After the Jinling incident, Chuzhou Army elite crossed the river southward, but forces mainly gathered in one corner at Baohua Mountain’s eastern foothills. The battle at Jingshan Hermitage also didn’t deviate from this area. When Li Pu led Taowu Market military households’ remnants to relocate to Yanling for sustenance, the scope of warfare only expanded south by about fifty to sixty li.
Not counting Dantu and Danyang counties belonging to Runzhou, near Jinling—apart from fifty to sixty thousand old, weak women and children from Taowu Market military households fleeing east and south—currently Jiangcheng County was most deeply affected, with roughly sixty to seventy thousand people fleeing into Jinling City for refuge. Particularly in Jiangcheng County’s eastern region, villages and fortifications were nearly emptied.
However, Pingling, Lishui, Yong’an, Wuhu, Dangtu and other counties to Jinling’s south and southwest temporarily hadn’t experienced major disturbances, not to mention counties under Xuanzhou’s jurisdiction to the south.
Maoshan bordered Danyang, Jintan, and Liyang counties of Runzhou to the east, and Jiangcheng, Lishui, and Pingling counties belonging to Jingzhao Prefecture to the west.
Not to mention Jiangcheng—Lishui and Pingling counties together had over thirty thousand qing of grain fields, roughly seventy percent controlled by aristocratic families’ manor estates. Of the population exceeding two hundred thousand, roughly seventy percent were slaves controlled by aristocratic families or tenant farmers with status slightly higher than slaves.
After Chishan Army protected nearly fifty thousand women and children in their withdrawal to defend Maoshan, even though Chishan Army initially still focused on propaganda, mainly attracting slaves to voluntarily pledge allegiance, aristocratic families in these two counties immediately became vigilant. From Shang Hu’s personal experience, one could see aristocratic families’ anxiety and worry about slave unrest, while they also strengthened personal control and surveillance over slaves.
Since the late previous dynasty, Jinling as the seat of Shengzhou Military Governor had experienced warfare not too frequently, but was also deeply troubled by bandits.
Aristocratic families with considerable influence in Lishui and Pingling counties had basically all built quite sturdy fortress fortifications over the years, internally forming traditions of requisitioning slave retainers to defend fortresses. So this also destined that when Chishan Army truly formally emerged from Maoshan to requisition grain and conscript troops on a large scale, it couldn’t possibly be smooth sailing.
Currently, Chuzhou Army Commissioner Zhao Zhen not only held Danyang, Jintan, and Liyang cities, but also led three thousand elite cavalry patrolling and operating on Maoshan’s eastern flank.
Though Chishan Army had captured fourteen to fifteen hundred warhorses from Danyang City, the problem was that without half a year or even longer of cavalry combat training, Chishan Army’s newly organized cavalry troops, even if they could barely ride horses, absolutely couldn’t qualify to face Chuzhou’s elite cavalry in open field battles.
To prevent Chuzhou Army’s elite cavalry from suddenly circling to Maoshan’s western flank for interception, Han Qian planned for Zhao Wuji, Feng Xuan, Dou Rong and others to take turns leading forces out, with activity range limited to thirty li from the eastern foothills’ main peaks.
Simultaneously, beacon points and observation posts would be established at commanding heights like Great and Little Mao Peaks, Leiping Peak, Qingjin Peak, and Canglong Ridge to ensure timely reconnaissance of Chuzhou Army activities on Maoshan’s eastern flank. Once their elite cavalry showed signs of circling to the western flank, beacon points would light wolf smoke to notify their forces operating in the western region to withdraw timely or dispatch troops from north and south flanks to intercept and entangle.
Of course, the three elite battalions currently led by Zhao Wuji, Feng Xuan, and Dou Rong each had eight hundred troops—mainly due to temporarily lacking mid and high-level military officers, they were over-strength numerically. When each battalion took turns deploying, they had to divide forces for defense and grain requisition used alternately.
At closer distances, Kong Xirong’s Women’s Battalion and Wei Chang’s Youth Battalion both had to arrange personnel to assist with transportation and personnel settlement work.
Han Qian also required Lin Haizheng to lead supervision ensuring each battalion made proper enemy situation reconnaissance and assessments before every deployment, as well as preparing specific, detailed action plans.
For the first several action plan formulations, Han Qian personally participated, seeking to reduce oversights while standardizing relevant operational procedures.
Even though Yao Xishui hadn’t had opportunities for deep contact with military battalions these years, she had read quite a few military texts and knew roughly what contemporary battalion military command looked like. She privately felt that Lin Haizheng, Zhao Wuji, Feng Xuan and others were loyal subordinates Han Qian had cultivated over the years who roughly knew letters and writing—perhaps they could follow Han Qian’s requirements in such tediously meticulous military governance.
Moreover, Chishan Army currently truly had only just over three thousand troops that could be deployed for combat, organized into only three battalions. Han Qian also had abundant energy to attend to many things concurrently.
However, when Chishan Army truly completed the organization of one army, five commands, twenty-five battalions, if Han Qian still governed the army so tediously in command, would it still work?
In Yao Xishui’s view, perhaps Han Qian was more suited to be a military strategist who worried about matters both great and small, rather than being qualified for a great general’s role?
In this world where military men held sway, this was somewhat comforting to Yao Xishui.
Otherwise, with Han Qian’s scheming calculations so profound and impossible to guard against, if he were also a natural-born commanding general, how terrifying would that be?
Hearing Han Qian and the generals discuss in extremely tedious detail the next day’s formal grain and slave requisition arrangements, Yao Xishui felt somewhat annoyed and said: “Merely these matters—I think the Marquis’s side would be willing to cooperate with you.”
“Marquis Li has cursed me to pieces these past two days. I don’t believe he can turn around so quickly,” Han Qian glanced at Yao Xishui and said calmly. “If he’s truly willing to cooperate, Miss Yao, have Marquis Li come find me personally.”
Yao Xishui secretly resented this—wasn’t Han Qian’s statement demanding Li Pu bow to him? How could Li Pu easily be willing to bow?
However, she thought privately that the Prince’s Manor cavalry guards were stationed at Little Mao Peak to the west. When the time came, they could seek targets themselves. Why need to listen to Han Qian’s arrangements?
Seeing Yao Xishui fall silent without arguing further for Li Pu, Han Qian merely glanced at her without saying more, then had Lin Haizheng and Zhao Wuji prepare according to the established plan. Finally he asked Yao Xishui: “Miss Yao came representing the Noble Consort—will you lodge here or return to Lishui City?”
Wanhong House had a pleasure boat moored in Lishui City. Yao Xishui believed this couldn’t escape Han Qian’s eyes and ears, so she wasn’t particularly surprised by his words, saying: “Rarely gathering with foster father, as long as Lord Han doesn’t drive me away, I’ll stay in the mountains a few more days.”
“As long as Miss Yao understands in her heart that the current situation is perilous—one wrong move leads to eternal damnation,” Han Qian said, neither approving nor disapproving of Yao Xishui staying in the mountains, but warning her not to plot with Li Pu to undermine him.
“Xishui isn’t so ungrateful,” Yao Xishui said.
Han Qian nodded, watching Zhang Ping and Yao Xishui withdraw first. He walked to the corridor gazing at leisurely white clouds drifting among the mountains.
The fierce reaction from aristocratic families didn’t exceed his expectations. Moreover, if localities still had surplus stored grain, it was all controlled by aristocratic families, hidden in granaries within their sturdy family fortress compounds.
Under these circumstances, to both ensure requisitioning sufficient grain and other necessary materials while freeing slaves from aristocratic families’ personal control, they could only forcibly use military might to blast open, smash open these aristocratic families’ fortress compounds, bloodily suppressing all resistance.
War had always been bloody, without tender warmth.
However, this time he’d thoroughly positioned himself opposite aristocratic families.
In aristocratic families’ eyes, he would be a great bandit, a great brigand.
Han Qian had long been psychologically prepared for this. But to both ensure smashing open aristocratic families’ fortress gates as quickly as possible in the greatest numbers while ensuring casualties didn’t spiral out of control was extremely difficult.
Extremely tedious, meticulous work was required both before and after.
Under the watchful eyes of Chuzhou Army’s elite cavalry, they couldn’t possibly siege cities and fortifications then leisurely construct siege weapons to attack. But for a sturdy fortress defended by two to three hundred people, without wanting casualties to escalate catastrophically out of control, how could they possibly storm it in one day or even as short as half a day?
So in the short term, they had to select aristocratic families that exploited slaves most harshly and brutally as targets to strike.
Since the Jinling incident, not a grain of fodder from Jiangdong prefectures had been transported into Jinling City. Grain and other materials needed by Jinling City had relied primarily on imports from surrounding subordinate counties for several continuous months.
At this time, Jinling grain prices had only risen to twenty strings of cash per shi—not yet particularly terrifying. But for ordinary commoners, the previous spring famine had already been extremely difficult to endure.
Aristocratic families still had stored grain, but seeing Chuzhou Army’s mighty military strength and not knowing how long the warfare would drag on, even without thoughts of hoarding for profit, they would be doubly harsh in controlling grain rations for slaves.
Though warfare hadn’t spread over, contradictions between aristocratic families and lower-class slaves and poor people in counties like Pingling and Lishui had been extremely tense for several months.
Particularly those aristocratic families that usually exploited slaves and tenant farmers most severely—internal contradictions had actually reached the edge of eruption.
Of course, without a fuse, without someone to guide and organize, under threats from warfare and two powerful armies, apart from a few bloody-minded violent individuals who might have sporadic resistance or flight but couldn’t form momentum, most slaves would still docilely submit to their masters’ enslavement, ultimately being herded like docile sheep into Jinling City.
Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, Li Xiu, Li Qi and others, standing in their position, would naturally view in their hearts those slaves who dared flee or even directly take up weapons to resist their masters as treasonous rebels. They couldn’t deeply recognize that the most essential, fundamental opposing contradiction within aristocratic families was precisely the sharpest weapon for resolving the current crisis.
Han Qian would become this fuse, not only inciting slaves in Lishui and Pingling counties to tear up and burn indenture contracts, dragging families back to Maoshan with them, but also dispatching people to infiltrate counties like Wuhu, Dangtu, and Yong’an currently beyond their reach to stir up waves, catalyzing contradictions between lower-class slaves and aristocratic clans, guiding them to resist aristocratic families, smash open granaries, steal grain and fodder and other materials to flee to Maoshan.
Of course, Han Qian now also had to recognize that henceforth he would have no road back. Even if sometimes he had to compromise without retreating, that must be temporary. Otherwise, he might very well be abandoned by the forces currently supporting him…