Heavy rain poured down in sheets. The county office hall in Qisi City remained unfinished in its repairs, and at this moment, rainwater still dripped down from some unknown corner.

In the dim hall, Han Qian sat facing Guo Duoduo, Zhou Daoyuan, and Shen Peng across a table.

Faced with Han Qian’s proposed suggestion, Guo Duoduo’s deeply furrowed brow resembled the ridges of Mount Tongbai. With a pained expression, he sighed and said: “Bianjing City holds too great a significance for the military and civilian population of Great Liang. Once we voluntarily abandon it, it will directly impact our army’s morale—His Majesty has not failed to consider this possibility, but the officers and men are all reluctant!”

“The Marquis worries that Xu Mingzhen and the Sima clan have actually already surrendered but are only pretending they haven’t. His Majesty and the generals have also considered this,” Shen Peng said. “It is precisely because of this that everyone fears this is all a Mongol trap, with the purpose of making us mistakenly believe that the evacuation route from Bianjing to the banks of the Ying River at Chenzhou still exists. But when the hundred thousand military and civilians truly withdraw south from Bianjing City, enemy forces will suddenly strike from all directions!”

Guo Rong, Zhou Dan, Feng Liao, Kong Xirong, Wen Bo, Wang Zhe and others, serving as officials of Tangyi, sat below Han Qian at this time. Hearing what Guo Duoduo and Shen Peng said, they deeply agreed.

They didn’t advocate sending troops north, fearing a trap within. But for the same reason, having Han Yuanqi and Chen Kun lead over a hundred thousand military and civilians in a southern evacuation from Bianjing City at this time would be equally reckless and risky.

If their suspicions proved true, Han Yuanqi and the others could lead twenty thousand troops south at great speed without worry of interception. But what of the hundred thousand civilians, including imperial family members and the families of various officers and officials? During the hundred sixty to seventy li journey from leaving Bianjing to reaching northern Chenzhou, if they faced fierce enemy attacks, how many could safely cross the Ying River to reach southern Yingzhou?

Speaking of it, the Mongols’ collaboration in breaching the Yu River embankments to create Yellow River flood zones along the Ying River, dividing the Huaihe region—this move was too ruthless.

This single action alone would plunge them into complete strategic passivity.

Even if Emperor Liang could establish timely communications with the Wei River plains, once the twenty-nine zhou east of the Ying River and their eight to nine million people fell into enemy hands, the balance of the entire war would tilt completely.

By then, even if Huaixi joined forces with Emperor Liang Zhu Yu, the regions controlled by their combined forces would only comprise ten zhou with three million people.

Beyond facing the two hundred thousand rebel forces led by Zhu Rang on the eastern front, the western front would face even stronger Mongol forces after they consolidated Jinzhou.

The complete loss of Guanzhong would likely become an unavoidable event at some future point.

Completely abandoning the military and civilians of Bianjing was also unrealistic.

Never mind other considerations—Guo Duoduo, Zhou Daoyuan, and even Shen Peng all had family and kin in Bianjing City. Could Han Qian and the others now advise them to completely abandon Bianjing and its hundred thousand civilians, letting Han Yuanqi and Chen Kun lead only twenty thousand elite troops south?

Even bringing all the families of mid and high-ranking officers and imperial family members wouldn’t work. Who could guarantee that at such a moment, the Liang forces in Bianjing wouldn’t mutiny during the southern evacuation?

Everyone sat in the hall for over an hour without discussing any plan acceptable to both sides that they considered feasible.

At this moment, the “clop clop clop” of hoofbeats splashing through rain entered the city.

Everyone looked up in alarm, wondering what ill tidings had occurred—Qisi City currently served as Han Qian’s temporary headquarters, and according to regulations, unless it was an eight-hundred-li emergency report, messengers entering the city couldn’t ride fast horses, to avoid unnecessarily startling the troops in the city.

“My lord, your wife has given birth to a son. Someone from Donghu has come to announce the joyous news.” Huo Li happily entered the great hall carrying a letter, accompanied by the messenger who had rushed from Donghu.

“This is wonderful news, yet it frightened everyone like this.” Han Qian spoke in a relaxed tone.

“Congratulations, my lord. Tangyi has gained a son. The Marquis now has an heir,” Guo Duoduo, Zhou Daoyuan, and Shen Peng offered their congratulations.

Given how dire the current situation was, regardless of how fiercely the two sides had fought before, after the upheaval in Heshuo, Tangyi had neither kicked them while they were down nor taken advantage of their misfortune. Setting aside the earlier intelligence sharing that enabled Han Yuanqi and Chen Kun to lead timely reinforcements to Bianjing and allowed Guanzhong forces to return to the Huai River region via Tangyi, over the past year or more, Tangyi had loaned the Huai River region grain totaling over one million shi, more than twenty thousand sets of armor and corresponding excellent weapons.

Even now, the refugee camps established in Caizhou and Yingzhou territories received daily grain supplies of over a thousand shi, all provided by Tangyi.

For their former formidable enemy to do this much for Great Liang, Guo Duoduo, Zhou Daoyuan, Shen Peng and others had nothing to say.

Since they couldn’t discuss any workable countermeasures at present, and the responsibility didn’t lie with Tangyi, they could only advise Han Qian to first return to Donghu to see his newborn young master.

After pondering for a moment, Han Qian decided to dispatch another thousand advance supply and engineering troops to northern Chenzhou. In the flooded areas near the main Ying River channel at the southern end of the Chen-Bian courier road, they would assist Liang forces in expanding the construction of camps and pontoon bridges in the flooded zone—the courier road entrance was narrow and could only accommodate a few warships at once. Whether the scale of pontoon bridges and water camps could continue expanding would directly relate to the speed and efficiency of reinforcement or evacuation.

At the same time, while Xu Mingzhen and the Sima clan had not yet openly rebelled, and while Mongol cavalry had not yet moved into activity south of Bianjing, Tangyi would transport as much grain, fodder, and draft animals sorely needed in Bianjing as possible directly to the city.

Draft animals were sometimes valuable. Not only could they speed up travel during evacuation, but during summer and autumn they could be kept within Bianjing’s city walls to eat grass and leaves without consuming grain. When the weather turned cold, they could be slaughtered for meat storage to survive times of hunger.

Although eating meat was an extreme luxury in this era, extraordinary times required extraordinary measures.

There was another issue Han Qian had been continuously considering.

When the high-sediment waters of the Yu River breached and flooded the Sha-Ying River, the sediment would settle heavily where the current slowed at the confluence with the Huai River. The flood waters would also wash away the mud embankments along the Sha-Ying River, with swirling currents carrying large amounts of sand, timber and debris into the main channel, creating hidden sandbars and silt deposits at irregular points.

Perhaps for a year or two there wouldn’t be major problems, but over longer periods, as flood waters repeatedly impacted and damaged the Ying River channel, the Sha-Ying River navigation route could become completely unusable.

Where flood waters breached the great embankments and spread dozens of li across both banks, limited by the terrain on both sides, the flood zones wouldn’t be symmetrical. This made confirming the central navigation channel problematic—vessels could easily run aground without careful navigation.

Along the four-hundred-plus li main channel of the Ying River from Yingkou to Chenzhou, reconfirming navigable main channels and establishing lighthouse-like markers was no simple matter.

Han Qian also hoped Liang forces would accelerate repairs to the wading courier road in the flood zone north of Yinshui County.

Even considering that the Sima clan and Xu Mingzhen had not yet surrendered—quite possibly being a Mongol trap to lure Bianjing’s military and civilians out for ambush—the preparatory work for evacuation could not be neglected.

Therefore, building two high embankment courier roads crossing the flooded zone north and south near Chenzhou Crossing was something Emperor Liang Zhu Yu had long since decided, to enable faster evacuation of Bianjing’s military and civilians when necessary.

Using boats to evacuate over a hundred thousand military and civilians directly by water route to Yingkou four hundred li away would be too inefficient and slow. Using boats to evacuate them from the north bank to the south bank, then continuing south by courier road, would be much faster.

Unfortunately, Liang forces in the Huai River region had limited resources. Before the embankment breach, they had mainly raised and widened the courier road in northern Chenzhou and rushed repairs on the near-river courier road in Yinshui County territory south of Chenzhou. But when the flood waters came, this road extending from southwest to northeast through the shallow, low-lying areas of Yinshui County failed to withstand the water’s force and was breached in over ten places.

The courier road in northern Chenzhou hadn’t been breached, mainly because the terrain was high enough, and also because they had spared no expense adding protective embankments to sections potentially impacted by flood waters.

These simple protective embankments would only withstand the first wave of flood impact this year. In the following years, with the Yu River breach impossible to seal, some sections of the Chen-Bian courier road would still be exposed and would likely suffer water erosion damage.

Faced with overwhelming flood waters, human power remained far too insignificant.

Whether for subsequent reinforcement or evacuation support, preliminary work could not stop and must be intensified. Regardless, Han Qian hoped Han Yuanqi and the others in Bianjing would evacuate as many military and civilians as possible in the early stages.

Even if they ultimately decided to defend Bianjing City, evacuating more civilians would relieve the city’s food supply pressure.

Of course, Han Qian had long since established an advance brigade in Huoqiu, where boarding conditions were better, led by Kong Xirong, Cao Ba, Wang Zhe and others. Drawing six to eight thousand crack troops from various units for amphibious coordinated combat training, they stood ready to board navy warships from Huoqiu and head north into battle at any time.

Additionally, the main forces of the Second, Third, and Fourth Town Armies were all deployed along the southern Huai River bank in the north. Each had nearby naval bases. Whether to commit forces on a large scale to land north of Chenzhou and reinforce Bianjing only awaited Han Qian’s final decision.

…

…

The situation was so treacherous and perilous that Han Qian naturally dared not make decisions lightly or stake Tangyi’s entire fate on the gamble.

This was the burden of having substantial holdings. He had to consider the fates of tens of thousands of troops and the hundreds of thousands of family members behind them. Unconsciously, he had become more cautious, no longer possessing the courage to risk everything as he had during the Jinling rebellion.

After taking leave of Guo Duoduo, Zhou Daoyuan, and Shen Peng, Han Qian rode swiftly south surrounded by his guards. They forded the Gu River at a shallow point upstream. Many roads along the way had been washed out by mountain torrents. After reaching Anfeng, they changed to boats heading east then south. Five days later, they finally returned to Liyang—Gao Shao, Kong Xirong, Wen Bo, Feng Liao and others went to Huoqiu, Shouzhou and other places, as too many matters required their attention.

When Han Qian reached Liyang, Wang Jun had been recovering for only nine days. She was still somewhat weak, her complexion slightly pale, but her spirits were good. Mother and child were both safe. Hearing the infant’s clear crying dispelled much of the gloom that had weighed on Han Qian’s heart these past days.

Upon receiving news of Wang Jun giving birth, Wang Wenqian’s concubine Madam Xu and Wang Jun’s aunt-in-law Madam Zhou, along with a retinue of female relatives, younger nephews and nieces, maidservants and household servants—several dozen people in all—had arrived at Lianyuan in Liyang three days before Han Qian. They were all staying in the eastern courtyard of Lianyuan.

Xi Ren had a splitting headache, worried that assassins might have infiltrated among the Wang family servants, yet unable to slight or neglect them. Two days ago, the wives of Han Daoming and Han Daochang had also arrived in Liyang with Han family female relatives, maidservants and household servants—another several dozen people moving into Lianyuan.

The normally quiet Lianyuan was suddenly packed with people.

Before Han Qian returned, Xi Ren hadn’t slept properly for three days.

Once Han Qian returned, Xi Ren stopped being polite. He directly invited the female relatives from both families to leave Lianyuan and stay in an adjacent estate hastily prepared. Only then did the security and guard conditions in the estate return to normal.

Han Daochang, having calculated the day of Han Qian’s return, only arrived in Liyang this morning. At noon he went to visit Wen Muqiao. Learning Han Qian had returned to Liyang, he came to Lianyuan together with Wen Muqiao to meet him.

Han Qian could understand why the Han family and Wang family female relatives were so fervent.

When Zhao Ting’er gave birth to Wenxin, it had been far less lively. On one hand, they had been in remote Xuzhou at the time, and their power was far less formidable than now. On the other hand—and this could be called the main reason—Zhao Ting’er was a concubine, and Han Wenxin and Han Wenyuan were children born of a concubine.

But Wang Jun’s current childbirth, in Great Chu legal terms, produced the legitimate eldest son.

Great Chu had many enfeoffed marquises, but Han Qian and his father Han Daoxun held hereditary title to Xuzhou, and Han Qian also had actual enfeoffment of Qianyang. The substance of his Marquis of Qianyang title could not compare to Li Zhigao’s Marquis of Xinjin or Huang Lu’s Marquis of Jiangyin. Its substance even exceeded that of dukes and princes without actual enfeoffments.

Setting aside that Tangyi was substantively already a provincial command, even relying solely on Han Qian’s actual enfeoffment as Marquis of Qianyang, his heir would be a proper heir apparent to a marquis.

According to current legal systems, once Wang Jun’s legitimate eldest son grew a bit older, he would receive formal court investiture.

Han Qian held his infant son, still only able to wail, in his arms with great joy in his heart. But seeing Wenxin standing timidly at the doorway watching the scene inside, not daring to enter casually…

“Wenxin, why are you running over here again? Your little brother is too small, and with your reckless nature…” A female relative was already thinking of leading Wenxin to another courtyard.

Han Qian sighed inwardly. The power of tradition and custom remained too formidable.

Though he wasn’t familiar with the Wang family female relatives, he understood his two aunts’ mercenary nature all too well. Perhaps in these two days they had already hastily stamped his two sons with the marks of “legitimate son” and “concubine-born son.”

Han Qian hadn’t wanted to get entangled in such matters now, thinking that in a couple days he would send away the female relatives from both families. But with the perilous situation in the Huai River region and his inability to devise solutions, seeing these circumstances inevitably made him irritable.

Guo Rong had accompanied Han Qian back to Liyang. After visiting Wang Jun and her son, he wanted to leave to handle administrative duties. At this moment, Han Qian suddenly called him back, saying: “In the blink of an eye, Wenxin is already eight years old. We should formally petition the court to establish him as heir apparent. Tell me, how should this memorial be drafted to be appropriate?”

When Han Qian spoke these words, everyone in the lively room froze as if struck by lightning, unable to imagine that with Wang Jun as the legitimate wife having finally given birth to her first child—a son no less—Han Qian would directly petition the court to establish Zhao Ting’er’s eldest son Han Wenxin as marquis heir apparent!

“This…” Even Guo Rong, who usually followed Han Qian’s every word, now hesitated, not knowing what to say.

Han Daochang and Wen Muqiao also failed to react immediately, thinking they must have misheard.

The female relatives from both families, even if they wanted to object, had no place to speak. Seeing the atmosphere turn somewhat wrong, they could only exchange awkward glances before withdrawing.

The lively room suddenly grew quiet. In the blink of an eye, even Wenxin had disappeared somewhere, leaving only Han Qian, Guo Rong, Han Daochang, Wen Muqiao, Xi Ren, and Wang Jun resting on the brocade couch—attendants and military officials like Han Donghu, Huo Li, Wang Zhe, and Huo Xiao waited in the adjacent courtyard and wouldn’t come over casually without summons.

“You really are something, stirring everyone up the moment you return, unable to rest even a few days before raising this matter.” Wang Jun carefully held her infant son, complaining with reproach.

“Better to settle it early and prevent some people from making an issue of it,” Han Qian said. “Right now the Huai River region is in chaos, while Jianghuai wants calm but the wind won’t stop—it’s truly a tangled mess…”

Seeing Wang Jun speak to Han Qian in a normal tone, Han Daochang and Guo Rong didn’t rush to say anything. After all, what they most feared was inner household discord creating chaos.

Tangyi at this time could be called a vassal state without exaggeration. Thinking of the late previous dynasty until now, how many powerful families had stumbled badly over establishing legitimate heirs?

Han Qian’s decision was too sudden. Han Daochang and Guo Rong couldn’t immediately see through the advantages and disadvantages, so naturally keeping their mouths shut was most important.

Wen Muqiao, who cherished words like gold, understood this principle even better, sitting there as if about to fall asleep.

At this moment, a guard entered and handed over a message. After reading it for some time, Han Qian said to Guo Rong: “Xu Mingzhen is transferring Xu Jin to Taikang—draft an order for me, instructing Kong Xirong to lead the advance battalion north to garrison the ruins of Wanqiu in Chenzhou…”

Taikang belonged to Chenzhou, and had once even been placed under the jurisdiction of Liang Kingdom’s Capital Prefecture. It was located east of the Chen-Bian courier road.

When Emperor Liang Zhu Yu first returned to the Huai River region, he had appointed Xu Mingzhen as Military Commissioner of Chenzhou, originally hoping he would lead Shouzhou forces to occupy Chenzhou and attack north to Wuzhi and other places west of Bianjing. By occupying Wuzhi and threatening Huaizhou, Mengjin and other areas from the north, he could assist the main Liang forces of the Huai River region in severing communications between the Heluo rebels and eastern enemy forces.

However, Xu Mingzhen delayed deploying troops to Taikang, Tuocheng and other places. Instead, he occupied Qiao and Ying prefectures, dividing forces to recover and control Bozhou, Songzhou and other areas along the Guo River.

Xu Mingzhen’s unwillingness to block the Mongol vanguard was easy to understand. As the middle and lower Ying River region became vast flood zones, Xu Mingzhen had been forced to abandon Yingzhou, and his military center of gravity had shifted further east, geographically closer to the Sima clan controlling Xu and Si, and to rebel forces controlling Weibo, Qi and other areas.

His sudden intention to deploy forces west into Taikang City could hardly have pure motives.

Through their internal sources, Tangyi had long since confirmed that after entering April, mysterious visitors had repeatedly entered Mengcheng where Xu Mingzhen temporarily stationed. Who could say—no one in the world likely understood Xu Mingzhen’s thinking better than the father and son Wen Muqiao and Wen Bo.

By any measure, Xu Mingzhen raising the rebel banner and joining the enemy could happen at any time. Of course, Xu Mingzhen might still harbor final reservations about Tangyi, which was why he hadn’t yet openly rebelled.

Regarding Xu Mingzhen’s movements, Tangyi had long prepared contingency plans—Kong Xirong would lead the advance battalion north to assist Liang forces in controlling Wanqiu and military strongholds east of Wanqiu like Junwu, protecting the southern side of the Chen-Bian courier road as much as possible.

With contingency plans in place, when Kong Xirong and others in Huoqiu learned of unusual Shouzhou military movements, they would take direct action. Han Qian’s order drafting here merely served as further confirmation.

However, whether to subsequently dispatch larger-scale reinforcements—Han Qian still couldn’t decide.

The Cishou Palace had been far too active recently. Yao Xishui and Zhou Yuan had not only personally rushed to Chuzhou a few days ago, but had also sent people twice to Jingzhou to see Zhang Xiang. This forced Han Qian to consider: once Tangyi committed too many troops to Chenzhou, and if the warfare likely became bogged down in entanglement unfavorable to Tangyi, and Li Zhigao couldn’t restrain his ambition toward Shu, how would Tangyi respond?

Emperor Liang Zhu Yu had said he hoped Tangyi could resolve Great Chu’s internal problems within three years. But in fact, not even a year had passed before the Mongols had Liang Shixiong breach the Yu River embankments, throwing the Huai River region into chaos.

In such a short time, Wang Yong hadn’t even warmed the seat as Shu Kingdom’s new ruler.

If Li Zhigao truly couldn’t restrain his ambition and joined forces with Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian, Zhang Xiang might even lead forces up the river, striking into Kui, Yu and other areas from the Wu Mountain gorges. Could Wang Yong handle it?

Guo Rong summoned Huo Xiao and drafted three orders, which he submitted to Han Qian for signature and seal.

Of the three orders, two would be sent to Shouzhou by carrier pigeon—the northern pigeon post route only had pigeon lofts at Shouzhou, Linhuai, and Huangchuan—then forwarded from Shouzhou to Huoqiu. One would be carried by a messenger riding fast horse along the courier road northward.

“How does the court currently discuss these matters?” Watching Huo Xiao take the sealed orders away for processing, Han Qian asked Han Daochang.

“That Tangyi will aid the Huai River region—everyone in court should have anticipated this. But regarding the Yu River seizing the Huai, most people, like Prince Shou, Zhang Chao, Zhang Han, Du Chongtao, Zhou Bingwu and others, all believe this matter benefits Jianghuai. The Yu River seizing the Huai will make sediment accumulation in the Ying River channel increasingly severe, and flood zones will continuously expand to both flanks. This not only restricts Mongol cavalry from moving south through this region, but the massive population exodus will inevitably hollow out this region, reducing threats to Nanyang and northwestern Huaixi…” Han Daochang detailed the views of court officials as thoroughly as possible.

“Such views prevailing in court and among the people will only make some people’s hearts grow more restless,” Guo Rong sighed. “Perhaps Li Zhigao is just waiting for us to send troops to reinforce Chenzhou…”

As they spoke, they saw Zhao Ting’er’s father Old Man Zhao peering into the courtyard from outside, though whether he had just heard some rumor was unclear. Han Qian found this bothersome and pretended not to see him, but then Zhao Ting’er walked in leading Wenxin and sent her father away.

“You want to abolish the legitimate heir system, divide the clan and property. Common people below are loyal to Tangyi. Even with clans broken up, small households live comfortably without much unease. Once everyone grows accustomed, there aren’t so many family disputes. But this courtyard involves the hearts of over a million people in Huaixi and Xuzhou. Some deeply ingrained rules—you say abolish them and they’re abolished? Never mind how outsiders view it, the military and civilians of Tangyi will feel unsettled. You just rushed back—why stir everyone up like this?” Zhao Ting’er entered and complained.

Han Daochang and Guo Rong both wanted to stand up and withdraw at this point.

Whatever they said now would be wrong. Better to avoid the topic entirely.

“Zhou Yuan and Yao Xishui rushed to Chuzhou five days ago to see Prince Xin, Ruan Yan and others. This ‘legitimate son’ matter is precisely one of the issues they can exploit. Yet some in the Wang family have restless hearts, adding to the chaos?” Han Qian said with a bitter smile.

“Couldn’t these matters be addressed privately? Why make such a spectacle, even submitting a memorial?” Zhao Ting’er looked at Wang Jun holding her infant son and said, “Elder sister, won’t you scold him? I was still at the academy just now, and in the blink of an eye the news has spread like wildfire. If you really submit this memorial, I’ll have no choice but to take Wenxin and Wenyuan back to Xuzhou.”

Han Daochang and Guo Rong sat there awkwardly, now unable to decide whether to stay or leave. Wen Muqiao, however, thoughtfully stroked his white beard.

“Since this matter has caused such a stir, if we really submit the memorial, it will inevitably provoke much speculation,” Wang Jun said, holding her now-sleeping infant son. She looked hesitantly at Guo Rong, Han Daochang, and Wen Muqiao and asked: “Uncle and Minister Guo, Elder Wen—if you didn’t know that Ting’er and I have no desire to compete for status, and didn’t know that when my husband eventually establishes an heir he will only choose based on merit without regard to legal status, how would you view this matter?”

Hearing Wang Jun ask this, Han Daochang and Guo Rong hesitated, feeling some sensitive words shouldn’t be spoken too directly.

After joining Tangyi, Wen Muqiao had always kept a low profile, cultivating himself at home, touring mountains and waters without concerning himself with worldly affairs. Now he stroked his white beard and said: “Does Madam perhaps mean to say that outsiders will think the Marquis’ action stems from resentment over the Lanting Lane disaster?”

“That’s merely one aspect. If outsiders think this way, it benefits my Wang family without harm, at least preventing us from being immediately drawn into the vortex,” Wang Jun said. “But if my husband submits the memorial so urgently, might outsiders speculate he has some other extraordinary action planned?”

“Does Madam believe outsiders will mistakenly think that the Marquis’ urgency in establishing the legitimate heir, like the situation during the Jinling rebellion, indicates his intention to personally lead troops into dangerous combat again?” Wen Muqiao said. “However, only if the outside world determines the Marquis will personally lead forces into battle in the Huai River region will certain demons and monsters truly emerge…”

“To draw the snake from its hole?” Han Qian’s intention in submitting a memorial to establish Wenxin as heir apparent had purely been due to irritation at seeing the two families’ female relatives. He hadn’t thought this deeply. But since Wang Jun and Wen Muqiao had raised the topic, he couldn’t help but ponder deeply.

“Only by drawing the snake from its hole will the situation ahead become somewhat clearer. Otherwise, the Marquis faces a stalemate—deploying troops is wrong, not deploying is also wrong. I believe the strategy Madam mentioned may be worth attempting,” Wen Muqiao said.