It was precisely the time of evening clarity. As Han Qian and Xi Ren walked back to Jinhua Tower’s southern courtyard, they saw the remaining glow of the setting sun shining on the main building of the eastern courtyard. The glazed tiles covering the eaves gleamed brilliantly. Looking up, they could see several people leaning on the railings of the main building gazing over at them.
“How annoying! I wish I could shoot them all down with arrows, one per person,” Xi Ren said through clenched teeth with deep resentment. “They say there’s no interference, but being watched like this all day—it puts one in a foul mood…”
Han Qian looked up gloomily and glanced at the main building again, then walked with Xi Ren toward his temporary quarters.
“After we left, you stayed at the Marquis of Changxiang’s estate—what did you chat about to return so late?” Feng Yi walked over from a distance, asking curiously when he saw Han Qian.
“You achieved great merit today. I was discussing with the Marquis of Changxiang how to request credit for you,” Han Qian said jokingly.
However, Feng Yi truly had played a major role today. If he hadn’t recognized that the Marquis of Changxiang’s consort’s musical skills were inherited from the same lineage as Su Hongyu, Han Qian wouldn’t have found a breakthrough point to “kill” the Marquis of Changxiang by catching him completely off guard. Naturally, he also wouldn’t have been able to extract so much useful information when the Marquis of Changxiang was in complete disarray.
“How did Master Guo’s chat with the officials from the Court of State Ceremonial and the Court of the Imperial Clan go?” Han Qian asked again.
“What else could it be? Just following procedures as usual,” Feng Yi said. Thinking of the afternoon spent monitoring Guo Rong discussing the wedding reception with Shu officials, he couldn’t help but yawn.
“Was there anything particularly noteworthy?” Han Qian asked.
“This afternoon, two old palace attendants came, saying Consort Zhao Hui sent them to inquire about the details of arranging the wedding reception. They demanded that the Court of the Imperial Clan officials not neglect Great Shu’s proper etiquette when preparing the dowry gifts—isn’t Consort Zhao Hui the Marquis of Qingjiang’s mother? Is there some problem with her being so enthusiastic?” Feng Yi said.
“Consort Zhao Hui is the mistress of a palace—it’s proper for her to inquire about this matter,” Han Qian said lightly. But in his heart he understood that Shu had risen and dominated the two Sichuan regions based on the Divine Strategy Army and the Divine Mausoleum Bureau. He believed that those within Shu who knew of the Divine Mausoleum Bureau’s existence were definitely not limited to just three to five people.
At this moment Guo Rong came over, and Han Qian asked about some matters from the afternoon’s negotiations.
Although Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial Wei Qun held a leisurely official position, as one of the Nine Ministers his rank equaled that of the various ministry presidents. Yesterday he had received imperial orders to leave the city to welcome Han Qian, but for the specific daily reception and discussions about the wedding arrangements, he had not appeared again. Instead, a Protocol Officer named Song Hongzhong was in charge.
There wasn’t much to say about the wedding itself. After all, Shu had actively proposed it, and Great Chu gave it sufficient attention. The key points of negotiation were both sides establishing tribute halls, mutual trade, and reducing the stationed troops on both sides in Xiazhou Yiling and Jingzhou.
The Lord of Shu Wang Jian had gained control of Eastern Chuan quite early and, before Great Chu, had seized control of Xiazhou Yiling on the eastern slopes of Wushan.
Although Chu and Shu had not formally gone to war thus far, Xiazhou was situated on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, with the advantage of commanding from heights like a house built on a hill. That Shu had more than ten thousand elite troops of the River-Pacifying Army garrisoning Xiazhou Yiling made Chu extremely uncomfortable, forcing them to station elite heavy troops in Jingzhou for defense.
During the early preparation period for the campaign to reduce the feudatories, Shu had increased the troops stationed at Xiazhou Yiling to twenty thousand. Jinling worried that Shu forces might intervene at any time, and quite a few people even advocated softening their stance toward Tanzhou.
During the campaign to reduce the feudatories, Zhang Xiang, who commanded the elite forces stationed in Jingzhou, played no significant role in the early and middle stages. Only after the Marquis of Changxiang’s mission to Chu did Zhang Xiang’s son Zhang Feng lead a contingent of elite troops to cross the river southward for battle.
If both sides truly cooperated and jointly reduced the stationed troops in Xiazhou and Jingzhou, both could reduce national treasury expenditures by one hundred to two hundred thousand strings of cash annually.
Mutually establishing tribute halls and stationing officials for convenient communication, along with mutual trade to facilitate commerce between both sides—all were markers of cooperation entering a more substantive stage.
Both Shu and Chu were willing to advance these matters. What mainly needed negotiation were the specific methods and the degree to which they would proceed.
After Han Qian generally understood the details of today’s negotiations, he returned to his room to continue studying the intelligence Jinyun Tower had collected during this period.
Besides the conflicts among the Lord of Shu Wang Jian’s sons and between Shu’s court officials, the collected intelligence also included the current military and political situation Shu faced.
This intelligence, beyond messages gathered by Jinyun Tower’s secret agents, also included a large number of texts recording Sichuan-Shu’s customs and local conditions, gazetteers, and scholarly notes and articles—far more than Han Qian could thoroughly digest day and night.
Although Han Qian had always deliberately strengthened the cultivation of talent within Jinyun Tower, there were still too few people truly capable of processing this information.
This couldn’t be blamed on Han Qian having to personally handle many matters. By later generations’ standards, talent truly capable of intelligence retrieval and analysis were without exception rare and outstanding talents in this era. Even if Han Qian had a few, they were all independently managing different fronts.
Much of this information and intelligence Han Qian had studied while in Tanzhou, but previously he hadn’t expected an opportunity to serve as envoy to Shu. Even less had he imagined that today he would need to scheme for the Marquis of Changxiang to gain favor and rise in position within Shu. Previously he hadn’t had the time or energy to research too deeply.
However, if he now lacked comprehensive mastery and understanding of Shu’s situation and casually schemed for the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong, it would only be full of flaws and couldn’t possibly gain the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong’s trust.
Although the Marquis of Changxiang and Princess Qingyang were relatively easy to bluff, he couldn’t forget that behind the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong stood that old fox Jing Qiongwen.
Without conditions to make large-scale sand tables at Jinhua Tower’s southern courtyard, Han Qian had Xi Ren spread rice paper across the desk. Using a specially made quill pen, he drew out Shu’s mountains and terrain, directly marking important pieces of information on the topographical map to give himself an intuitive understanding of Shu’s situation.
Regardless of whether Jinyun Tower’s collected intelligence had gaps, Han Qian’s methods of intelligence classification and analysis were immeasurably superior to this era’s so-called great heroes—a point that greatly benefited everyone serving at his side.
Besides bordering Liang and Chu, Shu faced disturbances from the Qiang and Rong peoples in the northwest. Its southern Sichuan region was mainly controlled by local indigenous Liao people.
Unlike Great Chu’s vast territory, Shu’s strategic depth was limited. Its core region was mainly confined to the Chengdu Plain. To enhance its strength and expand territorial depth, the main choice was to expand southward into the southern Sichuan region, eliminating the threat the southern Sichuan Liao people posed to Yuzhou, Luzhou, Rongzhou, Yanzhou, and other places along both banks of the Yangtze River.
Therefore, in recent years Shu’s external military campaigns, besides resisting invasions by Qiang and Rong forces from the northwest, mainly involved suppressing rebellions by indigenous Liao barbarians southward.
The Marquis of Wei Wang Xiaoxian had achieved distinguished military service these years, mainly by participating in suppressing rebellions by southern Sichuan Liao forces.
To restore the previous dynasty’s rule over regions like Yanzhou, Shu established the Luzhou Military Command. The Right River-Pacifying Army was deployed in Luzhou, specifically responsible for suppressing and ruling the Liao people entrenched in Yanzhou and the mountainous areas of southern Rongzhou.
The Liao people were ethnic groups who had migrated north from the Nanzhao region during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, taking advantage of great chaos in Shu.
Over several hundred years in Yan and Rong provinces, they had violently driven out original inhabitants. Currently they completely controlled the mountainous areas of northern Guizhou and southern Sichuan. They called themselves Shandu Zhang, meaning “supreme controller and manager.” Their tribesmen were extremely fierce. Men wore topknots or shaved their hair, wore double blades on both sides, loved fighting and killing, considered dying lightly as bravery. When chieftains mobilized, they necessarily beat drums atop high mountains. Hearing the sound, various barbarian groups gathered from all directions—causing endless headaches for successive rulers controlling Shu.
The Lord of Shu Wang Jian had only brought the southern Shu provinces of Lu, Rong, and Yu under his banner around the fourth or fifth year of Tianyou. During this period, the Liao people had also attempted to emerge from the mountains to control Lu and Rong provinces. After several fierce battles with Wang Jian’s forces, losing several thousand elite troops before being repelled, a blood feud was formed. Every few days they would gather and emerge from the mountains to raid counties.
Though the Marquis of Wei Wang Xiaoxian had achieved distinguished military service these years, with each battle claiming hundreds or thousands of heads, the Liao people were extremely fierce and had never submitted under military pressure. As a result, Shu still could not effectively rule Yanzhou and southern Rongzhou regions.
The Banan region along the Wu River (Qian River) south of Yuzhou—the smuggling route for Sichuan-Shu well salt through Sizhou to Chenxu provinces—was currently also mainly under control of the Wu Liao people, a Liao branch tribe.
Great Chu could adopt a conciliatory tributary policy toward Chenxu and other provinces, having no intention of directly bringing these regions under direct rule. But Shu’s stance toward the southern Sichuan Liao people couldn’t be so relaxed. After all, Shu’s strategic depth was too limited. Threatened by the Liao people, its rule over more than thirty counties in southern Sichuan was difficult to consolidate.
Compared to the threat from Liang forces, the southern Sichuan Liao people could be called Shu’s great concern at heart.
Protocol Officer Song Hongzhong held a banquet in the main building that night. Han Qian had no time to waste on such social affairs. He sent Guo Rong, Feng Yi, Zhou Chu, and others to attend while he simply ate something in his room. Then he summoned Xi Fa’er and Guo Que to inquire about intelligence on the southern Sichuan Liao people.
The private salt dealers among the convict soldiers had extremely close contact with the Wu Liao people along both banks of the Banan Qian River. Many Wu Liao people directly participated in this salt route. Xi Fa’er had been sold into slavery in northern Guizhou for many years, and many strongholds in northern Guizhou were controlled by Liao people, so he was quite familiar with the relevant situation.
“These days, make more inquiries about news of the southern Sichuan Shandu Zhang. The more detailed and thorough the intelligence, the better. Here in the Shu capital, we must also make great efforts to cultivate informants…” Han Qian instructed Guo Que and Xi Fa’er, then let them go down to rest.
“At this critical juncture, why are you researching these things?” Xi Ren asked curiously.
“The Marquis of Changxiang wants me to scheme for him to gain favor before the Lord of Shu Wang Jian. But without sufficiently solid material, relying solely on a few whirlwind cannon diagrams—do you think that could easily catch Wang Jian’s eye?” Han Qian asked, shaking his head.
Estranging the relationship between the Marquis of Qingjiang and the Lord of Shu Wang Jian might not be difficult, but even if the Lord of Shu Wang Jian didn’t trust the Marquis of Qingjiang, the Marquis of Changxiang wouldn’t necessarily benefit. Besides the Marquis of Qingjiang and the Marquis of Changxiang, the Lord of Shu Wang Jian had three other sons.
To devise a strategy that could truly convince the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong and have him entrusted with authority, Han Qian still needed to put in great effort doing homework. Moreover, he had to work on Shu’s current great concern at heart to have sufficient weight.
“The southern Sichuan Liao people truly are the Lord of Shu’s great concern at heart. But if you devise a strategy and actually help them solve this concern at heart, how long will that take?” Xi Ren asked. She suspected that Han Qian targeting the southern Sichuan Liao people was like distant water that couldn’t quench present thirst.
Moreover, others had some misunderstandings about Han Daoxun and his son Han Qian, thinking the Han father and son had already devised comprehensive strategies at the very beginning of many events. They mistakenly believed the Han father and son possessed abilities of divine calculation with infallible strategies. But having been at Han Qian’s side these years, Xi Ren knew that most of the time Han Qian mainly improvised and adapted.
What Han Qian was truly strong at was always having methods to solve practical problems others found difficult to crack.
If Han Qian could command Shu forces to campaign against the southern Sichuan Liao people, Xi Ren believed he could overcome difficulties one by one like splitting bamboo, ultimately achieving good results.
However, Xi Ren did not believe Han Qian could now produce a comprehensive strategy for Shu that would completely solve the southern Sichuan Liao rebellion problem without any gaps.
Such people simply did not exist in the world.
“Whether it works is another matter. The key is gaining Lord of Shu Wang Jian’s recognition—besides, my father and I being able to establish ourselves in Xuzhou has already caught Wang Jian’s attention, hasn’t it?” Han Qian’s scheming was mainly to help the Marquis of Changxiang gain favor and authority before the Lord of Shu Wang Jian. He smiled quite confidently and said, “If the matter proves impossible, one can still say ‘scheming depends on people, success depends on heaven!'”
Thinking about it, Xi Ren agreed. Just based on the Han father and son being able to establish themselves in Xuzhou where indigenous tribal household forces were extremely powerful—even completely controlling the Xuzhou situation and thereby establishing the foundation for Great Chu’s victory in reducing Tanzhou’s feudatory power—they indeed had authority in the matter of pacifying the Liao in southern Sichuan that others lacked.
But thinking this far, Xi Ren fell into silence again. Since ancient times, the Liao and Yue had been one family, and they had always been victims of the Central Plains dynasty’s southward territorial expansion…
Han Qian could guess what Xi Ren was thinking. As a descendant of the Mountain Yue, out of a psychology of shared enmity, she likely sympathized more with the southern Sichuan Liao people. Staring into her eyes, he asked: “Not speaking of other places, just speaking of southern Sichuan—Han and barbarians have lived intermixed for thousands of years, yet to this day bloody conflicts continue unceasingly. Who knows how many people have already died in these disturbances. In your heart, do you hope I can devise a strategy to pacify the turmoil and henceforth stop the bloodshed, or do you hope this place continues to be in turmoil for thousands of years, making bloody conflict never cease?”
Xi Ren fell into complete silence. Faced with Han Qian’s question, her thoughts were confused. She truly did not know how to answer…