In late November, Yang Qin and Xi Chang led three hundred armed guards aboard nine fast sailing ships, arriving once again at Jinling and mooring at the Yandangji River Harbor wharf.
Baskets of snow-white Xuan paper, along with copper vessels of various sizes, inkstones, Huzhou brushes, and other such items—almost all high-value-added goods from Jianghuai—were loaded onto the ships alongside several thousand bags of refined rice throughout the afternoon of the fleet’s arrival at Jinling.
Of course, in the current age, the truly high-value-added goods that could be sold in large quantities were still silk and salt.
Silk was precious for its exquisite beauty, salt for the official prohibition against it.
After nightfall, more than a dozen covered oar boats departed the city and entered the river harbor wharf at Yandangji.
These covered oar boats were mostly small, capable of carrying at most two to three hundred shi of cargo, yet what these dozen or so covered oar boats transported was two thousand bags of salt and eight thousand bolts of silk withdrawn from the Lanting Lane warehouse. After arriving at the Yandangji River Harbor wharf, they worked through the night loading these goods onto two three-masted sailing ships.
Before dawn, nine scorpion catapults and eighteen bed crossbows that the estate had manufactured during this period were also loaded overnight onto three war sailing ships, secured with rivets to the deck atop the ship’s cabin, then covered with canvas.
Although they had yet to discover the high-elasticity refined steel that could replace laminated wood, and the nine scorpion catapults could still only use laminated wood as their mechanical power source, their ability to hurl flaming oil pots at around two hundred paces, combined with the bed crossbows, could still enhance the long-range attack capabilities of the three war sailing ships.
At dawn, fog arose. White mist rolled across the river surface, soon gradually spreading toward the fields on both banks in tumbling masses. The sky gradually brightened, but heaven and earth remained shrouded in misty whiteness.
At this time, two fast sailing ships were the first to raise their sails and set off. The family members and dependents of Lin Haizheng, Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Zhao Qi, Chen Jitang, and others all departed with these two ships.
Han Qian stood before the river embankment, seeing the two ships off.
The elite scouts from the Left Bureau, some elite agents, over five hundred Left Bureau disciples, and more than a hundred craftsmen were temporarily at Yongchun Palace estate. He had already sent Tian Cheng carrying his command token to Yongchun Palace estate to bring these forces directly to the Yandangji estate.
Han Qian could currently only deceive these people onto the ships and deceive them to Xuzhou under the pretext of a secret operation. Naturally, he couldn’t let them know that Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Lin Haizheng, and the others, along with virtually all of the Han family’s household troops and dependents, were leaving Jinling with the ships this time.
Otherwise, how could he prevent these soldiers and disciples from becoming suspicious?
To coordinate with this flight, Emperor Tianyou had traveled to Huanglongpo in Liyang for winter hunting these past two days, and Third Prince Yang Yuanpu, leading Shen Yang, Zheng Hui, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, and others, had also rushed to Huanglongpo in Liyang to attend upon the Emperor.
This way, even if there were a few shrewd and capable mid- to lower-ranking military officers or clerks at the Military Bureau or Yongchun Palace estate who noticed abnormalities with the Left Bureau, by the time their reports worked their way up the chain and Yang Yuanpu, Shen Yang, and Zheng Hui learned of the anomalies in Liyang and sent people to investigate and confirm that a flight had occurred, at least two days would have been delayed.
Two days and two nights would be enough time for the fleet to escape into Jiangzhou territory. Deploying the tower ship naval forces from Jinling would certainly be too late to pursue them. And even if they sent express letters by fast horse to notify the river garrisons stationed along the river to intercept them, given the speed of courier stations in the current age, by the time they could catch up to the fleet, Han Qian should have already entered Yuezhou territory or even entered Dongting Lake.
Gao Shao and Lin Haizheng, wearing scale armor that clinked and clanged as the plates touched, walked over and stood behind Han Qian, also gazing with worried expressions at the misty river surface, wondering whether Tian Cheng could successfully bring the over seven hundred Left Bureau forces to Yandangji to board the ships.
Currently in Xuzhou, Han Qian could barely muster fourteen to fifteen hundred troops even if he counted the able-bodied among the Feng family’s servants. Facing fierce opposition from the local prominent families in the short term, they would find it difficult even to establish a foothold, let alone complete comprehensive consolidation of Xuzhou before next autumn and form a pincer attack on Tanzhou from the upper reaches of the Yuan River.
The over seven hundred well-trained Left Bureau forces were extremely important at this time.
Even among the over five hundred Left Bureau disciples, the vast majority were between fifteen and eighteen years old—already of age to take the battlefield in the current era. Even more remarkable was that, aside from their origins, the vast majority of these five hundred-plus Left Bureau disciples had undergone more than a year of arduous training.
One must know that able-bodied men selected from the common people for local provincial camps only had to fulfill one month of corvée labor per year. Much of this time was actually spent being driven to build city walls, post roads, and government buildings, with very little time actually spent in training.
The soldiers of the Imperial Guards and Imperial Attendant Armies were stronger in combat mainly because they came from garrison military bureaus.
Military bureau household soldiers had to fulfill at least three months of military service each year, receiving much more adequate training. After undergoing three to four cycles of selection and reorganization, they could already be considered veteran soldiers.
As for the elite scouts of the Left Bureau, their combat effectiveness and rich experience had been tempered by iron and blood in the Jingxiang campaigns.
Han Qian and the others waited on the river embankment for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn before seeing eight covered oar boats emerge from the thick fog. Zheng Tong, following alongside Tian Cheng, leaped ashore and walked before Han Qian, asking with a face full of hesitation: “What kind of mission actually requires conscripting over a hundred craftsmen from the workshop to accompany us?”
“This matter perhaps cannot yet be revealed to Director Zheng at this time,” Han Qian said coldly.
Zheng Tong was cautious and conservative by nature. During the bloody battle at Xichuan, he had assisted Han Qian in manufacturing war machines and earned merit. Upon returning to Jinling, he was appointed Director of Jinyun Tower, but he had never been able to warm up to Han Qian, who employed radical tactics and ruthless methods. He merely conscientiously managed the affairs of the Qiuhu Mountain workshop.
The Yongchun Palace estate side needed to repair palace buildings and construct wind-powered mills, weapons workshops, and other structures. A few days ago, the Third Prince had ordered him to select over a hundred craftsmen to take charge of this.
Today, when Han Qian had sent Tian Cheng to approach him, saying there was a secret mission and that he should lead the craftsmen at Yongchun Palace to accompany them, how could he not have questions in his heart?
However, Han Qian had always been autocratic and self-willed, while also being resolute in will, brooking no contradiction from his subordinates.
Since Han Qian was unwilling to explain further at this time, Zheng Tong dared not openly oppose him. He merely watched as Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, and Lin Haizheng divided the seven to eight hundred Left Bureau forces among the eight three-masted sailing ships moored before the river embankment.
Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
The Left Bureau had always maintained a relatively independent position. Even during the reorganization after returning to Jinling this time, Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei mainly supervised the Left Bureau but did not interfere with Han Qian’s control over it.
At this moment, even though quite a few people had questions in their hearts to a greater or lesser degree like Zheng Tong, no one dared to step forward and directly challenge this.
Zhao Qi arrived with a squad of well-equipped household troops, meeting up with Han Qian. He leaned close and said: “All the furnaces have been destroyed. We can board the ships.”
Chen Jitang had inherited profound learning from his family since childhood and excelled in engineering and construction, but Zhao Qi had enjoyed practicing martial arts with weapons since youth. These years, having been demoted to serve as an official slave at the Yandangji estate, he had still tried every means to secretly protect the clan members of the Zhao and Chen families as well as the orphans of the Dong family.
Zhao Qi was most willing to relocate to Xuzhou. Regardless of what the Han father and son had in mind, at least they no longer had to live as before, constantly fearful day after day of being purged.
Seeing Zhao Ting’er, Xi Ren, Du Qiniang, Du Jiuniang, and other female family members also walking over from the estate, all carrying packages of various sizes, Zheng Tong’s suspicion grew even stronger. He couldn’t understand what kind of secret mission would require Han Qian to take all of the Han family’s household troops and servants out of Jinling.
And what did it mean that all the furnaces had been destroyed?
“Good, let us board!” Han Qian glanced at Zheng Tong, then boarded a three-masted oar-and-sail ship with Zhao Ting’er, Xi Ren, and the other women.
The Xuzhou shipyard had currently built ten three-masted fast sailing ships, three of which were constructed according to war sailing ship specifications. War sailing ships, in addition to regular three-masted large sails, also featured two tiers of oar chambers with a total of thirty-two large oars that required sixty-four oarsmen to operate. During combat, the flammable large sails could be lowered and the oars operated for more flexible attacks.
If the large oars and large sails were used simultaneously to propel the ship forward, it would be as fast as a galloping horse.
These three war sailing ships alone required two hundred fifty oarsmen and sailors to crew them.
This was still the most basic complement. If Han Qian’s manpower weren’t so scarce, to maximize ship speed during combat would require an additional two hundred oarsmen.
“Director Zheng, board the ship. Don’t make the lord wait for us,” Tian Cheng said with a smile as he looked at Zheng Tong, urging him on.
Truth be told, with the meager forces at their disposal, even if they could control Xuzhou, it would be quite precarious, let alone forming a pincer attack on Tanzhou from the upper reaches of the Yuan River by next autumn. But with the family members of Tian Cheng and the others already aboard, even if Han Qian had other plans, they would follow him.
……
……
The first to notice the anomaly was Chun Shisanniang, who arrived at Ningxiang Tower that day with matters to report to Han Qian. She discovered that even as the hour dragged to midday, not only had Han Qian failed to appear, but Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Lin Haizheng, and others who normally handled the Left Bureau’s daily affairs also hadn’t appeared.
Chun Shisanniang rushed to Lanting Lane and discovered that the family members of Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Lin Haizheng, and others, as well as the Han family’s servants and retainers in Lanting Lane, had all left, the compounds empty. She realized something was wrong.
At this time, Yao Xishui, Li Chong, and others were all accompanying Zhang Ping and Li Pu in attending upon Third Prince Yang Yuanpu in Liyang. Chun Shisanniang had no way to enter the palace to see the Imperial Consort and the Palace Mistress who was currently concealed beside the Imperial Consort.
After sending people to Yandangji to confirm that it too was deserted, Chun Shisanniang could only take a carriage through the night to Liyang to find Marquis Xinchang Li Pu and report this matter.
By the time Chun Shisanniang reached Liyang, it was already midday the next day. Only then did the flight incident drop like a massive boulder, startling the tranquil and peaceful Huanglongpo encampment into waves of turmoil.
It wasn’t that Marquis Xinchang Li Pu and the others wanted to make this matter public, but the Hepu County office governing Yandangji estate had also noticed the abnormality of Yandangji being deserted and reported it up to the Jingzhao Prefecture office.
The Prefect of Jingzhao was then attending upon the Emperor in Liyang. Upon learning of this matter, he naturally went first to Third Prince Yang Yuanpu to verify it, and thus the flight incident was exposed.