Feng Yi had said everything he needed to say. He left the Daliang state edict behind and went first to the guesthouse to rest. The assembled group sat in silent stillness in the council hall, while the personal guard troops stationed in the office courtyard exchanged glances with complex expressions.
The total collapse of their situation in Xiangbei—the direct cause was indeed Kong Xirong leading his forces from Caizhou through the Fangcheng defense line under orders. But as the saying goes, “Generals die in a hundred battles, returning wrapped in horsehide”—they were all people who lived by licking blood from blade edges. Victory, defeat, life, and death on the battlefield had never been the focus of hatred.
Just as Feng Yi had said, the aristocratic clans of Jiangdong and those in the court who considered themselves members of the pure scholarly stream might heap all manner of slander upon Han Qian and Tangyi’s new governance, but among the personal guard officers and soldiers around Li Zhigao, how many stood together with the aristocratic clans or the so-called scholarly pure stream?
Of course, they had no authority to interject in such matters and could only hold their breath and listen intently to the movements in the hall.
“Xishui, my mind is made up,” Li Zhigao said, his hands pressed on his knees as he sat behind the long table. “Since I govern Liangzhou, I must bear responsibility for the life and death of Liangzhou’s military and civilian population. How much grain and fodder remains stored in the prefecture, how much summer grain can be harvested after summer arrives, and what the tens of thousands of women and children outside the city look like with their yellow faces and emaciated bodies—you know all this in your heart. Even if Zhou Bingwu and Zhang Xiang do not make war on Liangzhou, before the autumn grain harvest, Liangzhou will inevitably see tens of thousands of women and children die of starvation.”
“You intend to accept the bandit Liang state’s edict and bring Liangzhou into the Liang state—how will you explain all this to your wife?” Yao Xishui stared at Li Zhigao, asking in a hoarse voice.
Besides coming to take Empress Dowager Wang Chan’er, Prince of Xiang Yang Lin, Chen De, and the others back to East Lake as bargaining chips for subsequent negotiations with Jinling, Feng Yi also demanded that Liangzhou expel Lü Qingxia, Zhou Yuan, Zhong Yanhu, and others.
Not only Li Zhigao and his subordinate generals Deng Tai, Zhang Song, Zhou Tong, and Hao Zixia, but even the father and son Chai Jian and Chai Xun could be considered relatively pure military commanders whom Han Qian could tolerate and accept. However, Zhong Yanhu had slaughtered people and razed villages, sparing neither women nor children. Lü Qingxia, Zhou Yuan, and others, as the masterminds behind numerous treasonous acts, employed methods that stopped at nothing. Han Qian did not expect Li Zhigao and Chai Jian to hand them all over at this time, but he did require Li Zhigao and Chai Jian to make a complete break with them and expel them from Liangzhou.
“After the palace coup failed, they should have accepted such an outcome,” Li Zhigao said with resolute expression.
In fact, at many points they had had better choices available, but it was precisely because Lü Qingxia and Yao Xishui trusted too much in the power of conspiracies and schemes, with no heart for promoting the construction of positive strength, that they had missed far too many opportunities.
After Lü Qingxia and her group withdrew to Yingzhou following their failed palace coup, Li Zhigao had been determined to part ways, which was why he defended Liangzhou alone. And after Lü Qingxia and Chai Jian suffered their great collapse in Xiangbei, he had not hesitated to block the gateway to Liangzhou, forcing Lü Qingxia and Zhou Yuan to surrender military authority before allowing only several hundred of them to garrison a small fortress in the northwest of Liangzhou City.
This time, even if Han Qian had not raised the demand, Li Zhigao would have made up his mind to expel them.
Whether Han Qian could hold Heluo, he still did not know clearly. But one thing was certain: even if Han Qian could not hold Heluo, it would only make Liangzhou’s strategic position in the overall situation under heaven even more prominent.
Apart from obtaining relief grain from the Shu state, more importantly, they could currently only obtain legitimate status to establish themselves in Liangzhou by affiliating with the Liang state, temporarily ending their state of war with the Chu army. His background would no longer be any obstacle—otherwise, even if they could defend险要地形based on the dangerous terrain, their troops were too exhausted and military morale too shaken. Whether they could withstand Zhang Xiang leading the elite Right Martial Guard army in fierce assault was truly uncertain.
Even if Han Qian successfully held Heluo and Tangyi and Heluo achieved good integration, Liangzhou would inevitably be marginalized. Perhaps at that time Han Qian might not tolerate their long-term establishment in Liangzhou and might find excuses by every means to transfer them away. But even that would be better than surrendering to the Mongols.
Even setting aside the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, if they surrendered to the Mongols, the Mongols would only use them as vanguard forces to attack the Shu state or Jingxiang and would absolutely not allow them to establish themselves long-term in such a strategic location on the western front as Liangzhou.
“Since Elder Brother has already made his decision, then I will go explain all this to your wife and the others. I will also leave together with them,” Yao Xishui said through gritted teeth. Since she could not persuade him, she could only depart in dejection.
“Xishui…” Su Hongyu tried to dissuade her with compassion.
Li Zhigao raised his head to look outside the great hall, let out a long sigh, and finally said: “Hao Zixia will accompany you there.”
Before the life and death of over one hundred thousand people, brotherhood and kinship ties could only be reluctantly severed.
To prevent Lü Qingxia and her group from causing any mischief at this critical juncture, Li Zhigao decided to have Hao Zixia lead two thousand elite troops to supervise Lü Qingxia and her group in handing over Empress Dowager Wang Chan’er, Chen De, Prince of Xiang Yang Lin, and the others, and escort them westward over the river valleys and mountain ridges along the upper reaches of the Han River to Songfan, rather than heading north directly to submit to the Mongols.
Of course, if after reaching Songfan, Lü Qingxia and Zhou Yuan turned around and circled to Qinzhou and Qizhou, determined to join forces with Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian—this was not something Li Zhigao could decide or should be held responsible for.
Thinking of this, even knowing it was useless, Li Zhigao could not help but say to Yao Xishui: “Both emperors of the Liang state have already perished, the Liang state has changed masters, and it has almost completely transformed inside and out. Old grudges and past hatreds should also dissipate like smoke. Since you and I consider ourselves descendants of the previous dynasty, and the people dwelling and multiplying in the Central Plains lands of Hehuai and Jianghuai are also subjects of the previous dynasty—regardless of how your wife and Zhou Yuan choose, you should never help barbarian cavalry trample the Central Plains…”
“What?”
After Lü Qingxia, Zhou Yuan, and their group withdrew into Liangzhou territory, several hundred people garrisoned a stone fortress thirty li north of Liangzhou City, guarded by Zhong Yanhu leading over three hundred soldiers. This could be said to be Wanhonglou’s last direct forces.
Li Zhigao had also stationed a battalion of troops near the stone fortress to monitor their every move and restrict their contact with the outside world.
Only when Hao Zixia led two thousand troops to completely surround the stone fortress and Yao Xishui entered the fortress did they learn what earth-shaking changes had occurred in Heluo.
“The Liang Emperor has died, and Han Qian actually received abdication to become the new Daliang state ruler?”
“Li Zhigao is actually so ungrateful that he would rather bow as a subject at Han Qian’s knees than expel us?”
Zhou Yuan sat down heavily in a chair, unable to imagine all that was happening before his eyes.
Chen De sat behind the table. Thinking of how these years, although he held the position of Commander of the Palace Guard Army and was nominally the supreme commander of the palace guards, as a puppet he had been manipulated in every way. Seeing Zhou Yuan and the others now like homeless dogs at this juncture, he could not help but mock: “All these years, you have still utterly failed to contend with Han Qian…”
“What do you have to be smug about? That dog bandit Han Qian specifically named you to be taken to East Lake—you will certainly be used as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Chu court. Do you truly believe the dozen or so members of your Chen family can escape total clan extermination?” Zhou Yuan said savagely.
Chen De’s face turned ashen.
In his heart, he knew very clearly that Wang Chan’er, as Emperor Yanyou’s birth mother, after being handed over to Jinling by Han Qian, Shen Yang and Yang Zhitang might not actually kill her directly. Prince of Xiang Yang Lin was also only a five-year-old child and would most likely just be deposed and then placed under house arrest. Only he was most likely to be regarded as the mastermind of the palace coup assassination and pushed out as a scapegoat to suffer extreme punishment.
However, Chen De also knew clearly that fate would no longer give him room to struggle. At this moment, he only closed his eyes and sat there, turning a deaf ear to Zhou Yuan’s subsequent words.
“Madam, these years I too have grown weary. No matter what punishment awaits in Jinling, please allow me to serve the Empress Dowager on this final journey!” Chun Shisanniang said with heart grown cold and disheartened.
“You…” Never expecting that Chun Shisanniang would rather go to Jinling to face death than part ways with them, Zhou Yuan trembled with fury.
Lü Qingxia waved her hand dejectedly.
The conditions Han Qian offered were generous enough—so generous that Li Zhigao had no room to haggle. And Li Zhigao directly dispatched troops to surround them, then sent Yao Xishui into the fortress to deliver the news, also giving them no room to negotiate.
To speak of it, they had calculated and schemed in every way, yet how could they have imagined that before his death, Emperor Zhu Yu of Liang would make such a choice!
This also shattered the last trace of opportunity they had anticipated.
That Xiao Yiqing had not sent anyone into Liangzhou by this time clearly showed he understood there was no opportunity for them in Liangzhou. At this moment, they might focus their efforts on working on Prince of Xin Yang Yuanyan.
This also meant they had already become expendable pawns, of no consequence.
And for three months, the people in the fortress had received only one-third of their normal grain rations. They might not even have the strength to wear their heavy armor. Besides handing over the people and departing in dejection, what other choice did they have?
If they handed over the people now, Li Zhigao would still remember old affections and give them a chance to escape. If they resisted, thinking that with Yao Xishui in the fortress Li Zhigao would not order an attack—that would be far too naive.
Having spent half their lives commanding troops and governing armies, fighting on battlefields—which of them was not a person with hearts hard as iron and blood cold as ice?