Before entering Yangzhou, Han Qian accompanied the first group of people crossing the river north under the guise of fleeing famine and first went to make an on-site tour of Shiliang County, located between Chuzhou and Yangzhou.
Shiliang County was situated between Chuzhou and Yangzhou, in the plains east of Wuxing Mountain, with most of its area at low-lying elevations.
Shiliang County was also located south of Hongze Lake and west of the main waters of Fanliang Lake. Many streams and rivers originating from the hills and mountains of eastern Chaozhou flowed through Shiliang County territory into Hongze Lake and Fanliang Lake.
These geographical preconditions meant that whether heavy rains fell in eastern Chaozhou and western Chuzhou, or water levels rose in Hongze Lake to the north or Fanliang Lake to the east, Shiliang would be inundated with torrential floods.
On the other hand, although Shiliang County was located in the heartland of Huainan, since the founding of Great Chu, Liang forces had twice launched major attacks into this heartland, such that the court had completely lacked the inclination to invest large amounts of money and grain in these areas (Huaixi and Huaidong) for military farming, land reclamation, and water conservancy construction.
The dozen or so prefectures in Huaidong and Huaixi had average population densities less than half that of Jiangnan East Circuit.
Specifically in Shiliang County, the population was even more sparse.
When Han Qian entered Shiliang County, the Anning Palace rebel forces had already withdrawn into Hongze Lake (naval forces) or west of Hongze Lake (cavalry and infantry), while the Imperial Guards’ cavalry and infantry and the Five Fang Army’s naval forces had already established camps in southern Shiliang County to monitor the remnants of the rebel tower ship naval camps within Hongze Lake to the north and the movements of the rebel cavalry and infantry to the west.
Of course, Fanliang Lake and other lakes east of Shiliang County were under the control of Prince Xin’s Huaidong Army.
Just as Han Qian had anticipated, the low-lying Shiliang County region had already become a buffer zone between the Chu forces, rebel forces, and Huaidong Army.
It was already late May, the weather was becoming hot, and continuous torrential rains combined with long-neglected river embankments had turned Shiliang County territory into a vast flooded marshland, yet large numbers of refugees fleeing the chaos of war still remained stranded there.
During their flight, the refugees naturally coalesced around their neighboring townships and villages, banding together into clusters of refugee forces, struggling to survive with difficulty in this flooded buffer zone.
At this time, some aristocratic clans from Jiangnan or officials from the court had also sent advance personnel across the river to claim land.
They were waiting for the court to restart economic and livelihood matters after stabilizing control over this area, so they could opportunistically obtain large amounts of land for free—the court needed people to develop and cultivate these lands, and encouraged and tolerated this.
This made the situation within the sparsely populated Chuzhou territory at this time more chaotic and mixed than one might imagine.
Of course, the advance personnel sent across the river by the aristocratic clans and court officials were mainly concentrated around Chuzhou city, near the stationed troops or where court officials like Wei Zhen had already taken charge, claiming land there.
The first group organized by the Chishan Assembly wasn’t large—just three to four hundred people who crossed the river under the guise of fleeing famine. After crossing, they followed the Xiaota River along the Chuzhou-Yangzhou border, supporting the elderly and young, bringing their families, and directly entered Shiliang County. The Imperial Guards stationed in southern Shiliang County not only wouldn’t block them but would even welcome them.
First, the first group organized by the Chishan Assembly had fled famine from Jiangnan, so psychologically they would be viewed as their own people by the Imperial Guard officers and soldiers.
Second, the large and small refugee forces in Shiliang County were a chaotic mix, all coming from rebel-controlled territories. Who knew how many Anning Palace eyes and ears were mingled among them, making the Imperial Guards dare not advance directly to the southern shore of Hongze Lake.
Now that there was a trustworthy refugee force fleeing famine that wanted to enter the buffer zone and establish a foothold, why would the stationed troops stop them? Not only would they not stop them, they would even tacitly permit them to carry some swords and shields for self-protection.
Refugee forces sounded respectable as displaced people, but when food sources became scarce enough, refugees would very naturally transform into “bandits” plundering the countryside, and conflicts and killings among themselves were inevitable.
Of course, when this first group of over three hundred people migrated north, especially when passing through checkpoints set up by the Imperial Guards, they made every effort to grease palms in all directions. They also needed to ensure this route remained smooth going forward, able to continuously transfer more displaced people over.
The first group ultimately chose to establish a foothold at a low mountain on the western shore of Fanliang Lake. The main peak was only thirty to forty meters high, stretching about two li from north to south, shaped like a horseshoe with white rocks—it was called Baiti Ridge.
Baiti Ridge was about seven or eight li from where the Changjin River entered Fanliang Lake—not close enough to give the impression of threatening or spying on the strategic point of the river mouth, yet from the Xiaota River and Changjin River one could enter the Yangtze waterway, or follow Hengxi Creek into the Shiliang River and then into Hongze Lake, or cross Fanliang Lake to enter Hongze Lake or the Huaidong heartland on the lake’s eastern shore—all very convenient routes.
In the coming period, the Huaidong Army would not tolerate Five Fang Army naval warships entering Fanliang Lake, but at the same time, not wanting to give the court grounds for accusation, Huaidong naval warships would also not easily come to the western shore of Fanliang Lake.
Moreover, the contemporary Fanliang Lake was not a single super-large lake connected together, but a waterlogged world composed of a cluster of over thirty lakes and marshes of various sizes connected by water passages.
These special characteristics would all leave corresponding living space for the Chishan Assembly to take root and establish a foothold here.
Of course, to establish a foothold here, they still needed to purchase large quantities of supplies nearby from Huaidong—if they truly lived like other refugees, merely gathering wild vegetables and eating raw fish and crabs, not only would they become sallow and emaciated, but it would also be difficult to control the spread of epidemics.
Especially after the Chishan Assembly’s existence aroused sufficient vigilance from the court, obtaining large quantities of supplies could only be done through purchasing from Huaidong or transporting through areas controlled by Huaidong.
Due to Chuzhou’s special nature, its local area was destined to be dominated early on by aristocratic clan forces, and their organization would be even stronger.
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If boats wanted to travel south from Fanliang Lake without taking the Changjin River or Xiaota River back to the Yangtze, they could enter through the southeastern outlet into another large lake in the Yangzhou heartland—Shaobo Lake.
Zhuyu Bay was located at the southern end of Shaobo Lake.
The Han Canal (Grand Canal), constructed during the Spring and Autumn period as the core waterway connecting the Yangtze and Huai rivers, had its northern mouth connecting to Shaobo Lake located on the west side of Zhuyu Bay, while the scenic Shugang Hills undulated south of Zhuyu Bay.
If they truly needed to attack Yangzhou by force in the future, Zhuyu Bay would be one of the key military points.
As the northern gateway of Yangzhou, Zhuyu Bay was not only a strategic location that military strategists would fight over, but also the most prosperous water and land dock in northern Yangzhou.
Within the town, shops and residences stretched continuously, and there were infantry camps and naval forces totaling over two thousand people stationed in the water fort military camps on the southern side of the town.
Boats entering the Han Canal from Shaobo Lake also faced strict inspection at water gates.
Han Qian, Guo Rong, Xi Ren, and others dispersed onto fishing boats or small sampans and covered boats, landing at Zhuyu Bay.
At the blazing noon sun, Han Qian looked up at the northern peak of Shugang Hills and saw among the lush mountain forests numerous buildings, towers, and pavilions distributed according to the mountain’s contours over a quite extensive area. Ancient trees on the mountain blocked the sun, winding and meandering—this was the renowned Jian Garden, also Yangzhou Governor Wang Wenqian’s villa outside the city.
Meeting with Wang Wenqian while not giving Wang Wenqian a chance to react was no easy matter.
He Liufeng had led some personnel to infiltrate earlier, fully reconnoitering and investigating the terrain around Jian Garden, the guards, and the situation with the Zhuyu Town and northern Yangzhou city garrison forces, formulating plans for the meeting and withdrawal.
After Han Qian entered Zhuyu Town, He Liufeng came to meet him with the intelligence from the earlier reconnaissance and investigation.
“Wang Wenqian uses secret agents to monitor inside and outside Yangzhou city. The Wang Er Teahouse across the way consistently has two investigators dispatched by the Yangzhou prefecture office watching the movements in Zhuyu Bay—the constables and garrison troops of Zhuyu Bay don’t even know they exist!” He Liufeng gently lifted a corner of the wooden window of the private room, pointing at the teahouse across the long street to inform Han Qian and the others.
“Wang Wenqian is an extremely cautious and meticulous person. It’s not surprising that he would send secret agents to watch his own territory. Have you formulated a plan?” Han Qian smiled slightly.
“There are three layers of obvious and hidden sentries around the outer perimeter of Jian Garden. There’s a slim possibility of infiltrating through the scrub forest, but it’s too close to the Zhuyu Bay garrison. Once something goes wrong, withdrawing from Jian Garden won’t be easy, not to mention safely reaching the stronghold we’ve established at Xianyan Port on the western slope of Shugang and quickly crossing the Han Canal to hide to the west.” He Liufeng spread out the topographical map of the northern peak of Shugang Hills and the area around Jian Garden.
He clearly opposed Han Qian finding opportunities to infiltrate Jian Garden through gaps in the guard coverage to meet Wang Wenqian. If something unexpected happened, with only about a hundred guards nearby, it would be very difficult to escort Han Qian away safely.
“What patterns can be found in Miss Wang’s movements and whereabouts this past month?” Xi Ren asked.
Entering Jian Garden directly was too risky, and as Yangzhou’s military and administrative chief official, even though Wang Wenqian might occasionally reside at Jian Garden, when leaving the city he would have guards in front and behind, with escort forces exceeding the personnel Xuzhou had infiltrated near Yangzhou.
Xi Ren was thinking of approaching through Wang Jun to find an opportunity to meet safely with Wang Wenqian.
Of course, when Xi Ren asked this question, her hand pinched Han Qian under the table.