As a provincial medical official, Zhao Zhixian was probably the most inconspicuous among all officials, holding only the ninth rank. The medical hall had twenty physicians and apprentices. For the newly established Zhongfang County, the position of county magistrate would normally never fall to Zhao Zhixian.
Riding on horseback, Zhao Zhixian recalled the conversation the Han father and son had with him two days ago, the shock in his heart not yet dissipated.
Apart from the Qianjiang Inn they had deliberately exposed earlier, he never imagined that Wen Ruilin’s several visits to Qianyang City to see him had all fallen under the Han father and son’s watchful eyes.
This time, the Han father and son formally proposed establishing a new Zhongfang County at the foot of Zhongfang Mountain with him serving as county magistrate. The conditions were that Tanzhou lift the blockade on the Yuan River, restore trade between Xuzhou and the outside world so grain could be transported into Qianyang City, while also supporting the Han father and son in suppressing the major native clan forces in Xuzhou.
This could be seen as the Han father and son’s foundation in Xuzhou having expanded to a certain degree—no longer needing to worry about completely becoming Tanzhou’s vassals. However, to further suppress the major native clan forces and thoroughly consolidate their ruling foundation in Xuzhou, they had no choice but to seek Tanzhou’s support and cooperation.
Establishing a new Zhongfang County was undoubtedly the greatest gesture of goodwill the Han father and son could initially offer.
Taking advantage of Han Daoxun lifting the land prohibition in Xuzhou and attracting an influx of refugees, Tanzhou had also successively dispatched over a thousand elite troops with more than two thousand dependents to forcibly occupy a small village called Yingyu Fort at the western foot of Zhongfang Mountain.
Currently, the settlement had been expanded more solidly than an ordinary walled city. They had also cultivated over ten thousand mu of grain fields around Yingyu Fort, basically achieving self-sufficiency and essentially controlling the entire western slope region of Zhongfang Mountain.
However, establishing a new Zhongfang County based on Yingyu Fort (Zhongfang City) still held significance for Tanzhou that couldn’t be underestimated.
Zhongfang City currently only controlled the narrow strip of about ten li of beach land along the Yuan River’s eastern bank at the western foot of Zhongfang Mountain. Formally establishing Zhongfang County would not only bring the entire central and northern sections of Zhongfang Mountain under county jurisdiction but also incorporate over a dozen small and medium tribal settlements from Tajie Mountain on the Yuan River’s eastern bank into Zhongfang County.
This way, they could not only develop beach lands along both banks of the Yuan River but also penetrate deep into the mountain ranges to mine coal, iron, medicinal herbs, tea, and timber. They could recruit refugees on a large scale to settle and bring native tribal people under their governance, rather than being limited to just the three thousand-plus people secretly transferred from Tanzhou.
By then, even if the Han father and son could control Xuzhou’s overall situation, Tanzhou’s presence in Xuzhou absolutely couldn’t be ignored. This might become the foundation for both sides to deepen their alliance further.
This also aligned with Tanzhou’s expectations for the Han father and son.
The Han father and son did have ambitions to control Xuzhou regionally, but their foundation was ultimately too weak. Without seeking Tanzhou’s support, how could they thoroughly establish themselves in Xuzhou?
Of course, with the court assembling forces in Ezhou, Tanzhou faced tremendous pressure from the north and also hoped to unite with more forces from the upper reaches of the Yuan and Xiang Rivers to jointly resist the court.
Therefore, when the Han father and son proposed establishing a new Zhongfang County and recommended him to immediately assume the position of county magistrate, Zhao Zhixian didn’t wait to petition Tanzhou before accepting.
Zhao Zhixian directly consulted with Tan Yuliang, who had been lurking in Xuzhou for years under the guise of being the Qianjiang Inn’s proprietor. Today, he and Tan Yuliang brought several household servants, escorted by over thirty armed horse riders from Qianyang Inn, heading directly to Zhongfang Fort to plan the county establishment.
After riding over Shima Pass, Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang didn’t immediately gallop down the mountain road but reined in their horses to gaze north at the river valley.
The Han father and son had agreed to use the strategically positioned Shima Pass—where a mountain ridge over two hundred meters high narrowed the Yuan River to barely over a hundred zhang wide—as the boundary, incorporating the area north of Shima Pass and south of Hanmei Ridge on Longya Mountain’s southeastern slope into the newly established Zhongfang County.
Going north from Shima Pass was a Yuan River valley roughly twenty li long, relatively much more open, extending about four to five li on each side before reaching the towering peaks of Zhongfang Mountain and Tajie Mountain.
This Yuan River valley, eight to nine li deep and over twenty li long, was the most essential territory of the newly established Zhongfang County.
Though inferior to the Great Bend area to the north, developing this valley region well could yield fifty to sixty thousand mu of grain fields. Currently, Zhongfang City and several small tribal settlements on the opposite bank had cultivated less than one-third of this valley.
Including the sloped valley fields within Zhongfang Mountain and Tajie Mountain on both sides, the newly established Zhongfang County could support twenty to thirty thousand people without any problem.
On the other side of Zhongfang Mountain, Yanji Fort was located on Zhongfang Mountain’s eastern slope, on the Yuan River bank about thirty li northeast of Qianyang City where the river turned north again. It was actually another stronghold Tanzhou secretly controlled at the border between Xuzhou and Chenzhou.
An extremely narrow and steep valley path passed through Zhongfang Mountain’s peaks, connecting Yanji Fort valley to Zhongfang Fort valley. Currently, two small tribal settlements sat along this valley path, temporarily not under Tanzhou’s control.
After establishing Zhongfang County and implementing tax reform, Zhao Zhixian planned to control these two settlements deep in Zhongfang Mountain and open the valley path between Zhongfang County and Yanji Fort, so Tanzhou’s forces secretly deployed in Xuzhou and Chenzhou could overcome the separation and link together.
Zhao Zhixian believed Han Daoxun and Han Qian must have also thoroughly investigated Yanji Fort’s situation—only then could their sincerity be fully demonstrated.
Past Shima Pass, a creek called Zhugong Creek lay before them.
This creek flowing from Zhongfang Mountain had only a short four to five li course from exiting the mountains to flowing into the Yuan River. During the rainy summer and autumn seasons, the creek water gushing out appeared particularly turbulent, frequently breaking through the naturally silted embankments on both sides and submerging the entire surrounding area in flooded marshland.
This was currently the main reason this valley area north of Shima Pass hadn’t been fully developed.
Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang, escorted by over thirty horse riders, walked eastward along the creek bank.
Where Zhugong Creek emerged from Zhongfang Mountain, the channel was relatively narrow—only about ten paces wide. A bamboo bridge had been built there to cross Zhugong Creek, also serving as the necessary land route northward from Qianyang City.
Walking five to six li east along Zhugong Creek’s southern bank, the terrain was somewhat rugged, but on horseback it was only half an hour’s journey. The bamboo bridge, built twenty years ago, appeared somewhat dilapidated but had withstood wind and rain, standing solidly over the upstream channel of Zhugong Creek.
About a hundred meters below the bamboo bridge, two awning boats lay across the creek beach, with many footprints in the reeds from people landing ashore.
Zhao Zhixian hesitantly glanced back at Tan Yuliang.
Tan Yuliang’s face bore a vicious scar. He gestured for two horse riders beside him to cross the river first to see what was happening on the other side.
After crossing the bridge to Zhongfang City (Yingyu Fort), less than twenty li of winding road remained—the straight-line distance was only thirteen to fourteen li. If they rode up to a high point, they could even clearly see Zhongfang City’s newly built tower.
However, caution ensured longevity.
Soon the two horse riders crossed the bamboo bridge and followed the footprints extending from the creek beach, riding into the mountains to search. After two incense sticks’ time, they rode back to report: “Based on the footprints left ahead, about a dozen people abandoned boats to land here and headed toward Longqiao Fort in the mountains…”
Longqiao Fort was a small settlement in the mountain valley upstream of Zhugong Creek with only about a hundred tribal residents.
At this moment, Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang didn’t see that on the river surface north of Zhongfang City, over a dozen awning boats were slowly drifting downstream, while from Longqiu River diagonally opposite Zhongfang City, over twenty awning sailboats were simultaneously emerging.
They thought the tribal people from Longqiao Fort were returning to the settlement from outside, leaving boats on the creek beach.
Even if Zhongfang City’s garrison currently noticed that awning sailboats on the nearby river surface and fishing boats anchored on the water were considerably more numerous than usual, they didn’t pay much attention.
In their view, the Han father and son should be more vigilant about whether the major native clans showed any unusual movements. They were simultaneously more concerned about the movements of the Han father and son’s garrison forces in Qianyang City and Wuliu Creek (Longya City).
After all, the settlement soldiers and tribal warriors of the Four Great Clans were mainly scattered among the mountains and waters of Langxi and Tanyang. The difficulty of gathering them or coordinating unified action was extremely great.
Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang, escorted by over thirty armed horse riders, crossed the bamboo bridge and walked three to four li north along the rugged mountain road at Zhongfang Mountain’s eastern foot. When crossing a mountain ridge thirty to forty meters high, they suddenly saw a large flock of birds circling in the sky above the forest about a li north, unwilling to land for a long time.
“Something’s wrong!”
As deputy commander of Tanzhou forces in Xuzhou, if Tan Yuliang couldn’t detect from such an abnormal sight that a force was ambushed in the opposite forest, he would have wasted all these years.
“What’s happening?” Zhao Zhixian reined in his horse and moved closer to Tan Yuliang, asking.
“There’s an ambush ahead,” Tan Yuliang said.
“How is that possible?” Zhao Zhixian asked in shock. “The Four Clans’ forces?”
Zhao Zhixian didn’t think it was the Han father and son’s subordinates. After all, if the Han father and son wanted to harm them, they would never have had the chance to leave Qianyang City. But why would the Four Great Clans ambush them here?
Tan Yuliang’s brow furrowed deeply, his withered old face wrinkled like tree bark. Neither he nor Zhao Zhixian imagined that the Four Great Clans’ conspiracy for this moment had been secretly prepared for several days, and choosing to ambush them at this time was actually to lure their forces inside Zhongfang City out.
That Tan Yuliang and Zhao Zhixian didn’t guess this wasn’t because they were particularly foolish.
Without further mobilization, the Four Clans only controlled two thousand standing settlement soldiers. Deducting necessary garrison forces, even with the best coordination, the Four Clans could only deploy twelve hundred troops.
Who would believe the Four Clans would suddenly attack Zhongfang City, which secretly harbored over a thousand elite troops?
Even in open battle outside the city, the over a thousand troops Tanzhou had transferred into Xuzhou were all elite veterans—absolutely not something the Four Clans could overcome!
Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang never imagined that under multiple layers of misdirection, the Four Great Clans mistakenly believed Tanzhou’s elite forces secretly hidden in Zhongfang City numbered only about four hundred. They wanted to use Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang as bait to lure Tanzhou’s “four hundred elite troops” out of Zhongfang City for ambush and annihilation!