjin on the east and west. Regarding the Sizhou civil unrest, my lord also gathered everyone last night for lengthy discussions. Considering the fierce unrest at Panlong Ridge and that Sizhou troops have suffered setbacks in multiple suppression attempts, even if Commander Xi leads his troops there, success isn’t necessarily assured. If slightly careless, the flames of war might spread to Xuzhou. After much discussion, my lord has decided to personally lead one thousand troops to escort Commissioner Fu, General Shesheng, and the Young Lord to Hujian Pass. At that time, we’ll also invite Commissioner An to accompany us as a witness, lest anyone say Xuzhou has ulterior motives. If Chenzhou’s aid allows Sizhou to successfully quell the unrest, that would naturally be good. If the strength proves inadequate, Xuzhou has over a thousand elite troops stationed at Gaoyi Gorge. When the time comes, the Young Lord need only call out and we can move quickly.”
Han Chengmeng sat behind the long table in silence. His status destined him not to speak much, unless he decided to break with the Han family and openly stand on Xuzhou’s side.
Yang Hu and Fu Gengwen glanced at An Jixiang, then looked toward Xi Shepeng who had just entered.
“There’s nothing inappropriate about this,” Xi Shepeng said after contemplation.
Whether it was personally leading troops to monitor or intimidate, Xuzhou’s arrangement had nothing “exceeding proper bounds.”
Moreover, if he didn’t even have the courage to march alongside Xuzhou troops, he might as well have refused to lead his troops through Chenzhong County in the first place.
“Is that all?” Yang Hu stared at Feng Yi and asked.
On his journey to Jinling, he had witnessed too many people who were both suspicious and wary of Han Qian.
Now he had somewhat adopted a self-destructive attitude, thinking that rather than guessing and guarding against each other endlessly, it would be better to let Han Qian’s wolfish ambitions be completely exposed, then see how Emperor Yanyou and the Great Chu ministers would deal with it.
Otherwise, Sizhou, whose strength was far too weak, would sooner or later be toyed with to death by Xuzhou.
Regarding Han Qian personally leading troops as an escort, Xi Shepeng had no objections. Deep in his heart, Yang Hu actually wished Han Qian would directly take action to annihilate Xi Shepeng’s forces and completely pierce through the heavens, so naturally he had even fewer objections. He even felt Xuzhou’s maneuvers were somewhat minor.
Feng Yi laughed heartily, indicating that of course there was more. He said: “The Young Lord mentioned before his concern that the eight hundred tribal slaves working in Xuzhou might be influenced by the unrest, their hearts bewitched and unstable, thinking to bring them back to Sizhou for confinement. At that time, the Young Lord was rushing to Jinling to memorialize and request aid and couldn’t attend to this matter. After my lord thought it over, he also felt the Young Lord’s words made excellent sense, so he ordered these eight hundred tribal slaves to be concentrated under supervision and had people train them to teach them how to follow rules. Currently they should barely be usable for military formations. They will all be transferred to the Young Lord to take over this time. We hope this can help bring an early end to the Sizhou civil unrest. If the Young Lord has time now, come with Feng Yi to the military camp outside the south city to take command of these troops…”
Yang Hu’s face turned somewhat green. He urgently wanted to jump up, point at Feng Yi’s nose and curse him for spouting nonsense—originally it had clearly been Han Qian who held onto them and wouldn’t release them.
“Previously Sizhou had unsettled work payments. The eight hundred tribal slave soldiers are equipped with six hundred refined iron spears, two hundred straight-spine sabers, four hundred leather armors, twenty iron-scaled armors, eight hundred military uniforms, eight hundred pairs of boots, two hundred shields, plus the food, lodging and expenses for the eight hundred tribal slave soldiers over nearly two months—this more than sufficiently covers the work payments. For the surplus portion, my lord also said it counts as Xuzhou’s aid to Sizhou. As long as Commissioner Fu mentions it when memorializing the court, letting His Majesty and the court officials know that Xuzhou has shown its good intentions, that will suffice…” Feng Yi said.
Yang Hu’s face turned ashen. Now he not only had to take over eight hundred tribal slaves with unstable hearts, but had to take over eight hundred tribal slave soldiers with unstable hearts who had been preliminarily trained and equipped by Xuzhou.
Could he say he wouldn’t take them over?
Even if he temporarily delayed taking them over, according to Feng Yi’s meaning, Sizhou would still have to pay money and grain back to Xuzhou as settlement funds for these eight hundred tribal slave soldiers?
“If the Young Lord finds this difficult, continuing to have Xuzhou supervise these tribal slave soldiers isn’t impossible either,” Feng Yi added.
Hearing Feng Yi say this, Yang Hu hesitated again.
Although he had been traveling outside requesting aid these past two months, he still understood the development of the battle situation at Panlong Ridge.
Eight hundred robust tribal slave soldiers represented extremely precious troop reinforcements for the Sizhou tribal battalion that was currently stretched thin for manpower.
Could it be that Han Qian’s change in attitude from before to now was due to yielding under His Majesty and the court’s pressure, abandoning his ill intentions toward Sizhou?
Seeing Yang Hu unable to make up his mind, Fu Gengwen asked Feng Yi:
“Commander Xi leading the Chenzhou tribal battalion together with Yang Hu to take over the tribal slave soldiers—there should be no problem with that, right?”
Fu Gengwen didn’t want to escalate the situation, but with An Jixiang finding it inconvenient to directly intervene in this matter at this time, he also needed to be clear about his responsibilities.
Otherwise, when Huang Hua, Wu Zun, Chen Fan and others formally assumed their posts, he wouldn’t be able to give them an account.
“Of course,” Feng Yi said. “If you gentlemen and the Young Lord have any unclear situations, I will answer them all one by one. If there’s anything that requires Xuzhou’s cooperation, please feel free to raise it.”
Feng Yi’s face was entirely compliant, as if Xuzhou had truly yielded under the court’s pressure and become incomparably cooperative.
An Jixiang coughed lightly and said to Fu Gengwen: “You, Chengmeng, and Yang Hu go to the military camp first, examine the tribal slave soldiers’ situation, then make a decision.”
He didn’t understand many aspects of the current situation and found it difficult to fathom Han Qian’s true intentions. In his heart he thought that no matter how unrestrained Han Qian was, there seemed no need for him to incite mutinous troops to kill Fu Gengwen, Han Chengmeng, and Yang Hu.
If the tribal slave soldiers mutinied within Xuzhou’s territory, Xuzhou would have to undertake the responsibility of suppressing them. But once they passed Hujian Pass, An Jixiang believed that with Xi Shepeng leading the Chenzhou tribal battalion elite to supervise them along the route, keeping these tribal slave soldiers in check shouldn’t be a problem.
In any case, they should first go see the condition of the eight hundred tribal slave soldiers before discussing anything else.
Moreover, along the journey he had heard Yang Hu complain that these eight hundred tribal slave soldiers were all servants and slaves of the Yang family, familiar faces all, so Xuzhou couldn’t possibly plant any agents among them.
What Fu Gengwen was thinking was also to bring Han Chengmeng along to first assess the situation. Of course, the matter of the Chenzhou tribal battalion combat soldiers crossing the river would thus be delayed. Xi Shepeng would first return to the north bank to await news…