Leaving behind Gao Shao, Lin Haizheng, Feng Xuan, Du Qiniang, and others, Han Qian selected the auspicious hour of the eighth day of the tenth month to formally embark on his journey as wedding envoy.
Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, representing the Third Prince, brought Chai Jian, Li Chong, Wen Ruilin, and others to see Han Qian off at the wharf on the western foothills of Yuelu Mountain.
Winter had already arrived. The sky was overcast and gloomy, with bitter winds howling and sending yellow leaves tumbling everywhere. The vast Xiang River surged across the land, but with far less vigor than in spring and summer.
“When Minister Han returns from escorting the bride, can we say great success will be nearly achieved?” Marquis Xinchang Li Pu looked at the withered branches of ancient trees along the roadside and asked with considerable emotion.
“Does the Marquis have something he wishes to instruct Han Qian?” Han Qian asked directly.
Han Qian’s mission to Shu on behalf of the Third Prince to escort the bride carried great responsibility. It was natural for the Third Prince to send ministers to see him off, but unless Marquis Xinchang Li Pu had something private to say to him, there was no need to take on this purely ceremonial assignment.
“Zhang Ping sent someone to say that yesterday His Highness transferred many treasures from the Inner Treasury for you, worth over a million strings of cash. Is this true?” Marquis Xinchang Li Pu asked.
As the Prince of Tan’s Manor Steward, Zhang Ping had jurisdiction over all Inner Treasury affairs. He couldn’t prevent the Third Prince and Han Qian from requisitioning treasury goods, but as a former official of the Shenling Bureau, he inevitably had to inform Marquis Xinchang Li Pu of this matter.
Han Qian simply hadn’t expected that Marquis Xinchang Li Pu now trusted Wen Ruilin so completely that he felt comfortable letting Wen Ruilin know of Zhang Ping’s existence.
The diplomatic gifts for peace negotiations and the betrothal gifts for the marriage alliance would all be prepared in Jinling.
Of course, as chief wedding envoy, Han Qian would have considerable expenses for various arrangements after arriving in Shu, but he definitely wouldn’t need as much as a million strings—two years ago, when the Prince’s Manor secretly confiscated the Feng family’s assets, that was about this amount.
In reality, the over two thousand large Hepu pearls, over two hundred Southern barbarian ivory tusks, over two hundred pieces of mutton-fat jade, along with gold, silver, precious metals, and other rare treasures transferred from the Inner Treasury last night were naturally for Han Qian to use in secretly bribing Shu officials during his mission.
However slow-witted Marquis Xinchang Li Pu might be, even without Wen Ruilin’s reminder, he knew that Han Qian privately requisitioning such an enormous amount of treasure definitely involved more than simply needing to make arrangements after arriving in Shu.
“When I learned in Xuzhou that His Majesty ordered me to serve as envoy to Shu for the wedding, I had some ideas, but time was too rushed and I hadn’t fully considered them. That’s why I didn’t consult with the Marquis and Minister Shen—I only asked His Highness to entrust these goods to me to take to Shu for reserve use, though I may not necessarily spend them…” Han Qian knew ordinary excuses couldn’t dismiss Li Pu, so he spoke vaguely.
“Is that so?” Marquis Xinchang Li Pu stared at Han Qian suspiciously. He didn’t believe these words.
Privately requisitioning over a million strings of treasury goods at once—they were fortunate this campaign to reduce feudal domains had yielded such rich spoils.
Otherwise, the grain and tax revenue from all eight Hunan prefectures for an entire year, even including what was retained at the prefecture and county levels, might not amount to a million strings of cash.
That Han Qian could convince His Highness to transfer so much wealth for his discretionary use based merely on an immature idea, without even informing him or Shen Yang, was definitely not a situation Marquis Xinchang Li Pu wished to see.
Seeing Marquis Xinchang adopting a stance of not letting him leave without a clear explanation, Han Qian pondered for a moment and said:
“Liang Prince Yong has been operating in the Guanzhong and Qiyong regions for two years now. However, Guanzhong connects to Jing-Xiang only through Wuguan Road, while it connects to Hanzhong and Liangzhou through the Chencang Road, Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road, Ziwu Road, Yugu Road, and other routes. Therefore, as Liang operates in Guanzhong, the threat to Jing-Xiang is actually far less severe than that to Shu’s Liangzhou. When Marquis Changxiang was in Tanzhou, he met with me privately several times, always mentioning the situation in Hanzhong with great concern. My Jinyun Tower has also sent people to infiltrate Shu, and they’ve reported that some Shu generals advocate shifting from defense to offense to resolve the threat Hanzhong faces. So I was thinking—on this mission to escort the bride, could I persuade more Shu officials to agree to join forces with the Longque Army to attack Liang? If the Longque Army can defeat Liang forces in Caizhou, then when His Majesty proceeds with the succession change, even if Shouzhou and Chuzhou have objections, they won’t voice them, will they?”
“…” Marquis Xinchang Li Pu was momentarily stunned. He hadn’t expected that Han Qian had requisitioned so much wealth to take to Shu for this purpose: to coordinate with Shu forces in attacking Liang forces in Guanzhong and Caizhou!
Marquis Xinchang Li Pu had never thought of this before, but hearing Han Qian mention it, he felt it wasn’t impossible. Who had imagined the Longque Army could hold Xichuan and then suppress the Ma family so swiftly and decisively?
The most fundamental purpose of Chu-Shu peace was that both Chu and Shu were weak while Liang was strong in troops and horses. Both countries felt seriously threatened by Liang and intended to unite to suppress it.
From vague peace talks to going deeper and conducting more operational, practical joint attacks on Liang—wasn’t this a natural progression?
Who said Liang forces couldn’t be defeated?
In the Jing-Xiang campaign, hadn’t Liang forces been routed beneath Xichuan City, ultimately fleeing in disgrace?
If the Longque Army could join forces with Shu to severely damage Liang forces, the Third Prince’s prestige would rise another level. Then when Emperor Tianyou passed away, using the Longque Army’s ascendant military might to ascend the throne, Xu Mingzhen and Prince Xin, even if full of resentment, would indeed be suppressed from acting rashly, wouldn’t they?
Marquis Xinchang Li Pu was momentarily stunned by Han Qian’s excuse and didn’t know what to say next.
“Time was too rushed. This idea only struck me these past few days, and many aspects aren’t fully considered, so I didn’t disturb the Marquis and Minister Shen. I only asked His Highness to secretly transfer this batch of goods for my reserve use, so I can act flexibly after entering Shu.” Han Qian glanced at Wen Ruilin and continued, “If the Marquis and Minister Wen have any thoughts, remember to send someone with verbal messages—never write them in letters, lest they leak to Liang spies!”
Hearing Han Qian say this, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu no longer pressed further. He clasped his hands and respectfully saw Han Qian board the ship.
……
……
“You suspect these Shenling Bureau remnants like Marquis Xinchang aren’t trustworthy?”
Xi Ren stood beside Han Qian. Watching his face full of false sincerity as he leaned on the parapet waving to Li Pu, Chai Jian, Wen Ruilin, Li Chong, and others on shore, she asked in a low voice.
Unless Marquis Xinchang Li Pu and these people couldn’t be trusted regarding supporting the Third Prince’s ascension, Xi Ren really couldn’t imagine why Han Qian would still conceal key information from them.
“The composition of people around His Highness is too complex. You can never be too careful,” Han Qian said. “I don’t know if they can be trusted, but if matters aren’t kept secret, they will fail—this is a bloody lesson accumulated from countless people’s blood and tears over thousands of years. Furthermore, there are some matters His Highness may not necessarily want too many people to know…”
“You people constantly preach filial piety but spend all day scheming about fathers killing sons and sons plotting against fathers. You still have the face to fear others’ criticism?” Xi Ren said disdainfully.
At this moment, Feng Yi and Kong Xirong came over with Yang Qin. Xi Ren fell silent and looked toward the surging river waters…
“Feng Yi, on this mission to Shu, I’m escorting a bride for His Highness. Do you know why I brought you along?” Han Qian looked at Feng Yi and asked.
“I’ve been wondering about that myself. I can’t fight like Xirong. If we encounter river bandits or water pirates along the way, I won’t be able to help kill three or five bandits!” Feng Yi said with a confused expression.
Feng Liao had served as a local official for several years with extremely deep schemes and calculations. Though he didn’t mention the Feng family’s past glory, he at least had the ability to handle matters independently.
Kong Xirong had shone brilliantly in the battles at Yuanling and Wuling, and he himself had become steady and confident. Though he couldn’t hold an official position, no one would criticize him for commanding household troops under Han Qian.
The guard battalion’s composition for this mission to Shu wasn’t particularly impressive, mainly consisting of Xuzhou naval troops and household soldiers—fewer than three hundred men total, led by Yang Qin, with Xi Fa’er, Kong Xirong, Zhou Chu, and others as deputy commanders. Additionally, Little Crow Guo Que’er and others had departed first to scout ahead.
These people all had their assigned duties. Only Feng Yi didn’t understand why Han Qian had brought him along when departing from Xuzhou.
“Come with me to the cabin!” Han Qian had Feng Yi follow them into the cabin and pushed open a door guarded by two attendants.
Inside were several stacked chests. Han Qian opened one, revealing treasures of dazzling luster, and said:
“These items must all be given as gifts when we reach Shu. But these ivory tusks, mutton-fat jade, Hepu pearls, and other chests of rare treasures were all collected and mixed together uniformly. The differences in quality—few in the Inner Treasury can distinguish them carefully. After we reach Shu, we can’t give these things away without consideration. The slightest carelessness could not only ruin our plans but even offend people…”
Although Han Qian had been a dissolute young master in the past, he’d operated at a rather low level. When it came to affecting cultural refinement, few could match Feng Yi, who’d grown up playing with jade and holding treasures.
If this were in Great Chu, at the Third Prince’s side, Han Qian could ignore these matters and even disregard Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong. But on this mission to Shu to escort the bride, with Shu’s extravagant customs and his need to deliberately cultivate Shu officials, he couldn’t be as willful as before.
Though Feng Yi hadn’t been particularly diligent in his early years and was extremely dissolute, he had strong appreciation for music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. He was skilled at poetic exchanges and responses, and in his youth could even compose a few delicate lyrics in proper form.
These past two years, after the Feng family suffered great calamity, Feng Yi’s temperament had become much more steady compared to before. However, he wasn’t skilled in various crafts or mundane affairs, unable to participate in Xuzhou’s governance like Feng Liao, much less accompany Han Qian on military campaigns like Kong Xirong. This gave him more time to immerse himself and delve deeply into his areas of expertise, and he’d diligently read quite a few books.
To put it in later terms, Feng Yi had now become a truly cultured youth. And with his upright bearing and clean features, whether in appearance or temperament, he looked more like a literary youth than Han Qian or Kong Xirong.
Han Qian brought Feng Yi along mainly because in this area, besides Feng Yi, muddy-legged commoners like Yang Qin and the others couldn’t help him at all.
“We’ll first go to Yueyang to rendezvous with Marquis Changxiang Wang Yong. Princess Qingyang is actually with him, though everyone must pretend not to know this. I don’t have much energy to spend entertaining Marquis Changxiang daily, yet I can’t slight them either. Someone also needs to keep an eye on Guo Rong’s side. I think you’re most suitable for this task.” Han Qian assigned Feng Yi the task of entertaining Marquis Changxiang, Guo Rong, and others, and specifically instructed him on some precautions, saying, “After Wei Zhuang’s death, Marquis Changxiang has been called the master of lyrics in Shu. Though he seems arrogantly aloof by nature, his schemes run extremely deep. In your interactions with him, you must be extremely cautious in many matters and must not be negligent…”