Han Qian didn’t directly discuss the arrangements in the secret edict, but instead asked Zheng Hui:
“Has His Highness traveled to Ezhou at this time?”
“When we left Jinling, His Highness had not yet departed, but His Majesty had already drafted an edict appointing His Highness as Ezhou Military Commissioner and appointing Marquis Xinchang Li Pu as Vice Military Commissioner of Ezhou—we were delayed on the road for a month, so His Highness should have already arrived in Ezhou to assume his post,” Zheng Hui said. “I believe it won’t be long before His Highness sends someone to Xuzhou to deliver messages, but Xuzhou cannot wait for His Highness’s message before taking action.”
Upgrading the Ezhou Prefectural Administration to a Military Commissioner’s Office would allow them to legitimately mobilize money, grain, and troops from surrounding areas like Huangzhou and Jiangzhou beyond Ezhou, making final preparations for the削藩 campaign.
Currently, Tanzhou had imposed an even tighter blockade on Dongting Lake, the Yuan River waterway, and strategic passes. Communication had become even more inconvenient, and news reaching Xuzhou had become increasingly isolated and delayed.
Han Qian looked at his father Han Daoxun and said: “Father, what do you think?”
“I have already sent orders for the principal officials of Tanyang, Langxi, and other counties to come to Qianyang. After the imperial edict is announced, you should promptly lead troops to escort Lord Zheng to take up his post in Chenzhou.” Han Daoxun showed no hesitation and spoke directly.
Han Qian believed that after Zheng Hui arrived in Qianyang City yesterday, he had also gained a clear understanding of the current situation in Xu and Chen prefectures.
Having him lead Xuzhou troops to escort Zheng Hui to assume his post in Chenzhou was actually formally declaring war on the local powerful families of Chenzhou.
However, seeing his father so resolute and decisive, Han Qian had no excuse to delay, so he said: “Apart from the eight hundred naval battalion soldiers remaining to garrison Qianyang City, there are still three thousand elite armored troops assembled at Longya Mountain awaiting orders. Everything will follow the instructions of Father, Lord Zheng, and Lord Zhang.”
Seeing that neither Han Daoxun nor Han Qian showed any intention to delay, Zheng Hui felt somewhat relieved and bowed to Han Daoxun, saying: “Whether the millions of people in the southwest of Great Chu can avoid the calamity of turmoil depends entirely on your efforts, Lord Han.”
“Lord Zheng overpraises me. You and I are both ministers of Chu, and we should devote our utmost energy to planning for the Great Chu state.” Han Daoxun replied.
It would take time for the county officials to reach Qianyang City. Han Daoxun first summoned the officials within Qianyang City to meet with Zheng Hui and announce the secret edict, which was actually the final mobilization before sending out troops.
His father, Supervisor Zhang Ping, Xue Ruogu, and others could accompany Zheng Hui. Han Qian had barely rested during the night, and after the midday meal, he returned to the Eastern Courtyard to catch his breath.
“Emperor Tianyou ultimately doesn’t trust Xuzhou. Zheng Hui bringing the secret edict is really forcing Xuzhou to send troops first before Jinling will officially issue the edict to strip Tanzhou of its military authority!” Xi Ren followed Han Qian back, dressed as a man and standing beside him. She had held back from speaking, but upon returning to the Eastern Courtyard and seeing Han Qian’s slightly furrowed brow, she knew he too harbored some dissatisfaction.
“After the Third Prince leads tens of thousands of troops westward from Ezhou to besiege Yuezhou, any move from Xuzhou’s side will make the powerful families of Chenzhou easier to attack. If Xuzhou sends troops first and steps even an inch into Chenzhou territory, every step will likely be a hard bone to crack!” Feng Liao instinctively lowered his voice, hoping Han Qian could clearly see the situation and delay Xuzhou’s troop deployment.
“If the court strips military authority first and sends troops from Ezhou to besiege Yuezhou, it can greatly intimidate the local powerful family forces in Chenzhou, thereby significantly reducing the pressure on Xuzhou’s troops advancing north along the Yuan River. It might even be possible to directly persuade some tribal strongholds with weak resistance will to surrender.”
Han Qian stared at the bodhi tree in the courtyard, speaking in a calm tone.
“However, Zheng Hui and I defended Xichuan together, and we both served in the Commandery Prince’sMansion. He was involved in the secret conspiracy to strip Tanzhou from the very beginning, so we could be considered quite close. But judging from his nervous appearance just now, you can tell that very few people in Jinling truly trust my father and me. From the current situation, if Xuzhou doesn’t send troops, Jinling will find it difficult to make the decision to strip military authority!”
“Even if Xuzhou must send troops first, you should advise the Defense Commissioner to personally lead the troops into Chenzhou.” Feng Liao said again.
“You truly haven’t understood the edict.” Han Qian smiled slightly and said.
Feng Liao wanted to say how could he possibly not understand the secret edict. Emperor Tianyou ordered Xuzhou troops to escort Zheng Hui to assume his post in Chenzhou. If Han Daoxun as Defense Commissioner didn’t personally lead the troops, but instead had Han Qian, Supervisor Zhang Ping, and others lead troops to escort Zheng Hui north, then who would actually be the commanding general leading troops north?
If Han Daoxun didn’t go, Zheng Hui, as Vice Defense Commissioner and Chenzhou Prefect, held a higher position than Supervisor Zhang Ping and Military Commander Han Qian.
Feng Liao worried that Zheng Hui might overshadow the host, which was why he made this suggestion to Han Qian.
Just as Feng Liao was about to advise Han Qian further, a thought flashed through his mind, and he finally understood why Han Qian said he hadn’t understood the secret edict.
Indeed, he hadn’t understood the secret edict!
The actual meaning Emperor Tianyou conveyed in the secret edict was for Zheng Hui to control military authority and serve as the commanding general leading troops north.
This was also the significance of sending Zheng Hui over.
Otherwise, why wouldn’t the capable and experienced Zheng Hui be used on the Ezhou front, but instead be sent to take such great risks coming to Xuzhou? Wouldn’t that be pointless?
If they merely needed someone to replace Wang Liang as Chenzhou Prefect and nominally control Chenzhou’s administrative authority, there were plenty of mid to high-ranking civil officials in the court whose deaths wouldn’t matter.
Only now did Feng Liao suddenly understand that when Zheng Hui departed from Jinling, Emperor Tianyou couldn’t be certain of the Han father and son’s attitude, so he left some ambiguity in the wording when drafting the edict.
“No wonder the Defense Commissioner agreed so readily—the Defense Commissioner had already understood Emperor Tianyou’s true intention!” Feng Liao sighed. “But surely you won’t actually hand over the three thousand armored troops?”
Understanding Emperor Tianyou’s true meaning was one thing, but in Feng Liao’s view, the Han father and son doing their utmost to cooperate with the Ezhou direction in striking at Tanzhou already demonstrated absolute loyalty to Great Chu. There was absolutely no need to obediently hand over the three thousand elite troops they had worked so hard to assemble.
As long as the Han father and son firmly controlled these three thousand elite troops, even if the Third Prince failed in the succession struggle, the father and son would both be loyal ministers and capable generals of Great Chu. Otherwise, like his Feng family, no matter how extremely careful they were, they still couldn’t escape the crime of treason falling from the sky.
Han Qian glanced at Feng Liao, thinking that while Feng Liao was quite perceptive, he ultimately hadn’t seen through his father. His father’s mind was full of thoughts about削豪族诸侯之势, making wealth and troops serve the state and people’s livelihood—how could he have any intention of becoming a regional lord himself?
However, fortunately Emperor Tianyou would kick the bucket at any moment. Even if he handed over military authority, in such a short time, no one should be able to weaken his influence over the three thousand armored troops.
As long as generals like Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Lin Haizheng, Xi Chang, Feng Xuan, and Feng Zhang weren’t so easily won over by others, this meant that after Emperor Tianyou’s death, as long as he needed it, he could reclaim military authority at any time.
……
……
Zheng Hui stayed in Qianyang City for two days. After meeting with Xuzhou officials and announcing the court’s establishment of the Ezhou Military Commissioner’s Office, Wuling Defense Commissioner’s Office, and plans to strip Tanzhou of military authority, on the third day he traveled by boat with Han Qian and Supervisor Zhang Ping to Longya City.
Upon arriving at Longya City, Han Qian immediately summoned Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Lin Haizheng, and others to transfer command of the three battalions of elite armored troops to Zheng Hui, making Zheng Hui the commanding general with full authority over the military campaign against Chenzhou.
Entering the garrison hall, Han Qian insisted that Zheng Hui sit at the central main desk, saying: “Han Qian’s ability to lead troops and manage the military is truly sparse. During this period, thanks to Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, and others assisting me, I barely managed to hold things together. Now that Lord Zheng is taking over everything, Han Qian can relax considerably. However, Han Qian is skilled at calculations and also enjoys studying camp construction and craftsmanship techniques, so perhaps I can help relieve Lord Zheng’s worries in matters of logistics and supplies…”
What Han Qian meant was that he would hand over command authority and only be responsible for logistics and supplies.
Zheng Hui was no stranger to Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, and Lin Haizheng. Even though he had little contact with Xi Chang, Feng Xuan, and Feng Zhang, he knew they had served under Han Qian during the Xichuan defense campaign. Seeing that they all seemed unwilling for Han Qian to hand over command authority, he remained impassive and first observed Han Qian’s arrangements.
From his heart, Zheng Hui didn’t want to争夺 military authority over the three battalions of elite armored troops from the Han father and son, and even less did he want to antagonize Han Daoxun, especially Han Qian. But he also didn’t want to defy Emperor Tianyou’s will.
Ultimately, even he worried about how loyal Han Daoxun and Han Qian truly were to Great Chu.
Before he received military authority from the Han father and son, even if Han Daoxun and Han Qian personally led troops into Chenzhou, it still couldn’t completely dispel the court’s concerns about them.
After all, who knew whether this was the Han father and son taking the opportunity to annex Chenzhou?
If after annexing Chenzhou, the Han father and son suddenly moved to imprison all the officials Jinling had sent out and used this as a condition for peace with Tanzhou, wouldn’t the court’s plan to strip Tanzhou of military authority become a joke?
Over the past few decades, with warlords proliferating throughout the Central Plains, there had been far too much duplicity. It was absolutely not easy to gain even a little trust from each other.
Of course, if the Han father and son were truly loyal to Great Chu without异志, and this campaign to strip Tanzhou succeeded, Zheng Hui believed the court would certainly not stint on conferring official titles and rewards upon them.
Han Qian seemed to guess what Zheng Hui was thinking and continued: “Elder Yuan and Executive Zheng only brought about twenty men to escort Lord Zheng into Xuzhou. If we need to攻城拨寨, this handful of men would certainly find it difficult to protect Lord Zheng’s personal safety. Please allow Lord Zheng to first select a batch of elite troops from the three battalions of armored troops to form a personal guard battalion…”
As Vice Defense Commissioner, Zheng Hui was already at the rank of vice commanding general and vice chief military commander.
Even if he didn’t have enough household troops and retainers to use, he could still select and organize five hundred men from ordinary soldiers to form a personal guard battalion to protect his safety and enforce his military orders, correcting violations of law and discipline in the army.
Of course, with only 3,600 armored troops assembled at Longya City, Zheng Hui’s personal guard battalion shouldn’t be too large—three hundred men would suffice, but this would thoroughly demonstrate Zheng Hui’s status as commanding general.
Hearing Han Qian say this, not to mention Feng Liao, even Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Lin Haizheng, and others were secretly shocked. Han Qian was having them completely and thoroughly obey Zheng Hui’s commands!