Zhao Hanzhang stood upstairs where she could see Chen County’s main street, and when standing quietly, could even hear the calls of peddlers selling their wares on the street.
“I remember when I first entered Chen County last year, in this enormous county town, only a handful of shops were open. On the streets, never mind merchants—there weren’t even many pedestrians. But look now, after less than half a year of stability, Chen County is prosperous and thriving.”
Fu Tinghan: “That’s because you reduced many commercial taxes, and also exempted small merchants from city entry and cart taxes. You’ve eliminated all the bandits around Chen County as well. With these conditions in place, prosperity naturally follows.”
“So the people are miraculous, and equally miraculous is momentum,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “When there is momentum, a hundred men can resist an enemy force of ten thousand. When momentum is low, two hundred thousand troops can be broken by a thousand. The more people there are, the worse they fall. When troops are defeated, it truly is like a mountain collapsing.”
“Prince Donghai’s two hundred thousand-plus are in exactly this situation,” she said. “Though it’s two years early, historically Prince Donghai also fled once—this very time. Not only did he die, but the two hundred thousand soldiers and civilians he led out of the city, plus the nearly hundred thousand common people who followed, were all massacred by the Xiongnu.”
Fu Tinghan’s mouth fell open. “Three hundred thousand people…”
“Yes, three hundred thousand people,” Zhao Hanzhang smiled bitterly. “Otherwise, how could it be said that the Han people nearly faced extinction?”
“Are you planning to bring all these people back to Yuzhou?” Fu Tinghan said, “Although Yuzhou can accommodate them, if so many outsiders flood in at once, the situation we’ve just stabilized will likely become chaotic.”
Zhao Hanzhang said, “Doesn’t the Emperor want to relocate the capital? Then the Luoyang area will be empty. We can certainly encompass Luoyang. Yuzhou and Luoyang are already close—why not?”
Even Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but be shocked by her ambition.
He asked, “Will Gou Xi agree?”
“I’ll give him the Emperor,” Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes gleamed. “He can take the Emperor to Chang’an or return to Yanzhou—I won’t stop him either way. The temptation of controlling the Son of Heaven to command the lords isn’t something just anyone can resist.”
Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but laugh. “You can resist it.”
Zhao Hanzhang looked disgusted. For her, having the Emperor in hand brought more constraints than benefits, so naturally she wouldn’t keep him.
There were both advantages and disadvantages. Though holding the Emperor made many actions more legitimate and could even speed up control over Dajin territory, because she was a woman, the constraints were rather significant in this era. Even Prince Donghai, who held the Emperor, couldn’t act as he wished, let alone her.
So Zhao Hanzhang decided to let Gou Xi have this advantage.
Fu Tinghan traveled with her. “Should we call Erlang back?”
Zhao Hanzhang thought briefly and shook her head. “No, have him send troops directly from Nanyang to support us. Have Zhao Ming come to Chen County.”
This time she also wanted to bring Ji Yuan along.
Building on wasteland—aside from Fu Tinghan, Ji Yuan was the most experienced.
Although many people disagreed with Zhao Hanzhang’s decision, the Zhao Family Army was under her command, Beigong Chun followed her orders, and she also had prestige among the other troops. So Xun Xiu and the others could only obey orders and mobilize troops to follow.
“Tell me, are we marching out this time to fight the Xiongnu or Prince Donghai?”
No one believed Zhao Hanzhang was going to rescue Prince Donghai.
“He has two hundred thousand troops—does he need our rescue? I tell you, the Governor is probably going under the pretext of rescue but actually seeking revenge.”
Everyone knew, especially the people of Yuzhou, that Zhao Changyu had been driven to his death by Prince Donghai.
Last year, they had even joined forces with Gou Xi to entrap Prince Donghai, fighting his forces to the death. Their Governor must have an incredibly broad mind to be able to set aside past grievances and rescue Prince Donghai now.
“Better to go to Luoyang and rescue the Emperor. If we bring His Majesty to Chen County, from then on the entire realm will follow the Governor’s commands.”
“It’s not like this wasn’t suggested, but the Governor wouldn’t listen.”
“Alas, women are women—too emotional, only remembering grudges.”
Fan Ying overheard these discussions and immediately went to report to Zhao Hanzhang.
Zhao Hanzhang said, “I know. Some people have objections to this matter, but there’s no need to worry for now.”
At this point, it was just verbal complaints. As long as they didn’t take action, it was fine.
Scouts and provisions went ahead, while Zhao Hanzhang and her forces advanced slowly, simultaneously planning their retreat routes.
Little did they know that in Xiangcheng, Prince Donghai had fallen gravely ill due to his bitter rupture with the Emperor, combined with thoughts of Gou Xi and others wanting to kill him under imperial edict—overwhelmed by grief, fear, and distress.
Because his illness was severe, he couldn’t move for the time being, so the main army temporarily stopped in Xiangcheng.
Somehow, news reached Shi Lei’s ears. Not far from there, Shi Lei immediately dispatched someone to inform Liu Yuan while leading his own forces toward Xiangcheng, directly surrounding Prince Donghai’s forces stationed outside the city.
At this time, Prince Donghai’s illness was being concealed, but with no central command, this mixed force of soldiers, officials’ families, and common people was in complete chaos and couldn’t be mobilized according to orders.
As soon as Shi Lei’s troops arrived, they treated it like a hunting expedition, surrounding them and shooting wildly with arrows. Prince Donghai’s main army instantly suffered countless casualties.
His troops scattered in defeat. With panic spreading through the ranks, Xiangcheng’s city gates flew open, and the officials’ families inside fled eastward with Prince Donghai’s main army. In less than half a day, Xiangcheng was conquered.
The advance scouts reached Xiangcheng to find the ground littered with corpses and Xiangcheng nearly burned to the ground by the great fire. They were stunned, immediately dividing into two groups—one continuing to investigate, the other rushing back to report to Zhao Hanzhang.
“Xiangcheng has been breached. Tens of thousands died. Prince Donghai’s main army has already fled eastward. Based on the arrows, those surrounding and attacking them appear to be Shi Lei of the Xiongnu Han State.”
When the generals heard that the Xiongnu had actually chosen to attack Prince Donghai instead of going to Luoyang to attack the Emperor, they were momentarily stunned. Xun Xiu exclaimed, “Why would they give up the Emperor to attack Prince Donghai? Moreover, Prince Donghai has over two hundred thousand troops. How many forces did Shi Lei deploy to be able to kill them into retreat?”
Zhao Hanzhang glanced at Xun Xiu and said, “Prince Donghai took away most of the court. The Sima family has no shortage of men. If His Majesty is lost, we can simply replace him with another.”
Everyone fell silent.
“But if this large portion of the court that Prince Donghai took away is lost, then Dajin is truly finished. If I were Shi Lei, I would also choose to pursue Prince Donghai rather than the Emperor in Luoyang.”
Everyone became even more silent.
Zhao Hanzhang stood up. “Order the troops to march rapidly. Xun Xiu, you lead the main army from behind. Beigong Chun, come with me—each leading a cavalry unit to advance first.”
Beigong Chun and Xun Xiu rose and acknowledged the order. After acknowledging it, Xun Xiu hesitated. “Governor, are we truly going to rescue Prince Donghai?”
Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyelids to look at him. “We’re rescuing the three hundred thousand soldiers and civilians who left with Prince Donghai.”
She said coldly, “With people comes power. So you must protect these three hundred thousand. Do you understand?”
All the generals shuddered and immediately stood and bowed deeply. “Yes!”
After Zhao Hanzhang left with Fu Tinghan and Beigong Chun, everyone immediately gathered around Ji Yuan. “Master Ji, the Governor’s words mean we only rescue the common people, so Prince Donghai…”
Ji Yuan smiled genially. “Prince Donghai’s side must have many capable generals. Where would we need to personally protect him?”
Everyone finally understood. “We get it now, we get it.”
So after all this, their Governor hadn’t come to rescue people—she’d come to snatch people away!
She should have said so earlier!
—