gnovel Chapter 103: Deducing the Victory and Defeat from the Return Journey
Chapter 103: Deducing the Victory and Defeat from the Return Journey
"In that case, I will not personally offer my congratulations on the birthday of the 23rd. I will return to Yanzhou as soon as possible to prepare for the relocation and await the imperial decree."
"Yes, I planned to host a banquet for my sister that day."
Li Congke then revealed another palace secret: "My imperial sister, along with Shi Jingtang's two sons, Right Guard General Shi Chongyin and Imperial City Deputy Envoy Shi Chongyi, are constantly surrounding Empress Dowager Cao, bribing everyone in the palace to gather information about the court."
"On that day, I will ask her if Shi Lang is prepared to follow in the footsteps of the late Emperor and myself." (Note 1)
Li Congke's tone revealed a chilling murderous intent, yet also contained a hint of helplessness.
Gao Xingzhou understood that the emperor's so-called "old path" was not just about rebelling and seizing the throne—Li Siyuan and Li Congke had both lost their eldest sons because of their resistance against the court.
If Shi Jingtang rebels, he will inevitably take the lives of his two sons and Empress Dowager Cao's grandson. This is a warning.
Li Congke had no desire to end up in this situation, to have the painful memories of his children being killed rekindled.
At this moment, a guard came to report that he had been ordered to capture the thief Bai Wenshen and asked for instructions on how to deal with him.
"Throw him into the imperial prison and interrogate him thoroughly to find out who released him! Once the truth is found, execute him immediately, before autumn arrives."
Li Congke casually issued an order, stating that the life of the Bao'an garrison commander was as insignificant to the emperor as a dog's ear.
Gao Huaide thought to himself, "Now the White Plague God is finally doomed."
"I'm gone."
Li Congke stood up and strode out.
He stopped at the entrance of the hall without turning around and said in a low voice, "Minister Gao, I am much more at ease now that you have agreed to take up your new post."
Even the emperor wouldn't want his old friends, who once fought side by side and drank together, to become strangers who are wary of each other and harbor their own schemes.
Looking at Li Congke's broad back, and thinking of the pressure he bore, Gao Xingzhou replied frankly, "For both public and private reasons, I can only stand with Your Majesty."
Li Congke laughed heartily, stepped onto the palanquin, and set off to return to the palace.
……
The following day, the Lantern Festival, Fu Rong was still resentful about being dumped the night before and refused to see him. Gao Huaide was happy to relax and leisurely enjoy the magnificent lantern display.
The day after tomorrow, Gao Xingzhou and Fu Yanqing went to the capital to bid farewell and embarked on their journey home.
On the way back, Fu Rong sat angrily in the car, ignoring Gao Huaide.
Fu Yun gently tried to persuade her younger sister, but Gao Huaide, with an attitude of "If you ignore me, why should I cater to you?", rode his horse forward and pricked up his ears to listen to his father and Fu Yanqing's conversation.
"News has come from the Secretariat and the Chancellery that I have been internally appointed as the Prefect of Yizhou, concurrently commanding the Northern Cavalry." (Note 2)
Yizhou, formerly known as Shanggu Commandery during the Han Dynasty, was famous for its elite cavalry and was also a strategic location. It was situated on the banks of the Yi River, where the wind howled and the water was cold, at the exit of Puyin Pass, and was the first city after passing through Zijing Pass.
It turns out that not only Gao Xingzhou, but also Fu Yanqing was transferred.
The two discussed the imperial court's plans for Hedong.
"Sha Yanxun of Yunzhou, Yin Hui of Yingzhou, Yang Guangyuan of Weizhou, An Shuqian of Shuozhou, and Zhang Lang of Daizhou—these are all towns north of Taiyuan and will not easily side with Shi Jingtang. Zhang Jingda of Jinzhou and Huangfu Li of Luzhou, one to the east and one to the west, have blocked the southward route, so Shi Jingtang has absolutely no chance of winning."
Fu Yanqing made the above judgment, to which Gao Xingzhou remained silent.
Back then, wasn't Li Congke also in dire straits in Fengxiang, surrounded by enemies on all sides? However, the world is ever-changing, and one cannot control everything through human calculations.
"Even if the Khitans send troops to help, it doesn't matter."
Fu Yanqing was much more optimistic: "As long as the garrisons in Daibei guard Yanmen Pass, Yelü Deguang's audacity to drive straight in is a matter of great courage. Besides, there is Zhao Dejun in Youzhou to keep him at bay."
"I hope it's as you say."
Upon discovering that Gao Huaide was eavesdropping, Gao Xingzhou was unwilling to discuss matters of Hedong with his son and instead spoke of a message from Jiangnan, thousands of miles away.
"Last October, the State of Wu bestowed upon Xu Zhigao, the Grand Secretary, the Grand Tutor, the Grand Chancellor, and the Grand Marshal, and promoted him to the title of King of Qi, with special honors bestowed upon him. He also established the State of Qi with ten prefectures: Sheng, Run, Xuan, Chi, She, Chang, Jiang, Rao, Xin, and Hai."
Even though Xu Zhigao declined the three offers of the title of Grand Tutor, Prime Minister, and special honors, everyone knew the weight of this news.
Fu Yanqing couldn't help but sigh, "It seems that the Jiangnan region is about to change dynasties. Back then, Yang Xingmi fought against Zhu Wen, what a hero he was! But thirty years later, his descendants were incompetent, and the great country he built was wasted on someone else's benefit."
"The troops in Henan should not be moved lightly. Xu Zhigao urgently needs to win people's hearts with military achievements. He will surely cross the Huai River to attack, and at that time our dynasty may be attacked from two sides."
"The land of Hanzhong was surrendered to the puppet Shu by Zhang Qianzhao. There is constant friction between the Wen, Jie, Xing, and Jin prefectures. We still need to leave troops in Guanzhong to defend it. Otherwise, we might end up like a certain emperor of the previous dynasty, who raised an army of 500,000 to conquer the south, only to be defeated one by one by the Southern Dynasty. The Southern Dynasty then marched out of Qishan and seized Chang'an, and he himself became a prisoner."
Gao Xingzhou analyzed the situation, inevitably returning to the predicament of the current dynasty. He shook his head and sighed, "The Bashu region is in rebellion, the Khitans are eyeing us covetously, and Hedong is about to experience further turmoil. Fortunately, the southern states are numerous and each harbors ambitions of separatism, lacking any intention to launch a northern expedition; otherwise, how could this chaotic situation be salvaged?"
Listening to his elders' discussions and recalling the previous battles, Gao Huaide realized that even in just a corner of northern Shaanxi, the situation had been turbulent, with fierce battles fought to the death. He couldn't help but feel lost and bewildered when faced with the entire country in such a complex and unpredictable situation.
"Don't be arrogant. We are not the players, but merely the pieces."
Gao Xingzhou glanced at his son's blank expression, seemingly oblivious to the state of the world, and felt a surge of anger. Not wanting to reprimand him in front of Fu Yanqing, he chose to give a brief explanation.
……
In the first year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, the nine provinces were divided into ten circuits. After several reforms, during the Kaiyuan era, the country was divided into fifteen circuits.
The capital region, the capital region, the area within the pass, Henan, Hedong, Hebei, Longyou, Shannan East, Shannan West, Huainan, Jiangnan East, Jiangnan West, Qianzhong, Jiannan, and Lingnan comprise a total of 360 prefectures and counties.
Having experienced periods of turmoil and upheaval, the province was sometimes abolished, or even fell into the hands of barbarians, and was thus subject to vassalage and nominal rule. Among these, there were 268 prefectures with verifiable records.
This dynasty began in Bing and Dai, took You and Cang, and had thirty-five prefectures; then it took sixteen prefectures including Wei and Bo of Liang, combining fifty-one prefectures to destroy Liang, and annexed sixty-two prefectures of Zhu Liang, unifying the north and south of the Yellow River.
When Prince Qi, Li Maozhen, submitted to the emperor, he gained seven more prefectures. When Emperor Tongguang conquered Shu, he gained them but lost them again, only managing to acquire the four prefectures of Qin, Feng, Jie, and Cheng.
Ying and Ping prefectures fell to the Khitans, and one more prefecture was added, bringing the total to 123 prefectures, which alone occupied half of the country.
Encompassing Youyan, with the Great Wall as its boundary, it resisted the Khitan to the north; it possessed Qing and Xu, bordered the Canghai Sea to the east, and reached the Huai River to the south; it occupied Xiangfan and exerted its power over Jiangling, its territory comparable to the Wei and Jin dynasties of the Three Kingdoms period.
In contrast, the South lacked a unified government and its territory was fragmented.
In Bashu, Meng Zhixiang established a kingdom and proclaimed himself emperor, controlling 46 prefectures including Sichuan, Hanzhong, Jiannan, and Shannan West Road, much like the Shu Kingdom after losing Jingzhou.
Yangwu was established by Yang Xingmi. Its western border was dominated by Wuchang, and its northern border included Huainan and Haizhou in a corner of Huaibei. Its southern border comprised the prefectures along both banks of the Gan River, totaling nineteen prefectures. (Note 3)
It is evident that the Qi state, which had been granted to Xu Zhigao, now possessed more than half the territory of Yang Wu, and its power could no longer be contained.
Moreover, the Yang Wu dynasty was far inferior to the Southern Dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen, and could not even compare to the Eastern Wu of the Three Kingdoms period, which controlled the entire Jiangdong region.
Qian Yue was built by Qian Liu, who passed away four years ago at the age of eighty-one.
Wu and Yue held thirteen prefectures in eastern and western Zhejiang, all of which were prosperous and fertile lands of fish and rice, such as Suzhou and Hangzhou. Yang Wu had never been able to conquer this area.
The Southern Han Dynasty, located in the remote Lingnan region, possessed forty-seven prefectures. Although its territory was vast, its population was sparse, and it was difficult to govern the barbarians.
"The rest include the Ma Chu, which possessed ten prefectures in Hunan and Guangxi; the Min Kingdom, which had two excellent ports, Changle and Quanzhou, and seven prefectures surrounded by mountains; and the Gao family of Nanping, which only had three prefectures, Jing, Gui, and Xia. Count how many kingdoms they had?"
Gao Huaide was completely bewildered. He counted on his fingers and said that the south had split into seven or eight countries, which meant they were powerless to resist the current dynasty.
"Why not make it even more chaotic, and round it up to several dozen countries?"
Gao Xingzhou ignored him and returned to the main topic with Fu Yanqing, deducing the situation should war break out with Hedong.
"The troops in Henan and Guanzhong should not be moved lightly. To deal with Hedong, we can only use the Imperial Guard and the troops from various garrisons in Hebei. Although the Imperial Guard is said to number 100,000, many have been transferred to the north in the past two years. If we leave some to guard the capital, mobilizing 50,000 troops is already the maximum we can manage."
"Taiyuan is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The Hedong army has no less than 20,000 men, all of whom are skilled and experienced warriors. Before the Hebei troops arrive, the imperial army does not have an overwhelming advantage, not to mention that there may be Khitan reinforcements behind us."
"How many people can Yelü Deguang send?"
Fu Yanqing disagreed: "Back then, when we aided Dingzhou, we first sent 10,000 cavalry as reinforcements, and then added another 7,000 cavalry. That's a maximum of 20,000."
"Let's estimate the Khitan reinforcements at 20,000, plus the cavalry from Hedong, bringing the total number of cavalry to about 30,000, roughly equal to our army. If we can lure them into Yanmen Pass and annihilate them in one fell swoop, we can then besiege the city with peace of mind. If Taiyuan's external support is cut off, people's hearts will change over time, and the city will inevitably fall."
Fu Yanqing agreed: "A decisive victory should indeed be achieved with cavalry. I'm about to be transferred to Yizhou, and the Shanggu cavalry are not to be underestimated."
Gao Xingzhou further proposed a hypothetical scenario: "What if the Khitan sent reinforcements far exceeding 20,000?"
Fu Yanqing thought it was unlikely. The Khitan's most elite Pishi Army and Shushan Army combined numbered no more than 50,000. How much benefit could they gain from helping Shi Jingtang? Yelü Deguang would never make such a losing deal as to risk his entire fortune to fight the dynasty for a little wealth.
Upon hearing this, Gao Huaide recalled the words of the old man Chen Tuan in the tower and blurted out, "To cede the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun in exchange for the supreme throne, is that acceptable?"