Chapter 464: He Who Controls the Canal Controls the World

On the Yongji Canal, a fleet of dozens of large and small grain transports was sailing south along the canal toward the Yellow River.

Because of the wars, grain transport between the Yellow River and the Yongji Canal had long been completely severed. Hebei's transport of provisions and supplies stopped near Ji County and went no further. Other parts of Hebei had also halted large-scale southward grain transport, instead retaining most of their materiel and sending only a small portion to supply the front lines.

Since the people of Hebei had already turned hostile, there was absolutely no reason to deliver goods to Guanzhong.

Fang Chongyong stood at the bow of a grain transport, watching the scenery on both banks.

Barren, desolate—it could only be described as devastated as far as the eye could see.

Those who could flee had long since taken their families and fled. In the past, shops providing food and drink to the grain boats on the canal could be seen along both banks from time to time.

Now even the door panels of those shops had been torn off and burned for firewood—not a single soul could be seen.

As for the "wild markets" along the canal banks that used to hold a small market every three days and a large one every five, not even a trace of them remained.

The Yongji Canal at this time had become a purely military supply route; with merchants and travelers cut off, naturally no one could do business at the ferry crossings along its banks.

Even without burning, killing, and pillaging, war's destruction of the economy was self-evident. As long as there was war, the common people could not have good days.

The meaning of "in rise and fall, the people suffer"—without seeing it with one's own eyes, it is difficult to comprehend the blood and tears within.

Fang Chongyong, standing at the bow, also sighed endlessly.

From his standpoint, only with turmoil across the land could there be a day to rise. It was just like the principle that if the world had no disease, all doctors would starve to death.

If there were no wars to fight, what use were fighting men? From a fighting man's perspective, this world had something of a dark humor to it.

"Jiedushi, taking Bianzhou won't be difficult for us. Even if we can't take Bianzhou, finding a good place to settle in Huainan is absolutely not a problem.

It's just that we've already been declared rebels by the court. What should we do next?"

The voice of Che Guangqian reached Fang Chongyong's ears.

Seeing his anxious expression, Fang Chongyong waved his hand and pointed at the surface of the Yongji Canal, saying, "The answer is right there."

"The Yongji Canal? What can it do?"

Che Guangqian asked in disbelief.

"Not just the Yongji Canal, but the Grand Canal including the Yongji Canal.

The glorious era of the Great Tang has already passed. In the future, whoever controls the canal controls the world."

Fang Chongyong explained to Che Guangqian.

However, Che Guangqian still could not understand such a "novel" viewpoint. After all, for a person of this era to see the great historical trends of the future required extremely high vision, a store of knowledge, logical reasoning ability, and imagination.

For all these qualities to be concentrated in one person was as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Seeing that Che Guangqian did not believe him, Fang Chongyong continued to explain:

"If we can take Bianzhou and choke the key node of grain transport. In the future, no matter who takes control of Guanzhong or Luoyang, as long as we find some pretext and say the canal needs dredging and is temporarily impassable,

then provisions and supplies from the two Huai regions and Jiangnan cannot be transported to Guanzhong.

Grain transport between Hebei and Henan would also be cut off by us.

And in the future, whoever along the canal wants to do business properly would have to give us some face.

This would already place us in an invincible position.

If we then find ways to properly manage the canal, the profits would be so great as to be unimaginable.

With the canal's convenience, we can deploy troops at leisure and strike wherever we wish; with the canal's wealth, we can recruit soldiers at leisure, with gleaming helmets and shining armor.

With the canal as our road, in this vast world, where could we not go?"

Speaking of this, a surge of heroic spirit rose in Fang Chongyong's heart. By now the sky was already growing dim with dawn. The fleet passed through a short stretch of narrow artificial channel, and the view suddenly opened wide before them!

"The Yellow River is here. Go send the signal and prepare for relay rowing—we're going upstream!"

Fang Chongyong ordered Che Guangqian.

At the southern outlet of the Yongji Canal, the opposite bank had no suitable terrain for building a ferry. If one went downstream, it led to the Baima and Huatai area; only by going upstream could one reach Heyin County, the terminus of the Tongji Canal.

Fang Chongyong and his group had an extremely smooth journey, with no enemy forces pursuing or intercepting them. This was actually not coincidental, but deliberately arranged by Huangfu Weiming.

Of course, this was also within Fang Chongyong's expectations. Both sides had essentially reached a tacit understanding.

Letting this rebel army go south to sicken the court was far better than suffering ten thousand casualties on their own side to help Brother Ji "suppress bandits." Huangfu Weiming had already guessed Fang Chongyong's intention—this trip was merely to leave Hebei—so naturally he would not send troops to pursue and intercept them along the way.

"Understood!"

Che Guangqian walked into the cabin and hung two red lanterns on the mast of the grain transport. Then he ordered the boatmen to row upstream directly to Heyin County.

After entering the Yellow River, the boat speed began to slow. Heyin County was where the court stockpiled provisions and was sure to be heavily guarded. When the time came, they would need to employ some tactics.

Fang Chongyong pondered countermeasures in his heart.

Though he appeared full of confidence before his subordinates, as if the path for the next fifty years had already been planned out.

But in reality, because he had been tricked by Brother Ji, Fang Chongyong's secret scheme to monopolize Hedong and attempt to establish himself independently to watch the tigers fight had long since fallen through.

As for what to do in the future, he had no idea at all in his heart. He could only steel himself and take it one step at a time.

The strong will naturally cut through thorns and brambles; only the weak complain about their circumstances.

……

Inside a side hall of Shangyang Palace in Luoyang, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

Looking at the imposingly authoritative Fang Youde, Crown Prince Li Chang actually felt somewhat guilty. He understood very well that without Fang Youde's full support for him to establish himself independently in Luoyang, he would be nothing right now!

Even living in seclusion at the foot of Mount Hua would be a luxury. Without Brother Ji's authority, neither other princes nor those ambitious schemers would let him, a crown prince in name only, continue living.

"Is the Crown Prince saying you wish to take control of Chang'an?"

Fang Youde asked with a calm expression, neither angry nor interrogating Li Chang.

"Lord Fang, that is indeed so. I do not wish to wait any longer. The situation has already changed, and this is the perfect time to take control of Chang'an."

Li Chang said with a resolute face. Since he already knew that Brother Ji was not in Chang'an, the opportunity was not to be missed and would not come again—so why should he continue holding Luoyang for that benighted ruler?

"Your Highness, you are anxious to return to Chang'an, unable to contain your impatience. This humble servant understands very well.

But it was the Sage who appointed you as Crown Prince. Your authority all comes from the Sage. If the structure of the state is destroyed, then your position as Crown Prince exists in name only.

Now the divine instruments are sullied, and ambitious men across the entire Great Tang are unwilling to remain idle, springing up like bamboo shoots after rain.

I believe that Your Highness possesses only the title of Crown Prince bestowed by the Sage, which is not yet enough to prove that you are the Crown Prince in name as well as in deed.

If you go to Chang'an now, there would be no difference between you and those treasonous officials and rebels.

Therefore, my recommendation is to endure for now, take Luoyang as your foundation, and build it up well.

The time is not yet ripe to enter and take charge of Chang'an. Only by holding Luoyang can you prove that you are truly the Crown Prince in name and in deed, capable of bearing the heavy burden. When that time comes, there will be no need for you, the Crown Prince, to raise the matter—someone will naturally welcome you into Chang'an.

I beg the Crown Prince to judge clearly!"

Fang Youde had spoken at great length, but it all boiled down to one sentence: I think the time hasn't come yet!

Li Chang's face flushed red then pale from the lecture. Only after a long while did he let out a long sigh and bow to Fang Youde in apology, saying, "Please forgive me, Commander Fang. I was too impatient."

His heart was a jumble of emotions—anger, unwillingness, and a helpless sense of powerlessness.

Seeing Li Chang thoroughly dejected, Li Mi hurriedly comforted him, saying:

"Do not worry, Your Highness. In truth, Commander Fang's words are not without reason. At present, the people's hearts have not yet submitted to Your Highness. Entering and taking charge of Chang'an would only confirm the label of treasonous rebel. It would be better for me to make a trip to Chang'an, contact men of insight in Guanzhong, and hear their opinions and thoughts.

When the time is right, taking charge of Chang'an will come as naturally as water flowing into a channel."

Li Mi clasped his hands in salute and said this to Li Chang.

The martial approach required Fang Youde to lead troops to break through Tongguan or Puzhou and march the great army to the walls of Chang'an.

The civil approach required Li Mi to infiltrate Chang'an, contact various powerful families, and secure their support.

Pursuing both approaches simultaneously would indeed yield a higher chance of success.

In a word, it still required careful long-term planning.

"Your Highness, you are still young, but I am already old.

You are impatient, and in truth, I am even more impatient.

But the times are difficult, and impatience alone cannot solve anything.

What you wish in your heart is to hack the Sage into pieces day and night without rest, to vent the hatred in your heart.

But even if you think this way, will the world go as you wish?

So many years have passed, and is the Sage not still alive and well?"

Fang Youde's words laid bare the secret thoughts in Li Chang's heart, leaving the Crown Prince somewhat unable to save face.

Li Mi sighed inwardly. This Commander Fang was good in every way—it was just that he spoke far too bluntly, with no sense of tact.

Li Chang's temper was not particularly bad. Of course, if it had been, he would have erupted when his consort Yang Yuhuan was taken, and then Brother Ji would have found a pretext to do away with him.

But even so, Li Chang was at this moment at a complete loss—angry yet not knowing what to say, both embarrassed and flushed with shame and fury.

"Commander Fang, the Crown Prince's inheritance of the throne and succession to the imperial lineage is public business;

the grudge between the Crown Prince and the Sage is a personal feud.

Public business and personal feuds must not be conflated.

Public matters must come before private ones."

Li Mi said this to smooth things over.

But it was quite obvious, from Li Chang's dismissive expression, that Fang Youde's words struck more directly at Li Chang's heart.

This Crown Prince was fundamentally driven by the desire for revenge. Causing trouble for Brother Ji was his greatest motivation. As for empty talk about succeeding the imperial lineage and governing the realm, Li Chang did not take any of it to heart at all.

What did the welfare of the common people of the realm have to do with him?

Just then, a eunuch came to report, announcing to Li Chang: "Your Highness, Lu Gui, Military Commissioner of the Three Cities of Heyang, requests an audience."

"Let him in."

Li Chang waved his hand lightly and said.

Before long, Lu Gui, in full armor, entered the side hall of Shangyang Palace. Seeing that Fang Youde was also present, he hastily clasped his fists in salute and said:

"Your Highness, Commander, Cui Qianyou, Defense Commissioner of the Two Capitals, sent men to take over the Three Cities of Heyang, and I drove them away. Cui Qianyou's troops are deployed in two locations—Puzhou and Tongguan—and it is inconvenient for them to support each other.

If the Three Cities of Heyang were opened up, then the two sides could move troops through Zhiguan Pass at their leisure. Cui Qianyou's anxiety is understandable.

But how should we respond? They are not the Hebei rebel army..."

Lu Gui asked with some uncertainty.

Who would have expected Fang Youde to retort directly: "Then just treat them as a rebel army. Anyone who dares come to Beizhong City, kill them all without mercy. Nothing more to discuss."

With a single sentence, Fang Youde blocked every word that Lu Gui had bottled up inside!

Commander Fang was just that overwhelmingly fierce!

Lu Gui smiled bitterly and looked at Li Chang, not knowing what to say.

"Your Highness, Cui Qianyou is also a man. He is not of imperial clan birth, holds no personal grudge against Your Highness, and certainly has no chance of succeeding to the throne.

I will make a trip to Tongguan and persuade him to secretly pledge loyalty to Your Highness. When the time is right, he will let us enter and take charge of Chang'an.

This way, we avoid the two sides fighting and the hostility escalating with every battle, until eventually even seeking peace becomes difficult."

Li Mi stepped forward to volunteer, clasping his hands in salute to Li Chang and saying this.

Fang Youde said nothing. He was fierce, true, but he was no fool with mush for brains. If Cui Qianyou could be persuaded to submit, then there was no need to fight to the death.

"Then I must trouble you, Lord Li, to make the trip."

Li Chang grasped Li Mi's hands and said.

"Rest assured, Your Highness."

Li Mi bowed and went straight out of the side hall. Seeing that he had left, Fang Youde also used the pretext of military duties to bow and take his leave, bringing Lu Gui along with him.

Soon, only Li Chang remained alone in the side hall.

"Sanniang, why is revenge so difficult?"

Li Chang leaned against a great pillar and slowly slid down to sit on the ground.

Lying flat and pretending nothing had happened, even secretly resisting Brother Ji—that was easy.

But actually plotting to do away with this benighted emperor—that was far from easy.

He had barely taken his first steps when Li Chang already felt how immensely difficult it was to defeat Brother Ji through "proper" means.

Li Chang wanted Brother Ji dead, but many of the men under him merely sought the restoration of the Great Tang's former glory. They cared little about how to deal with Brother Ji, and some even proposed outright that Brother Ji be honored as Retired Emperor.

Just as Li Erfeng had done to Li Yuan back in the day.

Thus, when Fang Youde pointed out that Li Chang's sole driving force was revenge, the Crown Prince felt as though someone had seen straight through his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

What exactly were this group of people after in supporting his rise to power?

After calming down, a very strange and terrifying question suddenly surfaced in Li Chang's mind.

……

"Put down the bows and crossbows! Put them all down!"

Fang Chongyong shouted at He Changqi ahead of him.

Beside a ferry dock outside the outskirts of Heyin County that had been burned beyond all recognition, a group of people was facing off against soldiers of the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army who had just disembarked.

The atmosphere on both sides was very tense.

Going by their uniforms, these men appeared to be local militia from Henan — only the uniforms were standardized; the armor they wore was whatever they could get their hands on. Some had even cut thick cardboard into shape, painted it black, and strapped it on as armor.

They looked rather incongruous and clearly like a ragtag outfit. Their equipment was worse than even the militia that participated in training during the Hexi autumn defense.

"Is that Yuan Jie before me?"

Fang Chongyong shouted at the man leading the crowd, walking from the middle of the formation to the very front — he had already recognized an old acquaintance.

"Put down your blades, we're on the same side!"

Yuan Jie stepped out from the crowd, and upon seeing Fang Chongyong, he nearly burst into tears.

"Jiedushi, you've finally come!"

"The Crown Prince declared himself, Hebei rebelled, and we fled all the way to Heyin County, only to be detained the moment we entered the city."

"After the Crown Prince's men left, Huangfu Weiming's rebel army showed up, and we had no choice but to flee into the nearby mountains and forests."

"We didn't dare come back until the rebels had withdrawn!"

Yuan Jie's old face flushed red, and he did not mention why they had come to wait at the canal dock, nor why they had pounced on these transport ships like starving tigers snatching prey.

To put it plainly, Yuan Jie had wanted to rob the robins — to hijack passing transport ships!

Then they would ride the transport ships further south back to their hometown of Lu County, and use the supplies aboard to raise a force in their homeland while awaiting appointment from the court!

As for who the court was — that would depend on whose power was greatest when the time came!

They never expected that after the transport ships docked, the ones who came ashore were brawny, fully-armed soldiers! It left Yuan Jie and his men utterly dumbfounded.

For a moment, they could neither advance nor retreat.

"Why didn't you rob the local wealthy families instead? Why intercept transport ships on the canal?"

Fang Chongyong asked curiously — robbing locally was clearly far more efficient!

Of course, the locals were not so easy to plunder either.

In this day and age, order among the people was maintained by the Great Tang's official authorities pressing down on things. Now that Hebei had rebelled, the order established by the court was rapidly collapsing, and anyone still breathing in their homes was no pushover.

Those who truly feared trouble and conflict had long since fled into the mountains and forests.

"We wanted to borrow some travel funds, but the other party has to be willing to give us face."

Yuan Jie said sheepishly.

Fang Chongyong looked at the few hundred ragged militia behind him and seemed to understand something.

The great local families of the Great Tang all relied on "manors" as their economic foundation. Though he did not know whether these were the same thing as the manors of Western Europe, that was what they were called now — not a single character changed.

Since they were manors, many people worked within them, and they would not lack basic military fortifications either.

If Yuan Jie led these few hundred militia, ragged as beggars, to those great families' homes to "borrow money" —

— they might well be detained by people with ulterior motives and reduced to tenant servants. In these chaotic times of war, any damn thing could happen.

Even the Hebei rebels would not lightly lay hands on those people, because they were the very foundation of the Great Tang's rule. No matter who seized the world, these were people to be won over whenever possible.

"He Laohu, take some capable brothers and follow Inspector Yuan to visit the local wealthy families — borrow a bit of grain from them."

"Speak politely, and have Che Guangqian write an IOU in person. We are borrowing, absolutely not robbing."

"Remember, write the IOU in the name of the current Sage Emperor, not in the name of this Jiedushi. Go!"

Fang Chongyong waved his hand broadly, instructing He Changqi.

"Understood, your subordinate will see to it at once!"

He Changqi laughed heartily, grabbed Yuan Jie by the arm, and set off.

(End of this chapter)