Diao Xie was strong-natured by nature. When in Jiangnan, he had offended aristocratic families across the board. This time, Zhao Hanzhang was mainly inviting Jiangnan’s aristocratic families, so deep down he didn’t really want to go.

But thinking this was a rare opportunity to have contact with Zhao Hanzhang, he was unwilling to give it up.

So after only slight consideration, he agreed. He put on his finest clothes, wore his most precious jade crown, and with high spirits and fighting spirit, followed the Prince of Langya out.

Seeing Diao Xie in full battle mode, the Prince of Langya felt a moment of regret. Had inviting Diao Xie along been a mistake?

Was it still time to regret?

Seeming to sense his father’s hesitation, Sima Bao, who had already climbed into the carriage and sat down, said, “Father, perhaps the Grand General will be very pleased Diao the Chief Clerk is attending the banquet.”

The Prince of Langya asked, “If they quarrel, what pleasure is there?”

Sima Bao replied, “Father would support Diao Xie and Liu Wei to oppose the aristocratic families. How do you know the Grand General won’t need such a blade?”

The Prince of Langya was speechless.

Sima Shao nearby also nodded, persuading, “Father, quickly get in. If we don’t leave soon, we’ll be late. With our status, it wouldn’t look good to arrive last.”

The Prince of Langya hurriedly boarded the carriage.

Diao Xie hadn’t heard their father and sons’ private conversation. He was mentally simulating debates with those aristocratic families.

For such a large banquet, the court naturally wouldn’t send no officials at all. Since it concerned Jiangnan’s development, Zhao Hanzhang called Ji Yuan, Ming Yu, Changning and several others, as well as Zhao Xin, Fan Ying, Zhao Yunxin and others.

As the host, they had arrived early. Zhao Xin and Zhao Yunxin were even busily helping with arrangements.

Zeng Yue guarded the entrance. Every person entering had to remove any weapons they carried – the requirements were as strict as the standards for palace banquets.

The guests attending had no objections. Having heard that Zhao Hanzhang had encountered several assassination attempts this month, honestly speaking, not only was Zeng Yue afraid, they were also afraid of people inside attempting assassination – being implicated would be terrible.

So preventing danger outside the General’s mansion was very good.

Many people came, arriving in four groups.

One group was the refugee combination led by Wang Dao. One group was the Jiangnan aristocratic family combination led by Zhou Zhi. One group was Jiangnan people excluded from the Jiangnan aristocratic families. The final group was the Prince of Langya’s party.

When the Prince of Langya’s party arrived, people had mostly entered already. Though their group was smallest, they received the most attention. Zhao Xin personally received them, bringing them in separately before leading them all the way to the garden.

In the garden was an open pavilion connected by several corridors. The corridors had roofs. In the past few days there had been intermittent snow. Servants had shoveled the snow from the paths to under the trees. Because the snow wasn’t heavy, most of the snow on the rooftops was left. At a glance now, the white snow was pristine, reflecting against the yellow walls and green tiles with a warm feeling.

The plum trees planted in the garden had formed buds, some half-open. Dots of red adorned the branches. The eyes of those entering were involuntarily attracted.

Jiangnan also had snowy scenery, but such beautiful snow scenes were rarely seen. So Zhou Zhi and others ignored the braziers placed in the corridors and open pavilion, walking directly to stand under the plum trees, looking up to admire them carefully.

The returning refugees were also attracted, standing to one side watching for a while. Tears couldn’t help but fall.

One person crying triggered others to cry as well. Most people were relatively restrained, only silently wiping tears, but there were always some conspicuous individuals unwilling to cry silently, so they began crying aloud.

The one crying loudly was Xiahou Le, who was actually related to the Prince of Langya. Of course, he was also related to Zhao Hanzhang. But among the refugees present, speaking of family relations, they could all claim some connection.

This was also why Xiahou Le was especially grieved. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang hurry over, he was already hugging the plum tree crying with hiccups, only able to ask Zhao Hanzhang through flowing tears, “Grand General, from the first year of Yuankang to now, how many Central Plains aristocratic families have been annihilated? How many direct lines still have descendants?”

Zhao Hanzhang paused before saying, “Three or four out of ten survive.”

Xiahou Le hugged the plum tree and wailed loudly. The crowd was moved by this crying to reveal grief on their faces. Though the Jiangnan aristocratic families had rarely been affected by warfare, they couldn’t help feeling sad.

But they quickly suppressed this sadness. No, today’s discussion was about Jiangnan. The Grand General’s attention must remain on them, the Jiangnan aristocrats – they couldn’t let Jiangbei steal it away again.

So Lu Yuan stepped forward, bowed, and said to Zhao Hanzhang, “Grand General, all the Jiangnan aristocrats invited to the banquet have arrived.”

Xiahou Le still hugged the plum tree crying. Hearing this, he wiped his tears and said chokingly, “But among we northern scholars who fled to Jiangnan, not many survived. Even fewer could come to this gathering.”

He asked Zhao Hanzhang with tear-filled eyes, “Has the Grand General forgotten them?”

Zhao Hanzhang, who was about to speak with Lu Yuan, knew that unless she first resolved the northern refugees’ matter, today it would be very difficult to discuss Jiangnan affairs. She shook her head. “How could I forget?”

Seeing tears instantly fill his eyes again as if he would cry, she quickly spoke before him. “Does Master Xiahou know – from Yuankang to today, of the common people north of the Yangtze River, how many survive?”

Xiahou Le and the crowd fell silent together.

Zhao Hanzhang sighed and answered herself, “Less than one in ten survive.”

“So tragic – why does the Grand General still show tolerance to the Xiongnu?” Yuan Gang’s face looked ugly. “How many of our Central Plains people died tragically at Xiongnu hands? They even viewed our Central Plains people as food, calling them ‘two-legged sheep.’ Such enemy tribes should be completely eliminated to satisfy our hatred.”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “The Xiongnu who promoted warfare have all been personally executed. Those remaining are merely ordinary people who, like Central Plains commoners, were pushed onto the battlefield. Now that they’ve submitted to Jin, in my eyes, they’re all Jin subjects.”

Yuan Gang angrily waved his sleeve. “Those not of our race must have different hearts. Grand General Zhao is too naive.”

Zhao Hanzhang grinned at him. “Master Yuan speaks reasonably. Now that the realm is unified, the so-called Huaxia race includes not only Central Plains Han people but also the Baiyue, Di-Qiang, Xianbei, and Xiongnu. Which ones do you refer to as ‘not of our race’?”

Yuan Gang opened his mouth, pausing a long while before saying, “Naturally the barbarians besides Han people and Baiyue.”

As soon as these words left his mouth, there was no need for Zhao Hanzhang to object – everyone present fiercely criticized him. “Absurd theory! Whether of the same lineage depends on culture – how can it be simply divided by ethnic group? The so-called Han people don’t refer to a single bloodline. Yuan Gang, you’re short-sighted and brainless. You should speak less.”

Yuan Gang said angrily, “You regard the Xiongnu as fellow tribesmen, but do they see you as fellow tribesmen? As soon as they have an opportunity, they’ll attack southward, and it will be another scene of devastation.”

“That doesn’t mean you can tar everyone with the same brush. Among the Xiongnu there are also loyal people.”

“Bah! That’s because your family has been killed less by the Xiongnu. If you ask me, the court should drive out the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Di-Qiang from Huaxia, make them go to the great desert, lest they grow strong in the future and bring disaster to the Central Plains people again.”

Zhao Cheng had originally been sitting in the second floor not far away drinking tea and admiring flowers. Hearing these words, he could no longer restrain himself. He set down his teacup and rushed down. “Who said to drive out the minority ethnic groups?”

His gaze immediately fell on Yuan Gang, his face dark as water. “Do you know what constitutes Han people, what constitutes Huaxia people?”

“Han people don’t refer to a single ethnic group. Han people refers to all the common people living under Great Han’s rule, including the Baiyue, Di-Qiang, and Xianbei peoples. Before Han, because Qin unified the six states, we could also call ourselves Qin people. Before Qin, we were Huaxia people. What is Xia?”

Zhao Cheng continued his verbal assault. “The Zhou people called themselves Xia. All enfeoffed vassals were called Zhu Xia, later also called Zhu Hua. Therefore we are all Huaxia people. In the ‘Mu Shi’ chapter of the Book of Documents, Zhou led the ‘Shu, Qiang, Mao, Wei, Lu, Peng, and Pu peoples’ to attack Shang. The Qiang and Di have not separated. These were all Zhou people. Later, expanding territory, Zhou’s realm grew ever larger. The Huaxia race naturally also grew ever larger. Now with one statement you exclude them all as foreign tribes? You are the unfilial descendant who betrays ancestors!”

He turned to ask Zhao Hanzhang, “Does such a person deserve to be called a scholar? If you use such people, you might as well stop being the Regent Grand General and return governance to His Majesty as soon as possible. At least spare the Zhao clan from bearing the eternal crime of dividing the country and people.”