During the Sui Dynasty when Emperor Yang made his southern inspection tour, the Yangzhou government office once conscripted tens of thousands of laborers to construct a traveling palace on the eastern peak of Shu Hill northwest of the city, which took a full year to complete.

When the Sui fell, the traveling palace was destroyed in the flames of war. In the early years of the previous dynasty, someone invested enormous funds to restore the ruins, naming it Jian Garden, taking the meaning “warning of the preceding vehicle, to caution later generations.”

Over more than three hundred years, Jian Garden underwent several cycles of prosperity and decline, repeatedly abandoned and repeatedly restored. At this time it had become a mountain villa and separate garden outside Yangzhou City where ancient sites could be found everywhere.

Jian Garden had buildings, pavilions and platforms constructed following the mountain terrain, covering quite a wide area. Ancient trees on the mountain blocked out the sun. Winding and meandering, climbing to halfway up the mountain along stone-paved mountain paths that twisted steeply, passing over a bamboo grove, one would see a small lake of over ten mu in size halfway up the mountain, like a bright mirror embedded among trees and rocks.

On the opposite side of the pond were several study rooms built. In the open pavilion and covered walkway facing the lake, quite a few people were gathered around a wooden cart observing.

“This cotton ginning cart was originally transmitted from the Li people of Yazhou, also called a stirring cart. It was transmitted from Qianzhong to the Five Streams region, and through generations of craftsmen has undergone many improvements, surpassing the past. The main structure of the stirring cart is a pair of pressing rollers of different thicknesses, made from hardwood. One can also wrap beast leather around the pressing rollers to avoid damaging the cotton—Cuiyao, Xiaobi, you two turn these two pressing rollers.”

Wang Jun instructed two maidservants to use the wheel to turn the stirring cart’s two pressing rollers, pointing out the rotating parts of the pressing rollers to show her father Wang Wenqian.

“Father, look here—the pressing rollers are of different thicknesses, with each moment’s rotation having an inch of difference. Now watch as your daughter feeds cotton seeds between the two rollers. In this pressing and rolling between the rotating shafts, the cotton seed shells and cotton lint separate. This is truly much faster than peeling cotton seeds by hand! It’s truly ingeniously marvelous…”

Wang Wenqian stroked his beard and watched for quite a while, seeing that the cotton seed hulling speed was indeed who knows how much faster than hand-peeling cotton seeds.

Before the Qin and Han dynasties there were already records of cotton in the Western Regions, describing cotton as being like grass, with seed pods like cocoons, and silk inside the cocoons like fine wadding, called white pile seeds.

At that time cotton was already transplanted to the Central Plains, but in the imperial family gardens it was more viewed as ornamental flowers and plants. By the time of the previous dynasty, relatively large quantities of cotton cloth were transmitted from the southern frontier of the Western Regions to the Central Plains. The previous dynasty had the poetic lines “Gui cloth white as snow, Wu cotton soft as clouds” circulating. Among the common people in the Central Plains and Jianghuai regions, small amounts of cotton planting also began.

However, what restricted cotton planting and cotton cloth promotion was that cotton ginning and weaving were much more complex and difficult than hemp. This ultimately made cotton textiles extremely expensive, causing them, like silk textiles, to become exclusive products of aristocratic families, powerful clans, and officialdom and imperial family, having no connection with common people.

And also due to limitations in weaving technology, as well as the fact that most cotton varieties transmitted from the Western Regions in earlier years were coarse lint cotton types, cotton cloth’s comfort and aesthetic appeal were somewhat inferior to silk textiles. This further caused upper class society’s demand for cotton textiles to be far lower than for silk textiles.

These various reasons all caused the Central Plains and Jianghuai regions, even though they had regional cotton planting starting from the previous dynasty, to have extremely limited quantities without large-scale promotion.

Cotton cultivation was actually not much more difficult than hemp, and the yield of cotton seeds per mu of land was not much lower than hemp. From this one could see that if one could truly use the new-style cotton ginning cart, large bow, and multi-spindle hammer spinning wheel, once the weaving difficulty of cotton textiles was reduced to a level comparable to hemp textiles, vigorously promoting cotton cultivation would be greatly promising.

After all, cotton textiles, whether in warmth or wearing comfort, were far beyond what hemp textiles could compare to.

Wang Wenqian thought to himself that such a personage as Han Qian—yet the vast majority of people identified him as someone who took unconventional approaches and liked to undertake risky schemes—was also truly interesting. It was very regrettable that not many people on the Chuzhou side truly valued this person, ultimately leading to incomplete achievement and being forced to withdraw from Jiangnan.

“After I returned to Yangzhou, I had trial planting of over two hundred mu of cotton on the manor. These past days I also found craftsmen to reproduce the cotton ginning cart and other weaving machinery one by one, and it indeed works. Father should now order collecting more cotton seeds and teaching weavers. Next year Yangzhou can utilize some river beach land and sandy loam soil—we’ll be able to first plant ten to twenty thousand mu of cotton on a relatively large scale. Once the people see the benefits, perhaps without needing four to five years, all the prefectures and counties of Huaidong will be able to benefit tremendously from this.” Wang Jun continued excitedly.

She also showed her father Wang Wenqian the upper garment jacket she was wearing and the purple floral cloth long pants below, with vertical pleats like a skirt—all produced in Qianyang. The socks on her feet were also made from Qianyang cloth, very light and breathable, unlike the thick and hot felt socks still worn in early summer in the past.

These past two days she had also been trying to make cloth shoes with her maidservants. However, making shoe soles first required using glutinous rice paste to stick layer upon layer of cloth and let it dry, then densely sewing it solid with coarse cotton thread—very time-consuming. At this time they hadn’t yet been completed, but she first took out several half-finished shoe sole samples to show her father: “When these cloth shoes are made, nailing durable cowhide onto the soles with fine nails, they’ll be both light and breathable. I’ve also made two pairs here for you, father—you’ll be able to wear them next month!”

“Just plant three to five hundred mu on the manor for fun—don’t get involved in other matters,” Wang Wenqian said, his expression slightly clouded.

Wang Jun was just in high spirits with enthusiastic energy, as if cold water had been poured on her. Her limpid beautiful eyes dimmed somewhat. She asked: “If this matter succeeds, all the prefectures of Huaidong can benefit tremendously. Must we avoid this suspicion?”

“If other families learn this method, however they proclaim it is fine. Our family still should be more cautious for the better,” Wang Wenqian said.

Although when Yueyang forces launched their general assault on Jinling and even fought intensely with the Tower Ship Navy on the river, the Chuzhou Army didn’t exert much effort, after Yang Yuanpu succeeded to the throne and ascended in Jinling, he still issued an imperial decree according to the original agreement, permitting Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan to establish Huaidong State based on the prefectures of Yang, Tai, Hai, Chu, and Si, with Chuzhou as the state capital.

Although these very likely represented Yang Yuanpu also knowing to exercise forbearance—seeing Yueyang forces take Jinling with heavy casualties, using this to delay time in order to rest and recuperate—this also gave them the opportunity to formally establish Huaidong State, and also according to new Emperor Yang Yuanpu’s imperial edict to establish the Huaidong Provincial Secretariat to independently manage the five prefectures’ military and administrative affairs.

Currently Wang Wenqian served as Right Vice Director of the Provincial Secretariat concurrently as Yangzhou Commissioner, sitting in command of Yangzhou with officers and officials like Zhao Zhen and Yin Peng. On one hand they had to guard against the possibility of Jinling changing their mind at any time. On another hand they had to raise provisions to support forty thousand elite troops. On yet another hand they had to properly resettle the over one hundred thousand aristocratic family and powerful clan sons, slaves, bondservants and their families forcibly relocated from the three prefectures of Su, Chang, and Run to the north bank during the Jinling campaign.

None of these were easy matters.

Of Huaidong’s five prefectures, only Yang and Tai were relatively far from the eastern front battlefield with the Liang army. These years they had rested and recuperated relatively well, with registered populations near six hundred thousand.

Sizhou, Haizhou, and even Chuzhou where Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan had been stationed in command for many years—land lay barren, people scarce, adding up to less than four hundred thousand population.

On one hand this was due to frequent harassment from the Liang army, while also being in the buffer zone between the Liang and Chu states. The court historically had never had the will to expend great effort governing water disasters on the eastern banks of the Huai River and Lake Hongze, causing people’s livelihoods to be impoverished and cultivation to be abandoned.

At this time, adding the over one hundred thousand population forcibly abducted to the north bank, Huaidong’s five prefectures had a total population around one million one hundred thousand.

Using one million one hundred thousand population to support one hundred thousand standing elite troops—the pressure was unimaginably great.

Just taking Yangzhou as an example, all four counties were upper-grade counties, with total registered households over fifty thousand and population over three hundred eighty thousand. But supporting forty thousand elite troops annually required money and grain over six hundred thousand strings of cash, already far exceeding Yangzhou’s previous taxation capacity.

Under these circumstances, they had to greatly increase field taxes and poll taxes to get by.

However, the taxes and corvée labor Yangzhou’s four counties’ common people had borne in the past were already extremely heavy. If they truly wanted to increase collection by multiples, the people would have no way to live and would very likely incite popular rebellion, thus giving Jinling a pretext to interfere in Huaidong’s military and administrative affairs.

The only method was to imitate Xuzhou—survey and measure fields, having the increased taxes borne more by the aristocratic families and powerful clans who occupied large amounts of fields and residences yet only bore extremely light taxes and corvée labor.

Among Huaidong’s high-level officers and officials, very few came from great aristocratic clans and great families. Therefore at that time forcibly conscripting slaves and bondservants into military service on the south bank had no obstacles. At this time, to implement the new field system in Huaidong, high-level officers and officials like Ruan Yan and Rao Geng also all supported it.

Wang Wenqian himself in Yangzhou also led by example, first surveying and measuring his own family’s fields for increased collection.

In earlier years when Wang Wenqian traveled to Yangzhou, he extremely liked the scenery of this Shu Hill area. He had also long thought that if the Second Prince had no possibility of inheriting the imperial throne, he should seek enfeoffment in Huaidong. Therefore he personally had already long ago exchanged all the Wang family’s fields and residences to relocate to Yangzhou.

Currently this Jian Garden on the eastern peak of Shu Hill, with surrounding twenty thousand mu of fields and residences and over four hundred households of slaves and bondservants, were all his, Wang Wenqian’s, private property.

This time with increased collection, approximately thirty percent of these fields’ annual harvest would have to be submitted to the prefectural office as taxes and commuted corvée money, to serve as resources for supporting the army.

Although there was no resistance among Huaidong’s upper echelon, and Wang Wenqian led by example, how could the not-weak aristocratic clan and family forces in the Yang and Tai regions be willing to accept such high-intensity increased collection?

Even for the sake of stabilizing control over the Yang and Tai regions, Wang Wenqian suggested Prince Xin largely select aristocratic clan sons from the two prefectures of Yang and Tai to join the Huaidong Provincial Secretariat for official appointments. But there was also no way to completely calm this dissatisfaction.

Not to mention those aristocratic clan sons from the three prefectures of Su, Chang, and Run who had their slaves and bondservants forcibly conscripted away, then in the later period of the Jinling campaign were forcibly required to relocate to the north bank—what kind of resentment they harbored in their hearts.

Therefore, Wang Wenqian as Commissioner, no matter how well he postured himself, large amounts of criticism would also concentrate on him.

Wang Wenqian could have a clear conscience before Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan, but could he withstand everyone’s murmuring mouths?

When the time came, if people everywhere in the Provincial Secretariat were saying behind his back that he was colluding with Xuzhou, even if Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan trusted him, he would also have to learn from Shen Yang and resign from office claiming illness to demonstrate his innocence.

Even knowing that cotton textiles could be promoted with extremely great benefits, Wang Wenqian also didn’t want Wang Jun to do this. Two marriage refusals were already embarrassing enough. If Wang Jun truly came forward to vigorously promote cotton cultivation and cotton textiles, even if no one slandered him for colluding with Xuzhou, it would also invite countless people pointing fingers.

Moreover, in Wang Wenqian’s mind, Huaidong had no natural defenses, faced enemies on all sides, and wasn’t a place for long-term management. Prince Xin’s current occupation of Huaidong was mainly still expecting new opportunities to appear in Jinling or other places. Therefore, even if cotton planting had great benefits, it wasn’t necessarily something to do immediately.

Wang Jun wouldn’t make things difficult for her father, and also didn’t want to directly start any disputes with her father over these matters so soon after arriving in Chuzhou. But in her heart she thought the manor also had quite a few people who had initially mastered cotton cultivation and weaving methods. After further consolidation, she would release them in batches to commoner status, helping them settle in townships and counties below, acquire fields and residences to plant cotton and weave cotton cloth.

In the Spring and Autumn period, the Han Canal was excavated in Yangzhou to connect the Yangtze and Huai. The Sui Dynasty further reformed the Han Canal, excavating the Jiangnan Canal on the south and north sides along with the Tongji Canal and Yongji Canal. Yangzhou had always been one of the cores of the entire eastern water transport lifeline. After Huaidong’s sea salt prospered, Yangzhou’s salt officials and salt merchants gathered in clouds, causing Yangzhou’s social customs to be far more enlightened and active than other places.

As long as the manor’s slave and bondservant craftsmen were dispersed and released to settle and establish households, although the early-period cotton cultivation and cotton cloth weaving scale would be limited, as long as there were exemplary cases, the neighboring village people and even rural clan gentry could see the benefits with their own eyes. In Yangzhou where social customs were relatively much more enlightened, cotton textile promotion also wouldn’t be too slow.

Wang Jun was just thinking about matters in her heart when in the distance she saw Yin Peng bringing several people, with anxious expressions climbing the mountain and walking toward Jian Garden. She wondered in her heart what had happened to make Yin Peng, who controlled the Justice Bureau and Prison Office in Yangzhou, unable to wait and personally rush to Jian Garden to see her father?

Yin Peng brought people into the open pavilion and covered walkway, handing an already-opened secret letter to Wang Wenqian.

Wang Wenqian took out the secret letter. After reading it, his expression that had just been slightly clouded immediately became many times more gloomy.

“Father, what happened?” Wang Jun asked with concern.

“Wang Lin is dead.” Wang Wenqian handed the secret letter to Wang Jun to look at, saying.

After Wang Jun looked at the secret letter, the first thing she suspected was hidden intricacies. She questioned: “How could Master Wang possibly swallow poison and die by suicide? Does Emperor Yanyu want to employ Shen Yang?”

In fact, when in Fanchang she had worried that after Wang Lin’s identity was exposed by Han Qian, he might suffer Yang Yuanpu’s reckoning. At that time she had mentioned to Yin Peng finding a pretext to also bring Wang Lin back to Yangzhou. But unfortunately at that time on the Chuzhou side it was Ruan Yan responsible for liaising and negotiating submission matters with the Yueyang people, and Yin Peng had no decision-making authority.

Ruan Yan at that time decided to continue leaving Wang Lin on that side. His purpose was also merely thinking to make it difficult for Shen Yang to defend his innocence, forcing him to leave Yang Yuanpu’s side to avoid suspicion, causing Yang Yuanpu to lose a truly capable pillar minister who could assist him.

She hadn’t expected that Ruan Yan’s original calculation ultimately wasn’t realized. Wang Lin suffered reckoning in this manner. Even though Wang Jun at this time still didn’t know Yang Yuanpu’s new appointment for Shen Yang, she believed that because of Wang Lin’s “suicide with letter,” Shen Yang should very soon return to Jinling City, returning to Yang Yuanpu’s side to serve.

Wang Lin was a son of the Wang clan, a prominent family of Runzhou. Her grandfather Wang Jixiong and father Wang Wenqian, as a collateral branch line of Runzhou’s Wang clan, in earlier years still had some contact with Wang Lin and other Wang clan sons. When she was young, Wang Jun had even received instruction in elementary studies from Wang Lin for a period. But after her grandfather Wang Jixiong became Chancellor, after court and society spread rumors that he intended to curry favor with the Wang clan but was refused, her family had no more contact with Wang Lin and other Wang clan sons.

In people’s impression, renowned aristocratic families were always stubborn and haughty, while officials from small families and humble origins took pride in currying favor. Such rumors naturally made people believe without doubt. Grandfather Wang Jixiong and father Wang Wenqian severing contact with Wang Lin and other Wang clan sons was also naturally regarded by people as a matter of face being unbearable.

Only after Wang Jun grew up to adulthood did she learn that all these rumors were actually merely a hidden chess piece her father casually laid when at Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan’s invitation he went to Chuzhou to serve as Chief Clerk.

Initially Wang Lin served at the Censorate, selecting relatively unimportant unlawful matters of the Xu clan to impeach, intending to use provocation methods to gain An Ning Palace’s recruitment. He hadn’t expected An Ning Palace and the Xu clan’s arrogant attitude—they directly forced Wang Lin out of the Censorate, making him spend several years in cold, idle positions.

It was still when Third Prince Yang Yuanpu was enfeoffed as Prince Linjiang that Shen Yang, also a Runzhou native scholar, valued Wang Lin’s writing and capable talent, recommending him to serve at the Third Prince’s side. Only then did he by fortunate coincidence penetrate Prince Linjiang’s residence.

Wang Jun later guessed that grandfather Wang Jixiong should also have long ago guessed the currying favor rumors of those years were ghosts her father created, thus his relationship with father was indifferent—so grandfather Wang Jixiong being even less optimistic about Prince Xin, this should also be quite an important reason, right?

Wang Jun in her heart had long anticipated Wang Lin would suffer reckoning. This moment truly hearing such news, her heart also held faint sadness. But subsequently thinking of the tragic situation several days after the Jinling naval battle when tens of thousands of drowned corpses piled up on the river beaches south of Yangzhou, her current sadness faded considerably.

Compared to the Jinling campaign’s brutality, with before and after several hundred thousand military and civilian deaths from war disaster, Wang Lin’s personal tragic color undoubtedly paled much more. At least his death was far from comparable to Han Daoxun’s passionate and fierce death.

“That person in Jinling using this stratagem to eliminate Lord Wang, then taking advantage of the momentum to summon Shen Yang to his side to serve—he truly cannot be looked down upon lightly!” Yin Peng of course also believed Wang Lin definitely didn’t die by suicide. But receiving the secret report and rushing hastily to Jian Garden to see Wang Wenqian wasn’t urgently to sigh or be indignant about Wang Lin’s bleak end. What he worried about more at this time was what kind of threat an Emperor Yanyu more skilled at stratagem and trickery than they had previously predicted would pose to Huaidong.

Wang Wenqian also knitted his brows tightly, sighing: “In the past we still underestimated him somewhat! That person in Jinling not only used this method to summon Shen Yang to his side to serve, but also held his nose and enfeoffed Han Qian as Marquis Qianyang. Regardless of what he thinks, I believe enfeoffing Han Qian as marquis still has some impact on Zhang Xiang and Du Chongtao.”

“Yes, if that person in Jinling can even tolerate the unruly Han Qian, Zhang Xiang and Du Chongtao even less need to worry that their previous hesitation and wavering, not submitting to Yueyang at the first opportunity, will have any too serious consequences,” Yin Peng asked. “However, Jinling perhaps won’t transfer Zhang Xiang—perhaps will have Zhang Xiang continue guarding Jingzhou. But Junzhou on the eastern side of the Deng-Xiang defense line is one of the Vermillion Bird Army’s foundation bases. For Jinling at this time to dispatch Vermillion Bird Army direct subordinate generals to replace Du Chongtao is also a matter of course. Will the Zheng family fight for the opportunity for Zheng Hui to guard Xiangzhou?”

“Although Zheng Hui this time didn’t directly lead forces to participate in the offensive against Jinling, during the Jinling campaign he was responsible for staying behind to guard Yueyang, which fully shows he quite enjoys that person’s trust. At the same time the Zheng clan should also have the intention to expand their clan’s power and influence in Jingxiang. Zheng Hui replacing Du Chongtao to integrate the three prefectures of Deng, Xiang, and Jun’s military and administrative affairs, defending the western border—this should be a relatively certain matter, right?” Wang Wenqian looked with distant gaze at the forest trees in the mountains, speculating: “And if that person in Jinling wants to show a magnanimous and tolerant bearing toward Du Chongtao, while also making Du Chongtao redeem his merits through service, he should transfer Du Chongtao’s forces to attack Shouzhou from the west—”

“But this should only be one route of troops for Jinling’s attack on Shouzhou. Who else will Jinling choose to cross the river and attack Shouzhou from south to north?” Yin Peng asked.

With Du Chongtao’s forces all withdrawn from the Deng-Xiang defense line to serve as one route of troops attacking Shouzhou from the west, but having only thirty thousand troops, unable to fundamentally threaten Shouzhou Army which at this time after absorbing remnants of the Southern Quarter Forbidden Army still possessed over eighty thousand elite troops—they would necessarily also need to draw out thirty to fifty thousand elite combat strength from Jinling’s various armies to land at Chuzhou and attack Shouzhou from south to north.

For this route of troops, who the newly succeeded and ascended Emperor Yanyu would appoint as commander, while also gaining the approval of Shen Yang, Marquis Xinchang Li Pu, and numerous newly noble ministers—Yin Peng found somewhat difficult to fathom.

Jinling had many choices for this route’s commander candidate.

Besides Marquis Linjin Li Changfeng, Prince Yuzhang Yang Zhitang, Li Zhigao, Guo Liang, Gao Chengyuan and others, even Gu Zhilong and Huang Hua—although they had all been reassigned as regional prefectural governors in the late Tianyou Emperor period, they had previously all had long experience and records commanding troops in combat, and could not necessarily be unable to command thirty to fifty thousand elite troops from south to north to suppress An Ning Palace and the Xu clan’s remnants.

Chuzhou and Jinling faced each other across the river, and was also located between Chaozhou and Yangzhou. Who Jinling would use as commander to land from Chuzhou, leading forces from south to north to attack Shouzhou—Yangzhou also absolutely couldn’t be careless.

If they used steady and experienced people, Yangzhou here could relax a bit. But if Jinling used someone similar to Han Qian who liked taking unconventional approaches as commander, when Yangzhou at that time also had no choice but to put on a show, dispatching troops to coordinate with Jinling’s attack on Shouzhou, they would have to worry whether the dispatched troops would be swallowed up by him on some casual pretext.

Moreover, Yang Yuanpu’s demonstration of stratagem and trickery in handling matters like Wang Lin’s case also made it harder for them to believe Jinling’s enfeoffment of Huaidong had much sincerity.

Or to say, when Jinling decided to pursue and suppress An Ning Palace and the Xu clan’s remnants, also requiring Chuzhou to dispatch troops to assist, should they completely ignore it?

Yin Peng watched Wang Wenqian’s brows locked in deep thought, thinking to himself that Sir at this time was perhaps having a headache over how to offer Prince Xin a response strategy for Wang Lin’s “suicide with letter” matter?

Wang Jun stood in the open pavilion and covered walkway, her beautiful eyes like stars cast toward the vast wilderness beyond the mountains. She could guess what her father and Yin Peng were worried about. In her heart she sighed quietly, unclear when this chaotic age would have an end. She also didn’t know—when Han Qian in Xuzhou learned such news and received Yang Yuanpu’s marquis enfeoffment reward, what reaction would he have? He should be able to see that Yang Yuanpu was still too hasty, right?