Han Qian had just returned to the Wujin Ridge main camp late last night. When he awoke at dawn and saw the clear morning light outside his window, he thought the weather should be quite good today. After getting up and handling the pile of official correspondence that had accumulated over the past few days, he pulled Wang Jun out of the camp before noon to go to the Shen Family Dam to see the willow trees that had been transplanted last autumn beginning to sprout green.
In just a few more days it would be the Qingming Festival. The mountains warmed up extremely quickly—it seemed like only a few days had passed since they’d removed their fur-lined robes, and now under the bright sun, wearing only single-layer robes for travel, they didn’t even feel any chill.
Green was sprouting on the slopes and cliffs, with some tiny flowers blooming here and there. Though one couldn’t call them splendid, walking leisurely to the Shen Family Dam, they felt it was a time of wonderful spring scenery in the mountains.
The Shen Family Dam had been built in two stages on the remains of the ice dam that had been used to flood the enemy camp with released water last year.
The dam was built with piled stones two zhang wide and six chi high—stone materials were not lacking in the mountains, and to save trouble and speed up construction, they simply dismantled mountain stockades and transported the stones over, saving the extremely labor-intensive process of quarrying stone. It blocked off the inner side of the Wujin Gorge to create a mountain lake over a zhang deep, varying from three hundred paces to three li wide, extending about seven li southward.
Huaiyang County Town was built on the river valley hills south of the mountain lake. Not only could it add over ten thousand mu of irrigated land and improve irrigation water for spring plowing on the fields along the banks, it also made the three main tributaries of the upper reaches of the Nanfei River navigable.
After this dam was built, they only needed to station a small number of troops here to completely prevent any possibility of Shou Prefecture forces attacking south through the Nanfei River valley toward Mount Huaiyang—unless they dared risk being flooded again.
Besides the stationed troops, the civilian households on the northeastern slope of Mount Huaiyang had undergone continuous evacuation and relocation for a year, with the population dropping to over eighty thousand people, so cultivated land resources were no longer as scarce as before.
In addition to completing two iron mines and three coal quarries, the mountains had abundant resources of medicinal herbs, wild tung oil trees, and tea trees.
Smelting workshops, agricultural tool foundries, lime kilns, brick kilns, oil pressing workshops, soap-making workshops, weaving and military clothing factories, and so on were also successively completed during the construction period of Huaiyang County Town, forming a basic manufacturing system for Huaiyang County and initially accommodating several thousand surplus laborers, expanding the scale of material production on the northeastern slope of Mount Huaiyang.
The next work to be done was to focus on strengthening the construction of eight newly established township offices, reinforcing control over the heartland of the northeastern slope of Mount Huaiyang.
Han Qian and Wang Jun made a circuit around the dam. Just as they were about to return to the headquarters tent for lunch, two secret messages sent by Han Bao and the others from Ding Prefecture were delivered to Wujin Ridge main camp almost simultaneously.
Of the three groups of twelve carrier pigeons that Huo Li and Wang Zhe had taken north, only three successfully flew back, but the two most crucial secret messages were both delivered without omission. Especially the second secret message, which bore the seals of Shen Peng and Princess Yunhe, explained the dangerous situation currently facing Heshuo in more detail—this was extremely fortunate.
Tian Cheng, Guo Rong, Feng Liao, Xi Fa’er, Han Donghu and others were all elsewhere and came rushing over breathlessly. Han Qian was sitting under the covered corridor wolfing down his vegetable rice to satisfy his hunger. With his mouth full of food, he vaguely pointed at the two secret messages on the desk before him, indicating they should read them first.
“…” After reading the secret messages, even though they had previously speculated that the remnant forces of the Divine Mausoleum Bureau in Heshuo might collude with the northern refugee aristocratic clans or even secretly submit to the Mongols long ago, now that they had received definite confirmation, Feng Liao, Guo Rong and the others couldn’t help but gasp.
With extremely complex emotions, Feng Liao said:
“Zhu Yu will not escape this calamity. Zhu Rang may not have such boldness, but Liang Shixiong’s stratagem is too ruthless—directly sending his own son and Zhu Rang’s son to Ding Prefecture as hostages truly exceeded everyone’s expectations!”
At this time, Wang Yan, who served as Han Qian’s secretary, came over breathlessly carrying a scroll. Everyone worked together to spread the scroll on the long desk—it was a topographical map of the former commanderies of Heshuo and Hedong.
Even if Liang State secret agents successfully sent the message out from Ding Prefecture City, without fast and effective emergency communication means, and with the main routes under the control of Chengde Army, relying solely on manpower and crossing the steep mountain ranges on the north side of Jingxing, it would take at least four to five days before it could possibly reach Zhu Yu’s main camp besieging Luzhou City.
Zhu Yu had led the main Liang forces to press upon Luzhou City. One hundred ninety li south was Zezhou City, and from Zezhou City another hundred li or so further, after crossing the southern foothills of Mount Taihang, one would reach the territory of Wei Prefecture, which faced Bianjing across the river.
In other words, even if Zhu Yu received the message in time, starting from this moment, the earliest he could possibly dispatch the first batch of his elite direct cavalry to Wei Prefecture would be seven or eight days later.
However, the Mongol cavalry had most likely already entered Ding Prefecture territory today. Traveling two hundred li day and night, they would need only three days at the fastest to enter Wei Prefecture territory and join forces with Zhu Rang—the Mongol cavalry didn’t need to worry about the garrison troops in Zhao Prefecture and Qi Prefecture; they could obtain supplies and resting places once they reached Wei Prefecture territory. Then, traveling west along the post road at the southeastern foot of Mount Taihang, two days later they could block the mountain passes where Zhu Yu’s elite direct forces would exit from the southern foothills of Mount Taihang.
If Zhu Rang was bolder and directly sent troops west today, three or four days later he could unexpectedly seize Wei Prefecture, then blockade the passes at Zhiguan Gorge, Taihang Gorge, Baier Gorge and other strategic points.
Even if the morale of the main Liang forces under Emperor Zhu Yu’s command didn’t immediately collapse, their route of return south would be blocked.
At that point, the main Liang forces could only advance west along the Fen River valley, cross the Yellow River at Hejin (Longmen), and withdraw into Han City County territory in the former commanderies of Guanzhong on the western bank (the Yellow River flows north-south between Guanzhong and Hedong) to be somewhat safer. After all, before Zhu Yu usurped the throne, he had managed Guanzhong for three years. Along with Luoyang, these could be said to be Zhu Yu’s foundation, where officers who might respond to and support Prince He of Liang Zhu Rang and Liang Shixiong’s rebellion wouldn’t hold the upper hand.
From Han City County south to Tongguan Pass, then sending troops out from Tongguan Pass, advancing east through Hangu Pass to Luoyang—this circuitous route was another five hundred li, with many dangerous mountains and rivers in between, and narrow post roads unfavorable for rapid troop movements.
Even if there were no troops intercepting along this route, even if all of Zhu Yu’s subordinate commanders and soldiers were united and no chaos occurred, and all the garrison commanders of cities along the way were loyal to Zhu Yu, and grain supplies were no problem, for Zhu Yu to lead elite cavalry along this route to reach Luoyang would take at least half a month.
Starting from this moment, that would be twenty days from now.
By that time, never mind Luoyang—Feng Liao and the others estimated that even Hangu Pass might already have fallen into the hands of Liang Shixiong and Zhu Rang’s rebel forces.
Everyone quickly deduced a general outline of the likely developments in Heshuo and the Central Plains region.
At this moment, Han Qian had just finished eating a full bowl of vegetable rice with a few strips of cured meat. He was wiping the grease from the corners of his mouth with his hand when Feng Liao subconsciously asked: “My lord wouldn’t really dispatch someone to Zhongli City to inform Chen Kun, would you?”
“Shouldn’t I?” Han Qian asked back.
Feng Liao pondered briefly, then said: “After Liang Shixiong and Zhu Rang command the rebel army and unite with the Mongol cavalry to occupy Bian and Luo, Zhu Yu will be trapped in Guanzhong, Han Yuanqi and Chen Kun will defend Xu and Si in isolation, while Xu Mingzhen will be caught in a dilemma. Perhaps they won’t be able to determine victory or defeat for three to five years. This situation is most favorable for Great Chu, most favorable for Tangyi…”
No matter what, Liang State remained their greatest enemy.
If they could first dismember Liang State and eliminate this great enemy, even if Huaidong and Xiangbei both greatly benefited in the process, it would still be most advantageous for Tangyi.
Yet if they now dispatched someone to inform Chen Kun, not only would this invite criticism from the court and public for colluding with the enemy, would Chen Kun even believe them based solely on a secret message?
And even if Chen Kun believed them, would he yield Hao Prefecture?
Chen Kun’s forces were infantry. It was unrealistic for them to reach Bianjing ahead of the Wei Prefecture rebels to drive out Liang Shixiong. He would most likely notify Han Yuanqi to lead cavalry from Xu Prefecture to relieve Bianjing, while he might choose to temporarily remain in Hao Prefecture without moving.
Taking another step back, even if Chen Kun did yield Zhongli City, they still couldn’t predict Xu Mingzhen’s reaction.
Moreover, they also couldn’t confirm that Han Yuanqi would definitely be able to drive Liang Shixiong out of Bianjing City before the Wei Prefecture rebels arrived, to await Zhu Yu’s return with the main forces.
At this time in Bianjing, Liang Shixiong didn’t have many direct troops at his disposal. After launching a military coup, he would still need to suppress other forces near Bianjing loyal to Emperor Zhu Yu. But Liang Shixiong was a famous general of Great Liang who had been secretly planning this for a long time. With Han Yuanqi’s exhausted troops arriving from afar, he might not truly be Liang’s match.
In Feng Liao’s view, their choosing to sit and watch Liang State completely collapse and fall into great chaos would be most advantageous. Choosing to inform Chen Kun had too many variables and was too difficult to control.
Feng Liao looked toward Tian Cheng, Guo Rong and the others. Seeing them remaining silent without speaking, he knew they also leaned more toward his opinion.
Han Qian wasn’t in a hurry to persuade others. He looked at Wang Jun: “What do you think?”
“We shouldn’t sit and watch Liang territory fall into great chaos at this time, but relying solely on this secret message written by Shen Peng and Princess Yunhe, how can we gain the trust of Chen Kun and Han Yuanqi? That’s also a major problem.” Wang Jun said with her delicate brows slightly furrowed.
“Then we can only gamble once,” Han Qian stood up with his hands in his sleeves, his gaze piercing as he looked at Feng Liao and the others who still wanted to remonstrate. His tone was mild yet unquestionable as he said, “It seems that great chaos in Liang State would be most advantageous for Great Chu and for Tangyi, but have you considered that this would also leave the Mongols ample time to thoroughly digest the former commanderies of Heshuo and Hedong? When that time comes, who among you is confident of occupying the Central Plains before the Mongol cavalry? No matter what, after the Wei and Jin dynasties, that bloody period of one hundred sixty years when barbarian cavalry trampled the Central Plains cannot be repeated under my watch. Let the court and public say I’m colluding with the enemy if they wish.”
Hearing Han Qian say this, Feng Liao was also frustrated. He stood there with lowered head looking at the topographical map of Heshuo, pondering, unable to avoid weighing the possible changes in the grand situation of the realm from a broader perspective.
Even when Emperor Zhu was forced to withdraw his troops and flee west, even if Luzhou hadn’t fallen, the main Jin forces were almost completely crippled. What’s more, Jin Crown Prince Shi Chengzu and Prince of Lu Shi Jiyuan were still caught in internal strife. In reality, this would only benefit Wang Yuankui, who could take the opportunity to lead Chengde Army west from Jingxing into Mount Taihang.
At this time, even if Wang Yuankui couldn’t capture Luzhou City, he could pursue behind the main Liang forces and first occupy Zezhou, controlling this crucial town that could be called the gateway to Heshuo.
With Liang State falling into great chaos and unable to take care of itself, the Mongols could use Chengde Army as their vanguard to eliminate Jin State and occupy Hedong and Heshuo—this might require only two or three years at minimum.
By that time, if Liang State’s internal chaos hadn’t subsided, the Mongol cavalry could take advantage of the situation to advance south. Could Chu forces prepare for competing with Mongol cavalry for supremacy on the lands of the Central Plains by then?
And if by that time Liang State’s internal chaos had subsided, Chu forces would still be restricted south of the Huai River, unable to advance north—at most recovering the Huai West territory without gaining much advantage. But the Mongols could continue to deeply digest the Hedong and Heshuo regions.
Unexpectedly, Wang Jun, a woman, could see through this most clearly at the first moment. Feng Liao felt ashamed in his heart. But the most crucial problem at present was still, as Wang Jun said, how to gain Chen Kun’s trust, and how to persuade Chen Kun to honestly hand over Zhongli City?
Otherwise, if they dispatched someone to inform him, it would truly be too much of a loss.
“If I carry the secret message to Zhongli City to meet Chen Kun, I should have better odds than anyone,” Xi Ren said at this moment.
“Madam Xi…” Guo Rong and Tian Cheng were both startled. They knew that to gain Chen Kun’s trust, someone of sufficient weight had to go personally for there to be greater possibility. But those present were all dignified men—there was no reason to let a woman take this risk.
“Isn’t Princess Yunhe under Han Bao and the others’ control? If I go, even if Chen Kun doesn’t believe me, even if he doesn’t yield Zhongli City and wants to detain me, he won’t make things difficult for me. At worst, you can later use Princess Yunhe to ransom me.”
Xi Ren saw Han Qian furrowing his brows, wanting to dismiss her idea, and said firmly.
“Moreover, at the Guishan meeting back then, only General Tian, General Zhao and I were present and met Chen Kun and Han Yuanqi face to face. General Tian and General Zhao both need to command troops. Besides me, is there a better candidate? If you’ve already made up your mind, I’ll set out immediately—this matter cannot be delayed for even a moment.”