Back then, it was Yao Xishui who devised the scheme, having Yun Puzi instigate Princess Qingyang to present a strategy to Yang Yuanpu, intending to use the marriage contract with Wang Jun to prevent Han Qian from returning to Xuzhou.
Afterward, Han Qian openly used “not marrying during the mourning period” as an excuse and departed from Fanchang without saying goodbye—a change that Yao Xishui had not anticipated at the time and was caught completely off guard by.
If this scheme hadn’t originated from her, and she wasn’t certain she had been free from outside influence, she would have suspected there was something wrong with Yun Puzi.
The result of the entire affair was that Han Qian successfully returned to Xuzhou before the recovery of Jinling, and Yang Yuanpu not only failed to punish him for leaving without permission and abandoning his post, but instead highlighted his merits and filial piety.
After recovering Jinling and Yang Yuanpu ascending to the throne, when rewards were distributed based on merit, Han Qian was enfeoffed as Marquis of Qianyang, with merit ranking above Li Pu who was elevated to Duke of a Commandery, and Li Zhigao and others who were enfeoffed as marquises.
Wang Jun had also returned to Yangzhou ahead of time, before the recovery of Jinling city.
Wang Jun and Han Qian—one instance of dissolving an engagement, one instance of having an engagement refused—combined with Wang Jun being from a prestigious family and Han Qian being famous throughout the realm, this matter naturally became known to all under heaven.
For an ordinary woman, she might not be able to withstand such public criticism.
Of course, regarding the second setback in the marriage between Wang Jun and Han Qian, some people said that Han Qian not marrying during mourning was observing mourning rites and not discussing marriage matters, which couldn’t truly count as refusing the marriage. It could even be said that after the three-year mourning period passed, as long as both parties were still willing, they could continue discussing marriage.
Yao Xishui had originally dismissed such talk with disdain, but today after hearing Feng Yi’s words, she couldn’t help but have her thoughts drift to this matter. She wondered inwardly: could it be that Han Qian truly has feelings for Wang Jun, and also intends to renew the marriage contract after the mourning period is complete?
Yao Xishui couldn’t help but recall the situation when Wang Jun was captured at Maoshan and then kept under soft house arrest by Han Qian’s side. At that time, Wang Jun was clearly like a female secretary by Han Qian’s side—how was there even half the appearance of being detained as a war prisoner?
Thinking even deeper, when Han Qian went to Fanchang to see Yang Yuanpu, he had already made up his mind to resign from the position of Pacification Commissioner of Guangde Army. Even if he had taken it upon himself to directly release Wang Jun at that time, no one would have accused him of secretly colluding with Huaichu, yet he deliberately brought Wang Jun to Fanchang and handed her over to Yang Yuanpu for disposal…
At this moment, Yao Xishui’s mind seemed to be struck by a bolt of lightning.
“What’s wrong?” Chun Shisanniang saw Yao Xishui’s expression become grave as she pondered in silence for a moment, then suddenly her complexion changed dramatically again. She didn’t know what matter she had thought of to have such a reaction.
“When Han Qian brought Wang Jun into Fanchang city, do you think he had already anticipated that someone would bring up his marriage contract with Wang Jun? Was it that even before entering Fanchang city, he had already planned to use this as his scheme to escape from Fanchang?” Yao Xishui didn’t hide anything from Chun Shisanniang. Only at this moment did she understand the connections within this matter, but she still asked Chun Shisanniang in disbelief.
“Perhaps that’s exactly how it was.” Chun Shisanniang wasn’t as deeply entangled in this matter as Yao Xishui, and actually had more of the clear-sightedness of an observer. She had long suspected this possibility, but hadn’t mentioned it for fear of dampening Yao Xishui’s spirits.
“Feng Yi represents Han Qian in bringing gifts to Yangzhou to celebrate Wang Jun’s birthday, and Xuzhou merchant ships have also officially entered Yangzhou—so Xuzhou and Huaidong have formally colluded together, haven’t they?” Yao Xishui asked Chun Shisanniang somewhat distractedly.
Chun Shisanniang didn’t know whether Feng Yi’s words were true or false, but with Feng Yi boarding the Xuzhou merchant ships accompanied by Yangzhou officials in small boats, the collusion between Xuzhou and Huaidong was self-evident.
This was perhaps a necessary change as the Imperial Guards’ recovery of Chaozhou was imminent—Xuzhou and Huaidong jointly resisting the coming pressure to reduce feudal power, preserving their respective current authority and positions?
Of course, both Xuzhou and Huaidong were regional military governors of Great Chu. Commercial exchanges between the two regions, collecting taxes within their own territories, even mutually dispatching envoys—even Emperor Yanyou could not arbitrarily prohibit such activities.
Having been stirred up by Feng Yi’s visit, Yao Xishui and Chun Shisanniang became somewhat dispirited. They also noticed that the two surveillance positions they had arranged on nearby boats had likely already been exposed, so they immediately ordered those personnel to withdraw together with the Imperial Weaving Bureau’s procurement ships, to avoid falling victim to violence.
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After the personnel from Cishou Palace withdrew, Lin Zongjing, Feng Yi and the others remained extremely cautious. After properly coordinating with the officials sent by Wang Wenqian, they waited until nightfall before bringing aboard the over six hundred former Left Guangde Army members and their women and children who had been transferred in advance to a nearby sand island, loading them in batches.
Han Donghu and Su Lie had also arrived at the nearby sand island ahead of time to await orders, and this time they also headed first to Baiti Ridge together.
Afterward, the two merchant ships took advantage of the morning light to turn from the east side of Guazhou Wharf into the Han Canal.
The Han Canal, also called Shanyang Canal, was a man-made waterway originally constructed in the Spring and Autumn period to connect the Yangtze and Huai rivers as well as Shaobo and other lakes located between the Yangtze and Huai. Later, during the Daye reign of the Sui Dynasty, over a hundred thousand laborers from Huainan were conscripted for even larger-scale repairs and expansion, forming its present scale.
The southern section of the Han Canal, from Shaobo Zhuyuwan to Guazhou Wharf in Jiangdu County, stretched over ninety li and consisted entirely of non-flowing calm water. Both sides were separated and controlled by large embankments successively built since the Spring and Autumn period, and even had some of the world’s earliest locks.
However, from the end of the previous dynasty to the founding of Great Chu until now, for nearly a hundred years, warfare had been continuous in the Yangtze-Huai region. The Han Canal lacked dredging and suffered severe silting, and ships had to pass through locks. The merchant ships proceeded slowly for three days before arriving at Zhuyu Town.
On this day, Wang Wenqian personally boarded the ships to inspect the commercial goods.
Of course, what he mainly wanted was to see with his own eyes the two Xuzhou merchant ships that represented the highest level of contemporary shipbuilding.
The two merchant ships carried commercial goods mainly consisting of three thousand bags of glutinous rice, one thousand bags of cottonseed, one thousand barrels of tung oil, as well as a batch of cast iron components used for farming, weaving, and repairs, medicinal herbs, some refined iron ingots, and furs.
The extraction tax was one-tenth—this was collected as standard, nothing to say about that.
The compulsory purchase ratio was up to four-tenths at maximum, but payment had to be made for the purchase, and the full forty percent didn’t necessarily need to be bought.
For glutinous rice, tung oil, cottonseed, medicinal herbs and such items, Huaidong had quite abundant supplies. Even purchasing at fair prices yielded no profit, so they could naturally be allowed through directly.
For furs, refined iron ingots, cast iron ship components and such, Xuzhou’s products were much cheaper and of better quality, while also directly involving the military potential that Chishan Association could develop at Baiti Ridge in the future. Yangzhou directly purchased according to the forty percent ratio.
Of course, to show sincerity in cooperation, Wang Wenqian agreed to pay for the purchased goods with grain, coal and other items that Baiti Ridge lacked.
Former Left Guangde Army members could also transit through Yangzhou, but the weapons and armor they carried with them likewise needed to be treated as transit goods, with extraction and purchase at the one-tenth extraction and four-tenths purchase ratio. Put plainly, this was to limit Xuzhou from gathering excessively powerful military forces on the west bank of Fanliang Lake.
After unloading people and goods at Zhuyuwan, Lin Zongjing led the two merchant ships back to Xuzhou first, still able to transport two more batches of supplies before the year’s end.
By the time Feng Yi, along with Han Donghu and Su Lie who had advanced north on this occasion, arrived at Baiti Ridge with the first batch of supplies directly reinforced from Xuzhou, it was already early September.
The sweltering summer season had passed and the weather was crisp and clear, though such a season was quite brief—in another month they would need to consider southward cold currents.
Over the past month, Baiti Ridge camp had not recruited more refugees from the surrounding areas. Apart from not wanting to attract too much attention, with former Left Guangde Army members bringing their families, plus this new batch, the number of people who had migrated to Baiti Ridge already approached four thousand.
Currently, Li Zhigao outside Chaozhou city was mainly adopting a strategy of surrounding without attacking, but the defenders’ morale was already nearly at the point of collapse.
On the other hand, after winter, the Huai River would most likely freeze solid every year, which would provide convenience for Liang State cavalry to rapidly advance south. The probability of Liang troops dispatching cavalry south to intervene in Chaozhou would also increase dramatically accordingly.
This also determined that Li Zhigao must annihilate the defending troops and recover Chaozhou city before the Huai River froze over.
So to speak, the time window during which various power factions focused their attention on Chaozhou city was becoming extremely limited.
After Li Zhigao led the Imperial Guard troops to recover Chaozhou city, the court’s strategy for north of the Yangtze would shift from military recovery to consolidation through governance. At that time, control and rule over the eastern Chuzhou region would become tight accordingly.
Han Qian had to strive within this time window to transfer more former Left Guangde Army members across the river into Shiliang County. On one hand, he couldn’t alert the enemy prematurely; on the other hand, he needed to concentrate even more energy on strengthening the camp’s construction.
Compared to when Yin Peng visited Baiti Ridge, although only a little over a month had passed, inside the north and south palisade walls and at the mountain ridge opening, over thirty additional large enclosed compounds had been completed.
This not only provided the camp with over three thousand new rooms, but at the same time the compounds formed an integrated whole with the flimsy outer palisade walls, becoming more solid and also more conducive for association members to mount the walls for defense.
Only now did the camp’s perimeter have a reasonably decent defensive system.
Chuzhou territory had no coal resources, and even if there were any, they would mainly be located in the western hills. But fortunately, in these years the population here was sparse and land lay waste, with large amounts of forest growing wild, and vast reed marshes along the lake—firewood was not lacking.
Within a year or two, they could also burn sufficient quantities of charcoal for use in firing lime, casting and other matters.
If that really didn’t work, they could purchase and transport coal on a relatively large scale from Chuzhou. Going by water route, the transportation costs would be extremely limited as well.
Cooperating with Huaidong in the early phase was also the main strategy for Chishan Association to establish itself on the west bank of Fanliang Lake—Huaidong’s compulsory purchase of transit goods also conveniently solved the funding problem for purchasing grain, coal and other supplies from Huaidong…