Feng Liao was about to signal Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, and Yang Qin to persuade Han Qian to take targeted action when a clamor arose from down the mountain. It seemed someone was trying to force their way in but was being blocked by guards stationed at the foot of the mountain.
Feng Liao, Tian Cheng, and the others looked at each other, not knowing what had happened. After waiting a moment, they saw Lin Zongjing, who was on duty at the foot of the mountain today, leading two young men dressed in civilian clothes up the mountain.
Tian Cheng recognized these two men—both were provincial battalion squad leaders from Left Bureau backgrounds.
Tian Cheng’s brows furrowed slightly. These two should be in the Qianyang camp leading their subordinate soldiers in intensive training and preparation for war, and they should even be attending reading classes at night. He hadn’t expected that during the few days he’d been at Longya City without returning to Qianyang to supervise, something had happened in Qianyang that he didn’t know about, causing these two enlisted squad leaders to not even wear their military uniforms but dress in civilian clothes and directly break into Longya Mountain without hindrance.
Tian Cheng had just heard quite a commotion at the foot of the mountain. It seemed many people had gathered there wanting to charge straight up the mountain but were blocked by the guards at the checkpoint below. Only these two were brought up by Lin Zongjing as representatives to see them.
Tian Cheng’s sharp eyes fixed on the two men as he questioned sternly: “Shi Ji, Wei Chang, what is the meaning of this? Who gave you permission to leave Qianyang and come to Longya Mountain?”
Shi Ji and Wei Chang pushed past Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Feng Liao, and others, falling to their knees before Han Qian with a thud, pleading: “We wish to leave Xuzhou and have come to beg the Master’s permission!”
“Are you trying to rebel?” Tian Cheng’s face darkened as he stared severely at the two men, demanding an answer.
Shi Ji and Wei Chang came from Left Bureau backgrounds. They had good qualifications and exceptional diligence and perseverance. He had planned to promote and employ them, but never expected that at this critical juncture, these two would want to desert and leave Xuzhou, and moreover bypass the battalion commander and himself to directly break into Longya Mountain to see Han Qian.
If he still inquired kindly about their reasons, where would military discipline and military law be?
Tian Cheng had no intention of letting Shi Ji and Wei Chang explain anything. He was about to signal his attendants who had come up the mountain with him to seize these two and escort them back to Qianyang for severe punishment.
Besides Shi Ji and Wei Chang, many others were causing trouble at the foot of the mountain. If they didn’t conduct a thorough rectification, with everyone up and down the provincial battalion treating military orders and discipline as child’s play, what combat effectiveness could they have?
“Be patient and don’t be hasty,” Han Qian signaled Tian Cheng and Gao Shao to make way. He walked down from the bamboo couch and approached Shi Ji and Wei Chang, saying: “I remember you both. You came to Xuzhou with me, but your parents and relatives all remained in Jinling. Do you want to return to Jinling to find your family?”
With Han Qian saying this, Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Yang Qin, Feng Liao, and others all came to their senses.
At the beginning of planning the campaign, Han Qian had brought the most elite forces of the Left Bureau into Xuzhou—including scouts, messengers, craftsmen, and Left Bureau disciples between fourteen and eighteen years old—nearly eight hundred people in total, with Left Bureau disciples numbering the most at five hundred.
Quite a number of Left Bureau disciples were themselves the sons and nephews of Left Bureau scouts and craftsmen who had entered Xuzhou. They had family remaining in Xuzhou, so their mindset had been relatively stable from the start.
When the Wuling Army was reorganized back to provincial battalion scale, Han Qian had Feng Liao first screen out these disciples, prioritizing their complete integration into Xuzhou. He also used various methods and channels to bring their families remaining in Jinling to Xuzhou, or tried to gather their families remaining in Jinling near Lanting Lane.
During the Jinling incident, Feng Liao and Zhao Wuji had quite promptly relocated over a thousand people back to Xuzhou. Among them, a considerable portion were relatives of Left Bureau scouts, craftsmen, and disciples remaining in Xuzhou, but there was also a considerable portion of Left Bureau disciples whose parents and relatives all remained in Jinling.
After the secret campaign plan became public, these Left Bureau disciples could remain in Xuzhou with settled minds, but inwardly they regarded this more as serving in a foreign land. Deep in their hearts, they always viewed where their parents were as their homeland, impossible to let go of.
Shi Ji and Wei Chang were outstanding among the five hundred Left Bureau disciples, but unfortunately their parents and sisters all remained in Jinling. Previously, they had been able to remain peacefully in Xuzhou serving in their positions, but who could have anticipated the Jinling incident and Great Chu’s instant collapse?
Initially, they weren’t so worried, thinking that the remaining military households of Taowu Military Prefecture, when conscripted, would still be a combat force not to be underestimated. When the time came, all military households would withdraw into Qiuhu Mountain, and their families should be protected.
Who could have expected that Marquis Xinchang Li Pu would so easily abandon Qiuhu Mountain? During the withdrawal to Runzhou, he couldn’t provide sufficient protection for the huge and slow column of military household dependents, causing over ten thousand women and children to be captured by Anning Palace and beheaded as rebel troops.
At that time, Shi Ji and Wei Chang’s hearts twisted into knots. They were thousands of li away in Xuzhou and completely unable to look after their families far away in Jinling. They could only hope their families would fortunately escape the great calamity and be safe after withdrawing to Runzhou.
Not until news reached Xuzhou that Prince Xin had used Marquis Xinchang as bait to severely defeat the Southern Yamen Imperial Guards could they no longer sit still.
Due to Han Qian’s instruction of household troops and Left Bureau disciples being completely different from traditional military officer training—being much more comprehensive and in-depth—young military officers like Shi Ji and Wei Chang, though only low-level squad leaders, already possessed certain abilities to analyze the situation.
These several young military officers whose parents and families were in Jinling had gathered together these past few days to discuss. They felt that given Marquis Xinchang Li Pu’s nature, he could very likely abandon all thirty to forty thousand family members, merely leading three thousand elite soldiers to part ways with the Chu Prince’s army, bypass Jinling City, look for an opportunity to board ships from the southern bank of the Yangtze west of Jinling City, and escape back to Yueyang.
In that case, their parents and families would be completely abandoned.
Moreover, because all the able-bodied young men had been drawn away, leaving mostly women and children, no faction would take them in. Even if they didn’t die directly by the blade, they would die from hunger and cold!
Shi Ji, Wei Chang, and some disciples whose parents and families were in Jinling discussed together and decided to leave Xuzhou together and return home to find their parents and families to weather the difficulties together.
Although Tian Cheng, who insisted that military discipline must not be violated and whose iron-hearted command was unwavering, heard Shi Ji and Wei Chang tearfully plead their case, even he was moved and couldn’t bear to speak harshly anymore.
“You could simply leave without a word. Why risk punishment under military discipline to come bid me farewell?” Han Qian stood on the mountain, looking at Shi Ji and Wei Chang. When they were seventeen, they had followed him to Xuzhou. In the blink of an eye, three years had passed, and they had grown from tender youths into resolute young men.
“The Elder Master served the country and the people, suffered brutal torture and died miserably. The Master has also shown us the grace of instruction. Shi Ji and Wei Chang miss our parents and relatives, but if we truly just left like this, we would feel guilty for the rest of our lives,” the two said earnestly. “If the Master punishes us according to military law, we are willing to accept it. We only hope that after the Master has punished us, even if we can only retain crippled bodies after flogging, the Master will allow us to return home.”
“Do those people at the foot of the mountain have the same thoughts?” Han Qian asked. Without letting Shi Ji and Wei Chang answer for the others, he instructed Lin Zongjing to let everyone else come up the mountain.
Including Shi Ji and Wei Chang, thirty-six people in total came up the mountain and knelt on one knee before Han Qian, saying: “We have violated military discipline and left our units without authorization. We are willing to accept the Master’s punishment!”
“Gao Shao, have the Military Bureau strip them of their military positions. Let’s forget the other punishments,” Han Qian instructed Gao Shao.
Tian Cheng served as Military Commissioner and Provincial Battalion Military Commander, working with Yang Qin on the daily training and command of the provincial battalion. Gao Shao served as Provincial Military Registrar, responsible for recruitment, military household management, promotion and demotion of military positions, and military discipline rewards and punishments.
Having understood the original intention of Shi Ji, Wei Chang, and the other thirty-six deserting and leaving the battalion, Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, and others couldn’t bear to truly punish them severely. Perhaps stripping them of their positions and expelling them from Xuzhou would be worthy of their sincere devotion to their parents and relatives?
“Thank you, Master. If there is no hope of returning to Xuzhou, we only hope that in our next lives we can serve the Master as beasts of burden.” Shi Ji, Wei Chang, and the others said in unison. They kowtowed several times forcefully and were about to rise and descend the mountain.
“Wait,” Han Qian called out to them, saying: “Years ago, I brought you to Xuzhou. Today I have the responsibility to send you back to Jinling!”
What?
Hearing Han Qian say this, Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Yang Qin, and Feng Liao were all stunned.
Even Xi Ren, who understood Han Qian’s thoughts best and was at this moment helping him organize scrolls, accidentally dropped an armful of books to the ground. She never expected Han Qian would want to go to Jinling at this time with these thirty-six Left Bureau disciples before him.
“Master!” Feng Liao cried out anxiously.
He had rushed back to Xuzhou in haste, hoping Han Qian would take some action regarding the subtle changes in Yueyang’s hearts. Even if Han Qian went directly to Yueyang, he wouldn’t find it strange, but he absolutely didn’t want Han Qian to go to Jinling at this time.
That was a certain death situation!
Especially since Wang Wenqian had already taken notice of Han Qian after the Jingxiang campaign. Once Wang Wenqian and Prince Xin learned Han Qian was in Jinling, wouldn’t they exert all their energy to flay the skin off him?
Jinling would fall into complete chaos between Anning Palace and the Chuzhou army. What could Han Qian accomplish by returning with dozens of people or three to five hundred people?
Moreover, if it was truly necessary to do everything humanly possible to bring back the parents and families of Shi Ji and others to Xuzhou and keep this group of young, devoted military officers to continue serving Xuzhou, Han Qian could completely send a group of elite scouts.
If all thirty-six people including Shi Ji and Wei Chang could find their parents and families, it would be at most just over a hundred people. Sending a group of scouts skilled in stealth and concealment could hide them in the wilderness, take remote paths, and withdraw back to Xuzhou—it wasn’t impossible.
Why would Han Qian personally need to go?
Could the situation in Xuzhou and the situation in Yueyang be less important than the parents and families of Shi Ji, Wei Chang, and others?
“Master, Shi Ji and Wei Chang absolutely dare not let the Master take such risks. Our deaths are a small matter, but letting the Master take risks—even in death we couldn’t be at peace!” Shi Ji and Wei Chang turned and knelt, desperately urging Han Qian to abandon the idea of personally sending them back to Jinling.
“I’m not doing this entirely for you. So many military households and family members were able to gather at Taowu Military Prefecture mainly because of a plague control memorial my father and I wrote. Furthermore, if I sit and watch Jinling be killed until blood flows like rivers with a million corpses, my father would definitely be unable to rest in peace beneath the Nine Springs,” Han Qian pulled out from his bosom the blood letter his father had left him before being tortured, holding it behind his back as he said: “Although I also deeply feel powerless in this chaotic situation, and perhaps this trip may prevent me from returning to Xuzhou to see you all again, if I don’t go to exert some effort, don’t go to directly face my father’s last wishes, this matter will probably become a knot in my heart that will accumulate and remain unresolved for my entire life.”
“What? The Master believes that the battle between Anning Palace and Prince Xin could truly kill until blood flows like rivers with a million corpses?” Feng Liao and Tian Cheng asked in shock.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Jinling was already the capital of six dynasties. After several hundred years of development in the previous dynasty, when it was Shengzhou, Jinling City and its subordinate counties had already accumulated over a million people. Emperor Tianyou seized Shengzhou relatively quickly without much harm to civilian life. Subsequently, Great Chu established its capital in Jinling, and the population gathered further. It could be said that half the prosperity of Jianghuai was in Jinling.
If Jinling saw blood flowing like rivers with a million corpses, this would mean Jinling would be completely destroyed.
Prince Xin had so sharply devastated the Southern Yamen Imperial Guards and killed Anning Palace’s great general Xu Zhu. Could the Chuzhou army’s attack on Jinling City truly be so difficult, could the warfare truly reach a stalemate to the degree of a million corpses?