Han Qian left the Third Prince’s place and returned to his quarters, where he saw Zhao Ting’er, Zhao Wuji, Feng Liao, the Du siblings, Tian Cheng, and others had just rushed from Hanshou to Tanzhou City to meet with him.

Everyone had just set down their baggage when they saw Han Qian enter from outside and came forward to greet him.

Han Qian said with a smile: “His Highness just said he wants to find a spacious residence in Tanzhou City to bestow upon me. With all of you coming, I won’t worry about the house being too empty.”

“When you walked back, you had a worried and gloomy expression. Who gave you grief?” Zhao Ting’er had sharp eyes and noticed Han Qian’s displeased expression when he first entered the house, asking curiously.

Xi Ren said: “In any case, I wouldn’t dare give him grief!”

Feng Liao said: “I just heard Xi Fa’er mention some matters. Is my lord concerned that Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong and Princess Qingyang are not people easy to deal with?”

Han Qian wasn’t yet certain whether to let Feng Liao know more secrets. He merely smiled evasively and said: “Every one of you—which of you is easy to deal with?”

Han Qian told everyone not to bother unpacking their baggage and called Tian Cheng, Feng Liao, and others to the small hall to talk:

“I just told His Highness that I would recommend you to serve as Xuzhou Vice Regional Commander and Provincial Battalion Commander. At the fastest, the court documents will take ten days to half a month to arrive. But the Wuling Army may need to withdraw from cities like Hanshou, Wuling, and Yuanling back to Xuzhou within these few days. You will handle this matter. After you return to Xuzhou, contact the tribal villages in Xuefeng Mountains from Qianyang. Try as much as possible not to resort to military force—first open up the Xuefeng Mountain post road so personnel can pass through! These few days, matters like logistics and supply trains from Yuanling to Hanshou must also all be transferred to Master Shen Yang and Zhou Yuan, Zhang Qian, and the others to take over. The Medical Battalion, except for those with severe and crippling injuries who will be sent to Dragon Fang City for continued treatment, along with the Whirlwind Cannon Battalion, will all be disbanded on the spot…”

“The Wuling Army is all to be disbanded?” Feng Liao was slightly stunned and asked in shock.

“I have already requested His Highness to disband the Wuling Army. After all, supporting the Wuling Army’s expenses are too great,” Han Qian nodded and said.

“Xuzhou can barely maintain the Wuling Army’s supplies…” Feng Liao advised.

The Wuling Army had with difficulty reached a scale of over seven thousand men. With the merits established by the Han father and son, the Wuling Army should receive further expansion. Only then, on the Third Prince’s side, would Han Qian and his father truly have the opportunity to stand as equals with Marquis Xinchang’s Residence and people like Shen Yang.

Although Feng Liao recognized that Han Daoxun was not the type of ambitious hero who would bring calamity to the country and harm the people, he was absolutely not a person of foolish loyalty either. He should know that to truly accomplish something, lacking power and influence was absolutely unacceptable.

If it weren’t for Han Daoxun’s requirement, Feng Liao found it difficult to understand why Han Qian would voluntarily disband the Wuling Army.

Voluntarily disbanding the Wuling Army at this time and only preserving the Xuzhou Provincial Battalion could still retain around two to three thousand men in combat strength. But among the provinces of Tan, Yue, Lang, Shao, Heng, and Chen, which province’s local provincial battalion had military strength lower than three thousand men?

Moreover, the Wuling Army adopted a recruitment system. Even if there was no opportunity to change to a standing army system, expenses were high. But Feng Liao knew that to maintain seven to eight thousand elite troops, Xuzhou could still barely bear it.

Furthermore, after the feudatory reduction campaign, Han Qian and his father should also receive other rewards. Going even further, Han Qian and his father should gradually absorb the forces of the Han clan’s other two branches.

Han Qian waved his hand, indicating he didn’t want to argue further about this matter.

Seeing Han Qian had already made his decision, Feng Liao naturally had nothing more to say. He saw both Tian Cheng and Lin Haizheng’s faces showed expressions of regret.

“How should the surplus personnel be handled?” Feng Liao asked.

“The personnel originally transferred from the Left Bureau—most of them will still need to return to Jinyun Tower. I will recommend Gao Shao to His Highness to oversee Jinyun Tower’s affairs,” Han Qian said. “And Haizheng will at that time accompany me to attend His Highness…”

After giving these instructions, Han Qian had Feng Liao, Tian Cheng, the Du siblings, and the others go down to rest.

Zhao Ting’er naturally remained with Xi Ren to attend Han Qian.

After everyone else left, Xi Ren asked: “Are you worried that great chaos will occur in Jinling?”

Xi Ren had been at Han Qian’s side the longest and, together with Zhao Ting’er, knew the secrets of Wanhong Tower and the Shenling Bureau. Understanding that Han Qian was worried the Crown Prince and Prince Xin’s side wouldn’t sit idly by while the Third Prince grew powerful through the feudatory reduction matter, it wasn’t difficult to guess what Han Qian’s arrangements at this time intended.

Han Qian nodded. He didn’t know whether internal strife would occur in Jinling before and after Emperor Tianyou’s death, but he had to plan for the worst-case scenario.

Xuzhou ultimately just had a sparse population. Even combining native and immigrant registrations, there were only twenty-thousand-plus households and forty-thousand-plus able-bodied men. The Wuling Army had with difficulty assembled a scale of over seven thousand men, which could already be said to be the essence of Xuzhou.

If they didn’t voluntarily disband the Wuling Army now to preserve their vital strength, when internal strife truly occurred in Jinling, could the Wuling Army’s meager resources and these seedlings withstand several rounds of turmoil?

Thinking of this, Han Qian sighed softly and said: “The reason Jinling hasn’t made any moves yet is also because the feudatory reduction campaign has been fought too smoothly and quickly, far exceeding the expectations of Anning Palace, the Crown Prince, and Prince Xin’s side. They should be scrambling to adjust their plans. So no matter what, I strongly advocate slowing our attack on Zhao Sheng and Luo Jia’s remnant forces. Besides His Highness needing more time to cultivate a foundation in Tanzhou, another reason is that if we return to Jinling before year’s end and there are any conspiracies targeting His Highness, we will find it difficult to effectively guard against them!”

Han Qian then told Xi Ren and Zhao Ting’er about the suspicious points regarding the daily candles used in Chongwen Hall.

“The candles in Chongwen Hall might possibly contain slow-acting poison mixed in?” Xi Ren asked in shock.

“This is merely speculation. I had people investigate, but to avoid alerting the enemy, I haven’t dared make any major moves. Currently, we haven’t found any leads,” Han Qian said. “And even if my speculation is true, those behind the scenes, to prevent exposing themselves, couldn’t possibly add too much medicine to the candles. If His Highness returns to Jinling too early at this time, he could very likely become the target of their attack…”

Regarding Chongwen Hall’s candles, Han Qian was more inclined to believe Anning Palace’s Empress Dowager Xu had tampered with them. On one hand, Anning Palace had better conditions for this. On the other hand, in the original historical trajectory, it was also Anning Palace that first seized the initiative.

However, even if his speculation wasn’t wrong, if Anning Palace moved against Emperor Tianyou, they would inevitably be hesitant and cautious, having to consider many factors.

Especially when the Liang Kingdom’s great army pressed at the borders, Anning Palace would have to consider being taken advantage of by Liang forces no matter what.

When necessary, perhaps Anning Palace would consider directly eliminating the Third Prince first?

To occupy Xuzhou, Han Qian had almost completely transferred out the forces the Left Bureau had cultivated over these years. Only a few dozen investigators and secret agents still continued to lurk in the shadows collecting basic intelligence.

Even if a portion of Dragon Sparrow Army elite forces would return to Jinling with them, after arriving in Jinling, they couldn’t be mobilized at will. And no matter how strong the Dragon Sparrow Army’s combat strength, it couldn’t guard against underhanded methods like assassination, poisoning, and kidnapping.

The reason Han Qian wanted to disband the Wuling Army was also because at this time, he urgently needed to transfer back a portion of Left Bureau elite scouts and disciples to Jinyun Tower to establish the original intelligence reconnaissance and transmission network.

Initially, nearly eight hundred Left Bureau scouts, master craftsmen, and Left Bureau disciples had entered Xuzhou with Han Qian. Especially the five hundred-plus Left Bureau disciples—after two years of tempering, they had all already matured.

The hundred-plus Left Bureau master craftsmen—even those like Zheng Tong who had a few with official titles and positions could all serve in Xuzhou. Han Qian wouldn’t release the others either. After all, the Qiuhu Mountain workshop had already formed its own system and didn’t lack these people.

Han Qian’s next step would be to relocate the families of these master craftsmen into Xuzhou, letting them thoroughly take root in Xuzhou.

Having established military merit this time and voluntarily disbanding the Wuling Army, this small request wouldn’t fail to be satisfied.

The hundred-forty to hundred-fifty Left Bureau disciples corresponding to these hundred-plus master craftsmen would also become Han Qian’s truly usable direct subordinates and trusted confidants. They would also, together with household soldier disciples like Guo Nu’er, Lin Zongjing, Guo Que’er who had matured, as well as that portion of Left Bureau scouts who came from mountain strongholds and convict soldiers, jointly become the core strength of the Xuzhou Provincial Battalion.

There were also nearly thirty Left Bureau scouts and corresponding forty-plus Left Bureau disciples. They had quite deep identification with Xuzhou. Even if this time it wasn’t convenient to directly relocate their families en masse into Xuzhou, they all had military merit. Recommending them to serve as clerks in provincial and county offices would allow them to shed their military household troop status. Afterward, bringing their families to reunite with them would also be a matter of course.

Aside from these, nearly three hundred Left Bureau scouts and matured Left Bureau disciples would all return to Jinyun Tower.

Han Qian explained his thoughts in detail to Xi Ren and Zhao Ting’er, having them organize a personnel roster. Then he directly took the roster and made an appointment with Shen Yang, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, Yuan Guowei, and Jiang Huo to go before the Third Prince to discuss specific matters regarding the Wuling Army’s disbandment and Jinyun Tower’s reconstruction.

Shen Yang supported this.

Logistics, supply trains, and matters like procuring military provisions from local areas, requisitioning combat materials, and confiscating property of rebel criminal clans would inevitably fall under Six Offices jurisdiction. Especially confiscation matters—if orders came from multiple sources, it would too easily become chaotic.

And with Han Qian returning to the Third Prince’s side, directly controlling an elite combat force in addition to managing Jinyun Tower, his authority would be excessive.

At the same time, the Wuling Army primarily consisted of recruited soldiers, completely different from the Dragon Sparrow Army which primarily drew from military household troops. It was difficult to incorporate into the Guard Command and Battalion Army Command administrative system.

Previously, there had been no way to directly dispatch elite combat forces to Tanzhou’s heartland, so it was treated as a special exception.

With Han Qian voluntarily proposing to disband the Wuling Army and only preserve a portion of necessary local military preparedness as Xuzhou’s Provincial Battalion, many conflicting problems were directly resolved.

Many matters required memorials to Jinling for final decisions. But Jinyun Tower’s reconstruction was urgent and couldn’t wait. Many things could be set in motion first on this side.

Tian Cheng would first lead the Wuling Army to withdraw back to Xuzhou, transfer defense of Wuling and Hanshou to Zhang Feng’s forces, transfer a portion of Left Bureau scouts and disciples to Tanzhou City, and Lin Haizheng would be directly transferred to the Third Prince’s side to participate in guard duties.

At the same time, Prince of Yuzhang Yang Zhitang also led his forces into Hengzhou in early July and sent emissaries to meet the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu.

Yang Zhitang was the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu’s paternal cousin. He joined the military as a youth and repeatedly established military merit. Because he was also an imperial clan member, he was enfeoffed as Prince of Yuzhang and had been stationed in Hongzhou these past years.

However, the troops he commanded from Hongzhou to attack Hengzhou this time were primarily local provincial battalions with weak combat strength. After fighting several battles with Zhao Sheng, he lost more than he won.

If Zhao Sheng hadn’t fled south in panic this time, he would still be blocked in Yuanzhou unable to get out.

Of course, Prince of Yuzhang Yang Zhitang wouldn’t acknowledge this point. Regarding the subsequent pursuit of the rebel forces of Zhao Sheng and Luo Jia on the two routes, he naturally also advocated cautious handling—best to advance steadily step by step.

By this time, Li Zhigao had also more or less recovered all of Shaozhou territory and stationed his main forces at Wuzhi Ridge where southeastern Shaozhou bordered Yongzhou…