This time Gao Hui not only brought back large amounts of money, furs, and medicinal materials for Fu Tinghan but also several important pieces of news.

“Liu Yuan has fallen ill.”

Fu Tinghan was startled and asked, “Is the information accurate?”

Gao Hui nodded, “I’m acquainted with a general surnamed Zhou in Shi Le’s army. I heard him vaguely mention it, so the information should be reliable.”

He continued, “Liu Yuan is ill, yet for some reason wants to deploy troops to attack Jinyang. I heard Liu Cong’s main force has already headed toward Jinyang. Liu Yuan also wants to deploy troops from Shangdang, but Shi Le refused citing insufficient provisions.”

Fu Tinghan frowned, “Such significant news—you obtained it so easily?”

Gao Hui replied, “The main force has already moved. Those Jie barbarians have long been dissatisfied with the Xiongnu. This is their information, not from within Shi Le’s army, so those subordinate generals talk about it without any reservations. I just needed to offer two more jars of wine to get the information.”

Fu Tinghan asked, “Is there any other news?”

“Yes, Wang Jun of Youzhou is contending with Liu Kun, and it seems he also wants to send troops during winter,” Gao Hui lowered his voice. “I estimate that Shi Le’s reason for refusing Liu Yuan’s order to deploy troops is that he wants to send troops to Jizhou to seize territory from Wang Jun.”

Wang Jun was the Governor of Youzhou, but he also occupied part of Jizhou while holding the title of Governor of Qingzhou. At this time, the Great Jin’s official appointments were extremely chaotic. There were self-appointed ones, those appointed by imperial decree, and some positions were duplicately appointed by higher-level lords or the emperor.

Wang Jun had been promoted eight years ago for participating in poisoning the late Crown Prince and now held the positions of Governor of both Qing and You provinces, granted by the late emperor. The current Governor of Qingzhou, Gou Chun, was appointed by the current Jin Emperor.

“Tsk tsk tsk,” Zhao Hanzhang said, “With such great ambition, why doesn’t he compete with Gou Chun for Qingzhou? That would be justified and proper. Instead, he insists on fighting Liu Kun for Jizhou.”

Jizhou was south of Youzhou and east of Bingzhou. Liu Kun was surrounded by Xiongnu forces in Jinyang. Shangdang had a special geographical position with strong military forces, and Pingyang was the capital of the Xiongnu Han State, so he couldn’t break through there either. His only way to break the encirclement was toward the relatively weak defense of Jizhou.

Otherwise, Liu Kun would eventually be trapped to death in Jinyang.

As fellow Jin subjects, Wang Jun should have helped Liu Kun or at least given him a hand, yet instead he wanted to beat Liu Kun’s forces, which had barely broken out, back in. Simply brainless.

Fu Tinghan asked, “So what do you plan to do?”

Zhao Hanzhang replied, “It’s too far. Between us is Shi Le and Liu Yuan. Even if I wanted to help him, I couldn’t.”

She paused before continuing, “If Shi Le deploys troops, I could send forces to help restrain Shi Le’s main army. But regarding Wang Jun, I’m in Luoyang and he’s in Youzhou with such vast territory between us and several different factions—I simply can’t affect him.”

“By the way, what did Gao Hui want you to do?”

Fu Tinghan said, “He wants me to contact Wang Jun and join hands with him. When the time comes to seize Jizhou, Wang Jun would take everything north of Anping State, and I would occupy everything south of Anping State.”

“He’s crazy. Is Shi Le blind? Would he just watch us occupy Jizhou? Besides, do you have the manpower?”

“I don’t, but you do,” Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but smile slightly. “He said to have me persuade you to send troops to seize Jizhou. When the territory expands and is in such a crucial position, you’ll definitely lack people, so our side can easily insert people in.”

“The seized portion of Jizhou borders Shangdang to the west, Yongzhou to the south, and Qingzhou to the west. With a little maneuvering, it could break contact with us—or rather, with you. Then that part of Jizhou would completely belong to me.”

“Sounds good, but isn’t he afraid that all three parties would attack simultaneously and completely annihilate everyone trapped inside?”

Fu Tinghan smiled and said, “Gao Hui feels that since Liu Kun could independently defend Jinyang for many years, we should also be able to preserve that portion of Jizhou’s territory while surrounded by multiple forces.”

Zhao Hanzhang fell into thought, calculating in her mind before shaking her head, “Too reckless. Though Liu Kun enjoys luxury, his abilities are truly strong, and Jinyang has geographical advantages. He can defend Jinyang, but that doesn’t mean Gao Hui and his men could defend Jizhou.”

She didn’t want to be this reckless and preferred to proceed steadily and surely.

Fu Tinghan nodded, “I think the same way, but I still wanted to hear your opinion before refusing him.”

He continued, “They brought back quite a bit of money this year, yet I haven’t recruited a single soldier or obtained many personnel. He’s feeling rather uneasy about it.”

Hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang burst into loud laughter, greatly amused. “Tell him you’re now Minister of Works, and Zhao Hanzhang’s iron and copper mines are all in your hands. Even I have to watch your expression.”

Fu Tinghan showed a smile and nodded with a laugh, “Alright.”

But Gao Hui was stubborn. He felt that while these were impressive, they couldn’t compare to holding military authority.

Because, “Once Commander Zhao becomes displeased, she could replace my lord with a single word. Only military authority is different. If my lord holds troops, how would she dare replace you casually?”

What he said made quite a bit of sense, but Fu Tinghan only enjoyed writing and calculating, researching future innovations to assist Zhao Hanzhang. He had absolutely no interest in leading troops to battle or training soldiers.

Due to the news Gao Hui brought back, Zhao Hanzhang felt this merchant caravan wasn’t just about making money anymore. She said to Fu Tinghan, “Treat them well, win their hearts, and have them redouble their efforts next year to gather more outside information.”

Fu Tinghan acknowledged this.

The next day he went to see the merchant caravan and personally gave each of them a large red envelope, telling them to rest well during this period and wait until after the New Year to set out again.

Receiving the red envelopes, even Gao Hui was pleased, then asked Fu Tinghan, “Has my lord discussed with Commander Zhao about deploying troops to Jizhou?”

Fu Tinghan nodded and moved aside to speak with him, “Hanzhang didn’t agree. This move is too risky, and moreover, she and Liu Kun are friends. How could she kick him when he’s down at such a time?”

“This is the flaw of having a woman in power,” Gao Hui said. “When competing for dominance over the realm, what place is there for righteousness? Naturally, interests come first.”

Gao Hui thought Zhao Hanzhang only wanted to be a Jin subject and hadn’t considered competing for the realm. Clearly having such power yet willing to remain content in a corner—Gao Hui looked down on this.

Fu Tinghan glanced at him but didn’t mention Zhao Hanzhang’s ambitions, instead saying, “If I also lacked righteousness, would you still follow me, Gao-xiansheng?”

Gao Hui immediately responded, “My lord has a broad mind, possessing both the capacity to embrace all and the ambition to compete for dominance. Few in the world can match my lord. If I don’t follow my lord, whom else could I follow?”

The words sounded very pleasant, but Fu Tinghan wasn’t confused. If he had been able to leave Luoyang back then, he would definitely have run to serve Gou Xi. His choice of Fu Tinghan was merely because he saw him as a valuable commodity with no trusted confidants around him.

Fu Tinghan showed a smile and said warmly, “I understand your heart, Gao-xiansheng, but this matter need not be mentioned again. This is a major affair, and even Hanzhang wouldn’t make decisions alone. This was the result after consultation with all the advisors.”

Whether it was Ji Yuan, Ming Yu, or Wei Jie, none of them agreed to deploy troops to Jizhou at this time.

Wei Jie even suggested Zhao Hanzhang intervene to help Liu Kun, saying, “Liu Yueshi values loyalty greatly. If Commander can help him at this time, he will surely repay you. Liu Yueshi has sworn brotherhood with the Tuoba Xianbei. The horses sent back this time were mostly purchased from the Tuoba Xianbei.”

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