Returning to Liyang City, Han Qian still had no way to rest.
Although members of the Wen clan were secretly detained in Liyang City, and Wang Tang had been sent to Li Zhigao’s army to discuss defense matters, forcibly sending a letter to Luoshan City, and afterward dispatching over a thousand cavalry and over three thousand military horses to Lean and Huangchuan cities to enhance the mobile combat capability of Kong Xirong’s forces, they still needed to closely monitor Luoshan City’s movements at all times.
There was no guarantee that Li Zhigao wouldn’t also transfer Chai Jian’s Left Divine Might Army main forces from the northern foothills of Tongbai Mountain to western Guangzhou, determined to forcibly devour the Luoshan garrison.
East Lake bordered the eastern shore of Chao Lake. Between Qingcang Mountain and Xuru Mountain, long embankments had been constructed, opening up broad territories advantageous for developing various manufacturing industries and port trade. Even the lakeside territory from Qingcang Mountain north to Chaozhou City could be reclaimed into tens of thousands of qing of quality agricultural grain fields. However, due to serious summer and autumn flooding disasters, the Command Bureau had temporarily moved to Liyang City, only thirty li away.
Currently, Liyang was also the central hub of all Huaixi.
Although Guo Rong, Feng Liao, and others advocated more strongly for establishing the administrative seat in Chaozhou City, which was positioned at the center of all Huaixi, Chaozhou City had been devastated in the warfare of recent years.
Moreover, limited funds and grain needed to be used as quickly as possible first to help various counties restore agriculture, build more workshops, and settle the populace. The reconstruction plan for Chaozhou City had been postponed indefinitely.
Guo Rong, Gao Shao, Xi Fa’er, and others were all in Liyang. Learning that Han Qian and Wang Jun had rushed to Liyang, even though it was late at night, they all hurriedly rushed to Lian Garden, but didn’t see Feng Liao or Cao Gan, whom they had secretly welcomed today. Quite surprised, they listened to Feng Yi’s explanation before understanding what had happened.
“If you ask me, Marquis of Changxiang launching a military coup to usurp the throne might not necessarily be a bad thing—if he launches a coup, how could Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian possibly continue attacking Guanzhong? Wouldn’t they hurry to lead their troops back to the Shu capital?” After Feng Yi explained everything to Guo Rong, Gao Shao, and the others, drinking tea in large gulps to quench his thirst, seeing Han Qian’s distressed expression, he tried to console him. “You’ve always worried that the Mongols would profit as the third party. Now wouldn’t this resolve the Guanzhong crisis? Who cares what mess the Shu state fights itself into?”
“Things aren’t that simple,” Guo Rong said. “When Wang Yong launches his coup, he’ll inevitably wait until Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian have fought into Guanzhong and are entangled with the Liang army remnants. At that time, when Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian lead their forces in retreat, the Guanzhong Liang army will have already been devastated, but the other three routes of troops attacking Guanzhong from Wuguan, Tongguan, and the Fen River valley won’t stop their offensive.”
Feng Yi hadn’t considered things this deeply. He asked hesitantly, “Then we can’t leak the news in advance to expose this Wang Yong’s wolfish ambitions?”
“Of course not,” Guo Rong shook his head. “If we leak the news and expose Wang Yong’s ambitions in advance, we could indeed relieve the siege of Guanzhong, but Shu Lord Wang Jian and Shu Prince Wang Hongyi would turn around and lead troops to annihilate Wang Yong. Over these years, we’ve secretly supported Wang Yong’s rise. Back then, to seize the Wuchuan River valley, we also deliberately helped Wang Yong eliminate Wang Hongyi’s influence in the Left Qingjiang Army. Shu Prince Wang Hongyi, Marquis of Wei Wang Xiaoxian, and others surely remember these accounts crystal clear. Moreover, if the Shu army believes they’ve missed the best opportunity to seize Guanzhong, when Shu Lord Wang Jian wants to build momentum for proclaiming himself emperor, and Wang Hongyi wants to build momentum for being established as heir, who do you think they’ll direct the resentment of tens of thousands of elite Shu troops toward? If it really comes to that, we’ll struggle even to defend Xuzhou—we could only watch helplessly as Qianzhong and other regions fall into Shu army hands…”
“Damn, I was wondering why Han Qian looked so worried and distressed. It turns out Old Guo, you’re the one who thinks things through thoroughly. Good thing the traitor empress didn’t use you much back then, or else our days wouldn’t be as good as they are now.” Feng Yi clicked his tongue.
“How could I be a match for you and Commander Feng?” Guo Rong smiled bitterly, bantering with Feng Yi.
“Don’t be modest either. If Han Qian insists on using you, he has his reasons—back then we were thinking about throwing you into some water dungeon to lock you up for life,” Feng Yi said nonsensically. “Now, how do you say we should solve this difficult problem?”
“When even my lord is looking so worried and distressed, what good strategy could I possibly have?” Guo Rong spread his hands.
“Emperor Liang Zhu Yu is a master of military strategy. Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian may not necessarily be able to fight their way into Guanzhong.” Gao Shao, seeing Han Qian’s worried and distressed expression, tried to console him.
Gao Shao’s words did not comfort Han Qian. He spread out the terrain map, staring at the Guanluo mountain and river topography in a daze.
Indeed, as Gao Shao said, the Ziwu Road, Chencang Road, Baoxie Road, and Luogu Road, as the main passages between Liangzhou and Guanzhong, crossed the Qinling Mountains, winding and twisting anywhere from five to six hundred li to nearly a thousand li. With Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian dividing their forces into four routes, they might not necessarily be able to fight into Guanzhong. They might even very likely have one or two routes suffer great losses at the hands of Emperor Liang Zhu Yu. But the problem was that the enormous strategic disadvantage could absolutely not be reversed by one or two tactical victories.
Emperor Liang Zhu Yu currently could barely be said to have sixty thousand elite troops available in Guanzhong. The southern front Chu-Shu allied forces divided into five routes, totaling nearly seventy thousand elite troops attacking Guanzhong. How many troops would Emperor Liang need to deploy on the southern front, hoping to successfully repel these five routes of troops?
And before dividing forces to the southern front, at Hejin and Tongguan, how many troops would Emperor Liang have to block the attacks of Mongol elite forces and Weizhou rebel troops?
Moreover, if the Chu-Shu allied forces’ attack on Guanzhong was secretly instigated by Guanjiang Tower, Han Qian believed that Xiao Yiqing or Wang Jingrong would absolutely not forget to send people to persuade the Pingxia tribal leader Li Sijing, residing west of Qinzhou, to send troops into Guanzhong to get a share of the spoils.
“You all go rest first.” The night was already deep, and dawn would arrive in the blink of an eye. Han Qian told Guo Rong, Gao Shao, and Feng Yi to go rest first. Everyone had their own affairs to attend to and didn’t need to accompany him here grinding away fruitlessly. He needed to properly organize his thoughts.
Guo Rong, Gao Shao, and Feng Yi also knew that grinding away fruitlessly wasn’t the solution. Staying would only disturb Han Qian’s thoughts, so they each returned to their residences.
Returning to their quarters, their thoughts in turmoil, they had no way to lie down and rest. Watching the morning light begin to rise and hearing hoofbeats galloping into the city, they guessed it might be Feng Liao rushing back from Dongguan Town late at night.
Everyone hastily dressed and rushed to the council hall, wanting to know exactly what Feng Liao and Cao Gan had discussed.
Feng Liao rushed over urgently, not even having drunk a sip of water. Entering the council hall close on everyone’s heels, he saw Han Qian with his robes still on, sitting behind the long desk with a large pile of maps and books spread before him, buried in examining them.
Besides Wang Jun, Xi Ren and Zhao Ting’er had somehow also arrived at the front hall, helping to search through various materials.
“Did Cao Gan come this time with the intentions we suspected?” Feng Yi rather impatiently pulled his brother Feng Liao to ask.
Seeing Han Qian put down the book in his hands and look up, Feng Liao swallowed and said, “Although Cao Gan didn’t state it explicitly, it should indeed be this intention—”
Feng Liao sat down to discuss the many matters Cao Gan had raised after Han Qian left, which could also be described as Yuzhou’s requests to Tangyi. Summarized, there were two points:
First, using the Shu-Chu allied forces’ northern expedition to Guanzhong as pretext, they wanted to purchase large quantities of various types of armor and military equipment from Xuzhou—the more the better, at least enough to equip about ten thousand troops.
Second, they hoped Han Qian would maintain the military mobilization level from the Chenzhou crisis period in Xuzhou. Yuzhou would manufacture excuses so that Xuzhou could move most of its troops to the Wuchuan River valley. At the same time, they also hoped Han Qian could dispatch high-ranking generals of Guo Que’s caliber as liaison envoys to Yuzhou.
“Besides wanting to expand their forces before launching their coup, Yuzhou also wants to borrow troops from Xuzhou as quickly as possible if anything unexpected happens. What a fine wishful calculation!” Gao Shao said with emotion. “Did Cao Gan mention what compensation Yuzhou could give us?”
“Yuzhou has misjudged local Qianjiang demand for Banan well salt these past few years, causing Yuzhou to accumulate over two hundred thousand dan of well salt over several years. This can serve as payment for armor procurement, paid to Xuzhou in a lump sum, or transported directly to Tangyi…” Feng Liao said.
When Wuchuan County was first established, Wuchuan well salt production had not yet increased. The Salt and Iron Supervision Bureau controlled by Xuzhou, to meet Qianjiang border trade needs, purchased well salt on a large scale from Banan at the high price of two thousand coins per dan for sale in the Qianzhong region. The first year’s procurement volume reached as high as sixty thousand dan, but the second year it dropped to forty thousand dan, while the most recent two years it maintained at twenty thousand dan as a token gesture.
However, Yuzhou had never anticipated that Wuchuan could produce well salt on a large scale. From the start, they invested manpower and resources in Banan salt fields with the goal of annual production of one hundred thousand dan of well salt, never imagining they would accumulate large quantities of well salt they couldn’t digest.
However, regardless of anything else, cloth, well salt, and grain were all hard currency.
Yuzhou had large quantities of accumulated well salt that couldn’t be sold in the Shu heartland, but the Tangyi Command Bureau controlled over thirty counties in Huaixi and Xuzhou with a total population of one million three hundred forty thousand, plus commercial routes in the upper reaches of the Ruan River and Qianyang. Internal consumption and external sales of food salt reached as high as two hundred sixty thousand dan annually.
Wuchuan, limited by production capacity, currently could only satisfy half with the well salt produced annually. Each year they still needed to accept one hundred twenty to thirty thousand dan of sea salt at high prices from the Salt and Iron Transport Commission.
If the accumulated well salt from Yuzhou were transferred into the Tangyi Command Bureau’s hands and digested over two or three years, they could save nearly three hundred thousand strings in expenditures to the Salt and Iron Transport Commission.
Cao Gan, representing Yuzhou, priced this batch of well salt at only two hundred thousand strings, with the payment also being for armor and military equipment forged by the Works Bureau. Inside and out, this could bring Tangyi an additional net profit of nearly two hundred thousand strings. Setting aside the so-called big picture, these were already quite sincere conditions.
“Yuzhou is being too petty. Don’t they know how much Xuzhou loses by conducting a full military mobilization?” Feng Yi muttered.
Previously, during the bandit crisis threatening Chenzhou, Xuzhou had conducted a military mobilization. Active forces had once expanded to over eight thousand men, of which five thousand elite veteran soldiers were all conscripted reserve forces from various workshops and mines. Lasting about three months in total, the military expenditures produced plus indirect losses from delayed production amounted to roughly one hundred thousand strings in money and grain—in other places, this would equal an ordinary prefecture’s annual revenue.
It was one thing for Yuzhou to purchase armor and military equipment from Xuzhou, but they also wanted Xuzhou to conduct a full military mobilization, ensuring that if they couldn’t control the situation, they could borrow troops from Xuzhou. Even without considering the negative impact this whole affair would have on surrounding counties, merely the additional military expenditures and related indirect losses produced would absolutely exceed one or two hundred thousand strings.
No wonder Feng Yi complained that the Marquis of Changxiang and his people were being petty.
Feng Liao smiled bitterly. “Yuzhou indeed lacks deep understanding of Xuzhou’s mobilization mechanisms, but the conditions aren’t limited to just this—they will calculate military provisions based on the scale of Xuzhou’s mobilized officers and soldiers, initially at four strings per person per month in military expenditures, and will directly provide advance payment of Shu brocade and medicinal herbs equivalent to two hundred thousand strings in money and grain. Later they will guarantee that any owed money and grain can all be converted to Western Tibetan warhorses for us.”
Currently, Xuzhou could purchase horses from Qianzhong, Nanzhao, and other places, but mainly mountain pony breeds.
The ponies produced in Qianzhong and Nanzhao had strong endurance but insufficient explosive power. They were suitable for supplementing the lack of animal power needed for agricultural production but were not suitable as warhorses for charging into battle.
Western Sichuan bordered the Western Tibetan and Songpan regions. The warhorses produced there could be obtained annually by the Shu state in exchange for tea, cloth, salt, iron, and other products, but they strictly controlled their flow into Great Chu.
Through Qianjiang border trade between Yu and Xu, the Marquis of Changxiang also only agreed to trade one thousand Western Tibetan warhorses annually to Xuzhou, fundamentally unable to satisfy the Tangyi Army’s needs for expanding cavalry units.
This condition was equivalent to saying that once Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong successfully usurped the throne, he would lift restrictions on warhorse trade with the Tangyi Army.
The Tangyi Army, grown to today’s scale, still primarily consisted of infantry supplemented by naval forces. The Imperial Guard cavalry totaled only about three thousand cavalry, not yet forming a significant scale.
However, even without competing for the Central Plains, merely defending the southern bank of the Huai River—from the upper Huai River south to Huaiyang Mountain, from the middle reaches south to the northern shore of Chao Lake—it was all flat plains.
After spring began and continuing until deep autumn, the Huai River was vast and mighty. With naval forces assisting in defense, of course there was no need to worry about enemy forces infiltrating. But for nearly fifty to sixty years now, winter weather had been especially cold, and the Huai River had an ice-covered period of approximately two months each year.
Without large-scale cavalry participating in defense, could Tangyi really construct barrier ramparts extending over seven hundred li from Zhongli to west of Huangchuan along the southern bank of the Huai River to protect southern agricultural production?
Quality warhorses could be said to be the military supplies Tangyi most urgently needed at this time.
Hearing Feng Liao say this, even Feng Yi couldn’t help but nod, saying, “This is barely satisfactory—why don’t we just cooperate with Wang Yong? After all, the world’s decay into chaos is already a foregone conclusion, not something we can save even with great benevolence and desire to save. At least we can protect the Jianghuai region from barbarian cavalry invasion.”
“Where would things be that easy?” Han Qian sighed lightly, supporting himself on the long desk and sitting up straight, allowing the accumulated soreness in his lower back to ease slightly. He said, “Since we’re seventy to eighty percent certain that Xiao Yiqing or Wang Jingrong secretly contacted Yuzhou, how could they have no awareness whatsoever of Marquis of Changxiang launching a military coup to usurp the throne?”
Han Qian directly pushed the pile of documents on the long desk to the floor, exposing the terrain map on the desk surface. He beckoned Feng Yi over, saying, “Come, come, come here and look. After the Liang army’s main forces are defeated in Guanzhong, the Mongols will need time to digest Hedong, Hejin, Shangdang, Taiyuan, Heshuo, and other regions. We can also support Marquis of Changxiang in launching a coup to seize control of Shu. But even if Shu Prince Wang Hongyi falls into the Marquis of Changxiang’s hands, you mustn’t forget that Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian still have tens of thousands of elite troops in Liangzhou and Guanzhong! At this time, if the Mongols support Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian in counterattacking Shu, tell me—how long could Wang Yong sit in the position of Shu King before collapsing at the first blow and fleeing back to Yuzhou in defeat?”
Feng Yi stared blankly at the map for a moment, then asked hesitantly, “You’re saying Guanjiang Tower is the greatest mastermind behind all this, and the Marquis of Changxiang’s inability to restrain himself this time is also deliberately instigated by Guanjiang Tower?”
“It won’t entirely be Guanjiang Tower’s instigation,” Han Qian said. “If the Marquis of Changxiang had no such intentions himself, and if he hadn’t secretly plotted this over these years, no one could put a blade to his throat and force him to stage a coup and usurp the throne. Xiao Yiqing, Wang Jingrong, and these people might merely be taking advantage of the situation and adding fuel to the flames. The Marquis of Changxiang and his people are thinking too simplistically, truly believing that if things go poorly, my lending him several thousand elite troops would be of any use—what damn use would it be…”
Feng Liao and Guo Rong were speechless for a long while. Seeing Han Qian speak without restraint, they figured it must be due to his irritable mood from fruitlessly pondering all night.
The Mongols might need time to digest Heshuo, Hedong, and other regions, but after the Sichuan-Shu region that Wang Jian had governed for twenty to thirty years was beaten beyond recognition and had its strength completely destroyed in the internal chaos stirred up by Wang Yong, Zhao Mengji, Wang Xiaoxian, and others, for the Mongols to send troops from Guanzhong to seize it would be as easy as turning over one’s hand.
At that time, the Central Plains region might still be fighting in complete chaos.
No matter how well Tangyi managed Huaixi and Xuzhou, constrained by Huaidong to the east, constrained by Xiangbei to the west, and with the princes and high ministers in Jinling City to the south scheming against each other, how could they possibly shoulder the responsibility of protecting the Jianghuai region?
At this moment, Han Qian stood up, straightened his robe, and said to Feng Liao and the others, “Wen Muqiao has been a guest in Liyang for a month now. I should go see him…”
Feng Liao and the others were stunned. Seeing Han Qian already walking toward the hall entrance, they all hurried to follow, but their hearts were still puzzled.
After Han Donghu abducted the Wen clan members by sea route back to Liyang and secretly imprisoned them in Liyang City, it had already been a month, but Han Qian had never seen Wen Muqiao. The supervision, custody, and even having Wen Muqiao write letters to send to Wen Bo were all Guo Rong’s responsibility.
No one knew why Han Qian would go see Wen Muqiao at this time.
…
…
Having seized the intact Liyang City almost without shedding blood, aside from a few residences like Lian Garden that Han Qian and others used as mansions, over the past few years the city had mainly served as school buildings for East Lake Academy, currently housing nearly three thousand teachers and students.
The Wen clan members were imprisoned in a military camp in the northeastern corner of Liyang City, not far from the Lian Garden where Han Qian resided. Surrounded by high walls with over two hundred troops stationed on the perimeter, inside the high walls were over two hundred rooms for the Wen clan members to live in.
Aside from strictly prohibiting contact with the outside world, daily supplies of salt, oil, rice, flour, vegetables, and small amounts of beef, mutton, pork, and poultry were provided. If there were injuries or illnesses, medical care was promptly sent in for treatment—it could be considered benevolent treatment.
Huo Li led over a hundred elite guards entering first, controlling the central courtyard and other areas, summoning Wen Muqiao, Wen Chaozhong (Wen Muqiao’s cousin, who had served as Vice Minister of War), Wen Zhanyu (Wen Muqiao’s eldest son, Wen Bo’s elder brother, who in early years served as an Imperial Guard Commander under Emperor Tianyou, was injured and disabled before Great Chu’s founding, and after being enfeoffed as Marquis of Dangkou no longer led troops), Cao Kun (a Wen family retainer whose son Cao Ba served as a commander in Wen Bo’s personal guard), and other important Wen clan figures to assemble in the front courtyard.
Wen Muqiao was already over eighty years old, his beard and hair completely white. It was hard to imagine that he and his clansmen had been abducted to Tangyi, yet his complexion was rosy, increasingly displaying the appearance of white hair and youthful face.
“Your Lordship now wields power over the court. You truly are difficult to see.” Wen Muqiao stood in the courtyard filled with fallen leaves and surrounded on all sides by Tangyi tiger guards, watching Han Qian and others enter, his voice hoarse as he spoke.
Han Qian’s gloomy gaze rested on Wen Muqiao and several Wen clan members behind him for quite a while before he asked Wen Muqiao, “When Empress Dowager Xu plotted to murder the late emperor, you were at her side at the time, weren’t you?”
“Indeed, Wen was present—do you want to ask about the late emperor’s handwritten edict?” Wen Muqiao asked.
When Anning Palace and the Crown Prince plotted to usurp the throne, Feng Liao was in Jinling City and afterward could confirm that Emperor Tianyou and the Great Chu imperial palace had completely fallen under the control of the Anning Palace rebel forces. But at that time, someone still delivered a handwritten edict from Emperor Tianyou to Lanting Lane, summoning Han Daoxun to the palace to discuss matters.
Knowing it was a trap, Han Daoxun disregarded everyone’s attempts to stop him and still went to see Wen Muqiao bearing the handwritten edict, thus going without return until he was torn apart by chariots in the marketplace.
Of course, afterward everyone tended to believe it was forged by Zhang Xinchun, Niu Gengru, Wen Muqiao, and others. Moreover, the original had long since vanished without a trace. Even though several people in Lanting Lane had witnessed the handwritten edict with their own eyes at the time, even if they could obtain other handwriting samples from Emperor Tianyou afterward, there was no way to compare them.
Han Qian made no response. Wen Muqiao continued, “Perhaps Your Lordship doesn’t believe this, but we old fellows who prided ourselves on being clever all our lives were ultimately outmaneuvered by the late emperor—before his death, the late emperor said that Han Daoxun had submitted the Xuzhou strategy from the very beginning of his external appointment, causing Empress Dowager Xu to deeply fear him. The handwritten edict summoning Duke Han to the palace to discuss matters was indeed personally written by the late emperor…”
“What medicine did the late emperor take wrong that he would help you harm Han Qian’s father?” Feng Yi couldn’t help but step forward to mock.
“Indeed, Wen was also puzzled by this matter for a long time. It wasn’t until Your Lordship, using the marriage refusal as pretext, left Fanchang to return to Xuzhou that Wen finally figured it out. In the end, it was the late emperor who saw through Your Lordship’s capabilities earliest!” Wen Muqiao sighed lightly.
“You’re saying the late emperor helped you harm Han Qian’s father, but actually wanted Han Qian to seek revenge on you for him? How is that possible?” Feng Yi asked in shock.
“How is it not possible?” Wen Muqiao looked toward Feng Yi and asked in return. “Your Lordship’s mission to the Shu state to escort the bride, summoning Duke Han to the capital to serve as Metropolitan Governor—these were all the late emperor’s decrees. I imagine that at that time, the new emperor in Yueyang also received a secret edict from the late emperor. But unfortunately, the new emperor was still too soft-hearted in Fanchang—speaking of which, before we truly made up our minds, our plotting was still insufficiently thorough, while the late emperor still had several people by his side who weren’t afraid to die and would serve him loyally.”
“What evidence do you have for saying this?” Feng Yi demanded.
“This is the original handwritten edict from the late emperor’s final summons of Duke Han to discuss matters!” Wen Muqiao took from his sleeve a letter wrapped in oiled paper cloth. His hands trembling, he unwrapped it, displaying the handwritten edict that had been preserved for several years, the paper already somewhat yellowed.