Li Xiong pondered deeply, then after a moment looked toward Fan Changsheng.
Fan Changsheng lowered his eyes in contemplation before nodding. “It is indeed a viable approach, worth attempting.”
If it failed, they could simply find an excuse to repair relations later.
Li Xiong was about to mobilize troops when Fan Changsheng reminded him: “Your Majesty should meet with Zhao Xin now. It would be best to use false pretenses to stall him.”
What they didn’t know was that two days earlier, Zhao Hanzhang had already dispatched Xie Shi to lead troops toward Hanzhong. Not only that, but Zhao Hanzhang had also sent a telegram to Jingzhou, ordering Wang Xuan to lead twenty thousand troops across the Wu River to support Fuling Commandery.
Two days ago, Zhao Xin had written down all of Li Xiong’s demands and had someone with a telegraph transmit the message back to Luoyang.
Zhao Hanzhang received it that very day.
She had been making preparations all along, and once Li Xiong’s demands were confirmed, she immediately ordered Xie Shi and Wang Xuan to deploy their forces.
This time, their objective was not to wage war, but to intimidate Li Xiong and stabilize the region.
Regarding the three conditions Li Xiong had proposed, Zhao Hanzhang told Zhao Xin that her bottom line was one and a half: first, to acknowledge the State of Cheng; second, for both nations to open tea and horse markets and engage in mutual trade.
However, the relationship between the two nations would not be that of brother states, but of sovereign and vassal. Jin would be the sovereign, Cheng the subject, and the State of Cheng would be a vassal state of Jin.
Therefore, Cheng could be the State of Cheng, but there would be no Emperor of Cheng, only a King of Cheng—the King of Shu!
As for the condition of relocating all remaining Jin officials from Shu territory and ceding the entire Ba-Shu region to the State of Cheng…
Zhao Hanzhang snorted coldly. She indeed intended to recall all those Jin officials, but not to cede the territory to Cheng. Rather, she would send new people to govern it.
Unfortunately, the Shu roads were treacherous. Without passing through Baxi and Guanghan, it would be difficult to reach Fuling Commandery. Going from Jingzhou meant crossing the Wu River and Wu Mountain area, which was no easy journey. She wondered whether Wang Xuan and his men could arrive safely.
The difficulty of people entering was one issue, but supplies were equally hard to transport.
From the large number of refugees fleeing Shu territory, it was clear that resources inside were severely scarce. At least in the war zones and the areas currently controlled by Jin officials, conditions were very poor.
They needed external aid. Otherwise, the common people would either flee or die. Relying on external support to defend cities was essentially impossible—they still had to depend on local people.
With this in mind, Zhao Hanzhang sent another telegram to Wang Siniang, instructing her to comfort the refugees from Shu and persuade them to return. “Allow them to bring supplies back. If possible, organize horse caravans to transport materials into Shu territory.”
After making all these arrangements, Zhao Hanzhang said to Fu Tinghan: “The Princess of Hongnong and Uncle Fu probably won’t be able to attend our wedding. I’ll try to have them return to Luoyang next spring.”
Fu Tinghan hadn’t actually prepared himself mentally to face them yet. Hearing this, he actually felt relieved and asked: “Are they safe?”
Zhao Hanzhang nodded. “Safe.”
Even if they weren’t safe now, once Xie Shi appeared in Hanzhong Commandery, they would be.
Hanzhong Commandery belonged to Liang Province and was within the Ba-Shu region. After Fu Zhi arrived in Chang’an, he had divided his forces to contest Li Xiong for control of various commanderies in Liang Province. First, to prevent Li Xiong from attacking outward from within Ba-Shu; second, to leave an opening for the court to eventually reclaim Ba-Shu.
However, due to the grain shortage, his control over Hanzhong Commandery was not tight. The soldiers and civilians of Hanzhong only occasionally obeyed him in return for his sporadic relief efforts.
When Xie Shi arrived with a large army, Fu Zhi hesitated only briefly before having his people withdraw from Hanzhong Commandery, handing Hanzhong over to Xie Shi.
Xie Shi had brought a batch of relief supplies. With these supplies and Zhao Hanzhang’s imperial decree, he quickly took control of Hanzhong Commandery.
He then had people comfort the disaster victims while constructing projects to give them work, enable them to earn money, and have rice to buy, preventing unrest. Meanwhile, he deployed troops along the border, letting the soldiers of the State of Cheng across the way see the newly raised banner bearing the character “Zhao.”
The soldiers of Cheng were startled and hastily reported the military intelligence to Pi City.
By the time Li Xiong, waiting in Pi City, received the news, his court officials were locked in heated debate with Zhao Xin over the three conditions.
Reading the military report, Li Xiong clenched the paper in his hand, nearly crumpling it.
Everyone sensed Li Xiong’s anger and displeasure. They gradually fell silent, glancing around in confusion, no longer speaking.
Zhao Xin remained composed, smiling as he looked toward Li Xiong.
“Such audacity,” Li Xiong’s gaze fell on Zhao Xin, his eyes sharp. “Zhao Hanzhang deploys troops to Hanzhong—isn’t she afraid I’ll have you, her cousin, beheaded?”
Zhao Xin replied: “Standing here is not the General’s cousin, but an envoy of the Jin state. I also believe His Highness the King of Cheng is not a cruel, war-loving person. Our General also knows deeply that Your Highness cherishes the people of Shu, which is why she is willing to yield a step and allow Your Highness to govern Ba-Shu independently. Otherwise, if the Zhao family army can defeat Shi Le and subjugate the Xiongnu, do you truly believe they cannot traverse the Shu roads?”
At these words, the civil and military officials of Cheng all changed color. Some hot-tempered military officers immediately rolled up their sleeves to advance on Zhao Xin.
Zhao Xin stood immovable, glancing indifferently at the approaching men and said: “I absolutely will not fight back.”
Then the civil officials of Cheng urgently blocked the military officers. If they actually killed him in the court, Zhao Hanzhang might truly attack.
However, though they moved to stop them, they were unwilling to comply with Zhao Xin. Thus they refuted him: “Our Majesty declared independence long ago. The Jin state is corrupt. The people of Cheng all willingly follow our Majesty. You speak of allegiance—where do you get such audacity?”
Zhao Xin said: “The common people are mostly ignorant. If they don’t understand, surely you lords do? Liang Province is one of the Nine Provinces. For you to establish an empire here is to split the Nine Provinces. Do you wish to repeat the century of warfare from the Warring States period?”
“Temporary preferences cannot represent long-term peace and stability. King of Cheng, honored lords, if you truly care for the people of Ba-Shu, you should accept the General’s pacification, change from emperor to king, and establish a vassal state.”
“That’s utter nonsense! What confused rambling is this? I don’t understand any of it. All I know is one thing: if Ba-Shu returns to Jin rule, we Shu people will all be crushed to death in the future. Your Majesty, isn’t that right?”
Li Xiong sat silently, saying nothing.
The military officer who had shouted angrily saw Li Xiong remain silent and panicked. He quickly sought out someone: “Prime Minister, you must say something! Your Majesty, what does Your Majesty mean by this?”
Fan Changsheng lifted his eyelids to look at Zhao Xin and asked gravely: “If Cheng submits, are we to follow the orders of a beardless youth, or heed General Zhao’s guidance?”
Zhao Xin replied mildly: “Currently, all imperial edicts issue from the Three Departments. His Young Majesty is personally taught by both the General and Grand Tutor Xun. He possesses not only the General’s compassionate heart but also Grand Tutor Xun’s extensive learning. Prime Minister Fan, please do not insult the Emperor.”
Fan Changsheng scrutinized his expression and said: “The people of Cheng have achieved peace with great difficulty. If General Zhao cannot provide assurances, please forgive our offense.”
So, would Zhao Hanzhang replace the young emperor and become empress herself, or would she return power to the young emperor?
Fan Changsheng stared intently at Zhao Xin.
Zhao Xin showed no panic, having long passed the initial stage of alarm. Such questions had been discussed not only in Luoyang but even quietly debated within the Zhao family itself.
Even his father had once snuck into his room in the middle of the night to ask: “Will Sanniang become empress in the future?”