Heavy snow fell across Huainan. The newly repaired courier roads were covered with coal cinders, yet after thousands upon thousands of men and horses trampled through, they still left behind a muddy mess.
Township offices along the route conscripted laborers overnight to repair the roads.
Although in another two days, as temperatures grew even colder, the muddy snow water trampled and melted would freeze the roads solid all day long, they still needed to promptly level the road surfaces to ensure subsequent supplies could be rapidly transported by cart and horse to Huangchuan in a continuous stream.
However, the conscripted laborers seemed slightly excessive in number. Yet hundreds and thousands of civilian workers, wielding crude tools like wooden shovels, braving the bitter cold and laboring in the trampled snow under extremely harsh conditions, few complained of hardship or exhaustion.
Since the Tangyi Army recovered the central regions of Huozhou and Shouzhou after spring, they first abolished the degraded status of slaves and servants, directly confiscating the lands of powerful aristocratic families.
Powerful aristocratic families who didn’t flee immediately were all imprisoned as war criminals in hard labor camps for reform.
The confiscated lands were distributed to the impoverished tenant farmers and slaves who actually tilled them. These tenant farmer and slave families merely needed to provide three months of obligatory labor annually during the agricultural off-season for ten consecutive years to the township office for road and canal construction to offset the debt. Of course, if these civilian households had able-bodied men who enlisted for military service, even this offset was directly waived.
Newly recovered counties were all exempted from this year’s summer and autumn grain taxes and household levies.
Even after land surveys and the implementation of tax consolidation, when new field taxes would be uniformly collected next year, they would only be half or less of what the Shouzhou Army had previously extracted in various levies.
All counties under Tangyi jurisdiction would henceforth be directly exempted from burdensome corvée labor.
At this time, conscripting civilian workers to repair roads, the township offices would pay wages or directly offset against the new field taxes to be collected after next year’s tax consolidation.
For idle able-bodied laborers cooped up in dilapidated shacks during the winter season, participating in road repair not only provided an additional income but also saved on household food consumption—how could they find it arduous?
During summer and autumn, although flooding in the Huang River, Guan River, and other watersheds was extremely severe, over ten thousand civilian households whose homes had been destroyed by floods were all relocated and resettled in northern Chaozhou and within Chuzhou territory. The civilian households who remained were hardly affected by the floods, and their summer and autumn grain harvests were relatively stable. With frugal eating and careful saving, holding out until next year’s summer grain harvest would absolutely be no problem.
Some households, being slightly bolder, even took out a portion of surplus grain to purchase a few new garments for family members, acquire some handy farm tools, buy two carts of lime, and hire able-bodied youth from the same village to help repair their dilapidated dwellings somewhat, then thatch a new grass roof to block wind and rain—their lives visibly became more comfortable.
During the Battle of Wujin Ridge, the Shouzhou Army had forcibly conscripted over thirty thousand civilian workers from Gaocheng and other counties to construct roads and camps, transport grain and provisions, and even drive them onto battlefields as irregular troops to consume the Tangyi Army’s strength. After the Shouzhou Army’s defeat, aside from a few who gradually escaped back, the vast majority hadn’t been able to return home for over two years.
These civilian workers were all able-bodied laborers. For their families, it was as if the main beam had collapsed. But unexpectedly, after this spring, twenty-five to twenty-six thousand households not only reestablished contact with fathers, sons, or husbands who had been separated from them for so long, but also learned they had all formally become officers and soldiers of the Tangyi Army.
For impoverished people struggling at the bottom, learning that family members were safe and sound was already tremendously joyous news. What followed—besides the township office allocating land to soldiers’ dependents uniformly at fifteen mu per household free of charge, with field taxes collected at half rate during the five-year active service period—each soldier, besides receiving normal regular soldier rations from spring onward, also received retroactive garrison auxiliary soldier pay of up to five strings to ensure their families could be better settled.
Seeking the support of aristocratic clans would be quite complex, but seeking the support and allegiance of impoverished people and slaves struggling on the edge of survival at the bottom was direct and simple.
Of course, this required sufficiently strong fiscal revenue and organizational capacity formed by large-scale grassroots clerks as support.
Teams of troops passing before villages and settlements brought not the oppression and panic of impending war, but rather hundreds and thousands of able-bodied youth running to the township offices all day asking whether the Command Bureau had plans to recruit new soldiers.
Among the civilian workers forcibly conscripted by the Shouzhou Army during the Wujin Ridge campaign, some were only sons in their families, or brothers or fathers and sons conscripted into the military simultaneously.
Whether following the contemporary tradition of continuing the family line or ensuring civilian households had able-bodied laborers at home, after recovering the central Huozhou region following spring, Han Qian ordered approximately three thousand soldiers, after receiving retroactive auxiliary soldier pay, to be discharged home.
This group was even more eager to return to the ranks.
The standard of food, clothing, shelter, and daily life for regular Tangyi Army soldiers far exceeded contemporary impoverished people at the bottom.
Meritorious service brought rewards. Those who could endure several terms of literacy classes and word recognition classes could be appointed as military officers, then upon returning to civilian life could serve as clerks. Even though this was somewhat distant for ordinary soldiers, after service periods, when enrolled in the reserves, they could still enjoy half pay. Even after retiring from the reserves, they could still enjoy a portion of pay until old age.
For Huaixi youth who had struggled on the edge of survival for decades—where else could they find such a good arrangement?
Even serving as accompanying civilian workers, they could enjoy the treatment of garrison auxiliary soldiers, better than idling at home in the winter season unable to find livelihood.
To alleviate enormous military resource pressure, Han Qian couldn’t infinitely expand the forces. He had even been thinking about reducing active forces. But at this time of critical situation, to ensure the possibility of rapidly expanding and assembling forces in a short time, while Su Lie, He Liufeng, Tan Xiuqun, and other forces transferred westward, the Command Bureau simultaneously ordered township offices to recruit one hundred to three hundred additional road repair laborers beyond original construction projects.
Currently the Command Bureau governed twenty-seven counties with one hundred eighty-nine township offices. Through this method, they actually placed nearly forty thousand able-bodied men in a semi-mobilized, semi-combat-ready state.
Approximately half of these able-bodied laborers were distributed near the courier road beginning in northern Chaozhou, passing through Anfeng Fortress and Gaocheng toward Lean and the northern side of Huaiyang Mountain.
This courier road had a long history and was currently the main overland route from Chaozhou and Chuzhou to Huangchuan and Lean. Along the way it crossed multiple waterways originating from the northern and northeastern foothills of Huaiyang Mountain flowing into the Huai River and Chao Lake. At every stream or river crossing there were ferry landings or pontoon bridges, and every twenty to thirty li there were postal stations and relay stations.
The main fortified settlements in southern and central Shouzhou and Huozhou as well as northern Chaozhou—Anfeng, Gaocheng, Yincheng, Xinjing—were all distributed near this courier road. This was where population was densest in the central Huaixi region.
Following this courier road westward across the Huang River, one reached Lean City, only sixty li east of Luoshan City.
From Lean City following the Huang River north less than forty li was Huangchuan City, the old administrative seat of Guangzhou.
Huangchuan City was divided into eastern and western, old and new cities, standing across the Huang River from each other, mutually supporting like horns, with an excellent defensive situation. But Lean City was closer to Luoshan, so forces transferring to the western flank naturally all assembled at Lean.
Besides the courier road on the northern face of Huaiyang Mountain, from the upper Longtan River valley to the upper South Fei River valley, then via the Huazhu Peak plank road entering the Baishui River valley—a newly constructed road passing through the Huaiyang Mountain heartland over the past two years—one could directly enter the upper Huang River, then following the Huang River downstream, enter Lean City.
This passage rushed to completion over the past two years was much narrower and more winding, but as a supplement, this passage could fully utilize the manpower and materials from within Huaiyang Mountain. At the same time, they need not fear the northern Huaiyang Mountain passage might be cut off by raiding Shouzhou Army scout forces. Being able to more covertly conceal Tangyi Army assembly and movements made its significance even more profound.
Teams of troops assembled toward Lean. Within Lean County territory, Kong Xirong had already taken an earlier step to construct a batch of military camps and fortifications on the county’s western flank.
In mid-November, just as Marquis of Linjin Li Changfeng, Vice Minister of Works Zhou Yuan, and others strongly refuted in court Han Qian’s memorial urging rapid resolution of the Luoshan garrison within one month, the Tangyi vanguard army’s twelve thousand elite troops with He Liufeng as commander and Su Lie as deputy commander had already stationed at camps on the eastern bank of the Gushui River, less than thirty li from Luoshan City.
One of the Left Vermillion Bird Army’s core camps on the western bank of the Gushui River, Dushan Relay Station, was only five hundred paces from the Tangyi vanguard army’s main camp—essentially facing each other across the Gushui River.
After the vanguard army arrived on the Gushui River’s eastern bank, they didn’t stop to await further orders before acting. Rather, they dispersed forces in waves along the Gushui River’s eastern bank, occupying and controlling multiple locations more suitable for river crossings—the Xiangbei Army organized hundreds and thousands of civilian workers on the opposite bank to break open river ice daily, preventing the Gushui River from completely freezing solid even in late November.
Besides this, Han Bao, who after returning south from Heshuo had been transferred to Kong Xirong’s command, was this time incorporated into the vanguard army sequence along with Wang Tang. Each led over a thousand elite infantry, directly advancing into the river valleys on both flanks of the upper Gushui River, launching sweeps of mountain settlements in the upper Gushui River.
Last autumn and winter, when Kong Xirong led forces into the northern slope mountain region of Huaiyang Mountain to incite bottom-level impoverished people and slaves to revolt against the oppression and exploitation of powerful aristocratic families, it was limited only to the region east of the upper Huang River.
The upper Gushui River mountain region bordered the Xiangbei Army-controlled Jiuli Pass and Lingshan Main Camp, quite distant from Wujin Ridge. Moreover, because the mountain region going up along the Gushui River had relatively flat terrain and could be easily attacked by garrison forces from Huangchuan and Lean, last year’s large-scale mobilization of bottom-level impoverished people and slaves in revolt didn’t extend its reach into the riverside mountain regions of the upper Gushui River.
Although the Gushui River served as the boundary between Luoshan and Lean and Huangchuan counties, the upper Gushui River valley—Xuanxi Bay, Gaohua Market, and other places—traditionally belonged to Luoshan County.
At least before Wei Qun’s embassy to Great Chu proposing the Shu-Chu allied forces attack Guanzhong, Han Qian hadn’t intended to engage in military confrontation with Li Zhigao. Even the middle and lower Gushui River eastern bank region was only patrolled by small numbers of scout cavalry without constructing fixed camps. Naturally he hadn’t thought about controlling the upper Gushui River mountain region.
However, after Han Qian resolved to abduct the Wen clan members to Tangyi, the Gushui River became more important on the western flank, and the western flank’s attitude toward the upper Gushui River mountain region fundamentally changed accordingly.
Just two or three months ago, not merely limited to hastily constructing several permanent camps along the Gushui River’s eastern bank, Kong Xirong simultaneously dispatched over a hundred capable personnel to infiltrate the upper Gushui River valley mountain region near Jiuli Pass, secretly contacting and inciting bottom-level impoverished people and slaves in the mountain settlements.
Now came harvest time. Han Bao and Wang Tang’s elite forces directly entered the mountains, knocking open settlement after settlement. Those who didn’t comply saw revolts launched from within, coordinating inside and out to forcibly capture the settlements, abolishing the old slave system and suppressing powerful aristocratic families. At the fastest speed, they mobilized over ten thousand bottom-level impoverished people and slaves in this region, established two township offices, conscripted two thousand able-bodied men, and expanded forces to over four thousand men. They garrisoned near the gorge mouth where the Gushui River exited Jianzi Ridge, only twenty-some li east of the Xiangbei Army’s Lingshan Main Camp, threatening the flank from Jiuli Pass to Lingshan Main Camp and from Lingshan Main Camp to Luoshan City.
In the winter season, streams and rivers grew thin, making it very easy to dam the upper Gushui River.
At the same time, large quantities of lime, mortar, green bricks, cut stones, and other construction materials were continuously transported via over a thousand mules and horses from Huangchuan, Lean, Yincheng, Xinjing, and other places to the Jianzi Ridge gorge mouth. They organized hundreds and thousands of able-bodied laborers to fell timber in nearby mountain ridges.
Such massive activity clearly wasn’t merely to construct two camps at the Jianzi Ridge gorge mouth connected by a pontoon bridge.
From the Jianzi Ridge gorge mouth northward along the Gushui River eastern bank, thousands more civilian workers were conscripted, braving the ice and snow cold to rush repairs on the abandoned eastern bank embankment and roads.
…
…
“Is Han Qian truly going to rush construction of a dam at the gorge mouth?”
Xu Jing stood atop a gentle slope, asking with frustration and anger.
He gazed at the northern side of Jianzi Ridge where the river ice had been broken open. Below the ice surface, the flow had already been cut off. Hundreds and thousands of civilian workers had already driven down a low barrier wall in the riverbed, filling it with earth and stone to block the small amount of seepage water flowing down. But in the riverbed below the barrier wall, countless people were clearing away the silt from the river bottom.
Looking at the eastern bank camp where hundreds and thousands of mules and horses were continuously bringing bricks and stones to pile up, it was very obvious they intended to construct a formal dam in the riverbed below the simple barrier wall.
Han Qian not hesitating to conscript tens of thousands of civilian workers at this time to construct a dam on the upper Gushui River—his sinister intentions were also self-evident.
At the Battle of Wujin Ridge, the Shouzhou Army’s main forces were all assembled within the narrow river valley between Wujin Ridge and Meitang Mountain, more easily impacted by upstream floodwaters. But after exiting Jianzi Ridge, the Gushui River’s western bank was flat plains. To utilize floodwaters to impact the Xiangbei Army camps constructed around Luoshan City twenty to thirty li away would require accumulating ten times more water volume in the upper Gushui River using dams and flanking mountains. That would require constructing even higher, more formal dams.
Engineering projects of this scale could be done in the contemporary era, but required enormous numbers of conscripted civilian laborers while not being completable in a short time.
Of course, others couldn’t do it didn’t mean Tangyi couldn’t do it.
Looking at the large quantities of green bricks piled up on the eastern bank, clearly Han Qian intended to use more easily fired green bricks to replace cut stones in constructing the dam body—green brick dam bodies were more easily eroded by river water, far inferior to cut stones. But if Han Qian’s purpose in building the dam was merely to accumulate water to impact the western bank, using green bricks instead of cut stones could undoubtedly save enormous time.
In fact, even if this dam wasn’t built high enough and couldn’t accumulate sufficient water, the dam’s very existence would force the Xiangbei Army not to dare casually approach the Gushui River. Camps like Dushan Ford that hugged the Gushui River’s western bank would all have to be abandoned.
Of course, after next spring, even if the Tangyi Army released water to destroy the road between Lingshan Main Camp and Luoshan City, it would be enough trouble for them.
Zhang Qian, dispatched by Shen Yang to rush to Luoshan to inspect the war situation and coordinate relations between the Xiangbei Army and Tangyi Army, had only yesterday met with Gao Shao and Kong Xirong in Lean City. Today crossing the Gushui River, just arriving at Dushan Ford before even meeting Li Zhigao, he was pulled here halfway by Xu Jing and Yao Xishui. But seeing this scene, he was also secretly shocked, never imagining Han Qian had already become so brazenly open about directly baring his fangs, willing to confront the Xiangbei Army.
Was Han Qian this desperate to prevent Li Zhigao from absorbing the Luoshan garrison?
“Are the court and Prime Minister Shen just going to sit and watch this bandit Han Qian act so wantonly without care?” Xu Jing stared at Zhang Qian, asking with resentment.
Zhang Qian’s face darkened as he remained silent.
As Director of the Military Affairs Bureau in the Chief Military Commission, Xu Jing with his appearance of extreme indignation was truly showing undisguised bias toward the Xiangbei Army. Xu Jing and Yao Xishui had also rushed here from Jinling together with him this time. They weren’t unaware of Jinling’s current situation—what use was questioning him? What use was pointing the spearhead directly at Prime Minister Shen?
Just as most people in court couldn’t stand to see Han Qian benefit, most people also didn’t want the Luoshan garrison recruited by Li Zhigao.
Even so, with so many princes and high ministers in court all unwilling to wade into these muddy waters, they pushed insignificant him out to head north with Xu Jing and Yao Xishui. But what use was that?
Could he run bare his teeth at Han Qian?
Coming here this time, he hadn’t even seen Han Qian’s face, though he knew yesterday Han Qian had been in Lean City.
Even though Zhang Qian knew Shen Yang absolutely didn’t want to see the Tangyi Army and Xiangbei Army unauthorized start military conflict, at this time he even more didn’t want to be implicated himself. He cleared his throat and said, “The Marquis of Qianyang hasn’t really crossed boundaries much. Director Xu condemning him for acting wantonly is going a bit far. Moreover, although the upper Gushui River mountain region belongs to Luoshan County, the Xiangbei Army has dragged things out for half a year without capturing Luoshan City, similarly failing to effectively control the upper Gushui River mountain region. How can you blame the Marquis of Qianyang for taking matters into his own hands?”
Seeing Zhang Qian also adopt a fence-sitting attitude, Xu Jing’s expression also darkened, yet he found it difficult to refute.
They weren’t unaware of the importance of directly controlling townships and villages, but knowing didn’t mean being able to do it.
Even in the Xiang, Deng, Jun, Ying, and Sui prefectures they focused on managing, they could only manage to install their own people in core state and county official positions. Large numbers of assistant clerks and county clerks as well as grassroots military officers in state and county militia forces could only rely on children of local aristocratic families to fill positions.
At the township and village grassroots level, they could only completely let go and allow local aristocratic families to control.
Otherwise, today bandits and thieves causing trouble here, tomorrow people gathering to resist levies and taxes there—the Xiangbei Army’s forty to fifty thousand elite forces exhausted from rushing about still couldn’t control localities watertight.
Fundamentally, the disciples cultivated by Wanhong Tower and Marquis of Xinchang’s residence, including Li Zhigao’s close confidants over these years, after the Right Divine Might Army suffered devastating blows, had gradually been filled into the Left Vermillion Bird Army, Left Martial Guard Army, and Left Divine Might Army these past years. Controlling forty to fifty thousand elite forces still felt insufficient.
Not counting Guangzhou, Xiangbei’s five prefectures and thirty-two counties needed one thousand relatively core clerks at just the state and county levels. If they wanted to directly control the township office level as well, the clerk scale would need to expand by three times.
Where could they divide out several times as many clerks proficient in administrative affairs, knowledgeable about laws and regulations, and skilled in writing to control localities?
As long as they relied on local aristocratic family children to govern localities, mobilizing bottom-level impoverished people and slaves was a joke.
Compared to their shortage of governance talent, Han Qian’s East Lake Academy established in Liyang City employed over four hundred teaching staff alone—an extreme luxury.
For major construction projects like the Anfeng Canal repairs, the Yongyang Canal excavation, and so forth, Han Qian appointed obscure nobodies as chief engineering officers.
Over these years, Han Daoxun and Han Qian father and son cultivated large numbers of usable direct subordinates in Xuzhou—something no family could catch up to in a short time.
Moreover, the three Xiangbei armies still belonged to the Imperial Guard system.
Even though Li Zhigao had also tried his best in recent years to lighten soldiers’ burdens, currently he could only barely manage to not require soldiers or military households to bear the costs of manufacturing and maintaining armor, warhorses, and military horses. Currently there was still no way to take out an extra five to six hundred thousand strings annually to distribute pay to every soldier.
They couldn’t possibly have previously divided out two to three thousand elite forces to station in the remote upper Gushui River mountain region to prevent the Tangyi Army from forcibly interfering, could they?
When the Tangyi Army forcibly interfered, unscrupulously mobilizing rioters to suppress local powerful families, then with unimaginable speed restored local order and conscripted large numbers of enthusiastically motivated able-bodied laborers into the military—they neither had ways to prevent this beforehand nor ways to promptly and effectively stop it.
“Han Qian submitted a memorial forcefully stating he must resolve the Luoshan garrison within one month so Great Chu’s hundred-some thousand elite forces won’t be constrained by over ten thousand Luoshan garrison troops. His reasoning also stands—moreover, regarding Marquis of Xinjin besieging Chaozhou with prolonged attacks failing to capture it, causing the defeats at Hongze Marsh and Zhongli, there have been many discussions in court recently. This makes it difficult for Prime Minister Shen to speak for Marquis of Xinjin in court.”
Zhang Qian, seeing Xu Jing fall silent, continued.
“In Zhang’s humble opinion, the Xiangbei Army’s elite forces are no worse than the Tangyi Army. Steel your heart, and I believe capturing Luoshan City within half a month shouldn’t be a major problem. Since Wen Bo persistently has no intention of accepting Marquis of Xinjin’s recruitment, Director Xu, rather than disputing these irrelevant matters at this time, you’d be better off doing your utmost to help Marquis of Xinjin capture Luoshan City as soon as possible. If Marquis of Xinjin can guarantee capturing Luoshan City within half a month, Zhang will stake his life to prevent the Tangyi Army main forces from crossing the Gushui River even one bit. I believe the Marquis of Qianyang would have nothing to say.”
Xu Jing almost spat out a mouthful of old blood, but he couldn’t refute Zhang Qian by saying that even if the Tangyi Army came instead, they couldn’t possibly capture Luoshan City within half a month either.
Regarding whether the Great Chu navy and Right Divine Might Army main forces’ annihilation was Li Zhigao’s responsibility for prolonged siege of Chaozhou without capture, Xu Jing was even less able to righteously refute. Fundamentally, he himself had initially fled back to Jinling in a wretched state like a dog to preserve his life.
Yao Xishui stood to the side without saying much, but hearing Zhang Qian say these things undoubtedly represented the attitudes of Shen Yang, Yang En, and others—actually showing some dissatisfaction that the Xiangbei Army insisted on wanting to absorb the Luoshan garrison rather than resolutely annihilating them. He couldn’t help asking, “In Lord Zhang’s view, besides forcibly attacking Luoshan City within half a month, what other methods could work?”
“I haven’t yet met the Marquis of Qianyang himself, but yesterday I met with Gao Shao and Kong Xirong. Their meaning was also quite simple and clear: if the Xiangbei Army cannot guarantee capturing Luoshan City within half a month, then in the coming days withdraw to the western side of Luoshan City and have the Tangyi Army enter the eastern side of Luoshan City to persuade surrender. If Wen Bo persists in unwillingness to unconditionally leave the city and surrender, then both armies will join forces to attack. The Tangyi Army guarantees capturing the eastern city within half a month. If the Xiangbei Army cannot simultaneously manage to capture the western city within half a month, then Luoshan County will be placed under Tangyi Field Command Bureau jurisdiction…”
“Is this also Prime Minister Shen’s meaning?” Yao Xishui asked.
“Prime Minister Shen of course hopes the Xiangbei Army can quickly capture Luoshan City independently and achieve merit for Great Chu again.” Zhang Qian said.
Yao Xishui also almost spat out a mouthful of old blood. To capture Luoshan City within half a month, how heavy would the Xiangbei Army’s casualties be? How could Shen Yang also speak without his back hurting?